Texas Wing ambassadors to the Americas Published July 9, 2015 By Tech. Sgt. Carlos J. Trevino 433 AW Public Affairs Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland -- Close to fifty students and their instructors from the Inter-American Air Forces Academy visited the 433rd Airlift Wing on July 8 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas to learn about the C-5A Galaxy, and how the Reservists maintainers keep their aircraft in the fight. The IAAFA students are military personnel from the Americas, who are maintenance officers and superintendents that come to States to participate in the Academy's 10-week course in aircraft maintenance management. According to the IAAFA website, one of the main points of the Academy is "Building partnerships for tomorrow." "I like to share the experience and see their excitement about a different type of airplane than what these gentlemen fly," Lt. Col. Kari L. Hill, a pilot with the 68th Airlift Squadron, said. " I found it interesting that although there are language barriers, we all could communicate about aviation with the same terminology and share the differences and similarities of our airframes," Hill said. IAAFA's mission is "Fostering enduring Inter-American engagement through education and training," its website says. "They are very impressed with the C-5A Galaxy because it has more capabilities than the aircraft they have, "said Tech Sgt. Sergio Estrada, a PT-6 and J-85 engine instructor at IAAFA."This tour shows the unity between the countries in building partnerships," said Estrada, who was formerly an engine mechanic on the A-10 Warthog. "I'm a pilot, it was better to be on the flight line than in the classroom," Lt. Col. Mao Gomez, a A-29B Super Tucano pilot with the Dominican Air Force, said referring to the C-5A Galaxy. "This airplane is huge," he said when comparing the plane he flies to the C-5A Galaxy. His turboprop aircraft is a twin-seat multi-role, fixed wing aircraft that can provide the air-to-ground capability, aerial reconnaissance and support counterinsurgency operations. "It's nice that the maintainers can make the parts to fix the airplanes themselves rather than spending money buying spare parts from the aircraft manufacturer," he said about the maintenance shops. "This was a good experience," he said. "Hopefully, pilots and maintainers that come to the next class can get to see this tour," he said.