3T gets DOD’s first tractor trailer professional certification

  • Published
  • By Amy Ausley
  • AFCEC Public Affairs
TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, Florida --  The tractor trailer training, or 3T, program at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, is now the first Department of Defense program of its kind to obtain industry certification.

The Professional Truck Driver Institute recently granted its first certification of a truck driver training course at a military facility to the 622nd Expeditionary Combat Support-Training and Certification Center program at Dobbins. On Jan. 23, the first 3T class graduated with PTDI certification.

The certification is a milestone achievement, said Maj. Gen. Stayce Harris, 22nd Air Force commander, who attended the graduation.

"Now professionally trained, commercially certified and licensed Airmen can transition seamlessly into the civilian workforce," Harris said. "This is a big win for our Airmen, our Air Force Reserve Command for being the first site certified in the Department of Defense and for our nation's economy."

Getting Airmen trained to the same level as their civilian counterparts makes everyone safer, said Chief Master Sgt. Trevor Shattuck, AFRC career field manager at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Shattuck was a driving force behind the 3T program and efforts to get industry certification from PTDI.

"It's important when we put our Airmen outside the base on the streets with civilians, they are safe operators," Shattuck said. "The people driving on the surface streets with our Airmen need to feel confident that the guy driving that truck knows what he's doing."

Not only does the PTDI certification mean the 3T program is up to industry standards, it is also a plus for Airmen looking for a job after the military.

"Making the driving skills of transitioning service personnel more readily marketable helps address two critical issues; veteran unemployment and the trucking industry's continuing driver shortage," said Brad Bentley, PTDI and Truckload Carriers Association president. "We applaud the Air Force's efforts to gain certification for the 3T course at Dobbins, and we look forward to its program serving as the basis for similar programs across all branches of the military."

The 3T certification is only the beginning - the program is being used as a benchmark for other military training programs across the DOD, Shattuck said. The crane training program at Dobbins is currently seeking its own industry certification.

"We want to try to move these programs into a transition assistance type course before Airmen separate from the military," said Chief Master Sgt. Leonard Howard, the 622nd ECS-TCC commandant.

AFCEC manages the instruction for the 3T program as well as several other training programs offered at Dobbins.