Ammo troops participate in ORE

  • Published
  • 366th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho --  While the weather here may be getting cooler, members of the 366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron felt the heat during the Operational Readiness Exercise Phase Nov. 6 and 7.

Usually, these maintainers are responsible for producing aircraft countermeasures and munitions, and can also build an average of 24-42 bombs per day.

"On a typical day, my job entails turning chaff flare countermeasures for the F-15E Strike Eagle for the 389th, 391st and 428th Fighter Squadrons here," said Senior Airman Brian Murphy, 366th Equipment Maintenance Squadron conventional maintenance crew chief.

"During an ORE, our job is high-paced - it starts out with building bombs, putting them together, taking them off the missions assembly conveyor and putting them on the trailers so they can go out to the flightline. If we get trailers back with bombs on them we make sure they're still serviceable and good to go for the next flight."

The pressures brought on by the ORE added unique challenges but the ammo troops proved resilient.

"The exercise pushed us hard - the demands of the flightline during an exercise are a lot different from the demands during a training environment," said Tech. Sgt. Charles Heringer, 366th EMS conventional maintenance production supervisor. "We're building a lot more in chem gear, pushing trailers out, getting trailers in...so far we've built well over 100 munitions over two days."

With more than 13 years experience in his field, Heringer knows the importance of the ammo team's mission.

"Without munitions aircraft aren't lethal - we supply the fight, basically," he said. "Without us, they're just punching holes in the sky...we deliver death to the enemy."
Murphy agrees.

"If we don't do our job right and there are people on the ground who need help, they won't get the help they need," Murphy said. "If we mess up, forget to set a fuse or set settings wrong, that could cost lives."