God and Country

The US Air Force reported that an F-16C Fighting Falcon crashed during combat training exercises near Caliente, Nevada, on Tuesday evening.  The pilot was reported “missing.”

Unfortunately, that often means the pilot was lost with the aircraft.

No names or further status have been released.  The Nellis AFB video media release can be seen here.

The US Air Force Academy has purchased new training aircraft to replace those it has leased for more than a decade.  USAFA has not purchased a training fleet since the ill-fated T-3A Firefly killed 3 cadets and 3 officers from 1995 to 1997.

The Cirrus T-53A is a single engine propeller driven aircraft and will be used in USAFA’s flight training program.  The T-53 acquisition will run $6.1M for the fleet of 25.  The local article also notes the aircraft is equipped with a whole-aircraft parachute.

The aircraft will be evaluated by test pilots from Edwards Air Force base before its use as a cadet trainer.

Like the Air Force, the US Navy pays its aviators a monetary bonus to encourage retention (though it doesn’t always work, as the Air Force acceptance rate showed).

This year, due to high retention levels, the Navy altered its bonus plan; as stated now, the only aviators who will get the previous years’ $25K bonus per year are F/A-18 Hornet pilots.  All others will get a bonus specific to their airframe:  Read more…

Lt Ryan McGuire, the pilot training student who lost his leg and won a fight to stay in training, has graduated and received his wings.

By becoming the first amputee to graduate from pilot training, First Lt. Ryan McGuire earned his spot among the elite group…

The new Air force pilot is reportedly headed to Altus AFB, Oklahoma, to learn to fly the C-17 Globemaster III.  He has become the first amputee to earn his wings in pilot training.

USAF Lt Ben Garland has reportedly changed his mind and asked for an assignment as a Public Affairs officer rather than pilot training.  He will be assigned to the USAFA athletic department rather than his original assignment to pilot training at Laughlin Air Force Base.  The decision process has been ongoing for some time.

While its good he made that decision now, as opposed to halfway through Read more…

An Air Force article notes that the T-38 Talon, the Air Force’s primary jet trainer, has just passed 50 years of service.  To put that in perspective, the Air Force was only 14 years old, the Korean armistice wasn’t even a decade old, and most people probably didn’t know where Vietnam was yet.

The Air Force has indicated it will eventually begin an official search for a replacement trainer.

The T-38 isn’t the oldest aircraft in the inventory.  The B-52 is approaching 60 years of service.

The Air Force Times notes that the Air Force approval of vision-correcting laser eye surgery has allowed people who would otherwise have medically unqualified to become pilots.

Early on, the Air Force offered photorefractive keratectomy vision correction to a limited number of aviators. With this procedure, the surgeon uses a laser to remove skin cells from the surface of the eye before correcting the patient’s vision.

Over time, the program was extended to more airmen Read more…

Though it has been done under “beta” conditions in the past, the US Air Force is now conducting its first actual training class of UAV pilots who were not previously aviators.

The training is not short.  The new Lieutenants have already completed flight screening, must conduct a significant amount of T-6 simulator training, RPA basic training, and then finally to the basic qualfiication course for UAVs.  The “pipeline” is programmed as about a year.

The Air Force announced it would continue the “pilot bonus,” formally known as Aviator Continuation Pay (ACP), in 2011.  The program gives a bonus to pilots and now UAV pilots for a commitment extending beyond their initial service requirement.  For most pilots, this occurs 10 years after they graduate from pilot training.

As in past years, these aircrew can accept a $25,000 per year bonus for an additional commitment of five years.  A second (lower) level is offered for those who did not take the bonus the first time they were eligible.

For the first time, Air Battle Managers and Combat System Operators (formerly known as WSOs or Navs) are not eligible, because their “career field has stabilized.”

The Navy reported that a T-45 Goshawk crashed in Florida on a training mission.  Both of the two crewmembers successfully ejected.

The T-45 is used to train both Navy pilots and “naval flight officers,” or navigator/weapons officers.

According to an Air Force News release, 1Lt Ryan McGuire has been granted a medical waiver to return to pilot training with a prostethic leg below the knee.

McGuire was reportedly injured in a boating accident during pilot training; since having his lower leg amputated, he has run the Air Force Marathon.  He was found medically fit for duty just this past August, and at the end of October his medical waiver for pilot training was approved.

The article indicates that other active pilots have used prosthetics, including Read more…

Just a few years after facing off with the Iraqi Air Force on opposite sides of full-scale conflict, the US Air Force is now teaching the next generation of Iraqi Air Force pilots.

American forces have been teaching the Iraqis using 11 Iraqi-flagged T-6A Texan IIs, the same initial trainer used for the US Air Force.  The goal isn’t necessarily to make new pilots; its to teach their new instructors…and quickly:  Read more…

The Air Force already retired the T-37B Tweet and is flying the T-6A Texan II as its primary introductory flight trainer.  The T-6 was the result of a “joint” program between the Air Force and Navy.  The Navy has been transitioning from its T-34C Turbomentor to the Navy version of the trainer, the T-6B.

An article at the Navy Times notes the T-6 is a huge leap from the earlier T-34 — even sporting ejection seats.  Distressed pilots in the T-34 had to manually jump over the side if they needed to exit the aircraft in flight, a la WWII.

An Air Force Times report notes the Air Force has fallen behind its efforts to recoup money from people who quit the Air Force Academy during their junior and senior years.  Those who quit any of the military academies after their first two years are obligated to repay the government for their education; their obligation is even formalized in a “commitment” ceremony at the start of their junior year.

More interestingly, however, Air Force Chief of Staff General Norton Schwartz has said that the Air Force may seek to recoup money from recent graduates as well.  According to the report, as many as 18 new Lieutenants may have washed out of their respective schools, including pilot training.  Rather than train Read more…

General Darryl W. Burke, commander of the 82nd Training Wing, pens an interesting commentary on the official Air Force site.  He asks a simple question:  “Do you have moral courage?”

While academically interesting, it’s noteworthy that the General never really defines moral courage.  He simply seems to assume there are two kinds of courage: physical and non-physical (moral).

Moral courage is more than just “mental courage,” however.  It is not merely the courage to stand up for the correct answer; it is the courage to stand up for what is right. 

Moral courage has been mentioned by military leadership before.