MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- Helicopter Sea Combat Squadron 25, A Unit Deployment Program helicopter squadron based out of Anderson Air Force Base, Guam, is the only forward deployed helicopter sea combat squadron in the Navy.
Being the only squadron of its kind, HSC- 25’s MH-60S Knighthawk helicopters are tasked with a wide range of responsibilities throughout the Pacific, primarily vertical replenishment and search and rescue missions.
On average, each helicopter flies 10 – 12 hours daily. This constant stress on the helicopter requires frequent maintenance.
“Maintenance wise, this is the biggest thing we have to do,” said Petty Officer 3rd Class Matt Koncz, HSC-25 aviation electricians mate. “On average it takes about three to four weeks from start to finish. After we do all of this, we do what we call a functional check flight (FCF), which takes another three days.”
HSC-25 aviation electricians completed an approximate monthlong Phase D inspection on one of their two Knightkawks here June 10.
“This is basically the most in-depth maintenance inspection,” said Koncz. “There are four phases, A through D. In between each phase, there are 175 hours.”
Every 175 flight hours, the Knighthawks must go through A through C phase inspections, but every 700 flight hours, Knighthawks are required to go through an in-depth phase D inspection, which requires maintenance technicians to disassemble, test and reassemble the entire rotary system.
“Everything on top comes off,” said Seaman Johnathan Stone, HSC-25 aviation electricians mate. “We take everything up there apart, measure it, make sure everything is good, reassemble and put it back up.”
Although the rotary system is the primary focus, other major components are thoroughly checked during Phase D inspections.
“Basically, we just disassemble some parts on the bird, make sure there’s no excess corrosion, make sure the parts are good, and if not, we order new parts,” said Stone. “Once that’s done, we reinstall everything and do an FCF.”
During UDP deployments, HSC-25 maintenance sailors face several obstacles, primarily, getting parts on station.
“If it’s not on the authorized user’s list, you have to apply for it to be on there. Then, you have to go through the process to get it here,” said Stone.
Each base or station has a hazardous material authorized user’s list. Since Iwakuni is home to mainly fighter jet squadrons, this list is mostly composed of HazMat parts for fighter jets. This creates a problem for helicopter squadrons.
“For this bird, we had to wait two weeks for one CA-1000, it’s a type of ceiling, because nobody on the base uses that kind of ceiling except these birds,” said Stone.
With the constant use of these helicopters, HSC-25 maintenance sailors come across a phase inspection very frequently.
“On a boat, they fly twelve hours a day. So depending on how they fly, we may have to do a phase about every 17 days,” said Stone.
Although these phases are vital to mission accomplishment, HSC-25 pilots have to put their upmost trust in their maintenance sailors.
Brief inspections are conducted daily, but during these phase inspections, pilots stay out of the way.
“I’ve always been very impressed with the maintainers I work with. We trust them implicitly,” said Lt. Cmdr. Ronald Mason, HSC-25 detachment officer-in-charge. “They have a very tough job, and they’ve done a phenomenal job day in and day out providing us aircraft to fly.”
Mason said his sailors have managed to stay on top of their responsibilities with their small staff of six maintainers.
“We have yet to have a maintenance issue we couldn’t fix. We’ve had no delays other than waiting for the supply system to catch up,” said Mason. “Obviously, it takes time when you order something, but when we get it, these guys do a phenomenal job of installing it, making sure that the system is checked correctly and were safe to fly.”
For the remainder of their stay here, HSC- 25 will most likely conduct at least one more D phase inspection before departing.