AMMOS continues to prepare advanced wartime maintainers Published Feb. 15, 2012 By Maj. Seanna M. Less Director of Operations, USAF Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Officer School NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- The Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Officer School continues to put forth superior maintainers with the Feb. 17, 2012 graduation of the Advanced Maintenance Superintendent Course. "AMSC, the Air Force's first maintenance advanced training course for Senior Non-commissioned Officers, is considered one of the most rigorous maintenance training curriculums the Air Force has to offer with the highest standard required for graduation," Lt. Col. William G. Maxwell, Jr., Commandant of the USAF AMMOS, said. The Airmen graduating from AMMOS are tasked as leaders in their organizations' production of combat air power. They are experts in preparing their organizations for combat in support of the Air Force's mission, tasked with improving and enhancing their home station's maintenance organizations. "AMSC was the most demanding course I've attended in my career," Senior Master Sgt. Leonard Acosta, Superintendent in the 58th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico, said. "But, it has helped me tackle more challenging issues with ease. I am able to quantify and articulate those issues to group and wing supervision in less time with confidence." The confidence and lessons given at AMSC prepare SNCOs as producers, advisors and mentors in their careers. "The course curriculum was tough with difficult challenges, but real and fair," said Senior Master Sgt. Warren Hooks, from Joint Base Langley-Eustis, VA. "It was an honor to attend AMMOS, and I am fortunate to be in a position to share the different tactics, techniques and procedures I learned during AMSC," Hooks said. "As the Air Force Global Force Manager for Aircraft Maintenance and the (Air Combat Command) Unit Type Code Functional Area manager, I have used AMSC lessons and experiences to assist unit deployment managers and project officers across ACC in executing deployments in support of Operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, Unified Protector, and New Dawn - just in 2011. The lessons, experiences and bonds formed at AMMOS are continuing to sprout one year after graduation," he said. Through the bonds they've grown and lessons learned, AMSC graduates must continue to strive for excellence, and instruct future generations. "The key to winning in tomorrow's wars will be through the most effective and efficient use of the resources we have at our disposal," Maxwell said. "As our future foes determine ways to mitigate our technological advantages, we must find ways to out-fight them and that way is through advanced training. Advanced training is the most effective means of creating the best possible Airmen." While challenging, AMSC instructors assured recent graduates the lessons learned here will prove to be invaluable.
