Elmendorf Shop Wins AF NDI lab of the year

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jack Sanders
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The 3rd Equipment Maintenance Squadron's Nondestructive Inspection Laboratory here earned the of Air Force NDI lab of the year award for 2009.

Nondestructive Inspection or NDI is the examination of an object or material with technology that does not affect its future usefulness. Because it allows inspection without interfering with a product's intended use, NDI provides an excellent balance between quality control and cost-effectiveness.

Established in 1958, the mission of NDI Program's mission is to provide optimum support to the structural maintenance program, which maintains air and space equipment in a safe, serviceable, and ready condition. The program provides support within the Air Force to many organizations including major commands, field laboratories, system program offices, the Department of Defense and Air Force Depots.

The NDI lab here competed with every NDI lab in the Air Force and was determined, by an inspection team, to be the best.

"It's definitely an honor," said Tech. Sgt. Orlando Williams, 3rd EMS NDI craftsman. "Not all labs get this chance."

The job for the NDI lab here has had to become quite flexible because of not only incoming personnel but a large selection of new airframes as well.

"Being able to adapt is critical," said Tech. Sgt. Daniel Williams 3rd EMS NDI craftsman.

There are many different diverse methods that the NDI team can use.

Some commonly used non-destructive inspection methods include liquid penetrate, magnetic particle, eddy current and radiographic inspection, ultrasonic inspection, tomography, and real-time radiography. State-of-the-art developments in digital image enhancement have broadly expanded the application and utility of NDI methods in the industry.

Although the lab has recently been moved to a newer, more up to date, facility the inspection team tested them at their older facilities.

"It's just an honor that based on what we had we were able to get the award, and now we're even at a much better facility," said Senior Master Sgt. Brian Higdon, 3rd EMS fabrication flight chief. "They've improved even with the transition now."

Williams said that although he doesn't know if there were any specific reasons the shop won the award, he believes it's because the personnel are willing to learn and stay on top of all standards and technical data.