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ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. – The 97th Air Mobility Wing trains around 2,100 pilots, boom operators and loadmasters annually from the United States and 16 partnering countries.
There is one unit in particular that has a hand in training all three. The 730th Air Mobility Training Squadron, an Air Force Reserve unit, plays a big part in aiding the 97th AMW’s mission of “Forging Combat Mobility Force and Deploying Airmen Warriors.”
“Our mission is to provide the mobility Air Forces with the best trained students and to train future formal training unit instructors,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Sean Cain, 730th KC-135 Stratotanker refueling aircraft flight chief. “We directly contribute to the wing’s mission in forging tomorrow’s warriors by training students and providing them to the mobility Air Force.”
Members of the 730th are integrated into the 58th Airlift Squadron and the 54th Air Refueling Squadron. The 58th trains U.S. Air Force C-17 Globemaster III cargo aircraft aircrew members while the 54th focuses on KC-135 aircrew. They also work with the 97th Training Squadron administration for students.
“The 730th provide a great service to the 54th. They augment the active duty instructor force with fully qualified formal training unit instructor pilots and boom operators. They also assist with the daily functions involved in running a flying squadron,” said U.S. Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Sean Rix, 54th superintendent. “Without them there would be a loss of personnel and years of flying experience.”
U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. John Wahrmund, 58th director of operations, agrees that without the 730th maintaining the mission may be more difficult.
“The 58th and 730th work together every day. If you come over to our building, you will see a mix of red (58th) and blue (730th) patches. We live in the same building and work side by side. When you go outside and see the airplanes flying, chances are good a 730th crew member is aboard that aircraft, either as an instructor pilot or loadmaster,” said Wahrmund. “We may technically be different squadrons but we are all C-17 instructors.”
While both the 58th and 54th train a certain number of students each the 730th help train most if not all of the students due to the assistance they provide to the squadrons.
“We train every student that leaves here, whether it’s a load, boom or a pilot going through initial qualification or future instructors,” said Cain.
The 730th AMTS help maintain a consistency in training knowledge to provide students.
“When people move to a new base they take a large sum of knowledge with them and our role here helps to prevent that. The reserve’s component here is built to last and built to be the continuity,” said Cain. “It creates a more sufficient Air Force because we keep that knowledge here and we teach the next group of people so we’re consistently giving that information and allowing them to improve the processes instead of reinventing them. Most of the reservists are not from here but we found a home and we’re going to be here for a very long time to provide that continuity and help sustain a good training regimen.”
Without the 730th aiding the 97th AMW, the mission can possibly begin to decline.
"I don't even want to think about that. We would suffer because we would lose the ability keep our student production at the same rate. It is simple math. Fewer instructors equal fewer students," said Wahrmund. "We couldn't do our job without the 730th. We know them well, we work next to them, we live next to them, we fly with them and they’re part of the C-17 family here at Altus AFB."
| Date Taken: | 03.06.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.06.2015 16:05 |
| Story ID: | 156242 |
| Location: | ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, OK, US |
| Web Views: | 187 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 730th AMTS help maintain mission continuity, by TSgt Franklin Ramos, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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