Ain't Broke N aval aircraft are designed to fly hard, fast and in the worst conditions, and squadron mechs work hard to ensure that they perform at 100 percent. The department is more like a command, with almost 1,500 Sailors and civilian contractors working in three shifts to keep the aircraft they support up and flying. More than 450 of the AIMD's military personnel comprise a sea-going detachment that acts as a deployable portion of the workforce to augment the maintenance skills aboard the carriers.
Squadrons perform routine aircraft maintenance and replace failed parts at the operational level.
When a component is broken, it goes to the intermediate maintenance level for repair and then is returned to the squadron. Major airframe repairs are usually handed over to a depot -level maintenance facility. Squadrons do not handle intermediate-level maintenance because the equipment needed to test and evaluate, repair and replace components is too large and personnel intensive. Nearly 50 percent of the repairs are performed on removable avionics electronic component boxes. However, the AIMD also works on ground support equipment, weapons racks, parachutes, pilot safety gear and aircraft frames.