'Wolf Pack' ECM maintainers meet historic mark

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Stephen Collier
  • 8th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
KUNSAN AIR BASE, Republic of Korea --  The everyday saying around the 8th Fighter Wing here is to leave your mark on the "Wolf Pack." And maintainers assigned to the 8th Maintenance Squadron electronic countermeasure pod shop did just that July 13. 

After weeks of toiling over the wing's 40 AN/ALG-184 ECM pod inventory, the shop announced to the commander all pods were fully-mission capable. The feat of bringing the inventory to 100 percent capability, according to Tech. Sgt. Harry Elliott, electronic warfare systems assistant section chief, was "an awesome accomplishment that took teamwork and trust." 

"The goal was amazing to hit, but it was the fact that everybody pulled together," Sergeant Elliott said. "In the Air Force, once in a great while you'll see everyone come together and click on all eight cylinders. Everyone was behind it and everyone had the same goal. Some guys worked two shifts just to see it happen. There was absolutely no bad talk about it." 

The ECM pod, generally referred to as "the long pod," intercepts electronic signals from air and ground radar, allowing pilots to know where to fly to stay out of harm's way. Since there introduction to the 8th FW in the early 1990s, the goal of having all pods fully-mission capable, or "FMC," has never been obtained. This, according to historians at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., where the ECM pod depot is located. 

The overall significance of having all pods ready to go for pilots is a milestone for the maintenance community here, but the rest of the base benefits as well. As the Wolf Pack continues to maintain a credible deterrence against aggression from North Korea, other Airmen can take solace that each Wolf Pack F-16 Fighting Falcon is provided the most protection possible by a small shop of dedicated maintainers. 

"The decision to turn the pod came as a general consensus," Sergeant Elliott said after the historical event took place. "Everyone in the shop got behind the effort and did their part. Every individual played a large part fixing or working on this pod in some way."
The pod Sergeant Elliott refers to is a cannibalized pod, or a pod used for spare parts when parts for other pods aren't readily available. 

Typically, flying units who use the pods reserve an extra to ensure the mission of protecting pilots from enemy radar is accomplished through the use of its parts. Sergeant Elliott said later the accomplishment of making 100 percent capability, if only for three hours, proved they could maintain a high rate of efficiency while still finding time to work on one pod. 

"Being able to turn five hail-damaged pods and two in preventive maintenance on the same day and still find time to work on the cann(ibalized) pod [took everyone's support]," he said. "Some individuals would literally stay an extra shift just to continue troubleshooting the pod. How many others would do the same just to make some lofty goal, even if maintaining it would be impossible? How many would do it just to say 'we did it?'" 

But the shop didn't do it alone. Help came from across the Air Force and the base's neighbors to the north. ECM pod shops that supported the Wolf Pack included the 51st MXS at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea, 57th Component Maintenance Squadron, Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. and the Oklahoma Air National Guard. 

And yet, with the achievement, the man behind the original idea of meeting the 100 percent mark witnessed the event just hours before his scheduled departure from Kunsan. Technical Sgt. Edward Palasthy, the shop's EWS section chief at the time, wrote a somber e-mail to his shop two hours before he departed for Incheon International Airport in Seoul. 

"Tonight, I watched a first in Wolf Pack history," he recalled. "I watched the status of all our 40 ECM pods go to 100 percent FMC status-- 40 out of 40. I thank you (ECM maintainers) for your dedication to our drive to give the Wolf the most optimum ECM pod status; this is our job without contestation or rebuttal." 

The Wolf is the historic call sign for the 8th FW commander, referring to Col. CQ "Wolf" Brown at the time of the accomplishment. Sergeant Palasthy continued, pointing out the ECM pod mission gives "the means to ensure that our pilots fly their combat missions and come back ready to fight another." 

"This is why we live, this is why we love, this is why we teach, this is why we mentor and this is why we do the things we do," he wrote. "I applaud you, I love you and I appreciate the fact that I am within the confines of your brotherhood."