Transition From Navy to Air Force Flight Training

CHAPTER 1

AIR FORCE T-38 TRACK INTERMEDIATES

"The aggressive spirit, the offensive, is the chief thing everywhere in war, and in the air is

no exception."

Baron Manfred Von Richthofen

"Whenever you're over the lines you have to keep twisting your neck in all directions every

minute, or you're sure to be surprised."

Captain Edward "Eddie" Rickenbacker, USAF

103.

TRANSITION FROM NAVY TO AIR FORCE FLIGHT TRAINING

The purpose of our Air Force T-38 Intermediate program is to introduce you to the Air Force

training environment as soon as possible. Make no mistake about it, your task is very

challenging, your T-37 brethren have been brought up under this system for six months and they

are experts at it. Our goal is to make you as close to on par with them as we possibly can. The

transition to the Air Force training environment is one of the greatest challenges for T-34

students going to T-38s. Not only are you going from the Navy to the Air Force way of life, but

also you are trying to tame the "White Rocket" (T-38), flying at much faster airspeeds than you

are used to.

Now that you have been selected for the specialized fighter track, you will only fly with fighter

pilots, bomber pilots or T-38-trained First-Assignment Instructor Pilots (FAIPs) after you arrive

at Vance. The T-38 instructors are going to be tough on you, they will expect you to be totally

committed to making it through the program. If you give anything less than that, you will be

identified and eliminated. The IPs at Vance, like Whiting, are not expecting you to be "Chuck

Yeager," but they are expecting hard work and effort. Attitude is everything in the fighter world

and if you have a reputation as a hard charger, then everyone will break their backs trying to help

you; likewise, if you have a reputation as less than a hard charger, no one will want to waste their

time with you. Now, let us identify some aspects of this new world you are about to enter.

a. Your Flight

Unlike students at Whiting, you will go through the syllabus together as a class. Your class

will be about 6-9 students. The Air Force pilot training system is very fast paced and they are

very exact about when you will start training and when you will graduate. In Air Force pilot

training, the timeline is everything. You can expect to hit the ground running once the formal

syllabus starts. The good news is that you are not going through all this by yourself, you are

going through with your flightmates/classmates. The whole class will be on the same schedule

for the majority of your time there. You will all show up at the same time for the formal brief

(more on this later) and you will all leave at the same time (when you are on "formal release").

You can expect to spend all day at the squadron, about 10-12 hours per day, but do not worry,

you will be busy all day. As soon as you start flying, you will be "opted" (optioned for, meaning

you can be scheduled for one or the other of at least two types of events, i.e., flight and EP or

instrument sim) for at least two events a day (flight/sim, sim/sim, flight/flight). Your flightmates

are crucial; you will all have to work together to get through this challenging syllabus.

Teamwork applies; group studying, "pattern parties," etc. are not just good ideas, but essential to

making it through the program. Your class goal is to get everyone through to graduation.

1-4 INTRODUCTION TO USAF T-38 TRACK INTERMEDIATES