19th AMXS rises to the top, receives AF-level award

Senior Airman Michael Matinchek and Airman 1st Class Michael Schmidt, both 19th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron hydraulics maintainers, change an engine pump on a C-130 J-model aircraft April 7 on the flightline. The squadron’s Airmen are vital assets to missions at home and throughout deployed locations and were recognized at the Air Mobility Command and Air Force-levels for their hard work and professionalism. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Steele C. G. Britton)

19th AMXS rises to the top, receives AF-level award

Published April 5, 2010
By Senior Airman Steele C. G. Britton
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. -- The men and women of the 19th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron proved recently to be an elite group after being awarded with the Air Force-level 2009 Maintenance Effectiveness Award.

This C-130 maintenance team of can-do, will-do, and won't-stop attitudes and work ethics distinguished itself by accomplishing superior aircraft maintenance during 2008 and 2009.

The award citation stated that the 19th AMXS maintainers generated 26,900 sorties, yielding an impressive 42,300 flying hours to support the Global War on Terror and joint training exercises worldwide during the time period.

"There's not a wheel that turns on the flightline without our maintainers. The AMXS Airmen are out there on the ramp 24/7 and are the final piece that gets the aircraft airborne. There's not one C-130 that moves without the AMXS making that happen," said Col. Chris Hair, 19th Maintenance Group commander.

In its first fiscal year of activation, the squadron deployed a total of 35 aircraft and 452 Airmen across four continents, sustaining continuous expeditionary combat support to Joint Base Balad, Iraq; Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar; and Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan; and stood up bare-base operations at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, according to the award citation.

"The amazing thing is the number of simultaneous operations that our maintainers have been able to cover all while never saying 'we can't support the war fighter.' The 19th AMXS are the unsung heroes of these deployments and contingency operations," said Colonel Hair.

Colonel Hair is very proud to be a part of the maintenance team at Little Rock Air Force Base and applauds the men and women of 19th AMXS for a job well done.

"The title of the award says it all - they are the most effective maintenance organization for their size and category in the entire Air Force," he said.