12th Flying Training Wing units
99th FTS T-1A JayhawkRandolph AFB435th FTS T-38C Talon
558th FTS No aircraft assigned
559th FTS T-6A Texan II
560th FTS T-38C Talon
1st FTS Da20C Pueblo Memorial Airport
94th FTS TG-15A/BTG-16A Colorado Springs
98th FTS UV-18B Peterson AFB557th FTST-41A
T-51A
T-53AColorado Springs451st FTS T-1A Jayhawk NAS Pensacola
455th FTS T-6A Texan II
The 39th FTS is an associate unit within the 12th FTW and
borrows aircraft as required.we train in fundamentals of airmanship,
this is the source of American air power,’
enthused Robinson. The second GSU is
the 479th FTG at NAS Pensacola in Florida,
where future CSOs complete their training
— this includes Weapons Systems O cers,
Electronic Warfare O cers or ‘Panel
Navigators’ in large aircraft, rst in the
T-6A Texan II and then the T-1A Jayhawk
to learn advanced navigation, mission
management and electronic warfare skills.Local training
Pilot training at Randolph itself is centered
upon the T-1A, the T-6A and the T-38C in
three FTSs — the 99th FTS with the T-1A,
559th FTS with the T-6A and 560th FTS
ying the T-38C. These units concentrate
on instructor training, which then seeds
the wider Air Education and Training
Command (AETC) community. New
students going through training do not
pass through the doors of Randolph’s
squadrons. Pilot Instructor Training (PIT)
programs last about four months.
Due to technical issues with their
onboard oxygen systems, T-6A trainingwas halted by a series of groundings
from 2017. By September 2018, the
USAF said it had identi ed the problem
as being primarily caused by uctuating
concentrations of oxygen in the cockpit.
It implemented use of a re-designed
ow regulator and increased inspection
frequency on the On-Board Oxygen
Generating System (OBOGS). ‘The good
news is the air force put a lot of resources
in to determine the cause of this problem,’
explained Robinson. ‘Although we didn’t
y for a while we still graduated the same
number [of students] that we normally
would have in the scal year.’
Incredibly, the 60-year-old Talon is still
the linchpin of USAF fast-jet training. In
six decades, more than 80,000 pilots have
earned their wings in the T-38. The 12th
FTW also includes the 435th FTS ‘Black
Eagles’, which conducts the Introduction
to Fighter Fundamentals (IFF) course,
essentially a bridge between fast-jet
training and a front-line ghter. ‘IFF is
a two-month program and it will di er
slightly based on the type of aircraft they
are going to y,’ explained Col Robinson.This 435th FTS T-38C
shows how much structural
work has been carried out
on the jets under the Pacer
Classic program.A T-6A pilot assigned to
the 559th FTS taxies out
at Randolph.http://www.combataircraft.net // September 2019 33
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