Combat Engineers: Masters of All Trades
By Madonna Walsh, Boeing Defence UK Communications
Back to Dispatches from Afghanistan
Ask any flight crew what's most important to its aircraft and the answer you are most likely to hear is "the ground crew."
"We're on call 24/7," said British Army Capt. Mark Britton, Attack Helicopter Head of Engineering at Camp Bastion. "Keeping the aircraft at a high rate of availability is crucial to mission success."
"If you have a problem or a question, you have someone to ask," said Maj. Liz Stephens, a Chinook engineer for the Royal Australian Air Force. "If we have a particular issue, we can call the Dutch or the Brits and ask them if it's something they've faced before."
The rugged terrain, high altitude and hot, dusty conditions make operating in Afghanistan difficult and provide constant challenges for the maintenance crews. Teamwork is essential.
"The next level of interoperability we're seeking is 'interchangeability,' where it doesn't matter if it's an Australian or a Dutch or a UK Chinook, or a Dutch, U.S. or UK Apache or whatever it might be -- a UK or an American Predator," said Group Capt. Andy Turner, Commander Joint Aviation Group Afghanistan. "What we really want is seamless interchangeability of aircraft components and types so we can get on with business with a minimum amount of friction."
Dutch Col. Bas Pellemans agrees. "Our Apaches are flying year round and we're preparing to bring our Chinooks out for the very hot weather," he said. "We've had both aircraft for quite some time, so sharing what we've learned with others, and having them share with us, means better maintained and more available aircraft for the missions."
"We share the knowledge as best we can," said Sgt. Mark Springall, an avionics technician for the UK Apache. "It's a team effort over here. Everyone is after the same results, so the quicker issues can get resolved, the better."