Engineering students visitng the 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at RAF Mildenhall.
In February, some of our Engineering students were recently granted the unique opportunity to visit the 100th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at RAF Mildenhall.
The budding engineers visited the 100th AMXS to learn about different maintenance practices used by the squadron. The idea to connect the group to the base came from Gary Jefferson who said: “I’m fortunate enough to be an honorary commander for the maintenance division of the Bloody Hundredth and I am thrilled that we managed to arrange for the students to get on site.”
Gary continued, “These are engineering students studying a broad-based engineering qualification largely centred on maintenance. To get an understanding of aircraft maintenance for them is a fantastic experience.”
The students saw a KC-135 static display, toured the fabrication flight and participated in a question and answer session with senior enlisted maintenance and logistics Airmen.
2nd Lt. Yelizaveta Patenko, 100th AMXS Assistant Aircraft Maintenance Unit Officer in charge said: “It’s very beneficial for the younger folks in the local community to see what we do here. It gets them excited about what they’re doing and allows them to see how what they are learning can be applied on an operational basis.”
Observing real world applications of principles taught in the classroom allowed the students to gain a new perspective on their coursework.
Gary added: “Many of our students are interested in aircraft maintenance as a long-term career, mainly in the civilian sector. We teach them in classrooms and small workshops and they get to see video clips; but there’s no substitute for actually walking a vehicle, hearing the experts talk about it and understanding exactly what is required to keep it airborne. For them to see an operational base where the maintenance is of the highest quality, that’s what makes the difference to them.”