Liberty Airmen become Maintainers for a Day Published Jan. 24, 2013 By Staff Sgt. Stephen Linch 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England - -- Liberty Airmen from various units outside the 48th Maintenance Group received an inside look at what it takes to generate combat airpower from a maintenance standpoint during a Maintainer for a Day program here Jan. 18. The participants' day started at 5 a.m. and included a unit mission brief from the 748th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and visits to the flightline, the maintenance operations center, the 56th Helicopter Maintenance Unit, the weapons load training facility and the propulsion flight. Each stop throughout the day was designed to give participants insight into F-15C Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle and HH-60G Pave Hawk maintenance. "Hopefully, we can educate folks on what it takes to generate combat airpower," said Tech. Sgt. Ruben TrejoSanchez, creator of Maintainer for a Day and 493rd Aircraft Maintenance Unit NCO in charge of maintenance. "A lot of folks just see the aircraft flying and hear the noise of the engines, but a lot of them don't know exactly what goes into the generation of that sortie or what it takes to get that bomb on a target." According to one Maintainer for a Day participant, the program did just that. "We got to see how the flightline works; how the maintenance operations is actually able to get the jets in the air," said Master Sgt. Robert Vittore, 48th Force Support Squadron manpower analysis and native of Panama City, Fla. "I always knew kind of what it was about, but it was really nice seeing the people and how it is actually done." Though most of the participants agreed the propulsion flight was their favorite stop, every work center they visited presented a different aspect of what maintenance does, said TrejoSanchez, a native of Rapid City, S.D. "(Overall) they definitely got to see what it takes to generate a sortie for a day," he added. Maintainer for a Day participants were impressed with the amount of coordination and work it takes to put aircraft in the air. "It's definitely a lot of hard work and dedication," Vittore said. "They don't do it for the pay check; they do it for much more selfless reasons." Throughout the program, one thing became evident to Vittore. "It takes a lot of men and women of many, many different career fields working together to get the jets in the air," he said.