The long, narrow climb up the ladder system inside the tail of a C-17 Globemaster III to change a light bulb or fix a panel is no walk in the park.

Factor in inclement weather and the constant buzz of flightline activity, and you have a recipe for disaster for a new Airman trying to learn the job fresh out of technical school.

But put that same aircraft tail in a giant room with cutouts at the top for instructors to oversee and you have an environment ripe for learning.

Utilizing 12 different C-17 mock-up sections, McChord Field's 373rd Training Squadron, Detachment 12, teaches a wide variety of aircraft maintenance classes, educating maintainers from countries all over the world and young U.S. Airmen fresh out of technical school hungry to learn the ins and outs of the aircraft. It also teaches shorter courses to aerial port and security forces Airmen as well as infantry Soldiers on ways to fully utilize the C-17's cargo bay to make their job easier.

"The huge strength (of the mock-ups) is they're very realistic," said Tech. Sgt. Kyle Speck, one of the detachment's 36 instructors. "We don't have to rely on the maintenance folks having a jet out there on the flightline for us to work on. We also don't run the risk of troubleshooting on a real airplane."

There are maintenance simulators dedicated to teaching everything from how to fix and maintain the cargo door and ramp setup to more complex tasks such as fixing the fuel tanks inside the wing and entire C-17 engine changes.

Each classroom also features a computer loaded with every C-17 technical order for each student and projectors and a smart board for instructors.

"There are very few tasks (on an airplane) that can't be done in this building," said Speck, a former C-17 flying crewchief from Coopersville, Mich. "The things they see in here are going to be the exact things they're going to see on the jet out on the flightline."

But the real strength of the detachment is the flexibility of its instructors, said 1st. Lt. Christopher Sweeney, detachment commander.

About three or four times per year, maintainers from countries such as Australia, Canada, Great Britain, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates come to the unit to learn how to service their fleet - or sometimes just one aircraft. Although English is the universal aviation language, instructors must still adapt to some military cultural differences and teach a large amount of technical information in a compressed time frame.

"The enlisted structure of some other countries' military is different," Sweeney said. "It gives our guys a broader scope of other cultures."

The experience also shows to the world how adept and motivated the Air Force's enlisted force is.

"A lot of countries don't tap (NCO talent) the way we do," Sweeney said.