KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss.-- Second Air Force held a new version of the Technical Training 101 Expo at Keesler, Oct. 25-28, to showcase the training innovations across Second Air Force.
The new TT-101 transitioned from briefs and slides to interactive demonstrations, giving the attendees a hands-on understanding of proposed solutions.
“TT-101 gives leadership a foundational understanding of what Second Air Force is,” said Dr. Brian Davis, Second Air Force chief training officer.
As the unit responsible for 93 percent of Air Force technical training and basic military training, Second Air Force invited representatives from their five wings.
Key speakers engaged with representatives from the 81st Training Wing, 17th Training Wing, 82nd Training Wing, 37th Training Wing and Special Warfare Training Wing. The attendees were given the opportunity to familiarize themselves with the different training curriculums and receive a broad overview of the pipeline for Airmen from before BMT to after technical training graduation.
“The redesign of Tech-training 101 was highly effective at creating more opportunities for collaboration and collective learning. I learned more about the impressive capabilities of our Instructional Technology Units (ITU), heard first hand about the outstanding learning and leadership across the MTI/MTL community, discussed learning challenges and opportunities throughout 2nd Air Force as well as in our medical training units," said Dr. Wendy Walsh, Air Education and Training Command Chief Learning Officer. "TT-101 is a great event to connect, recharge and take our training efforts to the next level!”
The interactive demonstrations and discussions for leadership combined two separate sessions into one, bringing enlisted and commissioned leaders together. Panels of Military Training Leaders, Airmen in training and technical school instructors drove interactive discussions.
“We knew we needed to change our methodology to reflect modern technology and accelerate change,” said Lisa Arnold, Second Air Force TT-101 director. “We gamified the training to be more engaging for students, but what were we doing for leadership?”
During TT-101, a Technical Training Expo allowed opportunities for networking and engagement with the newest training methods for Airmen with booths run by members from the various training wings.
The utilization of virtual reality has increased students passing, saved training time and resources, improved their technical competencies and better prepared Airmen for the operational force. Most of the wings are utilizing virtual reality platforms to transform the way our technical students learn by submerging them in low-risk training environments.
“By showcasing the innovations in our wings and spearheading critical thought, we are able to cultivate a culture of excellence from the front to develop the Airmen and leaders we need,” said Davis.