Laughlin XLer: Israel Levrie

Unit and job title: 47th Maintenance Directorate aircraft mechanic

Why he XLed: Israel Levrie identified a crack on the compressor cone in one of Laughlin’s aircraft’s engines; he reported the crack and it was verified by an in-depth inspection. After identifying the first crack, Levrie educated his fellow maintainers on the location of the malfunction, allowing two additional cracks to be identified, eliminating three separate catastrophic engine failures in Laughlin’s T-1A Jayhawks. Levrie led a parts order to deploy an engine repair team, fixing the three $90,000 engine compressor cones in eight hours. Levrie’s field team reported that the particular malfunction had never been seen before with 53 years of combined overhaul experience, but ultimately getting the three $1.2 million T-1 engines fully mission-capable. Levrie increased overall program awareness; his assertiveness led to a root cause investigation, impacting 178 T-1’s in Air Education and Training Command.