JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Two Airman from the 1st Maintenance Group made history by becoming the first students to attend the inaugural F-22 Fuel System and On-Board Inert Gas Generating course at Joint Base Langley Eustis, Virginia.
The F-22 Fuels System and OBIGG course is a 10-day academic program that trains Airmen on the intricacies of the F-22 fuel system - identifying safety hazards, component removal and installation. U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Efren Estrada and Airman First Class Brandon Wilson are the first of several Airmen attending the course at Langley.
“A big benefit of this course is seeing the actual diagrams of how the aircraft defuels and refuels and how the system actually operates,” Estrada said, “A lot of what you see in the actual job is in theory…while here you get to see how it actually works, which is a big help because everything starts to connect.”
The destruction caused by Hurricane Michael forced the relocation of the program from Tyndall Air Force Base, 950 miles to JBLE while staying $3.2 million under the proposed movement budget.
“The coordination that occurred to get this trainer and fuels course relocated was phenomenal in my eyes,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Robert Berman, 372nd Training Squadron Detachment 218 Nondestructive Inspection instructor supervisor, “There was coordination between many different organizations: Air Education and Training Command, Air Combat Command, [the] support program office at Wright Patterson AFB and Boeing just to name a few.”
Instructors of the course are hopeful that students will take away a deeper understanding of the F-22 system, preparing them for whatever they may face down the road.
“The course is very extensive on theory of operation for the different [fuels] systems and gives the students a great foundation once they graduate,” said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Brandt McDonough, 1st Maintenance Group Fuel Systems Repair section chief, “It really dives deep into topics and information that you don’t come across every day working the F-22 on the flightline.”
In line with the National Defense Strategy priority of increasing lethality, the course provides 80 Community College of the Air Force applicable hours of academic, hands-on and intuitive instruction.
“Getting to this moment is the culmination of two years of hard work and tenacity by our Air Force SNCOs and Civilians. Starting with the 325th FW’s ingenuity to rescue the trainer from its hurricane damaged building, to our 633rd CE team securing and redesigning the space culminating with our FTD team, led by MSgt Berman, who refused to quit. This capability will address a critical training backlog for the F-22 fuels technicians and would have been lost if not for our innovative Airmen.”
One of only two AETC F-22 fuels training classrooms in the nation, the Langley schoolhouse is set to graduate 15 Airmen in the coming months.
“Having this course back up and running, now at Langley, is a huge win for the F-22 community,” said U.S. Air Force Col. David Lopez, 1st Fighter Wing commander, “Our maintainers are the backbone of the flying mission, and this class develops the skills necessary to keep us at the forefront of providing lethal air power.”