Becoming a military pilot takes God-given skills, determination, desire Published Nov. 29, 2006 By Lt. Col. Timothy Miller 33rd Flying Training Squadron Vance Air Force Base, Okla. -- Throughout my career, I have been asked many times what it takes to be a military pilot. After 29 years of combined military and civilian flying with instructor time in the F-15C, T-37, T-38 and many civilian aircraft, I have seen a few trends. Military pilots come from all walks of life, many commissioning sources and all services. For the commissioned officers, which is required for Air Force, Navy and Marine pilot training, college degrees range from English to physics and history to engineering. The one thing the fliers all have in common is they all have been tried and tested through a rigorous military pilot training program and succeeded. There have been books written about "the right stuff" -- that ingredient necessary to be a military pilot which has been erroneously confused with just "stick-and-rudder" ability. To succeed in military pilot training takes a unique set of God-given skills, determination and desire. The God-given skills can be broken down into "the big three." Besides the minimum standards necessary for eyesight, color blindness, hearing and other criteria to pass a stringent physical exam, there are three innate skills all military pilots must have inorder to succeed in the demanding pilot training environment. The first is the so-called stick-and-rudder ability, or fine motor skills with the ability to feel kinesthetically the movements of the aircraft. The other two are the intellectual abilities of situational awareness and task management. Stick-and-rudder ability is the art of adapting fine coordination muscles to move the aircraft in three dimensions based on inputs from the eyes, inner ear (balance) and pressure or weight-sensitive portions of the body. Superior athletic ability does not necessarily imply great stick-and-rudder capability, as they both require different skill sets. The only sure way to test this ability is through flying training. Although important, stick-and-rudder ability does not necessarily make a great military pilot. Many potential pilots with great "hands" washed out because they could not overcome their lack of situational awareness or task-management skills. Situational awareness is the degree of accuracy by which one's perception of his current environment mirrors reality. In aviation, it is the ability to perceive events related to the task of flying accurately in order to make good decisions and define a correct course of action. In fighter aircraft, a pilot's situational awareness depends on their ability to absorb tremendous amounts of information from multiple sources and process it correctly to understand the bigger picture around them. The fighter pilots whom excel in this ability are often the most respected pilots in the squadron since they often succeed where others may fail. The lack or loss of situational awareness is often the cause of failure in airborne combat and is a leading cause of military aircraft accidents. Task management is the ability of the pilot to handle multiple concurrent tasks and effectively order and process them to achieve the desired objective. Instructor pilots harp on students to "aviate, navigate, then communicate." This is a simplified version of task management which means to fly the aircraft first, then figure out where you are going and finally, worry about talking on the radio last. Effectively organizing and efficiently executing tasks in the multidimensional environment of military flying challenges even those with the most gifted task management abilities. Determination and desire are not only the most important part of the military pilot equation; they are the only parts that are not innate and can, through study, add the crucial foundation to the God-given talents. Although some degree of natural ability is necessary to succeed in military pilot training, determination and desire are required. Military pilot training requires many long hours of study, frequent 12-hour duty days, quite often with "O-dark-30" reports, multiple tests, intense stand-up emergency practice, grueling simulators and of course, that ever-watchful instructor pilot mentoring and evaluating every move in the aircraft. The time and effort necessary to complete military flying training can only be done by those who desire to wear the wings and have the determination to complete the program despite the costs.