Total-force tech sergeant receives rare honor

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Jason Schaap
  • 931st Air Refuleing Group Public Affairs
MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. --  Just picture it. A fighter pilot pulls up to a KC-135 for some gas and notices a giant bumper sticker on the back of the tanker. It reads:

"My Crew Chief Made the Honor Roll at McConnell AFB"

It's the type of idea that makes Tech. Sgt. Gregory Mitchell cringe.

Sergeant Mitchell is a maintenance crew chief assigned to the 931st Air Refueling Group. He recently made the quality assurance honor roll of the 22nd Air Refueling Wing (the 931st's active-duty host unit at McConnell) for the second time this year.

"I just happened to be at the right place at the right time," Sergeant Mitchell said, referring to the random nature of quality assurance inspections for crew chiefs. "I was just doing my job."

One of the many things he has learned in his eight years in the Air Force is that humility goes a long way on a flightline full of maintainers who traditionally love to make fun of each another. A big bumper sticker, for example, could translate into an endless supply of teasing ammo.

Sergeant Mitchell's chain of command, however, is not so reserved about his success. Senior Master Sgt. John Boulett, a crew chief supervisor for the 931st Maintenance Squadron, described a recent decision to offer Sergeant Mitchell a full-time job at the squadron as a "no-brainer."

"He's a team player and a meticulous inspector," Sergeant Boulett said. "He has excellent attention to detail."

Sergeant Mitchell joined the 931st as a traditional Rerservist in 2006 when he finished a six-year tour in the active-duty Air Force. His experience has been a valuable asset to the total-force movement at McConnell. He doesn't just help keep tankers in the air, Boulett said, he trains the base's young active-duty and Reserve crew chiefs.

"They all look up to him," Boulett said. "He has a lot of knowledge."

Sergeant Mitchell isn't the only 931st maintainer to make the 22nd's honor roll, but he is one of the very few. Still, he ignores the rarity of the accomplishment.

"We have some really good crew chiefs," he said, again deflecting the praise to those he serves with. "It's cool that I had zero defects (reported on his inspection), but I've had my share of failures too."

His chain of command knows Sergeant Mitchell is, as he put it, "human...not perfect." Yet, his perfect inspections have helped make him one of his squadron's top performers. That's why he was recently asked to be the squadron's deployment manager.

Sergeant Mitchell is "always one of the first to volunteer," Sergeant Boulett said. So it was not surprising he agreed to manage deployment needs of a squadron scheduled to double in size in the near future.

The job means more time inside an office and less time on the flightline. And yeah, he said, his buddies out working on the tankers never miss a chance to rib him about it.