Don’t tell latrine tech who’s No. 1, No. 2 - Air Force News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Air Force Times

Don’t tell latrine tech who’s No. 1, No. 2

Senior Airman Michael Waite, tired of chest-thumping from grunts and rivalries among services, is speaking out for airmen toiling away in thankless jobs.

If you’re on the ground, carrying a rifle, he wants to share his appreciation. But please don’t knock his role — draining and cleaning aircraft latrines at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany.

“We all have jobs to do, even if it means we almost get poop all over ourselves on a daily basis,” Waite wrote recently in a post on Marine Corps Times’ online forums.

Waite had come across an ugly and ongoing debate on the forums comparing the Air Force with the Marine Corps, with some posts slamming noncombat jobs.

“No one person or service is better than the other,” said the 24-year-old airman with the 726th Air Mobility Squadron. “We mustn’t forget that. Without me, the bathrooms don’t get serviced, cargo doesn’t get shipped on time, and bullets run out ... and the enemy wins.”

With a job in air transportation, Waite and his fellow airmen deal with myriad tasks including loading and unloading aircraft. The bulk of Waite’s role, however, is cleaning latrines.

The job works like this: Waite drives up to an aircraft with his lavatory service truck, better known on base as the SWAT (S---, Water and Trash) truck. A hose is hooked up to a valve on the craft and the human waste is sucked out, while a “blue juice” mix of water and deodorizer is pumped in.

It’s a messy job, especially after 14-hour flights, Waite said, adding that a typical day involves emptying toilets on six to eight aircraft, most of which arrive from Dover Air Force Base, Del., or Iraq, Afghanistan and Qatar.

About 40 percent of his clientele are Marines, Waite said. Overall, leathernecks are not a problem to work with, but the airman admitted troops in his profession do “get looked down upon.”

“It’s not really a glamorous job,” said Waite, who wanted to be a pararescueman, but his nearsightedness was too severe. He arrived in October at Spangdahlem, where he will spend the next four years.

Although he said he takes pride in what he does, working with poop is not a long-term career goal. He’s already received laser eye surgery and said he has 20/20 vision. He plans to cross-train to a new mission or move to the Navy.

“I would say every job, no matter how big or how small, is important,” Waite said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re rucking gear up a mountain, or if you’re pumping s--- out of an aircraft.”

As for the bickering between services, Waite offers this olive branch: When it comes to cleaning latrines, no individual service can compare to the Canadians. They don’t use deodorizer in their planes.