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Innovation continues with Det. 24’s change of command
June 14, 2022 — Lt. Col. Steve “Tiger” Briones took command of Detachment 24 from Lt. Col. Ryan “Motor” Riley during a change of command ceremony at the Kendrick Club at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph June 10. Maj. Gen. Craig Wills, Nineteenth Air Force commander, presided over the ceremony and talked about the ground breaking progress within pilot training because of Det. 24. ... MORE

Collaboration key to developing 5G capabilities at JBSA experimentation site
June 6, 2022 — Two years ago this month, the Office of the Undersecretary of Defense for Research and Engineering selected Joint Base San Antonio as one of several installations where experimentation and testing of fifth-generation, or 5G, communications technology would take place. In the time since, great advances have been made toward developing 5G augmented reality support for telemedicine and medical training, and in 5G cyber security, at America’s largest joint base... MORE

AFSOC's historic first Pilot Training Next team takes flight
January 12, 2021 — For the first time in Air Force Special Operations Command history, two new graduates from the Air Education and Training Command’s Pilot Training Next, or PTN, training served as aircraft commander and co-pilot on a mission sortie... MORE

Third class graduates Pilot Training Next
September 14, 2020 — The third iteration of Pilot Training Next conducted their third and final graduation Sept. 3, 2020, at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas. The first four students graduated Aug. 13, 2020, the second group of four students graduated Aug. 21, 2020, and the final six students graduated Sept. 3, 2020... MORE

Pilot Training Next celebrates first solo flights on 25th training day
February 18, 2020 — Pilot Training Next's third iteration marked a milestone as two students flew their first solos at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Feb. 14... MORE

Pilot Training Next, Air Force ROTC partner for distance learning instruction
February 11, 2020 — For the first time ever, Air Force ROTC cadets with Detachment 536 at Clarkson University in Potsdam, New York, received real-time instruction remotely from a fully qualified Air Force instructor pilot sitting an airport in Louisiana... MORE

Pilot Training Next helped make Air Force ROTC history while pushing the limits of technology and training during their recent partnership with Clarkson University.

Pilot Training Next’s third class underway at JBSA-Randolph
January 10, 2020 — Pilot Training Next begins the New Year with the start of the third iteration at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Jan. 8... MORE

Pilot Training Next begins the New Year with the start of the third iteration at Joint Base San Antonio - Randolph, Texas Jan. 8.

Pilot Training Next, NASA launch collaborative research agreement
October 25, 2019 — Officials from Air Education and Training Command’s Pilot Training Next have established a strategic partnership with NASA, focused on biometric data collection and the application of emerging technology into PTN curriculum that will innovate the student pilot learning environment... MORE

U.S. Air Force Capt. Jay Pothula, Det. 24 Pilot Training Next instructor; Derrick Ng, NASA aerospace engineer intern; and Alex Garbino, NASA extravehicular activities physiologist, monitors 2nd Lt. Gabe Cavender, PTN student, during a virtual reality sortie as part of the collaborative research agreement between Air Education and Training Command and NASA Oct. 22 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. The goal of the agreement is to help both AETC and NASA collect physiological and cognitive data and leverage each organization's knowledge and skills to maximize learning potential for individual students.

Pilot Training Next graduates 14 in learning experiment's second iteration
August 30, 2019 — Air Education and Training Command’s Pilot Training Next program graduated 14 U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy and the Royal Air Force students from the learning experiment’s second iteration in a ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Aug. 29... MORE

Pilot Training Next students pose for a group photo after graduation from the learning experiment's second iteration with Brig. Gen. Jeannie Leavitt, Air Force Recruiting Service commander, Aug. 29 at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph. PTN is a program to explore and potentially prototype a training environment that integrates various technologies to produce pilots in an accelerated, cost efficient, learning-focused manner.

Royal Air Force partners with PTN to innovate pilot training pipeline
March 29, 2019 — It’s been said that “seeing is believing” and after a visit last May to the Pilot Training Next facility in Austin and facing a pilot shortage, the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force is taking innovation to the next level with the inclusion of a student and an instructor pilot in the second iteration of the class... MORE

Royal Air Force Flight Officer Syd Janota (foreground), Pilot Training Next 2.0 student, observes a fellow student flying a virtual-reality training sortie at the PTN facility at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Austin, Texas, March 18, 2019. The RAF have both a student-pilot and an instructor pilot participating in the class as they look to introduce PTN lessons learned into their flying training pipeline.

Pilot Training Next innovations moving to undergraduate pilot training
March 14, 2019 — Beginning May 31, 2019, flying training wings across Air Education and Training Command will formally begin integrating innovations from Pilot Training Next into the undergraduate pilot training curriculum,19th Air Force officials announced at the PTN Technology Expo held at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph March 12-13... MORE

Staff Sgt. Joseph Sabin, Air Education and Training Command Technology Integrated Detachment, flies a virtual-reality sortie at the Pilot Training Next Technology Expo at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph March 12. Technology currently being used at PTN was on display at the expo and subject matter experts and technology vendors were available to talk with attendees.

Pilot Training Next cadre discuss lessons learned, way forward
September 20, 2018 — Air Education and Training Command officials announced the second iteration of Pilot Training Next would begin in January 2019 during a panel at the 2018 Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference... MORE

U.S. Air Force Second Lt. Charles Keller and Airman First Class Tyler Haselden, Pilot Training Next students, train on a virtual reality flight simulator at the Armed Forces Reserve Center in Austin, Texas, June 21. Air Education and Training Command officials announced the second iteration of Pilot Training Next would begin in January 2019 during a panel at the 2018 Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland.

Flying training reimagined as first Pilot Training Next class graduates
August 7, 2018 — The Air Force’s pilot training landscape took a significant step forward in reimagining how Airmen learn to fly as 13 students from the first iteration of Pilot Training Next pinned on their silver wings in a ceremony Aug. 3, at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, Austin, Texas. As Air Education & Training Command’s most tangible example of the Continuum of Learning, a paradigm shift in education, training and the capitalization of experiences, PTN is the embodiment of student-centric learning... MORE

The parents of 2nd Lt. Nickolas Brandt, Pilot Training Next student, pin on his aeronautical wings during his graduation August 3, 2018, at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, Austin, Texas. PTN is a program to explore and potentially prototype a training environment that integrates various technologies to produce pilots in an accelerated, cost efficient, learning-focused manner.