Fighting New Battles - Arkansas National Guard

The Arkansas Minutemanstructors with lots of flying time, he said, “the Air Force gainsa much more competent and knowledgeable instructor whenthey leave us” and return to flying.Moore came to the school from the 62nd Airlift Squadronhere on base, where he taught loadmaster initial- and missionqualificationcourses. He also worked in the unit’s standardizationand evaluation section, which consists of an elite group ofaircrew members who ensure aircrew members stay current intheir qualifications by administering written tests and in-flightevaluations.With 3,500 hours in the air, he’s got tons of experiencedealing with C-130 cargo for the past 13 years. And he’s readyto pass that knowledge on to the Air Force’s future.“It’s a good day when you see the light bulb click [for thesenew Airmen],” Moore said.Many of his students are fresh out of basic training, butsome are older Airmen and NCOs who have retrained fromanother career field.“I love the continuity here,” he said. With his last unit, hemight see a different student every day. Now he has an entireclass for 23 academic days.Dickinson came from Hurlburt Field, Fla., where he flewon C-130 gunships for Air Force Special Operations Commandfor the past six years.With more than 800 combat hours in the C-130, and 1,800overall, he’s asked a lot of questions by students who are aboutto start their Air Force career in the Hercules.“This is my very first experience dealing with the Guard,”the 10-year veteran said. An experience he’s starting to enjoynow that he has time to go to college and finish his CommunityCollege of the Air Force degree.The reason both Airmen are here is because Sheppard AirForce Base, Texas, used to have a loadmaster school, but itclosed in 2002, sending C-141, C-5 and C-17 loadmaster trainingto Altus AFB, Okla., and C-130 loadmasters here. With aninflux of about 220 C-130 students looming, the school neededmore instructors. Air Force and ANG officials decided to addtwo active-duty instructors and one Guard instructor, doublingthe loadmaster staff at the school from three to six.The first two instructors in the program recently returned toactive-duty units after their three-year commitment was up.Moore and Dickinson are here on four-year tours and areadministratively assigned to the 314th Operations SupportSquadron, so that they have an active-duty commander, firstsergeant and a flight commander, but they report to work at theGuard’s Enlisted Aircrew Academics School.Loadmaster instructors have about nine students per classfrom the Air Force and its reserve components, the MarineCorps and occasionally an international student, the chief said.The school is also one of two schools that teach entry-levelflight engineer training.The 189th AW is one of five ANG units that train studentsfor AETC. In addition to the Enlisted Aircrew AcademicsSchool, the wing also teaches C-130 aircrew members tobecome instructors in their respective crew positions.Opposite Page: Rhode IslandAir National Guard MasterSgt. George Capron, a C-130loadmaster trainee, listens toTech. Sgt. Todd Dickinson,an active duty loadmasterinstructor who teaches at theArkansas Air National Guard’sEnlisted Aircrew AcademicSchool. All Air Force, ANGand Air Force Reserve C-130loadmasters attend the entrylevelschool before they graduateand move across base tothe active duty 314th AirliftWing for initial and missionqualification training.Left: Staff Sgt. Dane Moore, anactive-duty loadmaster instructor,teaches entry-level loadmastersabout C-130 weightand balance procedures.Summer 2006 Page 13