Manpower Costs of the Training Wing Five T-6B Transition Plan

• Main Authors: Orgain, Marc, Chastain, Marshall, Patterson, Luke
• Other Authors: Crawford, Alice
• Published: Monterey, California. Naval Postgraduate School 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10945/7052

EMBA Project Report === EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: This project was undertaken at the request of the Deputy Commodore, Training Wing FIVE. In light of the coming transition from the T-34 to T-6 aircraft, the manpower cost from initial preparation through final execution remained uncertain. While most consultation projects involve an analysis and selection of a course of action, this unique project began with a course already determined and attempted only to determine the cost of that course. In order to determine this cost in terms of Instructor Pilots (IPs) lost from production during the transition, an interactive spreadsheet model was constructed and several pools of data were analyzed. A timeline for Instructor Pilot training was constructed based on the planned time to train, then a second timeline was constructed for the training of the Flight Instructor Training Unit (FITU) Instructor Pilots (FIPs) to ensure they would be prepared to qualify new Instructor Pilots in time for the arrival of the first T-6 Student Military Aviators (SMAs). Once this framework was constructed, numerous data values such as aircraft capacity and SMA-to-IP ratios were applied to ensure the answer was both accurate and comprehensive. The findings of this project reveal that, based on the currently planned T-6 training schedule for both SMAs and IPs, Training Wing FIVE will experience a deficit of T-34 Instructor Pilots commencing APR 2008 and concluding APR 2012, reaching a peak deficit of 36 Instructor Pilots at numerous points during that time period.