EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska -- With engines screaming and timelines crunching, U.S. Marines prepare F/A-18C Hornet fighter jets for their missions.
Part of preparing the aircraft is loading them with ordnance for the mission. A team of six U.S. Marines physically carry missiles and bombs from the loading cart and secure them to the jet.
Supervising the team at Exercise Red Flag-Alaska 16-2 at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, is Sgt. Malcolm Cappelle, a quality assurance safety observer with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314, stationed at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, California, and forward deployed to Marine Coprs Air Station Iwakuni, Japan, as part of the unit deployment program.
While supervising the Marines, the Green Bay, Wisconsin, native watches as the team lead calls out movement commands to the other team members while carrying and securing the ordnance.
“Our shop prides ourselves on carrying things around,” said Cappelle. “We’ll pick up the bombs and carry them to jets.”
Cappelle also said after ensuring ordnance is moved to the aircraft safely, he jumps in and helps his team inspect everything to make sure it’s installed correctly and secured. After his team finishes, the aircraft is ready for pre-flight inspections and take-off.
Staff Sgt. Albert Trevino, an aviation ordnance technician, line chief for VMFA-314 and Cappelle’s supervisor, said knowing both the job and the aircraft is vital to being a good quality assurance Safety observer, something that Cappelle knows inside and out.
“He’s definitely taught me different things about the jet that I didn’t know,” said Trevino. “So I definitely appreciate him in that aspect.”
Cpl. Aaron Harsh, also a quality assurance safety observer with VMFA-314, has been working under Cappelle’s supervision for three years and said he looks up to Cappelle as a supervisor.
“He is trustworthy, knows what he’s doing, and I can go to him for managing the whole day,” said Harsh. “And it’s been like that since I was a lance corporal.”
Sgt. Morel Victor, an aviation ordnance technician and one of Cappelle’s peers, said even though Cappelle knows a lot about the job and the aircraft, he is still humble about it.
“Lots of times with leadership, they’re not as approachable, but Sgt. Cappelle doesn’t have that problem,” said Victor. “You can always go to him, and he’ll give you the straight-forward answer for what you’re looking for and not belittle you or the knowledge you already had prior to talking with him.”
Cappelle said after the jets come back from their mission, he and his team go back out to the flight line, prepare the aircraft for after-flight checks, unload and move ordnance to its safe storage location or onto other jets. After that they start all over again and prepare for the next mission.
He also said his job is labor intensive, but worth it in the end.
“I couldn’t have asked for anything different,” said Cappelle. “I work with my hands. I’m a mechanic, and I actually work with explosives and put bombs on jets.”