The AATTC offers a nine-day Advanced Tactics Aircrew Course, formerly known as the Aircrew Course. The academic phase is designed to familiarize the crewmember with the basic principles and tactics for operating an airlift aircraft in a hostile environment. Platform instruction is one method used to teach the basic and advanced concepts to crewmembers. The ground training includes briefings on Air/Ground Operations, Low Level Employment, Low Level Awareness Training, Low Level Dynamics, Structures, Enemy Air/Ground Threats, Tactical Formation Maneuvering, and other "need to know" areas. Additionally, instructors constantly reinforce the learning objectives during mission planning and in-flight. This, in conjunction with the simulated hostile environment scenario flying sorties, will generate the familiarization required to promote mission success and increase the individual crewmember's ability to survive actual hostile environment missions. The flying training consists of two primary phases, The Eastern Phase (Missouri) and the Western Phase (Arizona). The Eastern Phase consists of two low level tactical missions during which, the aircrews are scheduled to airdrop one actual Heavy Equipment (HE) load and one actual High Velocity Container Delivery System (Hi-V CDS) bundle. The Western Phase consists of two Low Level Awareness Training (LLAT) sorties, one Dissimilar Defensive Maneuvering (DDM) sortie, two Low Level Navigation Training (LLNT) sorties and one Hostile Environment Training (HET) sortie. Actual airdrops and actual combat off/on loads (COL) are also incorporated into the Western phase. During both phases the aircrews fly against simulated SAM and AAA ground threats, as well as actual air threats. Audiovisual personnel record the evasive maneuvering of the response to the simulated threats on videotape which is used to provide feedback to the aircrews during debriefings. The AATTC also trains qualified USMC and
Special Operations Forces (SOF) aircrews. These SOF aircrews include
MC-130 Combat Talon,
AC-130 Spectre gunship aircrews and Combat Search and Rescue
HC-130 Air Rescue Service . The AATTC also trains USAF and AFRC C-17 aircrews, C-130(H)(J) aircrews from Australia, Belgium, Canada, Great Britain, Italy, Israel, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain and Sweden, as well as C-160 crews from Germany, G-222 crews from Italy AND C295 crews from Spain. The AATTC course is listed in AFC 36-2223 (USAF Formal Schools Catalog) as AATTC - Advanced Airlift Tactics Training Center and is assigned PDS code 6S4. == Night Vision Goggle (NVG) Courses ==