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AETC receives federal-level technology award

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Michael A. Ward
  • Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AETCNS) --  An electronic training and documentation program developed by the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency helped Air Education and Training Command receive a federal-level technology award this month.

The Federal Government Distance Learning Association awarded its annual Pioneer Award to AETC, AFCESA and two development contractors involved in the program. The award is given to government agencies and associated contractors for outstanding achievement in the design and development of technology-based products used in association with distance learning.

AFCESA's electronic training program, originally called COVER Train, was developed by the agency in 1999 and fielded in 2002 to document enlisted job proficiency and upgrade training for Air Force civil engineers.

"We took paper training records like the Air Force Form 623 and 797 and automated them," said Ralph Gruber, AFCESA's advance distributed learning program manager. "Everything that was in paper form was put into a database, which saves a lot of time and effort and eliminates the possibility of 'pencil-whipping.' Now, if you say you have been trained on something and you are signed off by your supervisor, it's a permanent record that can be verified."

Last year, AETC, which was developing a similar web-based program with the Air Force Weather Agency, canceled its program after reviewing COVER Train.

"They had never seen a demonstration of COVER Train, but once they did, they said, 'That's what we want,'" said Mr. Gruber. "What was going to be strictly a civil engineer product now will benefit the entire Air Force."

In addition to the weather agency, other functional areas, including security forces, medical and financial management, have decided to use the program.

Because of its broader scope, COVER Train has been renamed the Air Force Training Record, and AETC and AFCESA are now modifying it as a web-based program instead of a CD-ROM or local area network-based program.

FGDLA, a nonprofit association formed to promote the development and application of distance learning in the federal sector, will present the award at a ceremony in Las Vegas next month.