Altus Air Force Base News

 

Airplanes, crash dummies and baseballs

  • Published
  • By MSgt Matt Thompson
  • 97th Training Squadron
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  On a trip sponsored by the Red River chapter of the Airlift and Tanker Association and the Altus Military Affairs Committee, members of the 97th Air Mobility Wing from Altus Air Force Base were given the opportunity to tour the Mike Monroney Aeronautical Center in Oklahoma City.

Tucked away in a corner of Will Rodgers Airport, the center is one of the Department of Transportation's largest facilities outside Washington D.C., and is home to various branches of the Federal Aviation Administration and the Air Force Flight Standards Agency. Club members and 97th AMW personnel, whose professions included aircrew, aerial port, aircrew flight equipment, avionics technicians, civil engineers, and air traffic controllers, were excited to learn more about their civilian partners in the aviation community.

The tour featured the Transportation Safety Institute's Accident Investigation Bone-yard, Flight Inspection Services Flight Inspection Operation Group, and the Civil Aerospace Medical Institute. The trip offered each attendee the opportunity to network, while learning how the FAA and AFFSA support worldwide air mobility.

Some highlights of the tour included: a demonstration of the civilian physiological trainers, a tour of the aircraft assigned to the Flight Inspection Service, and a briefing about the crash test research facility that tested the C-17A Loadmaster Chair. After the tour, the group headed to the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark for an evening of fellowship and Oklahoma City Redhawks baseball.

The Airlift Tanker Association is a non-profit professional organization dedicated to the continuous improvement of air mobility forces. International in scope, the A/TA has chapters and members around the world. Members include active-duty, guard, reserve and retired military personnel, and civilian and industry supporters of the air mobility mission.