NavList:

Thanks for posting this. Yesterday I stumbled across this,

http://www.usaf-nav-history.com

Scrollong through the history I see that USAF WSOs--now referred to as CSOs (Combat Sytems Operators or Officers)--go throuf=gh the Naval Flight Officer pipeline in Pensacola.

I'm a former NFO, having graduated from the Tactical navigation syllabus at VT-86 (Training Squadron 86) in 1980. VT-86 was the advanced phase for people going into tactical air and had two tracks: Tactical Navigator and RIO (Radar Intercept Officer--backseater on the F-14). The syllabus now is--I think--a one-track pipeline called Strike Fighters. Seems everything the Navy flies these days ia some variant of the Super Hornet. You went to VT-86 after graduation from the basic phase at VT-10. At that point you either went to -86 or to Mather AFB for Navigator, and you'd go to P-3 Orion patrol planes (mostly). Those planes may have had a sextant port, but I don't think anyone did celestial nav.

Read through this website and you'll note that there haven't been many navigators in the classic sense you might think of for awhile, though I was trained on DR, TACAN/DME, visual, and radar-aided navigation. An NFO/WSO/CSO is a weapons-systems officer with navigation and copilot duties.

Interesting posts we're seeing,
Jim
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