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Show 12 Hilltop Times QUALITY May 26, 1989. j. l,;;..- Jf?,- ' ' - jt;: i flx Si ':. F-1- Hill 6 j. ' U iK .xi'.Vr ' Xf r ' ''XJJ 5 r. ; M. 1 i i "4 i t o It-- Jff'10frf - vV'i fPpi ' A V I . fl A : s - I l,W "w j 'v "vlff r-rr- : J ii.wMiWMWJJUiM;MiA.,4m in f Vllvrv JryP mi I f 'XL J''r Quick and clean Maureen Sudweeks, right, an electrical equipment repair tech- nician, cleans an electrical com- ponent at her work station, while, in the photo below, Jim Campion and Mark White, both aircraft general mechanics, work on the in the tail section of an mam maintenance hangar. I - - ' J J NL i J H$(&T "k . 1 n pi v7A Sf -- , J?jl& i. ., workers deliver quality product right on time by Gary Hatch Hilltop Times staff writer "We've got people sweating blood down here to make this thing go," CoL David K. Wright, director of the 6 system program management division, Directorate of Materiel Management, said. Colonel Wright spoke not only of his own division, but also about the directorates of maintenance and distribution. Maintenance workers have been on overtime shifts and distribution " works feverishly to obtain the 20,000-plu- s parts needed from General Dynamics to revamp each plane. "This is the most extensive modification package ever performed on the Jerry Crosbie, program manager for the 6 Air Defense Fighter at Hill, said. It was a quick change as well. The base took just 30 months from the signing of the contract until the first model rolled out the hangar doors. A project like this would normally take 48 months. With the quick turnaround, the 6 division F-1- r r 7hen the jarring bellow of a klaxon reas ne nudnight silence at Air v Defense Command bases around the will the soon respond in a way.never U.S. country, J J before possible. An ongoing flurry of activity at Hill AFB ts a big reason why. The current air defense fleet, made up mostly of will soon be shored with a aging s and 6 Falcon considered by many ' Fighting hybrid 'the top fighter in the world. Some 270 6 A and B models are undergoing defense of the extensive modification for nation's coastline and borders. The move will give the U.S. a leg up in the arms race, and Hill is providing the changeover without even breaking stride. But not without breaking a sweat. F-4- F-10- F-1- F-1- air-to-a- ir F-16- ," F-1- F-1- and distribution have parlayed a production schedule from a necessity of business to near art. There is no stockpile of parts, and workers often joke the part they need is placed on the shelf just as they're reaching for it. Sometimes truth is funnier than fiction. "In a word, getting the parts has been hard," Lynda Palmer, chief of the process control section in DS, said. hand-to-mout- h "It's really been a case of excellent teamwork be- tween the directorates. The kit proofing is usually done before, a project is under way and there is usually an inventory of parts," she said. "But with this project sometimes the parts come in one door and we scoot them out the other," Ms. Palmer said. The first six B models were delivered to the 114th Fighter Training Squadron at Kingsley Field Air National Guard Base, Ore., in March, and Hill is up to speed, with 19 in its hangar now and |