Initial Flight Screening
Encyclopedia
Flight training
Flight training is a course of study used when learning to pilot an aircraft. The overall purpose of primary and intermediate flight training is the acquisition and honing of basic airmanship skills....
course for newly commissioned U.S. Air Force officers who have been selected for Pilot, Combat Systems Officer (CSO), or Remote Pilot Aircraft (RPA) pilot training. Previously this course was known as Initial Flight Training (IFT) or Academy Flight Training for USAF Academy Cadets and was for candidates who did not already hold a Private Pilot Certificate (PPL). IFS students must be undergraduate flying training (UFT) candidates and be medically qualified (Federal Aviation Administration Class III medical certificate and a USAF Flying Class 1/1A, as appropriate.) The IFS curriculum is highly structured and very fast paced.
The IFS program is under command of U.S. Air Force Air Education and Training Command
Air Education and Training Command
Air Education and Training Command was established July 1, 1993, with the realignment of Air Training Command and Air University. It is one of the U.S. Air Force's ten major commands and reports to Headquarters, United States Air Force....
(AETC), and began operations on 1 October 2006. Doss Aviation, under contract with United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...
(USAF), conducts flight screening for 1,300 to 1,700 USAF officers annually. As the gateway to USAF aviation, IFS provides initial flying training allowing students to successfully transition to Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (Pilot, Combat System Officer, and Remote Pilot Aircraft) at one of several Air Force bases throughout the United States. The 45 acres (182,108.7 m²) IFS campus is located immediately adjacent to the Pueblo Memorial Airport, Pueblo, Colorado.
Students are paired up into hotel style, windowless rooms. They share a bathroom and are provided a desk and dresser for their personal belongings. A single building encompasses all the facilities that the students need; students never need to step outside the facility unless it's to access their aircraft. The large building houses the gym, which includes a workout gym with volleyball and basketball courts, weightlifting equipment and treadmills, as well as a cafeteria and a small communal room known as the Tiger Den. A large auditorium is used during the first week of training to teach students the basics of aviation. A second floor houses all the classrooms where students study and meet with their Instructor Pilots before performing their graded flights.