The White Falcon - 22.03.1974, Page 5

The men behind the scenes
By Randy Padfield
three "birds" ready to fly, day
or night, because of Det 14's
maintenance crews.
The next time you hear someone
talking about one of Det 14's
crews rescuing someone from the
North Atlantic, put in a plug for
their maintenance sections. It is
the unit's mechanics—the guys
who get their hands dirty with
grease and wait in the hangar for
the helicopter to return from the
^mission—who make it possible for
the aircrews to get out there in
the first place.
They may not receive much of
the glory, but Det 14's mainte-
nance men are as much a part of
every rescue as any pilot, flight
mechanic or pararescue special-
ist .
It is with the concerted ac-
tions of both maintenance and
flight crews that the detachment
can and does reflect the motto of
the Aerospace Rescue and Recovery
Service, "That Others Hay Live".
Mention the words "helicopter
rescue" to an Icelander in Reyk-
javik or Ajureyri or Egilsstadir
and more than likely he could
tell you of at least one of the
many missions of Detachment 14 of
the 38th Aeorspace Rescue and Re-
covery Service.
Mention the same words to an
American in Keflavik and you will
probably obtain a similar re-
sponse.
Both could probably tell you
something about the pilots who
fly the Jolly Green Giant heli-
copter, about the flight mechan-
ics who pluck downed pilots or
shipwrecked seamen out of the
ocean with a rescue hoist, or a-
bout the pararescue specialists.
But even if both persons could
tell you everything about the
rescue activities of Det 14's
flight crews, it is doubtful that
either would know much about the
detachment's maintenance crews.
This is not surprising because
the maintenance activities of any
unit are rarely mentioned by the
news media. Such anonymity in no
way implies unimportance, how-
ever, for the "unsung heroes" of
maintenance perform tasks of e-
qual importance to those of the
aircrews.
As in any Air Force flying
outfit, effective and efficient
aircraft maintenance is of vital
importance to Det 14's operations
and mission performance. "Keep-
ing the birds flying" is never a
simple task and it is one that
involves much more than turning a
few bolts, checking oil levels
and filling fuel tanks.
March 22, 1974
Page 5