At first glance, the 15E Unmanned Aircraft Systems Maintainer Advanced and Senior Leadership Course at the U.S. Army Aviation Center of Excellence Noncommissioned Officer Academy looks and feels like a well-oiled Army training machine honed over the years by experienced Soldiers.
And that glance proves true, except for the “honed over the years” part. In truth, the 15 students now at about the midway point are the first Soldiers to experience the course that will take them to the leadership levels of UAS maintenance, and the road to creating this initial class was a hectic six-month journey on a barren and bumpy road at over 100 mph, said Sergeant-Major Richard A. Mitchell, Commandant of the Academy.
While members of the cadre at the academy knew they needed to create the course to start teaching students in fiscal year 2013, they were caught by surprise when needs in the field to support full-spectrum Combat Aviation Brigades suddenly accelerated that timeline to six months to create the course from scratch, the commandant added.
“When we got the mission to make this happen a year early, it hit really, really hard,” he said. “My goal for the first class was to have 75-80 percent product, and I think we have a 90 percent product. None of this could’ve taken place without help from G3, Project Manger’s Office-UAS, the people at Fort Huachuca (Ariz.), the U.S. Army Aviation Logistics School — they all came together as a focal group, and put all the pieces and parts together to make this happen.
And they did it while other classes were going and normal duties had to be accomplished, Herzog said, adding that the academy had yet to get a 15E subject matter expert on board, so that was the first request that was sent out.
Then Herzog and Mauro went out to Huachuca to talk with the 10-level course trainers, and after two visits and a lot of brainstorming, teleconferencing and emails to get an initial idea of what needed to be taught in the course.
Once Gentry, Hauser and Marzan were on board as the subject matter experts, the coursework development took off in earnest, with the 10-level starting point.
“We created something bigger, better, more challenging,” Gentry said. “We want the student to at times think outside the box. This is still a relatively new career field and there are a lot of civilian corporations involved, but eventually the Soldier will be in charge of everything as far as maintenance. And Soldiers need to start thinking outside of the box because that day is coming rapidly.
One of those students, Staff Sgt. Joseph Guerrero from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, gives two thumbs up for the cadre’s efforts. “Overall this is an awesome experience and I’m glad I was offered the opportunity to get into this field,” said the former armament and electrician and avionics maintainer on the OH-58 Kiowa who’s been in UAS maintenance since 2008. “Coming to the NCOA and being part of the first 15E course, I feel privileged to be able to provide input that will benefit these classes for those who follow us.
The class graduates March 2 at 10:30 a.m. at the U.S. Army Aviation Museum, Mitchell said, and it is something that the students, of course, look forward to.
Source: UAS Army Press Release