USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea -- USS ENTERPRISE, At Sea – Everything has a story whether it is a Marine, a flag or an aircraft. Marine Corps history is made on battlefields, on seas and in the skies.
Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 251 aviation maintenance administration is tasked to be the keepers of maintenance history on every aircraft in the squadron.
Each aircraft has volumes of logs filled with maintenance reports which began at the testing phase before the aircraft was accepted by the Department of Defense.
The reports stay with the aircraft for the duration of its lifespan. When aircraft are transferred to receiving squadrons, they provide better insight of the aircraft’s condition and readiness.
According to Gunnery Sgt. Kwan Cochrane, VMFA-251 aviation maintenance administration chief, “The aircraft log books are a living, breathing record of maintenance completed, presently being done and what will be fixed or replaced in the future.”
Periodic maintenance cycles are completed in phases to ensure parts are replaced before their lifespan expires. Each aircraft in the squadron can be on a different phase inspection depending on previous inspections and flight hours.
Maintenance administrative specialists have to calculate many variables such as flight hours, completed landings and component life expectancy to determine when maintenance will begin.
Every phase inspection requires each section in the maintenance division to examine different aircraft parts, each section examines the components they perform maintenance on.
Maintenance administration Marines verify maintenance using serial numbers to compare the condition of parts to what is recorded and to confirm each shop correctly completes their assigned inspections.
Maintenance administration specialists also work with Naval Aviation Logistics Command Management Information System, a computer program that digitally records and alerts users on maintenance tasks and history.
The system uses data scripting cards which are connected into aircraft during flights to record and transfer component conditions and flight hours. The information is then transferred into NALCMIS to update flight hours and essential maintenance tasks.
“We are keepers of information, tasked to ensure maintenance is done correctly on our system and the digital logbook matches our physical books,” said Cochrane, a Baltimore native.
Whether pilots are flying combat operations over Afghanistan or conducting simulated combat scenarios in Beaufort, a properly maintained aircraft logbook is required to ensure aircraft components are ready to fly.