Brave to the BONE

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kelly White
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Two 379th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron master sergeants were awarded Air Force Commendation Medals Thursday for actions that helped save U.S. Air Force aircrew lives and prevented the loss of a $283.1 million B-1B aircraft during its emergency landing shortly after midnight Jan. 18.

Master Sgts. Alan Andrews and Michael Wingler, 379 EAMXS production supervisors, deployed from Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D., were presented with their coins during a maintenance group commander's call where, in front of a formation of about 700 fellow Airmen, they were also awarded the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Coin of Excellence for their bravery and outstanding service.

The sergeants' courageous actions ensured the safety of four aircrew members and prevented the possible destruction of the munitions-loaded aircraft, as well as buildings and other aircraft in the surrounding area, said Maj. Rolandis Crawl, 379th EMXG executive officer, as he read their award citations, which explained to the crowd the events of Jan. 18.

"We had just launched a jet and heard (tail number) 77 call in for landing. Shortly after landing, the pilots called over UHF that they're losing Systems 2 and 3, and that alerted us," said Sergeant Andrews. "System 2 runs breaks and steering, so from our position, we started approaching the aircraft.
"As we approached, we noticed the number 3 tire caught fire, as well as the number 3 brake. Sergeant Wingler immediately notified the (maintenance operations center) through our normal radio, and I called the aircrew over our UHF in the truck and notified them, 'Bone 22, super, fire, fire, fire, evacuate!'"

Upon Sergeant Andrews' warning, the pilots performed their emergency checklist and were evacuating the aircraft, as the sergeants drove in front of them, he added.

"At the parking ramp near the end of the runway, there were two fire bottles. We stopped the truck, got out and grabbed the fire bottles, and ran with them for about 50 yards or so, and started to extinguish the blaze."

When the first fire bottle was exhausted, they continued using the second one, he added.

"In a couple of minutes, it was done," said Sergeant Wingler.

However brief the encounter, Sergeant Andrews said he felt like time was standing still.

Both sergeants credited their annual fire bottle use training with enabling them to react so quickly and effectively.

"We've had the training so many times, so there was really no thinking," said Sergeant Andrews. "If we had thought too much about it, we may have run the other way," he jokingly added. "I really think anybody else in our shoes would have done the same thing."

While their swift actions may be attributed to conditioning through cyclic training, the sergeants said their real-world encounter was nothing either of them had experienced before.

"I was amped up," Sergeant Wingler said. "The adrenaline was rushing and I was just going and going, and once all was said and done, I was still going."

They said it wasn't until they went back to their office to begin writing their after-action reports that they began to realize the true potential for disaster they had just prevented.

"She was fully loaded with bombs," said Sergeant Andrews. "Normally if there'd been one bomb, we'd have established a 4,000-foot cordon, and from that point, it would have been the entire (area of the) ramp. We would have had to evacuate or take cover. I think we would have had to take cover, because there was no time to evacuate.

"I didn't really consider the implications of non-action - until it was all over," he added. "We just knew we had crew members on board and we absolutely wanted to make sure they were safe."

379th AEW Vice Commander Col. Paul Schultz, said the sergeants' exceptional acts reminded him of a familiar quote, "An individual isn't judged on how he reacts when his life is good. It's how he reacts when things are tough.

"Their actions saved lives and aircraft," he said, "but they also allowed an asset, that flies over the skies of Afghanistan or Iraq, to save lives throughout the region. The wing commander and I, in six months time frame, have pulled more than 300 caskets off of aircraft.

"Sometimes - working out here in the heat, in the blowing wind and in the dust - it's very difficult for you to understand how what you do is so important," the colonel explained. "For everyone in maintenance, it is that important. What you do keeps us from having to pull another casket off those airplanes."