The aviation engineers and soldiers that work at the Fleet Readiness Centers across America epitomize the term "sharing the burden of keeping America going."
What is the role of America's Fleet Readiness Centers? Here is an excerpt from the organization's website:
Mission
To produce quality airframes, engines, components and support equipment, and provide service that meet the Naval Aviation Enterprise's aircraft ready-for-tasking goals with improved effectiveness and efficiency.
Who We Are
We are the men and women of COMFRC - the Navy's shore-based off-aircraft and depot level aviation maintenance providers. We supply the skills, processes and facilities needed to accomplish the maintenance, repair and overhaul of aviation assets to keep the NAE ready to train, fight and win. Our 16,000 military, civilian and contractor aviation maintenance professionals deliver safe and effective airborne platforms and ground equipment to the Sailors and Marines who defend our national interests around the globe.
Why We Exist
Our mission is to produce quality airframes, engines, components and support equipment, and provide services that meet NAE's goals. COMFRC directly supports the mission of the U.S. Navy - to maintain, train and equip combat-ready Naval forces capable of winning wars, deterring aggression and maintaining freedom of the seas. In accordance with our values of Honor, Courage and Commitment, we keep our promises to our customers, remain resolute in the face of complex challenges and relentlessly pursue mission accomplishment.
There is no shortage of hydraulics on America's warbirds:
This was my fourth "tour of duty" teaching aviation engineers at America's Fleet Readiness Centers on the east coast. I conducted three workshops at the FRC in Cherry Point, North Carolina, another at the FRC in Maryland, and the most recent at the FRC in Jacksonville, Florida.
During the past two weeks I trained twenty-three brilliant and dedicated aviation engineers that work at the Fleet Readiness Center in Jacksonville, Florida. The focus of the training was on hydraulic safety, practical hydraulics, best practices for hydraulic system design, and how to performance test hydraulic components.
We shipped six of our flagship Model MF102 training systems, and a Model MF200-CAV pump cavitation training system to Florida for the training (photo below):
A group of engineers performing a diagnostics activity:
Two engineers discussing how to solve a problem with a hydraulic system:
The MF102 is without a doubt the most advanced training system in the world teaching students how to test the performance of hydraulic systems, and also how to perform complex diagnostic activities. One reason in particular is that every component can be triggered to auto-fault in real time.
As usual, the most important aspect of my training is the effect it has on improving safety. Here is what twenty-one of engineers had to say about how much the training improved their knowledge of hydraulic safety:
QUESTION 1:
By what percentage did the workshop improve your knowledge of hydraulic safety?
48% of students said the workshop improved their knowledge of hydraulic safety by 100%. 14% reported an improvement of 95%. 9.5% of students by 90%, and others by 75%, 70% and 50% respectively.
QUESTION 2:
Based on what you learned in this workshop have you ever done something that could have severely injured or killed you while working on and around hydrulic systems?
Four out of twenty-one students answered "yes."
General Comments:
"I recommended your company to Dr. Scheuller at the University of Florida. Hopefully he will get in touch."
"Real world experience was very helpful"
"Simulators were very helpful"
"This has been incredibly impactful training"
Conclusion:
The results of my surveys should be a wake-up call for America's universities and technical colleges. All of the engineers at the FRC held degrees in either mechanical or aviation engineering. Moreover, they were educated at universities across the country. While many universities offer courses in hydraulics it seems obvious the courses lack vital training in designing safe, maintenance friendly, and diagnostics friendly hydraulic systems.
Also, my surveys prove that most technical colleges ignore hydraulic safety, maintenance, and diagnostics. It's a sad day in America when over 95% of the students that graduate from America's technical colleges cannot perform simple hydraulic system troubleshooting tasks. This after spending three months studying hydraulics. I achieve better results after five days of training. Why? because I have developed a curriculum that is designed to nurture competent fluid power technicians.
When I completed my 4-year apprenticeship I had to go to a national independent test center to do my final test. This system kept the folks that teach skills honest while providing industry with a highly-competent skilled workforce.
There are approximately six technical colleges within 50-miles of Salt Lake City, Utah. No two colleges teach students out of the same text book. In fact in some cases students don't have textbooks. The reason why most technical college in America score and "F" when it comes to teaching hydraulics is that they answer only to themselves. Of course, many are run by a handful of special interest groups.
The only way to fix the problem is develop independent test centers that audit each college's competence to teach a given subject.
I welcome college administrators and deans to challenge my facts. I will post a competency test on my website that your students can take upon completion of their hydraulics training. I am confident you will be disappointed with the results.
A few years ago, one for-profit technical institute took advantage of my generous offer to provide their hydraulic curriculum free of charge. I am proud to say that the students that graduate from these institutions have the most consistent hydraulics training in the country.
Bear in mind I continue to offer complimentary train-the-trainer workshops for instructors at tax-payer funded colleges. Sorry, the December 2019 workshop is full.
