Israël Air Force - The Technical Division of the Hercules Squadron takes off

C-130J Super Hercules Photo by Andrew McMurtrie

21.08.2013 Shani Pomes - iaf.org.il

While aerial teams of the upcoming “Hercules” squadron are being trained in the U.S., in Israel, the work has just begun for the technical division of the squadron: Infrastructure has been built and a construction crew has been drafted. Unlike in the past, the soldiers of the technical division of the “Hercules” squadron will work alone, without the help of external maintenance crews

Construction of a new squadron is a long, complex process, especially when it comes to a new plane in the IAF. These days, the soldiers are working on the establishment of the "Hercules" squadron on the airbase in Nevitim for next year: while the aerial teams are being trained in the U.S., the establishment of a technical division of the squadron has begun. The past two weeks were dedicated to the initial infrastructure designed for the division, which includes buildings for the technicians and offices, in which the technicians will work every day on the establishment of the future "Hercules" squadron.

In addition to the construction of infrastructure, a team was established for the technical division of the squadron that consists of 13 professionals and will soon be recruiting more soldiers into the new division, when the technicians are carefully selected. "Acceptance to the technical division of the ‘Hercules' squadron is contingent upon passing an English test and approval from two acceptance committees, one led by the commander of the maintenance squadron on the base, and the other led by the commander of the base himself", explains Major Roy Mimun, Technical Officer in the construction team of the "Hercules" squadron.

Construction of the technical division of the new squadron began as early as January 2013, and demanded unique characteristics of the maintenance crew. "This is the first time that the IAF bears sole responsibility for the area of maintenance, and to this end, built the technical division for the field of heavy transport. There will not be external maintenance crews for the "Hercules", we will strengthen it fully", promises Major Mimum. "This is a process that is special on the one hand and complex on the other", we are looking at independent building in all areas of maintenance of the plane, and at the end of the year we will leave Israel for three months to train on it".