Home Care In Dover AFB, DE

Innovation is a never-ending mission for the Airmen of the United States Air Force. Recently, two Team Dover aircraft maintainers, U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Sheila Moody, 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Air Force Repair Enhancement Program aircraft structural journeyman and U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Cortnee Madrid, 436th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron dock chief, took a massive step by designing a female bump cap.

A bump cap is a piece of safety equipment used to protect the heads of Airmen who work on aircraft. Currently, female Airmen must wear their hair in a bun while on the flightline, creating a problem when wearing the classic bump cap.

“We have to wear our hair in a bun, otherwise the tools we use have the potential to rip our hair out,” said Moody. “We had to wear [the caps on top of our buns], with maintenance most of the time we’re looking up, so it would obstruct our view.”

The new design has a larger opening in the back, allowing the buns of the women using the hat to fit through it comfortably.

The new bump cap design began when Moody had a conversation with Col. Bary Flack, 436th Mission Generation Group commander. She explained the dilemma she and many other female Airmen were having with the cap.

“I brought up the bump cap issue to Col. Flack,” said Moody. “Col. Flack told me if I could come up with a solution he would figure out how to get it onto the flightline for us.”

Madrid assisted Moody in the brainstorming process and planning of the new bump cap, allowing their abstract ideas to become more concrete.

“I presented the idea to [Moody],” said Madrid. “I think we really ran with it [when it comes to the] bump cap inserts as a lot of the components were already made. It was just a matter of creating it in our camo pattern for maintenance.”

The process to create the first model for the cap began a year ago. Moody and Madrid went through at least four vendors before receiving a working model of the first female bump cap design. Moody worked with the vendors while Madrid worked with feedback and the administrative portions of the project.

“It started out as a female-only bump cap before later transitioning to the unisex design,” said Moody.

The unisex cap is currently being used only at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, and has been issued to female maintainers within the 436th Mission Generation Group. Moody and Madrid have also created a second-generation bump cap design that is currently being manufactured and will be used at Dover AFB and Travis AFB, California as test beds.

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Members of the Dover Air Force Base Veterinary Treatment Facility, 436th Security Forces Squadron Military Working Dog section, and the 436th Medical Group Warm Zone Team held a training session on January 10, 2024, to practice the skills necessary to properly decontaminate MWDs and possibly save their lives in the aftermath of a nuclear, biological or chemical attack or spill.

“Military working dogs are part of the military family. We have to make sure we know how to care for them in any scenario,” said Tech. Sgt. Terrence Jasso, 436th Healthcare Operations Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of diagnostic imaging and Warm Zone Team leader.

In the event of an incident or an accident involving CBRN agents, the Warm Zone Team is responsible for decontaminating patients before they are triaged and treated, ensuring healthcare workers can help the wounded without becoming casualties themselves. The team holds monthly training days to practice donning protective equipment and setting up the decontamination tent. This month’s training went a step further. To ensure they know how to properly care for every member of Team Dover, the Warm Zone Team hosted members of the 436th SFS MWD section and staff from the Dover Veterinary Clinic.

“Decontamination of military working dogs is actually an annual requirement for our veterinary technicians,” said Capt. Alicia Bailey, Dover AFB Veterinary Treatment Facility officer in charge. “We really wanted to have a more hands-on training session as well as share this important knowledge.”

Bailey reached out to the Warm Zone Team to plan the event and within a week the vet clinic was able to set up a training session alongside the Warm Zone Team and members of the 436th SFS MWD section. During the training, Bailey covered the proper technique for decontaminating dogs and demonstrated how to safely restrain dogs for decontamination when the dog’s handler is incapacitated or unavailable to help.

“Training like this is important for all those who attended,” said Bailey. “Especially the Warm Zone Team because it’s not likely that veterinary technicians will be present following an incident involving CBRN agents in a deployed environment.”

The training was the first of its kind on Dover AFB and there are plans to continue involving all three sections to ensure the vet clinic staff and Warm Zone Team is fully capable of decontaminating MWDs.

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Operation Feed the Troops served a holiday meal to more than 800 members of Team Dover, Dec. 13, 2023.

The 21st year of OFTT, wouldn’t have been possible without the support from the local community and volunteers who served the annual traditional dinner consisting of turkey, stuffing, green beans, corn, gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce and a variety of desserts and assorted beverages.

Retired U.S. Air Force Reserve Master Sgt. Robert ‘Bob’ Reese, founder and organizer of OFTT, along with more than 60 volunteers from local businesses, churches, community leaders, veterans and honorary commanders, helped cook and serve the holiday meal for active duty, Reserve and civilian coworkers, as well as family members during two different meals for day and night shift workers.

“I’m very impressed; it’s always awesome to have the community to come out and show how much they care about our Airmen and their families,” said U.S. Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Carolyn Russell, 436th Airlift Wing command chief. “The volunteers just taking the time out of their busy schedules to serve, cook the food and to engage with our Airmen is really a special treat and unique that we have in the Dover community.”

When asked, Reese chronicles the concept and history of OFTT that started out as a squadron event and has now blossomed into a base-wide event over the years.

"This goes back when I first joined the military; Mom and Dad used to do the same thing," said Reese. "When I came home for the first time, they told me to bring a couple of friends along."

