Engineers keep Blackhawks in the air

LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Walking into the hanger where the ‘Cavemen’ work might make anyone think they are at a NASCAR pit stop with sounds of clinking metal, impact wrenches, and the hustle of a crew.

Soldiers of Company B, 2nd Battalion, 82nd Aviation Brigade, at Forward Operating Base Shank, said they run their aircraft maintenance shop like a NASCAR pit stop.

U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Julio Ascencio, Co. B, 2nd Ba. 82nd Aviation Brig. UH-60 Blackhawk repairman and a platoon sergeant, said they get their aircrafts in and out safely and in record time with almost half the force.

We’re supposed to have 26 maintainers - right now we have 15, but we don’t let that affect us,” said Ascencio, a native of Los Angeles.

The crew, which works on 11 UH-60 Blackhawks, has not let any of the Blackhawks miss a mission due to maintenance problems.

“We haven’t missed or dropped a mission yet,” said Ascencio. “We accomplish every mission day in and day out with the people we have.”

Making sure the aircraft is safe to fly is a rule which all of the mechanics take to heart while performing maintenance.

“It’s our responsibility to make sure the birds are up to service and flyable,” said Ascencio. “I don’t want one of my Soldiers or any other Soldier to go fly in a bird that wasn’t inspected or put back together properly.”

The mechanics must perform scheduled maintenance, make repairs and complete inspections to keep aircraft in peak operating condition.

U.S. Army Spc. Richard Sanders, a UH-60 Crew Chief with Co. B, 2-82 Aviation Brig., said his crew takes off the panels and looks throughout everything on the air frame. “We check for anything that is leaking or broken,” the native of Tampa, Fla. added.

The aircrafts are inspected for every 40 hours they are flown and also when they reach 120 hours they go into a more in-depth inspection. Usually, the 40 hour inspections take one day and the 120 hour inspections last two to three days, but the team is finishing the inspections in half that time.

“We are doing the 40 hour inspection in half a day and 120 hours in a day if everything is good,” said Sanders.

Sgt. Neville Dcunha, a native of Bangalore, India, and a UH-60 crew chief with Co. B, 2-82 Aviation Brig., said his team likes to keep the aircrafts ready to fly and sometimes this means working in some harsh conditions.

“Rain, snow, cold or hot, doesn’t matter what the weather is like, we do the maintenance,” said Dcunha. “Not having the aircrafts ready is not a choice.”

They have the most flight hours across the board from all the other FOBs and task forces and this wouldn’t be accomplished if they didn’t make it a team effort, said Ascencio.

"There is no working by yourself,” said Ascencio. “As soon as we have an aircraft in the hanger we grab all our tools and go to work as a team. We do it in a fast and in a safe manner and push the aircraft back out, so it’s ready to go fly again.”

The crew keeps 70 percent of their aircrafts ready to fly to ensure every mission can be completed.

“A lot of people depend on us so we have to make sure that our job is done safely and correctly so we can keep supporting the missions in Afghanistan,” said Ascencio.