For every 300 hours an F-16 Fighting Falcon spends in the air, it is required to go through an inspection.

The F-16s at a forward-deployed location have been flying almost continuously since the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom, making these inspections, called phases, necessary more frequently.

So frequently, in fact, that the F-16 phase crews of the 363rd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron have been working nonstop to keep up with the pace. The squadron is made up of airmen deployed from Misawa Air Base, Japan, and Shaw Air Force Base (SC).

According to Tech. Sgt. Scott Hooks, the phase dock chief for the Misawa aircraft, a normal 300-hour phased inspection takes about five days at home station. "Right now we're putting one out every three and one-half days," he said. "That's 3.6 phases per week."

The crew from Shaw AFB has been keeping right up with them. "We arrived in February, and we were doing a phase two days later," said Staff Sgt. Scott Kennett, the night shift dock chief for Shaw phase. "We have only had one two-day break since we got here."

Kennett said the Shaw aircraft have done the equivalent of 11 months of flight hours in the last two months.

Inspections may not sound like a tough job to some people, but there is a lot involved since phases are required to keep the aircraft ready to perform the mission.

"We treat phase as a preventive maintenance environment," Hooks said. "If it's not broken yet, but looks like it might before the next 300-hour inspection, we go ahead and fix it. We catch all the little things that wouldn't normally be seen during a regular preflight inspection."

The standard checks done during a phase include a rig and operations check on the landing gear. This requires the aircraft to be jacked up and stabilized. Then, some jets need their engine removed. "We do that right off the bat," Hooks said.

Next, the crew changes all oil and fuel filters, checks for cracks in flight control surfaces, and looks for bushing wear and corrosion.

Once all the inspection workcards are finished and everything that needs fixing has been fixed, the plane rolls out for operational checks of its systems before returning to service.

Compressing this process from the normal five days into three has not been easy, but Hooks said his crew has been "awesome."

"It's easy to be a leader when you've got good followers," he said. "They're just like anyone -- they miss home and family -- but they understand why we're here. They're proactive, motivated and stick together as a team."

[Thanks to Tech. Sgt. Christopher Ball, 363rd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs --ed.]

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