Air Combat Officer

These people will come from the newly introduced Air Combat Officer (ACO) category through a new and expanded curriculum designed to address the skill sets which will be required in the future.

The move to implementing the ACO category commenced in March 2005 after a review of aircrew categories which was completed in conjunction with a broader review of Air Force personnel.

Air Force’s senior leadership recognised that many of the skills required to operate the various systems coming on future platforms and capabilities were similar.

Capabilities such as Wedgetail AEW&C, P-8A Poseidon, surveillance UAVs such as Global Hawk or Mariner, F-35 Lightning II JSF, and even in the Air Defence Ground Environment (ADGE) such as the regional operations centres in NSW and the Northern Territory, the Mobile Control and Reporting Units (MCRUs), and the central Air Operations Centre which is being relocated from RAAF Glenbrook to the new Joint Operations Centre near Canberra.

Air Force says “the principle area of commonality identified in the review was the requirement to make real time command and control decisions in a three-dimensional environment, effectively being a mission manager who will ensure the mission is successfully completed in the most efficient, safe manner. ” The ACO not only replaces the former navigator category, but encompasses those commissioned personnel from the categories of Air Defence Officer (ADO) and Airborne Electronics Officer (AEO), and who work in the specialist fighter controller, radar plotter, tactical coordinator and sensor employment manager fields.

Because of the reduced numbers of dedicated navigators required as aircraft and their systems become more sophisticated and automated, and with the majority of pilots leaving the Air Force for airlines before achieving command positions, it was deemed necessary to expand the base from which to draw future squadron, wing, and force element group (FEG) commanders, and from there the future senior air force leadership including the Chief of Air Force (CAF). Therefore, regardless of their eventual speciality, all those entering the ACO category will receive common levels of initial training and then ongoing support and guidance so that they may achieve these loftier positions in the decades ahead.

The ongoing education and training ACOs will receive is designed to give them the expertise to enable them to play a critical role in the future air battle space. They will be taught how to direct an air mission; they will command airborne missions and will be responbysible for directing weapons and other systems onto targets; they will be tactical experts and will be groomed throughout their career to lead entire air battles and become experts in air campaign planning.

Consequently they will become specialists in warfighting tactics, weapon employment and delivery, the whole spectrum of organic and coalition force communications, the recognition of the importance of force multipliers such as tankers, AEW&C and other intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) platforms, and in the field of electronic warfare. The ACO course runs for 40 weeks, 26 of which are comprised of ab initio common training at East Sale, and 14 of specialist training.

The ACO ab initio training course will commence each January, and covers training and assessment in both the ground and airborne environments. In the ground environment, students will be instructed in ground school theory subjects, and perform practical exercises in simulators. In the air, students will receive 22 hours of flying and navigation training in the B350 King Airs operated by 32SQN at East Sale.

The major components of the common course include aviation fundamentals, mission systems management, mission command, the fundamentals of air power, basic air campaign planning, and future air and space operating concepts.

Following the successful completion of initial training at SAW, ACOs will be streamed into one of three specific areas of employment: air battle management (ABM), maritime patrol and response (MPR), and air combat and tactical Support (ACTS).

The ABM stream will see ACOs perform surveillance and control duties using electronic command and control systems in both the ground and air environments.

They will operate advanced radar, communications, tactical datalinks and electronic support measures (ESM) systems as part of a team in the ADGE, or in the airborne environment on board Wedgetail AEW&C aircraft to detect, locate and identify air and surface targets and disseminate the information as required.

The ABM stream receives training at the Surveillance and Control Training Unit (SACTU) located at RAAF Williamtown near Newcastle where they will undertake 14 weeks of training in the fundamentals of air surveillance and fighter control.

In the MPR stream, ACOs will perform as mission commanders or tactical coordinators (TACCO) on board the AP-3C Orion and from next decade, the P-8A Poseidon, on ISR missions over land and sea. Missions may include search and rescue operations, anti-submarine warfare, the provision of intelligence to ground forces, and the detection and identification of warships, illegal fishing boats and merchant vessels. Specialist MPR trainees remain at SAW to complete their 14 week course which comprises a further 50 hours of flying training in the King Air, and exposure to the nature and type of operational missions flown in the maritime environment.

