How to Build a New Fighter Squadron?

December, 2009: Now we are going to have a peer behind the curtains: how a brand new fighter squadron is built from scratch. We interviewed USAF SMSgt Tom Wharton (retired) who was in charge of managing an aircraft conversion and building the 492nd FS, which is now one of the busiest fighter squadrons in the USAF.

Where the Story Began

I already wrote about how the F-111 Aardvark was destined to be changed with the new F-15E Strike Eagle (see “The Strike Eagle Story 1/6”, Aranysas 2009/3 issue). The first place it was to happen was RAF Lakenheath in 1991, right after Operation Desert Storm. After the hastily established first two Strike Eagle squadrons (333rd and 334th FS at Seymour-Johnson AFB, North-Carolina, USA), USAF decided to continue to “spread” the F-15E all around its airbases.

The next squadron scheduled to convert to F-15E was the 492nd FS stationed in RAF Lakenheath, U.K. This was the first USAFE (US Air Forces in Europe) unit to make the change to the Strike Eagle and soon it was followed by its sister squadron the 494th FS ( RAF Lakenheath, U.K.). The 492nd FS was launched in March 1992. The 494th FS was launched a few months later, in July 1992. After launch they took a further year to reach IOC, that is stated as fully mission qualified.

The Man for the Job

I interviewed USAF Senior Master Sergeant Tom Wharton (58, retired) about the conversion, the very first F-15E conversion in the history of USAFE. Tom was one of the two Lead Production Superintendents who lead the whole effort (for what LPS means, he will tell you in details later in the interview).

Tom joined the USAF in 1969 and served in Vietnam. Later he worked for the USAF Thunderbirds as Swing Shift Production Superintendent, then moved to Chief of Quality Assurance with a two month deployment with the US Navy Blue Angels. After this he was assigned as Thunderbirds Line Chief (a person in charge of all Thunderbirds maintenance and public performance operations).

His decorations are numerous. He was initially selected as the 832nd Air Command and later 12th Air Force Senior NCO of the Year, then selected as Tactical Air Commands Senior NCO of the year and later selected as One (1) of 12 Outstanding Airmen of the United States Air Force (this is job performance based title, work related to his job as an aircraft manager for the USAF) globally with the USAF in 1987 (see photo). At that time, there was over 900,000 Officer and Enlisted Airmen in the USAF and Tom was selected Senior Aircraft Manager for the Aircraft (biggest award one can receive in peacetime) for that year.

Tom has rich experiences in the field of aircraft conversions. During his 26 years of aircraft maintenance spent in the Air Force from Oct 1969 to his retirement in Feb 1996 (18 of them within USAFE) he had been involved with five other aircraft conversions: F-100 to F4 (Clark AB, Philippine Islands), F4 to A-10 ( RAF Bentwaters, U.K.), F4 to F-16 (Nellis AFB, Nevada, USA), F-4 to F-16 (Hahn AB, Germany) and again later F-15E to F-15C/D ( RAF Lakenheath, U.K.), so he ‘had that square pretty much covered’.

At the time the F-111F to F-15E conversion started, Tom had already been assigned to RAF Lakenheath and for six months as Swing Shift Production Superintendent, that is a person responsible for managing all flight line activities of the 492nd FS equipped with F-111F aircraft. When he heard news about the conversion starting, he quickly volunteered for the job, which turned out to be a mighty effort to build a squadron of 260 people and 26 assigned aircraft – definitely not a job for beginners.

The Job for the Man

F-15E.info: What was your job as a Lead Production Superintendent during the F-111 to F-15E conversion?

