MRM training helps increase mission effectiveness

  • Published
  • By Staff Reports
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Office
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Maintenance Resource Management training allows enlisted ranks to work alongside officers, and provides students the tools for effective communication when dealing with a situation where safety has been compromised.

"The main goal is to stop the chain of events that may lead to a mishap or incident, and gives (personnel) the tools to make it happen," said Staff Sgt. Goolsby, 100th Maintenance Operations Squadron maintenance training instructor.

"This training saves lives. Through the increased situational awareness gained in class, as well as ways to combat fatigue, communications problems and increase their overall communication skills, the students perform more efficiently, and the overall safety of their job will increase," said Sergeant Goolsby.

Open to all 100th Maintenance Group personnel, classes are held between two and three times a month and each class is eight hours long, and divided into training from slides, and a practical session. Students are scheduled for training by their training manager.

The PowerPoint presentation covers task management, which includes planning and preparation for tasks, the importance of documentation, how to properly convey your message, all aspects of communication, and the importance of "What if?" planning, according to Sergeant Goolsby.

He said the practical portion of the class involves breaking into small groups (each group has different Air Force Specialty Codes and ranks) and applying the skills learned in a real aircraft mishap report.

"The groups read the report, break down where the problems occurred and put together what they perceive to be the chain of events that led up to the crash," he said. "The message we try and get across is that each group will highlight different events that happened in the report. This involves communication between the group members, because they have to work together to solve the (reason behind the) crash.

The maintenance training instructor said the practical part of the class is very important, as items on the mishap report are all activities in which maintenance personnel are involved with on a daily basis. "It puts a touch of reality into the training," he said.
Student discussion is encouraged throughout the class, and participants get to share personal stories of mishaps.

"This increases their situational awareness, and gives them the reassurance that no one is perfect, no matter what the rank or skill level," said Sergeant Goolsby.

Staff Sgt. Stephanie Smith attended one of the first training classes, and said she found it very useful.

"I think it's about time we're putting actions and training into order to change the mindset of maintainers in the Air Force," she said. "This class allows the younger Airmen to not fear challenging actions they believe to be unsafe, while at the same time offering the experienced technicians the freedom and knowledge base to view situations as a whole."

Sergeant Smith said "attention to detail" has been ingrained into the maintainer mindset since day one, and she felt the class helped to reiterate that point in a big way. 

"It also opens the eyes of those who feel the small things done do not contribute to the mission, when in fact they affect it in a big way," she said. "The Domino Effect that occurs can sometimes be detrimental to the mission.

This class teaches you how to identify problems and take a 'time out'/'knock it off' to repair, or even avoid, dangerous situations before they occur," she added. "This ensures the success of the mission and safety of our Airmen, which in my eyes is win-win for everyone."