To help maintainers learn the new avionics modernization program upgrades on the C-5 Galaxy aircraft they will be fixing, Air Mobility Command and Air Education and Training Command commissioned a special simulator to train them. Called the Combined Avionics Systems Trainer, the simulator provides hands-on experience trouble-shooting a problem, eliminating the need to train on real airplanes. MSgt. Mark Ruehr, C-5 trainer development team chief, said: “The problem with working on an actual aircraft is the inability to break something so students can learn how to fix it. We can’t cut a wire on a plane just for training purposes.” CAST supports both AMP and pre-AMP systems and should be available for current maintainers this month and for technical school students by November.
Matthew Lohmeier, who was fired from a Space Force squadron command just two years ago, took another step in his unlikely journey to the Department of the Air Force's No. 2 job May 1, testifying before the Senate Armed Services Committee that his background as an Air Force F-15C pilot…