MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- The Fleet Readiness Center Western Pacific (FRCWP) Detachment Iwakuni inducted its first aircraft for maintenance in its new hangar at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Iwakuni, Japan, Sept. 22, 2017.

The center’s new hangar increases MCAS Iwakuni’s readiness capabilities by mitigating the need for aircraft to travel to a different location to perform depot-level maintenance.

“The impact to the air station is that we provide readiness,” said U.S. Navy Capt. Matthew Edwards, commanding officer of FRCWP. “We are here any time an aircraft is damaged and requires repair beyond the capability at the organizational level. We send our depot artisans in to repair the aircraft and get it back onto the flight line as soon as possible.”

Having a fleet readiness center in Iwakuni saves time, money and manpower for Marine Aircraft Group 12 and the Navy’s Carrier Air Wing 5. Edwards said other advantages include support from squadrons providing many of the parts they use for the depot maintenance and having them local, which will expedite the process.

“It’s important to keep the maintenance local because this is where the warfighter is and we can respond to their needs faster,” said U.S. Navy Lt. Cmdr. Devin Corrigan, officer in charge of FRCWP Detachment Iwakuni. “The faster we respond to their needs, the faster we can get them back into the fight. This increases our readiness and makes us more prepared to handle exercises and operations in the (Indo-Asia Pacific region) at a moment’s notice.”

The unit does more than bring aircraft maintenance repair to the air station. They do both scheduled depot maintenance, which is the F/A-18 Super Hornet Planned Maintenance Interval Line, and conduct aircraft unscheduled maintenance for all Navy and Marine Corps aircraft.

It has a large contingence of sheet metal mechanics, aircraft mechanics, machinists and unscheduled maintenance artisans. The unit also has planners, estimators, and question and answer personnel who deploy around the world to repair aircraft, providing depot-level maintenance across the fleet.

Many people were involved in this effort including FRCWP personnel from both the headquarters at Naval Air Facility Atsugi and the Iwakuni detachment. There was also defense maintenance with a contract agency in Japan who provided contractor oversight.

“The last two years I’ve been coordinating with the air station, FRCWP and commanders with other Fleet Readiness Centers to build the maintenance hangar here,” said Corrigan. “It’s been a joint effort with everyone on base as well as outside organizations to get to where we are today – just in terms of getting it outfitted with machinery and getting our processes in place, so we can actually conduct depot-level aircraft maintenance here in the hangar.”

Corrigan said he appreciates the cooperation from units in Atsugi and MCAS Iwakuni and believes they wouldn’t have been able to induct the first aircraft without the support of everybody from the Navy and Marine Corps.