JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas –
Members of the 559th Flying Training Squadron at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph are molding the instructors who will train the next generation of U.S. Air Force pilots.
The squadron, part of the 12th Flying Training Wing at JBSA-Randolph, provides training for instructor pilots utilizing the T-6A "Texan II" aircraft, which is used to teach pilots basic flying skills.
Started in November 1940 as the 81st Bombardment Squadron at McChord Field, Wash., the 559th FTS has been stationed at JBSA-Randolph since May 1972.
Lt. Col. Robert Bryant, 559th FTS commander, said the pilots who graduate from the squadron's pilot instructor training program are assigned to train undergraduate pilots at several Air Force installations.
"We have an impact on 90 percent of all U.S. Air Force pilots trained," Bryant said.
Each year, the squadron trains 220 pilots to become instructors. These pilots, known as upgrading instructors, are in the PIT program for more than four months. The program includes two weeks of classroom learning, a two-week qualification phase and 11 weeks of instruction.
The 559th FTS is made up of 85 instructor pilots. Bryant said the squadron's instructors are experienced pilots with six to 10 years of flying and have also taught pilots at the undergraduate level.
Bryant said instructors in the squadron's PIT program train upgrading instructors, who are experienced pilots, how to teach the basics of flying to undergraduate pilots.
"What we are teaching our upgrading instructors is to teach and verbalize what has become instinctive over the years," he said.
Bryant said the training includes role-playing simulations between the instructor and the upgrading instructor in the T-6 aircraft.
"Instructor pilots act as students and make intentional mistakes so our upgrading instructors will pick up on these errors," Bryant said. "It's a huge challenge for these upgrading instructors to fly the high-performance T-6 as well and instruct at the same time."
Once the upgrading instructors have gone through the PIT, they are then assigned as instructors in the undergraduate pilot training programs at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas; Vance Air Force Base, Okla.; or Columbus Air Force Base, Miss.
Undergraduate pilots in the T-6 train at all three locations.
Other upgrading instructors go to Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, to train combat systems officers.
"In addition to teaching our upgrading instructors how to be instructor pilots, we put a lot of emphasis on teaching professionalism and Air Force core values," Bryant said.
"Air Force core values like pride in their service and treating one another with pride, dignity and respect is essential to being a good instructor and officer in our Air Force."
Bryant said the squadron is using technology and innovation to better train the upgrading instructors. Maj. Matt Elmore, 559th FTS director of innovation, and Maj. Todd Arthur, 559th FTS chief of training, put together videos of aircraft maneuvers to be viewed by upgrading instructors. The videos help the upgrading instructors learn and practice the maneuvers of the T-6.
Also, the 559th FTS works with the members of the 558th Flying Training Squadron, who train undergraduate pilots to operate remotely piloted aircraft.