189th AW crew first in Guard to complete Type 1 training on C-130 AMP

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Bob Oldham
  • 189th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, Ark. --  A 154th Training Squadron aircrew in December became the first Guard aircrew to receive Type 1 aircrew training on the C-130 AMP.

By completing the two-week course, the crew members are now qualified to climb on board and fly the craft with an instructor aboard.

Pilots Majs. Dom Sarnataro, Kevin Tibbett and Scott Sims and a flight engineer, Master Sgt. Jeff Vaughan, sat in a mock up of the new cockpit in California and received the training.

The AMP, which stands for avionics modernization program, will upgrade C-130H aircraft to the latest technologies. Additionally, the upgrade eliminates the navigator crew position, creating additional work for the rest of the flight deck crew.

But while the workload will increase, so will the amount of information the crew will have at its fingertips.

"In the AMP airplane, the information that you want is one or two button clicks away," said Sergeant Vaughan. "And you can monitor it all the time on any one of the six [multi-function displays] that you have available."

Pilots will have more and better information about surrounding terrain, weather and nearby airports. "The situational awareness that it's going to give us will just be incredible," said Major Tibbett.

With more information available for pilots to review, they'll be able to make better decisions in the air. "There's a bit of a learning curve, just like there is with everything," he said, but it won't be overwhelming.

In many cases, Guardsmen are already flying aircraft for the airlines that have the same technology the AMP will have, Major Sims said.