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        Policy UpdatesNewsroomReoptimizationBIOGRAPHIESAF Senior Leaders      Airman 1st Class Curtis Doherty, a 374th Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology journeyman, welds a post hole for a B-1B Lancer platform at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 23, 2015. The average time it takes to fix or create a piece of equipment is approximately eight hours. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman David Owsianka)Sparks fly in metal technology shop
                        
                        
                        Airman 1st Class Curtis Doherty, a 374th Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology journeyman, welds a post hole for a B-1B Lancer platform at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 23, 2015. The average time it takes to fix or create a piece of equipment is approximately eight hours. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman David Owsianka)
                
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        Airman 1st Class Curtis Doherty, a 374th Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology journeyman, welds a post hole for a B-1B Lancer platform in the fabrication shop at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 23, 2015. The metal technology shop works on 20-80 pieces of equipment each week. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman David Owsianka)Sparks fly in metal technology shop
                        
                        
                        Airman 1st Class Curtis Doherty, a 374th Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology journeyman, welds a post hole for a B-1B Lancer platform in the fabrication shop at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 23, 2015. The metal technology shop works on 20-80 pieces of equipment each week. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman David Owsianka)
                
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        Airman 1st Class Curtis Doherty, a 374th Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology journeyman, sands down part of a tow bar at the fabrication shop at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 23, 2015. The shop often receives C-130 Hercules exhaust pipes to repair, utilizing the technicians' grinding and welding skills. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman David Owsianka)Sparks fly at Metal tech.
                        
                        
                        Airman 1st Class Curtis Doherty, a 374th Maintenance Squadron aircraft metals technology journeyman, sands down part of a tow bar at the fabrication shop at Yokota Air Base, Japan, June 23, 2015. The shop often receives C-130 Hercules exhaust pipes to repair, utilizing the technicians' grinding and welding skills. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman David Owsianka)
                
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Sparks fly in metal technology shopPublished June 29, 2015
                    
                    By Senior Airman David Owsianka
                    
                    
                    374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
            **YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan (AFNS) --**Sparks fly as Airmen help pieces of metal take form. These Airmen sometimes create something from nothing or improve necessary equipment for squadrons to continue their daily tasks.
Airmen from the metal technology section of the 374th Maintenance Squadron fabrication flight play an essential role in completing the Yokota Air Base mission by keeping aircraft flying.
"Our shop does things that no other shop can do," said Staff Sgt. Robert Freeman, a 374th MXS aircraft metals technology craftsman. "We are kind of the last line of defense on base, when something is broken and nobody can fix it, they bring it to us."
The metal technology shop performs maintenance work with welding and machining equipment to keep the aircraft in flight and repair equipment for various base agencies.
Jobs the unit completes are measuring broken or worn parts, drawing working sketches, arc welding, performing precision grinding to remove poisonous or corrosive deposits, and writing programs for machines using manual and computer-aided manufacturing methods.
A typical repair request the shop receives is to fix the exhaust on a C-130 Hercules. The shop grinds out the cracks and welds the repair.
The shop also manufactures metal parts for other Yokota AB squadrons, such as a bracket for a trash compactor crane for the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron.
"Our job is important because if tools or parts cannot be acquired by the Air Force, we can replicate, make or improve those tools," said Senior Airman Justin Weeks, a 374th MXS aircraft metals technology journeyman.
If the shop didn't exist, the base would have to outsource the work off base in Japan or try to get something from a boneyard in the states.
"We are here to prevent that from happening, because sometimes parts are not procurable anymore," Freeman said. "We create and maintain various parts for the aircraft to ensure it is capable to fly and ensure the safety of the aircrew."Yokota AB 



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