Future operators attend formal training unit

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Matthew Hubby
  • 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. --  Pilots, flight engineers and navigators share one thing in common: they require specialized training in order to succeed at their job, which is to safely operate an aircraft to get it from point A to point B. This training is gained through a formal training unit. At Dover Air Force Base, Del., the first C-5M Super Galaxy FTU is teaching its first team of aircrew the ins-and-outs of the C-5M.

None of these members have touched the C-5M before; they are either fresh from their retraining or commissioning service. For all, it is a brand new experience, one that Lt. Col. Bryan Cessna, C-5M FTU commander, and Senior Master Sgt. Brandon Trolinder, C-5M FTU superintendant, plan to take advantage of.

"The benefit of having fresh students is the ability to mold them into the kind of aircrew you want," said Cessna. "They come to us from their schoolhouse training and we give them the hands on experience they need to succeed. They will build on this experience for the rest of their career, and we hope to instill good habits for them to teach to future generations."

The training program lasts four-and-a-half months for flight engineers and three months for pilots. The classes are comprised of four pilots and four flight engineers, who work with qualified aircrew during the hands-on portion of their training. The training begins with system familiarity and checklist discipline. After they complete this first portion they begin to work with hands-on simulators and then graduate to working on the actual aircraft.

"We get a greater knowledge of the aircraft by getting hands-on, and seeing how everything works. I worked avionics before I retrained, so I am looking forward to operating what I was fixing," said Staff Sgt. John Loera, a C-5M flight engineer journeyman with the 552nd Maintenance Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., who will soon be permanently assigned to Dover AFB.

The program has a steep learning curve, even though all of those who apply to retrain as a flight engineer must have maintenance backgrounds, said Tech. Sgt. Waldell Graves, a C-5M flight engineer journeyman with the 9th Airlift Squadron. Students are given a lot of information very quickly, and are expected to build on prior lessons as they go. Expectations and standards are high, and those that don't make the cut are sent home.

"What makes the training difficult varies from person to person," said Graves. "But the most important thing is your drive. You have to want to succeed in this career if you're going to make it through training. This isn't like your pipeline technical school where the instructor tells you to study - you have to make the decision to go home and crack open your book. It breeds confidence when you know that you know the material, and being held to a higher standard makes us sharper."

For flight engineers, sharpness is key, said Loera. While they fly on the aircraft, it is their responsibility to maintain the systems onboard during the mission. They need to know what every switch does, and what all the indicators mean, and what their optimum levels are. Should something go wrong, they have to be able to act quickly and decisively to not only locate the problem, but know how to work around it to get the plane back on the ground.

"Taking off is optional, but landing is mandatory," said Cessna. "If something does go wrong in midflight, our pilots and flight engineers will have the training to not only correct what they can, but ensure that the aircraft lands safely. That is probably the most important part of being a flyer - being able to think on your feet and being able to rely on your training in a tight spot."

The confidence built from the training will pay dividends in the future, said Trolinder. While these fresh flyers will be able to build their experience on the new airframe they are also building knowledge for the next generation. While being able to mold Airmen's habits is good, having experienced members with knowledge to share is even better.

"We're looking forward to sharing our knowledge with Travis Air Force Base, Calif., starting next year," said Trolinder. "We will begin reaching out to others bases beginning their C-5M transition in 2013 with Travis AFB, but then expanding our program as we go along, so don't be surprised if you see some new faces at Dover AFB next year."