With spirits high, planes fly: an AGE success story

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Kevin Wallace
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Have you heard there's a special blend of high-performance fuel, not available for purchase on the markets, yet currently being used in the 436th Maintenance Squadron to propel their most-valuable assets?

Pride - it's a purely-clean fuel, not reliant on foreign oil and pumps through the veins of Aerospace Ground Equipment mechanics day in and day out.

This pride, complimented by six months of preparation and a compliance-driven team mindset, propelled the 436th MXS AGE Flight to levels they've not seen in years, said Senior Master Sgt. Michael Rizzo, AGE's superintendent. Pride was apparent during the Logistics Standardization and Evaluation Program inspection.

"When I arrived here six months ago, we had an inspection backlog of more than 180 units, more than 100 broken [pieces of] equipment, and had a requirement to turn in more than 50 equipment items," said Sergeant Rizzo, who topped the list off with a deficient training program and a non-existent corrosion control program.

To say it plainly, the AGE pride storage tanks were near empty and no gas trucks were rolling in on the horizon. AGE is one of the most diverse career fields in the Air Force, said Sergeant Rizzo. They are responsible for maintaining electrical generators, hydraulic testing units, aircraft-jacking manifolds, maintenance stands, air conditioners, light carts, heaters and several other aircraft support systems.

Through effective team building, Team Dover's AGE shop has come from famine to feast in nearly all aspects of their flight programs and processes, said Sergeant Rizzo.
"Our team was able to eliminate the inspection backlog back down to zero, our line of hard-broke equipment has been reduced down to 22 pieces, we have turned in 22 items, and our training program has been nominated as a best practice," Sergeant Rizzo said. "I certainly hope the LSEP inspectors [see] how far we've come. Our team has worked hard and long to get us to the point we're at now. There is a definite sense of pride in this workcenter."

While most units' sole focus was on the Unit Compliance Inspection this week, the 436th Maintenance Group and their underlying units were challenged with the UCI in conjunction with the LSEP inspection.

"Preparation for the two inspections is very different," said Sergeant Rizzo. "For the UCI, an individual can go to the AMC Self-Inspection Website and see the standards by which they are required to maintain. In other words, you can use the information like a checklist."

This is possible because the UCI is compliance-driven, he continued. However, the LSEP is performance driven.

"Preparing for the LSEP is a bit more difficult to organize," he said. "Since this inspection's focus is largely performance based, the inspectors are essentially evaluating the maintenance culture of a unit. This is far more difficult to prepare for, leadership must ensure that personnel not only complete their jobs in a timely manner but that they are completing it safely, consistently following checklists and do not take shortcuts. Balancing that against a high-paced work schedule can be a real challenge." 

One AGE mechanic agreed the balance can be a real challenge, but with the right motivation and a dose of warrior ethos, she overcame the challenge.

Staff Sgt. Sabrina DeLeon, an AGE craftsman from Dallas, Texas, spent 8.5 years of her life mastering the career field. She has worked in both the fighter and mobility world, and really puts her best foot forward, said Sergeant Rizzo.

"I constantly strived to do my best to make sure that our flight didn't fail," said Sergeant DeLeon. "I knew what was coming and had to make sacrifices to ensure that we, as a flight, were ready."

Failure was not an option for Sergeant DeLeon, but she wasn't alone in feeling this way. In fact, most of maintenance pulls together when the going gets tough and this is a top reason Sergeant DeLeon is considering making the Air Force her career, she said, "I enjoy the camaraderie that I have with my fellow Airmen."

Though Sergeant DeLeon agreed that nearly every AGE process and program was improved by leaps and bounds, she felt their in-house Career Development Course tracker was worthy of being benchmarked.

"The CDC tracker makes tracking your individual's training progress easier," she said. "The flight chief and supervisors always have a quick and easy way to read and understand where an individual is in their training. You don't have to worry about trying to find dates and scores when meeting with the flight chief and commander before the Airman takes their [end of course exam]."

Being an AGE mechanic is what Sergeant DeLeon loves. It was the hard work of each AGE troop coupled with effective leadership that brought her flight back to life, she said.

"Nothing lies on one person here," Sergeant DeLeon said of their recent improvements and unparalleled success. "It took an entire flight to pull this off."