Before we start slinging too much mud at one another let me expand on my comments thus:
The majority of DND's problems with maintenance are systematic, they are not the fault of our techs on the floor.
Our supply system sucks, there is no other way to describe it. We have had aircraft stuck on an airfield waiting for a part the size of D cell battery and only the fourth one shipped made it to the aircraft. The first three were lost in transit because DND's supply system must use it's archaic way of shipping, usually by road, then Air Canada cargo, which gets sent who knows where if it is not on an airfield where AC has a cargo terminal. There is no customs clearing mechanism built in. The fourth part eventually made it because it was hand carried by another tech! Incredible waste of our tax money. We (the crews) have begged them to use a courier like Fedex or UPS but the "system" won't allow it.
It has forced us to sometimes "acquire" parts from some extremely supportive and cooperative civilian operators throughout the world. Thank you one and all. I would start naming them but the list is literally too long.
The other frustration is how our technicians are taught, what they are taught, their poor level of pay and how aircrews treat them. Military aircrew are used to being coddled and babied, I can say this because I'm one of them. Because of old military traditions in our historical aviation world, some pilots still think they wear a silk scarf, that they bought their commission because they came from a wealthy family and that being an aviator is for the prividledged and rich, thus a mere grease monkey should shine your chariot and hand you your harness straps as you climb in.
The truth is that we are officers first, have numerous extra duties and jobs and that our techs do all the maintenance including cleaning the windscreens because most of the time the aircrew is busy doing those non-flying duties. Having said that, the best example I have ever seen of cooperation is when we are deployed on operations. That is when you will see pilots help wash the aircraft, do routine servicing and pitch in.
What most of us (I speak for pilots) forget is what Bullet and Graunch amongst others have stated and that is that a cup of timmies goes a long way. Although we lofty officers often have other work to do, there are also times of extreme aircraft unserviceability when we "knock off" pretty early and the boys on the floor stay and work their wrenches off to get our birds working so we can ply the wild blue again and we are guilty of forgetting to just stop and say thanks.
DND needs to clean house way way way up top. Fix the bureaucracy of the supply system, pay techs much better money, train them in a more compatible way to an AME and support them with parts and training. As for us drivers, just stop and say thanks once in a while. My berating has never been for the great folks I work with, my frustrations lie with our system that essentially forces us to be so ineffective at home. A system we (aircrew and techs) tweak and re-arrange, legally and safely, whenever we deploy to make it work as it should. That is why we enjoy being deployed on flight ops 1000 times better than being at our home units. (Note to wives and sweethearts-except for the time we spend away from our families of course, just like anyone in aviation)
All I know is that if 4 AMEs can keep 20 machines on the flight line there has got to be some validity at looking into such a system. We will still need more folks for "military duties and to maintain a war footing" but by golly they're doin' something right. Whether it's a military mission or a revenue generating machine, we are all on the same team. An busted aircraft in the hangar cannot do it's job and if the trained monkey doesn't fly it then the guy with the wrench has no work either.
I'll take an apple fritter and a large with cream, thanks.
PS: The trained monkey reference comes from my wife. In my younger days, whenever I would start sounding too lofty about being a "pilot", she would come interject with the comment, "yeah yeah whatever, just remember the first astronaut was a trained monkey". Still makes me smile and rightly so, puts me in my place.
