But equally important is the fact that the maintenance crews are highly skilled. For most of us, we are trained every day back in Houston to fix any problems that might arise, said Staff Sgt. Bert Babcock, a flight-line crew chief. Most of us here are full-time technicians at Ellington, so we re coming over here and doing things that we are already comfortable doing. When the F-16 s return from a mission, the maintenance crews inspect every inch of the airplane.
Nothing is overlooked, as avionics, weapons and evasion systems are thoroughly checked.
Babcock said when the maintenance crews prepare to launch the planes, veteran pilots are the ones getting into them. We have experience from the top down, he said. Like our maintenance and operations people, our pilots came into the Guard possessing real-world experience. Crogg, a veteran of two previous Operation Southern Watch missions while on active duty, passed the 100-sortie mark over Southwest Asia with a total of 102. More than anything, he said, the greatest asset the National Guard brings to the AEF is experience.