TAMPA, Fla. -- Like gas to a flame, the 6th Maintenance Group fuels systems team showcased their spark for innovation at the Department of Defense Maintenance Symposium in Tampa, Florida between Dec. 17-19.
The symposium brought together all aspects of the maintenance world to share ideas and collaborate on methods and procedures to help meet goals outlined by the Secretary of Defense and the National Defense Strategy. MacDill’s fuels Airmen were able to share their ideas and gain experience from the brightest minds.
The team, comprised of multiple 6th MXG and one 927th Maintenance Group Airmen, brought their mobile fuels systems trailer to the Tampa Convention Center exhibit floor to demonstrate how they’ve expedited their work processes to more than 1,800 maintainers from every branch of the DoD as well as industry leaders in aerospace, weapons systems and maintenance technology.
“The trailer was an idea that developed through the squadron as a way to make the teams’ tasks more accessible,” said Staff Sgt. Adam Rogers, a 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron KC-135 Stratotanker crew chief who spent time engaging with visitors as they passed by their unique trailer. “When an issue comes up and the team needs to spring to work, they can move with all the necessary equipment to execute their task.”
The fuel systems team spent the course of the symposium detailing how their trailer provides a cost-effective and efficient alternate to normal operations.
“For just a small cost difference, our fuels shop was able to create a mobile work center that allows them to work out on the approved areas of the flight line without having to send a runner back and forth to the shop when additional tools or equipment are required to complete a task,” said Capt. Felix Carrillo III, an aircraft maintenance unit officer in charge at the 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron.
The experience as a whole gave the team perspective on how to approach future ideas and how they can influence innovation both inside and outside MacDill.
“On top of being able to hear what other services are doing as far as innovation and where we are trying to go with predictive maintenance, there were many great ideas that were generated just by walking around the exhibit.” said Carrillo. “We had multiple visitors asking for more information on the trailer so they could bring the idea back to their bases.”
Though the aircraft maintenance squadron brought their own spark to the symposium, bringing home knowledgeable ideas was paramount to continued innovation at MacDill Air Force Base.