I know your a fighter guy so my next question has to be about the training our pilots get. My pops was an IP in 38s so I'm somewhat familiar with "basic training" but what happens after UPT when a guy gets assigned to a Strike or a Viper? Is there anything about our training that gives us an edge over other countries??
Sorry for the delay in getting you this answer. Duty called last week.
Well, kevster, you've hit upon another reason (and perhaps the most important one) on why we will continue to hold a significant tactical advantage over the Chinese, and should for a while to come. The quality of our aviators and the training they receive.
The training of our combat aircrews is based on five tenets: 1) knowing your plane's capabilities cold, 2) knowing the tactics we use just as cold, 3) knowing the
enemy's capabilities and tactics just as well, 4) making our training as realistic as possible (to include exercise such as RED FLAG, COPE THUNDER, and the like), and lastly 5) having training that ensures our aircrews THINK and REACT versus just training them to "execute the plan" without any allowance for dealing with anything outside of the plan.
As to the "roadmap" to get you to become a lean, mean, dealer of death and destruction at 25,000 ft and Mach 1? Well, my experience is with fighters, so I'll just stick to there and allow anyone else with experience with other types of aircraft pass on their knowledge for their airframes.
In the AF, after UPT, if you do well enough and are lucky enough to be selected for a fighter type assignment, the next step is Lead-In Fighter Training (LIFT, or whatever their calling it now). Course lasts a few months, and is designed to an introduction for new students on how to fly basic fighter tactics (advanced handling, basic fighter maneuvers, introduction to bombing patterns and tactics, stuff like that). You'll then move onto the transition course for your particular airframe. Usually lasts about 9 months. Here you'll learn your jet's systems, learn appropriate tactics for your particular airframe, and get an introduction to how to employ the aircraft.
Once you finish the transition course and report to your first ops unit, you'll go into another 3-months of being graded every sortie where you'll be learning how your unit expects you to EMPLOY the aircraft as a weapon system (based on those tenets I mentioned above). You'll the spend the next 12 to 18 months as a young wingman, flying usually 3 - 4 times a week as part of a two-ship or four-ship PRACTICING those tenets. After that, if the leadership thinks you are ready, you'll upgrade to a two-ship flight lead (you get a wingman for yourself!) and hopefully by around the 2 1/2 - 3 year mark at your unit, you'll upgrade to 4-ship flight lead (You're leading the true back-bone of tactical fighter aviation: the four ship!). By your second tour in an ops unit, if you work hard enough and prove yourself to your squadron mates and leadership, you'll enter the upgrade to become an Instructor. A few years as an instructor, and if your really one of the best of the best, you can compete for a slot at the Weapons School: our instructors of instructors, the ones who set the tactical standards for the rest of the fleet.
One other note on why we're so well trained. The really hard part of our training is how detailed and brutally honest we are during each mission's debrief. Theyusually last longer than the missions themselves, because they are where we review EVERY aspect of the sortie to ensure we were able t meet the objectives, in nit-picking, exhaustive, and brutal detail. Not a "beat down" session, but an honest look at what we did right, what we di wrong, and more importantly how we can fix the mistakes or how we can improve for the next sortie. There is no rank once the debrief doors close, just authority of flight leads and instructors. You can be the Wing King General or a 20 year Lt Col in that room, and if you didn't execute, you'll hear about it 9but perhaps in just a little more respectful tone than the young Lt wingman would.)
Hope that gives you a taste of what our aircrew training is based on. Folks like Fleiger can feel free to add their thoughts and experiences as well on the topic.
As to how the Chinese do their training? I could tell you, but I would have to kill you afterwards (and anybody else who read this post). Besides, I LIKE having a security clearance because it lets me keep my job.