Picking up the pieces

  • Published
  • By Airman Jack Sanders
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Everyone who works on or near the flightline knows all about foreign object damage checks. 

FOD can stand for foreign object danger, or foreign object debris. FOD is a common element on flightlines, and poses a serious threat to aircraft and ground vehicles. 

"Each squadron is required to do FOD checks daily," said Tech. Sgt. Jason Knutson, the 3rd Wing FOD manager. Squadrons perform FOD checks, which are similar to the inspections Military Training Instructors gave the dorms in basic training. There's no white glove, but it's close to it. Mandatory squadron FOD checks are inside and outside the hangars in their designated areas 

The flightline is a high risk area for FOD, Knutson said. 

"Any kind of foreign object can damage an aircraft," Knutson said. The primary concern on the flightline is safety. 

If an aircraft engine were to suck FOD into it, it could potentially cause that aircraft to crash and people to be harmed or worse killed, said Knutson. 

For the purpose of safety and debris removal from the flightline the wing annually has a FOD walk. The FOD walk is groups of people walk down the flightline and pick up every piece of FOD they see. Whether large or small, everyone removes as much FOD as they can from the flightline. 

"It's mostly rocks and pieces of runway," said Knutson describing some of the items found on this year's FOD walk. "Metal bristles are huge, because they get dropped a lot during the winter and the snow covers them up," he said. 

Other items that have been found on the FOD walk this year include: lights, lighting sockets and rubber chunks. There are all kinds of things that people find, some of it would amaze you, said Knutson. 

"There's a lot of trash out there, and most of it you couldn't see with the naked eye out on the flight line," said Master Sgt. Joseph Montalvo, the 3rd Wing FOD Manager. Montalvo is currently being trained to replace Knutson. "Imagine a piece of FOD taking out a C-17. 

It's serious business that people need to take seriously," he said.
Some may argue that the amount of manpower and time spent doing the FOD walk is a waste of money, but Knutson said, if just one engine to any of the planes here is saved then the FOD walk has made millions in profit. 

FOD walks are a regular part of Air Force life, and keeping the base safe. It's safe to say FOD checks will not be going anywhere anytime soon.