MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --
Team Moody hosted an Air Force-level training course June 5 through 16.
The two-week course was designed to train the Airmen who specialize in heavy equipment and pavement with the necessary skills to correctly maintain airfields.
“This is a course for Airmen with their five or seven level, so a lot of this is stuff they’ve already learned,” said Tech. Sgt. Andrew Thurman, 364th Training Squadron heavy equipment and pavements instructor from Sheppard AFB, Texas. “We’re making sure they know the right way to do it, that way they’re not making the same repair every year or two.
“It’s not just going to impact the Airmen currently taking the course,” explained Thurman, who’s been teaching the course for a year. “They’ll take what they’ve learned back to their base and pass that knowledge on to other Airmen. I hope they retain that knowledge, because these are the kinds of repairs they’ll be doing while deployed and that’s when it really counts.”
While most of the Airmen attend from various bases to earn completion and credits toward their community college of the Air Force degree, one Airman attended for the knowledge alone.
“I signed up to learn why we do things the way we do, or the fundamentals,” said Senior Airman Jesse Ellis, 11th Civil Engineer Squadron heavy equipment and pavements journeyman from Joint Base Andrews, Maryland. “For example, why do we cut into the pavement at a certain depth for a certain kind of repair?
“The mission at my base affects the president,” Ellis continued. “Air Force One is there, and a lot of processes are expedited. So if I can teach the other Airmen the right way to do it, that saves us time because everyone knows how to do it correctly, and we don’t have to make the same repair twice.”
Each year, training managers at the major command level determine which bases will host this training course throughout the Air Force.