First Turkey deployers return

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
  • 931st ARG Public Affairs
The first of 931st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron's three rotations into Turkey is complete.

Maintainers who deployed to Incirlik Air Base on June 28 returned last weekend on a late evening KC-135 flight back to McConnell.

According to two maintainers who deployed there before, both with the Air National Guard, 931st maintainers have played a key part in making an important mission a success.

"Everybody worked together," Tech. Sgt. Glen Pearson said about the first rotation of deployers he served with. "We made all of our missions."

Like Sergeant Pearson, Tech. Sgt. Lanning Pike joined the 931st after their maintenance jobs with the Air National Guard at McConnell AFB were eliminated by a Base Realignment and Closure initiative. Both Airmen deployed to Turkey with their Guard wing in 2005 and 2006.

There's a different kind of job satisfaction at Turkey that is not readily found at McConnell, Sergeant Pike said. That was one of the main reasons he volunteered for the mission again.

"Over there, you're doing real missions in support of real guys on the ground," Sergeant Pike said, contrasting the direct link a maintainer in Turkey has to Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom with the more mundane training usually supported back in the United States.

Sergeant Pearson said he was impressed by the "Total Reserve Force" at Incirlik.

Of the more than 20 maintainers to fly in first, four were from the 931st. Sergeant Pearson was one of the four. "It was real hectic until the second and third aircraft arrived," he said. After that, Reserve maintainers from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., Grissom Air Reserve Base, Ind., Andrews Air Force Base, Md., and McConnell worked together to get KC-135 Stratotankers in the air.

One of the reasons Sergeant Pearson volunteered to go back to Turkey was because his supervisor, Master Sgt. Brian Lawley, AMXS jet section lead, had also volunteered. "Him being there, I knew I would get the training that I needed," Sergeant Pearson said.

The deployment also offered training not normally available at McConnell, Sergeant Pike said. At Turkey, he and Sergeant Pearson learned how to operate a panel that manages fuel distribution to the KC-135's many fuel tanks. It's an especially helpful skill when assigned to three-man crews during typical temporary duty assignments.

"(Now) I can jump up and run the panel if the other two guys are busy," Sergeant Pike said.

Other parts of the deployment were much the same as they were during their previous stays in Turkey, the two former Guardsmen agreed. It's still hot there, which is why Sergeant Pike intentionally volunteered for the night shift when the sun was down. "But it's more humid at night," he said, when T-shirts become soaked in sweat just as fast.

Maintainers spend 12 hours on shift, 12 hours off shift while in Turkey. Some of the Airmen who left for the first rotation into Incirlik volunteered to stay for another. The last rotation is scheduled to deploy on July 29.