An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Pope C-130 crew chiefs achieve zero-defect checklist

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Peter Miller
  • 440th Airlift Wing
POPE FIELD, N.C. --  A "black letter initial" is the name given to the rare occasion that a  crew chief has obtained a perfect checklist for his aircraft. It means that the aircraft is not just operational, but that it is operationally perfect.

No discrepancies.

No inspection violations.

And, no outstanding scheduled inspections.

It is perfect.

At some bases, the perfect check list has never occurred. At others it happens maybe once every 10 to 15 years, but the 440th Airlift Wing Maintenance Group, just had two of them. Crew chiefs Tech. Sergeants Abner Berrios and Alan Hunter put their professional rivalry to the test and in the end both came out on top.

"For us crew chiefs, it is a huge deal," said Sergeant Berrios, crew chief of the "Snafu Special" a C-130 aircraft named in honor of a famous 440th Airlift wing World War II era C-47. "Any time you put your name on an inspection, people's lives depend on it."

A crew chief is the last man on the ground to check the aircraft before it flies. Discrepancies can range from a light bulb being out to modifications being required.

"Planes fly. Planes break, and we fix them," said Sergeant Hunter, crew chief of aircraft 87-9282, the honorary troop carrier for the 82nd Airborne Division. "Maintenance is a never ending process."

Between flights, crew chiefs work in the background to schedule inspections, fix brackets, order parts and service the plane. They also install or arrange installation for mandatory upgrades by communicating and coordinating with many other maintenance shops.

Sergeants Berrios and Hunter each acknowledged that many people from the maintenance group had a hand in the black letter accomplishments.

"No matter how much we would like to stand here and say we did this by ourselves, it would be impossible," Sergeant Berrios said. "Everybody in maintenance gets credit. It shows that our unit has a lot of pride."

From engine mechanics and electricians to hydraulics and electronic countermeasures specialists, everybody in the group pitched in. They acknowledged the efforts of the sheet metal shop in particular.

"The sheet metal shop had an unbelievable amount of work," Sergeant Berrios said, reflecting on what it took to obtain the perfect rating. "They were painting, repairing and making parts constantly."

"There are some parts that can no longer be ordered," said Sergeant Hunter. "The sheet metal workers made them.

"I approached the sheet metal shop numerous times to ask...their answer was always, 'yes.' That was the attitude from throughout the group that allowed us to do this," said Sergeant Hunter.

The crew chiefs used the black letter project to set a high standard. Sergeants Hunter and Berrios used their rivalry to out-work and out-inspect each other in an effort to give the units' newer crew chiefs and members a goal.

"The new crew chiefs are new to the Air Force and they're open to anything," Sergeant Berrios said. "If they learn to slack when they get here, that's what they do until they get out."

"There is a lot of pride that goes into this job. We have one purpose -- to go to war. You bust your butt out on the flightline to maintain this plane, so it is your plane. Nobody works harder or spends more time on the flight line than crew chiefs," added Berrios.

A black letter may just be an initial on a form to some, but to a crew chief, it is an end result to strive for and requires months of hard work and the help of the entire team.