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Paint Shop beautifies Fairchild

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt JT May III
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  The 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron paint shop provides striping, markings and signs for more than 334,000 linear feet of road at Fairchild, which equates to 64 miles. The shop also applied 1,500 gallons of paint coating to half-a-million square feet of surface area. This is a pretty amazing task considering the paint shop is composed of six individuals. The shop is broken down into two sections, the paint shop and sign shop. There are five full-time painters and one full-time sign painter.

The 92nd CES paint shop is the only one in Air Mobility Command, and one of few in- house shops in the Air Force. Paint shops were once abundant in the military, but are either privatized or contracted out. The painters that work on the base are responsible for painting all the base facilities, infrastructure, inside and outside jobs, street striping and road markings. The paint shop is also responsible for all base street signs, building signs and woodwork finishing.

"We have a pretty big job for such a small crew," said Ritchie Teller, 92nd CES paint shop foreman. Due to military downsizing and pure chance, four out of five painters come from military bases ranging from Guam to Alaska. The abundance of expertise these personnel posses create a unique and talented crew. David Franklin, 92nd CES sign painter, has produced 400 signs single-handedly. This is just one of the small feats the paint shop has accomplished.

The paint shop used to be limited to merely painting buildings due to the lack of equipment. With technology and ever growing requests the shop does everything from touching up lines on the flightline to repainting the helicopter pad used in Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape School exercises.

"The one thing I take pride in is, we're responsible for a big part of the beautification of the base." said Ritchie Teller, 92nd CES paint shop foreman. "We help make this place more of a home for the military members and try to create a pleasant atmosphere by ensuring our Airmen have a professionally painted room or base house."

The next time you see any sign on base or see a fresh coat of paint in a building, remember that the 92nd CES paint shop had a hand in that job.