The Air Force expects to complete its 2-year transition to the new undergraduate pilot training curriculum by the end of October, according to the Air Education and Training Command. “Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5,” a software-heavy, self-paced course, is producing better-prepared pilots faster. The syllabus is designed to give airmen the manual stick-and-rudder skills, plus the multi-tasking and critical thinking abilities to juggle airstrikes, intelligence-gathering sensors and collaboration with other combat assets. “We need airmen that are agile of mind, competent, credible, confident,” AETC boss Lt. Gen. Brian Robinson said Sept. 12. The program has been adopted across the Air Force’s three undergraduate flight school bases: Columbus AFB, Mississippi; Vance AFB, Oklahoma; and Laughlin AFB, Texas. Undergraduate training that used to last a year has shrunk by about five-to-six months. UPT 2.5 has sought to give students more control over their education at a time when the number of instructor pilot numbers are struggling. Officials realize UPT 2.5 has asked more of instructors than in the past, Robinson said. The level of active-duty instructor pilots is at 80% or higher, but Robinson said the AF is hurting for civilians to run the flight simulators. Those jobs are about 60% filled. (AF Times 10/13/22) Air Force praises new pilot training but struggles to hire instructors (yahoo.com)
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