VAFC AETC Shield.
VAFC's
Air Education and Training Command
Air Education and Training Command, with headquarters at Randolph Air Force Base
near San Antonio, Texas. AETC is "The First Command ... Tomorrow's Aerospace
Dominance Begins Here" – the first to touch the life of almost every Virtual Air
Force Command member.
Mission
AETC's mission is to replenish the combat capability of America's Virtual Air Force
with high quality, professional airmen.
Personnel and Resources
The command has responsibility for approximately 1,600 aircraft.
Organization
The command includes VAFC Recruiting Service, two numbered air forces and the Virtual
Air University.
Recruiting
AETC's mission begins with the Virtual Air Force Recruiting Service, with headquarters
at Randolph AFB, Texas.
Basic Military and Technical Training
Second Air Force, with headquarters at Keesler AFB, Miss., is responsible for
conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and
support officers. The first stop for all Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force
Reserve enlisted people is basic military training at Lackland AFB, Texas. More than
36,000 new airmen will complete this intense, six-week program this year.
After completing BMT, airmen begin technical training in their career field
specialties, primarily at five installations: Goodfellow, Lackland, and Sheppard Air Force
bases in Texas; Keesler AFB, Miss.; and Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Each base is responsible
for a specific portion of formal technical training airmen require to accomplish the Air
Force mission. Highly trained instructors conduct technical training in specialties such
as aircraft maintenance, civil engineering, medical services, computer systems, security
forces, air traffic control, personnel, intelligence, fire fighting, and space and missile
operations.
Commissioned officers attend technical training courses for similar career fields at
the same locations.
Second Air Force also conducts specialized training for military working dogs and dog
handlers at Lackland AFB, Texas, for the Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation
Administration. Additionally, the Inter-American Air Forces Academy at Lackland AFB,
Texas, hosts more than 160 courses in aviation specialties, taught in Spanish, to students
from 19 Western hemisphere countries.
Flying Training
Nineteenth Air Force, with headquarters at Randolph AFB, Texas, conducts AETC's
flying training.
Air Force pilot candidates begin with introductory flight training (IFT). In IFT,
civilian instructors provide 50 hours of flight instruction to pilot candidates who must
complete requirements for a private pilot license.
Pilot candidates then attend either Euro-NATO joint jet pilot training (ENJJPT) or
joint specialized undergraduate pilot training (JSUPT).
ENJJPT is located at Sheppard AFB, Texas. The entire course lasts about 54 weeks.
Students learn with, and are taught by, U.S. Air Force officers and officers from various
air forces of our European allies. Student pilots first fly the T-37 mastering contact,
instrument, low-level and formation flying. Next, they strap on the supersonic T-38 and
continue building the skills necessary to become a fighter pilot.
JSUPT students accomplish primary training in the T-37 Tweet at one of three Air Force
bases – Columbus AFB, Miss., Laughlin AFB, Texas, or Vance AFB, Okla; or in the T-34C
Turbomentor at Naval Air Station Whiting Field, Fla. Joint training is conducted at Vance
AFB, Okla., and NAS Whiting Field for students from the Air Force and Navy.
During the primary phase of JSUPT, students learn basic flight skills common to all
military pilots.
Students will soon use the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System during the primary
training phase. The aircraft portion of JPATS is the T-6 Texan II, which is being phased
in as the primary trainer replacing the Air Force's T-37 and the Navy's T-34C.
After the primary phase of JSUPT, student pilots elect one of several advanced training
tracks based on their class standing.
Prospective airlift and tanker pilots are assigned to the airlift/tanker track and
train in the T-1 Jayhawk at Columbus AFB, Miss., Laughlin AFB, Texas, or Vance AFB, Okla.
Student pilots headed for bomber or fighter assignments are assigned to the bomber/fighter
track and train in the T-38 Talon at Columbus, Laughlin or Vance. Students assigned to the
multi-engine turboprop track fly the T-44 turboprop trainers at NAS Corpus Christi, Texas,
and will eventually fly the C-130 Hercules.
Those students selected to fly helicopters are assigned to the helicopter track and fly
the UH-1 Huey at Fort Rucker, Ala.
