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Standards: Why so high?

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Melanie Holochwost
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  Talk about standards. Maintainers at Luke Air Force Base have a lot of standards. They have standards they don't realize they have. They even have standards for their standards.

The 309th Aircraft Maintenance Unit is one example of a maintenance shop that adheres to an overwhelming number of standards. Each position has a checklist. Every job has a technical order.

"I'm kind of anal retentive, but that's mostly because we can't afford to make mistakes," said Chief Master Sgt. Jamie Parker, 309th AMU superintendent.

All tools are clearly labeled and stored in the proper place. Every maintainer is required to check out each piece of equipment they use. And even though the Airmen are usually covered in grease, somehow every inch of their work area is sparkling clean.

Although this may sound excessive, there are many reasons why maintainers need to be so meticulous.

The extreme attention to detail saves the Air Force money, increases pilots' confidence and keeps everyone safe, Parker said.

"A lost tool or screw can lead to a fatal accident if it isn't found," she said.

And, maintainers are human, so it's pretty common for these types of things to get lost.

"If it's not us misplacing a tool, it's the pilots dropping something in the cockpit," Parker said. "For example, they might lose a pen. It always happens at a bad time, like right before you're about to leave on a Friday. It's never a quick process. It normally takes several hours and multiple people to find the (usually very small) lost item."

But, if the tool boxes weren't so organized and each piece of equipment wasn't accounted for, maintainers wouldn't always know if they misplaced something.

This is why Senior Airman Scott Japalucci, 309th AMU weapons load crew member, believes maintaining his tool box is one of the most important aspects of his job.

"My main duty is to load bombs onto jets and troubleshoot weapons related problem on aircraft," he said. "But, I wouldn't be able to do that without my tool box. Because it's clean and organized, it helps me do my job faster. And, it's the biggest way to prevent foreign objects and debris. If something is missing, we realize right away. And, we don't stop until we find it."

Basically, Luke maintainers have a lot of standards. But, every single one is there for a good reason.