Robins C-17 Combined Program Office provides project oversight Published Feb. 14, 2014 By Jenny Gordon Robins Public Affairs ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. -- Currently there are efforts to convert existing paper technical manuals for the C-17 weapon system that will not only save money but reduce man hours, creating further efficiencies across the Air Force. The C-17 Combined Program Office at Robins, in partnership with Boeing, is working to implement the first ever (complete maintenance set) C-17 S1000D-compliant interactive electronic technical manual, IETM, for use by aircraft maintainers in the U.S. The C-17 pilot project, which began in 2007, will be the first weapon system in the Air Force to use the new IETM. Other weapon systems such as the C-5 and KC-46 are in the early stages of development based on the C-17's achievement. There are no plans yet to use the IETM with foreign military sales partners. Field testing took place this week with the 172nd Airlift Wing, Mississippi Air National Guard. There are plans to continue training and travelling to bases that maintain the C-17, with completion by mid-2015. Every weapon system has technical orders, or manuals which outline how to perform a specific job. Take into consideration there are variations of the same aircraft, and maintainers must constantly be updated on changing technical orders. When changes occur, printing and distribution costs for every base that maintains a C-17 for example can become quite costly. With this IETM, maintainers will be able to instantly download to a computer everything they need within 24 hours, reducing those costs by 25 percent, according to the C-17 CPO. "It's a difficult environment for the mechanic today. This will make their lives sufficiently better. We're very excited about it," said Danny Singleton, C-17 CPO deputy director. "It's really moving us into the 21st century where we need to be." Maintainers will be able to compile, plan and speed their work because the technical documentation will be right at their fingertips, he added. Interactive testing over the years took place at nearby Joint Base Charleston, which maintains more than 50 C-17s for the Air Force. Maintainers from across various major commands also provided feedback from focus groups on the new system, resulting in aircraft technical data that features linking, hot spots, highlighting, graphic manipulation and filtering for the most up-to-date and timely information. "It has been a long road to get to this point," said Sonya Elburn, C-17 IETM lead. "This will provide a tool that has been chosen by Air Force leadership, with the usability proven by the maintainer. This tool will provide the technical data in a timelier manner." Since the project began in 2007, it has been a true team effort among not only the C-17 CPO IETM office at Robins, and Boeing, but also maintainers from across all Air Force bases that work on the C-17; Air Mobility Command, Air Force Reserve Command and Air Force Materiel Command. What is an IETM? An IETM is an interactive electronic technical manual, a computer web program that displays aircraft technical data in a logical format. It will allow its users to navigate through numerous manuals more efficiently.