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Despite crunch, shop turns emergency part

  • Published
  • By Capt. Jarod Castaneda
  • 551st Commodities Maintenance Squadron
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Punching calculators and rustling papers, trying to close out the fiscal year while simultaneously aligning next year's funding are normal sounds during this time of year in the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center.

This year was no different -- except for the burning of midnight oil and a tube-bending machine supporting the warfighter for a real-world mission on the other side of the globe.

On Sept. 30, an urgent call for assistance came to the OC-ALC to fabricate an E-3 FC-77 line, a line that carries coolant throughout the rotodome antenna. This broken line, which is made to fit, rendered the last of the two E-3 aircraft assigned to Kadena Air Base, non-mission-capable. The other jet sat hard-broke with a fuel issue.

Kadena Air Base maintainers researched the line in the supply system only to find it was not stock-listed. Then they attempted to locally manufacture the line, only to discover their capabilities were limited.

After repeated attempts, they turned to the professionals in the 76th Commodities Maintenance Group here.

"We received the word early Wednesday morning and had the drawings and material in hand by early that afternoon," said Nancy Doonkeen, the 551st Commodities Maintenance Squadron Sheet Metal Manufacturing Section chief. "I coordinated with the Plating Shop to treat the part which was done in about an hour and then hand-carried the line over to the paint shop. It was on my desk first thing Friday morning ready for installation on the aircraft."

Within 24 hours, the coolant line was formed with multiple precision bends, sent to alodine for corrosion prevention, B-nut fittings installed, and painted.

While this all was happening, an aircrew from Kadena Air Base performed a one-time flight and arrived at Tinker Air Force Base around 6 p.m., Oct. 2 to have the line replaced as well as have software upgrades installed. Kadena maintenance personnel installed the line Oct. 3 and did an operations check which was good with no additional tweaking required.

"Our systems were down for the close of the fiscal year but we were able to pull documents and process the part (they hand-carried the item.)" said Michael Wenzel, deputy director for the 76th Commodities Maintenance Group.

On Oct. 7, the E-3 left Tinker - back into the fight.

"It makes me feel great to know I helped the mission and the war fighter," said Bob Pierson who fabricated the line in the Tube and Cable Shop.

"This was a perfect example showcasing the talents of our flexible and responsive workforce," said Col. Herb Phillips, 76th CMXG commander. "At a time of the year when routine work is normally affected due to systems closing out, they realized the mission must still go on. I am extremely proud of their efforts to get the E-3 back into the fight in minimum time."