firing on all cylinders

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Charles Ewing and Staff Sgt. Anthony Gillespie observe Senior Airman Thomas Neal as he removes a panel from an F-15E Strike Eagle on Seymour Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., April 4, 2012. The quality assurance flight inspects, validates and assesses aircraft and equipment maintenance to ensure all tasks are completed to meet Air Force instructions. Ewing and Gillespie, 4th Maintenance Operations Squadron quality assurance inspectors, hail from Trinity, Ala. and Chapel, N.C. Neal, 336th Aircraft Maintenance Unit crew chief, hails from Canton, N.C. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Gino Reyes/Released)

Firing on all cylinders

Published April 4, 2012
By Senior Airman Gino Reyes
4th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SEYMOUR JOHNSON AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Providing airpower on target on time is what the 4th Fighter Wing is all about and the Airmen who keep the wing's aging F-15E Strike Eagle in the air strive to meet and exceed standards on a daily basis.

The 4th FW has nine Air Combat Command maintenance performance indicator standards they are measured against. The standards are repeat and recur rate, mission capable rate, maintenance capable rate, supply capable rate, abort capable rate, flying schedule effectiveness, break rate and 8-hour fix rate.

"These performance indicators act as report cards on how we are doing in our planning and execution of maintenance activities throughout the wing," said Lt. Col. Scott Grover, 4th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron commander. "They are based on funding and manning levels and are not meant to be achieved easily."

The 4th FW met all nine ACC standards in February 2012, for the first time in more than a year

Meeting all nine is very rare and is a strong indicator that the maintenance technicians and supervisors on the flight line and in the back shops are focused on the right things, Grover said. "We have good months and bad months, in a typical month we have been able to meet five or six of the standards."

With all the ACC standards being met in February Airmen in the 4th Maintenance Operation Squadron quality assurance noticed a significant improvement in the quality of maintenance performed throughout the wing. The QA flight utilizes a maintenance standardization evaluation program, which evaluates aircraft and equipment maintenance to ensure accordance with technical orders and instructions. The quality assurance flight performed 10,000 inspections during the past 12 months with a 93 percent pass rate.

"There has been a significant improvement in the overall quality of maintenance being done, "said Master Sgt. Kevin Gillespie, 4th MOS quality assurance chief inspector.
In order to meet the standards it takes technical excellence, training, discipline and teamwork in the maintenance and operations groups.

"I could not be more proud of the level of performance. Our Airmen are firing on all cylinders and the maintenance performance indicators are just evidence of that," Grover said.