On the west end of Hill Air Force Base, wedged in between the contracting building and the Poe Conference Center, is the home of the 367th Training Support Squadron. This unique squadron has served the training needs for Air Combat Command and Air Mobility Command aircraft and munitions maintenance continuation training for over two decades and is leading the way in future Air Force and Department of Defense training initiatives.
The 367th TRSS began in 1986 as the 4400 Maintenance Training Flight -- an organization assigned to Tactical Air Command Logistics at Hill AFB. Originally, the squadron was co-located with Detachment 8 of the 1365 Audio Visual Squadron. Throughout its 24 year history the 367th TRSS was reorganized several times; ultimately, it aligned under the 782nd Training Group at Sheppard AFB, Texas. Most recently in October 2009, the squadron's Media Production Flight was reorganized as the 2nd Combat Camera Squadron and the remaining Interactive Multimedia Instruction flight retained the designation of the 367th TRSS.
In 1986, the 367th TRSS was designing, developing and distributing videodisk training -- high-tech for its time. At the turn of the century, technology enabled producing interactive training cheaper and quicker on CD-ROM and spelled the end for videodisks. Just a few years later, technology again caught up with the Air Force; the 367th TRSS responded by providing training over the Internet. Currently, all training products are available from Aeronautical Data Link System (ADLS) -- specifically the A4MXTNG derivative site accessible via the ADLS gateway.
The 367th TRSS boasts many unique aspects; first and foremost are its personnel. The squadron is comprised of 20 different Air Force specialty codes -- the majority of which are 2AXXX and 2WXXX. This aspect is critical to the success of its products and the accompanying analyses. As flightline maintainers themselves, the 367th TRSS personnel know just how precious time is for their target audience. They aim to keep training specific and focused on what is needed and to eliminate the fluff. What most don't know is that a large majority of training requests never make it to development because of a process called Performance Analysis (PA).
One of the most important things the 367th TRSS accomplishes is during pre-courseware development -- conducting a PA. During a PA, the 367th TRSS analysts take an impartial third-party look and break down a reported perceived performance deficiency into its root causes: environment (policies/procedures, capacity, feedback and tools/equipment), knowledge and skill (understanding and ability), incentive (rewards for good performance or consequences of poor performance), and motivation (value and expectancy) factors. Almost 60 percent of the time, environmental issues are responsible for the performance deficiency. The motivational factors account for about 10 percent and incentive for 5 percent. The remaining 25 percent rests with knowledge and skill issues. Once the analysis is complete, the 367th TRSS compiles all findings into a report that is provided to the major command functional manager; recommendations are also provided for each identified finding.
If an electronic training product is needed, the 367th TRSS engages and custom builds the training in-house. Instructional designers target the training needed following the Air Force's instructional systems design model. Once the training blueprints are developed, graphic artists and Flash programmers develop 3D and 2D graphics and animations. The resulting product is then packaged and deployed via ADLS or other means as specifically identified during analysis.
In addition to performing PAs and meeting the aircraft and munitions training needs for ACC/AMC, the 367th TRSS is currently in the preliminary stages of developing a game-style training prototype for aircraft/munitions maintainers. The innovations significantly contribute to Team Hill and will lead the way in maintenance training for years to come. If your organization could benefit from a PA or is interested in 367th TRSS products, visit the 367th TRSS website (https://367trss.hill.af.mil) or stop by -- they're closer than you think!
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