Combat systems officer

A Combat System Officer (or CSO differs from CSOp) is a member of an aircrew in the United States Air Force and is often the mission commander in many multi-crew aircraft. The Combat System Officer manages the mission and integrates systems and crew with the aircraft commander to collectively achieve and maintain situational awareness and mission effectiveness. CSOs are trained in navigation, the use of the electromagnetic spectrum, and weapon system employment. Aircrew responsibilities include mission planning, mission timing, weapons targeting and employment, threat reactions, aircraft communications, and hazard avoidance.

In 2006, USAF undergraduate navigators began attending Initial Flight Training (IFT), a civilian contracted flight training operation under Air Education and Training Command (AETC) auspices, with their USAF undergraduate pilot counterparts at Pueblo Memorial Airport, Colorado, a program that replaced the previous Pilot Indoctrination Program (PIP) at USAFA, the previous Flight Instruction Program (FIP) in Air Force ROTC, the former Centralized Flight Screening Program for Air Force OTS graduates (and later USAFA and AFROTC graduates following discontinuation of PIP and FIP) at Hondo Municipal Airport, Texas, and the former Cessna T-41 Mescalero phase in Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) that was discontinued in the early 1970s. IFS has continued as previously established at Pueblo with the transition of USAF Navigators to CSOs.

CSO training merges three previous USAF Undergraduate Navigator Training (UNT) tracks formerly known as the Navigator track, the Weapon Systems Officer (WSO) track and the Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) track into one coherent training cycle in order to produce an aeronautically rated officer who is more versatile. Parallel Navigator and WSO training tracks ended in 2009.

In 2009, most USAF Navigators still in an operational flying status, or due to rotate back to an operational flying assignment, transitioned to CSO. Under Air Force Instruction 36-402, rated USAF Navigators who do not transition to CSO are not eligible for advanced CSO ratings, e.g. Senior CSO and Master CSO.

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