9/4/2023 0 Comments Tabletop simulator viveThat helps accomplish more than homework. The two traveled to Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, for a closer look at how members of the 82nd Training Wing are developing airmen. Erik Thompson, AETC command chief, visit the 364th Training Squadron. Brian Robinson, commander of Air Education and Training Command, and Chief Master Sgt. To get there, the right infrastructure has to be in place: high-bandwidth, wireless Internet connections in classrooms and dorms, a strong electric grid with enough outlets, and workspaces that facilitate collaboration. “You want them developing camaraderie, esprit de corps, and that sense of belonging … at their mission unit.” “We can actually get them to their first base quicker, which I think matters most to the airmen,” Robinson said. That gets complicated because of how military training is funded, and because operational units need a reliable flow of new airmen as others leave. Ideally, the Air Force could abandon the student cohorts that start and end at the same time, and let people graduate at their own pace. Those lessons start during boot camp and have begun to spill over into tech school, like emphasizing new ways of problem solving at the intelligence community’s schoolhouse at Goodfellow AFB, Robinson said.Īnd he has publicly mentioned the idea of getting away from a traditional training “pipeline” altogether. That’s driven by the Air Force’s move toward more flexible combat deployments with smaller field teams than they might have at an established base. Robinson also wants to improve at teaching airmen to think on their feet and make decisions on their own. Air Force instructors should show, not tell, students how to embody values like emotional resilience and open communication, Courchaine said. The other is their airmanship habits, from respectful interaction with their teammates to cyber hygiene online. One is a piece of technology, like a tablet, to hold what they learn in school and the Air Force regulations and resources. She envisions two things an airman should get at basic training and carry with them throughout their career. “Where I see the biggest breakdown is not necessarily in a Second Air Force pipeline, in terms of BMT or technical training, it’s that jump between technical training and the first base,” she said. In September, staffers from Air Force Recruiting Command, basic training and technical training joined curriculum writers to explore how to stretch lessons across each phase, Courchaine said. Improving tech school is key to reaching a broader goal: easing the transition between boot camp, technical training and an airman’s first operational base. (Senior Airman Malcolm Mayfield/Air Force) Rethinking the ‘pipeline’ The Air Force wants to smooth the transition from tech school to operational units. Maintainers work on an F-15E at RAF Lakenheath, England, in 2019. “The skills that they learn in this environment, in terms of leading such a diverse group of people across different, are the traits that I really hope we can implement into the Air Force as we look at what the next fight could be,” Courchaine said. Some airmen are wary of becoming instructors because they fear falling behind in their professional skills and being passed over for promotion. Lauren Courchaine, head of the 37th Training Wing, which manages the training enterprise at Joint Base San Antonio, wants to give instructors the resources they need to thrive, and to return to their previous jobs better than they left them. He’d like to grow that to around 90%.Ĭol. He estimates that tech schools have about 80% of the staff they need. Robinson hopes to turn to remote teaching staff who can run that software from anywhere in the world. Turning toward technological solutions can create another problem: finding qualified simulator instructors to run them. Second Air Force, the subordinate organization in charge of basic and technical training, will set those priorities, he said. ![]() Robinson suggested AETC will first tackle updates for maintainers, followed by firefighters and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance specialists. ![]() The goal is to deliver newly trained airmen to their first operational bases with as many of those skills as possible. Changes focused on those competencies will follow. ![]() Over the next 18 months, he wants to lay out the basic skills that airmen in each career field must learn. Robinson declined to say what an overall timeline might be for bringing tech schools into the 21st century, or its benchmarks for determining success. ![]() Airman Tyler Mckenna, a 361st Training Squadron propulsion apprentice course student, safety wires an electric plug on an aircraft engine at Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, in June ]2020.
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