The makings of a warrior: The F-22 Weapons School. Part 3

March 11, 7:57 PMMilitary and Civil Aviation ExaminerDave Majumdar

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Part 3 concludes with Major Micah "Zeus" Fesler explaining the challenge of developing a graduate level instructor pilot course for a fifth generation fighter. The Weapons School is an elite USAF institution designed to elevate students- who are already instructor pilots- to the absolute pinnacle of tactical proficiency and  develop new cutting edge tactics all the while making sure those new Weapon School grads remain approachable, humble and knowledgeable to their students.

Developing a graduate level instructor pilot course for a fifth generation fighter poses some challenges of its own, Major Micah “Zeus” Fesler, Chief F-22 Weapons School Instructor at the 433rd Weapons Squadron, Nellis AFB, Nevada, explains, “The course teaches instructors- the jet has some great, absolutely phenomenal capabilities. But you can still do it better.” With even novice Raptor pilots scoring lopsided victories against superior numbers of veteran adversary pilots flying legacy fighters, the challenge for the Weapons Instructor Course (WIC) is to teach students how to kill “lots of adversaries, as quickly and as efficiently as possible”, Fesler explains. Fesler added that just because a pilot can defeat any number of opponents, “That doesn’t mean that’s the best way to do it. There is always something you can do better.”

The current crop of F-22 WIC course students consists of only two pilots as this is the first ever F-22 WIC class, which is referred to at the school as a Validation Course, Fesler said. The lessons learnt from this first ever class, which will test “what works, and what doesn’t”, will be incorporated into future classes after being validated on the two initial students who will provide invaluable feedback to the WIC instructors, Fesler explained. The two new students, who are already highly experienced F-22 instructor pilots, will be trained over the next six months to the absolute pinnacle of tactical proficiency and will eventually return to their parent squadrons as their Weapons and Tactics officer- the unit’s premier instructor pilot and weapons and tactics guru.

As with the lower level courses for the F-22, a major focus of the Raptor Weapons School is on teaching the students how to manage the wealth of information generated by the plane’s sensors. Display management and information management are crucial to employing the Raptor properly, Fesler explains, adding that communicating with other non-F-22 aircraft is especially important. WIC students travel to Marietta, Georgia, to hone their skills on Lockheed Martin’s F-22 Air Combat Simulator for two days during the Weapons School syllabus in order to master these techniques, Fesler said.

In order to drive home the lesson that the F-22 pilots must work with other aircraft, and also owing to their “shared anti-access mission”, the F-22 WIC is based in the same squadron the F-15 WIC, Fesler said. Not only does the arrangement alleviate some of the administrative burdens on the six F-22 Weapons School instructor pilots, Fesler explained there are some very real training advantages to being based in the same unit as the F-15 course. As Fesler explains, “it’s very conceivable that the F-15 and F-22 will be working together” during real world combat scenarios given the small number of Raptors in the USAF inventory, and therefore it is advantageous to build upon the foundations laid down by the F-15 course.

There are also two phases during the Weapons School syllabus designed specifically to teach the new WIC students “the big picture of warfare”, Fesler explained. The first is the Integration Phase, which teaches the WIC students how to work with other platforms from the Air Force and other services. As Fesler explains, “these are experiences (the students) may not get in the Combat Air Forces.”

The last Phase of the WIC, the Mission Employment Phase, is a large force exercise similar to Red Flag but with crucial differences, Fesler said. “Red Flag is a Blue Force exercise that lets young Blue Force pilots experience their first 10 combat missions. The Mission Employment exercise is for instructors. It is much more challenging, we have to make it the most challenging exercise we can. “ Fesler explained, adding, “Our edge is in the training. It has to be as tough as possible”.

One of the other tasks assigned to the Weapons School is the development of new tactics in conjunction with the USAF’s elite 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron (422nd TES). During the author’s interview with him, Fesler mentioned that he had been working with a 422nd TES pilot earlier that same day and said that all of the WIC instructors are fully “test qualified”. Additionally, the 422nd participates in the Weapon School Mission Employment Phase exercises in order to enhance the learning experience for the graduating WIC students. The relationship between the Weapons School and the 422nd runs deep with the two units sharing Nellis AFB’s small fleet of 13 Raptors in order to carry out their respective missions. This relationship is likely to continue with the introduction of the F-35 into the Air Force arsenal.

Fesler also confirmed that F-35 officials had been in contact with him and his instructor cadre at the 433rd Weapons Squadron. While the F-35 program is still focused on the development of the aircraft as a weapons system, the JSF program consulted the F-22 Weapons School instructor pilots on matters of tactics development and lessons learned in developing the F-22 WIC, Fesler said. Fesler further added that while both warplanes are fifth generation fighters, they are optimized for different tasks similar to the division between the previous generations’ F-15 Eagle and F-16 fighter aircraft.

With the ramp up to the first F-35 training course well underway, the USAF recently announced that Lt. Col. Stephen Pieper and Major Chad Lewis are to become the first instructor pilots for the new aircraft. In order to select the right candidates for the new school house, a USAF selection board chaired by the vice commander of Air Education and Training Command, Maj. Gen. Anthony Przybyslawski, considered pilots with A-10 Thunderbolt II, F-16, F-22 Raptor and F-15E Strike Eagle experience. The two veteran F-16 instructor pilots were selected for their combination of instructor pilot and combat experience. A total of 10 pilots will form the initial cadre for the new F-35 Formal Training Unit at Eglin AFB- seven pilots from the F-16 and three from the F-15E flying 24 USAF F-35As (the USMC and Navy will also base 20 planes and 15 planes respectively at Eglin). Not only will these handpicked men teach new F-35 pilots how to fly their new stead, they will so be expected to help develop new tactics that will revolutionize air warfare for generations to come.

Links to Part 1 and 2