The Sailors in USS George H.W. Bush's (CVN 77) aircrew survival equipment shop work hard to make sure that, should anything happen in the air, the pilots and aircrew can walk away from a crash instead of being carried away in a body bag.

The aircrew survival shop is owned by AIMD's IM-2 division and manned by aircrew survival equipmentmen (PRs). Just as their name implies, the shop's purpose is to repair and maintain lifesaving equipment used on aircraft.

"In this shop, we maintain all the pilots' survival equipment; just about everything they wear," said Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 2nd Class Nicholas Palmer. "We primarily support the squadrons, so they'll bring down whatever equipment they need fixed, and we'll repair it and get it back to them. Most things we work with in here are flotation-based; life rafts, life preservers. We also have a lot of oxygen components and seat pans."

Palmer explained his role in the shop and what his and his shipmates' daily routine is like.

"I'm the work center supervisor for day shift," said Palmer. "Each morning we come in, and after cleaning stations I check my workload and see what to expect. If production control assigns us preventative maintenance, we take care of that. I divvy up the work among our Sailors, try to pair up tasks with Sailors who are best at them, things like that."

Palmer explained that PR's actually have two main roles on an aircraft carrier, and which one a given Sailor plays depends on whether they are assigned to ship's company or a squadron.

"On the AIMD side, our mission is to keep our supply pool ready and up-to-date," said Palmer. "If the squadrons come down and need something, we can provide it. The squadrons work on the flight deck actually installing the stuff into the aircraft. We fix and maintain that equipment. It's like a train locomotive and the coal tender can't have one without the other."

Because the Sailors in the PR shop work with devices used to save lives and prevent death in the event of aircraft accidents, attention-to-detail is imperative.

"It's important that we follow the instructions to the letter because this is lifesaving equipment," said Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 3rd Class Brandon Gray. "We've got peoples' lives in our hands. One mistake could end up killing somebody, so we have to keep on top of our game."

One of Gray's fellow PR's stressed the importance of their job, putting to rest a long-standing and hard-dying rumor that their shop is the official tailor shop of George H.W. Bush (GHWB).

"We do more than sew. This is more than sewing, this is lifesaving equipment," said Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 2nd Class Garrison Shindelbower. "A good way to put it is this: everybody's life is in our hands. If the aircraft goes down, we're the last line of defense, basically. That's what they told us in 'A' school and I'm a firm believer in that idea. If our stuff fails, it's a good chance the people in the aircraft could die. We've got sewing machines, but we deal with making sure if the aircraft goes down, everyone survives. We do more than sew; we save lives."

Through repair and maintenance of parachutes, life rafts, and lifesavers, the Sailors in GHWB's PR shop ensure that should the worst happen, aircraft personnel will survive to see another day.

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