Alaska to Alabama: Units benefit from ISO inspection

  • Published
  • By Genee H. Hughes
  • 908th Airlift Wing
MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. --  The 908th Maintenance Squadron has been hosting a special visitor recently, a C-130H1 from the Alaska Air National Guard.

How does an Alaska ANG aircraft happen to be at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala., in the hands of an Air Force Reserve unit?

According to Lt. Col. James Hartle, the Alaska ANG was looking to fulfill a requirement of three isochronal (ISO) inspections for their aircraft, but faced challenges due to facility renovations, predeployment preparations and an overall shortage of manpower. They needed to complete the inspections off station.
The 908th Maintenance Group was the first unit within AFRC to step up and help out.

They have a deployment going on, and are prepping for another," said Senior Master Sgt. Michael Swims, Maintenance Flight Chief, 908th MXS. "They had three aircraft that needed ISO inspections. Little Rock did one for them in December, and we put our name in the hat to help them out in January, and they still have one more that needs to be done."

An ISO inspection, required every 18 months, takes approximately 22 days to complete.

We take the panels off and dig deep into the airplane. More in-depth inspections than those carried out during day-to- day operations. Take it apart, inspect it and put it back together.

The 908th's guest is a 1982 H1 version of the C-130 (the 908th flies the 1985 H2 model) For 90 percent of the work, there's no difference.

"But when you get into the avionics, that's where the planes differ," Swims said. "For those, they'll have to go back to Alaska."

The first week was basically scheduled maintenance, and then the 908th Airmen got into inspection mode to identify any discrepancies. Although this is an additional workload for the MXG, which perform approximately six inspections a year, it provided a bonus training opportunity for the year.

"This benefits the entire group, as every maintenance specialty is required to perform the ISO," Hartle said. "This way, we can get ahead with required maintenance tasks, as well as become more proficient in our overall processes and personal tasks.

"The biggest benefit for us is that we have a deployment coming up, and my ISO coordinator is scheduled to go," Swims said. "I'm training someone to take his position, and this inspection gives one more opportunity for him to train to manage the ISO process.

"For my Airman on orders and those here during the recent UTA, we got a lot of training done."