Lab technicians keep operations going Published March 14, 2011 By A1C Jack Sanders JBER PAO JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- The 3rd Wing Non-destructive Inspection lab at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson keeps the mission on track with accurate safety inspections by providing needed reviews of metals and aircraft, the NDI lab is keeping pilots safe and in the air. "The Non-destructive Inspection lab inspects aircraft and support equipment for defects such as cracks, or corrosion on com¬posite materials, and we do that to keep bigger components from breaking," said Air Force Master Sgt. Warren Peter, 3rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron, Non-destructive Inspection lab superintendent. Non-destructive Inspection technicians test materials being inspected without the materials usefulness being affected. "If we can catch a crack small enough we can have them fix it prior to the crack becoming big enough that the actual whole component breaks," Peter said. The NDI lab has to be more flexible than most, due to the va¬riety of airframes stationed here. To meet the needs of those different aircraft the NDI lab must use all of its resources. The NDI lab uses different examination techniques to get an up close and personal look at whatever material they're working on, while using technology, which doesn't affect the material's usefulness. Doing so can allows the NDI lab to provide a balance between quality control and cost-effectiveness. "We're kind of like the science geeks of the maintenance field," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Daniel Craigo, NCO in charge of the NDI lab. A quick walk around the NDI lab reveals technicians bathed in the glow of diagnostic equipment and display screens. One technique in particular, the Joint Oil Analysis Program, demonstrates how the NDI lab can be cost-effective and fun at the same time, said Craigo. "JOP is where we burn the oil sample that comes out of jet engines," Craigo said. "If you remember from chemistry class, when you burn different metals they give off different colors of light. This unit analyzes the spectrum of lights that come off that metal and it tells us how many parts per million of that material is in the oil. It tells us what is fail¬ing inside of an engine and it can give us early detection or a means for early detection of failure in a jet engine." Some commonly used NDI methods include liquid penetrate, magnetic particle, radiographic inspection and eddy current, ultrasonic inspection, tomography and real-time radiography. Even though the equipment may be high-tech Craigo said, some of the techniques they use are actually centuries old. Some techniques, like x-ray, Craigo said, were developed before modern machines and aircraft were thought of. Some techniques may be old, but the NDI program itself wasn't established until 1958. The NDI program's mission is to provide support to the structural maintenance program, which maintains air and space equipment in serviceable, safe and ready conditions, according to https://acc.dau.mil/CommunityBrowser.aspx?id=3245.3 The program provides support within the Air Force to many organizations including major commands, field laboratories, system program offices and Air Force depots as well as outside the service to the Department of Defense. With such a colorful background it's no wonder people like Craigo enjoy the job. "A lot of our techniques are fun to work with. The aircraft and the varying different things we do on them are exciting," he said. The NDI lab technicians have their fun, but their job is serious business with the potential to save the Air Force millions of dollars, but at the same time keeping the aircrews safe. "Every day we have (work) that needs to be done," Peter said. "We have stuff that needs to be inspected whether it's parts off an aircraft or whether we have to go onto an aircraft to inspect something a crew chief finds."