JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. -- JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md – When it comes to fixing maintenance issues, there is usually a complex set of instructions to follow to troubleshoot a problem. However, every now and then, there is no manual. That’s where the Metals Technology shop comes in.
The 113th Metals Technology shop is one out of multiple maintenance shops in the 113th Maintenance Group overall. The Airmen who operate in its tool shed see it as a place where creativity and ingenuity can conquer any problem, even those outside the airfield.
“Metals technology supports not just the aircraft, but everyone on base,” said D.C. Air National Guard Staff Sgt. Scott Estes, aircraft metals technology technician. “We've supported the Medical staff on base when they had a centrifuge that was not spinning properly, and we were able to machine a new bushing for it to be able to spin. We've supported Air Force One in the past before as well.”
When it comes to repairing or refining machinery, they are able to apply the same mathematical fundamentals to everything – whether it be on a part of the aircraft or another kind of complex industrial device.
“Anything that's metal, we have spent so many hours working with it that you can give us a blueprint, any drawing, or give us a problem, and we can find a way to fix it,” said Estes.
Rather than a fixed guidebook, they instead can choose between several methods to approach a malfunctioning object, only confined by a broad set of principles that act as their parameters. They collaborate with the laws of trigonometry and physics to bend and trim broken parts until they transform into operational pieces.
“Crew Chief maintainers follow technical orders (TOs), which are step-by-step instructions on how to perform maintenance – similar to when you’re assembling furniture,” said Estes. “But when Quality Assurances comes down to inspect there’s no guide that directs us to do what we do, such as shaving 10,000ths of an inch off there and then drilling a hole here.”
These technicians use their welding and cutting skills to modify machinery to work better - at times shaving off mere fractions of a millimeter off of a piece of metal just to make the nuts and bolts function properly.
“Our tolerance can be tiny distances, such as a 70,000th of an inch - thinner than a strand of human hair,” said Staff Sgt. Brandon Kennedy, the other metals technician in the shop. “We have precise tools to be able to shave off those amounts.”
There are sophisticated tools in the shop to accomplish such a feat, such as one large device using Computer Numerical Control (CNC) technology, where the technicians could program their own commands and run it in the system to automatically cut any object according to the correct angles and slopes. This level of customization is capable of making unique components that optimize mission success.
“Metal technology is integral to the security and capability of the Wing as we can make parts and pieces for the aircraft that we cannot get from regular supply,” said Estes.
“During one of my first jobs was for the pod shop, I had to drill out a bolt that was stuck and broken off,” recalled Estes. “I was a nervous A1C but I did it. When I finished, they told me that I just saved the Air Force a quarter of a million dollars.”
Otherwise replacing the piece that the bolt had broken off would have been a costly action, but the ability of the technicians allowed for an in-house correction. In a way, they are the on-site “blacksmiths” of the base, always ready as a last-ditch effort before consulting with external organizations.
“Fun fact –” added Estes, “there’s a decent amount of us who are color blind - it is one of the only career fields where you can enter with that visual limitation.”