Behind the scenes: MUNS flight

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman David Owsianka
  • 374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan --  This is the second in a five-story series focusing on sections within the 374th Maintenance Squadron and how they keep the C-130 Hercules flying.

Chafe cartridges are released into the air and burst into flames; it's not the 4th of July, it's a C-130 Hercules completing a training mission or performing evasive maneuvers to avoid hostiles. Yokota's C-130 aircraft are equipped with M-206 countermeasure flares which protect them from infrared homing surface-to-air missiles or air-to-air missiles.

The Airmen of the 374th Maintenance Squadron munitions flight are responsible for the accountability, storage and handling of these flares and other munition assets at Yokota. The flight handles between 100,000 and 250,000 munition items each month which can exceed 15,000 pounds in weight.

"We provide a small, but essential role in the serviceability of the aircraft for the base to continue the C-130 mission," said Tech. Sgt. Todd Wolf, 374 MXS MF assistant flight chief. "We execute all of the handling and removing of the flares within the aircraft for crew chiefs to perform maintenance."

The munitions flight is in an isolated location away from the other units within MXS, but MUNS still plays an essential role in the squadron's mission of supporting the flightline.

"Our flight helps transient aircraft by providing storage and handling of munition assets, and countermeasures for upload training and pilot certifications," said Airman Jeremy Pabst, 374 MXS MUNS crew member.

Daily inspections are performed on the assets to ensure they can safely provide the C-130s with essential parts to successfully complete their missions.

The inspections are broken into three stages. In the first stage of the assessment the inspector will reviews the item to make sure it is useable. Next, the Airman annotates on the proper forms whether or not the munitions are serviceable. In the final stage, the inspector repackages the asset to place in the storage area and upload the results of the inspection into the combat ammunition system.

"The inspections ensure that all assets are safe for use and function as designed," Wolf said. "We periodically perform inspections to make sure the munitions are readily available to be used."

The MUNS flight also provides ammunition to the 374th Security Forces Squadron. The security personnel receive small arms munitions for base defense and combat arms qualification training. Military working dog handlers also use the munitions for scent training to keep the MWDs explosive certified.

"The protection the SFS personnel provides the aircraft is directly related to having safe and effective small arms munitions as well as base defense munitions our flight provides," Wolf said. "Without this flight, the base would be left defenseless. Airmen would not be qualified for deployments, bomb sensing dogs wouldn't be trained and the C-130s would be vulnerable to anti-aircraft missiles."

Whether it's supporting the flightline or helping Security Forces Squadron defend the base, the Munitions Flight directly impacts the effectiveness of Yokota's mission.