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Squadron focuses on ‘whole-person concept’ to mold fighter pilots

  • Published
  • By Robert Goetz
  • Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Public Affairs
JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-RANDOLPH, Texas --  One of the 12th Flying Training Wing's squadrons occupies a unique position at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph.

The 435th Fighter Training Squadron, with a heritage that dates back to the World War II-era 435th Fighter Squadron, is the only unit here that trains the Air Force's newest aviators to become fighter pilots.

The squadron's two-fold mission is to forge up to 150 fighter pilots and weapon systems officers annually - including international students - and to weld experienced fighter pilots and WSOs into instructors in Air Education and Training Command's Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals squadrons.

The IFF course, which is also taught at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., is the third phase in the development of a fighter pilot, Capt. Sean Jones, 435th FTS flight commander and instructor pilot, said.

"We receive them as new pilots in the Air Force and begin teaching them the fundamentals of how to become a fighter pilot," he said.

Students selected for pilot slots after graduating from their commissioning sources begin the first two phases of their flying training at one of AETC's four undergraduate pilot training bases - Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas; Columbus Air Force Base; Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma; and Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas. Each phase lasts six months.

Students chosen for fighter training head to JBSA-Randolph or Columbus for the IFF course, or to Sheppard, where Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training continues.

"Students will spend four months with us, so we get to know them really well," Jones said.

During their four months at JBSA-Randolph, fighter pilot candidates are trained in modules ranging from two- and four-ship formations and basic fighter maneuvers to low-level navigation and surface attack tactics.

The 435th FTS comprises five flights, including three that are student-specific, Jones said.

The IFF course includes classroom instruction and simulator training, but the crux of the course is aerial fighter training in a T-38C Talon.

"It takes four hours for each mission," Jones said. "There is an hour-long brief with the student before the flight and a debriefing after the flight that takes an 1½ to 2 hours."

In fiscal 2014, the squadron completed 3,994 sorties and graduated 100 IFF students, 19 instructor pilots and 22 weapons system officers.

Following completion of the IFF course, pilots move on to initial mission qualification training before assignment to a fighter squadron.

Another component of the 435th FTS' mission is development of the "whole-person concept," which includes leadership, Jones said.

"Being a leader is not a given; it is something that is learned," he said. "As a leader, one is never as good as one can be, so one should always be looking to improve."

The squadron is addressing leadership through mentorship opportunities for pilots, including sessions last year with Bobby Bowden of Florida State University and Mack Brown of the University of Texas at Austin, two of college football's most successful coaches, Lt. Col. Mark Schmidt, 435th FTS commander, said.

He said sessions such as these help answer the question, "What does it mean to be a great leader?"

"We're going after incredibly talented people and better leaders," Schmidt said. "That's what we're looking for."

Jones said Bowden and Brown, who are now retired from coaching, "generously took the time to sit down with 435th pilots to discuss leadership, specifically how each took his programs to the height of the college football world, how each handled leadership challenges and what each thought was essential in a leader."

He said the sit-downs with both coaches yielded many valuable insights on leadership, including the importance of loyalty, handling adversity, learning from mistakes, integrity, hard work and communication.

Jones said instructor pilots find "job satisfaction" when they see the development of fighter pilot candidates.

"It's very rewarding on a day-to-day basis when a student can learn a concept and fully embrace it," he said. "When you see them on graduation day, the transition that happens is the reason why we do this."