FRIDAY FOTO (February 3, 2017)

Confetti of Sparks.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Justin Connaher).

You can hardly see Air Force Technical Sergeant Gregory Kirchner amid the bouncing sparks and arcs of light created as he welds a metal plate at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska. J-BEAR. as the troops call it, consists of Elmendorf Air Force Base and the Army’s Fort Richardson. It is located outside Anchorage, Alaska’s largest city. The two bases were merged in 2010.

Kirchner is assigned to the 3rd Maintenance Squadron, where welding is just one of the tasks performed by airmen. Aircraft metals technology experts also measure broken or worn parts, draw working sketches, make templates, perform precision grinding and remove deposits from aircraft parts. They also write programs for machines using manual and computer-aided manufacturing techniques.

This photo was taken January 27, 2017.