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State-of-the-art Raptor maintenance facility opens

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Jacob Corbin
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  A new era of training started at Sheppard, Oct. 19, with the opening of the Air Force's F-22A Raptor Maintenance Training Facility.

All maintenance training for the nation's newest fighter aircraft will take place in one facility, a new concept in Air Force maintenance training.

Airmen from the 361st, 362nd, 363rd and 365th Training squadrons will be taught in the building, learning how to be Raptor crew chiefs, armament specialists, avionics specialists, egress specialists, fuels specialists and engine maintainers.

"We have really changed how we view training," Col. Steven Morani, 82nd Training Group commander said. "This building is the model for the future of training in the Air Force."

The Raptor, which is the most high-tech fighter aircraft in the world's skies today, led to a need for innovations in training.

"The Raptor has a capability that is so important to our nation," said Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux, 82nd Training Wing commander. "It will not only defeat any adversary, it will deter."

Retired Maj. Gen. Dennis Haines, now vice president of F-22 Sustainment with Lockheed-Martin, said it is a combination of the Raptor's speed, stealth and sensors which give it the ability to see the enemy, kill the enemy and escape before ever being detected.

With this advanced aircraft, advanced training is needed for the men and women who will be repairing and maintaining it.

"Thank God for an American people that understand when you field a fifth generation fighter, you need fifth generation training," General Devereaux said.

The new facility will provide just that, through its computer-heavy classrooms and the brand-new, multi-million dollar trainers built for the facility.

These trainers are exact replicas of the F-22, with some additions to improve training.

"Our trainers are 80 to 90 percent actual aircraft parts," said G. Jay Brown, program manager with DME Corporation, the company that produced the cockpit trainer and seat and canopy trainer. "It's what they will actually see and feel on the real aircraft. If they go anywhere in the world on any Raptor, he will know exactly what he's doing."

Mr. Brown said these trainers can be produced for about 3 percent of the cost of an actual Raptor, and frees up a real F-22 that would otherwise have to be set aside for training.

The trainers can also be programmed by instructors to report faults through the student's portable maintenance aid, allowing the student to discover and repair problems on their own, General Haines said.

The portable maintenance aid is much like a heavy-duty laptop and also contains all of the maintainers technical and work orders.

This is all possible because the Raptor is built from the ground up with maintenance in mind, said Pam Valdez, F-22 Sustainment director for the Boeing Company. She said the aircraft will self-diagnose potential problems and give instructions to the maintainer on how to fix it, all through the portable maintenance aid.

All of the high-tech training aids and capabilities are designed to help ensure the F-22 Raptor continues to stay the world's premier fighter aircraft.

"Our Air Force deserves the most proficient Airmen this facility can provide," said Sue Dryden, director of sustainment and logistics, F-22 Program Office, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

The high-tech, $21 million facility began construction in March 2005, and its first classes will begin in January 2008.