“If something’s wrong with your car, you pull to the side of the road, right?” said Aviation Machinist’s Mate 1st Class Orrintell Whyte, the leading petty officer in the Aircraft Intermediate Maintenance Department (AIMD) jet shop. “If an aircraft flies in the sky and experiences issues, there’s no way for it to pull over. That’s why it’s very important that we have a systematic approach to prevent any issues from occurring.”

The primary purpose of AIMD jet shop is to identify and resolve issues in jet engines. They are relied on heavily as an important part of the Carrier Strike Group (CSG 12) to constantly fix and repair damaged or used engines so pilots assigned to carrier Air Wing 7 can carry out their mission.

It is important for the squadrons and the jet shop to properly communicate with each other. When a problem with the jet engine is apparent, the squadron will transfer the engine to AIMD for them to handle.

“The squadrons will let us know if they had a certain issue with the engine,” said Whyte. “Once we receive the engine, we’ll identify the problem and get to work resolving the issue. At the same time, we immediately have one ready for them to install so they can continue with their day-to-day operations.”

Because AIMD works on 4 to 5 engines a week and must have some ready to go at any time, it is imperative that they make sure the engines in storage are always in proper flying condition.

“We have to continuously inspect them,” said Whyte. “If anything is out of the norm, we pull the engine and re-qualify it.”

After the engine is fixed, it must pass AIMD’s rigorous testing before it is considered ready for operation.

“When we test the engine, we put the same amount of load on it as the aircraft does in the air,” said Whyte. “As a matter of fact, our tests are more strenuous on the engine than when it is in an aircraft. We have to make sure that everything is perfect before we send it up so that once we put our stamps on it, nobody’s going to question its capabilities.”

Working with jet engines can be dangerous if not handled with care. It is crucial for AIMD to be precise in their inspections to prevent any potential incidents.

“There are lives at stake,” said Aviation Machinist’s Mate Chief Billiam Stewart-Rodriguez, the chief petty officer for 400 branch. “When the squadron comes to pick up the engine, they’re trusting us that the engine won’t malfunction and put other lives in harm’s way.

Safety is a priority for AIMD. One of the crew’s main safety concerns is locating and disposing of foreign object debris (FOD). They inspect for FOD several times a day.

“We’ll have a safety brief discussing all the potential dangers involved in any of the evolutions we conduct,” said Aviation Machinist’s Mate 3rd Class Tyrik Dorsey. “Our big push is on FOD because if something, even as small as a penny, falls into the engine, it may malfunction. We don’t want to put the pilots or anyone else in danger.”

Nothing short of perfection is accepted when it comes to rebuilding jet engines.

“We don’t want to put our name on something that fell out of the sky,” said Whyte. “We stress the importance of doing the job the right way. We do thorough inspections to make sure engines are in perfect condition.”

Production control looks at all the work centers to make sure everything is going accordingly. AIMD has meetings twice a day just to make sure that everyone involved with the process is on the same page.

“We come together as a team and push through,” said Dorsey. “We have to be a collective unit because miscommunication can cause serious problems. I can’t do one step while everyone else is on a different step. We have to be a cohesive unit.”

From the airman working on the engine to the framers, aircrew survival equipmentmen and electronics, everyone plays an equally important role in the rebuilding and replacing of jet engines. Abraham Lincoln’s ability to launch and recover aircraft depends on AIMD’s contribution.

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