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ROTORCR AFT 32 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY limit [on acquisition of those skills]. When they get proficient and signed off" they move on to the next task. Over time the resultant maintenance leaders learn to train the young soldiers who follow them. Advancement through the ranks is the goal. You don't want to go before the Army promotion board without being proficient in your particular MOS. Perhaps the most critical task of all is perfusing this new training program through the ranks of the 19,000 or so enlisted soldiers that maintain Army helicopters across all three Army components — Active, National Guard, and Reserve. RECAPITALIZING THE FLEET The operational tempo of commitments in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other theaters in the Global War on Terrorism means there are lots of helicopters awaiting recapitalization — essentially zeroing out the aircraft's powerplants, transmissions, and other critical components. Waiting to induct them are about 1,100 mostly civilian specialists working the Recap line at the Corpus Christi Army Depot (CCAD). Overseeing that line, as well as managing the 3,400 people across the depot itself is Colonel Allan Lanceta, the facility's commanding officer. Last year CCAD worked on 38 aircraft for the Army. "Between crash battle damage and what we do for the Air Force last year we did 41 helicopters total," says Lanceta. Before his arrival at CCAD it took, on average, 500 days to recap the average helo. His goal was to cut that to 350, and his commanding general said to shoot for 275. The depot complied, turning out one aircraft in a lean 274 days. The overall average now is "about 350 days," says the colonel. "That's a huge improve- ment," almost cutting the days spent in Recap in half. While the Army Aviation Center for Excellence focuses on presenting the big picture to young maintainers in an effort to save money and boost aircraft readiness, CCAD's prime mission is to rebuild them. And that means getting the right parts to the right place at the right time. "Parts take a long time to get here," says CCAD's commander. "The way it was before, when the aircraft got here we would see what parts, what materials they needed to get rebuilt." It was a classic case of hurry up and wait. Now the depot adheres to the 80/20 rule. Because the CCAD has rebuilt hundreds of helicopters of a particular type before, it "should know the common parts that we've typically used in the past," says Lanceta. "I have my team planning 'left of induction.' I have them looking [ahead] about 120 days at gathering the material." The result is to dramatically shrink "non-value added time." It's been cut in half. Pivotal to the overall nine-gate (phase) Recap effort is Gate 4, the structures station. Lanceta says by having the proper parts and tooling already set up and waiting CCAD's been AT THE Corpus Christi Army Depot, when a UH60 Black Hawk aircraft is structurally finished, it is put into a fixture to line up the tail cone and install dry shaft brackets. PHOTO BY KIANA ALLEN