A half-dozen Aviation Resource Managers from the 353rd Combat Training Squadron have been busy up at Eielson AFB, Alaska, managing the annual Cope Thunder exercise. The ARMs are the specialists that coordinate and schedule the air-refueling, bombing, airlift, rescue, and fighter missions that are the core of the annual PACAF exercise, which just wrapped up. Lt. Col. Russell Quinn, the 22nd Fighter Squadron commander, noted that not many enlisted airmen have such an impact on the flight operations as the “one chucks” (the nickname for their career designation, 1COX2). “They make sure we make our schedules,” Quinn said.
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.