Fairchild AFB Airmen Create Maintenance Vehicle of the Future
The 92nd Maintenance Group and the 92nd Mission Support Group collaborated to create the maintenance vehicle of the future. Since November 2019, the groups have designed, tested and approved a new innovative maintenance van to better equip 92nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron’s Airmen with convenience, safety and efficiency.
Fairchild Air Force Base leases utility vans to service aircraft on the flightline. The vans, which get replaced every 20 years, have a stripped interior, with the exception of the driver and passenger seats, and come without insulation.
“AMXS noticed limiting factors in regards to their replacement vans and they teamed up with us to come up with a solution to best accomplish their mission,” said 2nd Lt. Robert Waterman, 92nd Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management flight commander. “Maintenance pointed this out as being a problem, so we geared ourselves towards safety and improving the quality of life for our Airmen and the working conditions that they have by putting this idea into action.”
By modifying the van's interior, maintenance is saving money by not purchasing complete vans.
“The MXG and the MSG teamed up to create a vehicle that exceeds the rigorous demands of flightline maintainers,” said Tech. Sgt. Michael Barreras, 92nd AMXS sortie support dash-21 section chief. “Their partnership will enhance team Fairchild’s capability to deliver global reach for America.”
Thanks to the partnership between the 92nd MSG and 92nd MXG, Fairchild AFB continues its success by innovating to win.
“We created the design and they gave us all the inputs, requirements and everything they needed,” Waterman said. “This is just a testament to how Fairchild (AFB) does things, and how good we are with it.”
The new design for the vehicle is not only more cost efficient, it is in place to improve the efficiency of maintenance crews and increase their quality of life, with a goal to spread this idea to maintenance units Air Force-wide.
“This project really shows the creativity of our Airmen,” Waterman said. “Our goal right now is to get it right and settled here at Fairchild (AFB), and if we see that it works here and it works well, we want to eventually push it out across the Air Force.”
Innovation is a top priority at Fairchild AFB and the addition of this vehicle is just one of the many contributions the maintenance group has provided.
“We have the attitude of making things better for us and our people. The jobs they work in the MXG have long hours, sometimes in inclement weather, in order to get the mission done,” Waterman said. “In the Air Force, they’re driving ingenuity and creativity, so if there’s anything we can do to make the processes better for our people, we will.”
