Enlisted aviator ground schools for seven different specialties are moving here to create the Career Enlisted Aircrew Center of Excellence.

The move will provide better and quicker academic training at less cost, said Mark Smith, training manager and aircrew pipeline manager for the 344th Training Squadron.

Mr. Smith said the efficiencies and cost savings include elimination of hundreds of plane trips, wait time and per diem, since many of the aircrew students will travel only twice instead of three times before arriving at their flying training units.

The squadron currently trains 2,000 Airmen a year in the 14-day enlisted aircrew undergraduate course before going to survival training, then to their three-level specialty ground school. Seven of these schools and about 40 instructors will move here for academic classes.

"The intent is to take all the initial skills training for enlisted aviators from where they are now and consolidate them here to create a 'common aircrew culture,' and also get some cost savings and training pipeline efficiencies," said Lt. Col. Rob Huber, squadron commander.

Colonel Huber said seven of the eight specialties will be moving, with the first school scheduled to arrive in April. He said the eighth specialty, 1A8, or linguists, will stay at the ground schools at Monterey, Calif., and Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, "because they have a year and a half of language in a joint school with the Army."

Specialties moving here are 1A0, aerial refuelers, from Altus AFB, Okla.; 1A1, flight engineers, from Kirtland AFB, N.M., Little Rock AFB, Ark., or Altus; 1A2, loadmasters, from Altus or Little Rock; 1A3 and 1A4, airborne battle managers and airborne mission specialists, from Keesler AFB, Miss.; 1A6, flight attendants, from Andrews AFB, Md.; and 1A7, aerial gunners, from Kirtland.

Mr. Smith said the first move is the ground school for airborne battle managers, scheduled to start April 11. The next, scheduled for October, is for flight attendants, followed by airborne mission specialists in January. He said the other schools are moving between January and October next year. Delays are possible, he said, since moving instructors and positions are involved, which takes funding.

The courses are all different lengths and each includes some common material that could be taught in the basic course, he said. Since the three-level courses would follow immediately and at the same location, wait time and travel to the three-level courses will be eliminated.

Mr. Smith said the consolidation was identified in December by Air Education and Training Command headquarters as the No. 1 "Quick Win" initiative for Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century.

"I want to see the biggest bang for my buck, both personally and professionally. And this will get us that -- better-trained Airmen to the field quicker, which is really critical in today's global war on terrorism. These are the guys that put metal in the air, and they're actually putting metal into hostile air for us," Mr. Smith said.

Mr. Smith said that only the ground school portion of the training is coming to Lackland. The flight training portion will remain at their current locations.

Career development courses for each Air Force Specialty Code will also be moved to Lackland, Mr. Smith said. He said the center also plans to develop advanced training courses to support all of the career enlisted aviators' training needs.

(Courtesy of Air Education and Training Command News Service)