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AF pair travels to Rwanda, teaches maintenance management

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The primary mission of the Air Force Service is to provide combat-ready, multi-skilled Force to play a leading role in (sustaining a) credible, joint air defence capability.

That sounds like the mission of a modern military air force with specific goals in mind and one that is capable of functioning in global operations. This statement, however, is that of the Rwanda air force, a component of the Rwandan Defence Force that has been in existence only since 1996.

Members of the Rwanda air force paid a visit to the leaders in C-130 maintenance training at the 373rd Training Squadron's Detachment 4 at Little Rock AFB, which is part of the 982nd Training Group at Sheppard AFB, which turned into a follow up visit for two Det. 4 members to help build up the fledgling air force.

The Rwanda air force is exploring the possibility of expanding its rotary-wing only air force to include fixed-wing assets.

Capt. Brian DeBruhl, 373rd Training Squadron's Detachment 4 commander, Tech. Sgt. Brandon Macken, 373rd Training Squadron's Detachment 4 instructor traveled to Rwanda Sept. 13-17 to discuss the intricacies of maintenance and logistics and conduct a maintenance management training course with the Rwandan air force.

"They (have) the opportunity to write the future of their air force," Captain DeBruhl said. "They are the Rickenbackers and Arnolds of their air force."

Captain DeBruhl, a native of Anchorage, Alaska, said the Rwanda air force has the capability to maintain aircraft. He described the air force as battle tested, a result of years of civil war and the horrific genocide of the mid-90s that claimed the lives of more than one million people.

He said their goal is to become a modern air force that contributes to international operations, but they have to improve in some areas to reach that objective.

"Think about how our Air Force grew up," the captain said, describing the maturation from the Wright Flyer to current technologies such as stealth aircraft. "They're definitely eager to get to that level, too."

The first step to achieving that status began the week of Aug. 30 when members of the Rwanda air force toured maintenance and logistics facilities at the detachment and the 19th Airlift Wing at Little Rock. Captain DeBruhl described the Rwandan officers as kids at a candy store because of the enormity of the operation and what it takes to support 90 aircraft at the base.

It wasn't so much the aircraft or maintenance portions that intrigued the foreign officers, rather it was the attention to detail, operating procedures for tracking equipment, the use of forms and formal instructions that caught their attention. Sergeant Macken said those basic processes that are taught to U.S. Air Force Airmen from their first day of training is what's missing from the Rwanda air force.

"Their air force is at its infancy, so they don't have those (standard operating procedures)," the Houston, Texas, native said. "They know what they want, they just don't know how to get there."

The captain and sergeant traveled to Rwanda in mid-September to help the Rwanda air force begin its journey down the road to becoming the air force it wants to be. What the two found when they arrived was a capable, but unorganized operation. The captain said it wasn't something that was thought about when the Rwanda air force was formed in 1996 and hasn't been a point of emphasis until now.

"They know how to operate," he said. "They know how to keep their aircraft technically working."

Captain DeBruhl and Sergeant Macken toured the Rwanda air force's facilities and adapted their training course to fit the need of the customer the captain said. He said they were able to identify specific areas the Rwanda air force could improve and do it at little to no cost.

Some of those ideas included using a chit system to track various tools to repair an aircraft. The Rwanda air force, at the time of the visit, didn't have a mechanism in place to complete this simple task.

The captain said they also recommend the Rwanda air force cross train their maintainers to provide more flexibility within the air force.

"We talked to the class we had and said 'this is what we think and this is why it will work for you,'" Captain DeBruhl said.

They also suggested consolidating forms into one book and also placing a technical order reference on forms so technicians can see a manual was used and followed while maintaining an aircraft.

Captain DeBruhl said officers in the Rwanda air force are well educated, most holding degrees in areas such as engineering. There isn't an enlisted force structure in the Rwanda air force.

As much knowledge as the officer possess in their respective fields and aircraft maintenance, he said they operate on the same level as the enlisted force in the U.S. Air Force.

"Management is not part of their skill set," he said. "My job is to manage and make sure (my Airmen) are trained to get the job done. They lack the piece that I'm trained to do and that's to manage the process."

Sergeant Macken said he felt the overall experience with the Rwandan air force was a success.

"Though our military cultures are very different, we shared a common goal to make both our air forces better," he said. "While they learned from us how to better manage their fleet, I learned from them not to take so much for granted. The 16 individuals we worked with that week will shape the future of the Rwandan air force, and it was an honor to be a part of that."

Captain DeBruhl recommended the U.S. Air Force continue assisting to help build up and train the Rwanda air force's aircraft maintenance operations. He said the chief of staff of the Rwanda air force expressed to him a desire to further develop the relationship between the countries.