Kyrgyz ministry of defense team shadows Airmen, learns expeditionary maintenance

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Olufemi Owolabi
  • 376th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan (AFNS) --  Airmen of the 376th Expeditionary Maintenance Group hosted members of the Kyrgyz ministry of defense maintenance team at the Transit Center at Manas recently to showcase expeditionary maintenance.

The Kyrgyz delegation, led by Lt. Col. Vakhiddulla Toktakhunov, visited the Transit Center to learn more about aircraft maintenance operations from Airmen and to gain insight that could help their country improve processes and efficiencies in their own maintenance operations.

"The purpose of the visit is to educate them on our practices, structure and the way we operate and conduct maintenance" said Maj. Michael Colvard, the 376th EAMXS commander. "It also gives them an opportunity to see how they compare to us, in the way they do business; the equipment we use, the procedures we use and our organizational structure."

During the visit, Lt Col. Bradley Allen, the 376th Maintenance Group commander, gave the Kyrgyz team a briefing at the maintenance headquarters building, which covered a snapshot of the Manas mission -- air refueling, airlift and onward movement of personnel. He also briefed how U.S. Air Force organizes its aircraft maintenance functions.

"We (the Air Force) are always seeking ways to improve our operations, and we welcome the opportunity for this information exchange with aircraft maintenance personnel from Kyrgyz Ministry of Defense," Colonel Allen said. 

The Kyrgyz delegation had the opportunity to visit various shops to take a first-hand look at Airmen in action and to tour a KC-135 Stratotanker. They visited the aircraft maintenance unit, aerospace ground equipment shop and the maintenance backshop. 

According to Kyrgyz Capt. Denis Satir, the maintenance backshop was one of the most fascinating parts of their visit.

During the backshop tour, Airmen presented an array of aircraft fabrication equipment and machines.

Captain Satir, who got a hands-on demonstration of the production tube bending machine, said they were impressed with everything they saw and none of their questions went unanswered.

We were very impressed with the professionalism and expertise of the Airmen, Captain Satir said.

"Even though we may have different technology, they may be able to take away processes and ideas from this visit to create new designs and processes in their work environment to enhance their jobs and ultimately achieve greater mission effectiveness for their aircraft," Major Colvard said.

The visit culminated with a tour of the interior of a KC-135, boom operations and a trip to the flightline to see a KC-135 takeoff for an Operation Enduring Freedom refueling mission.

"Overall, I thought the visit went extremely well," Colonel Allen said. "I believe we gave them a pretty good look at what we do and how we do it. The exchange of information, questions and answers was good in many respects. Most importantly, however, I believe it helped us in learning more about the Kyrgyz and them about us, which will only help to make us stronger partners in the war against terrorism and extremism."