NAVAL STATION NORFOLK, Va. -- Approximately 57 key stakeholders involved in corrosion management from the fleet, Type Wings, program offices, Fleet Readiness Centers, and others attended a two-day Training Requirements Review (TRR), Aug. 15-16, onboard Naval Station Norfolk. The training review coordinated by the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training Unit (CNATTU) Norfolk provided opportunities for attendees to provide input to the corrosion curriculum currently offered; Corrosion Control Basic, Aircraft Corrosion Control and Aircraft Paint and Finish.

CNATTU Norfolk hosts TRRs approximately every 60 months for each Type/Model/Series or stand alone course they are the course lead for.  Additionally, TRR’s can be requested by Type Wings/Stakeholders due to emerging changes in maintenance practices.  TRR’s are a vital avenue for the fleet to provide input on improvements to training, recommendations or changes, and additions. CDR Ellie Hurst, commanding officer, CNATTU Norfolk, discussed how TRR’s help to address training issues and improve the quality of instruction received at the schoolhouse.

“The stakeholders involved in performing corrosion control work at the squadron level, NATEC, Type Wings, and I-Level maintenance with both the Navy and Marine Corps attended and provided valuable feedback,” said CDR Hurst. This review provides an opportunity for stakeholders involved in corrosion control to “examine our curriculum thoroughly with other fleet experts to see if there are any possible gaps. Those gaps may be in the form of publications updates, new prevention methods, procedures or materials as well as new tooling or fleet-wide corrosion trends that need to be addressed.  Additionally, the gaps can also be in the form of repetitions in a hands-on laboratory setting in the schoolhouse to build base-line skills needed in the fleet.”

Maintenance technicians varying in experience from E-5 to E-9 as well as Aviation Maintenance LDO/CWO’s and AMDO’s participated in the TRR.  “They identified a variety of requirements to provide updated training to help prepare maintenance technicians when they arrive at their operational units,” added CDR Hurst.

During the two-day TRR, the discussions focused on the Corrosion Control Basic, Aircraft Corrosion, and Aircraft Paint/Finish courses that are utilized by both U.S Navy and U.S. Marine Corps technicians from all T/M/S of aircraft and levels of maintenance.
“Some of the recommendations we received pertained to the Focus Area List (FAL), the use of plotters to create stencils, sealant application techniques, use of corrosion damage assessment tools such as depth gauges and micrometers, and corrosion documentation procedures in OOMA," added CDR Hurst.

“Currently, we do not discuss the FAL in our courses because we cover broad brush strokes to corrosion prevention and mitigation efforts,” said CDR Hurst, who added students receive basic apprentice knowledge from CNATTU courses and receive more follow-on, T/M/S specific corrosion control training upon arriving at their assigned squadrons or units.

“Explaining what the FAL is, how to understand it, is worth consideration,” said CDR Hurst. “The students leaving the schoolhouse are not experts in corrosion control, but we want to provide them that base level knowledge to be followed up by their operational units to build upon that initial set of skills and proficiency.”