Aircrew flight shop prepares aircrews to deal with worst-case scenarios

NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- Senior Airman Matthew Romero, Red Flag Air Expeditionary Wing aircrew flight equipment specialist from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, cleans an aircrew-120 oxygen connector while participating in Red Flag 09-3 March 3. Throughout Red Flag, Aircrew Flight Equipment personnel conduct pre-flight and post-flight survival gear inspections. Red Flag is the U.S. Air Force’s air combat training exercise involving U.S. and allied air forces. The exercise is conducted on the 15,000-square-mile Nevada Test and Training Range north of Las Vegas. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Debbie Lockhart)

by Senior Airman Samantha S. Crane
366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office

3/20/2009 - NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- (Editors Note: This is part of a series written on the 389th Fighter Squadron's participation in Red Flag 09-3 at Nellis Air Force Base.)

It's something no one wants to happen. An aircraft goes down in enemy territory. The aircrew is far from the nearest friendly unit in an unfamiliar area with no way to contact their unit. However, it's this very scenario aircrews continuously prepare to face.

Helping these aircrews prepare for a possible worst-case scenario is the main mission of aircrew flight equipment teams.

With a mission to inspect and maintain flight and survival equipment, people like Tech. Sgt. Shane Ward prepare these aircrews for the possibility of relying on their survival training and equipment to make it back home safely.

"We are the key to survivability if an aircrew aborts an aircraft," said Sergeant Ward, an aircrew flight equipment core supervisor deployed to Red Flag from the 366th Operations Support Squadron at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. "We provide everything they need to survive and evade [the enemy] such as flares, compasses and radios."

Red Flag, the Air Force's advanced aerial combat training exercise, features an aggressive, highly-complex exercise designed to test U.S. forces and its allies in near-combat conditions. During this three-week exercise, which continues at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., through March 14, it provides shops like aircrew flight equipment valuable training opportunities to prepare them for upcoming deployments to places like Iraq and Afghanistan. Some people describe the experience as getting as close to actual combat as possible.

"The operations tempo here is two to three times higher than back at home," Sergeant Ward said.

"It gives us a lot of time to train on the equipment and day-to-day operations we'll do when on a temporary duty assignment or deployment," added Staff Sgt. Matthew Taylor from the 23rd Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.

Throughout Red Flag, these aircrew flight equipment Airmen will conduct hundreds of pre-flight and post-flight inspections on every piece of survival gear carried by their respective aircraft. They also help outfit pilots for their upcoming missions.

"It takes you way from home and gets you thinking that you won't always be working on station," said Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Grimm from Electronic Attack Squadron 134 at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island, Wash.

Red Flag provides participants opportunities to work with members of their sister services and allied forces.

"We're learning to bring coalition forces together -- one team, one fight," Sergeant Ward said.

It's this type of teamwork that's needed just in case the unthinkable becomes reality. It helps aircrews rest easy knowing they have all the gear and training they need to survive and return home.