Stamp in height, at the exact angle: Israel's aerial future

The Air Force Flight School is one of the few in the world to turn 18-year-olds into pilots on 5th-generation aircraft, and introduces them to a technology-saturated world in an age of risk. Although it has become an integral part of the Israeli power symbol, the Corps is busy with changes and adaptations to the changing world

Stamp in height, at the exact angle: Israel's aerial future

Air Force commander Amikam Norkin and Intelligence Division commander Tamir Heyman entered the briefing room on an F-15 squadron for a flight over sensitive areas. There is nothing better than eye sight, and sometimes better than the cockpit and not the satellite photo. The two collaborate in the near and far arenas, attacking terrorist targets below the noise threshold in various circles, from targeted counterterrorism to war readiness on several fronts.

A Lieutenant-Colonel pilot, a leader of the fighter jets quartet, began the discussion. "Good morning Tamir," opened the discussion. "I call it L." The air force's cultural essence appears within this brief sentence. In the briefing room and in the air, a pilot in the rank Lieutenant Colonel is the commander. To be a leader you have to be the best and most talented there is no matter what your rank.

When they come out of the room to the corridor they will call them the "carrier" commander of the air force and the commander of the army, but in the air he will tell everyone what to do. Can such an event occur on land forces? Something commander-in-chief of the Givati ​​Brigade turns to a dry arm commander and tells him: Good morning Joel. " If this example seems funny, it means that the example is necessarily a good illustration of the answer to the question: How the Air Force encourages excellence and how much the aspiration for excellence is a leading value in the Corps.

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A culture that encourages excellence. Air Force F-16 aircraft (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

IDF data summary for 2019 exercise "BLUE FLAG" (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Malcolm Gladwell's best-selling author, "Excellent," wrote that we are so caught up in the myths of the best, brightest, and successful on their own that we think excellence naturally grows from the earth. In practice, many need the opportunity. Not everything starts and ends with practice, talent and character traits.

The issue of aspiring for excellence in the Air Force, for example, has been built over the years and the answer to what is the Israeli Air Force's DNA? Or, moreover, what makes pilots excellent? This is an equation with many vanishing. This is actually the challenge of Air Force commanders for generations: to identify the various components in each Period, to understand the change in Israeli society and in general, and to train the best youth to be the best pilots in the world.Every commander must sharply read the reality of his generation, make the necessary adjustments while taking risks and ensure that the corps under his command always precedes the enemy at least two steps.

While Norkin and Himmin were already in the air, the largest formulation began for the flying course since its inception. The pilot course, the pride of senior commanders, is overwhelming proof that despite the glittering cyber and intelligence roles that open doors in the high-tech world and the nation-state, and despite the fact that teens are now stuck to cellular screens - the number of highly motivated pilots is on the rise Staff the lines on the runways.

There is no motivation problem among smartphone generation. Graduation Ceremony Flight No. 179 (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Graduation Ceremony Flight No. 179 (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

The encouragement of various sectors of Israeli society to try to get to the course, helps to expand the numbers, but not only he. One of the changes made by the Air Force is the direct application made by the corps to a security service candidate. The phone call makes it clear to the applicant that her very high personal data allows her to contend for a place in the flight course. In other words, the corps officers say: "You are capable. Come on." They are invited to meet with air crew and content centers on the topic, and from there it is mainly up to them.

After many minutes, the Norkin and the Right plane cut through the sky. They saw the area in one of the arenas, and then the question was asked in the F-15's Cockpit: How do Air Force pilots hit the exact spot. Norkin unhesitatingly replied: "When you are high, high, high, fast ... all of this data needs to be piloted together." And what happens when you are required to simulate a bombshell in a really bombless training? Another physical and cognitive challenge. At the end of each training, at the end of the pilot, a grade is given: A This is excellent, the rest is already clear. The results of the debriefing all the Air Force sees. Includes the Air Force commander's return from the training flight. Everyone goes through the Air Force debriefing comb, and since you are mentored in flight school, you always make sure you understand what you did to improve even if the score was high.

The commander of the Air Force is always looking for actions that will improve the corps, preserve its DNA and not fear changes. The course also employs veteran pilots as civilian IDF employees. One of the first is a former Suffolk Squadron commander, who loves flying and receives tremendous satisfaction from the training. The process comes from pilots who have retired to citizenship, and instead of working at the airlines, they join the Corps as flight instructors. The Air Force headquarters sees this as a process of improvement for the quality of training. This is how the IDF and Brigadiers are joined in the reserve, senior executives who have completed the operational phase of their lives, and continue to guide and deliver the corps' DNA charge, all of which marvel at how it is inherited.

