SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas – You've heard that May the 4th is "Star Wars Day"? When you say it like, "May the forth," it sounds like "May the force be with you."
Well, the Air Force Logistics Officer School here recently had an informal celebration of "21 M-A-R Day." The 21st of March is unofficially claimed by the Air Force's maintenance and logistics officers as a day to celebrate their three career fields, collectively known as "21X," based on the functional grouping of the Air Force Specialty Code 21M, 21A, and 21R:
- Munitions Maintenance Officers, whose AFSC is 21M, whose role is to manage the maintenance and modification of conventional munitions, nuclear weapons, intercontinental ballistic missiles and associated equipment;
- Aircraft Maintenance Officers, whose AFSC is 21A, who directly manage aircraft maintenance mission generation and repair network activities, managing the maintenance and modification of aircraft and associated equipment as they oversee flight line and intermediate maintenance activities; and
- Logistics Readiness Officers, whose AFSC is 21R, who manage direct airlift operations to move units and equipment to worldwide destinations, develop logistics plans for wartime requirements, and manage supplies and equipment including aviation fuel storage and delivery as well as vehicle fleet management.
If you put 21M, 21A, and 21R together, you get “21 M-A-R Day.” AFLOS does not claim they invented the "21 M-A-R Day" idea, but as the Air Force's sole technical training center for 21M, 21A, and 21R officers at the initial and intermediate skills levels, it seemed like an appropriate place to celebrate it.
There are: maintenance, munitions and logistics readiness. Within the three categories of initial and intermediate officer training in AFLOS, there are nine different training courses, Aircraft Maintenance Officer Course, AMOC Bridge Course, Munitions Officer Fundamentals Course, Nuclear Maintenance Officers Course, Conventional Munitions Officer Course, Nuclear Accountability Course, Maintenance Officer Intermediate Course, Logistics Readiness Officer Course, and the Intermediate Logistics Readiness Officer Course.
The schoolhouse graduates about 700 logisticians every year from their various courses.
AFLOS wasn't always AFLOS. It was created in 2014 when the 21R training courses were brought up from San Antonio and merged with the Aircraft and Munitions Maintenance Officer Courses, which had been at Sheppard since 1993. The merger resulted in the schoolhouse's name change to AFLOS, combining the Air Force's 21M, 21A, and 21R initial and intermediate skills level training under one roof. Sheppard's first class of 28 Logistics Readiness Officer Course students graduated from AFLOS in May 2015.
To celebrate the day, the Maintenance Officer Intermediate Course students hosted an informal social gathering at Sheppard AFB for all students currently attending AFLOS, and enjoyed the 21X interaction.