JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
As part of the effort to build a better warfighter, flying training wings across Air Education and Training Command have implemented a functional fitness curriculum within their pilot training pipeline.
This holistic human performance curriculum, called Comprehensive Readiness for Aircrew Flying Training, or CRAFT, is designed to target physical and mental training objectives to improve student learning, pipeline performance, help students solve complex problems, manage stress, maintain health and fitness and foster a collaborative culture between students and instructors.
Maj. Carolyn Price Moore, Nineteenth Air Force CRAFT program director, has been responsible for the initiative since its inception in 2020, which she said is a “response to the need for more integrated support for aircrew with physically demanding jobs.”
“In 2017, the Air Force Aircrew Task Force identified neck and back injuries as a major reason for pilot attrition, especially among fighter pilots who experience significant g-forces while executing their mission,” Price Moore said. “This fueled the need for improved support for human factor issues arising from operating high-performance aircraft or high deployment operations.”
CRAFT is built upon three fundamental pillars:
- Lay an educational foundation for students
- Improve student performance
- Early pain and injury prevention
The program’s goal is to evolve support to aircrew human performance beyond a “one-and-done” approach while providing value-added training across domains with multiple, mandatory touchpoints throughout the undergraduate and graduate pilot training pipeline.
Similar programs exist within operational communities, such as Air Combat Command’s Optimizing the Human Weapons System (OHWS) and Air Force Special Operations Command’s Preservation of the Force and Family (POTFF). AETC experts introduce CRAFT to pilots before reaching their operational units, embedding human performance optimization early into a pilot’s career.
“Within Undergraduate Pilot Training, we provide baseline training, education and support that is applicable to every Airman and aircrew regardless of the airframe,” Price Moore said. “Once the student tracks to a specific community, we’re able to target the programming more and tailor the education syllabus and hands-on training to their specific needs.”
The concepts underpinning CRAFT align with the overarching Nineteenth Air Force Pilot Training Transformation, which aims at capitalizing on modern advancements in instructional modalities and technology to develop a more prepared and experienced Air Force pilot.
“While we as a nation sit in the gray zone of competition with a near-peer competitor, our warfighters need to be preparing themselves for the unique challenges and rigor that come with a high-end fight,” said Maj. Gen. Philip Stewart, Nineteenth Air Force commander. “It’s our job to ensure they are trained, educated and provided the tools to execute the mission while being mentally and physically formidable.”
With CRAFT, the average student receives between 20 and 103 hours of human performance instruction during their training pipeline before arriving at their operational community. Once the student joins the operational community, the program is designed with a seamless handoff in mind.
“We liaise with ACC and AFSOC program offices to ensure we are meeting the needs of the customer MAJCOMs,” Price Moore said. “Not only is the student receiving access to the same technology and information they will use in their gaining community, we’re ensuring continuity in data management for the human weapon system.”
Since launched in 2020, CRAFT has expanded to eight locations across the Nineteenth Air Force, with 11 total locations executing embedded human performance syllabi requirements across the pipelines.
Additional locations are anticipated to stand up to meet the tailored needs of sub-communities such as remotely piloted aircraft aircrew and combat systems operators.
“We are shaping our future Air Force aviators and laying the groundwork for Airmen and career field competencies,” Stewart said. “It is imperative to foster the culture and climate required to both keep and develop Airmen, as they continue to be our greatest strategic advantage.”