thedrifter
10-12-07, 05:59 AM
A new, more advanced model of cargo aircraft is giving 1st Marine Aircraft Wing a technological boost, but with the added capabilities comes the need to educate its crew.
Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 added a second new KC-130J Super Hercules to its inventory this week. The first aircraft arrived in June and since then, the squadron’s Marines have been training and adapting to the aircraft’s new crew configuration.
More automated controls and a computer system that troubleshoots in-flight mechanical problems has eliminated the need for a navigator and merged two other crew positions into one. The six-man crew needed for the KC-130 Hercules is shrunk to four for the J-model, with the flight mechanics and flight engineers needed to man the KC-130 merged into a single crew chief position.
The old model’s crew consisted of two pilots, a tactical systems operator, flight engineer, flight mechanic and a loadmaster. The new model’s crew is two pilots, a crew chief and a loadmaster.
Since May, the squadron has brought 15 pilots, eight loadmasters and four crew chiefs up to speed on the new aircraft. The squadron’s remaining air crew personnel are scheduled to be fully trained by October 2008. The squadron is scheduled to have eight J models by then.
Before the J model arrived, a team of Marines and civilians with the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training from Pensacola, Fla., came to MCAS Futenma to train 20 flight engineers and flight and ground mechanics. The Marines spent two months learning about the new aircraft through the on-site initial accession school.
“(Previously) the flight engineer’s job was to troubleshoot a problem, and the flight mechanic would fix it while the (aircraft) was in the air,” said Lt. Col. Dwight C. Neeley, VMGR-152’s commanding officer. “Both jobs are now one because the new model is so automated and … there is no more need for a navigator on board because the plane has its own navigation system.”
Flight engineers and mechanics with the squadron now travel to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., to attend the initial accession school. They learn to perform the functions of a crew chief, which consist of monitoring the J model’s computer system. After Marines finish the school, they either go back to their duty station or to another station temporarily to get flight time, Neeley said.
“Being that we’ve only had one KC-130J (Super Hercules) here, we’ve had limited time to get the new crew chiefs up in the sky,” Neeley said. “But units back in the states, such as VMGR-352 at Miramar, Calif., are where a lot of them go to get their flight portion out of the way.”
Cpl. Christopher C. Hampton, a former flight mechanic turned crew chief, said he enjoys the responsibility of becoming a crew chief.
“Before I could be looking at gauges on the plane on one side of the aircraft and then on another,” he said. “This computer system has everything on one screen that eliminates me from going back and forth. Learning the computer was a bit confusing, but I do like the fact that I am controlling the maintenance of the aircraft.”
While the flight engineers and mechanics are still being molded into crew chiefs, pilots are also getting some time up in the air with the new aircraft at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.
Marines coming to the squadron straight from military occupational school or stateside VMGR squadrons do not require retraining. Stateside VMGR squadrons were the first to get the new models, and the school houses are now training Marines exclusively on the new J-models.
“That makes this process so much easier because we don’t need to send the new or (inbound) veteran Marines anywhere,” Neeley said. “They can also help out other Marines who might have questions. With all of this happening, we can expect to have less time on the ground and more in the air.”
VMGR-152 is scheduled to have 10 of its 12 total aircraft replaced with KC-130J models by December 2008.
Marine Aerial Refueler Transport Squadron 152 added a second new KC-130J Super Hercules to its inventory this week. The first aircraft arrived in June and since then, the squadron’s Marines have been training and adapting to the aircraft’s new crew configuration.
More automated controls and a computer system that troubleshoots in-flight mechanical problems has eliminated the need for a navigator and merged two other crew positions into one. The six-man crew needed for the KC-130 Hercules is shrunk to four for the J-model, with the flight mechanics and flight engineers needed to man the KC-130 merged into a single crew chief position.
The old model’s crew consisted of two pilots, a tactical systems operator, flight engineer, flight mechanic and a loadmaster. The new model’s crew is two pilots, a crew chief and a loadmaster.
Since May, the squadron has brought 15 pilots, eight loadmasters and four crew chiefs up to speed on the new aircraft. The squadron’s remaining air crew personnel are scheduled to be fully trained by October 2008. The squadron is scheduled to have eight J models by then.
Before the J model arrived, a team of Marines and civilians with the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training from Pensacola, Fla., came to MCAS Futenma to train 20 flight engineers and flight and ground mechanics. The Marines spent two months learning about the new aircraft through the on-site initial accession school.
“(Previously) the flight engineer’s job was to troubleshoot a problem, and the flight mechanic would fix it while the (aircraft) was in the air,” said Lt. Col. Dwight C. Neeley, VMGR-152’s commanding officer. “Both jobs are now one because the new model is so automated and … there is no more need for a navigator on board because the plane has its own navigation system.”
Flight engineers and mechanics with the squadron now travel to Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point, N.C., to attend the initial accession school. They learn to perform the functions of a crew chief, which consist of monitoring the J model’s computer system. After Marines finish the school, they either go back to their duty station or to another station temporarily to get flight time, Neeley said.
“Being that we’ve only had one KC-130J (Super Hercules) here, we’ve had limited time to get the new crew chiefs up in the sky,” Neeley said. “But units back in the states, such as VMGR-352 at Miramar, Calif., are where a lot of them go to get their flight portion out of the way.”
Cpl. Christopher C. Hampton, a former flight mechanic turned crew chief, said he enjoys the responsibility of becoming a crew chief.
“Before I could be looking at gauges on the plane on one side of the aircraft and then on another,” he said. “This computer system has everything on one screen that eliminates me from going back and forth. Learning the computer was a bit confusing, but I do like the fact that I am controlling the maintenance of the aircraft.”
While the flight engineers and mechanics are still being molded into crew chiefs, pilots are also getting some time up in the air with the new aircraft at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.
Marines coming to the squadron straight from military occupational school or stateside VMGR squadrons do not require retraining. Stateside VMGR squadrons were the first to get the new models, and the school houses are now training Marines exclusively on the new J-models.
“That makes this process so much easier because we don’t need to send the new or (inbound) veteran Marines anywhere,” Neeley said. “They can also help out other Marines who might have questions. With all of this happening, we can expect to have less time on the ground and more in the air.”
VMGR-152 is scheduled to have 10 of its 12 total aircraft replaced with KC-130J models by December 2008.