March Air Reserve Base maintenance group named number one

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  • By Amy Abbott
  • 452 AMW/PA
MARCH AIR RESERVE BASE, CALIF. --  The 452nd Maintenance Group took top honors recently. They were named the number one maintenance group in 4th Air Force. Comprised of the 452nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, the 752nd AMXS, the 452nd Maintenance Squadron, the 452nd Maintenance Operations Squadron and led by their commander Col. Cam LeBlanc, the group has proven they have what it takes to not only do their jobs, but to excel at it. 

"We try to hold everyone to the highest standards -- 100 percent, 100 percent of the time," said Chief Master Sgt. Todd Hall, 452nd MXS quality assurance superintendent. "Our troops are all absolute professionals." 

Professionalism is one of the qualities the maintenance chiefs said it takes to work in the group, where many of the sections are undermanned. The 452nd Air Mobility Wing owns 12 KC-135s and eight C-17s and even though the majority of maintenance troops hold volunteer positions as reservists, they pull the same work load as their active duty counterparts. 

"All of our reservists are above and beyond average," said Chief Master Sgt. Marty Olson, the 452nd AMXS swing shift supervisor. "They are all fully qualified and step up and do whatever they have to, to get the job done." 

Chief Olson's troops, like the rest of maintenance, maintain a very high operations tempo and fly approximately 8,000 hours a year. 

Several members of the group recently returned from a one month deployment to Turkey as well as an operational readiness exercise, some are currently on a deployment to Egypt and everyone is preparing for an operational readiness inspection in February. 

"This is a total team effort," said Chief Master Sgt. Stephen Young, 752nd AMXS superintendent. "It is amazing the self motivation (these troops) have." 

According to many of the chiefs, the team is able to run smoothly because of the camaraderie found among the units and personnel. One of the benefits from working in the Reserve, they said, is the comfortable bonds that people are able to forge over the years. 

"Camaraderie is very strong here because we have worked together for so long," said Chief Hall, who has been at March for 24 years. "Some of these people I've worked for my entire career." 

"We are one big family here," added Chief Master Sgt. Brian Wels, 452nd AMXS superintendent. "We all know we need to take care of each other and our own." 

Every functioning family has to have a parental figure in order to make it work and in this case it is no different. The leader of the team is their commander, Colonel LeBlanc, who
has also affectionately been referred to as the "big daddy" of maintenance. 

Since he took over a couple of years ago, the maintenance chiefs all stressed that the communication, morale and overall quality have gone up. 

"There has been a big change in the morale of the group," said Chief Wels. "We know (Colonel LeBlanc) cares and we appreciate that."

The proof of change is the recent award; the first one maintenance has received in many years. According to Colonel LeBlanc, it's just the beginning. 

"When I came here two years ago, it was the low point for everybody," said Colonel LeBlanc. "It wasn't just me, everybody has come together. Our folks are definitely making the effort and this recognition is just the first of more to come."