Coastal Bend College gets $447,000 boost for Airframe and Power Technology program

 Texas Military Preparedness Commission recently awarded Coastal Bend College a $447,000 grant to be used for power technology equipment. CBC is one of three community colleges in Texas to be awarded grant funding.

 The purpose of the grant is to help communities impacted by Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) and to provide equipment to community colleges so that they might provide training for veterans and people living in defense industry communities. The goal of the grant program is to increase or retain employment opportunities for defense workers and residents of adversely affected defense communities.

  “The commission recognized that recovery from BRAC is a long and painful process for small counties,” Michael Kane, CBC Director of Workforce Programs, explained. Coastal Bend College is headquartered in Beeville, where Naval Air Station Chase Field was closed in 1994.

 “We are going to be able to do contextual training – hands-on skills building with real-world applications,” Kane said. The equipment purchased with grant funds will take the airframe and power technology program to an Federal Aviation Administration Level 3 designation.

 Currently, CBC has the equipment to do training in airframe technology. The funds will help fulfill a need for simulators and other equipment for a lab where students can train in power technology. 

 “This will move our program forward to a level that we would have taken years to achieve,” CBC President Dr. Thomas Baynum said. “This equipment grant will greatly increase learning and skills building opportunities for students in the airframe and power technology program.”

 CBC offers an Associate’s Degree of Applied Sciences in Airframe and Power Technology, a Level I Certificate in Powerplant; a Level I Certificate in Airframe; a Level I Certificate in Turbine Aircraft Training and a General Aviation Certificate. All airframe and power technology courses are taught in Beeville.

 For more information about Coastal Bend College, visit the website at www.coastalbend.edu.  

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