A well-grounded investment in aerial spray

Safe to say, the success of every 910th Airlift Wing aerial spray mission in the sky begins and ends with aerial spray maintenance on the ground. In fact, the very same ground just upgraded in January 2025 in the 910th Aerial Spray Maintenance Flight building at Youngstown Air Reserve Station, Ohio.

“We invested approximately $925,000 of National Guard and Reserve Equipment Appropriations funds into a brand new flooring and catwalk system complete with fall protection, rollers and hydraulic lifts,” said Senior Master Sgt. Jeremy Rogers, the aerial spray flight chief assigned to the 910th Maintenance Squadron.

So why the investment? Well, before this year, maintenance-related work occurred four feet off the ground on cramped trailers with limited maneuverability for the last 32 years. Since 1992, the 910th AW has maintained the Department of Defense’s only large-area fixed-wing aerial spray capability to control disease-carrying insects, pest insects and undesirable vegetation and to disperse oil spills in large bodies of water. 

“I think the new floor is a benefit especially because you don’t have to be on a stand the whole time risking it on the side of a trailer changing big stuff,” said Staff Sgt. Dylan Miller, an aerial spray maintenance technician with the 910th Maintenance Squadron. “Having a catwalk and extra space is a lot nicer and safer.”

The 910th AW currently operates five legacy modular aerial spray systems and one electronic modular aerial spray system. All of these are cleaned, repaired and housed entirely by Citizen Airmen who are trained in aerial spray maintenance completely in-house at Youngstown ARS. That training and maintenance now takes place on the state-of-the-art floor designed specifically for the DoD’s only aerial spray maintenance flight.

“It's much easier now to get your tools or a part and work on everything just in general,” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Hackett, another aerial spray maintenance technician with the 910th Maintenance Squadron. “And the workflow is going to be much better with the roller floors getting the systems in and out of the bays without having to transfer from a trailer to the 60K (aircraft cargo loader), just straight from the bay to the 60K to the aircraft and back the other way when we’re done."

At an added benefit to the overall DoD, once all the 910th AW’s remaining legacy module aerial spray systems are switched out with electronic modular aerial spray systems, the aerial spray maintenance flight will be able to save the Air Force Reserve Command close to half the initial cost of investment by turning in approximately $480,000 worth of trailers and repatriating a five-ton semi-truck to a different mission function. 

“It's an improvement long overdue,” said Rogers. “Everybody sees the advancement in the organization, cleanliness and ease of doing maintenance. So that overall ease of the process on top of the safety factor is a huge win-win.”

Now beginning and ending atop this groundbreaking success, it’s safer to see the work done by the 910th Aerial Spray Maintenance Flight that goes into the aerial spray mission in the sky.