349th AMS, 312th AS: Training from the ground up

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Madelyn Brown
  • 349th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  It takes a 'village' as nearly every Air Force Specialty Code touches the aircraft, with training or qualification when Team Travis members launched a C-5M Super Galaxy from Travis Air Force Base, California, to Alaska, Jan. 23, 2016.

The 349th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and the 312th Airlift Squadron proceeded with normal operations in the morning rain Jan. 23, 2016 when they launched a C-5M Super Galaxy from Travis Air Force Base, California, to Alaska.

Not only did the flight transport passengers and cargo, but nearly every Air Force Specialty Code that touched the jet received training or qualification. From the ground up, crew chiefs, loadmasters, flight engineers and pilots ensured expeditionary readiness by either completing on-the-job, annual or upgrade training.

From the crew chief perspective, Staff Sgt. Andrew McGee, 349th AMXS, provided the final checks to diagnose discrepancies to the C-5M prior to take-off, as he does with every assigned flight. According to McGee, his procedures include double and triple checking forms, confirming no discrepancies, completing thorough visual walk-arounds, prepping the aircraft for aircrew, assisting with fuel and boarding passengers.

"You could call what I do a fine tuning of the aircraft and making sure there are no discrepancies," McGee said. "Once in the air, it's the flying crew chief's responsibility to respond to any discrepancies."
Lt. Col. Steve Lisec, 312th AS pilot and aircraft commander, has 25 years of flying experience at Travis. He spoke to the importance of the relationship between aircrew and maintenance.

"The training and pre-flight requirements are as old as aviation itself," he said. "The pilot goes to the crew chief and asks, 'is everything good to go?' There's a bridge of trust between the two."

For this flight, Lisec supervised Capt. Meagan Camp, a pilot completing Line Training Missions Process. After successful completion of these trainings, the Camp will be qualified to fly missions as an aircraft commander, Lisec said.

As McGee completes his crew chief responsibilities, loadmasters simultaneously load cargo and passengers onto the aircraft. On tail number 7044, Senior Master Sgt. James Grant, 312th AS loadmaster and Air Reserve Technician, provided training to an Airman who recently cross trained to the career field.

Tech. Sgt. Chris Cosse, 312th AS, formerly worked as an MC-12 sensor operator. For his evaluator, training an Airman from another flying career field is ideal.

"We like to take aircrew that has cross trained or brand new Airmen," Grant said. "The crew concept is vital for any flight, and it's something that prior aircrew is familiar with. Things work only when everyone works together as a crew. Nothing is kept to yourself and everyone is communicating all the time."

Another Airman who cross-trained, Staff Sgt. Jerome Salmeron, 312th AS, left the loadmaster career field to pursue the flight engineering, and is currently undergoing qualification training from Chief Master Sgt. Robert Fletcher, 312th AS, as part of the flight to Alaska.

"It's a two year hold process (to be fully qualified)," Salmeron said. "I loved my job as a loadmaster, but I was curious about what was going on upstairs."

Minutes before take-off, the crew chiefs and flight engineers gathered at the front of the plane for last inspections and to watch engine start. As they watched the jet, each C-5M turbofan whirred to life until all four were ready for flight.

"We need to physically scan the engine start," Salmeron said. "Upstairs (in the cock pit) they may see an alert come up, but we have physical sight on the engines in case something outside of the ordinary happens."

As the flight engineers scanned the engine start, the crew chiefs stood guard with the emergency fire extinguisher, prepared to respond to any aircraft issues. But the engines kept whirring, much quieter than their preceding C-5 model engines, and no issues occurred.

Airman 1st Class Samuel Hensley, 349th AMXS crew chief, received marshaling training from Staff Sgt. Jason Caproni, 349th AMXS crew chief, as he guided the C-5 out of its spot, and toward a smooth take off.