Advancing FRS Training through Modern Technology: Get Real, Get Better

By LT Cort “Freq” Jones, USN and LT Chris “Dewey” Kimbrough, USN

During opening statements at the 2021 Naval Helicopter Association Symposium, Vice Chief of Naval Operations ADM Bill Lescher said, “The future of Naval Lethality is broken down into four individual pieces: the abilities to shoot, maneuver, defend, and supply.” Rotary Wing Naval Aviation is embedded within each of these fundamental pieces and our Fleet aviators must be ready from day one to execute these missions. However, the HSC and HSM syllabi are, by nature, stuck in the archaic training environment of decades past; we simply are not able to achieve this goal.

Over the last decade, the Naval Aviation Enterprise (NAE) has slowly incorporated improved teaching techniques within training commands, but has come up considerably short with respect to harnessing the advancements in training technology. When speaking to “CAT Other” Fleet Replacement Pilots (FRPs), clicking their way through the FRS syllabus for the second or third time before they begin their Department Head and Executive Officer tours , relatively little has actually changed in our approach to the production of Fleet Naval Aviators. Our FRPs are completing the same courseware, on the same computers, in the same libraries, as they did 10 to 20 years ago. Within the civilian sector, there have been dramatic technological improvements during this same time span. The implementation of these improvements into the FRS curriculum could increase the fidelity of training, shorten time to train (TTT), and ultimately produce more prepared, proficient, and lethal aviators.

In early 2020, Chief of Naval Air Training, Rear Admiral Daniel W. Dwyer initiated Project Avenger, a Navy primary flight training modernization program based on the Air Force’s Pilot Training Next Program. Diverging from the standard book intensive linear training continuum, Project Avenger leverages technological advances commonly seen in the civilian sector and allows Primary Instructor Pilots (IP) to develop new ways of teaching the modern Student Naval Aviator (SNA). In this program, SNAs are given a personal learning device (tablet) that is preloaded with publications, the learning management system (LMS), videos, virtual reality (VR) simulations, and aviation software. In the program, SNAs have 24/7 access to a multitude of videos and courseware to help them absorb the material and see and chair-fly maneuvers hundreds of times, at no cost, before they ever step foot into an aircraft. The plethora of content, covering each of the primary phases from preflight planning through aerobatic and formation flight, elevates the SNA’s knowledge retention from strictly information memorization to information understanding. Project Avenger SNAs immerse themselves in the material, build connections between words and task execution, and add real-world sight pictures to the Primary Contact Flight Training Instruction (FTI) maneuver descriptions and parameters.

With Commander, Naval Air Force’s (CNAF) approval, inaircraft cameras are mounted to capture the pilot’s viewpoint for each maneuver. When compiled and edited, each video demonstrates how to properly execute a maneuver. The IP narrates each step, highlights where the pilot should be scanning, and which cues or visual references are used in order to complete the maneuver. SNAs have the ability to watch, pause, rewind, and re-watch these videos; they can see what the IP is looking at, scan the instruments, and identify their own checkpoints in the aircraft as well as in the pattern. Via these videos, SNAs are exposed to the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) Principles of Learning of Exercise and Primacy.1 The principle of exercise states that those things most often repeated are best remembered and that exercise is most meaningful and effective within the context of realworld application; in this case the SNAs see and hear each maneuver performed in the real world by a standardized IP instead of words in the FTI, and they will more easily be able to recall and execute when they have to perform the task in the aircraft. The principle of primacy states that what is learned first often creates a strong, almost unshakable impression, and that the first experience should be positive, functional, and lay the correct foundation for all that is to follow; with this program the SNAs learn the proper, standard way to execute each maneuver from their very first contact with the material. Each video is free from gouge passed between SNAs and individualized Simulator Instructor (SI) or IP technique. SNAs are given the ability not only to memorize the FTI steps, but also to see and understand the steps being exercised before ever being required to execute the maneuvers themselves. VR headsets are available to the SNAs to review the material as well, combining the benefits of aircraft and maneuver videos with an almost lifelike “in the aircraft” experience. With this technology, the SNA essentially has unrestricted access to a personal 360 degree simulator, hours of instructional simulations, and a dedicated IP at home.

