104th Fighter Wing Airmen return from Florida

Senior Airman Malvin Mwangi, 104th Maintenance Squadron integrated electronics technician, went on a temporary duty assignment with other members of the 104th Fighter Wing to Patrick Air Force Base in Florida. For Mwangi, the TDY presented new training, but it was also his first TDY which exposed him to many new experiences.

Temporary duty assignments are beneficial to Airmen of all ranks, but for new Airmen, the training provided by a TDY is crucial to their future success.

Senior Master Sergeant Miguel Diaz, 104th Maintenance Group integrated electronics supervisor, said that he expects Airmen that go on TDYs to go there, train, and do the best they can.

“Temporary duty assignments are important because they help build skills that will help airmen in the future with their jobs,” said Diaz.

Mwangi said that the TDY not only helped him get experience that he needed to excel in his job, but also gave him a look at the other squadrons and how everyone works together.

“We got out of the cold,” said Mwangi. “And just overall working together in a different environment was helpful and getting to see all the different shops come to support the mission was great.”

Mwangi is planning to become a pilot in the future and the TDY provided him with skills that will help him on the path to achieving that goal. He was able to get out of the back shop and out on the flight line to see how others do their jobs and learn from them.

“I worked with one of the crew chiefs and he showed me how to do a full pre-flight inspection,” said Mwangi. “He showed me different things to look out for like different stress fractures on the aircraft and different oil pressure gauges”

The experience at Patrick Air Force Base gave Mwangi the ability to prosper in all aspects of his career and he hopes that he will be able to go on more TDYs in different locations to further develop his skill set.