February 11Feb 11 Update on general UCT drop trends: RC-135 is still popular as ever, there’s been a generous number of strike eagles, AC-130J’s seem like they’re in full swing, and Growlers are totally off the table now so the only “WSO” platforms now are F-15E, B-1, and B-52, although new classes don’t have traditional tracks anymore.
February 12Feb 12 What does CSO training look like these days? I went through in 14-15 when we were jack of many masters of none. I've read about the divesture of the T-1 from flying training. Does the amount of sorties in the T-6 increase? I always felt we got shorted with sorties compared to our pilot brethren. Sims don't build airmanship. This was always a big complaint from FTU's.
February 17Feb 17 On 2/11/2025 at 12:03 PM, flyguyinthesky said: and Growlers are totally off the table now so the only “WSO” platforms now are F-15E, B-1, and B-52 Are you able to expand on this at all? I'll be starting UCT by the end of this year and that was one of my 'dream' airframes.
February 17Feb 17 Are you able to expand on this at all? I'll be starting UCT by the end of this year and that was one of my 'dream' airframes.Yes: join the Navy
March 13Mar 13 On 2/17/2025 at 11:55 AM, trippedandfell said: Are you able to expand on this at all? I'll be starting UCT by the end of this year and that was one of my 'dream' airframes. Word on the street is too many CSO’s wash out of the Growler schoolhouse so they switched to only taking NFO’s, but that’s just the word. Airframes will probably switch 2-3 more times in the 2 years before you drop yours, so maybe they’ll come back. Seems like everybody loses a dream airframe while in training due to them going away, just stick with it and you’ll probably find an airframe you’ll love even if you don’t know about it right now. Tons of cool things to do as a CSO.
May 17May 17 Drop out of deep left field, somebody on EWO track dropped E-7 Wedgetail, airframes are always changing it seems!
June 29Jun 29 June Drop EWO: 4x RC-135 2x RPA WSO: 3x F-15E 1x B-52 Edited August 30Aug 30 by flyguyinthesky
August 2Aug 2 The last “track” drop, all drops after this will be single track with all students able to drop any available airframe, no longer limited to a category (EWO/WSO/SO): EWO 25-15 3x RC-135 2x RPA
August 3Aug 3 On 2/12/2025 at 11:05 AM, CDAWG said: What does CSO training look like these days? I went through in 14-15 when we were jack of many masters of none. I've read about the divesture of the T-1 from flying training. Does the amount of sorties in the T-6 increase? I always felt we got shorted with sorties compared to our pilot brethren. Sims don't build airmanship. This was always a big complaint from FTU's. Basically going back to what you experienced as a jack of all. Shifting to more sims to replace the T-1, T-6 sorties remaining the same as before.
August 28Aug 28 Curiosity here based on a few reddit threads and from talking to a few acquaintances on the Navy's NFO side. Fighters from what I was told are the least competitive to be assigned as an NFO, whereas P-8s are the most competitive. On the CSO side of the house are the trends similar where fighters are least competitve and other platforms are more?
August 30Aug 30 I wouldn’t say they’re the least competitive, but I don’t know if they’re the most. Truth is there are a ton of airframes you can go to from UCT, so as long as a class’s spread is decent then most people get what they want or something close to it.
September 2Sep 2 Curious to see how the new IPT and track-less CSO course changes things. I'm going to be a Guard nav, but it seems like the new curriculum is a different ball game compared to past iterations.
September 3Sep 3 4 hours ago, Flev said: Curious to see how the new IPT and track-less CSO course changes things. I'm going to be a Guard nav, but it seems like the new curriculum is a different ball game compared to past iterations. Just get ready for the NEW new curriculum…
September 3Sep 3 On 8/29/2025 at 10:25 PM, flyguyinthesky said: I wouldn’t say they’re the least competitive, but I don’t know if they’re the most. Truth is there are a ton of airframes you can go to from UCT, so as long as a class’s spread is decent then most people get what they want or something close to it. This is something I thought of, but have never looked into, how big are UCT classes compared to UPT classes?
September 4Sep 4 7 hours ago, RANDOMDUDE13 said: This is something I thought of, but have never looked into, how big are UCT classes compared to UPT classes? They vary quite a bit, life happens and people migrate between classes. All said and done they’re typically 10-20 people. Cant speak for UPT, not a pilot.
October 13Oct 13 Hear ye, hear ye, the first single track UCT drop was certainly…unique: RC-135 x 8 F-15E x 4 RPA x 2 AC-130 x 1 B-52 x 1
October 14Oct 14 On 10/12/2025 at 5:48 PM, flyguyinthesky said: Hear ye, hear ye, the first single track UCT drop was certainly…unique: RC-135 x 8 F-15E x 4 RPA x 2 AC-130 x 1 B-52 x 1 Do they track RPA or a specific airframe? Are any of those people Georgia Guardsmen?
October 14Oct 14 On 9/2/2025 at 9:17 PM, flyguyinthesky said: Just get ready for the NEW new curriculum… Can you give a snapshot of what the program looks like now? Very curious since the T-1 has gone away.
October 17Oct 17 On 10/14/2025 at 6:32 PM, CDAWG said: Can you give a snapshot of what the program looks like now? Very curious since the T-1 has gone away. Honestly not really. It’s always changing and it’ll be different again even just a year from now.
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