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AFSEC trains students from 89 nations

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  • By Argen Duncan
  • Kirtland AFB Nucleus
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Twenty-two people from 15 nations have been learning at Kirtland Air Force Base how to make aviation safer and figure out what went wrong in aircraft mishaps.

The Air Force Security Assistance Training (AFSAT) Program International Flight Safety Officer Course, run by the Air Force Safety Center (AFSEC), gives flight safety officers from 89 allied countries an overview of programs to make military aircraft use safer. Nations seeking to send personnel to the course obtain quotas through an AFSAT process.

The course takes place twice a year and serves up to 30 students at a time, said Aviation Safety Instructor Scott Mansfield.

"When they go home, they're going to be able to go to a mishap scene, analyze it and make recommendations so it doesn't happen again," he said.

The course began in 1989 at now-closed Norton Air Force Base, California, and moved to Kirtland with AFSEC in 1993.

Mansfield said the United States has some of the world's best-trained mishap investigators. Some allies don't have resources to train personnel in flight safety and investigation, so they seek outside courses.

The International Flight Safety Officer Course covers investigative techniques, material factors, human factors and management of flight-safety programs.

Students work at the AFSEC Crash Laboratory, where mishaps are simulated so they can get hands-on investigation practice, as well as touring base aircraft, parts-inspection labs, local aviation companies and more. Guest speakers also address the class.

Lt. Col. Vijay Kumar, a wing commander with the India Air Force, and Maj. Taishi Uchiyama, of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, are finishing their seventh week of the course. Both were chosen by commanders to attend.

"The amount of the experience which instructors share in the class is really educational and enriching," Kumar said.

The hands-on instruction to teach procedures is helpful, and in-class discussion is fruitful, he added.

"It will surely increase our awareness and consciousness of flight safety," Kumar said.

He said the training would help make flights safer in his country.

Uchiyama said he took the class to improve his nation's aviation safety.

"I think the highlight of this course is to learn know-how directly from the United States Air Force, who has a great deal of knowledge about mishap investigation, and to master the methods of mishap investigation skill in the Crash Laboratory, which is a simulated crash site," Uchiyama said.

He called the Air Force Safety Automated System, which keeps track of mishap data, remarkable and said it was worth trying to achieve that level of flight safety technology.

Kumar said the United States manages a large flight program, with planes in the air in various places and different conditions at all times. The course lets him see how the situation is managed here and how to improve the flight record in India, which has a similar situation, he added.

Both men said it's important that all personnel participate in flight safety programs and they'd learned techniques to accomplish that involvement.

Mansfield said the course helps maintain relationships with allies, as well as allow information exchange to help the U.S. and other countries improve flight safety programs.

AFSEC appoints an international military student officer who ensures every flight safety student has a sponsor, lodging is arranged, students continue to get paid, and the group travels to points of interest around the area through the Field Studies Program. The students went to Santa Fe, Acoma Pueblo and the Grand Canyon as a group.

Kumar and Uchiyama also explored the Albuquerque area.

Both said they enjoyed learning about American culture and forming relationships with students from different countries.

Some students live on base during the course, while others live off base.

Since students on base had the same living quarters and kitchen, Uchiyama said, they shared their native food and table manners. He said people are basically the same across cultures.

Kumar said he appreciated the hospitality and professionalism in America. He and Uchiyama agreed they liked both red and green chile.