ACOs selected for the ACTS stream will be employed as navigators/weapons system operators in the F/A-18F Super Hornet from 2010, or as navigators on the C-130H Hercules. In the Super Hornet, the ACO will operate the aircraft’s mission systems including aircraft systems, sensors and weapons in air-to-air combat, air-to-ground and airto- surface weapons employment. In the C-130H Hercules, ACOs will operate that aircraft’s radar and communications in the low level tactical transport, troopinsertion, disaster relief, search and survivor assistance and special operations support roles. ACTS streamed ACOs also remain at SAW to complete their 14 week course which includes a further 38 hours of flying training in the King Air aircraft, and exposure to the nature and type of operational missions performed by fast jets and tactical transport aircraft.

For all three streams, after completing the 14 week specialist training all students return to SAW for final graduation as an ACO and presentation of their ACO ‘Southern Cross’ two-winged brevet.

Once they graduate from SAW, the new ACOs will be posted to their respective F/A-18F, C-130H, AP-3C or other aircraft unit, or if streamed to an ADGE they will report to 3 Control and Reporting Unit (3CRU) at Williamtown, for operational conversion training.

As with fast jet pilots, ACTS Super Hornet graduates will go first to 79SQN at RAAF Base Pearce near Perth for fast jet training on the Hawk 127, while C-130H and AP-3C will conduct type conversion on their respective aircraft.

For the Hercules this is a 14 week process at 285SQN at RAAF Richmond before being posted to 37SQN, and for the Orion, a six month course with 292SQN at RAAF Edinburgh before posting to 10 or 11SQN.

ABM graduates will complete a consolidation period of between six and 12 months at 3CRU performing operational air battle management (ABM) duties, and will then be eligible for posting either to 2SQN at Williamtown for a six to eight month operational conversion training to Wedgetail AEW&C, or to 114MCRU at RAAF Darwin for a twoweek operational conversion training which is followed by a five week training period at 1 Radar and Surveillance Unit (1RSU) at RAAF Edinburgh.

ACOs will also continue to develop professional combat air power and command skills throughout their career.

This will be achieved through operational experience, professional military education and training events, and facilitated self learning.

Future ACO applications include emergent capabilities such as space, UAVs and Joint Terminal Attack Control (JTAC). They may also provide essential support and direction to assist in transitioning capabilities that they might not be directly employed in such as the F-35 JSF, MUAS and other future capabilities.

Chief of Air Force AIRMSHL Geoff Shepherd reviewed a parade at the dedication ceremony for the transition from SAN to SAW at East Sale on January 24, which preceded the commencement of the first ACO course.

“These changes are part of Air Force’s efforts to prepare for the challenges of the future,” CAF told the first class, their families and friends, and VIPs. “In the next decade, almost every Air Force platform will be replaced. Air Force is moving to a fully networked force (and) as a result, is redesigning its workforce and training programs so personnel can maximise the benefits of the new capabilities and technologies. ” In a previous address on the ACO subject, AIRMSHL Shepherd said, “the paradigm of getting in an aircraft and going to deliver combat power to the enemy while being in the aircraft has changed. Right now, at a USAF airfield in the continental US, airmen are flying Predator UAVs in the Middle East, delivering combat air power. Those people aren’t in aircraft, but they are directly involved in the real-time command and control and employment of air and space combat power in the three-dimensional battle space. ” To become an ACO, service entrants must be between 17 and 51 years of age and be either an Australian citizen or a permanent resident eligible for citizenship.

They must attain a security clearance and pass a series of aptitude tests designed to asses an applicant’s ability to cope with the training and intellectual demands placed upon them.

Prospective ACOs must have completed Year 12 level of education with passes in English, tertiary entrance level Maths and two other academic subjects such as the sciences, and if entering through the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA), have scored results acceptable to the University of New South Wales, of which ADFA is a campus.

For direct entry applicants, ACOs will sign up for an Initial Minimum Period of Service (IMPS) of eight years, while for ADFA entrants the IMPS is 11 years.