Hangar Digest THE AIR MOBILITY COMMAND MUSEUM Page 1 Hangar digest VOLUME 18, NO. 2 APR—JUN 2018 THE AMCM HANGAR DIGEST IS A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE AMC MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC. Page 2 Volume 18, Issue 2 Air Mobility Command Museum Mission Statement The mission of the Air Mobility Command Museum is twofold: ● To present the history and development of military airlift and tanker operations. ● In a goal closely aligned with the first, to portray the rich history of Dover Air Force Base and its predecessor, Dover Army Airfield. AMC Museum Staff AMC Museum Foundation Director Board of Directors The AMC Museum Hangar John Taylor President Digest is published quar- Deputy Director Col. Don Sloan, USAFR (Ret.) terly and is dedicated to Kristopher Hickok Vice President the preservation of our Senior Archivist Lt. Col. Paul Gillis, USAFR (Ret.) airlift and tanker herit- Lt. Col. Harry E. Heist, USAF (Ret.) Secretary age. All articles, unless Photo Archivist Lt. Col. Phil White, USAF (Ret.) otherwise noted, are writ- SMSgt. Larry Koewing, USAF (Ret.) Treasurer ten by the editor. Collections Manager Mrs. Chris Godek Viewpoints in this publica- Deborah Sellars Members tion are those of the contrib- Educator Mr. Robert Berglund uting authors and do not nec- Tricia Upchurch Mr. Carleton E. Carey Sr. essarily reflect the opinions of Museum Store Manager Mr. Robert Czeizinger Kelly Hurlburt The AMC Museum Founda- Lt. Gen. Bob Dierker, USAF (Ret.) Volunteer Coordinator/Scheduler CW4 Jim Fazekas, USA (Ret.) tion or of the Museum’s staff. Paul George Subscriptions are free and Mr. Skip Ford Librarian Mr. Jeff Kirwan are mailed via nonprofit MSgt. Bob Wikso, USAF (Ret.) SMSgt. Mike Leister, USAFR (Ret.) standard mail to paid-up Membership Manager Mr. Bob Mench members of The AMC Muse- Deborah Sellars CMSgt. Rodney Moore, USAFR (Ret.) um Foundation Inc. Website (www.amcmuseum.org) CMSgt. Paul Roy, USAF (Ret.) Contributions. Reader com- Hal Sellars ments, articles and ideas are AMCM Social Media Manager Chaplain solicited for future issues. Guy Gola Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Groth, USAFR (Ret.) Mail to The Hangar Digest, AMCMF Social Media Manager 1301 Heritage Road, Dover Zachary Cacicia AFB DE 19902-5301; fax 302- 677-5940; or email piff- brown1898@ gmail.com. What is the Air Mobility Command Museum? Contact Editor Master Sgt. Jeff Located in Hangar 1301 on Dover Air Force Base, Kent County, Delaware, the AMC Museum is part of the National Museum of the United States Air Force’s field museum Brown, USAF (Ret.) via email at system. [email protected]. One of the reasons your AMC Museum continues to provide a great educational expe- Photos are by Jeff Brown, rience is that we stick very closely to our reason for being. unless otherwise noted. So exactly what is our “mission”? Broken down by numbers our mission is 70 percent airlift and air-refueling, 20 percent Dover AFB history and 10 percent Air Force general The issue’s cover: history. Our aircraft and artifact collection sticks very closely to that breakdown. But we Women in the Air Force today may work hard to be much more than numbers. We tell the stories of the people who have be assigned any job in any special- served in our nation’s Air Force, and we offer the only opportunity for many visitors to ty. But this wasn’t always the case: see the actual aircraft and meet the people who have served our country. up until the 1970s most enlisted Hangar 1301 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. women worked desk jobs in admin- Although located on Dover AFB proper, entrance to the Museum may be made from istration, personnel or even clothing Delaware Route 9, south of the base. Admission to and parking at the Museum is free sales. At Dover AFB women were and military identification is not required. The Air Mobility Command Museum is open assigned to the 436th WAF Squad- from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed on Mondays, Thanksgiving, ron Section for administrative pur- Christmas and New Year’s Day. For more information, call 302-677-5938 or 302-677- poses. In this edition, the former 5991. WAF commander and three former We like to say we are a window to your Air Force. Let us know how we can continue to WAF airmen describe life at Dover improve our outreach and family-friendly experience. more than 40 years ago. Photo by Hal Sellars. The Hangar Digest is printed and mailed by Delmarva Printing, Salisbury, Md.. Hangar Digest Page 3 Air Force legacy Dover AFB bids