Recent from talks
Naval flight officer
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Naval flight officer
A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or "mission specialist" functions, depending on the type of aircraft. Until 1966, their duties were performed by both commissioned officers known as Naval Aviation Officers (NAO) and senior enlisted personnel known as Naval Aviation Observers (NAO).
In 1966, enlisted personnel were removed from naval aviation observer duties. The principal catalyst for this action was due to many of the aircraft that NAOs flew having nuclear weapons missions and concerns within the OPNAV staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense over enlisted personnel having the ability to release/drop nuclear weapons. The enlisted NAOs continued to serve in enlisted Naval Aircrewman roles while NAO officers received the newly established Naval Flight Officer (NFO) designation, and the NFO insignia was introduced. NFOs in the U.S. Navy begin their careers as unrestricted line officers (URL), eligible for command at sea and ashore in the various naval aviation aircraft type/model/series (T/M/S) communities and, at a senior level, in command of carrier air wings and aircraft carriers afloat and functional air wings, naval air stations and other activities ashore. They are also eligible for promotion to senior flag rank positions, including command of aircraft carrier strike groups, expeditionary strike groups, joint task forces, numbered fleets, naval component commands and unified combatant commands.
A small number of U.S. Navy NFOs have later opted for a lateral transfer to the restricted line (RL) as aeronautical engineering duty officers (AEDO), while continuing to retain their NFO designation and active flight status. Such officers are typically graduates of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and/or the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School with advanced academic degrees in aerospace engineering or similar disciplines. AEDO/NFOs are eligible to command test and evaluation squadrons, naval air test centers, naval air warfare centers, and hold major program management responsibilities within the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
Similarly, U.S. Marine Corps NFOs are also considered eligible for command at sea and ashore within Marine aviation, and are also eligible to hold senior general officer positions, such as command of Marine aircraft wings, Marine air-ground task forces (MAGTFs), joint task forces, Marine expeditionary forces, Marine Corps component commands and unified combatant commands.
The counterpart to the NFO in the United States Air Force is the combat systems officer (CSO), encompassing the previous roles of USAF navigator, weapon systems officer and electronic warfare officer. Although NFOs in the Navy's E-2 Hawkeye aircraft perform functions similar to the USAF air battle manager in the E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, their NFO training track is more closely aligned with that of USAF combat systems officers.
The United States Coast Guard had a short-lived NFO community in the 1980s and 1990s when it operated E-2C Hawkeye aircraft on loan from the Navy. Following a fatal mishap with one of these E-2C aircraft at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard returned the remaining E-2Cs to the Navy and disestablished its NFO program.
Training for student NFOs (SNFOs) starts out the same as for student naval aviators (SNAs), with the same academic requirements and nearly identical physical requirements. The only real distinction in physical requirements is that SNFOs may have less than 20/40 uncorrected distance vision. Both SNAs and SNFOs complete Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation (NIFE) at Naval Aviation Schools Command (NAVAVSCOLSCOM) at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida before splitting off into different primary training tracks.
The SNFO program has continued to evolve since the 1960s. Today, SNFOs train under the Undergraduate Military Flight Officer (UMFO) program at Training Air Wing 6 at NAS Pensacola, alongside foreign students from various NATO, Allied and Coalition navies and air forces. All Student NFOs begin primary training at Training Squadron TEN (VT-10), flying the T-6A Texan II trainer, eventually moving on to advanced training at Training Squadron 4 (VT-4) or Training Squadron 86 (VT-86). Upon graduation from their respective advanced squadron, students receive their "wings of gold" and are designated as naval flight officers. After winging, students conduct follow-on training at their respective fleet replacement squadron (FRS) before proceeding to their initial operational assignments in combat coded, deployable fleet aviation squadrons for what is nominally a three year assignment during which time they will become Mission Commander qualified in their respective fleet aircraft.
