SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --
Unit: Field Training Detachment
16, 372nd Training Squadron
Location: Royal Air Force Lakenheath,
England
Mission: To make great F-15 and HH-60 maintainers even better.
Vision: Provide
outstanding field training to the 48th Maintenance Group, enhancing combat
capabilities for USAFE’s premier fighter wing
Staff: 18 Active Duty U.S. Air
Force Instructors
What we do:
As the only F-15 base in
Europe, and the only F-15E base outside of the CONUS, the 48th Fighter Wing’s
role is extremely versatile.
The wing’s F-15Cs provide air superiority and defense to our
NATO allies across the European continent, while the F-15Es provide strategic
attack, interdiction, and counter air missions from deployed locations and home
station. The wing’s HH-60 helos provide
search and rescue capability in addition to tactical combat airlift. The 48th Fighter Wing averages over 19,000
flying hours and over 10,000 sorties per year while maintaining an exceptional
80% Mission Capable rate, best in the CAF, making it an extremely fast paced
maintenance environment. The wing and
the Field Training Detachment are preparing facilities, equipment, personnel,
and training curriculum to be prepared for the eventual arrival of the F-35A
Lightning II (Joint Strike Fighter).
The instructors of Det 16, geographically separated from the
372d Training Squadron at Sheppard Air Force Base, make that all possible,
teaching over 14,000 hours and graduating over 700 maintenance warriors in the
past year alone. Airplanes don’t fly on
hopes and dreams; it is the blood, sweat, and tears of extraordinary “Liberty Wing”
maintenance professionals that make the mission happen. We in FTD, instill the knowledge and technical
expertise for these airmen to go out and do the impossible every day.
Additionally, our outstanding instructors are called upon
time and time again for Air Force-level concerns. When a 48th Fighter Wing F-15D crashed in
2014, we were tasked to provide technical assistance during the crash
investigation.
Two of our instructors were selected to evaluate and
modernize the F-15C/D First Look Aircraft Systems Handbook, or FLASH, that affects
the entire F-15C/D fleet. The handbook
provides system-specific knowledge to newly assigned Airmen who work on the
weapons platform.
Detachment Chief, MSgt Joshua Bost said, “Our instructors
also recently showcased the detachment’s canopy rigging training procedures to
Maj. Gen. T. Glenn Davis, who was tasked by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force
to investigate several Hypoxia-related issues across F-15Cs worldwide. We have an amazing team of technically
proficient professions here who daily raise the competence and capability of
the Liberty Wing maintainers.”
Ultimately, Det 16’s instructors have been a vital tool in
sharpening the 48th Fighter Wing’s elite Liberty maintainers to produce
airpower for 12 allied operations in 2016 alone, enabling the 48th Maintenance
Group earn the prestigious 2016 Secretary of Defense Maintenance Award.