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Arizona Airmen help fellow tanker unit

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Kelly Deitloff
  • 161st Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
PHOENIX SKY HARBOR AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Az. --  During the March unit training assembly the 161st Air Refueling Wing was asked to send a maintenance team to Cheyenne, Wyoming to repair a disabled KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft so it could continue-on to Eielson Air Force Base Alaska.

It's not uncommon in the Air Force and Air National Guard tanker community for aircrews to call on nearby KC-135 maintenance units to help repair broken components when far from home.

While Airmen from traffic management, supply and finance were working hard to get airline tickets booked, parts ordered and funding secured, a group of maintainers began working to help the stranded Alaska unit. The Airmen started troubleshooting over the phone with the Alaska crew chiefs.

"We sat on one of our aircraft and went step by step using the technical data to troubleshoot while having the Alaska crew chiefs perform the same steps on the broken aircraft," said Staff Sgt. John Milhoan, a communications and navigation specialist. "This troubleshooting gave us an idea of what parts and tools we would need to take with us on the trip."

After funding was secured and the list of supplies were finalized and pack Staff Sgt. Milhoan and Master Sgt. Jay Taylor, an aircraft electrician flew out the next dayto Cheyenne.

Once in place they immediately began working on the aircraft. Using the information from the prior day's troubleshooting, they identified the faulty part.

"We spent about four hours troubleshooting," said Milhoan. "[We] swapped out a couple of parts and finally narrowed down the problem to faulty wiring on the enhanced GPS inertial navigation unit,"

They repaired the wiring and ran all the tests again. Everything was in working order and the Alaskan based crew continued their journey.

"It was the efforts of each individual and the team working as a whole," said Taylor. "Utilizing [everyone's] skill sets that made this mission a success,"