new wingmen out of Undergraduate Pilot
Training [UPT] it will be our job to focus
that training towards those ghters.’
The system currently o ers ve standard
training tracks: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta
and Echo, with the last being for the fth-
generation platforms. However, the F-35
doesn’t really t into Echo Track because
it is currently a more air-to-air focused
course designed for the F-22. ‘There are
some familiarization rides with the air-to-
ground mission in E Track, but it’s primarily
tailored for the air-to-air side,’ Macasek
explains. ‘The F-35 is an interesting
challenge because it doesn’t quite t the
air-to-air or air-to-ground piece, just due
the nature of the weapons and the tactics
that they employ. Currently, all the F-35
students are going through the B-Track,
which is multi-role — the F-15Es and
F-16s, plus now the F-35. However, we
want to do a better job at specializing that
training. As a result, we need to look at it
very closely — it’s very di cult with the
T-38 to develop a syllabus that is going to
give them the necessary tools.’Clearly, the new T-X aircraft will
revolutionize USAF UPT. Macasek says: ‘It
will be able to do a lot more simulation
and a lot more tailored training for a
speci c airframe. But in the meantime
we’re going to have the T-38 for a number
of years yet, so we have to adapt the
current syllabus.
‘We are going to have to gure out how
to task saturate the students, ip them
into a very dynamic environment but
at the same time — using the limited
automation that is available to us right
now — simulate what they’re going to do
in the future. We will eventually have F-35
IPs [Instructor Pilots] join us here at the
49th FTS. That’s in its infancy right now;
those guys really need to be in the combat
air force and not here with us yet. I’d say
that as these programs develop they
would truly be able to de ne what they of
us here at IFF. We have to deliver a product
that the customer wants. We do that with
the legacy types because they’ve been
around for a long time. The IPs from those
types are very experienced and they knowThe new
[T-X] aircraft
is planned to
‘download’ some of
the tactical training
to a more cost-
effective level
Lt Col John MacasekAbove: The USAF
is looking for new
ways to entice
bright young
students into its
ranks.of incredible memorabilia, the countless
previous classes and heritage from
its glorious past. Lt Col Macasek is an
experienced aviator; he started out as a
B-1B Weapons Systems O cer before he
logged 1,000 hours as an A-10 pilot and
now has similar experience in the Talon.
‘We are going through a transformation
right now,’ he says. ‘The T-38 Talon,
which we use as the primary trainer for
Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals
[IFF] is a relatively old aircraft, originally
designed to train pilots to y the Century
series ghters. So, with fth-generation
ghters coming online it poses a lot of
challenges for us. My job over the next
couple of years is to help shape the
syllabus across all of the IFF squadrons, to
convert to the new fth-generation, while
retaining some of that capability with the
legacy ghters, which will still be around
for quite a while.
‘I intend to start by understanding
what the fth-generation’s needs are and
what that community wants from their
perspective. When they start to accept30
UNIT REPORT // 49TH FTS
July 2018 // http://www.combataircraft.net28-35 Black Knights.indd 30 20/05/2018 11:22