The US is supplying combat aircraft to the Ukraine? Okay, here’s how it works:
And remember, they’re going to use our aircraft.
They must hold a four-year civilian or military bachelor’s degree.
For our Air Force, officer school covers 12 weeks and takes place at Maxwell Air Force Base in Alabama. Naval pilots must take part in Officer Candidate School located in Rhode Island. Marine pilots attend Officer Candidates School in Virginia.
Pass qualifying officer tests. The Air Force requires all candidates to pass the Air Force Officer Qualifying Test. Navy and Marine pilots must take and pass the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps Aviation Selection Test Battery.
Pass the physical qualifications. Fighter pilots must have 20/20 vision, perfect hearing and be able to withstand the physical nature of flying jets. Fighter pilots undergo the pressure of several G’s during flight and must be able to avoid passing out or vomiting while in flight.
Now that they are past the education to be able to decipher an aircraft, they finally get to fly one, maybe.
Naval pilots take part in a six-week air indoctrination course at Naval Aviation Schools Command in Florida, followed by primary flight training. Marine fighter pilots must undergo the longest training of all the Marine Corps training programs, including six weeks of Aviation Preflight Indoctrination in Florida, 22 weeks of Primary Flight Training in Florida, Texas or Oklahoma, and 14 to 49 weeks of Advanced Flight Training in Florida, Mississippi or Texas. Air Force pilots take part in pre-flight and academic training, followed by 22 weeks of primary training.
Pilots may finally choose the aircraft they want to fly, or the branch they fly for may assign them an aircraft. In the Marines, aircraft-specific training begins after completing Advanced Flight Training. Naval aviators choose an aircraft pipeline after finishing primary flight training. The pipeline involves intermediate training, which includes more flight and navigation training and advanced training, which focuses on mission specifics. Air Force pilots choose an aircraft pipeline following primary training and then move into Advanced Aircraft Training.
I haven’t even reached the training needs coverage for our pilots to be competent in an aircraft. And I can promise you the war would be over before the first Ukrainian pilot straps him or herself in with enough knowledge and practice not to stick the thing into the ground or get taken out while unable to use the images in front of them.
US military fighters alone are only being challenged by Russian Sukhois and the Mig 29’s. The basic difference as to why we are so good at beating them is our pilots and their training. I guess Biden thinks this training and education is just going to go into the Ukrainians through osmosis.
wy69
Ukraine has MIG-29s already. Presumably they have pilots trained on them.
Poland has F-16s already. Presumably they have pilots trained on them.