AGE Flight is fully capable

Col William B. Binger, 482nd Fighter Wing commander presents the 2008 Air Force Reserve Command Fully Mission Capable Award to the 482nd Maintenance Squadron AGE Flight on Dec. 6. Also pictured are: Col. Melvin J. Giddings, second from the right, 482nd Maintenance Group commander and Chief Master Sgt. Fred D. Hennagan, far right, 482nd Maintenance Squadron superintendent. The AGE flight maintains 96 pieces of powered equipment; 72 pieces of rolling stock and 37 non-deployable pieces of equipment required to support 26 F-16 fighter aircraft, transit alert and munitions storage operations. (U.S. Air Force photo/Chief Master Sgt. Katdo Robinson)

AGE Flight is fully capable

Published Dec. 16, 2008
By Tim Norton
482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. -- The 482nd Fighter Wing Aerospace Ground Equipment Flight was recently awarded the 2008 Best Fully Mission Capable (FMC) Flight in the Air Force Reserve Command.

During a brief ceremony, Col. William B. Binger, 482nd Fighter Wing commander presented the award to members of the 482nd Maintenance Squadron AGE Flight on Dec. 6.

"Air dominance begins with ground power" boasts Senior Master Sgt. Frank Stumbaugh, 482nd Fighter Wing AGE flight chief. "It is truly uncommon to sustain such an impressive statistic of over 95 percent FMC rate on average throughout the year", he said.

The AGE flight maintains 96 pieces of powered equipment; 72 pieces of rolling stock and 37 non- deployable pieces of equipment required to support 26 F-16 fighter aircraft, transit alert and munitions storage operations.

The flight has come a long way through the years when you consider the personnel vacancies. They have maintained this FMC rate with only six full time Air Reserve Technicians - half of the authorized personal, running a two shift operation.

"The sustainability is attributable to talented and dedicated unsung heroes that I am privileged to be a part of. This is what team effort is all about, and it shows", Stumbaugh proudly said.

With the recruiting effort in full swing, we will hire four more additional personal at the beginning of next year. The quality of maintenance being accomplished and the repainting of 164 pieces of AGE equipment from olive drab to Air Force gray is a testament to our unsung "AGE Warriors", Stumbaugh said.