PMEL — Silent partner to Air Force

  • Published
  • By Stephen Delgado
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
There are nearly 7,000 equipment items on Luke Air Force Base that need calibration, testing or measuring at regular intervals. It is an awesome task, but there are 32 people on base that accomplish this task without missing a beat.

One of those people is Master Sgt. Robert Chalberg, 56th Component Maintenance Squadron test measurement and diagnostic equipment technical manager.
He said that the Precision Measurement Equipment Laboratory plays a vital role in the defense of the United States.

"PMELs are a necessity," Sergeant Chalberg said. "They calibrate equipment for maintenance complexes, hospitals, food services and different federal and international agencies. The primary mission of the military PMEL is to ensure weapons and weapons systems do what they are supposed to at precisely the right time and place.

"As one of the more silent partners on the Air Force team, the PMEL technicians rarely have the opportunity to see their impact on Air Force weapon systems, and virtually every part of those systems depend on measurements for their performance. Eventually those measurements depend on the PMEL technician. The ability of that weapon system to place ordnance on target comes in large part from the PMEL technician's skills and dedication while performing calibrations in the PMEL or onsite."

Calibrations are performed on different time tables, according to Sergeant Chalberg.

"The number of months is based on the reliability of the test instrument," he said. "When an item is new to the Air Force, it will start with an interval of one year. This number is increased or decreased based on how often the item is found in or out of its specifications. If an item requires an adjustment each time it comes to PMEL, the interval will be re-evaluated and will likely decrease in length. This process happens continuously with every item in the Air Force inventory and their respective calibrations intervals are constantly changing."

PMEL calibrates weapon system test equipment in support of tactical air navigation, identifying friend or foe, instrument landing systems and laser-guided bomb/infrared missile testers, but these systems represent a small part of the total inventory they support, according to Sergeant Chalberg.

"It is vital that calibrations be done on a regular basis to ensure accuracy of all Air Force weapon systems via measurement traceability," he said. "However, these systems are only a small part of the total inventory that we support. Currently, Luke PMEL supports 131 work centers, located on and off base. We also support Army, Navy and Marine units, as well as international air force units."

Calibration extends to many other items besides weapons systems.
"Fitness test scales, torque wrenches, pressure gauges, Security Forces radar guns and G-flight suit/mask testers are some of the many items that have to be calibrated," Sergeant Chalberg said.

PMEL had an Air Force Metrology and Calibration audit in January and received outstanding results, and each of the flights 32 members' hard work and dedication directly contributed to the recertification of the laboratory, according to Sergeant Chalberg.

In the last analysis, Sergeant Chalberg said that PMEL has a slogan, without calibration and certification; there would be no defense for our nation. John Quincy Adams, the sixth president of the United States, summed up this thought with the following quote.

"Weights and measures may be ranked among the necessities of life to every individual of human society. They enter into the economical arrangements and daily concerns of every family. They are necessary to every occupation of human industry; to the distribution and security of every species of property; to every transaction of trade and commerce; to the labors of the husbandman; to the ingenuity of the artificer; to the studies of the philosopher; to the researches of the antiquarian; to the navigations of the mariner, and the marches of the soldier; to all exchanges of peace, and all operations of war."