Training for the Air Force’s Combat Systems Officers will be moving to NAS Pensacola, Fla., from Randolph AFB, Tex., in fall 2010 and when it does, CSOs should have a new training facility in place. Navy and Air Force officials broke ground earlier this year on the project which includes construction of a multi-aircraft hangar and navigator training school classrooms. The Air Force plans to activate the 479th Flying Training Group in fall 2009 to handle CSO training at Pensacola. The new hangar will accommodate 11 different aircraft to be used in training CSOs and weapon systems officers. And, the new facility will include six new flight simulators, a step up from the older simulators in use at Randolph now. (Randolph report by Thomas Warner)
The Air Force overall reduced its size by 120 aircraft in fiscal year 2021, but kept about the same number of fighter, bomber and attack aircraft, according to data supplied by the service. The F-35 fleet saw the biggest increase while the B-1B bomber fleet saw the largest decline.