News

Maintenance University instructors educate thousands

  • Published
  • By Jenny Gordon
  • 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  Drive by the corner of Ninth Street and Robins Parkway, and you may notice a quiet, unassuming brick building with a sign out front which reads: Robins Maintenance University.

Inside resides the 373rd Training Squadron, Detachment 6, one of 47 Air Education and Training Command field training detachments assigned to the 982nd Training Group at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas.

The team of 23 instructors is comprised of active duty, civil service, and Air Force Reserve personnel who teach more than 70 AETC, Air Force Materiel Command, and Warner Robins Air Logistics Center courses to more than 3,000 students annually.

All instructors are hand-selected and must possess an associate degree or higher to keep Air University accreditation and wear the AETC instructor badge.

Its mission is clear, "To make great maintainers and communicators even better," said Master Sgt. Scott Dawes, the school's detachment chief.

A unique capability of this field training detachment is its ability to support three distinct customers - the 116th Air Control Wing, 402nd Maintenance Wing and the 689th Combat Communications Wing. Typically, a standard FTD school only supports one customer, comprised mainly of an active-duty student base.

Detachment 6 supports maintenance training for E-8, C-5, C-17, C-130 and F-15 aircraft.

It also supports theater deployable communications with a customer base of active duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserves and civilians spanning eight major commands.

"Det. 6 has a diverse mission, we're not just an aircraft maintenance school," said Dawes. "We also teach developmental courses like root cause analysis, instructional system development and quality assurance."

The school, which houses 18 classrooms and a $27 million JSTARS mission systems simulator, teaches courses accredited by the Community College of the Air Force.

Detachment 6 awarded more than 1,000 hours of CCAF college credit to Airmen last year. The courses aren't just available to those at Robins; depending on space they're open Air Force-wide.

Much of the class material is created based on the customer's demands, said Dawes.

"We respond to the customer's needs," he said. "By using subject-matter experts from the work centers we are able to design, develop and implement courses using the Air Force's Instructional Systems Development processes that best meet the needs of the customer."

In 2010 alone, the school provided more than 17,000 instruction hours, teaching close to 3,500 students. This year, a busy fall session is expected, to add to the more than 11,000 hours already taught since January.

Part of the detachment's success is due to the instructors' ability to be multi-dimensional and work together, filling in for one another's classes as needed.

With cross utilization, the team maximized 1,100 training hours last year which otherwise wouldn't have been taught.

Hands-on work outside the classroom has taken students to the Museum of Aviation, where they can do performance tasks on F-15 and C-130 trainers.

Instructors don't just spend all of their time in the classroom, either.

There is huge community support from within. Many give time to proctor testing at local elementary schools, conduct JROTC drill meets, and raise money for the Macon Children's Hospital.

One instructor even volunteered 400 hours to Big Brothers/Big Sisters.

"The impact these 23 guys have on their community is second-to-none. They are in a privileged position to do great things and make their leadership proud," said Dawes.