2.3 During the Committee's tour of hangars used to service aircraft, the Committee was briefed on the impact of the cancellation of Aero Manpower Group's (AMG) contract on the base's servicing capability. It was confirmed that currently, the AMG contracted personnel assisted with providing the technical skills necessary to service and maintain aircraft. Given the scarcity of some of these skills and especially the attraction that the commercial and/or private sector hold for these members, their exit may weaken the repair and maintenance capability. While existing personnel could perform minor repairs and maintenance, the specialist maintenance at times required for some aircraft, would be difficult. Currently, AFB Langebaanweg has only two technicians, who can perform structural repairs to aircraft. One technician is an AMG contracted member with 12 years experience and the other a SAAF member with 3 months experience. The cancellation of the AMG contract and the consequent loss of the more experienced technician would thus impact significantly on the base's structural repair capability. As a contingency plan for the possible cancellation for the AMG contract, the base management reported that two engineers from Ysterplaat AFB would assist in retaining some capability, but that development and transfer of these skills require time and results would therefore not be immediately apparent.