BARNES AIE NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Massachusetts -- Senior Airman Andrew Feighery, 104th Maintenance Squadron aircraft engine mechanic and University of Massachusetts mechanical engineering student, recently returned home after serving in a Theater Security Package in Romania for approximately three months.
Feighery was exposed to new challenges while deployed which have made him a better mechanic.
“There were new problems that occurred with the engines that I had never seen before,” said Feighery. “It was good to get experience so I know it for the future, in case it ever happens again.”
These challenges and working on aircraft engines at the 104th Fighter Wing give him an advantage in his studies at UMASS.
“You have a theory that you’re working on in class and then you have the hands on work here,” said Feighery. “You see something in class, but it’s just in a book. Then, you remember doing something similar here. I think it’s a benefit.”