Bloody Hundredth Airmen propel mission to success

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Luke Milano
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
The running of loud engines and the smell of jet fuel is a common occurrence for Airmen in the aerospace propulsion career field, working to keep the aircraft flying.

Tasked with maintaining KC-135 Stratotanker engines, aerospace propulsion is part of the 100th Maintenance Group. From there, the Airmen are either assigned to the 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, working with the engines on the flightline, or the 100th Maintenance Squadron, working in the back-shop doing inspections or major maintenance.

“Our section checks and inspects the engines to ensure the aircraft are in perfect working condition, so the aircrew can carry out their mission,” said Senior Airman Ian Hernandez-Mancilla, 100th AMXS aerospace propulsion journeyman.

Aside from maintaining the aircraft, Airmen deal with adversity on a daily basis.

“Being flexible is an important part of the job,” said Tech. Sgt. Torrey Sanchez, 100th AMXS aerospace propulsion lead technician. “You never know what is coming or what the weather will be like, so when you have a unique problem, you come to the shop and fix it. When you have good rhythm in the shop, you can fix a problem within the estimated time of completion, and we do a very good job at that.”

The effectiveness of the shop is shown through the different responsibilities given to these maintainers.

“We support the mission in multiple ways,” Sanchez said. “Our shop maintains the engines, as well as conducts periodic inspections and unscheduled maintenance. Also, we support other shops who rely on our engines to troubleshoot their equipment, and it keeps us constantly busy.”

The Airmen play a pivotal role in keeping the mission going by working with different shops within the 100th AMXS, including crew chiefs, fuel cell and hydraulics.

“To me, the best part of the job is when I see our aircraft flying; I contributed to helping get them there, and it means I did my job well,” Hernandez-Mancilla said.

The aerospace propulsion Airmen’s success is exemplified through the Bloody Hundredth’s mission as a ready force and strategic forward base, projecting airpower through unrivaled air refueling across Europe and Africa.