goodbye to a part of its history Staff Sgt. Aaron Jenne less noise pollu- 436th ABW Public Affairs tion than the decommissioned Members of the 436th Maintenance TF-39s. Squadron gathered at Dover Air Force “It’s sad to see Base’s Jet Engine Intermediate Level [the TF-39] go, Maintenance shop Feb. 16, 2018, to bid but I’ve recently farewell to the Air Force’s last General gone to a class Electric TF-39 turbofan engine. on the new en- For 45 years, the Dover JEIM shop gine, and I can maintained and rebuilt these engines, see how much stripping them completely to their com- the technology ponents over a grueling 75-day process to has changed,” diagnose and repair issues. They were said Daniel Wei- equipped to work on 13 engines at once. mer, 436th MXS Since the shop opened, base airmen re- aerospace pro- built 5,601 nengines. pulsion engine The shop officially closed two years mechanic. Photos by SSgt. Aaron Jenne ago as the Air Force’s continget of C-5A/ “It’s time for B Galaxy aircraft were modernized into this engine to be 512th Maintenance Group Superintendent Chief Master Sgt. Vincent the C-5M Super Galaxy fleet but the put down. Us old Alois signs the TF-39 engine before its final departure. lights stayed on as its members prepared jet engine mechanics feel like we’re veterinar- bad times,” Weimer said. “We blew up a few the remaining engines to be sold. ians for a dinosaur; we’re kind of useless.” engines, and we had a few problems in the “A gradual conversion of the C-5A/B Weimer has worked at Dover AFB for 50 test cell. It’s all one big memory. There’s legacy aircraft to the C-5M has meant years, and on the TF-39 engine since it arrived good and bad, but you learn from it. That’s many modern changes to include new at Dover. His career started at the “rickety, the experience, and that’s what makes it so engines,” said Kevin Morrow, aerospace outside test cell on the far side of the base.” sad that this is going away.” propulsion engine mechanic supervisor He saw the new JEIM shop being built, Unlike the engines, Dover didn’t say good- for the 436th MXS. “The change to the watched the first TF-39 engine as it was rolled bye to all airmen in the JEIM shop. While GE CF6-80 engines used on the C-5M in, and rebuilt the last one completed by the some retired, others were headed to the C-5 made the GE TF-39 engines built here at shop in March 2016. Isochronal Inspection Dock where they the Dover AFB JEIM shop obsolete.” While the JEIM shop was still rebuilding brought with them their years of experience The new CF6-80 engines produce more TF-39 engines for the Air Force’s C-5A/B working on jet engines. thrust, are more fuel efficient and produce fleet, the modernization process necessitated “I am proud to say that I was able to ‘crank the engine’s reclamation process as early as wrenches’ with many mechanics, past and 2012. present, who have become part of the propul- Through 2015 the engines were turned in to sion flight family, most specifically the ‘10 the Defense Logistics Agency and the De- brothers in arms,’ or last men standing who fense Reutilization and Marketing Office, have facilitated the closure of this shop,” Mor- where they were basically sold for salvage, row said. Morrow said. The money gained from this “I would be remiss in not mentioning their process was recouped to the U.S. treasury. names: Daniel Weimer, Robert Burkhamer, Since 2015, 144 TF-39 engines were turned Matthew Farren, Jeffrey Martindale, Michael in through a joint process involving the Air Tatum, Travis Olsen, Chad Bryant, Master Force and General Electric. The JEIM shop Sgt. Randy Bulloch, Staff Sgt. Lawrence had to process an average of six engines each Leonard and Senior Airman Dylan Bruce. month to prepare them for transportation to a “The closure of the TF-39 shop is bit- Driver Wesley Currin throws a tie-down strap over the departing TF-39 engine. metals reclamation company in Monroe, tersweet, for we knew this day would Currin drove the engine to Monroe, N.C., North Carolina. This exchange allowed the finally come; however, we are all looking where it was bought by a metals reclama- Air Force to recuperate $1.38 million. ahead with proactive feelings for tion company. “There were some good times and some the future.” Page 4 Volume 18, Issue 2 Dover AFB History WAF at Dover AFB: Separate and definitely not equal Despite the smiling faces presented in than their ability commercial advertisements of the time, to serve in war- being a Woman in the Air Force, or WAF, time, Anderson during the late 1960s and early 1970s was- charged.