Maintenance Ops Squadron completes the puzzle

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Patrick Harrower
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  When it comes to the hard-working Airmen at Travis, it is no secret that the maintainers put in some of the longest, most stressful and physically taxing hours on base.

But like any other group here, they still have to maintain their planning, metrics, quality assurance, coordination and training programs to remain a success. The 60th Maintenance Operations Squadron takes care of all of that, so the troops out on the line can focus on keeping aircraft flying.

"The 60th MOS take care of anything that the aircraft maintenance units don't have the time or resources for," said Master Sgt. Robert Marchal, 60th Maintenance Group facility manager. "It is also a focal point for training the entire group."

When new maintenance troops arrive at Travis, they are required to be trained at the maintenance qualification training program flight in the 60th MOS.

"MQTP is a revolving door of troops," said Tech. Sgt. Wesley George, 60th MOS instructor. "We train 1,500 students annually with a staff of 25 instructors. When new troops come through for upgrade training, they go through an Air Mobility Command 5-level course and will go back to their Aircraft Maintenance Units as fully qualified 5-levels."

The MQTP flight and the Quality Assurance flight work together to train the maintenance force and ensure troops are qualified and proficient at their jobs. While training is a key priority, QA doesn't stop there. They inspect the whole maintenance spectrum, as well as, civilian commercial aircraft that must meet military standards.

"Any commercial plane that is hired by AMC to transport American service members to overseas locations needs to meet safety standards set by Air Force maintenance and the (Federal Aviation Authority)," said Tech. Sgt. Thomas Hanes, 60th MXG quality assurance evaluator.

The plans and scheduling flight take on the daunting task of making sure training schedules and flying schedules don't conflict. They also keep track of planes going through inspections and washes.
The maintenance operation center looks over the entire maintenance process to make sure everything is where it needs to be and can quickly coordinate changes as they happen.

"We maintain a live snapshot of the health of the fleet," said Staff Sgt. Christopher Caronia, 60th MOS senior MOC controller. "I get to see the whole pie, not just a sliver of it. We track all assigned Travis aircraft and any transient aircraft."

Finally, the analysis flight looks over all the metrics of the maintenance group and briefs the information to the group, wing, AMC and 18th Air Force leadership. Analysis also uses the data they pull to track maintenance trends, as well as, repeating and recurring problems to help look for solutions to ongoing problems.

From training and quality assurance to coordinating and scheduling, the 60th MOS ensures the maintenance process flows smoothly.