What being an aggressor maintainer means to me

(Tech. Sgt Bill Mullenburg is a 354 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron specialist flightline expeditor at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska)

Every Day when I first walk in the doors of the Aircraft Maintenance Unit I usually have one question running through my mind. What twist of the mission will be thrown on us today? At the end of the day the same outcome happens. How we get there is never the same. We always manage to dig deep down and make sure we get every pilot off the ground safely and efficiently. There are always tough challenges that require great team work and proficiency to get the job done. When things get moving quickly and start changing along the way it does not matter what your job is. Weapons personnel, crew chiefs, and specialists always work together.

When we first arrived here at Misawa Air Base, Japan, we had to reconfigure all the aircraft that landed. As Aggressors our configurations do not change as much as other units. When we first set the schedule for our first day of the TDY we planned for the worst. Due to the units' team work our day shift was able to recover all the airplanes and reconfigure their tanks, pods and weapons stores all before swing shift ever hit the door. Every one of my fellow coworkers was proud of the fact we were able to accomplish all of that. It allowed the much-abused swing shift workers to have the night off and enjoy their first night TDY to Japan.

Most units have the luxury of day-to-day flying and knowing when takeoffs are, as well as exactly when each jet is going fly. As an Aggressor maintainer I first learned everything and anything is subject to change at any time. Due to color schemes and aircraft configurations, things get changed up often. But we are always ready and always make it happen.

The bottom line is that at the end of the day when we wipe the grease off our hands and look back at what we made possible, we are always proud. Whether it was configuration changes or heavy maintenance, we always make it happen.