Yancy: Sheppard a continuation of military journey

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs

SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – The impact of air dominance has been a hallmark of the U.S. military since strategists began figuring out how to leverage air power.

Weapons systems play a major role in those actions, whether it’s a sleek F-16 Fighting Falcon or a guided missile.

Air Education and Training Command and 2nd Air Force are responsible for producing and fielding the most important weapon system, the human weapon system, so said Brig. Gen. Christopher F. Yancy, mobilization assistant to 2nd Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Leahy, during a visit to Sheppard AFB Aug. 13-14, 2018.

The Plano, Texas-native said he learned a few things about Sheppard he didn’t know previously regarding the role the 82nd Training Wing plays in taking civilian volunteers and molding them into highly skilled Airmen.

“We start on a military journey (at basic military training), but we are not necessarily complete,” he said. “So, we continue the training, discipline, teamwork lessons and build a complete Airman in tech training.”

The end result doesn’t just happen, though. He said he was also encouraged and inspired by the level of instruction and composure by those tasked with creating the next batch of aircraft maintainers, civil engineers, logistics Airmen and more. He said the instructor cadre at Sheppard is strong and impressive, as it should be.

A honed-in focus of the Air Force over the past year or so has been “innovation,” and that is something Yancy said will be used to enhance an already diverse training syllabus into one that takes new, state-of-the-art solutions into the classroom. An example, he said, is augmented and virtual reality, two areas today’s Airmen already have knowledge of before entering the Air Force and a method by which they are accustomed to learn.

Yancy said there are two goal posts when it comes to virtual reality and software development. One is a very monolithic, or rigid, slow-moving simulation system. The other goal post is a very quick, agile and innovative solution by multiple units, but they’re all doing the same work at the same time and expanding duplicative effort for a "one-off" product.

He said somewhere in between those goal posts is a “sweet spot,” an area in the middle where innovation exists that can be developed at Sheppard or a higher level and then taken to the corporate sector to do what they do well to complete the project.

“Is it going to be part of our fabric going forward? Absolutely it’s going to be part of our fabric and it will be more and more as we go along,” he said. “That’s what our Airmen demand going forward.”

The general said he learned about and was impressed by the training mission Sheppard has away from North Texas that spans the globe with its various detachments.

Yancy said his visit to the 82nd TRW solidified what he learned as a single-seat F-16 fighter pilot who deployed nine times. He said he spent a lot of time on the flightline at deployed locations learning about back shops and the roles maintainers and others play to get jets in the air and bombs on target.

“I know that if the chow hall isn’t staffed, if the munitions aren’t put together, if the bombs aren’t loaded, if the aircraft isn’t fueled, if the avionics don’t work, then I’m just a dude sitting at the bar in a leather jacket,” he said.

The general said one of his most rewarding stops during his time at Sheppard was having lunch with Airmen and learning what a diverse group and backgrounds each have. But, it was the melding of mentalities that he was impressed with – he could see them buying into the Air Force mission and culture.