JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii – Who do the pilots of the Hawaii Air National Guard depend on for mission success? Operating behind the scenes are the 154th Operations Support Squadron's airfield management specialists.
This small group of mission-critical service members helps to ensure the safety and success of HIANG flights operating out of Hickam Airfield and Daniel K. Inouye International Airport.
They clear the runway and taxiway of foreign object debris (FOD) — everything that could pose a danger to an aircraft. This includes rocks and pebbles, aircraft parts, lost objects and the occasional dead animal. When the going gets tough, AMS personnel drop the shovels and utilize a tarmac sweeper or a tool they call the "FOD BOSS" to remove debris.
"We'll take our FOD BOSS and we'll run it over about 35 miles of tarmac every day before any kind of sortie or flight," said Senior Airman Moana Melendez, an airfield manager. "Removing FOD is really important. If it gets into the engines of our aircraft or jets, it can really do some damage. If the jets are down, then they can't do their job."
The FOD BOSS isn't the only boss on the airfield. AMS personnel are responsible for tracking everybody on the airfield. They have the authority to expel anyone, even security forces not cleared to be on the airfield. Their sole responsibility is to mitigate all threats to an aircrew's ability to take off and land, including at this year's exercise Sentry Aloha.
"For Sentry Aloha, from start to finish, even before they come, we're setting up and providing their airfield driving training," said Senior Airman Veronica Mendoza, an airfield manager. "Everything they need for this base, from maps to where everything is located and who they need to contact for any of their needs. If they need maintenance support, security, file plans, base operations, you name it. They can get that information from us."
Exercises such as Sentry Aloha include visiting units from other airfields with different operating procedures. It is the responsibility of the AMS to provide aircrews with preflight briefings that educate them about the protocols and procedures specific to Hickam Airfield and the DKI International Airport.
During in-flight or ground emergencies, airfield managers respond immediately to ensure emergency protocols are properly executed. They communicate across multiple agencies to ensure a successful response.
"We are the first eyes on the ground to identify any kind of safety concern on the airfield," said Mendoza. "We have to maintain communications with all agencies such as [ civil engineering], wildlife, safety, maintenance crews, the tower and ground control. We have a hand in everything. We are the airfield managers, and it is important for us to communicate everything that happens on the airfield to the appropriate agencies."
Professionals such as Mendoza have developed a keen eye to detect safety hazards affecting the airfield. They perform daily inspections of the runways, taxiways, parking aprons and lighting equipment. It is due to their efforts behind the scenes that the HIANG mission is executed safely, efficiently and effectively in the airfield environment.
"Our job is to make sure the airfield is safe for everybody," said Melendez. "We make sure that everyone on the airfield is supposed to be there and that they know what's going on in the airfield. There is nothing going on in the airfield that we don't know about."