Naval flight officer
A Naval Flight Officer in the United States Navy and Marine Corps is an officer of the line, meaning they can screen for command in the naval aviation community. After completion of their training, they receive their wings of gold insignia of a Naval Flight Officer. NFO is the Navy acronym for these aviators.
Indoctrination
Like Naval Aviators, NFOs attend Aviation Preflight Indoctrination at NAS Pensacola, Florida and are initially in same classes with Naval Aviator candidates. After completion, they are sent into a dedicated NFO "pipeline" and They receive basic aviation training up to, but not including, soloing in a primary trainer. In addition to this experience instrumentation and navigation are taught in greater depth to include visual low-level navigation, aerobatics, and formation flight. Based upon performance, preference, and needs of the Navy the student will check out of VT-4 (Warbucks) or VT-10 (Wildcats, or Cosmic Cats) (Primary Training Squadrons for Student NFO's) and be assigned advanced training.
Training
- Training for a NFO is in a tiered system. After primary training is completed students are either selected for carrier aviation or "maritime" aviation (land-based, larger aircraft). Selection is based on the rank of the student in his/her class. The one graduating first gets their choice of duty and is known as the "Honorman/woman". The rest of the graduates are placed in billets according to "the needs of the navy".
- For carrier aviation students their training progresses an additional fourteen weeks with their primary training squadron before being assigned to VT-86 for jet training EA-6B Prowler, F/A-18F Super Hornet, or F/A-18D Hornet. Jet training at VT-86 does not actually utilize any of those aircraft to train students. Training in specific aircraft after winging occurs at fleet readiness squadrons after completion of Flight School and awarding of their wings, which also holds true for land-based aircraft. The exception is the NFO candidates who request or are selected for the E-2 Hawkeye community and are transferred to Norfolk for advanced training at the E-2C Hawkeye Fleet Readiness Squadron (FRS), VAW-120, located at NAS Norfolk, VA. VAW-120 actually awards these NFOs their wings at the FRS during their training syllabus.
- Intermediate training for land-based aircraft typically sends student NFO's to San Antonio, TX for joint training at Randolph AFB before being sent to the FRS for the E-6 Mercury TACAMO, the EP-3E Aries, or the P-3C Orion. Some students are currently being sent directly to the FRS for P-3Cs as part of a shorter test advanced training program before beginning the normal FRS Syllabus.
The Fleet
- In the Fleet, NFOs are assigned to Navy and Marine squadrons flying the F/A-18F Super Hornet, F/A-18D Hornet (Marines Only), EA-6B Prowler, E-6 Mercury, E-2C Hawkeye, EP-3 Aries, and P-3 Orion and the currently retirng S-3 Viking serving as Copilot/Tactical Coordinator (COTAC) and Tactical Coordinator (TACCO)
- In larger aircraft, like the P-3, the NFO is designated as the navigator and Tacco. In the EA-6B, they are designated as Electronic Countermeasures Operators (ECMOs) and navigator. In the F/A-18F, the position is known as either the BN (Bombadier/Navigator) or Weapons Systems Officer (WSOs). In the E-2C Hawkeye, they are designated Combat Information Center Officers (CICOs). The specific roles filled by a NFO can vary greatly depending on the type of aircraft to which an NFO is assigned.
NFOs have equal opportunity for command of squadrons as their Naval Aviator counterparts as well as follow-on commands and higher rank. The highest ranking NFO is currently Admiral Fallon, Commander of the Unified Combatant Command, Pacific Command and nominated for his fourth 4 star command , Central Command (CENTCOM).
Past Aircraft
NFOs also flew in these aircraft that have been retired:
- A-6 Intruder serving as Bombardier/Navigator (B/N)
- F-14 Tomcat serving as Radar Intercept Officer (RIO)
- RA-5 and A-5 Vigilante serving as Reconnaissance/Attack Navigator (RAN)
- A-3 Skywarrior serving as Gunner/Navigator
Appearance in movies
- One of key characters in the popular movie Top Gun was "Goose", played by Anthony Edwards, a Radar Intercept Officer (NFO) teamed with Tom Cruise.
- In the movie Flight of The Intruder, Willem Dafoe played LCDR Tiger Cole, who served as B/N for Jake "Cool hand" Grafton.
Naval Aviator vs Naval Flight Officer
Naval Flight Officers (NFO's) are the men and women who operate the advanced systems on board naval aircraft, and some may also act as the overall tactical coordinators of multiple air assets during a mission.
They differ from Naval Aviators in that they do not pilot the aircraft in which they serve. To civilians, NFO's would be more commonly called co-pilots, who assist in flying the aircraft and share the workload during missions.
An infrequent remark by people not associated with Naval Aviation is that NFO's are "non flying officers", a negative moniker [not heard often in the actual aviation community] which is due to outsiders viewing them as aircrew that don't pilot their aircraft. In reality they serve very capably as navigator, weapon systems operators, bombardiers, flight technician's, and engineers. In fact, many NFO's achieve flight lead and mission lead, even when the pilot of the aircraft does not have that designation.
Most derogatory remarks about NFO's were in the late 1960's and 1970's when single seat aircraft started to give way to dual crewed tactical jets [think F-8 Crusader transitioning to F-14 Tomcat]. Many single seat aviators felt they could do the job themselves, and didn't need the assistance. After flying with NFO's, they learned that two brains and four eyeballs definitely helped complete the mission, and the remarks went away.
NFO's have risen to extremely high ranks, commanding not only squadrons, airwings, airbases, but also aircraft carriers. More recently Admiral William Fallon was appointed by president George W. Bush to lead the Central Command [CentCom] tasked with the war in Southwest Asia [Iraq and Afghanistan]