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Canadian air force honors McChord Airman

  • Published
  • By Tyler Hemstreet
  • Staff writer
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Canadian air force officials presented Senior Master Sgt. Douglas Levesque, 373rd Training Squadron, Det. 12 chief, with the Canadian Forces Air Command Commendation Feb. 24 at the squadron's headquarters.

Working alongside Canadian Forces maintenance representatives, Sergeant Levesque led a team of instructors in developing a set of maintenance courses unique to Canadian trade requirements prior to the country receiving its first C-17 Globemaster III in August 2007. Before the delivery of the aircraft, the 373rd TRS successfully trained more than 50 Canadian maintenance airmen.

"This accomplishment is directly attributed to the exceptional leadership and vision of Sergeant Levesque," said Canadian air force Lt. Col. David Lowthian, 429th Transport Squadron commander.

Sergeant Levesque also led a team of maintainers to 8th Wing Trenton, home of the 429th TS, to witness the delivery of Canada's first C-17 and oversee maintenance operations there for six weeks.

"To see the glimmer in their eyes and the great pride in their faces when that jet was delivered was a great thing," Sergeant Levesque said.

Colonel Lowthian was also grateful for the support his airmen received during their training at McChord.

"The base has played a huge role in our capability," Colonel Lowthian said. "You've taken care of us, fed us and allowed us to sit in on several operational missions. The support has allowed us to get where we are."

The 429th TS now has four C-17s and maintains mission capability rates of 85 percent, including flying humanitarian missions and airdrop missions in support of Operations Iraqi and Enduring Freedom, Colonel Lowthian said.

"I consider this a huge honor," Sergeant Levesque said of the award. "The amount of effort they put forth to give someone from another nation this kind of commendation is very humbling."

The 373rd TRS utilizes high-tech classrooms with computer workstations at each desk and a smart board at each podium to the giant rooms with 11 life-size trainers (exact cutout sections of the C-17), to instruct Airmen coming out of tech school, those transitioning to working on C-17s from a different aircraft and servicemembers from other countries who work on C-17s in their country's fleet.

The Canadians also presented tokens of gratitude to Col. Jeffrey Stephenson, 62nd Airlift Wing commander, and Lt. Col. James Clavenna, 62nd Maintenance Group deputy commander, for further strengthening the bond between the two countries.