MAFFS Mission Report

July 4th, 2008

 

Today’s Topic: The Care and Feeding of a MAFFS Aircraft

The McClellan air tanker base “pits” sit idle as the afternoon sun reflects brightly off of acres of concrete tarmac. All eight MAFFS aircraft are hundreds of miles away flying their fire retardant-dropping sorties.

The three pits are like NASCAR pit areas, except the ground crew of military “maintainers” are refueling each mammoth C-130 with 1,500 gallons of jet fuel, almost 3,000 gallons of fluids, and refilling air tanks from a compressor almost as big as a stock car. As the planes return from their missions, the maintainers spring to action in a highly orchestrated ballet of activities to facilitate a “load and return” order from anxious fire crews on one of the almost two thousand wildfires across the state of California.

The “pit crew” consists of two crew chiefs and a number of specialized technicians who are trained in the complex aircraft systems: these include the hydraulics, electrical and structural functions. The technicians are also busy dragging the heavy hoses that reload the Phos-Chek® fire retardant, pulling the high pressure air hoses charged to 1,200 p.s.i. and positioning jet fuel filling lines. They are also responsible for making repairs on the aircraft—except for the slip-in MAFFS unit which has its own mechanics on stand-by.

The Designated Crew Chief, or DCC, who directs this simultaneous activity, wears an orange vest with the initials “CSS,” which appropriately stands for Concurrent Service Supervisor. The second crew chief filling the role of Assistant Crew Chief, or ACC, roves the pit area to ensure everyone is in the right place, doing the right job—safely. Thanks to frequent safety briefings, even though upwards of a dozen people are working around a very large moving object with propellers bigger than them and highly flammable jet fuel, typically the most likely incident is someone tripping on one of the numerous hoses strung out to the aircraft.

The other vest color visible among the maintainers is a bright lime-green one worn by the person responsible for hooking the retardant hose to the aircraft. The vest stands out so the person on the retardant hose valve will watch for a hand signal that the MAFFS unit is full. Once the plane is loaded with retardant, fuel and pressurized air that expels the Phos-Chec® the DCC signals the crew to clear the area as the two inboard engines are fired up and the aircraft prepares to taxi out to the runway.

The rest of the crew will be wearing either black or tan t-shirts. One of them is Staff Sergeant Robert Dizon; he is one of the Wyoming Air National Guard military technicians who is assigned to MAFFS 1 and 3 from Cheyenne, Wyoming. Dizon said he enjoys the MAFFS assignment for the variety of responsibilities and the “change in tempo” from his job back at home. Staff Sergeant Eric Gentry from the same unit echoed the sentiments of Dizon.

The maintainers have some of the longest hours during the activation as they must show up early at the tanker base to prep the airplanes for the day’s sorties and then remain for an hour or more at the end of the day to put the plane to “bed.” On some days their duties extend well past the daylight hours.

Mission Commander Lieutenant Colonel Tom Brown said that the maintainers allow for the efficient use of the MAFFS and then, referring to the comedy movie Stripes, remarked, “Maintenance is like Sergeant Hulka’s big toe for the MAFFS.”