In 2009, most USAF Navigators still in an operational flying status, or due to rotate back to an operational flying assignment, transitioned to CSO. Under Air Force Instruction 36-402, rated USAF Navigators who do not transition to CSO are not eligible for advanced CSO ratings, e.g. Senior CSO and Master CSO. Those USAF officers on active duty or on the Reserve Active Status List in the
Air Force Reserve or
Air National Guard who were designated as USAF Navigators prior to 30 Sep 1993, completed Undergraduate Navigator Training (UNT) and received their wings with the
323d Flying Training Wing (323 FTW) at
Mather AFB, California. With the
BRAC-directed closure of
Mather AFB, UNT was transferred to the
12th Flying Training Wing (12 FTW) at
Randolph AFB, Texas in late 1993 and all USAF navigators except those destined for the B-1B and F-15E subsequently received their wings at that location. Concurrent with the move from Mather to Randolph, a parallel student USAF Navigators track was established for those officers desiring to become weapon systems officers (WSOs) in the B-1B and F-15E. These officer students proceeded to the U.S. Navy's Training Air Wing SIX at
NAS Pensacola, Florida and followed a training track nearly identical to USN and USMC Student
naval flight officers destined for tactical jet aircraft. The separation between CSO candidates previously attending UNT with the
12th Flying Training Wing (12 FTW) at Randolph AFB until 2009, and those who attended a joint program with the U.S. Navy's Training Air Wing SIX (TRAWING 6) at
NAS Pensacola, Florida was in the type of operational USAF aircraft the candidates would later fly: :* Navigators that graduated from Randolph AFB were eventually assigned to
C-130 airlift;
KC-135 aerial refueling;
AC-130 and
MC-130 special operations;
HC-130P combat
search and rescue;
WC-130J
weather reconnaissance;
OC-135/
WC-135/
RC-135 reconnaissance;
EC-130H Compass Call,
EC-130J Commando Solo,
E-3 AWACS or
E-8 J-STARS electronic warfare; or
B-52 Stratofortress bomber duties. Navigators trained via this track were also assigned to fly the
E-4, the
VC-25, and until its 2001 retirement, the
VC-137. However, these latter three aircraft were not direct entry positions for recent flight school graduates and were/are crewed only by highly experienced navigators previously qualified in another aircraft. :* Navigators graduating from NAS Pensacola were assigned as weapon systems officers in the
F-15E Strike Eagle strike fighter, the
B-52 Stratofortress, or the
Rockwell B-1B Lancer bomber after follow-on EWO training at Randolph AFB. With the USAF's retirement of the
EF-111A Raven in 1998, a small number of USAF Navigators trained as EWOs would subsequently proceed to land-based U.S. Navy "expeditionary" electronic attack squadrons flying the
EA-6B Prowler as a means of retaining a cadre of USAF EWOs in the tactical aviation arena. With the establishment of the 479 FTG and UCSOT, the integrated training program with the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps at TRAWING 6 was discontinued. However, despite the divergence of USAF CSO training from student
naval flight officer (NFO) training, all CSOs for all USAF aircraft model design series (MDS) now receive their training at NAS Pensacola. While some extant USAF MDS aircraft, such as the pure airlift variant of the C-130E are being retired, and the pure airlift version C-130J have eliminated the navigator/CSO position, all the other aforementioned extant MDS aircraft, as well as the HC-130J, MC-130J and WC-130J currently entering the inventory, continue to retain requirements for CSOs, thus ensuring the continued viability of the CSO career path. Until its inactivation and closure in September 1993 due to
Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) action, all USAF undergraduate navigator training (UNT) took place with the former
323d Flying Training Wing at the former
Mather AFB, California, utilizing the
Boeing T-43A Bobcat and
Cessna T-37 Tweet aircraft. In October 1993, training then shifted to the
12th Flying Training Wing at
Randolph AFB, Texas, continuing at that location through 2009. Prior to its disestablishment at Randolph AFB, the
562d Flying Training Squadron of the
12th Flying Training Wing (12 FTW) was responsible for training inflight navigation with the Raytheon
T-1A Jayhawk and
Boeing T-43A Bobcat aircraft, while the
563d Flying Training Squadron taught electronic warfare in an academic and simulator environment. The 563d Flying Training Squadron also incorporated the T-43A Bobcat and the T-1A Jayhawk in advanced CSO training. The T-43A has since been retired and all T-1A CSO training aircraft transferred to the 479 FTG at NAS Pensacola. From 1994 until late 2009, a portion of USAF undergraduate navigator training took place at NAS Pensacola, integrated with the US Navy's student naval flight officer program under the aegis of Training Air Wing Six (TRAWING SIX) with USAF instructor navigators embedded in the wing and its squadrons. US Navy
Training Squadron 4 (VT-4) and
Training Squadron 10 (VT-10) conducted basic and intermediate flight training, initially the Raytheon
T-34C Turbomentor until it was replaced by the
T-6 Texan II, followed by training in the Raytheon T-1A Jayhawk and
Rockwell T-39 Sabreliner.
Training Squadron 86 (VT-86) then conducted advanced training in the T-39 and the
Boeing T-45 Goshawk for student naval flight officers of the
U.S. Navy,
U.S. Marine Corps and numerous
NATO/Allied and Coalition partner nations in addition to advanced USAF undergraduate navigator students destined for assignment as weapon systems officers in tactical aircraft. Prior to 2010, these USAF students destined for the F-15E Strike Eagle and the B-1B Lancer, as well as several USAF navigator flight instructors, were also fully integrated into these squadrons, with command of one squadron, VT-10, rotating between a USN commander who was a naval flight officer and a USAF lieutenant colonel who was a senior navigator or master navigator. Starting in the summer of 2010, following completion of initial flight screening, all US Air Force CSO students began attending training at NAS Pensacola as the training squadrons at Randolph AFB closed down in accordance with the 2005
BRAC Committee findings. CSO students now fall under the
479th Flying Training Group with two training squadrons (451 FTS and 455 FTS), one operations support squadron (479 OSS) and one student squadron (479 STUS). Like the previous navigator training squadrons at Randolph AFB, the 479 FTG and its subordinate squadrons also fall under the control of the
12th Flying Training Wing (12 FTW) at Randolph AFB, albeit as a geographically separated unit (GSU) of the 12 FTW. The first CSO class (11-01) under the new syllabus started 5 May 2010, and graduated on 15 April 2011. Upon completion of training, USAF CSOs receive basic CSO wings. At seven years of aeronautically rated service, they become eligible for the Senior CSO rating and at fifteen years the Master CSO rating, although an effort is underway to rename the Master CSO designation to Command CSO, standardizing same with their
USAF Command Pilot counterparts. CSOs assigned to
NASA crewed spaceflight programs are also eligible for CSO-
Astronaut insignia at the Senior and Master level based upon their aeronautical rating at the time and completion of at least one spaceflight. ==CSO operational command==