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Protecting lives is their job

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Morgan
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
On April 3, 2006, a C-5 Galaxy crashed into a field just a mile short of a runway and broke into three pieces. The heavily damaged pieces meant the crew and passengers only had one way to exit the plane quickly and safely - with the five inflatable slides on the plane, which worked flawlessly.

Master Sgt. Henry Fortney, 326th Airlift Squadron loadmaster who was on the flight, was in charge of getting the passengers off the plane. Sergeant Fortney deployed two slides and soon after all five passengers were at a safe distance from the plane.

"If not for the slides we would have had to go through the cargo bay. At that time, we had no idea what type of shape the plane was in," said Sergeant Fortney. "It was vital to get those guys out of the plane in a timely manner."

Sometimes what someone takes for granted can make all of the difference in an emergency situation. Those slides worked flawlessly because of the 436th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment members at Dover Air Force Base, Del.

"I do my job because if I don't, people will lose their lives," said Tech. Sgt. Rebecca Gebhart, AFE craftsman.

Slides are not the only way AFE serves as one of the more proactive life-saving career fields.

The AFE breaks their mission into three categories, aircrew support, passenger support and aircraft support. They have systems they fix or inspect in shop and hand off to aircrew, systems for passengers in emergency situations they install on the plane, and systems the plane requires itself.

For instance, aircrew are responsible for having their helmets inspected every 90 days.

They are also responsible for carrying their own Aircrew Chemical Defense Ensemble and night vision goggles with them.

From there, 100 percent of the responsibility is with the AFE. The flight equipment members get the schedule of operations every afternoon and plan for the night and next day. Depending on the sortie, anything from body armor to parachutes, to passenger oxygen masks are needed. Typically, the bags are already prepared, one for aircrew and one for passengers. They are hand carried to the plane by the flight equipment members.

"We always maintain everything," said Master Sgt. Joseph Duff, AFE quality assurance chief. "We know we are ready to go in case of an emergency."

Every C-5 Galaxy and C-17 Globemaster III has requirements for lifesaving rafts and exiting devices. The C-17 uses three 46-man life rafts and the C-5 uses 25-man life rafts. The C-17 has no slides, but the fives slides on a C-5 are more than 40 feet long and inflate in less than 7 seconds. Every C-5 must also have five infant rafts, picture a glowing red car-seat, on board at all times. AFE is responsible for upkeep of all of these items. Almost every day, one of these items needs to be rolled out, blown up, inspected and re-packed.

Maintaining all of this equipment for 13 C-5s and 18 C-17s can take a lot of work, but the AFE is open 24 hours a day to get it done, said Sergeant Duff.

"At the Dover Air Force Base aircrew flight equipment shop it's all about attention to detail," said Sergeant Gebhart. "That is why we are so good."