AFMC Command News

Eglin Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory keeps base organizations up, running

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. LuCelia Nagel
  • 96th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  The Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory here recently completed its audit by the Air Force Metrology and Calibration Assessment and Certification Team. It passed with flying colors.

The PMEL program provides for the calibration and repair of test, measurement and diagnostic equipment (TMDE) and ensures measurement traceability of the TMDE through the Air Force Primary Standards Laboratory to the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

What does all of this mean?

“We support 22,000 pieces of test equipment here,” said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Boatright, TMDE flight chief. “There isn’t a unit at Eglin that we don’t support regarding their mission, from the scales that the orderly rooms use to line-of-site survey equipment used by the 96th Civil Engineer Squadron.”

PMEL is a type IIC laboratory, meaning that it is two levels below NIST, the national standard for calibration and measurement. All measurement data collected at Eglin’s PMEL is sent to the AF Primary Standards Laboratory to analyze the reliability of TMDE in the AF inventory. The Eglin PMEL is the largest non-depot laboratory in the Air Force, one of 76 PMEL labs worldwide.

The lab is comprised of 75 members — 55 military and 20 civilian technicians.

Each piece of test equipment has a scheduled recurring calibration. Some need to be calibrated every 90 days, some only once per year or longer. This ensures the equipment stays accurate and reliable. About 350 pieces of test equipment are worked on at any time, at a rate of about 80 per day.

Once equipment comes in, it generally is calibrated and sent back out within seven days. The lab employs three schedulers and one supply troop to keep everything in order.

With 400 different customers, the lab often faces challenges.

“We support everyone at Eglin, plus organizations at Hurlburt Field, Duke Field, and even some Army and Coast Guard units who have test equipment,” Chief Boatright said. “And we are one of our own largest customers because we have to calibrate our equipment too — we have over 900 pieces of test equipment standards.”

According to the chief, calibration is important to the mission because it ensures the accuracy and reliability of every mission.

“All systems are complicated — we calibrate to make sure everything operates as it should,” he said.

For instance, if an aircraft’s target alignment fixture is out of tolerance by a few micro inches, a bullet could exit the aircraft and could potentially be a mile off the target by the time it arrived.

The same scenario could apply to an aircraft’s electronic signals — information that identifies a friend or foe to the pilot. If the signals worked incorrectly, the pilot could inadvertently be put into a dangerous situation.

Another challenge is the lack of floor space in the building. The lab is short several thousand square feet of the standards, but the facility managers mitigated the problem by just completing a major reorganization and installing compressible shelving units to save space.

The PMEL technicians operate under very strict standards. Elements such as static electricity, temperature, humidity and dust could throw off the calibration process, so work areas are treated with preventative measures such as airlocks, rooms with precise temperature controls and anti-static flooring.

The lab is re-certified every two years after an inspection by the Air Force Metrology Certification Team. During the inspection, the inspectors select 30 items recently calibrated and have the technicians recalibrate them. In addition to the recalibrations, the laboratory is evaluated in six critical areas to ensure the ability to make traceable measurements. Several management functions are evaluated as well.

“Due to the complex nature of the calibrations we perform we have our own internal quality evaluators as well,” Chief Boatright said.

PMEL passed the inspection with high marks, earning praise from the inspectors regarding the technicians’ high level of professionalism and technical competence.

“I can’t say enough about this flight — everyone has worked so hard to overcome the many challenges and shortfalls to ensure our customers receive outstanding service for their TMDE. I’m very proud of the flight’s ability to provide all our customers safe and accurate equipment to meet their mission every day,” Chief Boatright said.