Standing up a squadron, 736th/712th AMXS share difficulties, rewards of starting from scratch

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman James Bolinger
  • 436th AW Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  It is the job of many Dover Air Force Base squadrons to keep its newest airlift asset mission ready. But few people are as intimately involved as Team Dover's 736th and 712th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron members.

These two symbiotic units perform all the flightline maintenance for Dover's five C-17 Globemaster IIIs. The 736th represents the base's active-duty wing, while the 712th represents the reserve side of the house.

These squadrons are also Dover's newest. They were formed this year before the June 4 arrival of Dover's first C-17, 'Spirit of the Constitution.'

"In April we had 35 people," said Lt. Col. Ray Briggs, 736th AMXS commander. "We had 32 crew chiefs, myself, Major Marcus Brazell, my operations officer, and Senior Master Sergeant Al Christman, (Aircraft Mobility Unit superintendent)."

Standing up a squadron is no easy task. There are endless programs to set up and because these members are working on an airframe that's new to Dover, people had to be PCSed from Charleston AFB, N.C., and McGuire AFB, N.J., to train some of Dover's C-5 maintainers.

The 736th began its life in Hangar 714 where they borrowed space from the 436th Maintenance Squadron.

"We didn't even have doors," said Colonel Briggs. "I had a scraggly old table with a borrowed laptop sitting on it. Much of our equipment was from the 436th Maintenance Operations Squadron."

The squadron was bare bones. Members where waiting on tools, support equipment and line badges, with their first plane just one month from arrival.

"We owe a huge thanks to the 436th AMXS," said Colonel Briggs. "Their Transient Alert Flight was able to fill some of our holes for a while."

The squadron has grown from its meager 35 members to nearly 110 and it is only about 50 percent of its end strength.

"The difference between joining a squadron that already exists and one that is still in its baby stages is huge," said Sergeant Christman, who has been working on Dover's C-17 integration since 2004. "Joining a squadron means figuring out the nuances and learning how people there do things. You know, the whole, 'we do it this way cause we always have' routine.

"The 736th is a dynamic environment because we get to create that routine the right way," he said.

The squadron recently moved into the newly remodeled Building 760, where they took a new approach to one team, one fight.

"We decided to create a workplace that was fully integrated with our reserve partners," said Colonel Briggs. "We took the original blueprints, which had the Reserves on one side and the active duty people on the other. So we told the people doing the plan we wanted to share the rooms across the board.

"If our active-duty people and our reserves work in the same shop then they should be combined," he said. "It only makes sense."

In fact, the first sergeant for the 736th is also the first shirt for the 712th.

"The 712th's shirt volunteered to cover the position until it could be filled by an active-duty first shirt," said Colonel Briggs.

The set up means these squadrons are among the most-highly integrated in the Air Force. However, Dover's C-17 side is a tightly-knit unit no matter where one looks.

There are five C-17 partners here, said the colonel, the 3rd and 326th Airlift Squadrons, 736th and 712th AMXSs, and Boeing, C-17 contractor.

"We do as many things together as possible," he said. "It is akin to being overseas. We all get together for barbeques and family days. We even had a four-squadron commander's call to make sure all our people where on the same page. It's truly amazing.

"Many of our C-17 pilots are going out of their way to learn the names of the maintainers who fix their planes and the maintainers know our pilots," said Colonel Briggs.

This camaraderie is inside each squadron too.

"Imagine working in a place where everyone who works there wanted to be there," said Sergeant Christman. "Every one of the 736th AMXS's people asked to come to this squadron."

Now that the squadrons have moved into their new building and have their tools, the hardest task facing them is getting every member trained while ensuring every mission leaves on time.

This is the job of the 32 initial cadre members. Eleven of these members were from Dover and already had C-17 experience, the others moved here from other C-17 bases.

"Everyday, one aircraft is left on the ground so we can train our members," said Colonel Briggs. "We also have to ensure all our ancillary training is complete and our members are fit to fight."

Fit to fight doesn't just mean good physical fitness scores to the colonel.

"Fit to fight in the 736th means becoming a global mobility warrior," he said. "It means we are physically, mentally, spiritually ready and qualified to do our tasks down range and here at home."

While getting all its members qualified, the squadron also needs to execute its flying mission.

As of Oct. 12, the squadron had a 100 percent C-17 mission on-time take off for the month.

"We can't do any better than that," said Colonel Briggs. "The nice thing about working on the C-17 is if you do everything safely, by the book, it will reward you with an on-time take off. No other plane can boast that."

The 736th and 712th AMXSs are less than one year old and are still in the process of building. (Finish Transition)

"Our people are doing so well," said Colonel Briggs. "Senior airmen are filling staff sergeant positions, staff and technical sergeants are filling senior NCO positions. I couldn't ask for more.

"We are the best, this is the place where it's happening and our team couldn't fit together better," he said.