Expounding on the previously mentioned preflight benefits of Project Avenger, additional in-flight and post-flight applications pave the way for higher level learning through flight analysis and error analysis. The SNA’s iPad utilizes applications that track them throughout the entire flight, capturing flight regime and maneuver data not previously accessible for debrief. This tracking not only captures flight parameters but is capable of capturing video of the aircraft throughout the training event. This enables the SNAs to debrief with (and without) their instructors, see their maneuver execution, evaluate performance compared to standard, and correlate the results of the maneuver with what control input was made inside the cockpit. The SNA will be able to review, analyze, and re-fly each maneuver an infinite amount of times after every flight, thus allowing them to identify and understand the root cause for each mistake and ultimately reduce errors in the future. This advancement in training technology can dramatically increase an SNA’s performance and success rate, and reduce overall TTT throughout the pipeline. Data from Project Avenger graduates has already shown a dramatic reduction in TTT. SNAs in the original primary syllabus are allotted 12 contact flights to be eligible for solo; many are completing this milestone in six flights in the Project Avenger syllabus, and some in as few as five.

Primary Flight Training (VTs) and Helicopter Advanced Flight Training (HTs) have begun working with these hardware and software training systems under Project Avenger through CNATRA resources and funding. The VTs started a pilot class operating under a prototype Project Avenger syllabus in September 2020, with the goal of evaluating the effectiveness of the courseware and identifying areas for improvement. Since then, several classes have gone through similar programs, which have continuously been updated to maximize the benefits of the training technology. The focus of the training modernization is: “How can I move things to the left?” and enable SNAs to take control of their own training and progress at their own pace. “Competency based training” was introduced to move students through the syllabus as fast as they are able to grasp the material. This allows high performing SNAs to complete phase checkpoints at an accelerated pace without negatively affecting the SNAs who need more time to master the knowledge and skills. It focuses on milestones rather than simply line items on every flight. Through the use of VR devices, students are able to actively “chair fly” and apply their skills to learn the scan patterns, and repeatedly practice these skills, which in turn makes the competency based training achievable. Students who have completed Project Avenger and are selected into the jet pipeline, then proceed to Project Hellcat (T-6B continuation syllabus), and then proceed to intermediate, where they are enrolled in Project Corsair (T-45C). Project Hellcat and Corsair operate with the same principles as Project Avenger.

Alternatively, the HTs have begun acceptance of the TH73A Thrasher Advanced Helicopter Training System (AHTS). The Thrasher is a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) helicopter, hosting a suite of modern avionics and the latest and greatest aircraft systems. The Navy’s goal for this new training system is to “improve pilot training and skills by using current cockpit technologies and modernized training curriculum that reflects capabilities in current Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard inventory. Using a skills-based approach to training, with just-in-time methodology, incorporating modern technology, AHTS will ensure Rotary Wing Aviators are produced at a higher quality, more efficiently, ready to meet the challenges faced in the fleet.”2 This trainer, coupled with a specialized Project Avenger style program and an updated syllabus capitalizing on the educational benefits of the modern helicopter, will surely increase the training fidelity and ensure Aviators hit the Fleet ready to attack modern problems.

After Rotary Wing Naval Aviators receive their wings, Helicopter Sea Combat (HSC) and Helicopter Maritime Strike (HSM) FRPs report to the FRS to begin training in their Fleet aircraft; the MH-60S Knighthawk and MH-60R Seahawk respectively. Instead of continuing their training pipeline with technologically enhanced training, the HSC and HSM syllabi revert students back to an out-of-date training environment of decades past.

Navy Ensign Michael Hopersberger, a student naval aviator enrolled in Naval Aviation Training Next - Project Avenger, plans a virtual training flight on a tablet during ground school at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi, TX.

U.S. Navy photo by LT Michelle Tucker.

Winged VT and HT students turn in their iPads, leave the VR goggles, and say goodbye to the plethora of beneficial learning systems, then arrive at the FRS, where they’ll enjoy little or no access to resources that they’ve been accustomed to using in support of their training progression. These newly reporting FRPs, eager to fly their Fleet aircraft, are now faced with a new challenge: re-learn how to learn. The FRPs leaving the high fidelity training endowment in CNATRA are now at a severe educational disadvantage–now stuck in a curriculum based in paper publications, maneuver description guides (MDG), unendorsed gouge, and limited access to unclassified (and classified) tactical doctrine. This leaves no real way for FRPs to apply their highly refined and systematically tuned learning skills to the MH-60S and MH-60R. This is already a notable issue for HSC and HSM FRPs, and will undoubtedly grow more noticeable with the arrival of the TH-73A. The FRSs need to work towards training modernization and leveraging resources not just for the continuity of learning but also for the continuation of quality of the training.

