The 78th Operations Support Squadron bids farewell to the Robins Air Force Base Follow-On Skills Training program’s final class of airfield operations officers during a graduation ceremony at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, Dec. 3, 2025.
During the program, the officers spent the last 12 to 15 months mastering the fundamentals of airfield management, air traffic control, RADAR Airfield and Weather Systems, and airfield operations career fields.
Three months of the training included hands-on instruction in ATC at the Robins AFB tower, where trainees controlled live traffic – primarily C-130, C-17 and F-15 aircraft – and earned two Federal Aviation Administration ATC certifications.
“To become fully qualified, each student successfully completed a final capstone event, applying their knowledge to a simulated major incident at their gaining locations, and briefed a board of subject matter experts across several Air Force Specialty Codes,” said Lt. Col. Keith Lefevre, 78th OSS commander. “At their next bases, the new officers will arrive on station with a strong knowledge base of their airfield, ready to support the wing’s mission.”
The program started at Robins AFB in January 2021 and had a total of 31 graduates. The final three graduates, 2nd Lts. Keeley Dolan, Jeffrey Leemon and Jared Searles, all airfield operations officers, will begin their operational careers at their follow-on bases.
“The greatest thing we all had was the other students,” Searles said. “Not only to bounce ideas around, but to also stay connected. When we leave for ‘bigger and better’ assignments with more responsibilities, it's thanks to our time at Robins that we were able to become useful, well-rounded airfield operations officers.”
Robins was one of five Air Force Materiel Command bases that conducted the training program. The program received an overhaul this year, cutting the current structure of AFMC training hubs. The U.S. Air Force decided to reduce costs by sending new accessions directly to their operational bases to receive upgrade training, instead of sending them to a training location for about a year and a half.