Tom Wharton: There were actually two Lead Production Supers, SMSgt Jerry Lee and myself. We had many taskings. One was to build the squadron, in other words to “man it”. That was accomplished by identifying all the necessary skills and the number of slots to be filled by people with the given skills to support a full up fighter squadron. There are lots of skills and slots required by an operating fighter squadron, such as crew chiefs, hydraulics, avionics, radar, threat warning systems, communication, navigation, electricians, sheet metal, machine shop technicians, munitions (loaders), engines, fuel specialists, administration, specialist flight chiefs, weapons flight chiefs, aircraft maintenance flight chiefs, maintenance production superintendents, egress, life support, planners, schedulers, not mentioning actual aircrew (pilots and WSO’s). The list is not complete, those are the jobs I can think of right off. They are all needed to keep the squadron operational and flying sorties.

F-15E.info: What was the organizational structure of your project? I mean you surely did not manage all 260 people directly, you must have had your subordinates.

Tom Wharton: Yes, at first we as Lead Production Supers did manage everyone. You have to remember, we slowly moved folks out from the old aircraft (F-111) and slowly brought in folks assigned to the F-15E. As we grew in size, we developed what we called “flights”, these were groups of people dedicated to specific types of jobs.

The airplane general (APG) flight housed crew chiefs. These were basic aircraft maintenance folks who did a little of servicing, maintenance, towing, launch and recovery of aircraft, inspections and whatnot – long list of other roles too.

We had the specialist flight, that consisted of specialists for avionics, communications, electronic warfare types, radar and such.

We had the munitions flight with aircraft weapons loaders.

We had the support flight, that is where we picked up our daily supplies, parts, technical data library, tools and such.

Depending on the primary job of each person, they were placed into certain flights. All helped maintain and helped fly and keep the squadron operational.

There was a senior NCO assigned as the Sortie Generation Flight Chief, he or she was responsible to oversee the actions of all the other flights I mentioned earlier. As Production Supers, we managed the flight line operations, flying schedules, maintenance activities of the flight line. We organized the folks for deployment issues as well.

But at the beginning of the project we organized everything directly and soon broke the roles out in specific areas of responsibility. The maintenance superintendent was over everybody within maintenance, only person above him in the squadron was the squadron Commander.

F-15E.info: How did you split jobs with SMSgt Jerry Lee, the other Lead Production Super?

Tom Wharton: At first we shared our roles and responsibilities, then we split up the work load and later split into shifts, rotating back and forth working and meeting everyone, sharing lessons learned with all the squadron and later the fighter wing.

Somewhat Like Pioneers

F-15E.info: How much support did you get from the wing (that is 48th FW, the “Liberty Wing”)?

Tom Wharton: Within the 48th FW, we were given almost a blank check for resources and material we needed (tools, manpower, technical data, equipment). Everything we did (per-say) was done at Lakenheath and having equipment shipped from the manufacturer through the USAF supply system.

F-15E.info: Did you have to worry about budgetary issues?

Tom Wharton: I don’t remember any real costs we had to stay within, not when you are tooling up with a new weapons system. So no budget issues at the beginning. Later we had to trim our flying schedule based on funding (limiting training sorties and deployment costs), but once actual combat actions (Bosnia) started later in 1993, no budget issues were mentioned.

F-15E.info: What deadlines did you had to meet pre-project? Did you manage to meet them?

Tom Wharton: We had a year to complete the conversion of the aircraft, and yes, we met it, no other deadlines that I remember were involved.

F-15E.info: What Aardvark and Strike Eagle background (previous experiences with the jets) did you have at that time?

Tom Wharton: None, I walked into the old F-111, went on “swings” to learn that aircraft, after all, that is where the bulk of real maintenance is taking place for tomorrow’s sorties. I had zero F-15E experience, but an aircraft is an aircraft, at least it was the way I felt about it. I learned the hard way (OJT) basically but I – as many of us – learned fast.

Besides we had connections with folks at Seymour-Johnson AFB, who already had F-15E operating experiences. For me personally it was very little directly, but I did have folks who had been assigned there and we learned many events and training situations from them. We all formed quite a team. Most of it was new to many folks but they caught on very fast with help. Working other type aircraft the skills are similar, just a bit different by aircraft type.

