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Fini Flights, Walkarounds, and Building Trust in the Air Force (or Anywhere!)

Fini Flights, Walkarounds, and Building Trust in the Air Force (or Anywhere!)
U.S. Air Force Capt. Riley Nix, 74th Fighter Squadron A-10C Thunderbolt II pilot, left, speaks with U.S. Air Force Academy cadets at Moody Air Force Base in Georgia on June 24, 2022. DoD photo by Airman 1st Class Deanna Muir
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Battlefields Staff
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Commentary

This article was spurred by a LinkedIn post I once read by Michelle “Mace” Curran, a former U.S. Air Force (USAF) Thunderbird pilot. In that post, she accurately describes the trust relationships between crew chiefs and pilots. She focuses on the fact that one reason for the trust was that she had the same jet and the same crew chiefs during her tour with the team. (BTW—that’s me in the pic with the sunglasses.)

Dave Chamberlin served 38 years in the USAF and Air National Guard as an aircraft crew chief, where he retired as a CMSgt. He has held a wide variety of technical, instructor, consultant, and leadership positions in his more than 40 years of civilian and military aviation experience. Dave holds an Airframe and Powerplant license from the FAA, as well as a master's degree in aeronautical science. He currently runs his own consulting and training company and has written for numerous trade publications. His true passion is exploring and writing about issues facing the military, and in particular, aircraft maintenance personnel.
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