PMEL precision leaves no room for error

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Anthony Ross
  • 60th Maintenance Group
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE,Calif. --  Staff Sgt. Ryan Soliday began his Air Force career 11 years ago at the Los Angeles Military Entrance Processing Station. Six bases and a few odd countries later, he can be found at the Travis Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory.

Members of the PMEL at Travis are the purveyors of that accuracy and precision. PMEL members test measurement and diagnostic equipment for 208 work centers on base, across the state and for several bases across the country.

As the lead technician in the physical/dimensional section, his duties range from calibration, troubleshooting and repair, to training and supervisory roles.

"My job is to provide accurate, uniform, reliable and traceable measurements to Air Force systems and equipment," he said. "Currently, I support Air Mobility Command aircraft--the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III and KC-10 Extender at Travis, and the C-130 Hercules for the Reno Air National Guard."

But his role at Travis is not limited to just Air Mobility Command, Sergeant Soliday also directly supports aircraft and equipment from Air Combat Command, the U.S. Navy and the U.S. Coast Guard San Francisco. The F-16 Fighting Falcon at Fresno Air National Guard, Calif., the MC-130P Combat Shadow and HH-60 Pave Hawk at Moffet Field, Calif., the E-6 TACAMO at Travis and the Coast Guard's HH-65 Dolphin all rely on the Travis PMEL and Sergeant Soliday for their accuracy and precision.

Travis PMEL consists of three sections within the laboratory: Physical/Dimensional, Electrical Standards and Waveform Analysis. The Physical/Dimensional section supports 54 percent of the laboratory's workload. Some of the measurements performed by this section include torque, force, pressure, temperature, humidity, mass and weight, linear and optical.

"Our lab supports nine different weapons systems/airframes across the west coast including counter-measure test sets, boresight fixtures, gun alignment equipment, missile, radar and optical test equipment," he described.

Sergeant Soliday also shines in his additional role as flight training manager. He has enacted a flight policy establishing milestones and objectives to ensure training efficiency and timeliness.

As training manager, he provides developing Airmen with proper maintenance techniques and job safety while ensuring their on-the-job training is completed thoroughly. Sergeant Soliday's leadership in his field earned him the 2007 Air Mobility Command Maintenance Professional of the Year Award.