445th Airlift Wing hosts 433rd Airlift Wing reservists

  • Published
  • By Stacy Vaughn
  • 445th Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  A taste of Texas swept through the 445th Airlift Wing Maintenance Group Sept. 3 when 43 reservists assigned to the 433rd Airlift Wing, Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, arrived to set up shop for a two-week stay to support their C-5 Galaxy aircraft that are temporarily flying training missions here while runway repairs are being made at their home station.

Chief Master Sgt. Joseph Campbell, 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Superintendent, and Chief Master Sgt. Theodore Williams, 433rd Maintenance Squadron Superintendent, led a team of 41 maintenance workers to the Buckeye State to set up and maintain two C-5s that are flying to support the 356th Airlift Squadron training missions.

"We're glad to be here. We brought various maintenance workers from supply, plans and scheduling and MOCC (maintenance operations control center) to help support our C-5s that will be flying missions here until our runway is repaired," Chief Williams said. Runway repairs are currently scheduled to be complete by Sept. 16.

While prepping his aircraft for a morning training mission, Master Sgt. Bryan Fitch, 356th AS, said he was happy to be back on the flight line at the 445th AW. Sergeant Fitch left the wing six months ago for Texas to begin his current assignment as a flight engineer instructor.

"It's great to be back home. We needed to find an alternate way to continue to conduct training for our C-5 aircrew while our runway was closed so we brought two AMP (Avionics Modernization Program) C-5s here to continue with our training missions," Sergeant Fitch said.

Currently, training for C-5 aircrew for the Guard, Reserve and active duty is the responsibility of the 433rd Airlift Wing. Sergeant Fitch anticipates they will have run eight flight engineers and four pilots through training before leaving Ohio.

Staff Sgt. Scott Bunch, 433rd AW Maintenance Group crew chief, said he was happy that his unit chose the 445th Airlift Wing as their temporary home. "I was born and raised in this area so it's nice to be back home and see some of the changes in the area. We've had a bad drought in Texas so it's nice to smell and see the rain that we've been experiencing here lately and to see the green trees and grass.

Chief Williams said he and his fellow reservists are appreciative of the support they've received since they got here from the wing.

"Col. (Anna) Schulte (445th Maintenance Group commander) and her staff have been great. We really appreciate her letting us set up shop here and letting us have access to her runway and any equipment that we may need. We hope that in return we can help her out in any way that's needed," Chief Williams said.