Connecticut Air National Guardsmen with the 103rd Maintenance Squadron at Bradley ANG Base completed overhauling the 100th A-10 TF-34 turbofan engine since the centralized repair facility began operations there in May 2007. They reached the milestone in mid October, announced unit officials on Nov. 23. “It took two and a half years to complete the first 50 engines, but only 17 months to complete the second 50,” said CMSgt. Gerardo Apruzzese, TF-34 CRF aerospace propulsion shop chief. He added, “This achievement not only validates the consistent solid performance by CRF personnel . . . but also the positive impact training, experience, and process improvement have had on the timeline of each engine overhauled.” The CRF, now in a new state-of-the-art building, performs immediate-level maintenance on TF-34s for active duty and Air Guard A-10 units. It currently overhauls the engines at a rate of 3.4 per month.
The Pentagon’s new counter-drone task force will play a direct role in arming Airmen with new weapons to defend Air Force agile combat employment, or ACE, air bases in austere locations against enemy drone attacks, the director of Joint Interagency Task Force 401 said Oct. 14.
