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	Load Crew Airmen Race Against the Clock 
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        <h1 class="title">Load Crew Airmen Race Against the Clock </h1>
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                 alt="MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (Dec. 30, 2015) - U.S Air Force Staff Sgt. Mekai Stewart, 35th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 14th Aircraft Maintenance Unit weapons team chief, awaits the alignment of a weapons system.  Stewart and his team were competing in a weapons load crew competition. Normally, teams of three Airmen are challenged to quickly install upwards of three types of armaments to a stationary F-16 Fighting Falcon in the quickest time possible. "
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                <div class="image-title">Load crew Airmen race against the clock </div>
                <div class="image-caption">MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan (Dec. 30, 2015) - U.S Air Force Staff Sgt. Mekai Stewart, 35th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 14th Aircraft Maintenance Unit weapons team chief, awaits the alignment of a weapons system.  Stewart and his team were competing in a weapons load crew competition. Normally, teams of three Airmen are challenged to quickly install upwards of three types of armaments to a stationary F-16 Fighting Falcon in the quickest time possible. </div>
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    <div><b>By Senior Airman Deana Heitzman</b> <span class="date">/ Published Dec. 30, 2015</span></div>
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    <p> MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan -- Airmen from the 35th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron competed in a quarterly weapons load crew competition here, Dec. 30.</p>
<p>  teams composed of three Airmen raced against the clock, and each other, to arm an F-16 Fighting Falcon with three different weapons systems, all with varying weights and sizes. Both quality and speed were judged the most harshly during the competition, with senior leadership carefully inspecting the arming process for both teams.</p>
<p>  crew competitions, while entertaining, grant aircraft maintenance units an opportunity to showcase the hard work and attention to detail that are part of their day-to-day mission at Misawa. Air Force maintainers are held to a high standard as pilots rely on the enlisted members, some as young as 18 years old, and their expertise to keep the more than 30-year-old aircraft in the sky and in the fight. </p><br />
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