Combat Aviator.

This is coolbert:

From my previous blog entry:

"My understanding has been that from the time of enlistment until a pilot ready to fly a modern advanced combat warplane a minimum of three years required! And that does not mean combat ready. That merely suggests and ability to solo, take off and land a modern jet and nothing more than that."

Talking in this instance about that training regimen of a conventional combat pilot in the "western" military mode that degree of flying skill requiring substantial time to achieve a readiness rather long as I suspected.

As described by an acknowledged aviation expert:

1. "Pilot training during [a period from about fifty years ago for a jet combat fighter pilot] was 13 months long and was fairly intense, class instruction time-wise and flying hours-wise."

THIS IS THE BASIC STUFF. SOLO, TAKE OFF AND LAND AND DO SO IN ONE PIECE.  

2. "Then came 'type qualification':  learning to fly the particular airplane you were assigned to which took another six months of intense training/flying for the more important or complex assignments, such as fighters"

THIS IS THE FLYING EXPERIENCE IN THE "PARTICULAR AIRPLANE" TO WHICH YOU HAVE BEEN ASSIGNED. FIGHTER, BOMBER, TRANSPORT, HELIO, ETC.

 3. "Finally, you were assigned to your unit, where you'd have to go through another six months that unit's formal training to be 'combat ready', but in fact, it was then assumed you would need another six months of regular work with the squadron after the squadron's formal training course to really 'know' what you were doing in the air and as part of the fighting team."

THIS IS SKILLS TO MAKE YOU READY FOR COMBAT AT THE BASIC LEVEL. EVEN FURTHER TRAINING NEEDED TO PROCEED BEYOND THE BASIC LEVEL AND BE FULLY INTEGRATED INTO THE UNIT, CAPABLE OF THE MOST INTENSE MISSIONS!

Hey, nobody ever said any of this was easy, did they!

ISIL jihadi in training to fly with any sort of proficiency of high performance combat jet such as a MiG-21 are in for a long grind. To be honest the whole idea seems absurd. But then six months ago ISIL wasn't even on the map, were they?

coolbert.