"Connecting Heritage to Millennial Children"

In one conversation with Norkin, Norkin defined it as "a connection between the legacy and organizational culture of yesteryear to the millennial children." The challenge is to develop the youth as commanders and air fighters, in the age of technological revolution. An age when the youth is almost constantly holding the cellphone, and when he has a question, he expects to get an answer quickly. When he pushes the button it always works without fail. Unlike cellphone use, a trainee at a flight school is required to get used to the fact that he has to study the airplane book. He won't find it in Google. The trainee must develop a deep learning method, understanding of complicated graphs and drawings, and prepare for the moment when they are asked to calculate weight and flight range fuel that goes over a thousand miles to Iran.

These skills should develop alongside the leadership capabilities that, despite the image, are supposed to reveal humanity in conversation with soldiers in the squadron, and lead among veteran reserve pilots. What will really make pilots go after you when the missiles are flying from all sides? The apprentice is to understand that he will succeed not by virtue of technology, but by the belief that you are his leader in the air. As the course progresses, questions like what and what are messages sent to Wetsap? What and what does Lake do when you get a message? Dorkin's message to commanders is: "You will be able to lead people by your high professional level, by your ability. Only then will they be ready to go after you." Norkin makes it clear that "even in the technological revolution, people follow people and not machines."

It's no secret that one of the most important places for Air Force commanders is the flight school, which is always the focus of attention. Especially because of the technological turnaround and the increasing threats to the state in the various circles, which constantly require adjustments and changes during processes.

"People go after people and not machines." Graduation Ceremony (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Graduation Ceremony - Wing Order June 29, 2017 (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

It is not for the sake of school commanders to recite General Norkin's approach, whereby trainee instruments revolve around three points: figure, profession and command. According to his approach, the planes have changed but the image of the pilot, the principles of command in combat and mental preparation have not changed. There are elements that have been preserved despite the passing of time, such as the quality of debriefing, transparency, initiative and independence of the Israeli pilot, all of which are required of the pilot, as well as adapting themselves to technological progress. The high-tech F-35 aircraft, most of which is done via touch screen, requires the bulk of the learning. The apprentice knows the touch screen from childhood, so the complex task for him is to perform the tasks while firing missiles at him.

And yet the challenge facing the entire corps is the absorption of the mighty fifth-generation aircraft. Today, the Israeli Air Force is defined as one of the few corps in the world that already has 5th-level aircraft apprenticeships for flight school, except Singapore Air Force. Not even the Americans are there. The flight training incorporates simulators in the Pencil and Lavi aircraft, which include Israeli training capabilities and virtual information fusion in the cockpit. The process helps to streamline and shorten the half-year in the training period (four years instead of four and a half years), saving not only time but also considerable money.

The trainee completes the pilot course with a bachelor's degree

The issue that has occupied the commanders since its inception, as described in Ezer Weizman's book, "You Get Your Land," is the cost. In his book, Weizman spoke of discussions with David Ben-Gurion and Moshe Dayan about the costs of flight hours, construction, manpower, development and ammunition budget, military industry production and overseas procurement. Although the corps has grown and the budget has doubled since, but today the school practitioner Flying the air crews on patrol missions and protecting the country's sky against enemy planes used to be practiced by the squadron, the next step will be a move from the Mighty Squadron School without passage through F-16 and F-15 jets.

At the commander's ceremony for the operation's participants in Khan Yunis in September, the commander of the IAF refined his and his corps demands from the air force. He said that despite the development of the technology, "it is an event of courage, badness and combat fraternity." He added that "action based on professionalism , Precision and skill of the individual, he performs that all musicians work as an orchestra, down and field, just in time, just in time. Exactly on frequency. "He said that the special force knew they were going to rescue him, and that the air crew and combat mechanics functioned as a corps trained on the legacy." In this case, the precision and skill, the pursuit of the mission, combine with courage and valor. With this 'some more', the rescue became a chapter in the Air Force's ethos, "the corps commander said.

In the past the flight school commanders trained trainees to a high level of operation of the aircraft systems, while today the trainee finishes with a bachelor's degree. The trainee enjoys advanced technological training processes, which in the past would have been received only during the transition to the squadron. However, the requirement is still to maintain balance, as a single navigation will eventually receive a small note stating that navigation is not complete, to build mental capacity, and to develop excellence.

Air Force planes during Cobra Warrior UK exercise last summer (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Aircraft quartet in Cobra Warrior UK exercise. September 20, 2019 (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Between the take-off route and the camp rooms and classrooms, the task is far more complex and sensitive. School commanders are required to accurately assess the initial grade. According to senior officers, there is really no change in the mix of trainees coming these days, to the days when they came to flight school. Most of them come from real, technological and high-level professions and high physical fitness. Which indicates excellence and professionalism. They have a high level of social work, and some have also made a year of service. There is not necessarily a definite link between the formation of the pilot and the place of residence and the parents' occupation. What's more, there are a rising number of teens who have abandoned athletic careers in light athletics in favor of a flying course.

