New detachment making strides on GFAFB

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Derek VanHorn
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  The 319th Air Base Wing here has welcomed a new detachment to the base in support of Global Hawk missions and operations executed out of Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D.

Detachment 27 - assigned to the 372nd Training Squadron on Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas - first planted its flag here in late August this year and has steadily been growing since.

"What we teach here is advanced courses for Airmen to achieve their five- and seven-level requirements on the RQ-4 Global Hawk," said Master Sgt. Donald King, Detachment 27 chief.

"For Global Hawk maintenance, and in like any career field, you have five- and seven-level upgrade training required to advance and be qualified in your job," he said. "What we do here specifically is train advanced troubleshooting and maintenance skills for required courses."

The arrival of Det. 27 on Grand Forks adds to the diversity of organizations hosted here, as the 69th Reconnaissance Group - assigned to Beale AFB, Calif. - directly supports the detachment through resource supply, while both organizations are hosted by the 319th ABW.

"We use the 69th RG's aircraft to train; what we do is provide the instruction," said King, adding that all classes are curriculum based and Community College of the Air Force accredited. "Our classes here become more advanced than basic hands-on training and move into theory of operation. We break it down to the nuts and bolts, the current mission, what drives it, what affects it and what happens down the road pertaining to the aircraft."

Staff Sgt. John Signorelli, a visiting RQ-4 Global Hawk instructor with the 372nd TRS, said the average course takes a student about three weeks to complete. He said there are many systems and subsystems involved with the Global Hawk and that the teaching can range from classroom instruction to balancing fuel throughout the aircraft.

King currently oversees the progress and qualification of three instructors, with intentions to have five fully certified instructors in place when the detachment is projected to be fully stood up next April.

King said he looks forward to building rapport with the base populace and would like everyone to know what he and his co-working Airmen can do for the base moving forward.