July 2024. Blues Vol 40 No.7

By Dan Knight, APSA

By Dan Knight, APSA Training Program Manager Nicknamed the "Bayou City", "Space City", "H-Town", and "the 713" -- Houston, Texas is known for many things that have put it on the world map such as its connection to space exploration, diverse food scene, sports teams, energy industry, medical research, museums and cultural institutions, and so much more. Houston, Texas is a special place for APSA, as it is the city where our association’s conferences & expositions began 53 years ago. Since then, Houston has a steep tradition of supporting APSCON, and we look forward to being able to show all our members what a great city it is. The George R. Brown Convention Center will be the location for APSCON 2024 and it is in the heart of downtown Houston surrounded by athletic stadiums, great dining establishments and many other activities. Did you know that the Houston Astros baseball team will be in town during the conference? This year, we are offering nine courses that we feel are the core traditions of APSA. During the first part of conference week, Monday, July 29 to 8 AIR BEAT MAGAZINE l Conference Preview l 2023 2024 112 The Blues - July ‘24

Wednesday, July 31, we will be offering the Aviation Safety Officer Course, Aviation Unit Manager Course, Fixed-Wing Operator Course, Tactical Flight Officer Course, and a new-and-improved Airborne Thermographer Certification & IR Tactics Course. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we will add to our courses the Flight Instructor Refresher Course as well as the Aviation Safety Management Systems Course. On Wednesday, the Inspection Authorization Renewal Course will be offered again for our awesome maintainers. New for this year, we are excited to offer the Coordinated Response to Sideshow Enforcement, a oneday course offered on Wednesday. This course demonstrates how to deter and prevent illegal sideshows, street racing and intersection takeovers. As we move through conference week, the exhibit floor opens Wednesday evening and attendees will get their first glimpse of the event floor and multitude of exhibitors that have brought something for everyone. Thursday is purposely kept light of educational classes and courses so that our attendees and exhibitors can spend time together on the floor. We do offer a small number of classes however, including Water Survival/Egress training presented by Survival Systems USA, Inc. It will start in one of our classrooms at the GRB Convention Center and then move to the pool at the Hilton Americas hotel. Thursday will include a general session led by the Federal Aviation Administration, a Safety Symposium led by our Safety Program Manager Cory DeArmitt with Dudley Crosson and Bryan Smith, as well as a Search and Rescue Roundtable exploring trends and concerns led by Charley Shimanski. Friday’s classes resume from 0830- 1700 and on Saturday 0800-1200. Since APSA encompasses many partners in the “public safety” sector, we strive to bring in classes that represent the gambit of members we have. This year, we will have classes focused on regulatory or legal issues, maintenance, search and rescue, natural resources, aerial firefighting, airborne law enforcement tactics, fixed-wing operations, drone operations, public aircraft operations, procuring military excess aircraft, aviation safety, unit management and survival stories. Most classes will run 60-90 minutes in length. The GRB Convention Center classroom layout on the 3rd Floor lends itself perfectly to this type of training and it allows the The Blues www.publicsafetyaviation.org - July ‘24 113 l 9