James A. Mejias

James leads the productive efforts of 110 active duty military and civilian personnel across 5 departments through aircraft structural maintenance and fabrication activities supporting 67 F-15E/SG fighter aircraft valued at $6.5B. Responsible for three aircraft maintenance facilities valued at $132M and $15M in critical equipment. He also manages the Flight Manpower and Special Certification rosters and oversees the qualifications training program. Collaborates with the Quality Assurance office to establish inspection criteria and maintenance quality standards for key focus areas to feed continual performance improvement. Liaises with weapon system engineers and higher headquarters to capture structural data supporting the Individual Aircraft Tracking (IAT) inspections program. Overseas the Squadron's additive manufacturing effort for prototype development to advance local manufacture of parts and proof of concept validation.

• Developed CNC and weld certification training programs to boost qualified personnel availability 65%.
• Aligned maintenance capabilities with 21st century tech through critical equipment upgrades to include F900 3D printer, FL86 oil analysis equipment and mag-particle bench .

Developed the Maintenance Groups innovation strategy to align with the Air Force's operational imperatives. Encourages innovation through collaboration with six spark cells across Europe and provides oversight to 19 innovation projects totaling $6.7M. Directly responsible to the Maintenance Group Commander for managing 51 facilities and 18 critical programs affecting 690 military, civilian, and host nation personnel to sustain airlift capabilities of 14 C-130J, 5 C-21, and 8 C-37 aircraft valued at $2.4B.

• Project Manager for 32 Small Business Innovation Requests (SBIR) totaling $7.2M
• Established "flight line of the future" with 100% Wi-fi connectivity with secure AFNET access across a 2-mile aircraft parking apron.

Led 47 personnel through aircraft structural maintenance and corrosion control operation in support of 14 C-130J and eight operational support airlift aircraft valued at $1.2B. Served as the 86th Air Wing's Wing Corrosion Manager (WCM) to track and report health of fleet status, establish maintenance schedules, and support root cause analysis. Enforce compliance with US and German environmental standards. Provides maintenance support for transient C-17 and C-5 aircraft to uphold Air Mobility Command's global en-route mission. Oversees corrosion control maintenance and structural repair operations for 426 pieces of aerospace ground equipment valued at $10.4M

• Directed 1.5K maintenance actions to secured the unit's 2020 Maintenance Effectiveness award.

Supervises 11 active duty personnel and two local nationals through the repair and overhaul of aircraft protective coatings for 14 C-130J & 8 operational support airlift aircraft valued at $1.2B Trains personnel on the local manufacture of fuel and hydraulic system tubing and structural components in accordance with engineer data and manufacturer's blueprints.

• Project lead for USAFE's 1st regional paint facility. Established framework for 60-year support capability affecting six air bases and 203 aircraft.
• Oversaw 602 protective finish overhauls and corrosion inspections which enabled 3.6K sorties, and solidified a 8.4K flying hour program.