334th Training Squadron students go to SHARM school Published Oct. 16, 2008 By Staff Sgt. Carlos Rodriguez Keesler Public Affairs KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, MISS. -- The Airman cries, "Mayday! Mayday! We have an in-flight emergency! An F-15, call sign Eagle, has lost both engines and the propellers have broken!" "An F-15 has propellers? Does it, Airman Smith? In what world? Start over," said the instructor. And so it goes in the newly-created squadron/host aviation resource management console lab in Cody Hall, a training simulator for aviation resource management students in the 334th Training Squadron. Aviation resource managers are the liaisons between the pilots in the air and the commanders, aircrew and maintainers on the ground. It's an essential, high-stress job whose training, until recently, involved a lot of reading and listening and not very much hands-on practice. "In the past, our training didn't really stress the students that much or expose them to real-life situations," said Senior Master Sgt. Phillip Kreiser, ARM superintendent and project officer for the new lab. "With the new lab and our new abilities to multitask the students under pressure, the stress levels have gone from a one to a 10. "Our graduates will be more prepared (for actual situations) when they get to their first duty assignment than ever before," he added. Prior to the installation of the new lab and its equipment, training for these students consisted primarily of lecture followed by control-room simulation involving just a handheld radio. "The method and the equipment we were using were antiquated," explained Staff Sgt. Michael Hubert, one of the instructors. "We now use new, more realistic equipment such as the finger-on-glass computer-controlled simulated telephone, primary crash phone and stand-alone UHF radio systems. "This new system allows practical application of the skills they're being lectured on, allowing better retention of what they've learned," he pointed out. The lab now consists of two separate sections -- a computer section and a control-room/operations center section. The new equipment, remodeling and reworking was a team effort that went beyond the 334th TRS. "The 81st Training Support Squadron's trainer development center built and designed all of the specific equipment and the 81st Civil Engineer Squadron put in a new wall dividing the different sections and the new operations center as well as all the electrical and paint work," Sergeant Kreiser noted. "The ability to multitask under pressure is one of the most important skills for any ARM," Sergeant Kreiser said. "This new SHARM lab directly increases the students' ability to multitask effectively while ensuring that the quality of Airmen we send out to their first assignments is always high." Due to the success of the Air Education and Training Command-approved new lab, plans are now underway to build a second SHARM lab early next year.