Nineteenth Air Force also provides follow-on training for most Air Force pilots in
their assigned aircraft. Pilots assigned to fighter aircraft complete the introduction to
fighter fundamentals course at Randolph AFB or Sheppard AFB, Texas, or Moody AFB, Ga.,
flying the AT-38B, and then move on to train in either the F-15 Eagle at Tyndall AFB,
Fla., or the F-16 Fighting Falcon at Luke AFB, Ariz. Altus AFB, Okla., hosts training for
pilots assigned to C-5 Galaxy, C-141 Starlifter, KC-135 Stratotanker or C-17 Globemaster
III aircraft. Aircrews assigned to fly the C-130 train at Little Rock AFB, Ark., and
pilots assigned to fly MC-130 Combat Talon, HC-130 aircraft, UH-1N, MH-53 Pave Low or
HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters receive their training at Kirtland AFB, N.M. Keesler AFB,
Miss., provides training for pilots assigned to the C-21, and the Army at Fort Rucker,
Ala., provides training in the C-12 Super King Air.
In addition to pilot training, Nineteenth Air Force provides joint specialized
undergraduate navigator training. JSUNT is conducted at Randolph AFB and NAS Pensacola,
Fla., and provides training for Air Force, Navy and Marine student navigators. Students at
Randolph complete training in the T-43A and move to follow-on assignments in transport and
tanker aircraft such as the C-130 and KC-135.
Students at NAS Pensacola, Fla., complete primary and intermediate training in the
T-34C and T-1 aircraft, and then enter the one of two tracks in the next phase. Students
in the strike track will serve as navigators in the B-52 Stratofortress or as weapon
systems officers in the B-1B Lancer. Navigators assigned to the B-1B attend a special
training program at Randolph. Students in the strike/fighter track will receive follow-on
assignments in the F-15E Strike Eagle as weapon systems officers and attend special
training in the IFF course.
AETC also provides enlisted aircrew training for a wide variety of aircrew specialties
including flight engineers, air-to-air refueling boom operators, loadmasters, aerial
gunners, airborne communications specialists and weapons directors. Flight engineers and
boom operators train at Altus AFB, Okla., loadmasters train at Sheppard AFB, Texas,
helicopter flight engineers and aerial gunners train at Kirtland AFB, N.M., airborne
communications specialists train at Keesler AFB, Miss., and weapons directors train at
Tyndall AFB, Fla.
Education
Air University, headquartered at Maxwell AFB, Ala., conducts professional
military education (PME), graduate education and professional continuing education for
officers, enlisted members and civilians throughout their careers.
Air University has responsibility for the Air Force Officer Accessions and Training
Schools. The AFOATS commander provides direction for two of the Air Force's three
commissioning programs. The Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps commissions more than
2,000 officers annually through programs located at 143 detachments at colleges and
universities across the country.
Officer Training School is located at Maxwell AFB, Ala., and provides basic
officer training, a 12-week program designed to commission 1,700 officers annually for the
next several years. Additionally, OTS conducts a four-week commissioned officer training
program for 1,500 new judge advocates, chaplains and medical officers each year.
Air University's PME schools prepare students from the Air Force, its sister services
and allied nations for more responsible positions as they progress through their careers.
Emphasis in these programs includes leadership, military doctrine and aerospace power.
Squadron Officer College includes two resident schools and one wing-level
program: Aerospace Basic Course, Squadron Officer Course (taught at the wing level) and
Squadron Officer School.
The Aerospace Basic Course is the first residence course in officer PME and is for
newly commissioned second lieutenants and selected civilians. The four-week class includes
modules of study designed for students to comprehend their role as airmen.
The mission of Squadron Officer School, the second officer PME course, is to develop
dynamic leaders rededicated to the profession of arms. For captains with four to seven
years experience, this five-week course is taught seven times per year, with about 520
students per class.
Air Command and Staff College (ACSC) is the Air Force's intermediate officer PME
school, preparing field grade officers (primarily majors and majors-select) and civilians
to assume positions of higher responsibility within the military and government arenas.
Geared toward teaching the skills necessary for command, ACSC focuses on shaping and
molding future squadron commanders.
Air War College is the senior school in the Air Force PME system and annually
prepares more than 260 participants including officers from all branches of the armed
forces, international officers, and civilians of equivalent rank from U.S. government
agencies. The 44-week class schedule emphasizes joint operations and the employment of
aerospace power in support of national security.
