Failure Analysis and Prevention for the Air Logistics Center Engineer: CAStLE Course Development Summary

摘要

United States Air Force (USAF) Air Logistics Center (ALC) engineers are assigned to support the maintenance of operational aircraft fleets. As a result, they need to be well trained in specialized engineering topics related to that mission. Not the least of these topics are those of structural failure analysis and designing structure to prevent failure. While many commercially available short courses may appear to address these topics by their title, none have been found that target the specific needs of the ALC engineer. Furthermore, few such courses have instructors with first-hand knowledge of the duty requirements of and challenges faced by ALC engineers. These shortcomings not withstanding, sending ALC engineers to a vendor site for a week-long short course presents further challenges. Supporting the USAF aircraft fleet, while minimizing the impact to operations, requires quick response to all engineering issues. Having ALC engineers off-site and away from their duties, for even a week, adds an unnecessary schedule burden to that support process. While some commercial vendors will provide on-site training, this option is not without an additional cost burden over and above the already high short course cost.