Producing 'fleet ready Sailors'

"I really enjoy mentoring the new students who come straight to us from boot camp," said AM1 Vincent Stolp, an Airframe "A" School instructor. "That's one of the big things I get out of being an instructor. I get to show them how it really works out in the fleet, giving them that upper edge."

CNATTU Jacksonville is comprised of 150 of the best Navy and Marine instructors who teach 144 different courses spread involving two different aircrafts, the SH-60 Sea Hawk, P-3C Orion, "A" school and various aviation support equipment.

AM1 Andrew Marlatt, an instructor at The Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville, goes over hydraulic systems on a SH-60 Sea Hawk system trainer. The trainer is used to test students trouble shooting skills, comprehension and location through problem elimination.

"Our instructors are the cream of the crop," said Cmdr. Allen Crisp, executive officer of CNATTU Jax. "They are hand selected based on their knowledge and the exemplarily way they conduct themselves."

According to AEC Raymond Derrick, CNATTU Jax public affairs officer, the rule of thumb is that their instructors are among the top 10 percent academically in their rate and must apply, be recommended and be accepted by the CNATTU to become an instructor. "We are a very tight community and continuously recruit the best to produce fleet ready Sailors and Marines," said Derrick.

Sailors and Marines who come to CNATTU Jax attend any of the four maintenance training units (MTUs) that teach enlisted personnel initial rate "A" school and follow on career "C" school training to the fleet. The instructors are there to produce "fleet ready" mechanics and technicians through formal classroom, laboratory and actual on aircraft training.

AS1 Justo Valverde, aviation ground support system instructor for The Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville (CNATTU Jax), aids his student ASAR Michael Kincaid in locating information in his training manual. The students are learning the fundamentals of service/maintenance of a gas turbine compressor GTC-idd during one of the courses offered at CNATTU Jax.

Graduates from CNATTU schools maintain flight control systems, engines, radios, navigation equipment, radar, diagnostic testing equipment, weapons and ordnance systems, ground servicing equipment and a multitude of other systems required to keep the fleet's aircraft flying.

The MTU is divided into four phases based on the rates of the instructors; aviation electronics technicians (ATs) and aviation electrician's mates (AEs) are in Avionics, Power Plants (AD), Airframes (AM & AME) and Aviation Ordnancemen (AO) phases.

ASAN Tiffany Jaques one of the SH-60 AM "O" level students who graduated Tuesday and is nervously excited about leaving the states and reporting to her new command in Japan. "I learned so much from this course because of all the hands on training and the patience of the instructors. I'm a visual person so a book could not have given me the same experience," said Jaques

AT2 Donte Bradby troubleshoots for electrical continuity on a system trainer for SH-60F avionics systems under the guidance of his instructor, AT1 Ronald Shouse. The trainer is used to test students trouble shooting skills, comprehension, and location through problem elimination. Bradby is a student at The Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville.

With the Navy continuously changing requirements, junior Sailors are now getting the opportunity to participate in programs not once offered to them because of their rank. One such program is the flight engineer (FE) course offered at CNATTU Jax. They had to revamp their whole course because it was previously only offered to fleet E-5 and E-6 Sailors. Now Sailors straight out of "A" school can attend and attain a lot of responsibilities.

"There is no other place in the Navy that a young E-3 or E-4 has the level of responsibility that is put upon them as a flight engineer. They are the senior crew member on a P-3 interacting with officers and pilots seven days a week," said AEC Ronald Darr, leading chief petty officer for the Flight Engineer Course. "Without actually being a pilot, a FE is about as close as you can get because they are in the flight station with the pilot, starting the engine, setting the power and making decisions on a daily basis regarding the safety their aircraft and aircrew."

The FE is unique because there are several different rates compiled together for these jobs: AEs, ATs, mechanics and airframers learning every system about the aircraft and they are considered the system expert.

AS1 Mathew Franklin performs maintenance on an Electrical Dummy Load DA-675/MSM,mobile electric power cart, between classes. Franklin is an aviation ground support equipment instructors at The Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit Jacksonville.

Flight engineer student AM2 Alexander Penn is a fleet Sailor who finds his course very rewarding. "It's challenging, takes a lot of personal dedication, off duty time to study and effort. Our instructors are very knowledgeable and they know their stuff. We are trained to be experts by experts," he said.

U.S. Marine Sgt. Robert Flores Jr. is an aviation grounds support equipment instructor and is having a great time. "It helps my piece of mind knowing that I'm sending out Sailors and Marines who are more knowledgeable about the equipment that I am teaching and they are more prepared to do whatever they are tasked with. This class teaches them a more in depth hands on training than "A" school. They get to understand what makes the gear work and get a good feeling on what to expect in the fleet," said Flores.

CNATTU Jacksonville graduates more than 5,000 students annually representing 81 naval enlisted classification codes.