An Analysis of United States Air Force Maintenance Technical Data From the Maintenance Technician's Perspective

Book excerpt: Technical data occupy a prominent position in guiding maintenance technicians toward the goal of task accomplishment. In 1962, the Aerospace Medical Research Laboratories (AMRL) prepared a study on the Air Force technical data system. This study analyzed the strengths and weaknesses of existing technical data and made a number of recommendations for improvement. The object of this thesis effort was to determine the extent to which Air Force technical data have changed since completion of the 1962 study. The thrust of this effort was threefold: to assess the attitudes of maintenance technicians, to compare the result of this study with the results of the 1962 AMRL study, and compare attitudes of newer and older weapon systems technicians toward the technical data they use. It was concluded that maintenance technicians today (1978) have a favorable attitude toward the technical data they use, however, there was a strong indication that inadequacies still exist. No significant difference was found to exist between 1962 and 1978 technician attitudes toward technical data. Finally, no difference was found to exist between the newer and older weapon system technical data as perceived by maintenance technicians. (Author).