Enlisted aircrew training winds down at Keesler Published Dec. 18, 2006 By Susan Griggs 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. (AETCNS) -- Although packers are busy disconnecting and crating equipment, training continues for the last 10 students in the 1A3 airborne mission system specialist course in the 332nd Training Squadron. The last Keesler class graduates Tuesday as part of the transition to the Career Enlisted Aviator Center of Excellence at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. "I don't look at the move as a loss for Keesler as much as a gain for the Air Force and the country," said Lt. Col. Steven Ramsay, 332nd TRS commander. "In this era of transformation, the center of excellence makes great sense, and preparing the Airman to support the global war on terror allows the Air Force to accomplish its mission," he said. The new center was created to provide more efficient academic training at less cost, according to Senior Master Sgt. Dean Ross, superintendent of the enlisted aircrew training flight. Previously, students completed basic training and took the 14-day enlisted aircrew undergraduate course at Lackland before going to survival training at Fairchild AFB, Wash., then continued to 3-level specialty ground schools at various bases before going to their respective flying training units. Sergeant Ross said by moving the ground schools to Lackland, a great deal of travel time and expense can be saved. Over the past few months, instructors and equipment have been moved gradually so the course could begin at Lackland while still being taught at Keesler. The first course started at Lackland Nov. 7 and graduates Feb. 7. Another class began at Lackland last week. The course lasts 55 academic days at Lackland, rather than the 50 days possible with Keesler's compressed work schedule. Six of the eight Keesler instructors that are moving to Lackland have already departed. Three others are returning to flying, and three new instructors are coming from other bases to take their places. "It's a unique situation," Sergeant Ross said. "We had to do concurrent operations for the course -- we couldn't shut down the training pipeline because we have programmed flying dates and needed to continue to develop aircrew members to prevent any shortfall to the annual trained personnel requirements." "We've already completed two of the four equipment shipments," said Tech. Sgt. Brian Sommers, one of the Keesler instructors. "It takes a lot of effort to coordinate and get the shipments out on time so they can be set up and usable in early January, but we haven't lost any training days in the process." "The reason this process has worked so well is the outstanding planning and work from our enlisted aircrew members over the last year," Colonel Ramsay said. Another course previously taught in the 332nd TRS, the 1A4 airborne battle manager course, was the first of seven specialties to move to the new center at Lackland last spring. Approximately 80 students in six classes have graduated since then. In addition to those two courses, other specialties included in the center are 1A0 aerial refuelers from Altus AFB, Okla.; 1A1 flight engineers from Kirtland AFB, N.M., Little Rock AFB, Ark. and Altus; 1A2 loadmasters from Altus and Little Rock; 1A6 flight attendants from Andrews AFB, Md., and 1A7 aerial gunners from Kirtland. "The bottom line is that all these airmen are meeting their program flying dates and hitting real-world missions quickly," Sergeant Ross said. "The field units are happy they're getting well-trained students. We've had calls from students who've only been gone eight or nine months, who've already been to 40 countries."