The 82nd 
Training Wing at Sheppard AFB, Tex., has acquired 13 F-15C/D fighters to train F-15 aircraft maintainers more realistically. The wing formerly used F-15A/B aircraft for its maintenance courses, but since F-15C/D aircraft are the variants currently seen on operational flightlines, it’s advantageous for the students to train on the newer models. “The older models don’t have all the pieces and parts that the newer models have in them,” explained TSgt. Gerry Sasser, F-15 aircraft maintenance instructor with Sheppard’s 362nd Training Squadron. The 362nd TRS will use eight of the F-15C/Ds to train crew chiefs. The 363rd TRS will have two to teach armament students. And the 365th TRS will use the remaining three for avionics training. The F-15C/Ds were acquired from Tyndall AFB, Fla., and then altered for safe training use. This included removing all their incendiary components. (Sheppard report by TSgt. Vernon Cunningham)
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…