[Themaintainers] Airforce maintainers

Sat Jun 25 12:25:41 EDT 2022

Daniel,

Thank you for sharing how that video made you feel and thank you for your
service.
Yes, it is quite heartening to see the professionalism, enthusiasm and
camaraderie in that video.

I've long been fascinated by military cultures and stories precisely as a
source for sustained camaraderie.
The uniform, the chain of command, the jargon, the swagger, the checklists,
the brevity codes. It's all very legible and pleasing to one aspect of my
thinking.
(Have you read Atul Gawande's Checklist Manifesto?)

In my career, I've enjoyed working alongside those who've served in the
military and hearing their stories.
Through the years, I've also had to reconcile a childish fascination with
machines that wage war with a desire to serve public needs.

Through Malcom Gladwell's Bomber Mafia <https://youtu.be/7eJtteKaOxc> which
reflects on the origins of the USAF, I discovered the fascinating nuances
between the three branches of military.
He references  "Masks of War" : American Military Styles in Strategy and
Analysis, a RAND research study that explains the following

   - The Army as the servant of the people - understated & secure in its
   position
   - The Navy - Heir to a grand tradition.
   - The Air Force - the only part of the military entirely born of the
   20th century. The motto of the Army Air Corps Tactical School, the
   precursor to the USAF's Strategic Air Command (Bomber Mafia) was
   *"Proficimus More Irretenti—We Make Progress Unhindered by Custom". *That
   says volumes.

More generally, maintenance work elicits a type of camaraderie that I find
to be qualitatively different from other forms of teamwork that can be more
performative in nature.

I'm reminded of s stories from the merchant navy where, through my dad,
I've borne witness to the camarederal narratives from the engine room to
decks of the ship.
One is forged in negotiating with machines through sweat, smoke, and oil -
the other, negotiating with people, and organizations.
(The galleys, not so much and I am pretty sure there's
different camarederal structures at play there. Bourdain's Kitchen
Confidential is perhaps a good source?)

I find that Test pilots represent an interesting convergence of maintenance
and control. Test pilots not only need to be performative but also involved
in the maintenance of their crafts.

Here are some of my writings that  may be of interest. Daniel, I wish you
and yours all the best. Thank you.

   - In "The Fishbed vs The Starfighter" <https://medium.com/p/3ed669718ddc>,
   I reflect on how me as a  young Indian boy amped up on nationalist
   propaganda falls hook, line, and sinker for the delusions created by the
   first Top Gun movie and proceeds to use these delusions to study harder and
   immigrate to America only to be confronted by the complex realities of 20th
   century geopolitics.

   - In "Bringing Wall Street and the US Army to bear on public service
   delivery.
   <https://medium.com/a-r-g-o/bringing-wall-street-technology-to-bear-on-public-service-delivery-26f8d794c1d5>",
   I reflected on my years in Wall Street to conceive of new information
   ecosystems built around maintaining the nation's infrastructure.

   - In "Imagining a Public Technology Corps
   <https://vr00n.medium.com/imagining-a-public-technology-corps-c85e07968346>",
   I reflected on military programs like Top Gun (the real fighter weapons
   school) and new deal programs like the Civilian Conservation Corps to
   create a new technology facilitated institution with a mandate of
   maintenance and care

   - In "A breach in the forecastle
   <https://vr00n.medium.com/a-breach-in-the-forecastle-d9c0d3ec0da8>", I
   asked my dad to recount a tale of maintenance on one of his voyages

Varun

On Sat, Jun 4, 2022 at 1:08 PM Daniel Paul Miller <miller at sociotechnical.net>
wrote:

> Thanks for sharing this, Varun!
>
> The stories certainly do a great job of making the lives and culture of
> USAF aircraft maintenance personnel visible…and real.  (SSgt Lydia Whitney
> did an exceptional job talking to us about maintenance.  A big “Sierra
> Hotel” to her!)
>
> I’m a maintenance veteran of the AF flight line and worked the weapon
> systems of more than one of the jets featured in the film.  I smiled as I
> watched, especially when seeing a specific maintenance task that I had
> performed, e.g. wiring a 500lb laser guided bomb or inventorying a “CTK”
> (consolidated-tool-kit).   I really grinned when I saw that the
> professionalism, enthusiasm and camaraderie of the maintenance troops is at
> the same high-level as it was when I was working jets during the last
> decade of the Cold War.
>
> My experience with the AF’s maintenance education, training, standards,
> procedures (I still love the technology of the checklist!) and its
> pervasive professional maintenance culture, have influenced my professional
> career…and how I examine, live with, and, of course, maintain technologies.
>
>
> Fun stuff!  Aim High!
>
> Dan
>
> *———*
>
> Daniel Paul Miller, Ph.D.
>
> Independent Researcher
> (U.S. Government Program Manager)
>
>
> Washington, D.C.  USA
>
> E-mail:  miller at sociotechnical.net
>
>
> Research Interests
>
> - High Reliability Organizations
>
> - Maintenance of Sociotechnical Systems
>
> - Nuclear Systems
>
> - Science and TechnoIogy Policy
>
> On Jun 4, 2022, at 12:13, Varun Adibhatla <varun.adibhatla at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
> 
> Hello,
>
> I thought this video from the US Airforce describing the lives and values
> of Maintainers was interesting.
> https://youtu.be/bxner2Ix_ZM
>
> --
> Thanks,
> Varun
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>
>

-- 
Thanks,
Varun
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