Gunfighter maintenance named ACC's best

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Brian S. Orban
  • Gunfighter Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AFB, Idaho --  The 366th Fighter Wing's maintenance community was named Air Combat Command's best after they won the command's final round of this year's Daedalian maintenance competition, according to an announcement Tuesday morning.

A team of Air Combat Command evaluators visited the base Nov. 15 to rate the effectiveness of maintenance agencies here, see the innovative programs its people developed, and to judge which of ACC's three finalists will earn this year's title.

Mountain Home faced off against the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Va., and the 4th FW at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., as the command's award finalists this year.

Mountain Home now faces the Air Force's other major command finalists for a shot at winning the Maj. Gen. Clements McMullen Weapons System Maintenance Award. First presented in 1960, the annual Daedalian trophy goes to the Air Force's top wing level maintenance organization with the best weapon system maintenance record for the past year.

"This is a big deal; this is braggin' rights for who's the best maintenance unit in the entire Air Force for the entire year," said Maj. Patrick Ballard, 366th Maintenance Operations Squadron commander.

Innovation and teamwork became a recurring theme the Gunfighters showcased to the evaluators, according to the major. Despite the fighter wing's high operations and deployment tempo, the maintenance community invested considerable time to research and try new ideas to speed up and improve work in its shops and on the flightline. Those innovations helped single the Gunfighters out as one of ACC's best, the major added.

"From a macro view, the culture of Gunfighter innovation is in every part of the group and wing," Major Ballard said. "We showed to the evaluators that we're a very professional, outstanding maintenance group and wing; we showed them our Gunfighter pride."

One of the crowning achievements outlined in the base's initial four-page nomination package came from the 366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron's F-15E phase shop, which recently competed for the Air Force Chief of Staff Team Excellence Award. The phase shop is responsible for conducting in-depth inspections on each of the wing's Strike Eagles on a periodic basis, and the streamlined procedures they developed helped set them apart from similar shops across the Air Force, according to the major.

"A lot of innovations that we do here we sometimes take for granted because we've been doing it for so long that it's become an informal process," Major Ballard said.

During the year, the quality of maintenance training here took a major leap forward when jet engine trainers added a cutaway version of an F100 fighter engine to its classroom, according to the major. Instead of relying on two-dimensional drawings of these engines to teach up-and-coming mechanics, the instructors have a hands-on engine, complete with moving and rotating parts, to vastly improve the quality of their training.

Meanwhile, the maintenance community here became one of ACC's first to "lean out" a process through the command's rapid improvement event process. In January, ACC sent out a message to its bases looking to sponsor and formalize wing-level efforts to streamline maintenance procedures. Maintainers here suggested using the offer to speed up its full aircraft paint process, which all Air Force jets undergo periodically.

This rapid improvement event, "shaved a lot of time off of our paint process, which equals greater aircraft availability and getting jets back to customers faster," Major Ballard said. "We were already looking at the F-15E full paint process, so it was a good idea to throw ACC's way."

This marks the second time in three years the wing claimed the ACC honor. The command named the maintenance community at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., as its 2005 winner.

Many times, according to the major, these competitions come down to which maintenance unit did the best job at showcasing their team. The major applauded the dozens of young Airmen and junior officers who briefed their respective maintenance organizations and programs to the evaluators.

Their professionalism and knowledge of their programs went a long way to tell these visitors the Gunfighters have the command's -- and the Air Force's -- best maintenance professionals, according to the major.

The Daedalian competition reaps benefits for more than just the winners, according to Major Ballard. Following the award announcement, maintenance groups and shops across the command usually contact the winners directly or look through the winning nomination packages to see what it took to be No. 1. Along the way, maintenance units share their good ideas and best practices, which in turn benefit others looking for ways to improve the way they do business.

"It's an interesting way to spread good practices to other bases," Major Ballard said. "Those packages get out there, and it's another avenue to hunt for good ideas. There's going to be a lot of items that the [winning] base is doing that you'll want to try at your own base -- what they are doing that puts them heads and shoulders above all the rest."

Each year, the national Order of Daedalians presents 19 individual awards recognizing excellence in categories like flight safety, maintenance effectiveness, weapons system development and acts of valor.

The Order of Daedalians was founded in 1921 at the urging of Brig. Gen. William "Billy" Mitchell, assistant chief of the Army Air Service. His goal was to carry on the deeds and memories of the first American pilots who, in World War I, were the first to fly U.S. aircraft in time of war.