A Project Avenger-related program at the FRS can lead to a reduction in TTT, and will transform the way FRPs learn their Fleet aircraft and tactics. Comparing FRS TTT reductions to a fraction of those in Project Avenger, an individual FRP’s TTT could be reduced by up to a syllabus week in the first stage of the syllabus alone. This would translate to a FRS flight hour requirement reduction of 261 hours, based on 58 CAT I FRPs graduating the FRS every year. Educationwise, the use of LMS, instructional aides, training videos, and VR simulations, FRPs on their first flight event will have already seen checklist management, course rules, maneuver execution, and emergency procedure application thousands of times. When the FRP does their first normal takeoff, single-engine landing, or autorotation in the aircraft, they will already have developed a sight picture, visual cues, and learned the standardized steps to execute the procedure near perfectly. The project also increases standardization in the material the FRPs are accessing; the videos/VR content they are watching will be the new gold standard. There will no longer be multiple interpretations or individual “techniques, not procedures” that are shared during the initial days when primacy learning is taking shape. They can commit the standard procedure execution to memory; developing connections between the written procedures and procedure execution, allowing students to create this lasting muscle memory. An added benefit of the in-house content creation is that a variety of videos for a single maneuver can be produced in different locations and can introduce maneuver execution free of the bounds and checkpoints of any single outlying field (OLF). Gone are the days in which we train FRPs to be able to execute just at Imperial Beach, Felker, or Newport News. Emphasizing proper procedure application over technique will ensure maneuver execution is location independent; whether that be Langley Air Force Base, Marine Corps Air Station Miramar, a parking lot, or the back of a ship.

Although the VT and HT training programs have been funded, the FRSs are left behind in the purgatory between a syllabus owned by CNATRA and training that’s funded through the respective Wings. With the rapid development and execution of the programs within the training commands, the FRSs have been caught in the training development dust. In order to remedy this tremendous training deficit the FRSs need to work together to develop a joint prioritized target list and framework to get high fidelity training programs off the ground.

At first look, priorities are as follows: (1) Accept that the FRS is behind in training modernization. (2) Develop a joint HSC and HSM training modernization team with longevity and little collateral responsibility. (3) Secure funding for content creation equipment/software and FRP learning devices. (4) Develop clear program objectives and a desired end state. (5) Organize a prototype curriculum. (6) Identify cast members and ensure rigid standard compliance. (7) Record, edit, and produce training material. (8) Select small FRP classes to pilot the program. (9) Continually review, update, and verify accuracy of all modern training materials.

With respect to funding, the squadrons won’t require a massive financial contribution. The FRS requires a light footprint compared to the VTs and HTs. Implementation will require close coordination across the coasts and communities for equipment use, information sharing, program development, and will require a dedicated team of subject matter experts (SMEs), standardization instructors, and editing skills to put these videos and the syllabi together.

It is clear that the FRSs have a lot of catching up to do in regards to leveraging modern technology within the training continuum. The Rotary Wing community needs to take advantage of the drastic strides commercial aviation has made within recent years, and combine these with advancements in aviation educational systems. This is contingent on a dedicated team to create content, implement changes, and advertise this fresh way of learning. By no means will this undertaking be easy; however, using the lessons learned from our peers at CNATRA, the HSC and HSM FRSs can turn the tide in how Rotary Wing Naval Aviators are being trained. The goal should be to get FRPs to their fleet squadrons faster, with a better understanding of aircraft and tactics, and a higher aptitude for safe and efficient aircraft operations. We must recognize that we have fallen behind in education, and we must remediate this deficit immediately. Echoing the VCNOs closing statements at Symposium, we must “GET REAL, [and] GET BETTER!”

Footnotes

1. FAA Aviation Instructor’s Handbook (FAA-H-803-9) 2. (https://www.navair.navy.mil/product/TH-73A)