50th Flying Training Squadron “World Famous” Strikin’ Snakes
Lt. Col. Steve Ankerstar
50th Flying Training Squadron
Commander
It isn’t easy being world famous. The more than 150-strong team of those assigned or associated with the Strikin’ Snakes try their best though. With 40 active duty instructor pilots, 30 more reservist instructors, nine enlisted, two civilians, a world-class spouse organization, and over 60
associated students at a time, we boast a total force team that is committed to our mission.
Today, I’ll press beyond what made this squadron world famous in the past to highlight a few things that make the 50th FTS “world famous” today. Our mission is clear—we train pilots. We utilize the T-38C supersonic jet trainer to offer one of two Phase III SUPT “tracks” that transition students from the T-6 to their follow-on weapon systems. Traditionally, our
squadron has trained students for follow-on assignments primarily in fighter and bomber units, but the drawdown in combat air force assets has changed this slightly. Beginning in late 2009, we began sending students to mobility airframes as well. Our syllabus remains the same and every graduate of our program earns a single-seat fighter qualification.
However, those opportunities are rare these days. Withthe F-35 around the corner, we provide the Air Force with a qualified pool of resources that may later transition from the mobility world into the fighter world. Until then, we tell our students that they could see almost any aircraft in
the inventory when they turn and face the screen on assignment night. Such experiences build character.
Our priorities are also clear—train, educate, and motivate. Training remains our highest priority with our syllabus consisting of 82 aircraft sorties, 30 simulators, and 112 hours of academics. However, we try to round out this training with education along the way by answering “why”
instead of just teaching our students “how.” We treat our students as professional young aviators that will lead tomorrow’s Air Force and we make/take every opportunity to educate and mentor them along the way.
Every Friday afternoon, we stand down for a flying period to focus on training excellence and professional aviation. Our students attend these “all ops” meetings and participate in debriefing the highlights (both good and bad) of the week. We show HUD tapes and ACMI lines to demonstrate our lessons learned and we do this en masse to allow all of us to learn from each incident. The real value to the students is in hearing the discussion behind each event to allow all of our aviators, instructor pilots and student alike, to add to their professional aviation understanding on a weekly basis. These meetings also provide the backbone of a strong aviation safety culture of owning up to mistakes, talking through the experience and passing on lessons
learned.
Motivation exists in many forms. As such, we pride ourselves in offering multiple avenues to motivate our students to achieve more than they thought possible. For starters, we sacrifice a flying training period every week to focus on fitness and motivational team-building. Every Wednesday afternoon (or morning on night weeks), we can be seen on the football field outside the squadron or at the gym or running perimeter road (too hot for that now). By far the most
motivational event we have is the regular instructor versus student dodge ball game. The presence of multiple flying projectiles does wonders for building situational awareness.
Other motivation techniques in our motivational tool kit are: the charm bracelet, the touk (Canadian for a particular style of hat) of shame and Friday T-shirt contests. One must ask a current Snake instructor or student for the finer nuances of exactly how each of these specific
methods enhance memory and motivate students to achieve more on a daily basis. Part of being world famous is having the foresight to rejuvenate viable motivational techniques that have been cast aside by today’s institutions of higher learning.
Lastly, and most importantly, the core of our “worldfamousness” is our support network. Our life support personnel have the cleanest life support facility that I have ever seen and their pride in their facility demonstrates the same pride they have in taking care of each of us. Our ops desk personnel take great pleasure in ensuring that no Snake steps out the door without all the appropriate paperwork and qualifications to do so. Our maintenance team provides us ready to fly airplanes every day without fail and politely revises their schedulewhen ours explodes (daily).
Our civilians, Ms. Cathy and Michelle, form a front office team that will welcome you to our squadron with open arms while simultaneously extinguishing the multiple office fires that pop every day. Our Honorary Commander, Mr. Paul Swain, graces us with his presence and we could not ask for more support than he and Linda provide.
And finally, our spouses—the Strikin’ Sisters—and our families keep us grounded in reality and remind us that our world-famousness only exists within the four walls of the
squadron.
I commonly brief the wing commander on our Thursday stand up meetings that, “Life is good in the 50th” and it truly is. In addition to the sheer privilege of training, educating, and motivating tomorrow’s Air Force leaders, we also get to showcase the US Air Force to our primary customer—the American public—on a regular basis.
We supported multiple air shows this past year from coast to coast, Arlington funeral flybys, Officer Training School graduations, and multiple televised sporting events to include—opening day for the Atlanta Braves, a Miami Dolphin NFL game, and two NASCAR races. We are a proud squadron with a proud history and we are working hard to get better every day. Please visit us at our Facebook page—50 FTS Strikin Snakes—to learn more.
Capt. Aaron Kiser instructs a student in the finer art of tactical formation.
Maj. Bill Lester gives a step brief to 50th FTS pilots at the squadron. On average students at the 50th FTS go through 82 aircraft sorties, 30 simulators and 112 hours of academics during their time at the squadron.
Pilots walk through the “World Famous” door to the flight line at thesquadron headquarters.
Pilots with the 50th FTS stand with members of the Miami Dolphins cheerleadersafter a flyover November 2009.