Hub AI
Naval flight officer AI simulator
(@Naval flight officer_simulator)
Naval flight officer
A naval flight officer (NFO) is a commissioned officer in the United States Navy or United States Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. NFOs are not pilots (naval aviators), but they may perform many "co-pilot" or "mission specialist" functions, depending on the type of aircraft. Until 1966, their duties were performed by both commissioned officers known as Naval Aviation Officers (NAO) and senior enlisted personnel known as Naval Aviation Observers (NAO).
In 1966, enlisted personnel were removed from naval aviation observer duties. The principal catalyst for this action was due to many of the aircraft that NAOs flew having nuclear weapons missions and concerns within the OPNAV staff and the Office of the Secretary of Defense over enlisted personnel having the ability to release/drop nuclear weapons. The enlisted NAOs continued to serve in enlisted Naval Aircrewman roles while NAO officers received the newly established Naval Flight Officer (NFO) designation, and the NFO insignia was introduced. NFOs in the U.S. Navy begin their careers as unrestricted line officers (URL), eligible for command at sea and ashore in the various naval aviation aircraft type/model/series (T/M/S) communities and, at a senior level, in command of carrier air wings and aircraft carriers afloat and functional air wings, naval air stations and other activities ashore. They are also eligible for promotion to senior flag rank positions, including command of aircraft carrier strike groups, expeditionary strike groups, joint task forces, numbered fleets, naval component commands and unified combatant commands.
A small number of U.S. Navy NFOs have later opted for a lateral transfer to the restricted line (RL) as aeronautical engineering duty officers (AEDO), while continuing to retain their NFO designation and active flight status. Such officers are typically graduates of the U.S. Naval Test Pilot School and/or the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School with advanced academic degrees in aerospace engineering or similar disciplines. AEDO/NFOs are eligible to command test and evaluation squadrons, naval air test centers, naval air warfare centers, and hold major program management responsibilities within the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR).
Similarly, U.S. Marine Corps NFOs are also considered eligible for command at sea and ashore within Marine aviation, and are also eligible to hold senior general officer positions, such as command of Marine aircraft wings, Marine air-ground task forces (MAGTFs), joint task forces, Marine expeditionary forces, Marine Corps component commands and unified combatant commands.
The counterpart to the NFO in the United States Air Force is the combat systems officer (CSO), encompassing the previous roles of USAF navigator, weapon systems officer and electronic warfare officer. Although NFOs in the Navy's E-2 Hawkeye aircraft perform functions similar to the USAF air battle manager in the E-3 Sentry AWACS aircraft, their NFO training track is more closely aligned with that of USAF combat systems officers.
The United States Coast Guard had a short-lived NFO community in the 1980s and 1990s when it operated E-2C Hawkeye aircraft on loan from the Navy. Following a fatal mishap with one of these E-2C aircraft at the former Naval Station Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, the Coast Guard returned the remaining E-2Cs to the Navy and disestablished its NFO program.
Training for student NFOs (SNFOs) starts out the same as for student naval aviators (SNAs), with the same academic requirements and nearly identical physical requirements. The only real distinction in physical requirements is that SNFOs may have less than 20/40 uncorrected distance vision. Both SNAs and SNFOs complete Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation (NIFE) at Naval Aviation Schools Command (NAVAVSCOLSCOM) at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida before splitting off into different primary training tracks.
The SNFO program has continued to evolve since the 1960s. Today, SNFOs train under the Undergraduate Military Flight Officer (UMFO) program at Training Air Wing 6 at NAS Pensacola, alongside foreign students from various NATO, Allied and Coalition navies and air forces. All Student NFOs begin primary training at Training Squadron TEN (VT-10), flying the T-6A Texan II trainer, eventually moving on to advanced training at Training Squadron 4 (VT-4) or Training Squadron 86 (VT-86). Upon graduation from their respective advanced squadron, students receive their "wings of gold" and are designated as naval flight officers. After winging, students conduct follow-on training at their respective fleet replacement squadron (FRS) before proceeding to their initial operational assignments in combat coded, deployable fleet aviation squadrons for what is nominally a three year assignment during which time they will become Mission Commander qualified in their respective fleet aircraft.