Duke Field reservist brings Total Force expertise to active-duty classroom

  • Published
  • By Dan Neely
  • 919th Special Operations Wing Public Affairs
DUKE FIELD, Fla. --  A Duke Field Reserve officer recently put his instructional skills to work for the benefit of active duty and civil service students at nearby Eglin Air Force Base.

Lieutenant Col. David Booher, deputy commander for Duke Field's 919th Maintenance Group, was one of two reservists selected by Eglin's parent Air Force Material Command to teach a four-day maintenance resource management course. Currently the MRM course is mandatory for all Air Force aircraft maintenance personnel.

Colonel Booher is a career aircraft maintenance and logistics officer who was commissioned into the Regular Air Force in 1983 and entered the Reserve in 1999. He teamed with fellow instructor Maj. Paul Centinaro from the 927th Air Refueling Wing at MacDill AFB, a reservist who developed much of the course material and curriculum.

"Although the Air Force has dozens and dozens of instructors to teach the fundamental course, Paul and I are only a handful of Level II instructors certified to train the trainer, in other words we can certify other instructors to teach the curriculum," Colonel Booher explained. "And, coupled with the sparse population and availability of Level II instructors is the geographical challenge. Most of the instructors tend to be stationed at the larger bases and headquarters elements.

"One of the tenets we teach in MRM is awareness of mitigating the consequences of human error and identifying the human factor cause of most aircraft maintenance mishaps," the colonel continued. "We also target, especially post 9/11, the positive influence of Total Force Integration."

A key U.S. military initiative, TFI represents efforts to cement more than 680,000 active duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve Airmen and civilian employees into an even more capable and efficient Air Force.

"Of all the deployments and contingency operations I've participated in over the years, the success of our missions can be directly attributed to our acceptance of Total Force Initiative," the colonel said. "It's a beautiful thing to witness active duty and Air Reserve component Airmen working seamlessly side by side."

Colonel Booher said he has taught MRM to more than 2,000 active duty, Reserve, Guard and federal civilian students. He was asked if he felt his extensive Reserve career experiences gave him any advantages over his active-duty instructor counterparts.

"I wouldn't say that my affiliation as a reservist gives me any teaching advantage over my active duty instructors; we are all master-level instructors covering the same basic material," he said. "But I will say my previous active time enhanced by my reserve affiliation gives me a much broader perspective and a much longer and more seasoned experience in this inherently dangerous business of maintaining and generating aircraft and that lends itself to a much more interactive class and a vast pool of personal, 'I was there' experiences."

Colonel Booher said he was introduced to MRM principles nearly three years ago during a briefing by Air National Guard fighter pilot Col. Doug "Odie" Slocum, whom he described as "the godfather of MRM."

"I was completely sold on this program," he said. "I believe in it with all my heart, it is now my professional passion as a reservist. We save lives and aircraft and reduce costs, not just in dollars, of the consequences of human error.

"I believe one of the greatest statistics from 2008 -- zero fatalities attributable to aircraft maintenance activities in MRM-trained units -- and the aircraft mishap statistics for 2009 will show a dramatic decrease in the number of Class A, B and C mishaps from the previous five- year trend, "the colonel added. "That means our program is working.

"I believe every single Airman has the right to return safely to his or her loved ones at the end of the work day, and that's an Air Force goal I believe is worthy of my devotion. I kind of see myself as the hood ornament of the program, or at least a cheerleader for this mindset of safe aircraft maintenance."