PKL Instructors Activate Ground-Breaking Training in Thailand
June 23, 2021
In early 2020, the Royal Thai Air Force (RTAF) had a vision to transform its maintenance training capability by adopting cutting-edge curricula and modern simulation technologies. After a highly-competitive selection cycle, PKL was chosen via commercial contract award to spearhead this modernization effort in Bangkok, Thailand. The contract award, with a total value of approximately $1.8 million in the first year of execution, produces a modern maintenance training center and a customized Basics of Aircraft Maintenance Course (BAMC). PKL is teamed with Raydant International Company, LTD, our Thai partner, and ST Engineering Training & Simulation Systems Pte. Ltd., our simulation solutions provider, to deliver this contract.
Official Activation of the RTAF Simulation Center, Bangkok, Thailand
Phase 1 of the contract was a nine-month curriculum, courseware, and equipment development period, culminating with the opening of the RTAF Training Center in January 2021. The Center features gamified computer-based training, augmented reality, virtual reality, and a server-based Learning Management System. These technologies integrate PKL’s trademarked OmniSpec Training System, providing full-spectrum, on-demand, and blended learning. Click here to learn more: http://www.pklservices.com/capabilities/omnispec/
Phase 2 of the contract commenced in February and initiated delivery of BAMC courses for academic year 2021. PKL’s primary instructors, Stephen Barsalou and Ryan Stumpf, both US Air Force veterans and experienced maintenance instructors, are headquartered in Bangkok and provide full-spectrum instructional activities to Thai students, and also, they manage customer and partner support activities and the myriad of logistics coordination issues attendant to a complex training environment.
Mr. Al Porter, PKL’s Director of Air Force Programs, had high praise for his two instructors:
“Because the BAMC is an inaugural program in Thailand and the first of its kind for the RTAF, Steve and Ryan serve not only as instructors, but more so as ambassadors for PKL. Arriving in Bangkok in the midst of tight COVID-related restrictions, they led an exhaustive installation, test, and delivery process and certified the 8 Stage, 32 module BAMC curriculum, resulting in on-schedule, on-cost performance. Because of Steve’s and Ryan’s acumen and persistence, we received glowing reviews from senior RTAF Officers, reflecting great credit on all of us at PKL.”
PKL Instructors Teaching RTAF Students in Bangkok
BAMC class cohort #1, approximately 20 students, finished in March, and we are now in flow with the second BAMC student cohort, comprised of 40 RTAF cadets, who upon graduation will transition to follow-on assignments in RTAF’s aircraft maintenance specialties in jet, transport, and helicopter platforms. We expect another 2-3 BAMC courses, each 40 cadets per course, for the remainder of this academic year.
Kim Robling, PKL’s Training Manager, is proud of the stellar performance of the BAMC contract, which she said could not have been accomplished without the leadership of Al Porter, the ingenuity of instructors Steve Barsalou and Ryan Stumpf, and the dedication of Paul King’s curriculum development team, who produced over 600 pages of customized courseware with associated presentation decks and plans of instruction, all of which were replicated in the suite of simulation courseware.
The BAMC contract follows on the heels of other PKL awards in Thailand–a baseline assessment of Thai Aviation Industries’ (TAI) Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul (MRO) facilities, and, a T-56 Quick Engine Change (QEC) technical training contract, also supporting TAI in Bangkok.