Teamwork generates low-cost training tools Published June 5, 2009 By Susan Griggs 81st Training Wing Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- Collaboration between the 81st Training Support Squadron and the 332nd Training Squadron has produced a valuable tool for educating Air Force students. A network cable tester is the product of a joint effort between the 332nd TRS electronic principles flight and the 81st TRSS trainer development flight. Electronic principles training manager Javier Lozada met with Ron Holtorf and other trainer development team members to discuss available options to support the proposed 3D Air Force Specialty Code and its initial training course, information technology fundamentals. The course requires a network cable tester to verify the ability of students to build various cables. Continuous use of the network cable tester by students would cause premature connector failures, shelving the equipment when it was otherwise undamaged and operational. The testers, like many commercial products, aren't designed to be repaired, so David Sterling, Paul Peterson and Billy Raile of trainer development engineered an external cabling connector system which places all wear and tear on an external chassis. This allows easy and economical replacement of individual quick disconnect "RJ-45" Ethernet cable connectors. Over a two-month period, David Jacobsen and Jack Waldroup constructed 18 cable chassis sets for less than $2,500. The chassis eliminates constant replacement of the tester and saves valuable resources. Instead of replacing a $90 cable tester, instructors will replace $9 worth of connectors on the chassis. The external connector system also includes a power supply for the cable tester, so it simply plugs into the wall, instead of using batteries that must be replaced, stored and disposed of. The network cable testers will support more than 2,000 students a year in four new 3D maintenance AFSCs. "Hands-on training is always superior to books and slides,"said Lt. Col. William Hamant, 332nd TRS commander. "These devices let our students practice actual cable building without running equipment costs out of reach. We've taken an off-theshelf product and made it better than the original designers ever imagined." "Teamwork made this happen," explained Lt. Col. Kevin O'Rourke, 81st TRSS commander. "Instead of just giving us a requirement and asking us to come back six months later with a product, the electronic principles staff worked together with my team throughout. The back and forth dialog was essential to making sure they had something truly useful that was customized for their specific needs. "While this may not be a groundbreaking invention, it demonstrates the true benefits of collaboration and the enormous ingenuity and skill of our personnel," Colonel O'Rourke added. The 81st TRSS can deliver custom hardware, software, simulation and multimedia solutions to meet training needs. For training device support requests, call Maj. Jeff Queen, 81st TRSS director of operations, 377-8971.