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Missile handling team trains for transport trouble

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jason Wiese
  • 90th Missile Wing Public Affairs
F.E. WARREN AIR FORCE BASE, Wyo. --  A 90th Missile Maintenance Squadron missile handling team removed and re-inserted rocket motor carriages from and to a transport erector, a vehicle that transports Minuteman III ICBM components, in the Missile Maintenance Section controlled area here Oct. 30 to train for a real-world scenario in which a transport malfunctions.

Missile maintainers refer to the process as downloading and uploading the carriages, said Senior Airman Greg Jones, 90th MMXS missile handling technician.

This sort of operation would be performed in the event of the breakdown of a transport erector carrying missile components. A missile handling team would download the carriages from the malfunctioning transport and upload them to another transport, said Staff Sgt. Christopher Hermosillo, 90th MMXS missile handling instructor/team chief who oversaw the training.

"This is a critical task and something we need to be able to do to complete the mission," he said.

Many technicians who perform missile handling tasks are young, junior enlisted Airmen, said Jones.

"Being this young and being entrusted to maintain powerful weapon systems is an honor, and I feel like I'm doing service to my country," Jones said.