Maintainers from various specialties joined forces at Beale AFB, Calif., recently to get the high-flying U-2 reconnaissance aircraft back into the air after USAF grounded the fleet on March 13 when airmen noted fuel seeping from the sump tank on one U-2 Dragon Lady. Journalist A1C George Cloutier reports that Beale maintainers in the 9th Reconnaissance Wing worked 12-hour shifts to inspect and repair the entire fleet. They attributed the problem to a wire that was arcing against the fuel tank. “After we found the problem, I realized that this could have been catastrophic if the wire had ignited the fuel inside the tank,” said TSgt. Charles Warren, 9th Maintenance Squadron fuels craftsman.
It has been almost exactly one year since the Air Force activated the 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing, the first of its kind, as part of its effort to build back electronic warfare and electromagnetic spectrum capabilities after years of letting them atrophy. And in some ways, the service’s lack of…