SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- About 750 Airmen graduate from Sheppard's F-16 Aircraft Maintenance Apprentice Course annually. Sure, there are courses that graduate more students.

But in the aircraft maintenance world, Sheppard is home to possibly the most important class new maintainers will ever take. This introduction to aircraft maintenance course provides Airmen with the basic foundation that will go with them far beyond the classroom here.

Tech. Sgt. Chad Everett, 362nd Training Squadron F-16 mission readiness Airmen instructor, said the students train on every part of the jet including the hydraulic systems, landing gear, engines, electrical systems and fuel systems.

"Each block of instruction builds upon the previous blocks," Sergeant Everett said. "There are two blocks for fundamentals where they learn about screw drivers, safety wiring and [personal protection equipment]. Then there are six more blocks where we lecture and take students to the floor so they can see and [associate] the words to the equipment."

Tech. Sgt. Ricky English, 362nd TRS F-16 crew chief instructor, said Airmen are trusted with very expensive government equipment. He said the average cost of the equipment that trainees work with is more than $23 million. The average age of a trainee is between 18 and 20 years old, he said.

"I had one student turn 18 in my class before," the sergeant said.

The course also trains guardsmen and foreign nationals, English said.

The F-16 Aircraft Maintenance Apprentice Course at Sheppard has 34 instructors that take the Airmen through 58 academic days of study. By the time the Airmen graduate, they will have accumulated 21 credits toward a Community College of the Air Force degree.

Everett said training students to become aircraft maintainers is very rewarding for instructors.

"To be able to take high school graduates and mold them into aircraft maintainers is really something," he said. "You can't do that with any person on the street. The instructors have to want to do it and the students have to want to learn.

"The instructors pass on their experience and knowledge to the students to help instill quality training and contribute to warfighting efforts."

Graduates from the course will leave Sheppard for follow-on courses at Luke AFB, Ariz.

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