SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- The Weasel of the Week series asks Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, heroes, experts, and all-around great Airmen to share their likes, dislikes, Air Force spirit and personalities. We sat down with Airman 1st Class Jacob Lamons, 77th Fighter Generation Squadron assistant dedicated crew chief, to get to know him. Lamons currently works on the wing commander’s jet, assisting the dedicated crew chief on overseeing all maintenance done on the jet. He comes from a family of pilots and plans on following in their footsteps by serving 20 years in the Air Force.
Please explain your career field and job.
When you get to your first base you get assigned a jet. It’s part of your job to make sure that jet flies smoothly and you check to make sure all maintenance is kept up with when the jet lands again. Recently I got selected for the wing commander’s jet.
How do you affect the wing’s mission capabilities?
Without us, jets wouldn’t get fixed for the Wild Weasel mission. Our base’s mission is suppression of enemy air defenses.
What inspires you to strive and excel at your job?
I love working on trucks and cars so the fact I love that has probably helped me a lot because it’s already a hobby of mine. Learning about fixing jets just adds to my mechanical knowledge.
What advice do you have for people coming into your career field?
Keep your head down and work hard. Do what you’re told and don’t stay stagnant. If you’re done, go ask for more work instead of playing on your phone and you’ll get noticed.
What is your proudest moment since you arrived here?
It would be getting Weasel of the Week or getting put on the wing commander’s jet in the first place. The dedicated crew chief of the commander’s jet has to interview and select an assistant crew chief.
How do you define success and how does this definition of success help you succeed in your career field?
For me, success is being very proficient at my job. Surround yourself with people who want to be successful and you can maintain success a lot easier.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
In five years I will most likely be reenlisting and hopefully have a line number for technical sergeant. Hopefully, if I make staff sergeant I’ll have a lot of ‘X’s’ which means I can sign people off on jobs.
What is one change you wish you could make to the Air Force or your career field?
I mean I like it out there but I know some people complain about our hours and getting dirty. I will say I don’t like how night and day shift butt heads a lot. We also have an A flight and B flight and that causes a divide.
What is one thing you wish people knew about your job?
It is very demanding at times. Our shifts can either be eight-hour shifts or 12-hour shifts and it just depends on what we have to work on that night. It’s not a set nine to five job.
What is one thing that is taken for granted about your job?
Most people work eight-hour shifts. For us we never know what’s going to happen because we might need a jet in the air in two days. This leads us to work longer days quite often.
What impact have you made in your career field and at this base?
Well, I’ve been pretty proficient, and I feel like since I’ve been on the wing commander’s jet I’ve been doing everything in my power to make it better and run smooth so I feel like that’s huge.