Joshua Harrison always wanted to work in a mechanical field because his dad was a truck mechanic in the Army Reserve and Later in the Air National Guard. Then, in 2005, Harrison went to the Boy Scout National Jamboree and met some Army helicopter mechanics/crew chiefs and decided he would become a helicopter mechanic.
Throughout his time in the military, Harrison says he had many great and impactful mentors. Almost all of his non-commissioned officers preached the ethics of aviation mechanics.
Harrison started his aviation career in the Army as a 15T, UH-60 Blackhawk general maintainer. Then he went to A&P school in Massachusetts at the National Aviation Academy of New England. After getting his A&P, he later landed his current job as a aircraft maintenance technician with Textron Aviation service center New York. Ending six months ago, he was an acting lead technician for two years.
“Joshua has been with Textron Aviation in a 145 repair station for more than four years,” explained Joe Stack, inspector, Textron Aviation and the person who nominated Harrison. “In that time, he has worked his way up from a grade 7 technician to a grade 3 and is up for promotion to a grade 1 lead. He has been acting as a grade 1 lead on the weekend shift for almost two years. He is thoughtful in his approach to the work packages we perform, which can be in the hundreds of man hours. He refers to our manuals religiously and maintains situational awareness with his crew when handling multiple aircraft, which is all the time.” Stack also notes that Harrison's commitment to carrying out his tasks in a highly professional manner make him worthy of this award.
Harrison received his training at the Fort Eustis Virginia 15T School and Hanscom Airfield A&P School; he also received advanced training at the King Air Familiarization School, Textron Aviation.
Just as his Non-Commissioned Officers preached the ethics of aviation mechanics, Harrison makes it a point to do the same. “I try and teach new mechanics aviation maintenance ethics and practices,” Harrison noted. He says his current goal is to become a lead technician at Textron Aviation service center New York.