The following year, Reese’s parents told him to bring more friends and implanted the idea of cooking for the troops for what was to later become the first Feed the Troops Dinner held in 2004.

OFTT offered dine-in or to-go containers for Airmen who were unable to leave their work area.

“I think it is an awesome opportunity to let single Airmen that don’t get to go back home and see their families, to just feel connected with everyone,” said Senior Airman Alexander Hise, 436th Maintenance Squadron Isochronal Dock crew chief.

In all, 109 turkeys were served, along with all the trimmings.

Dover Air Force Base, Del. --

As this year’s winter season approaches, the 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron is working around the clock to ensure Team Dover’s fleet of snow vehicles are ready to keep the flight line and roads clear of ice and snow during the winter months. At Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, the cold winter weather lasts only part of the year, but recovering and preparing for inclement weather is a year-round mission.

These vehicles are key to preventing airlift mission stoppage during and after winter storms. Ensuring the flight line and mission-capable aircraft are clear of snow and ice reduces the risk of unsafe aircraft launches and touchdowns.

In anticipation for the winter season, the 436th LRS Vehicle Maintenance shop performs a summer rebuild of more than 180 vehicles. This winterization of vehicles include mission-essential maintenance to 10 runway snow removal vehicles, 19 aircraft deicers and 13 support vehicles.

“Honestly, we’re always busy, but when the summer rebuild starts we just get busier.” said Staff Sgt. Dustin Downen, 436th LRS base maintenance shop supervisor.

The summer rebuild has three phases. In the first phase each vehicle undergoes an extensive, multipoint inspection to determine what repairs are needed. Thorough inspection of just a single vehicle can take one or two workdays.

The second and longest phase is the problem-solving phase. Routine annual maintenance consists of replacement of filters, fluids, lubricants, hoses and window wiper blades. Vehicle maintenance is not just physical work.

A large portion of the vehicle fleet are highly specialized vehicles and sourcing certain parts can stretch from days to weeks.

“Sourcing parts is one of the biggest challenges we face,” said Downen. “It might be weeks before we get a quote back from a vendor.”

Scheduling maintenance times to align with part arrival times is just one way the staff uses their problem-solving skills to maximize productivity. The staff uses time management and meticulous planning to ensure a smooth workflow.

“We rely on strong communication and coordination with other units like the civil engineer and aircraft maintenance squadrons,” said Downen. “Since they’re the ones who actually operate the vehicles, they usually have good insight on what problems the vehicles have.”

The staff know that even a single snow-removal vehicle or deicer can have a negative effect on mission accomplishment at Dover AFB. Every problem identified in the spring must be corrected before each vehicle is deemed ready for winter.

“These vehicles are completely checked out before they go out,” said Bill Nagle, 436th LRS heavy equipment diesel mechanic. “If anything is going to break down, you want it to happen here in the yard and not out there behind a plane. It’s pretty simple, if these vehicles don’t run, the planes don’t fly.”

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del.-- Dover Air Force Base’s Bedrock Innovation Lab inspires a culture of innovation and empowerment at the unit level to implement solutions to the military’s problems. A Bedrock intern did just that recently by creating a new 3D-printed drill bit case for Airmen to use while performing maintenance on aircraft.

The idea originated from a maintenance Airman who raised concerns about the previous drill bit case being discontinued and needing more due to wear and tear. Tech. Sgt. Christopher Saunders, 736th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron home station check dock chief and Bedrock intern at the time, began developing a solution.

“We got together and hashed out what our likes were and our dislikes about the existing case versus what we'd like to see in the new case,” said Saunders.

Saunders created prototype after prototype of the case, tweaking a different aspect or adding another feature to improve each version.

“The biggest challenge was the design,” said Saunders. “It's frustrating having to continuously re-measure the same thing over and over to make sure it's correct.”

Finally, on the 11th prototype, the new and improved drill bit case was complete. The case included extra storage compartments for bits, embedded magnets and stronger materials. These new features increased efficiency and durability and will, over time, decrease cost.

“[The case] is great, especially while working on the [metal] stands. The case sticks to the stand so that if you’re changing a window, you don’t have to worry about where your bit case is going,” said Saunders. “It’ll stick to anything magnetic which has been really helpful in keeping track of tools. Since implementation, we haven’t had a single lost bit.”

Avoiding lost tools helps mitigate foreign object debris. Mitigating FOD ensures our aircraft remain mission capable and aren’t damaged by any loose objects.

As a result of his internship at Bedrock, Saunders believes he has become more innovatively focused.

“I feel like a spokesperson now for innovation,” said Saunders. “Whether it's providing [Airmen] with new tools or increasing their mindset, I'm trying to look at it from a different perspective.”

Cultivating this innovative mindset is exactly what Bedrock is about.

“[Bedrock] helps take that coffee table napkin scratch idea to a fully functioning prototype or device to be used in their workspaces,” said Maj. Mark Rosenthal, 436th Airlift Wing chief innovation officer. “What Bedrock does for the Air Force is get people in that mindset that you can think of different ways to do your job or to do tasks. The only constant is change and once [we] start embracing that, we'll be better off in the end.”