The benefits of teamwork

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Connor Estes
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  An eight-member jet engine maintenance team from the 169th Fighter Wing, McEntire Joint Air National Guard Base, S.C., has been deployed here since April 9. The Airmen's role is to support their unit, which is currently deployed to Afghanistan, when it has jet engines that need rebuilding.

"Being here in England instead of in the states allows for the engines to be fixed much quicker and saves on huge shipping costs," said Master Sgt. James Compton, McEntire team superintendent. "It would cost around $20,000 to ship an engine back to South Carolina and we've worked on two, so double that amount."

While here, the 169th Airmen have formed a working partnership with the 48th Component Maintenance Squadron. When the team isn't working on their own engines, they give a helping hand with 48th CMS engines.

"We have spared three of the 48th CMS engines since being here," Compton said.

The propulsion section normally puts out between nine and 11 engines most months according to Tech. Sgt. David Long, 48th CMS jet engine production supervisor. However, production this past month has been especially good with the 169th team's help.

"This past month we were able to turn 14 engines with the help of the McEntire group, which is pretty high," said Long. "So having them here has definitely been a benefit to us."

According to Master Sgt. Scott Fitzgerald, 48th CMS jet engine maintenance NCO in charge, this helped save approximately 1,200 man hours.

The 48th CMS has in turn helped the 169th ANG members by providing them with hands-on training they usually don't have with their normal one-weekend-a-month training schedule.

"The constant hands-on training on engines for the last four months has been a huge benefit to my team," said Compton. "It ensures they are certified on all training requirements and comfortable with everything that goes into building the engines. I think overall we have both benefited from each other."