82nd TRG displays global training through unique opportunities

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Training the Iraqi and Afghani air forces was the brain child of higher ups, but once it reached the hands of the 82nd Training Group's training evaluators, that dream became a reality.

In the last year, Sheppard has sent enlisted and officer support to Iraq to train the fledgling air force's maintainer in various career fields, including maintenance superintendent, aviation fuels management, quality assurance and aerospace maintenance fundamentals.

"Our piece of the puzzle was maintenance training," said Billy Moore, a training evaluator at the group. "We've been the key players because all the training is geared toward maintenance in the field."

Other bases have contributed to the push to train air forces in Iraq and Afghanistan such as Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., Goodfellow AFB, Texas, Lackland AFB, Texas, Nellis AFB, Nev., and Randolph AFB, Texas. But the majority of the work is done by Sheppard.

There are 39 career fields in the works or in place to teach the Iraqi air force. Sheppard owns 16.

Pamela Piazza, a colleague of Mr. Moore, said the difficult part was to come up with a curriculum that would meet the needs of not only the IrAF, but also the Sheppard instructors.

"At first, we had to modify the courses to fit the tools that were available in country and what was needed," she said. "They also had to be tailored to their aircraft."

Instructors in the field didn't enjoy the classroom technology that's on display at Sheppard. No touch-screen smart boards, animated processes or, at some times, actual aircraft to touch. Mr. Moore said instructors had to make do with what they had, even if it meant reverting back to old-fashioned pencil and paper.

"When you don't have the equipment to train on, the best thing to do is give them the knowledge portion," he said. "A picture is better than nothing."

Maj. Lorelei Gomez, the duty officer at the 361st Training Squadron, deployed to Iraq as a chief air advisor for aircraft maintenance training. During her tour, she supervised 19 instructors and about 10 interpreters and assisted in the set up of the maintenance schoolhouse's infrastructure, creating the largest aircraft maintenance training program in the post-Saddam Hussein era.

Breaking through barriers and overcoming deficiencies in supplies and equipment became part of the daily cycle there.

"Sometimes we had power all day (and) other days we might have power for three hours. In a schoolhouse, you can see how that can easily become a challenge," she said. "Not all of the training equipment was in place. We had equipment that had been on order for nine months and it was still nowhere in sight."
But the training had to continue. Despite lack of equipment, basic necessities and sometimes the students to train, Sheppard personnel continued to help get the IrAF back on its feet. Major Gomez said that she sometimes wondered if they were making a difference, but one incident told her they were.

It happened the day she started her trek back to the states.

"That morning I was met on the flightline by (a graduate student from my first class). He informed me he was the production supervisor and would be coordinating the launch," she said. "To my surprise, the crew chief that launched the Huey was a graduate of our Basic Maintenance Course and even the gunner on the MI-17 had gone through our school house. That's when I thought we do make a difference and I credit their instructors for giving them the basic tools that will allow them to stand on their own feet as a country."

Sheppard instructors continue to train Iraq's air force, and the map is being laid out to begin training the Afghani air force. What began in the fall of 2006 is now turning into an international success story that is led by professionals from Sheppard.