Weapon systems officer

Historically, aircrew duties in military aircraft were highly specialised and rigid, because the relevant controls, instruments/displays, and/or weapons were concentrated in front of particular seats, panels or positions.

From the 1970s onward an aircraft with two-member crews, such as the F-15E Strike Eagle, F/A-18F Super Hornet or Su-34 Fullback and Dassault Rafale B have often featured programmable multi-function displays.

[2] In the United States Navy, WSOs are naval flight officers responsible for manning the weapon systems of the F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter from that jet's aft seat.

In the B-1B Lancer bomber, there are 2 weapon systems officers manning crew positions aft of the pilot and co-pilot.

The WSO integrates with the pilot to collectively achieve and maintain crew efficiency, situational awareness and mission effectiveness.

Currently, all USN WSOs begin their training as student naval flight officers (SNFO) at NAS Pensacola, Florida.

Training begins with several weeks of ground school followed by remnants of the "super-fo" program from the U.S. Navy where the SNFO takes front seat of the new T-6 Texan II for six "contact" flights where the student will become familiar with the T-6.

Students are required to learn the aircraft in a two-week ground school period before they go flight side.

A/G Training takes place on both VR and IR routes that criss-cross the south east United States.

Following the winging ceremony, USN and USMC WSOs will proceed to a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) and USAF WSOs to a Formal Training Unit (FTU) to complete advanced ground school and flight training to prepare them for their "operational" combat aircraft in the deployable operating forces.

For USN and USMC WSOs, this program was previously completed at NAS Pensacola during their Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) training.

Centrifuge training This one-day course located at Brooks City-Base, San Antonio, Texas, tests USAF WSOs selected for the F-15E in their ability to withstand the g-forces routinely experienced by fighter aircrew.

For USAF personnel, the three-week course is taught at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington and the surrounding areas.

A similar program for USN EWOs in the EA-18G and USMC ECMOs in the EA-6B is conducted at the Center for Information Dominance at Corry Station, Florida.