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Going old school

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Joseph Raatz
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs

In today’s world, the word innovation often brings to mind thoughts of high-tech equipment made from shiny metal and carbon fiber components.

For one Barksdale Airman, innovation meant looking to the past for inspiration and using materials seldom seen in a modern Air Force maintenance shop: wood.

“You never see wood in a maintenance shop,” said Staff Sgt. Daniel Babis, 2nd Munitions Squadron armament team chief. “Everything is metal and plastic. It’s very industrial.”

The 2nd Munitions Squadron armament section is responsible for enabling the loading of munitions onto a B-52 Stratofortress. The B-52’s newest upgrade utilizes a device known as a common rotary launcher, which holds multiple weapons in a cylindrical configuration. This launcher can hold up to eight advanced cruise missiles or precision-guided bombs.

“When we load one of the CRLs, we have to be very meticulous because contact between the aluminum and steel parts can easily damage the equipment,” Babis said. “The parts we’re installing weigh around 140 pounds apiece, and the installation point is close to six feet off the ground. Even lifting the part in tandem can be difficult because of how delicate the installation can be.”

The armament flight originally used step stools to stand on while installing components onto CRLs, which are later loaded with munitions and slotted into the bomb bay of a B-52, B-1 Lancer or B-2 Spirit.

“That’s just the equipment we had available, but it wasn’t designed for this,” said Master Sgt. Brandon Trowman, 2nd MUNS armament maintenance section chief. “The stools aren’t stable when lifting and maneuvering heavy loads that high up.”

“One of the stools tipped over on me during an install,” Babis admits. “It’s not exactly an uncommon occurrence. The stools just weren’t meant to be used like this. We had to slow down considerably when using them, just to stay safe.”

After his mishap with the ladder, Babis decided to do something about it.

“I really wanted to do something that would save our guys from back pain and future injury, as well as avoid damage to the equipment,” he said.

Babis quickly sketched out a design for a stable platform that could be used while installing components onto the CRLs and brought his idea to his leadership.

“Initially, it was pretty much a drawing on a napkin,” Trowman said, laughing. “He already had the thing planned out in his head and just reached for the nearest scrap of paper. But it was a great idea, so we had him convert it into a more detailed digital version and then pushed it forward.”

While initially failing to gain traction, after several months of back-and-forth with safety representatives and other base agencies Babis finally got the green light to produce a proof-of-concept. After viewing the platform and seeing the benefits it offered over the step stools, wing leadership quickly approved the design and directed that more of the platforms be built and used as approved equipment.

The platform, a simple wooden construct consisting of four 2-by-8 inch planks braced by 2-by-4 inch beams, which rests on top of the cradle the CRL is mounted on, is inexpensive, easy to reproduce and incredibly effective.

“When using the step stools, the installation process generally took a day and a half and needed up to six people to accomplish safely. With these platforms, which only cost around $35 each, two people can finish an install in a single shift,” Babis said.

The platforms are so effective that Air Force Munitions Materiel Handling Equipment, which manufactures the majority of tools and equipment used by munitions shops across the Air Force, has picked up the design and will soon be producing them en masse to be distributed to bomber bases as standard equipment. For longevity, the new platforms will be made of high-impact polymer rather than wood, but the overall design remains otherwise generally unaltered from Babis’ original concept.

"It's crazy to think this design I sketched out on a piece of notebook paper is going to end up being an official piece of Air Force equipment," Babis said. "I just wanted to make the job safer for the Airmen in my shop. Knowing another shop can call up big Air Force and order one of these, and it will make their jobs easier and safer too, is amazing."