Spotlight!
Yokota stands up local ABDR Course
By
374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs March 26, 2024
Staff Sgt. Spencer Tobler
374th Airlift Wing Public Affairs March 26, 2024
U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. David Miller, 373rd Training Squadron Detachment 15 operations flight chief, talks about a simulated combat scenario for an Aircraft Battle Damage Repair course at Yokota Air Base, Japan, March 18. Members who attend the one-day course become qualified Aircraft Battle Damage Evaluators, responsible for coordinating maintenance efforts during a battle damage event and assisting in the rapid repair of aircraft in austere conditions. (Staff Sgt. Spencer Tobler, U.S. Air Force)
YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- The 373rd Training Squadron Detachment 15 held its first Aircraft Battle Damage Repair course at Yokota Air Base, Japan, March 18.
ABDR’s primary goal is to restore structural integrity and systems serviceability to damaged aircraft, allowing continued combat operations during ongoing battle. The one-day course is designed to teach qualified maintenance professionals what to do in the event members have to sustain air forces beyond normal peacetime criteria.
“Any aircraft maintenance Air Force Specialty Code can attend this course, provided they have at least their 7-level,” said Master Sgt. David Miller, 373rd TRS Det. 15 operations flight chief. “This course is meant to distribute qualifications into our local maintenance units to bolster us up for wartime scenarios.”
Members who attend the course become qualified Aircraft Battle Damage Evaluators, responsible for coordinating maintenance efforts during a battle damage event and assisting in the rapid repair of aircraft in austere conditions.
“This is a way for combatant commands to maintain their resources with temporary repairs that have been approved by engineers,” said Miller. “This knowledge is something great to have in the toolbox of maintenance units across the Indo-Pacific.”
The course familiarizes students with Technical Order 1-1H-39, an order that is called to action when expedited aircraft repairs are needed for urgent situations. This order allows maintainers to perform temporary repairs during a contingency mission.
“We inform the students of their responsibilities as an evaluator and how the ABDR program is utilized at the Air Force level,” said Miller. “Having members familiar with this program will prove to be a real difference maker given a real-world wartime scenario.”
The 373rd TRS Det. 15 routinely provides advanced training for maintainers throughout the Indo-Pacific Region to keep aircraft mission-ready.