Airmen train Iraqi maintainers

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tim Beckham
  • U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team
NEW AL MUTHANA AIR BASE, Iraq (AFNS) --  Two maintenance Airmen took three Iraqi air force members from here to Camp Taji, Iraq, March 24 to help fix one of Iraq's C-130s In an attempt to help members of the Iraqi air force better cross utilize their resources and assets.

Technical Sergeants Jim Grifasi and Bobby McKenzie, advisers with the 321st Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron here, spearheaded this effort to teach the Iraqis to use one another to help solve problems at the lowest level.

"That trip taught them more than technical skills. It taught them things that don't necessarily come out of a book or don't come from a checklist. It taught them the value of understanding what it is that they have to do and how to problem solve," said Sergeant Grifasi, a 321st AEAS metals technician adviser.

"We taught them to reach out within their own capabilities and to utilize resources in their own back yard," said Sergeant McKenzie, a 321st AEAS aircraft structural maintenance adviser.

Sergeants Grifasi and McKenzie took two of their proteges along with one interpreter on the trip so they could not only help with the maintenance portion, but also to make connections and network with one of their sister units.

"Every Iraqi base is like its own unique air force," said Sergeant Grifasi, who is deployed from Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., and a native of Buffalo, N.Y. "It is very important to help them realize that they are on the same team and that they can help each other out to get the job done."

The trip wasn't only a success from the maintenance standpoint, it was also a success in relationship building.

"Once we got there, (the Iraqis) began to realize that this shop may have certain tools to do one job and they have tools better suited for other jobs and that they can use each other to get the job done," said Sergeant McKenzie, who is deployed from Little Rock AFB, Ark., and a native of Manchester, Tenn. "For example, the armament shop at Taji needed primer and paint for gun mounts on their MI-17s, and we have an abundance of primer and paint that will probably end up expiring, so we boxed some up and are going to take it to them on our next visit."

The trip was such a success that Sergeants Grifasi and McKenzie hope to bring some Iraqi maintenance personnel from Camp Taji to here on the next trip.

"The Iraqi leadership is beginning to understand the importance of not only sharing supply assets, but the overall value of communication between different units," Sergeant Grifasi said. "Hopefully this type of training will become more and more common in the future."

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