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Show Maintenance . went on from there to evolve what we have today. I really got involved with the F-- mod program and the SEA built-u- p when I was assigned to Tactical Air Command (TAC) headquarters in 1967 as chief of the F--4 Branch, Directorate of Maintenance ."Data gathered from the VGH recorders and accelerometers installed in the aircraft is cranked into a computer program so that, when an F-- 4 comes in for PDM or 4 modification, maintenance-repa- Engineering," Colonel Lowrey recalled. "In fact, one of the first programs I was exposed to was the Wild Weasel, then Now we're contemplated for the F-the Wild Weasel world wide. launching how . small the world "It's really interesting is in this business. Colonel Curtis, Director of Maintenance here, was working electronic warfare and the Weasel in the Air Staff while I was at TAC. Gene Mortensen and I worked together putting the USA Thunderbirds into the They are just two of the many people from Hill that I was associated with while I was assigned to TAC working the F-VNow, here we, are at Hill where the sophisticated, predictably1 successful and T7 4. . F-4- E. ' 4. . " io iit:ij i in-hou- se by the Maintenance."- "Another xir i 1 Air Force in the Directorate of - monumental , . effort was the . electrical connector mod. Ogden ALC on 800 connectors over electrical replaced each F-- 4 in the middle of the Vietnam war on more than half the F-- 4 fleet without impacting the war effort. This was probably the biggest unsung effort of logistics and maintenance arising from the SEA conflict," he said. "ONE THING that anyone involved with the F--4 is aware of is the fact that the big, ugly, reliable fighter is getting older. Aging is a problem we are dealing with effectively, especially in the area of structural integrity. 'A very successful program to deal effectively with F-- 4 structure problems has evolved and is called the Aircraft Structural Integrity Program (ASIP). It is worked here in our branch by Ralph El well, Phill Allen, Don Butcher, and Leon Jager. These guys have their stuff together," Colonel Lowrey said with pride. ir the need for structural is known before it enters the hangar. THROUGH THAT very important program, which has been developed and refined over a number of years, we can knowledgeably predict the F-- 4 airframe life and greatly extend the life of each tail number down through the years to come. It will take more manhours per airplane coming through the Maintenance production line, to deal with the problems," he continued, "but, with ASIP applied, the F--4 customers out there are getting an aircraft that is ready to fly. . . one that continues to be reliable. "Another team that deserves a 'place in the sun' are the technicians who dig in those in very unpleasant 'smoky' holes ; to find answers for system circumstances or aircrew failure. "Here I'm talking about the people who make up the aircraft accident investigation teams. Many individuals ' in this division, MMS, and in Materiel Management's Item Management Division, deserve recognition for their professionalism and dedication. "Speaking again of Hill responsiveness reminds me of the Pueblo crisis. We deployed the 4th TFW with the best that TAC had in a very short time. Over half the aircraft lacked the required SEA mods. Hill set up a special F-4- G . (From page 32) mod team at Tachikawa practically overnight and started updating the 4th TFW F--4 aircraft cycled out of Korea on a basis. It was an outstanding effort," the "blue suiter" emphasized. COLONEL LOWREY PAUSED and reflected a moment on his comments about the F-"You know," he said, "I've been rambling on and on and there is no way I can begin to 24-ho- ur 4. , speak of or recognize the many folks I work with on a daily basis that go into the support of this weapon system. All I can say is the people in my branch, in particular, and the division as a whole, are a super bunch of professionals with what I call a "fighter pilot attitude." Coming from one, that's no small compliment. ", . . and, last," he added, "I would be remiss if I did not mention the builders of this magnificent machine. . . MACAIR. Mr. McDonnell outdid himself with the F-- As a contractor, MACAIR has always stood behind its product with no contract many times 8 or money from the USAF. The and 6 a record to have beat." really 4. F-1- 5, F-1- F-1- nnn ... aigtoia J f. iSi ilb. Quadra s tread design gives you traction in a wide variety of road conditions. 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