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Sheppard classes build future Air Force mission teams

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Adawn Kelsey
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Two courses dedicated to building relationships between aviation operations and aircraft maintenance are what helped a lieutenant colonel earn his first flight on a T-38.

Lt. Col. John Cartwright, 82nd Training Group Maintenance Course for Operational Commanders director, received an incentive flight in a T-38 with 82nd TRG Mission Generation Road course instructor Lt. Col. Bruce Dobbins May 21 on Sheppard AFB..

However, Colonel Cartwright says the mission generation courses are what make his flight significant, and it really hit home when he received a flight because of what he teaches to the operational commanders and the maintenance crews.

"When I get to take a ride in an aircraft it helps me understand what makes an aviator," the colonel said. "But, I will tell you that what we are accomplishing here is such a phenomenal thing. It has been so great to be part of something that I believe is so influential for the relationships between the operations and maintenance and the mission generation team, now and in the future."

Colonel Cartwright is in charge of the two Chief of Staff directed courses that are an innovative way to create understanding between two career fields who often struggle to work together.

"The two courses are already having a huge impact on today's Air Force, especially the mission generation team which are the guys turning the wrenches or flying the aircraft," the colonel said. "For them, it really brings to light why there is tension and frustrations between the maintainers and operators when they are in the field. The MCOC here at Sheppard is the first time that these Aviators have ever learned anything about maintenance."

Another course the 82nd TRG teaches is the Mission Generation Road course. However, instead of bringing the students to Sheppard. instructors go to the students. Colonel Cartwright said this course is the first of its kind to ever be stood up.

"I take MCOC to the next level," the colonel said. "This program is where we start teaching maintenance and operations to young captains and our enlisted work force. Our charter is to go to every Air Force base once every 18 months. Every cycle we take an operator and a maintainer out into the field and we help them teach one another about their career fields. The end result is a better educated mission generation team."

The colonel said in the big picture of things, the idea is to break down the walls between the two career fields.

"The bottom line is they need to understand they are both trying to achieve basically the same end result which is to train pilots and maintain the aircraft. Our efforts are working and creating that understanding," he said. "By the end of the week I can always see an expression on their faces that says 'I got it.'"

Colonel Dobbins is already seeing the impact of the program, and he said the feedback he gets is always positive. 

"Having the opportunity to teach these courses has been rewarding," Colonel Dobbins said. "I was at Tyndall AFB three weeks ago and a commander over there said that the young captains who had been in my class are still talking about it three weeks later. I've had others say this is the best course they have ever taken in their entire career. Predominantly the feedback we get from the course is 'I wish I would have had this information much sooner in my career.'"

He also said by the end of the week approximately 1,400 personnel will have gone through one of the courses.

"We have affected so many lives with over 1,000 aviators through the MCOC and 400 maintainers and operators in the MGRC in less than a year," the colonel said. "It has been great to get to help improve the mission generation team and, between the two courses, I would say that it has been a total home run."

Colonel Cartwright said he will miss Sheppard when he moves on to his next assignment but has had an unforgettable experience. He also believes the program is more than just a class.

"I think in a way we are the hidden jewel of the wing," the colonel said. "We touch a lot of lives and impact the future leadership and the future of the mission generation team and the success of that."