Reservists add major adjustment to T-1 training Published Dec. 18, 2006 By Frank McIntyre 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. (AETCNS) -- Four or five months after graduating from Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training at Vance Air Force Base, students from the T-1 tanker and airlift track may very well find themselves flying over not so friendly skies in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Thanks to the efforts of two members of the 5th Flying Training Squadron, pilots trained at Vance will be better prepared for flying in a hostile environment. Simply put, T-1 instructor pilots Majors Doug Stouffer and Randy Tiedt created a new process to add simulated threats to the low-level routes students fly over the local area. However, creating the new process was anything but simple. The end product was the result of the two Reserve majors dedicating countless hours on promoting instructor and student training of the Portable Flight Planning Software. Previously during planning, the students used a laminated map to mark the low-level routes. The maps were reused many times and often were covered in smudges left from erasures of previous routes. "The maps weren't out of date, they just didn't allow for changing scenarios," Major Tiedt said. "Without that flexibility we had no way to mirror scenarios of the real world." "The 32nd FTS commander (Lt. Col. John Hokaj) came to us with a vision of how he wanted the training to go with a more realistic training product," Major Stouffer said. "So, in a combined effort between the Reserves here in the 5th and some of the active duty who have recent combat experience, we were able to make that vision a reality." "We want to provide a better product to those that receive our students," Colonel Hokaj said. "With an early exposure to the reality of combat, we instill a combat fighter mindset in our future pilots and build that culture from day one of training." By taking advantage of available technology, the new method allows students doing mission planning the use of a computer to bring up a map "to see it, use it and change it to come up with a product they can take into the airplane and fly," Major Stouffer said. "This simulates what a tactics shop in theater does, where the pilots get this type of product handed to them at briefing time," he said. "Having seen it here, the future pilots will be better able to decipher it when they are given it in a real-world situation." The new system works with Falcon-View, described by its manufacturer as "a non-proprietary government off-the-shelf application for analyzing and displaying geographical information crucial to the warfighter." Because the new process had to be kept within the constraints of the T-1 training syllabus, much of Major Stouffer's new programming was directed to making the process user friendly. The new PFPS was then installed on squadron computers, with the user-friendly interface for the students and IPs to use. "In addition to training students, this helps a lot of the first-term instructor pilots too," Major Tiedt said. "The first assignment instructor pilots came through the program without any exposure to PFPS maps like these. It gets them up to speed as they act as tactical officers would, briefing on the different types of threat in the theater." One of the FAIPs who knows the benefits of the new program is 1st Lt. Jon Cato, who's been with the 32nd FTS since June 2004. "The new low level program does two things which I feel are essential to success at the next level of many military aircraft training; it provides a stronger familiarization with the FalconView program and shows first hand how low altitude threat avoidance is applied in the operational Air Force," Lieutenant Cato said. "I have personally witnessed a dramatic change in students' understanding of how to manipulate FalconView to reflect the type of mission being flown that particular day. Also, this program indirectly causes students to apply a greater understanding of the T-1A Flight Management System, ultimately exposing them to the fundamentals and application of 21st century navigation systems (technology)," said the 32nd's executive officer. "As a student in UPT, I remember vividly not knowing half as much about threat avoidance, FalconView and low level tactical operations as the current 32nd student knows. The 'do it yourself' guide created by Majors Stouffer and Tiedt is extremely self explanatory and has been my reference since it was developed," the JSUPT class 04-10 graduate said. "The program is currently up and running and by its fast-paced implementation, I expect to see more good things in the future that will inevitably become beneficial to both students and FAIPs." "The T-1 low-level program accomplishes two things," Col. Richard Klumpp, Jr., 71st Flying Training Wing commander, said. "First, it makes it much quicker to produce a low-level chart, from 30-40 minutes down to less than five. This gives the students time back to study other issues. The other benefit is that it operationalizes the low-level training, incorporating threats into the mission planning. This gives the students a leg up at their follow-on training and helps instill a combat mindset early on. "Changes like this are the intent of Air Force Smart Operations 21.We produced a real time savings, a modest cost savings and a significant quality improvement in the low-level product and the JSUPT students," the wing commander said. "They are going to Altus and showing graduates from other bases how to get the most out of the PFPS software.""Gen. William Looney, (Air Education and Training Command commander) was very interested in the program and asked us to forward the details to him to discuss with his operation folks at the headquarters," Colonel Klumpp said. "He provided coins for the IPs involved. It's great to have folks like this on our team. This is yet another example of the important contributions our Reserve IPs are producing every single day. PFPS wizards Majors Stouffer and Tiedt are truly leading the way."