Corps of Engineers completes F-22 facility

  • Published
  • By Curt Biberdorf
  • U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Alaska
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  An F-22 engine roar overhead was a reminder of the 372nd Training Squadron, Detachment 14, mission as the unit officially opened its new facility on the west side of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Sept. 26.

The $6.2 million project, managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers-Alaska District and constructed by Siku Construction LLC, will help ensure Airmen have a level of training befitting the fighter jet, officials said.

"The F-22, and I'm so happy that we're hearing the sounds of them flying today, without outstanding maintainers is a static display," said Air Force Col. Darren Hartford, 3rd Wing vice commander.

Hartford added that the facility provides top-level training to form those "world-class" maintainers to keep them flying.

Although the building looks basic, the project was complicated, said Larry McCallister, Alaska District's director of Program and Project Management.

The building's five fully-automated classrooms are capable of handling new digital training materials with graphics-intensive rather than word-oriented coursework.
Instructors who once used view foils and projectors have transitioned now to a modern audio-visual system and interactive electronic lecterns, said Barry Cossel, Boeing's F-22 training system manager.

Underpinning all of this capability is more than a mile of cable and 500 connections underneath the raised classroom floors.

"It's like going from an F-15 to an F-22. It's that same advance in technology," said Senior Master Sgt. David Nye, detachment chief. "The potential is endless as to what courses we can create and teach."

The detachment's 15 instructors can teach 34 of the 40 F-22 maintenance courses at the facility, which is the last in the nation to receive the upgrades, Cossel said.
Students will train on the same flightline system as used in the shop so they will not need to relearn it, he said.

"It's really well done to help them be better trained when they get out to the field," said Cossel. "All the training the students are receiving is probably the best in the military."
Besides the classrooms, two high-bay rooms contain an engine lab with a hoist, and seat and canopy trainer. The trainer will also serve as the fire department's place to practice emergency pilot extraction instead of an F-22.

Students learn how to tear down, build up and troubleshoot in the engine lab. It is set up the same way as the actual shop, unlike the former building, to create a realistic environment easy for students to grasp and remember, Nye said.

An equipment lab is used for advanced wire repair and a future fiber optics course, he said.

All the classrooms and three labs are networked to an internal server providing instructor curriculum as well as student training aids to create a more interactive environment, Nye said.

Other sections of the building are the communications room, instructor offices, storage room, student breakroom and an entryway with a flat-screen monitor for scrolling announcements.

The training building is one of the last F-22 projects the Corps of Engineers has managed the past several years. Most of them are at Fightertown East, but several of them are located on the west side, McAllister said.