Page 5 - Desert Lightning News So. AZ Edition, July 6 2018
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Desert Lightning News                                           July 2018                                                       5

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D-M, others teach aircraft recovery toFacebook.com/DesertLightningNews Chilean AF partners

             Story and photo by Staff Sgt.                      aircraft technical orders are the same as the U.S. Air Force.   U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Charles Biddulph, 21st
                                                                   “The course being in English actually helped me,” said       Space Wing Mobile Training Team member, instructs
                        ANGELA RUIZ                                                                                             Chilean airmen on connecting a snatch cable to
                                                                Airman Gonzalo Payacan, 5th Air Brigade Maintenance             an aircraft landing gear D-ring June 4 during crash
                                                12th Air Force  Group F-16 Fighting Falcon crew chief of the Chilean air        damaged disabled aircraft recovery at Cerro Moreno
                                                                force. “All of the technical orders of my specialty are writ-   Air Base in Antofagasta, Chile. The MTT traveled to
   ANTOFAGASTA, Chile — Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces           ten in English. The course helps me prepare when needed.”       Iquique, Chile, and then to Antofagasta, Chile. The
Southern) sent a mobile training team to Chile to conduct                                                                       MTT certified 35 Chilean airmen on CDDAR at both
training with the Chilean Air Force on Crash Damaged               Throughout the training course, the Chilean airmen were      locations.
Disabled Aircraft Recovery, May 13 to June 8, 2018.             given classroom instruction covering an aircraft recovery
                                                                plan, personnel protective equipment, and CDDAR opera-          Chilean airmen.
   The CDDAR Mobile Training Team consisted of four sea-        tion followed by hands on training.                                “Thank you for your time and your patience and for giving
soned crew chiefs who have experienced being an aircraft
crash team chief.The crew chiefs hailed from Davis-Monthan         Chilean airmen demonstrated their knowledge by re-           us the instruction, life experiences and your knowledge,”
Air Force Base; Hill AFB, Utah; and Peterson AFB, Colorado.     sponding to a simulated damaged disabled F-16 Fighting          Zepeda said. “The instructors did everything in their power
                                                                Falcon and connecting a crane to simulate lifting the aircraft  to make the course the best.”
   The team traveled from the U.S. to the 3rd Aviation Group    for the final objective of the course.
at Los Condores Air Force Base in Iquique, Chile and then
to the 5th Air Brigade Maintenance Group at Cerro Moreno           “To physically see the aircraft lift procedures was a great
Air Base in Antofagasta, Chile.                                 experience,” Paycan said. “I’m grateful to have experienced
                                                                it.”
   “I view the MTTs as a key tool in our security cooperation
apparatus,” said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Hector Gonzalez,          Thirty-five Chilean airmen graduated the CDDAR course
embassy Santiago, Chile, theater security cooperation Air       from both locations. The Chilean airmen hailed from F-16
Force section chief.                                            maintenance career fields to include crew chiefs, jet engine
                                                                mechanics, sheet metal technicians, avionics mechanics,
   Gonzalez explained that the MTTs are requested and           safety NCOs, egress technicians, nondestruction inspection
funded by the Chilean air force. “By us being able to provide   technicians, aircrew flight equipment technicians, mainte-
assistance in an area that they feel a need to improve, we’re   nance officers and quality assurance inspectors.
building that partnership, that relationship.”
                                                                   “It’s very important we interact with different aircraft
   U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Michael Powell, 388th Aircraft    specialties when we need to pick up an aircraft,” said Chil-
Maintenance Squadron mobile training team member,               ean air force Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Zepeda, 5th Air Brigade
explained that the MTT taught the basic principles of how       Maintenance Group F-16 Fighting Falcon crew chief. “They
to preserve the area surrounding an aircraft mishap for an      will have different viewpoints and they are going to be the
investigation and recover a damaged or disabled aircraft.       ones lifting the aircraft.”

   The two-week CDDAR course was instructed in English,            Upon completing the final objective, U.S. and Chilean
the same as the U.S. Air Force CDDAR course. This was an        airmen conducted a team debrief over what went well and
opportunity for the Chilean Airmen to practice speaking in      what could be improved. The following day the U.S. Airmen
English as they already often read in English, since their      held a graduation ceremony for the newly CDDAR certified

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