McChord to compete at AMTS Maintenance Skills Competition

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Kirsten Wicker
  • 62nd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD --  This week six 62nd Airlift Wing members and one 446th AW member will compete at the third annual Aviation Maintenance Technology Society's Aircraft Maintenance Professionals Skills Competition March 16-18 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Other military teams include Air Mobility Command teams from Dyess Air Force Base, Abilene, Texas and Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, Trenton, N.J., as well as a U.S. Navy team and a U.S. Coast Guard team.

The skills competition consists of 12 separate events testing the maintenance technicians' ability to accomplish various tasks commonly found in the civilian aircraft maintenance profession. These include a 40-minute engine event in which the teams simultaneously work a hydraulic pump and tachometer generator; an advanced composite material damage event where teams use a tap inspection method to find damage not visible from the surface; and an electrical troubleshooting event in which the teams have to find the best fix for various fault codes while spending minimal money on parts.

"We are excited and honored to be a part of this competition," said Master Sgt. Michael Wisniewski, 62nd Maintenance Squadron, McChord's team chief. "It's an opportunity to showcase our skills as maintenance professionals and as Airmen."

This year, the U.S. Air Force is sponsoring the rigid line troubleshooting event, designed and built by McChord Field Airmen. The event station will test each technician's ability to troubleshoot defects to rigid tubing lines and determine which two lines have leaks. Participants are given 20 minutes to complete the event and it will be judged by an Air Force judge.

"It's an honor to sponsor an event," Sergeant Wisniewski said. "We worked hard to design and build the station for the event and now we get to show it off as other maintenance teams test their skills on it."

Though the events were geared toward the civilian sector of aircraft maintenance, the skills required were very similar to those used by military maintainers. Safety plays a large role in the overall scoring of each event as each team is required to follow safety guidelines enforced in both military and civilian sectors, such as safety goggle use.

In civilian aircraft maintenance, technicians have an "airframe and power plant" license and are expected to perform in all areas of aircraft maintenance. As the competition was designed to test the skills of an A&P licensed mechanic, military teams face the additional challenge of selecting the right mix of career fields to best cover all the events, some of which occur simultaneously.

Airmen from the 62nd MXS and the 62nd and 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadrons represent several different work centers: aircraft structural maintenance, electro-environmental, hydraulics and aero-repair. These flights were chosen for the competition due to the variety and strength of their skills.

Each event is graded based on completion time, with teams receiving a time penalty for incorrect troubleshooting or safety violations. The team with the shortest overall time is named the winner in each of the four competition categories: military, aviation college, general aviation and commercial.

In 2009, after two days of intense competition, the results were in and two out of the three AMC teams took home awards in the military category. Third place went to the Navy team, whose time was five hours, five minutes and 18 seconds. Team McChord took second place, with a time of four hours, 33 minutes and 22 seconds. First place went to Team McGuire, which finished at four hours, 25 minutes and eight seconds. Overall, Team McChord finished sixth out of fifteen teams.

"Our expectation this year is to bring home first place in the military category," said Sergeant Wisniewski. "We are ready to bring 'Best Maintenance Team' honors to McChord Field."

The other members of McChord Field's team are Staff Sergeants Anthony Nowak, 62nd MXS, and Paul Weeks, 62nd AMXS and Technical Sergeants Seanjon Judkins and Richard Dell, 62nd AMXS. Civilian team members include Mr. Kevin Davis, 62nd MXS and Mr. John Broome, 446th AMXS.

"I am very proud of our team this year. Their effort, motivation and professionalism are unmatched," said Col. Tracy Smiedendorf, 62nd Maintenance Group commander. "They will represent McChord Field with class and confidence."