Air Force Technical Sergeant Zachary Latoski is pictured in front of an Air Force Thunderbird F-16 Fighting Falcon.
By Bruce Rolfe
While Air Force Thunderbird pilots skillfully fly and maneuver the F-16 Fighting Falcons in the air, there are Thunderbird team members on the ground who play a vital role to help keep the pilots safe and the aircraft functioning properly.
Air Force Technical Sergeant Zachary Latoski, who has worked in Integrated Avionics for 14 years working on the F-16, is one of those crew members on the ground performing vital maintenance on the Thunderbird aircraft.
Latoski has worked with electrical wiring, on fire control radar systems, radios, and navigation systems such as GPS, but has moved into quality assurance, which involves inspecting all of the maintenance that is performed on the aircraft to ensure precision and accuracy.
The Integrated Avionics Specialist who is part of the Air Force Thunderbird team that visited Battle Creek last week as part of the Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival, said he embraces the importance of his job.
“I’m extremely proud of that. I love the maintenance that we do on the team. These guys and gals are very, very solid. It’s one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with in my time (in the Air Force). It makes my job very easy. Sometimes, I’ll come across something, even though I’ve been in it for 14 years, and that’s how long I’ve been on the air plane. I have others that have also been in 20 years and more, so I can reach out and ask them questions, which is awesome,” offered Latoski.
While he has worked on and been exposed to the F-16 for 14 years, there’s some capabilities of the aircraft he finds fascinating.
“I’ll say that my favorite system is RWR, which is the radar threat warning system. If the aircraft is ever being attacked by different aircraft or missiles or anything, it’ll actually tell you where that threat is. And it’s a pretty comprehensive system that is kind of difficult to troubleshoot. But when you start to understand it, you can get really technical and deep into it. So it’s really fun to troubleshoot that,” explained Latoski.
Latoski said after basic training all individuals are sent to a follow up school to learn their actual primary duties. The Air Force Sergeant said to become an Integrated Technician it takes eight months of training. He said when he started his training he had four months of learning electronic principles and two months of aircraft followed by 12 months of on the job training.
He said his interest in the Air Force began at a younger age when his uncle took him to aviation museums and air shows around Michigan. He also enjoyed reading books about aircraft.
“I was really interested in the F-14 Tomcat when it originally came out in Top Gun. I used to play with little air planes so I really got interested in it,” explained Latoski.
A native of Middleton near Alma, Latoski has been in the Air Force 14 years. Because you have to be asked to be a part of the Thunderbird team, he’s quite proud to have been a part of the team the last 2 1/2 years.
“I love the teammates that I’ve had the experience and time with. “It’s like a giant family. There’s a 130 team members. We’re going upwards of 220 days a year. We have to lean on each other,” said the Technical Sergeant.
“He’s (Sgt. Latoski) very great at working on the aircraft and also maintaining the standards of the aircraft. He’s humble, but he’s very good at what he does. You can’t end up here by accident because you’re representing 700,000 airmen across the globe. So they want to make sure you’re a great ambassador for the Air Force and you’ll represent us well and he does that perfectly,” said a media representative who was part of the Thunderbird team that visited Battle Creek.
The Air Force Technical Sergeant said while many Thunderbird pilots are F-16, F-15, F-35 and A-10 pilots by trade, the Thunderbird pilots let his team perform their work without asking many questions. The trust factor is important to the pilots and it’s not uncommon for the pilots to compliment the maintenance team.
“They always have positive feed back. I feel like they would let us know if something was the matter, but we don’t really have complaints,” said Latoski.
Latoski hopes the audience on the ground at the Field of Flight Air Show will not only be entertained, but will embrace the amazing capabilities of the Air Force’s premier multi-role fighter jet, the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the opportunities the military can provide.
He said he’s amazed at the skill the Thunderbird pilots have, noting during some overlap routines the planes can be just 18 inches apart when they are tucked in next to each other, a reduction from the 36 inch overlap the distance used to be.
Latoski said he loves the small town of Middleton he grew up in because it helped him accept people, but without the Air Force he wouldn’t have the opportunity to see the world and other parts of the country like he has, noting he has been to a many different countries and states working on F-16 planes.
