McChord maintenance members temporarily serve at Team March

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Kevin Mitterholzer
  • 452 AMW Public Affairs

Members of the 62nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron from Joint Base Lewis-McChord,
Washington have been performing their duties here at March Air Reserve Base since late
February.


“We’ve been here almost two months now,” said Master Sgt. David Hayes, 62nd AMXS Flight
Line Expediter. “We’re running nothing but missions. It could be humanitarian missions, air
evacuations, re-supply missions dropping off cargo or helicopters. Everything is mission related.
We’re not here for training; it’s all home station stuff.”


Members of the 62nd AMXS are expected to be here until mid-June, due to flight line repairs
being accomplished at JBLM that are expected to take approximately four months.
“The base is small compared to JBLM,” said Hayes. “There have been a couple hiccups coming
from an active duty base to a reserve base but we’ve been making things happen. It hasn’t been a
dramatic difference.”


Being away from the often overcast Seattle area in sunny southern California has been a
welcomed change of weather for members of 62nd AMXS.


“The Los Angeles area is the place to be,” said Senior Airman Dwayne Hewan, 62nd AMXS
Aerospace Propulsion Journeyman. “We’ve been to the Walk of Fame, to Beverly Hills, and
gone hiking. Just trying to explore Riverside, Los Angeles, and San Diego.”


Most of the JBLM members have enjoyed the experience of staying on base in lodging for
multiple months. They have also liked how easy it is for them to get to work every day.
“It has been a bit of a vacation,” said Staff Sgt. Mathew Crawford, 62nd AMXS Aircraft
Electrical and Environmental Systems Craftsman. “I do miss McChord but the workload and
schedule here has been quite nice. Being able to walk to work has been fantastic. The fence line
is kind of strange but being so close to everything has been really nice.”


Overall, members of the 62nd AMXS have enjoyed their time here and are appreciative of Team
March for being so accommodating.


“I’m glad that March has been able to have patience with us for some things that are so different
from what we’re used to,” said Crawford. “They’re helping us out a great deal and we appreciate
it.”