Combat Flightline program promotes excellence

  • Published
  • By Maj. Matt Gamblin
  • USAFE Logistics
RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany (USAFENS) --  Taking pride in their aircraft’s appearance and keeping them in top-notch shape has paid off for several dedicated crew chiefs within the command thanks to the Combat Flightline program.

The program, which measures key maintenance data from the command’s flying wings in an effort to ensure aircraft readiness, reliability and safety, sponsors two quarterly competitions.

The USAFE Aircraft Appearance and Dedicated Crew Chief of the Quarter awards not only grant a crew chief bragging rights and a reserved parking spot, but they also highlight the DCC and winning jet for special or high-visibility missions.

“The Airmen who keep our planes in the air are doing a great job and the Combat Flightline program gives us a way to measure and recognize all the hard work they do,” said Brig. Gen. Jay Lindell, USAFE Director of Logistics.

The first competition is the Aircraft Appearance Award. The focus in this category is on how the aircraft appearance is maintained. Exterior and interior appearance, safety equipment assigned to the aircraft, maintenance forms associated with the aircraft and even the Dedicated Crew Chief assigned to the aircraft all contribute in the scoring of the aircraft. Each wing commander leads a panel of judges to inspect the fleet each quarter and announces the wing winner.

The second competition is the DCC of the Quarter. The DCC is an aircraft maintainer who owns overall responsibility for an aircraft. Each DCC completely manages maintenance activities for a single aircraft, both at home station and deployed, when possible.

“Like the pride of having aircrew names on an aircraft, the DCC’s name painted on the side of an aircraft is also a source of great pride for our maintainers,” said General Lindell.

Each winner must have managed the aircraft’s flying record for the month, minimized discrepancies and ensured top-notch appearance. As in the appearance category, each wing selects and announces the quarterly winner.

Recent Winners 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Unit Aircraft DCC ADCC
31st  FW 2057 Staff Sgt. Brandon Morris Senior Airman Davy Ferguson
48th FW 2000 Staff Sgt. Jeremy Tysinger Senior Airman Mitchell Miller
52nd FW 1954 Staff Sgt. Franklin Newberry Airman 1st Class Matthew Houston
85th Gp 206 Staff Sgt. Zachery Albete Staff Sgt. Joseph Busque
86th AW 496 Staff Sgt. Lee Pederson Staff Sgt. Richard Petersen
100th ARW 62-3551 Staff Sgt. Craig Lambert Airman 1st Class Thomas Nightingale