RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
Randolph's loss will soon be the Air Force's gain as the new generation of combat systems officers emerges from a single pipeline at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Fla.
A ceremony Oct. 2 at a new facility at NASP will stand up the 19th Air Force's 479th Flying Training Group and its three squadrons, the 479th Operational Support Squadron and the 451st and 455th Flying Training Squadrons.
The squadrons, which will succeed the 562nd and 563rd Flying Training Squadrons that have been turning out Air Force CSOs and electronic warfare officers and Naval flight officers at Randolph for the past 16 years, represent the next step in the evolution of the CSO as envisioned by Gen. John Jumper, former Air Force chief of staff.
"He wanted a program with one individual coming through a single pipeline with all skill sets - weapons employment, air-to-air intercept and electronic warfare," said Lt. Col. Michael Love, former 562nd FTS director of operations who will command the 455th FTS. "He wanted someone who could manage an entire battlefield."
He said the facility will consolidate the training at NASP and Randolph for navigators, EWOs and weapon systems officers into one program.
Lt. Col. Peter Deitschel, 562nd FTS commander, believes the new location and training curriculum will help bring General Jumper's vision to fruition.
"We will have a universally assignable aviator with greater leadership, decision-making and confidence in a competitive track environment," he said. "The training will build competent airmanship, mission leadership, advanced communication, electronic warfare and weapons employment."
The stand-up ceremony at NASP will feature Gen. Stephen Lorenz, Air Education and Training Command commander; Col. Jacqueline Van Ovost, 12th Flying Training Wing commander; and the new organization's leadership - Col. Travis Willis, 479th FTG commander; Lt. Col. Jeff Burdette, 451st FTS commander; Colonel Love; and Lt. Col. Ray Chuvala, 479th OSS commander.
The facility will include the two flying training squadrons' 100,000-square-foot hangar with 75,000 square feet of hangar floor space, a 6,000-square-foot fuel-cell maintenance bay and about 19,000 square feet for aircraft maintenance and training and briefing areas. A 52,000-square-foot academic instruction facility with space for classrooms and six flight simulators will house the 479th OSS.
Colonel Love said state-of-the-art technology will distinguish the new facility.
He said construction of the academic facility should be finished this month while the hangar is scheduled for completion late this year.
The first class at NASP will begin in May.
"We're looking at graduating 100 students per year initially and about 360 per year once it's up and running," Colonel Love said. "There will be 10 students in the first class. Later we'll have 27 to 30 students per class, and a new class will start every three weeks."
Meanwhile, the last class at Randolph will begin in December and graduate in October 2010, he said.
Much of the academic training at the new facility will mirror the changes that have taken place at Randolph.
"AETC along with the 562nd FTS, 563rd FTS and the current NASP training were able to combine our five current syllabi into one," Colonel Deitschel said. "This will allow our students to fly any aircraft that has a navigator, electronic warfare officer or weapon systems officer position."
However, he said the flying experience at the new facility will differ from that at Randolph, he said.
"The experience at NASP will be quite different than the training at Randolph, especially in the flying realm as we change from the T-43 to the T-6A and T-1A," Colonel Deitschel said.
He said the T-45 simulator will also be retired along with the T-43 next year, but students at the 563rd FTS are already using the T-25 simulator that will be employed at NASP.
"The T-25 is a state-of-the-art, off-the-shelf technology simulator that will give the students the most realistic training possible without actually flying," Colonel Deitschel said.
He said the simulator and flying training at NASP will prepare students for any Air Force Special Operations Command fixed-wing aircraft - F-15E, B-1B, B-52, RC-135, KC-135, J-STARS, AWACS, C-130E/H, HC-130 and EC-130.
"Basically, if there is a CSO position, then our students will be prepared for that mission," Colonel Deitschel said.
CSO training was directed to NASP by virtue of a Base Realignment and Closure decision in 2005.
"Currently NASP trains all the CSOs for the B-1B and F-15E Aircraft for the Air Force as well as all the Naval flight officers for the Navy," Colonel Deitschel said. "The move to NASP will put all the CSO training under the control of the Air Force and allow for some possible joint training in the future."