A senior flight school officer said they were looking for "flying talent" flight attendants. He explained that "definite natural features that support flight are head to air, I call it aeration. It means the nature of thought in the air, and ability to act in the air. It also requires improvisation, creativity, independence, skepticism, great responsibility, motivation, training, functioning Under pressure, excellence and a desire to improve. " He added that "discipline is iron. From the first moment." Another officer added that "there are features and situations that no simulator can simulate. Only reality."

After the rookie and ground phase, trainees start flying like 'robots' in squares. The flight is very clearly controlled by the instructor. Only then does the controlled and supervised process begin, in which the trainee develops independence in flight. Each trainee's flight is assessed, and once a month the trainee undergoes a training process designed to reflect and assist him in the expectation of seeing improvement and progress. The assessments and grades are based on past experience, with improvements and entry of new tools from time to time, including mathematical models and data analysis in research. Once every two months, the commission meets for impeachment. "If you have not arrived for the right reasons for a pilot course, you will not be able to keep up with our high standard," one instructor explained. He added that "we have been piloting pilots for decades."

Air Force commander awards certificates to fighters who took part in operation in Khan Yunis (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Pictures from the IDF commemorative ceremony and certificates of appreciation for the fighter commander who took part in the special operation in Khan Yunis, September 22, 2019 (Photo: IDF Spokesman)

Veteran instructors at the flight school said that what keeps them afloat and passionate about flying is not only the challenging training, but especially the diverse operational activities. Major General Norkin is trying to instill in the Corps the understanding that existing technology is enough to provide solutions to the operational problems the IDF has, and there is no need to look for new technologies. A thinking pattern designed to expand the capabilities and expectations of Air Force pilots.

A, one of the senior instructors at the flight school, a 35-year-old married with three children, a fighter pilot and a bachelor's degree in mathematics and computer science, said last summer that what was building the pilot was designer events and aerial failures. He said he had purchased the Air Force's DNA during the training process, saying that "designing the command and training concept is not just for trainees but for instructors. He also explained that "there is a possibility that I will tell the Brigadier General" "You were not a good enough guide today." So that I can say that, I have to be very good, professional and keep up By the standards of corporate culture of excellence. " He explained that the pilot was learning and improving until the last day he flew. "It needs a certain character that also exists in the air and those who come to mentor these people who are burning to contribute," he added.

Another challenge the instructors face in flight school is progress in training processes, with trainees hovering over the impetus sword until the very last moment of the course. "The instructors constantly teach the trainees, even up the road, that the culture of questioning is fair, non-judgmental and relevant," the senior instructor added. "The instructors take time to convey to the trainees that the nature of the flight does not wash the day after."

The pilot learns and improves until the last day he flies

Throughout the course, the instructors seek balance. Know when to end flights with the guide so the training graph is not too steep. When Norkin was the commander of the battle trend at the school, he introduced a neighborhood practice at the time: "Fighting Days" and is now called "Active Days". The sirens work, there is a leap into the air, the pilot flower takes off and does not know who he is going to battle with. At night it's a much more complex story. In those moments the sense of personal and technological capability of combat pilots in the Corps is being built in a floor.

After the initial sorting stages, the apprentice is defined as a flying flower for three years. At the end of the education year and the completion of the first degree without flight, the advanced phase, which includes flights for six months, will begin. Those who usually reach this stage will also reach the pilot's field as pilots. But there is one moment in which a whole course is drained - the solo flight. That morning, the pilot flower would wake up at 6:00 AM, clean his rooms with his friends and at 08:00 after breakfast he would arrive at the squadron. There will be a briefing like every day about decision making, dealing with changes in the air, unexpected cases, cases and reactions. Combat triggers will fly on the crayon plane. "I'm very tough on this day," the senior instructor explained, "they have to earn the solo flight." He made it clear that "there is a situation that I reject the solo apprentice. After the flight together I mark him with the finger 'happy', and then I jump off the plane and he prepares for the solo." The instructor said there were a set of parameters that he had to meet on the first solo flight. "After 20 minutes on the road, the token falls to him, he looks left and right and he is alone. It's a formative moment that sharpens the sense of responsibility. The guide is no longer with you."

Air Force Commander Norkin completed Flight No. 113 on the July 1987 battle as an outstanding trainee. He did his solo flight with the cliffhanger plane. After eight flights, one coffee with the guide, takeoff and landing. The plane remained on the ground, the instructor jumped out and he continued alone for two more laps. If the Air Force commander imagines the first solo flight of his life aboard the 'mighty' plane, with 32 years of seniority and when the Air Force eyes are on it, it is likely that Norkin took off and landed with quite a few insights on the Israeli Air Force's supremacy in the Middle East.