Air Mobility Command has started a new course at Travis AFB, Calif., which should produce more airmen able to perform basic maintenance on the service’s KC-10 aerial refueling aircraft operating in the Pacific region. The first six airmen—from Hickam AFB, Hawaii, and Kadena AB, Japan—began the 30-day course last week at Travis. After they graduate, they will be the first in-theater maintainers trained to recover the aircraft and handle 79 routine maintenance tasks. Previously, KC-10 flying crew chiefs had to handle all such work and that meant lost man-hours and scheduling inefficiency.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…