Fun and Training ... can these two words go together? Published Oct. 21, 2009 By Lt. Col. Darryl Frazier 315th Maintenance Group CHARLESTON AFB, S.C. -- "Reserve Officer Training fun? Are you completely crazy?" That is the typical response to the mandatory fun, otherwise known as "required training," from many officers and even senior NCO's of Air Mobility Command's reserve associate units. These "classes" are often considered extremely dull, boring and often rather redundant by their trainees. Well, this is certainly not the case with the C-17 Maintenance Officer and Senior NCO Training Symposium at Charleston Air Force Base, which was developed by the 315th Maintenance Group and is conducted quarterly. The unit is a reserve associate to the 437th Maintenance Group and has been a vital part of maintenance production at Charleston since the 1960's. We started with a genuine request from our officers for some type of organized C-17 training. They asked for a program that provided a training foundation in maintenance, but was conducted in a minimum time frame. We continued to solicit feedback from our participants and then react to it--I believe that is a key to our success, it really is their training program. The Plan The original plan for the program was to provide a one-to-two hour forum for all of the group's maintenance officers to come together and discuss whatever relevant C-17 or maintenance topic may be appropriate for the month. There were several goals that were agreed upon by the group's officers. They included: (1) opportunity for all of the officers to come together to discuss and share experiences; (2) provide the same C-17 foundation training for all of the officers; (3) keep the officers up to speed on current C-17 maintenance issues. With Colonel James Joyce's, 315 MXG commander, guidance we knew we needed to keep it focused on our trainees and provide them the training they requested and needed. The sessions began with several great discussions and briefings led by the president of the local Logistics Officers Association, 437 MXG commander and deputy commander. At this point, we really did not have a formalized plan - we were playing it by ear a little bit. It did not take long, though, for a framework to emerge. The group reviewed the program goals with representative officers from each of the group's three squadrons and refined the program based heavily on this feedback. According to the 315 Maintenance Squadron's Operations Officer, Major Cade Gibson, "We began to realize what we really were looking for at that point. The program progressed to incorporate guest lecturers to provide different views/aspects and help keep the interest of trainees." This is a good thing since Col. Joyce figured folks would get very tired of hearing him and me taking turns conducting the training. The Plan Refined Based directly on the feedback received from participants, Training Sessions are scheduled once per quarter instead of once per month. The training cycle includes four courses -- MX 101, 201, 301 and 401, and coincides with the fiscal year. The October session begins the series and is comprised of the 437 MXG/CD1's Maintenance 101 Training Session -- foundations of heavy airlift maintenance management. Norman Moore, former reserve colonel and current civilian deputy for the 437MXG, told me, "I developed the 101 session to provide a foundation for both our newly assigned active duty officers and logistics cross flow officers. When the 315th asked me to teach it periodically to them on Reserve weekends, I adapted my existing session to fit their specific needs." The training is not just for newer folks either. "Maintenance 101 is not only great for newly assigned officers, but I look forward to the refresher training that it provides me," said Major Kevin Eubanks, Maintenance Flight OIC and long-time veteran of the 315 Maintenance Group. The 101 session is designed to provide an overview of heavy airlift maintenance and includes tools such as GO-81 products, production meeting mechanics, and morning meeting metrics. The January session is conducted by the 437 C-17 weapons system engineer and includes their Maintenance 201 training -- C-17 maintenance specific programs. Senior Master Sgt. David Stinard, 437th MXG C-17 weapons system engineer explained to me, that the training covers the C-17 aircraft modification system, Time Compliance Technical Orders, Global Reach Improvement Program, depot level modifications, on-site upgrades and modifications, Crisis Management Team (CMT) teleconferences, among others. The April session is our Boeing Teammate's Maintenance 301 Familiarization Training and covers all C-17 contractor maintenance support programs. Trainees are exposed to the contractor's organizational structure and provided an in-depth understanding of the services Boeing and its sub-contractors provide. The Request for Engineering Disposition process provides an extremely innovative way for flight line and shop technicians to get exposure to the entirety of Boeing engineering support when faced with an issue not covered by Air Force technical guidance. John Cook, Boeing Site manager here will tell you that this is one of the true jewels of the Air Force-contractor partnership. MXS 401 takes place in July and includes selected topics from the current 437 MXG commander and deputy commander. These may include group expectations, deployment opportunities, LEAN implementation, current C-17 issues, and so forth. The Plan Expanded While the 315 MXG manages the training program according to this plan, adjustments to topics, times, location of training and so forth are always available, based on current operational situations and events. Recently, the group had the opportunity to take advantage of having one of its own members on temporary duty for a one year tour with United States Air Forces Central. Major Chris Hobbs, 315 Maintenance Operations Squadron Operations Officer, conducted an "out of cycle" session for the group's trainees on deployment opportunities in AFCENT. Senior NCO's and Officers Training Together - How is that Possible? Chief Master Sgt. Tom Clemens, 315 MXG superintendent told me, "While we were getting a lot of great feedback from the officers in our group, we also began to get questions from our Production SNCO's about the possibility of them attending the sessions. So, after discussing the option with their current trainees, the group leadership quickly realized that both the training and the forum may be of great value to their production SNCO's, who were then invited to the sessions. "This has been a great AFSO 21 initiative to fill the void in proficiency left by the retirement of a lot of our experienced folks," the Chief added. "It provides a great avenue for our production SNCO's to bring up questions and concerns." Senior Master Sgt. Bill Donevant, Production Superintendent for the 315th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, agreed that it was some of the most valuable training he'd received in his Air Force career. Advanced Technology and Training - A Perfect Match As a large reserve associate unit, the members of the 315 Maintenance Group are divided into two separate flights across two Unit Training Assembly weekends. With some of their target audience performing their UTA on the second weekend, the unit was faced with the dilemma of how to deliver this training to those team members on "B" Flight. We looked at all possible options from alternating the weekends we conducted the sessions to having our briefers conduct their training on both weekends. The group opted to digitally record the sessions and place them on an intranet site with access granted to all officers and production SNCO's. In addition, the slides used by each briefer are also loaded on the site and can be printed and downloaded. "I am just amazed at how user friendly this training is for us," said Major Jeff Milligan, 315 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Flight Commander. According to Capt Taylor Adams, also a Flight Commander in the 315th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, "We truly do have a program tailored to meet our specific needs." The Next Step So what is next for the group? Several out-of-cycle training sessions are currently in development. These include an Introduction to Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century and an explanation of LEAN. We have some great resources in the unit and folks who have been exposed to these concepts in their civilian jobs; so we capitalized on them. Titled "AFSO 21/LEAN Implementation in the Air Force - A Mission Impossible," the briefing is in final production and should be presented by the end of the summer. Additionally, the team has just completed development on a briefing on how to write effective award packages. "This has become quite an art form in the Air Force now and our leaders need the basic skills to ensure our great folks receive appropriate recognition," said Colonel Joyce. After that, the group plans to continue their training program and improve and adapt as necessary to meet the needs of its recipients.