USAFE hybrid class begins

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Clay Murray
  • 52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany --  Hybrid technology is beginning to leave its footprint, but only to reduce the carbon footprints left on the world.

This newly sparked green technology has only recently started to spread from neighborhood garages to military installations, to include Spangdahlem Air Base.

Just two months after the installation welcomed its first two hybrid vehicles to its fleet, Spangdahlem is scheduled to hold its first Introduction to Hybrids course in the European Transportation Training Center in March. The ETTC is the only training center of its kind in U.S. Air Forces in Europe.

"With this training unit, there are some fundamental things people can learn that they may not learn on other cars," Master Sgt. Kevin Mead, ETTC instructor, said. "They can see inside the components and figure out how they work without tearing it apart because we've already done that for them.

"We (ETTC instructors) started looking into developing a training course because we knew the hybrids were coming into the fleet, and we would be getting a couple here - plus they're popping up all over USAFE," he said. "To safely work on these, they need to know a little bit about it."

The hybrid-training unit the ETTC uses to train its maintenance students is one of a kind, Sergeant Mead said. In a schoolhouse full of training engines, that may be hard to believe, but companies haven't even started to market hybrid training units.

"We found parts and decided it would be best if we could make our own trainer," he said. "There's no trainer like this available yet. It's literally the only trainer for a hybrid Ford Fusion in the world right now.

"(Our training unit) was out of a salvage vehicle that we went back to the states and picked up," Sergeant Mead said. "We can do all this training in a controlled the environment as opposed to being in the actual vehicle where we can't shut things off. It's a really complicated system, but it's beautiful the way it's done."

The unit will be 100-percent ready before class begins, and the instructors have high hopes for the added benefits this training piece will provide for the students.

"We've taken pieces off and created this transparent view so they can see inside the components," Sergeant Mead said. "They can get a sense of the entire battery as a whole. We still have some wiring to do, so it's still in its infancy stages; but it's a great tool. We've made it as safe and as functional as possible.

In the tradition of keeping training as close to the real deal as possible, the designers of this one-of-a-kind training device built the training model to resemble the actual hybrid cars.

"We set this up so it's identical in layout to the actual vehicle," Sergeant Mead said. "If you look at the engine bay in the car, you'll find the layout to be the same so they can trace the wires and they can learn this more easily. This wouldn't be possible - there's no other way they would be able to look inside here."

Training options are available stateside, Sergeant Mead explained, but financially it just isn't a practical solution for USAFE Airmen. With a centralized training station in the middle of Europe, the class and customized training unit is more cost-effective.

"For (mechanics) to go back to the states and get hybrid training, it costs about $6,000 each," Sergeant Mead said. "We paid in total, transportation and buying parts, about $14,000 (for the training unit). We can teach a hybrid course here in USAFE and bring everybody from all the bases to the course. That is only going to cost us $1,500 per student. We're basically saving each base $4,500 on hybrid training per person. Mechanics need to be certified - they're going to have to work on these for scheduled maintenance, and they have to be able to do it safely."

A stride to a greener future is not only in the interest of Spangdahlem AB, but it's also an Air Force and Defense Department goal.

"This aligns with all the (presidential) executive orders and Environmental Protection Agency regulations we follow, but it is more than that," Sergeant Mead said. "We've been trying to do this for a long time, and now the standard is a 30-percent reduction in petroleum consumption over the next 10 years."

More than just an executive order, Sergeant Mead views these changes in the military as a step in the right direction.

"In the end, it reduces our dependency on foreign oil, it reduces our greenhouse gas emissions, and it just saves us money," he said. "These cars are a little bit more expensive to purchase, but they're cheaper to maintain and use less petroleum. That equals less money to run the fleet.

"When you're talking about hundreds of thousands of vehicles across the DoD, it adds up to huge savings," he said. "It's also about being leaders in environmental stewardship. For us to be able to do save money and reduce our emissions by 30 percent, that's just awesome."