Two become one Published Nov. 20, 2007 By Staff Sgt. Derrick M. Gildner Front Range Flyer PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo -- In an ongoing effort to streamline operations, the Air Force officially united two specialties by merging the aircrew life support and survival equipment career fields into a single career field. The union of the two career fields, known now as aircrew flight equipment, was created to take advantage of the skills both former specialties had at inspecting, maintaining and delivering equipment to aircrew members, said Senior Master Sgt. William Schultheis, 731st Airlift Squadron chief of life support. "Previously, both sections were working on the same aircrew equipment, with life support providing the aircrew support, equipment fitting and inspection. Survival equipment specialists were responsible for repair, major inspections and parachute repacking," said Sergeant Schultheis. "Since we have such similar commitments to crew safety and survival the merger makes operational sense on several levels." "It will take the Air Education and Training Command about 24 months to produce a joint school curriculum," he continued. "In the interim we will be conducting cross training at Peterson Air Force Base." We recently hosted a conference for the career fields at Peterson AFB last month to educate the troops on how the reserve is proceeding with this initiative," said Chief Lester Daly, 22nd Air Force. This is a great opportunity to bring out the best with life support and survival equipment by capitalizing on the talents of both career fields. "With a fusion of this size, we are moving forward with career progression and the total force concept," he continued.