OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea -- With one of the top 51st Fighter Wing priorities “ready to fight tonight,” keeping Osan’s aircraft in tip-top shape is essential to meeting that goal.
The aircraft parts store is one-stop shop for aircraft maintainers to get the parts they need to maintain our capability to “fight tonight.”
The APS is assigned to the 51st Logistics Readiness Squadron and enables aircraft maintainers to get the parts they need quickly because of their flightline access, inventory on hand, and 24-hour operations.
“The aircraft parts store is the main focal point for all aircraft parts at Osan Air Base,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Dustin Murphy, 51st LRS mobility readiness spare package journeyman. “We store, identify and issue out aircraft parts.”
The APS has about 140,000 parts to keep accountability of and ensures new parts are back filled when exhausted.
In addition to having parts readily available to be used on base, the APS Airmen also manage readiness spare packages that allow aircraft to deploy to another location.
“The kits are built for specific aircraft and we have kits for each type of aircraft to include the U-2s,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jennifer D. Martz 51st LRS APS section chief. “We send those out whenever those planes go out for temporary duty.”
An example of these kits’ usefulness is their use during Red Flag Alaska 17. The APS built kits for both the F-16s and A-10s participating in the exercise, then sent kits and Airmen to Alaska so parts could be issued when needed.
This allowed the jets to be repaired after flying offensive counter-air, interdiction and close air support training missions in a simulated combat environment during the exercise.
Whether Osan’s aircraft are at home station or 3,820 miles away in Alaska, the APS is there to have the right parts on hand to keep Osan able to Defend the base, execute contingency operations and sustain the force.