F-15E.info: And building a squadron? Did you have some previous experiences or official manuals to rely on?

Tom Wharton: There were published standards (regulations governing such operations) for the overall plan and most USAF organizations of that time were similar in nature across the USAF globally. Without going too far into detail, it was normally starting with the Squadron Commander, Operations Officer, First Sergeant, Maintenance Superintendent, Production Superintendent, Flight Chiefs (APG, Specialist Flight), Support Flight all broken down into three shifts (24 hour coverage) for flying operations and maintenance activities. As for F-15E related stuff, we did pull some prior F-15E experienced folks from around the globe to help start and train other technicians on the specifics of this particular aircraft. In fact we were lucky to have gained personnel that had F-15 backgrounds.

F-15E.info: Was this pure luck? What control did you have over what people to bring into your project?

Tom Wharton: I say luck, but we were able to pick from other locations, folks that had a core experience on this aircraft and who could be used to “train” other technicians at our base. Many of our folks were trained by McDonnell-Douglas [the F-15E manufacturer at that time – now it’s Boeing – the author] and they trained others. This happens even today on more modern aircraft – they train us, we then train each other, the cycle continues.

We established an FTD, a Field Training Detachment. It is a local school house that is set up to help teach or educate our folks in certain aspects of the aircraft. It is broken down into many, many classes. It just depends what is needed, the course is made available and USAF assigned “instructors” provide the training on site. Once we got more and more folks arriving, we were able to get folks into FTD.

Training is a Key Factor

F-15E.info: So training was crucial…

Tom Wharton: Absolutely. Before actual flying operations could begin, “Training, Equipment issues to include Technical Data” also had to be identified and was required to build up the squadron. Also we needed to create an “Acceptance Inspection Program” for the newly arriving aircraft ensuring there were no hidden mechanical issues within the aircraft. As you can see there was much to do building or converting from one aircraft type to another.

F-15E.info: What is exactly "Training, Equipment issues to include Technical Data" you mentioned?

Tom Wharton: Training considered of educating maintenance and aircrew personnel into the “internal workings of this weapon system”, learning how it works (all its systems) and how to maintain or repair it. That takes time, so a dedicated schedule was created – juggling with flying activities and classroom training to pull it all together. Special testing equipment and tools are required to work or repair the aircraft. These too had to be identified and ordered, then brought to each unit that was going to fly it – it’s like building your own airline and making sure you have everything you need to keep it flying properly, technical data (T.O.’s or technical orders as we called them) also had to be brought into the unit.

We never worked or tried to fix anything without written detailed instructions. USAF technical orders are written orders providing guidance how to do such things. You must follow them to the letter.

Although as I mentioned, technical data was available, we still had to build our own library (ordering and stocking it as needed) ensuring we had everything we needed. The original technical documentation was developed by the aircraft manufacture, it came with the aircraft.

F-15E.info: You mentioned that you needed to create an "Acceptance Inspection Program" for newly arriving aircraft. Didn't you have one already at Seymour-Johnson AFB?

Tom Wharton: The USAF aircraft Acceptance Inspection program was already written (guidance in the USAF technical manuals, dash 6 inspection manual). All we had to do was “tailor it to our environment and working condition”. We had to take apart each aircraft (within reason) double checking it before it would fly actual missions (training or real world).

Any Problems?

F-15E.info: The next one might be a bit awkward question. Your rank was SMSgt and a full squadron consists of people with higher ranks, while as a Lead Production Super you were in a manager position over them. How did you handle this?

Tom Wharton: Myself and SMSgt Jerry Lee were at that time the ranking Senior NCO’s of our squadron. There were no issues, we each had our roles to play in this event, we all got along fine, there were no conflicts, we all knew how we fit into the organization.

Of course lots of minor errors were made here and there along the way as with anything “new” but I loved the “team concept”.