While Air Force Thunderbird pilots skillfully fly and maneuver the F-16 Fighting Falcons in the air, there are Thunderbird team members on the ground who play a vital role to help keep the pilots safe and the aircraft functioning properly.
Air Force Technical Sergeant Zachary Latoski, who has worked in Integrated Avionics for 14 years working on the F-16, is one of those crew members on the ground performing vital maintenance on the Thunderbird aircraft.
Latoski has worked with electrical wiring, on fire control radar systems, radios, and navigation systems such as GPS, but has moved into quality assurance, which involves inspecting all of the maintenance that is performed on the aircraft to ensure precision and accuracy.
The Integrated Avionics Specialist who is part of the Air Force Thunderbird team that visited Battle Creek last week as part of the Field of Flight Air Show and Balloon Festival, said he embraces the importance of his job.
“I’m extremely proud of that. I love the maintenance that we do on the team. These guys and gals are very, very solid. It’s one of the best teams I’ve ever worked with in my time (in the Air Force). It makes my job very easy. Sometimes, I’ll come across something, even though I’ve been in it for 14 years, and that’s how long I’ve been on the air plane. I have others that have also been in 20 years and more, so I can reach out and ask them questions, which is awesome,” offered Latoski.
While he has worked on and been exposed to the F-16 for 14 years, there’s some capabilities of the aircraft he finds fascinating.
“I’ll say that my favorite system is RWR, which is the radar threat warning system. If the aircraft is ever being attacked by different aircraft or missiles or anything, it’ll actually tell you where that threat is. And it’s a pretty comprehensive system that is kind of difficult to troubleshoot. But when you start to understand it, you can get really technical and deep into it. So it’s really fun to troubleshoot that,” explained Latoski.
Latoski said after basic training all individuals are sent to a follow up school to learn their actual primary duties. The Air Force Sergeant said to become an Integrated Technician it takes eight months of training. He said when he started his training he had four months of learning electronic principles and two months of aircraft followed by 12 months of on the job training.
He said his interest in the Air Force began at a younger age when his uncle took him to aviation museums and air shows around Michigan. He also enjoyed reading books about aircraft.
“I was really interested in the F-14 Tomcat when it originally came out in Top Gun. I used to play with little air planes so I really got interested in it,” explained Latoski.
A native of Middleton near Alma, Latoski has been in the Air Force 14 years. Because you have to be asked to be a part of the Thunderbird team, he’s quite proud to have been a part of the team the last 2 1/2 years.
“I love the teammates that I’ve had the experience and time with. “It’s like a giant family. There’s a 130 team members. We’re going upwards of 220 days a year. We have to lean on each other,” said the Technical Sergeant.
“He’s (Sgt. Latoski) very great at working on the aircraft and also maintaining the standards of the aircraft. He’s humble, but he’s very good at what he does. You can’t end up here by accident because you’re representing 700,000 airmen across the globe. So they want to make sure you’re a great ambassador for the Air Force and you’ll represent us well and he does that perfectly,” said a media representative who was part of the Thunderbird team that visited Battle Creek.
The Air Force Technical Sergeant said while many Thunderbird pilots are F-16, F-15, F-35 and A-10 pilots by trade, the Thunderbird pilots let his team perform their work without asking many questions. The trust factor is important to the pilots and it’s not uncommon for the pilots to compliment the maintenance team.
“They always have positive feed back. I feel like they would let us know if something was the matter, but we don’t really have complaints,” said Latoski.
Latoski hopes the audience on the ground at the Field of Flight Air Show will not only be entertained, but will embrace the amazing capabilities of the Air Force’s premier multi-role fighter jet, the F-16 Fighting Falcon and the opportunities the military can provide.
He said he’s amazed at the skill the Thunderbird pilots have, noting during some overlap routines the planes can be just 18 inches apart when they are tucked in next to each other, a reduction from the 36 inch overlap the distance used to be.
Latoski said he loves the small town of Middleton he grew up in because it helped him accept people, but without the Air Force he wouldn’t have the opportunity to see the world and other parts of the country like he has, noting he has been to a many different countries and states working on F-16 planes.
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