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Iraqi aircraft structural training off to slow but promising start

  • Published
  • By Senior Master Sgt. Trish Freeland
  • AFCENT, Baghdad Media Outreach Team
TAJI AIR BASE, Iraq --  U.S. Airmen involved in the rebuilding of a new Iraqi air force enjoyed many successes in 2008. Among those success stories is the Basic Aircraft Maintenance Course being conducted at the Iraqi Air Force Training School located at al Taji Air Base. The course is an entry level aircraft familiarization course covering general aviation, flightline safety and basic aircraft/helicopter system knowledge. It provides the foundation for follow-on aircraft and specific system training.

An off-shoot of the BAM course is the Aircraft Structural Maintenance Course which is being taught for the first time to a small class of two students. The lead instructor is Master Sgt. Joel Little, an aircraft structural maintenance instructor/advisor with the 821st Expeditionary Training Squadron. The 821st ETS is part of the Coalition Air Force Training Team, one of numerous advisory teams assigned to Multi-National Security Transition Command - Iraq.

"This is a work in progress, just to kind of see what things we need to teach to a further degree and what things can we possibly back off of," said Little. "The most important thing is determining what our Iraqi counterparts need from us so we can tailor the course to their needs."

In U.S. Air Force technical training schools, aircraft structures training lasts about four months. But the version created for the Iraqi Airmen has been scaled down to 26 academic days. Iraqi air force senior leaders advised their instructors on which key areas to build the course around.

"With time constraints here in Iraq, we had to condense this course," said Little, a Charlotte, N.C. native. "There were some things they were not concerned about their Airmen learning, so we tailored the course to what they wanted."

Little started the course with four students, but through academic attrition the class is down to two. Warrant Officers Hussen Mohammad and Omar Saaed are the two remaining students. Mohammad worked with sheet metal in high school while Said is new to structural training.

"I'm enjoying it so far," said Mohammad. I really want to be a proficient technician in my unit."

"I want to be a winner at the job, serve my country and make it safe for others," added Saaed. He hopes to one day teach the course.

"I can tell these last two students have some type of mechanical background," said Little. "They're able to tell me what they've seen in the past with different tools and things and that helps them grasp the information I'm putting out."

The first thing structural students need to learn is aircraft damage evaluation. From there they begin learning how to remove damage from the aircraft. The operating environment in Iraq exposes aircraft to bird strikes, ground mishaps, inclement weather and the hazards that come with working in a combat zone.

"There may be issues they have to tend to after real world flights," said Little. "They have to know how to assess that damage, fix it and get the aircraft back to a mission-capable status."

The course is designed to handle 22 students at one time. There are two laboratories set-up so courses can be taught over a two-shift operation. Once such a class size is available, Little and his staff will be able to graduate more technicians as well as train a cadre of Iraqi instructors to take over teaching the course.

"When they're out there doing it themselves they'll remember who helped them get to that level," said Little. "That's the thing I'll cherish the most...just knowing I left something they could use."