It was like being in USAF Thunderbirds again, all folks were self starters and did very well with their jobs and roles in this process, I loved that the most and the fact, that we had brand new jets that were top of the line fighter bombers.

F-15E.info: Brand new jets with F100-PW-229 engines?

Tom Wharton: Correct, brand spanking new aircraft, fresh roll outs from the St. Louis factory. The jets were equipped with -229 engines right from the factory as I remember it.

F-15E.info: Did you have any technical issues because of brand new jets?

Tom Wharton: Nothing I can remember. Of course there always seemed to be a few wiring problems to deal with, but nothing serious. The -229 engine was still fairly new, that was a nightmare at times, but it all worked out with additional training and experience on the aircraft (new toys, new operation standards to learn). Ensuring the equipment we ordered was on hand was important, it could have hampered flying if it was not on hand when we needed it.

F-15E.info: What were the greatest challenges/difficulties during the conversion?

Tom Wharton: Attitude or mindset of the folks at the “Heath”. Most were so attached to the F-111, they almost refused to help with minor issues such as Equipment or Manning.

F-15E.info: Are you serious?

Tom Wharton: Yes. Once most of the F-111 troops left, things started getting easier for us all. Our team began “getting in place” and it was much easier for taskings and assistance across the wing.

Actually, when the F-111 folks left, their equipment and most of the people who had been assigned to those units left too. The base (flight line) was a bit sparse for a little while until our folks, aircraft and equipment started to arrive. I hate to say this, but many of us were glad to see them go, old attitudes, old supervisors, old commanders. A fresh start for many left behind that were looking forward to the new assignment and attitude that went with it.

The End Result

F-15E.info: Was your conversion project considered a success at the end? What was the reputation of it within USAFE?

Tom Wharton: Yes, our project was a huge success. Most of the early folks involved (at the start of the project) received awards along the way, some earlier, some later.

I had made quite a good reputation for myself and for my squadron within USAFE and on the base itself. Later (the year before I retired) I was selected as the General Lu Allen Award winner for USAF (that award represents Excellence in Aviation Management for the USAF in USAFE). So I would say, I had a good reputation thanks to all the hard work and folks that trusted me and worked with me in these great projects.

It’s been so long ago now, but I still feel that I was lucky enough to have been chosen to work with and for some great people. SMSgt Jerry Lee was a great guy to work with, together we led the whole effort. And the other folks, collectively they made the tough job of aircraft conversion a bit easier, because all knew their roles and positions and each work their backsides off. It made my job easier, no doubt. Later because of the great job we all did, I was asked to built the 493rd FS from scratch with F-15C and D aircraft (Air-to-Air Fighter Squadron), SMSgt Jerry Lee was reassigned to Aviano AB (Italy) as Superintendent for 555^th FS (F-16 jets). I wound up doing lots of projects for the Wing after the first conversion there, became a project “king” per-say.

F-15E.info: How much the results of your work had been used later on in the USAF (with other F-15E squadrons)?

Tom Wharton: The lessons learned from our activation was adapted for use later in the 494th FS at RAF Lakenheath, I am not aware of anything we did that might have been utilized by any other F-15E units globally.

F-15E.info: You retired from the Heath in 1996. Would you mind to mention what do you do now?

Tom Wharton: The highlights only, when I retired, I was hired by a company that bought and sold private aircraft, I started pilot training (ferrying aircraft, buying and selling them) after awhile, I left that job and became an International Program Manager for Northrop Grumman (many taskings there with multiply weapons systems), five years later I switched jobs and starting working for Hill AFB in Aircraft Quality Assurance, switch one more time (where I am still) as a Foreign Disclosure Officer (technology sharing of weapons systems with foreign governments for the USAF).

F-15E.info: Tom, many thanks for the interview and good luck in your future life!

Tom Wharton: It was my pleasure. And I wish all the best for the visitors of F-15E.info.

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