IAAFA students learn about 433rd "Alamo Wing's" C-5 Galaxy maintenance mission

Second Lt. Mike Blakley, C-5A Galaxy pilot with the 68th Airlift Squadron, answers questions about the mammoth jet from students of the Inter-American Air Forces Academy who visited the "Alamo Wing" on March 7. The 68th AS is one of two flying squadrons that belong to the 433rd Operations Group of the 433rd Airlift Wing, a C-5A equipped, Air Force Reserve unit also located at JBSA-Lackland. (U.S. Air Force photo by Elsa Martinez)

IAAFA students learn about 433rd "Alamo Wing's" C-5 Galaxy maintenance mission

Staff Sgt. John Cavazos, aircrew flight equipment technician at the 433rd AW Survival Shop, demonstrates an inflatable life preserver to 21 students of the Inter-American Air Forces Academy who visited the wing's C-5A maintenance shops on March 7. Located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, IAAFA conducts international training in Spanish, forging ties with Latin American military, national police and other governmental agencies. (U.S. Air Force photo by Elsa Martinez)

IAAFA students learn about 433rd "Alamo Wing's" C-5 Galaxy maintenance mission

Tech. Sgt. James Gomez, an aircraft metals technician with the 433rd Airlift Wing's Metals Technology shop, displays a variety of C-5A Galaxy components manufactured by the shop as replacements for the 433rd AW C-5A Galaxy fleet. Twenty-one students from the Inter-American Air Forces Academy are enrolled in the Aircraft Maintenance Management course. Upon completion, students return to their respective countries to apply their instruction to their assigned aircraft fleet. (U.S. Air Force photo by Elsa Martinez)

IAAFA students learn about 433rd "Alamo Wing's" C-5 Galaxy maintenance mission

Airman 1st Class Alfred Hoefer, sheet metals mechanic for the 433rd Airlift Wing's Structural Repair shop, demonstrates a length of metal tubing with the shop's metals-tubing bender machine. Demonstration was done for 21 visiting students from the Inter-American Air Forces Academy, located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. These IAAFA students are enrolled in the school's ten-week Aircraft Maintenance Management course. (U.S. Air photo by Elsa Martinez)

IAAFA students learn about 433rd "Alamo Wing's" C-5 Galaxy maintenance mission

Published March 8, 2013
By Elsa Martinez
433 AW

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-Lackland -- Twenty-one students from the Inter-American Air Forces Academy visited the 433rd Airlift Wing March 7 to learn about the maintenance mission and how the "Alamo Wing's" maintainers keep their inventory of 16 titanic C-5A Galaxies in fine flying fettle.

These IAAFA students, who hail from Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Chile, are maintenance officers and superintendents from their countries' respective armed forces. They participate in IAAFA's 10-week course in aircraft maintenance management before returning home to apply their instruction to their assigned aircraft fleet.

Mateo Gonzalez and Master Sgt. Kelvin Diaz, both IAAFA instructors, accompanied students on the tour of the wing's Propulsion Branch, Survival, Metals Technology, and Structural Repair shops. The tour continues a 20-year tradition of IAAFA students visiting the 433rd AW to learn about C-5A maintenance. "These tours are very instructive and valuable to our students, and we hope to continue visiting the wing," said Gonzalez.

Since 1942, IAAFA, which is located at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, has conducted international training in the Spanish language, forging ties with Latin American military, national police and governmental agencies. The school continues to remove language and cultural barriers by building partnerships between the U.S. and countries in the North and South American continents, Central America and the Caribbean region.