Alamo Wing Reservists find El Dorado

From left to right, Airman Basic John Ybarra from the 433rd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, Tech. Sgt. Tina Gomez and Senior Airman Jessica Carrell from the 433rd Maintenance Group, were the first three to find El Dorado on the Alamo Wing flight line. El Dorado, Spanish for "Golden One" was a legend from ancient South America of a chief who would cover himself in gold dust. The Alamo Wing has its own version of El Dorado, in the shape of a large, gold-painted bolt. The idea behind the golden bolt is to energize volunteers during the weekly Foreign Object Damage prevention walk by adding a little fun to the Monday morning clean-up event. The finder of El Dorado each week is recognized by wing leadership with a certificate of appreciation. Since begining the weekly FOD walk, maintainers report fewer instances of nicked fan blades caused by items being sucked into the engine. Though exact numbers are not yet available, even one less nicked fan blade saves valuable man-hours.(U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Collen McGee)