Phase Checks Don’t Stop in SWA

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Air Force F-16 mechanics deployed to Southwest Asia still must perform phase inspections for their Vipers—a four to five day process every 400 flight hours. And, the rate of sorties flown means the inspection time rolls around just that much faster—about every 120 days compared to once a year in the states, reports SrA. Candace Romano. “We literally de-panel and inspect the entire jet,” fixing anything that needs repair or maintenance, says TSgt. Ethan Thomas, a phase dock chief deployed to Balad AB, Iraq, from Misawa AB, Japan.

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org