“I went into the Navy as an ‘undesignated airman’ just knowing that I wanted to work on jets and not ships. Being undesignated meant I got to put my hands on the entire jet like our crew chiefs do. I did that for about two years before deciding I wanted to be a jet engine mechanic. The problem was, to work on the flight deck in the Navy, you have to have 20/20 vision in both eyes.
I wanted to get out of the military completely, but as I was transitioning, a recruiter told me that I could work on the flightline in the Air Force with my vision.
What gives me complete satisfaction in my job is being able to pass and certify a jet engine. I personally know all the maintainers who have touched this engine, so I like when they come out here to see all that wrench time pay off.
The military has so many different career fields that you can go into. Everything from fighting on the front lines to a person like me who’ll probably never see the front lines. We can’t do what we do on the front lines. They’re the final product who fly, fight and win, but they can’t do any of that without us doing what we do. Whatever the final mission, it takes all of us to accomplish it.”
--Tech. Sgt. Jason Anderson, 192nd Maintenance Squadron aerospace propulsion technician