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INDUSTRY OUTLOOK 16 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2018 AIRCRAFT MAINTENANCE TECHNOLOGY ates can enter the program and receive free tuition. The program was initially designed to inspire students to stay in the area, as the base traditionally has had difficulty attracting technicians to Southwest Oklahoma, where Altus AFB is located. To date, 221 have entered the program, with 138 still employed; about 30 stu- dents are expected to graduate from the program this spring. A team of civilian technicians will be fielding a team at this year's AMC. "The Recent Grad program gives the 97th Maintenance Group the flexibility to hire more trainees, which is extremely beneficial," says Brandi Roblez, person- nel liaison, 97th Maintenance Operations, Altus AFB. STRONG STAFFING On the other hand, the U.S. Coast Guard, with its 92 percent retention rate in maintenance, isn't nearly feeling the effects of a technician shortage. "To be able to keep that many of your young people, with an 8 percent loss rate, is pretty good," AMT Rating Force Master Chief Kit Harris says. Although the Coast Guard's technician staffing levels are high now, Harris says it's cyclical as the rate of retirees can affect staffing from year to year. He attributes the high retention rate to the Coast Guard's culture of taking care of people, and overall satisfaction with the Coast Guard's mission. Last year, the Coast Guard fielded two teams in the AMC, one of which paid their own way to compete in Orlando. "Those guys just had a strong desire to compete," he says of the team from Coast Guard Air Station Clearwater, FL. "They wanted to go down and show their stuff." And show their stuff they did, as the team won first place in the AMC's mili- tary category. MENTORING WOMEN One challenge that's prevalent throughout aviation maintenance is how to attract more females to the industry. Kendra Kincade thinks she may have the answer. Kincade founded Elevate Aviation (www. elevateaviation.ca) , a nonprofit organiza- tion whose mission is to introduce women to careers in aviation. The main strategy behind Elevate Aviation is to team up women with female mentors within the industry to give them a better idea of what a career as a pilot, air traffic controller, flight attendant, or techni- cian looks like. "We're trying to get out there and raise awareness about these careers," she says. "For aircraft mechanics, the idea is to go out and job shadow them. She can show you the ropes, show you what it's like to work there, so you'll have a better idea of what a career as an AMT is like." Founded in 2011 in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Elevate Aviation has mentored more than 500 women in several avia- tion disciplines. Kincade is looking to broaden Elevate Aviation's reach south of the boarder and establish female mentors in the United States by the end of the year … and that's one of the reasons why she's bringing a team this year to the AMC. "We don't have a lot of women look- ing at aircraft mechanics because they're not thinking about it. That's why we're competing in the AMC; we need to get this out there and raise awareness. We just want to try and get women to look at maintenance as a career." The Aerospace Maintenance Competition Presented by Snap-on will be held during the MRO Americas ( mroamericas.aviation- week.com/am18/Public/Enter.aspx ) April 9-12 in Orlando (www.aerospacecompeti- tion.com) . FLYBE AVIATION Services technicians competing at the 2017 AMC. SNAP-ON MASTER CHIEF Kit Harris SNAP-ON KENDRA KINCADE, Elevate Aviation ELEVATE STEVE STAEDLER is a senior account executive at LePoidevin Marketing, a Brookfield, WI-based business-to-business marketing firm that specializes in the tooling and aerospace industries. Staedler has been covering aeronautical maintenance for more than 10 years; is a former newspaper reporter and retired master sergeant from the U.S. Air Force Reserve, where he worked maintenance and public affairs. He can be reached at steve@ lepoidevinmarketing.com; (262) 754-9550.