100th MXS Airman has bright future ahead

  • Published
  • By Gina Randall
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  For an Airman from the 100th Maintenance Squadron his current role in the U.S. Air Force is providing him the knowledge and skills he would need in civilian life.

"As part of the nondestructive inspection shop we use specific inspections to look at things the human eye sometimes can't see," said Staff Sgt. Anthony Sweat, 100th MXS nondestructive inspection journeyman. "We are able to inspect components without having to break them down; we are able to inspect the parts themselves -- internally -- to find any defects on the aircraft that could possibly lead to catastrophic mishaps."

The aircraft assigned to the U.S. Air Force are unique with individual missions. With exposure to the elements and age comes inevitable wear and tear. The maintainers are there to ensure the aircraft are ready for their mission and in the best possible condition so the pilots can concentrate on the task at hand, not worry about the aircraft failing.

"In a typical day we perform many inspections on aircraft support equipment and aircraft themselves," Sweat said. "We have hourly inspections. These are inspections our engineers have gone through and over time they have documented that at certain intervals, specific parts fail more than others. We also have special inspections where either crew chiefs or structural maintenance personnel find defects or cracks on aircraft. They then call us out and we will perform the best suited inspection for the part in question in order to discover whether the part is genuinely cracked and actually defected, or whether the results provide no detrimental defects so maintenance can press on with more important and pressing inspections."

With such an important role to keep both aircrew and people on the ground safe, as well as taking care of taxpayers' dollars, Sweat went through extensive and in-depth training.

"I completed a 10 week technical school course, which is very stringent on scientific theories," said Sweat. "We mainly learn theories grounded in physics and chemistry and utilize a lot of processes that are heavily based on these theories we learn. After we complete our technical school we have a year of on-the-job training where it gets more difficult as we get hands on with the equipment and tools. It can be challenging going from understanding a theory to actually seeing it practiced. So it takes around a year and three months to get fully spun up and know what we are doing."

Even once fully trained and assigned to a base, the Airmen need to keep their skills sharp.

"We are inspected annually in each inspection method to ensure we are capable of performing inspections to the top degree of our knowledge base," said Sweat. "During any down time, when we are not actively working on an aircraft, we generally train as much as we can."

This training allows maintainers to be versatile as they are able to work on any airframe. His interest in aircraft and desire to become a more rounded asset to the Air Force drives him each day to do more and more.

"The KC-135 Stratotankers are awesome. I really like this airframe," added Sweat. "Most people in our career field shy away from ultrasonic inspection methods, which is the majority of the work we perform on those airframes. I got spun up on something others are usually afraid of and it gave me a good start to my Air Force career."

His positive attitude and thirst for knowledge make him an asset to his leadership.

"We are a very small career field," Sweat said. "At this base alone we only have six personnel that perform this job. Not including our section chief and our assistant section chief who are more of a managerial position, so doing the job actively there are only four people."

This small team has an extremely important role in protecting those in the air and on the ground. They rise to the challenge and never overlook the importance of their work.

"Most rewarding is when you find defects that matter the most," Sweat said. "Knowing you could prevent something that could be very disastrous in flight. There have been many cases where the right inspections could have prevented the loss of an airframe or saved a life. It's really rewarding when we find defects, something that could have been catastrophic if undetected."

This Airman looks to the future, and looks to the stars.

"I would really like to work in the space industry as either a technician or an engineer some day," said Sweat. "I realize that it's too late for me to be an astronaut, so I would like to somehow work in the space industry. I feel that aiding in the space industry could be truly fulfilling for me."

His supervisor is proud of his Airman and trusts him to take care of the details the eye can't see.

"Sergeant Sweat takes pride in the inspections he executes," said Tech. Sgt. Alton Lee, 100th MXS NCO in charge of NDI. "There's no doubt in my mind when I see his name on an inspection I'm fully confident that it was accomplished by the book with great attention to detail."

This attention to detail is what means Sweat will have a bright future ahead of him, both in his Air Force career and beyond.