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Video by Master Sgt. Mindy Bloem

Two PTN Graduates Finish F-16 Training

149th Fighter Wing (Texas Air National Guard)

June 5, 2019 | 2:56

Video script:

Nat sound: joking on stage

Narration:
Two students from the very first iteration of PTN recently joined their fellow classmates in an F-16 graduation ceremony.

Narration:
Pilot Training Next or PTN is a program that takes technologies like virtual reality and artificial intelligence and integrates them into an accelerated training environment in the hopes of optimizing future pilot production.

Interview 1: 1st Lt Calvin Boerwinkle, F-16 pilot graduate
“I’ve gotten to do things in a T-6 that no one has gotten to do before up unto this point, at a pace through pilot training no one has ever been before using technologies that the Air Force has given us that no one has ever tried before, and, in some way, you know you’re shaping pilot training for the future. You don’t know how that is going to look 20 years from now, but you know you’re doing something to impact that, and that’s been pretty cool.”

Narration:
PTNs next class of students is set to graduate this summer, but the program like its technology is constantly evolving as it takes lessons learned from previous iterations and applies them to future ones.

Interview 2: Lt Col Jeffrey Rouse, F-16 instructor pilot
"Improvements that I can see for the pilot training next program is searching for ways to get students better on day one at basic aircraft control in a jet aircraft, maybe more simulator time in a simulator that directly simulates the aircraft they are going to, and just making sure that the pace of training is manageable enough that they’re going to show up. we are going to launch right into academics and they’ve got less experience, less background to draw on as they’re making their way through that course so they need to be refreshed and ready to go on day one."

Narration:
PTN marries up well with the Air Force’s focus on innovation. Graduates of this program help assess how well these new technologies work when compared to pilots who have gone through more traditional training.

Interview 3: 1st Lt Brett Bultsma, F-16 pilot graduate
PTN’s main focus was to figure out the best way to train pilots both faster and more efficiently and hopefully having a similar or better product at the end and pushing all that technology to UPT bases to use in future generations. PTN was never meant to replace UPT or be a new solution for pilot training. It’s simply working on new technologies to send back to UPT bases.

Interview 4: 1st Lt Calvin Boerwinkle, F-16 pilot graduate
“I would say the pace of PTN is a blessing and a curse. You get this opportunity to get your wings in six months and go fly one of the greatest airplanes that’s ever been made in less than a year, but that comes with a lot of hard work. It takes a lot of perseverance to go through this program, and I’d say, absolutely go do it, but don’t be prepared to skate your way through it because that doesn’t fly in PTN. You gotta be ready to work.”

Narration:
For the 149th Fighter Wing at Joint Base San Antonio, I’m Mindy Bloem.