Advisers continue Colombia misson

  • Published
  • By Maj. Justin Allen
  • 571st Mobility Support Advisory Squadron
BOGOTA, Colombia --  The 571st Mobility Support Advisory Squadron deployed a six-person mobile training team of air advisers to conduct a three-week workshop with the Fuerza Aerea Colombiana as part of Air Mobility Command's Building Partner Capacity mission at Commando Aéreo de Transporte Militar, Bogota, Colombia, April 14 through Friday.

The mission of the squadron, based out of Travis supports the 12th Air Force's, Air Forces Southern, continued engagements in the U.S. Southern Command area of responsibility of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Thirteen Colombian air force maintainers participated in the workshop, learning the appropriate maintenance procedures for a variety of C-130 Hercules systems.

Tech. Sgt. Luis Sanchez, 571st MSAS Colombia team sergeant and maintenance systems instructor, and Tech. Sgt. Mateo Escareno, 571st MSAS aircraft maintenance specialist and technical order professional, tag teamed the maintenance workshop for the Colombian air force. Sanchez conducted daily classes teaching hydraulics, electrics, engine repair, corrosion prevention, aircraft towing and jacking procedures for the C-130.

"Our goal is to build a bridge of friendship and alliance with the Colombian air force, one that will support the exchange of knowledge and ideas for many years," Sanchez said. "Building international partnerships (is MSAS) main objective. We do that by sharing (the Air Force's) long-standing technical experience and education."

The second half of the maintenance workshop encompassed safety practices and techniques as well as common system faults and troubleshooting procedures. Knowledge and safety are key building blocks to strengthen and improve the Colombian air force in maintaining its fleet.

While Sanchez was in the spotlight teaching, Escerano was behind the scenes helping to improve the CATAM technical order shop. TOs are the maintenance operational manuals that direct how to maintain and operate all the mechanical equipment on the base. The TO library ranges from how to replace specific aircraft parts to maintaining the mechanical systems and the tools required to repair broken aircraft.

At the tactical level, Escerano worked directly with CATAM on the procurement, organization and distribution of TO and how to improve the ordering, tracking and receiving processes. At the strategic level, Escerano labored diligently to improve lines of communication between the Colombian military group, National Administrative Center, Lockheed Martin and CATAM in the TO process.

Education is only one aspect of the 571st MSAS. The 571st MSAS functions as an outside consultant to discover and assess areas of improvement for a host nation. The findings unearthed during previous engagements lead to the educational topics and classes that are taught for the next engagements.

"Advising is an art, a cyclical process of teaching and evaluating that allows us to create a positive foundation of learning and experience that expands and grows every time we deploy," said Maj. Gary Symon, 571st MSAS Colombia mission commander.

The MSAS motto is "Saber es poder," which translates as "Knowledge is power." For the 571st MSAS, knowledge is the starting point to building a successful organization.