Welcome to the Fighters discussion blog. The purpose of this blog is to foster discussion between future Air Force officers interested in becoming pilots and flying fighters and active duty officers currently flying such planes. The views expressed in this blog are solely the opinions of the individual authors and not of the United States Air Force nor the Department of Defense.
The best part is EVERY day is different. Some days you'll roll in and do paperwork all day (few and far between). Usually you'll get about 6-10 sorties (flights) per month, they call it RAP. Each Thursday the schedulers and flight commanders make the schedule for the next week (in theory) and get it approved by the DO (Director of Operations). But, each night, it changes based on weather, training syllabus, RAP requirements, or other miscellaneous forces of nature. So, the bottom line, you really don't know what you're doing until the night before, and sometimes, not until hours before. Make sure you enjoy spontanaeity! So, each flight takes about 6-8 hours on average - 2 hours for briefing, 1 hour for stepping and ground ops, 1.5 hours for flying, and 2-4 hours for debriefing, depending on the mission. At Red Flag, the Weapons School, or in combat, the hours go out the window, but the flying gets as intense as possible. Carrying tritonal or live missiles on board is pretty intense too. Occasionally they let you practice in training, and it usually makes big booms. From CAS (Close Air Support) to CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue), to BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers) to ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) to SAT (Surface Attack Tactics), you're executing some piece of the mission, either in training, or in reality, every time you fly.
The days are long, but the nights are too. Work hard, play hard is in effect. The camraderie in the squadron naming ceremonies, O-Club crud tournaments, or just plain partying in downtown Las Vegas, is bar none.
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The best part is EVERY day is different. Some days you'll roll in and do paperwork all day (few and far between). Usually you'll get about 6-10 sorties (flights) per month, they call it RAP. Each Thursday the schedulers and flight commanders make the schedule for the next week (in theory) and get it approved by the DO (Director of Operations). But, each night, it changes based on weather, training syllabus, RAP requirements, or other miscellaneous forces of nature. So, the bottom line, you really don't know what you're doing until the night before, and sometimes, not until hours before. Make sure you enjoy spontanaeity!
So, each flight takes about 6-8 hours on average - 2 hours for briefing, 1 hour for stepping and ground ops, 1.5 hours for flying, and 2-4 hours for debriefing, depending on the mission.
At Red Flag, the Weapons School, or in combat, the hours go out the window, but the flying gets as intense as possible.
Carrying tritonal or live missiles on board is pretty intense too. Occasionally they let you practice in training, and it usually makes big booms. From CAS (Close Air Support) to CSAR (Combat Search and Rescue), to BFM (Basic Fighter Maneuvers) to ACM (Air Combat Maneuvering) to SAT (Surface Attack Tactics), you're executing some piece of the mission, either in training, or in reality, every time you fly.
The days are long, but the nights are too. Work hard, play hard is in effect. The camraderie in the squadron naming ceremonies, O-Club crud tournaments, or just plain partying in downtown Las Vegas, is bar none.
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