559th AMXS earns Robert T. Mason Award for Depot Maintenance Excellence Published Jan. 6, 2025 By Joseph Mather 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- The 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex was presented the Robert T. Mason Award for Depot Maintenance Excellence during the 2024 Secretary of Defense Maintenance Symposium at Salt Lake City, Utah. Salt Lake City, Utah – Brig. Gen. Jon Eberlan, Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex commander, left, Lt. Gen. Stacey Hawkins, right, Air Force Sustainment Center, and the 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron team accept the Department of Defense Robert T. Mason Award for Depot Maintenance Excellence at Salt Lake City, Utah, Dec. 11, 2024, on behalf of their unit with the WR-ALC stationed at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. The unit was recognized for outstanding mission accomplishment, effective support to warfighters and innovative logistics processes. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Gracie Lee) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res The Robert T. Mason Award for Depot Maintenance Excellence recognizes exceptional quality and achievement in Department of Defense depot-level maintenance programs. It is awarded for outstanding mission accomplishment, effective support to warfighters, and innovative logistics processes. Col. Joshua De Paul, 402nd Aircraft Maintenance Group commander, said winning the Robert T. Mason Award is an amazing honor for the U.S. Air Force and Team Robins. “We are extremely proud of the men and women of the 559th AMXS for their hard work and dedication to enhancing readiness across the U.S. Air Force organic industrial base,” he said. “This prestigious award not only spotlights our team as a standout unit within Air Force Materiel Command but recognizes them as a world-class depot maintenance unit across the entire joint force.” According to De Paul the 559th AMXS provided support to all Air Mobility Command’s C-5 aircraft and increased aircraft availability enabling the C-5 aircraft fleet to generate 63,000 sorties (202,000 hours), transporting 100,000 passengers and 194,000 tons of cargo in 2024 to U.S. and allied forces across the globe. ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – A group of aircraft maintainers with 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex work on a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft as it goes through the Planned/Scheduled Depot Level Maintenance process at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, Oct. 15, 2024. The 559th AMXS aircraft maintainers provided overhaul and repair to the C-5M aircraft which is the largest aircraft in the Air Force inventory and the Department of Defense. (U.S. Air Force photos by Joseph Mather) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res “They aligned with mission partners to spearhead a multiyear depot maintenance recovery effort in support of the Air Force’s ‘Drive to 55’ aircraft availability campaign,” he said. “With a relentless focus on Art of the Possible (AoP), a constraints-based management system designed to create an environment for success in which the squadron reduced flow days 59% from 908 days in fiscal year 2022 to 770 in 2023 to 491 in 2024 and produced seven of seven aircraft two years in a row. “Additionally, they reduced queue days 13%, generated $348 million in revenue, netted $958 thousand, reduced budget overruns 52%, produced 380,000 man-hours across 16,000 complex operations, sustained a 92% quality assurance pass rate, and reduced acceptance inspection deficient reports by 90%,” he continued. John Kieweg, 559th AMXS director, said teamwork with both the 559th AMXS and the C-5 enterprise team, is why they won the Robert T. Mason award and turned the C-5 aircraft production line around. “In the first edition of the AoP handbook, Sept. 1, 2014, the last paragraph is titled ‘Culture of Believers.’ Some version of the word ‘believe’ is used seven times in five short lines,” he said. “When the C-5 enterprise started to believe in what we were trying to accomplish, you could see the powerful change in culture permeate throughout the hangar and into the hearts of everyone who was part of this endeavor.” ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – Michael Swain, 559th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron jet engine mechanic, with the Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex, safety wires a filter to a directional pilot valve on a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft during its Planned/Schedule Depot Level Maintenance at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, Oct. 15, 2024. The aircraft was in the depot for its six-year P/SDLM which included a full overhaul and repair of the aircraft. (U.S. Air Force photo by Joseph Mather) Photo Details / Download Hi-Res Kieweg said the squadron did a total turnaround from where we were three years ago. “We have pride in the aircraft we produce,” he said. “Our mission partners are onboard with our plans, and our customers trust us when we tell them a C-5 aircraft is complete and on its way back to home station.” Kieweg said the men and women in the C-5 enterprise are a team to be reckoned with, and they don’t back down from a challenge. “I am beyond proud of my team and the entire C-5 enterprise,” he said. “Specifically, in the 559th AMXS, we have men and women that work through the heat, the cold and the rain to produce the largest aircraft in the inventory. They often come in to work two hours early, as well as go home late, and some consider Saturday a workday. “They spend more time together as team 559th than most get with their own families,” he continued. “They have proven to be outstanding civilian Airmen who embody our Air Force core values. So, as well as being proud, I believe they earned it.”