Osan's sheet metal Airmen expand their versatility

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Stefanie Torres
  • 51st Fighter Wing Public Affairs
OSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  From a patch here to a fix there, the 51st Maintenance Squadron has exactly what Osan Air Base needs to keep jets flying and structures intact.

Airmen assigned to the 51st MXS sheet metal shop keep the mission moving by welding, cutting, bending, and shaping replacement pieces for the F-16 Fighting Falcons and A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned here, explained Master Sgt. Charles Sandwell, 51st Maintenance Squadron swing shift supervisor. However, the versatility of the job has allowed them to move beyond jets and structural maintenance to mobility aircraft twice the size.

"We received a call about repairing a C-130 from Yokota Air Base, Japan, and knew we could help," Sandwell said. "Some Airmen here have prior experience working on the C-130 and they jumped at the chance."

A C-130 assigned to Yokota was flying back home from a mission April 19 when a bird strike left a hole in the leading edge of the aircraft's wing. A call to Osan for help proved successful as the base had the parts and the expertise to fix it. Without knowing the extent of the damage, Yokota flew in materials to assist in the process, and Osan Airmen went to work.

Using thin pieces of sheet metal, the Airmen here used precision measurements and molding to create an outer layer that would mirror the aircraft's own.
"Making a temporary repair could take from six to eight hours because they have to make an exact match," Sandwell said. "They have to cut, fabricate, and create rivets in the skin to mirror the ones that were on there before."

Although the job seems time consuming, for one aircraft structural maintainer, the day's work was something he jumped at the chance to have.

"When I first heard it was going to be on a C-130, I called dibs," said Senior Airman Thompson Kongmany, 51st MXS aircraft structural maintainer. "When they asked for volunteers, my hand went up first."

Kongmany's enthusiasm to work on the heavy aircraft started when he was given the chance to help with the earthquake relief in Japan.

"One of the jobs I was tasked with was to create a camera and air sensor that actually got dropped into the Fukushima reactor so they wouldn't have to send any people in there," he said. "It was just an amazing feeling knowing that we were doing something to help out."

Being a part of the sheet metal shop where Airmen are able to build almost anything out of nothing is something he doesn't take for granted, he explained.

"I really enjoy it," Kongmany said. "Every day I get to come in and get dirty, and that's just a maintainer's lifestyle. It's what we like to do. We like to come in to work, get the job done, go home and have the sense of satisfaction that we actually did something productive."