Chapter Nine - part seven

   Three months of class room training was followed by six months of simulator training and a few flights in special trainer jets. They weren't F/A-48's, but they handled much the same way. After the first nine months of training the class size had been reduced down to fifty students. All but one of those cut had been older pilots. Almost half of them had requested they be returned to their former squadrons, rather than being cut. The new F/A-48 wasn't for them. They simply couldn't or didn't want to make the adjustment to the new avionics and combat control systems. The new systems were all far more dependent on the pilot than the older systems. It was just too much of a change from old habits for them to be comfortable with them. The fifty that were left consisted of 27 Navy pilots and 23 Air Force pilots. All of the young untrained pilots were still hanging in there. In fact most were near the top of the class on scores in both the class room work and the simulators. James and Sarah were both in the top ten up to this point. The next nine months would be spent learning to actually fly the new F/A-48. They would start with the planes used during the testing. They weren't exactly like the fully combat ready planes. They would proceed on to the actual new planes after that. They would spend four months training with the Air Force and four months with the Navy in those new fully completed jets. Then the top forty pilots would be assigned planes and spend the final month flying with their new wingman and becoming a combat ready unit. Those fighters would be deployed in ten plane flights that would be attached to existing squadrons of the older F-35's.

   During this stage of the training it quickly became clear that younger untrained pilots adapted faster to the F/A-48, but the best older pilots still remained the best overall pilots. James and Sarah were both doing very well in the new jets. Sarah had a slight edge on the actual flying, but James was among the best at balancing combat control and flying. There were very few pilots who could match his skill at controlling the combat situations both on the ground and in the air, while flying his plane near the limits of it performance too. That skill was very likely going to send him into one of the most active combat zones in the world, despite his lack of actual combat experience. Sarah would probably be close by, but not in the same flight or squadron. That was to be expected. The Air Force had decided on one more major change since the training had begun. They planned to start a rotation of pilots in the heavy combat squadrons. The plan was simple. They would station two pilots with each plane in the worst zones and then rotate the pilots on and off duty on a regular schedule. The current method was to deploy military units for 12 to 18 months at a time with very little leave time during that deployment. After each deployment the squadron would then be rotated out for a year to allow the airmen and pilots to get a break.

   That had worked for a while, but it was beginning to cause problems that actually affected squadron performance. It was too hard on men and on the older planes to stay out that long. The new regular rotation had been suggested by the pilots in the squadrons. They could get a break from the stress while still maintaining the edge they had to have. The longer deployments made it harder to maintain peak performance and the longer breaks made it hard to regain that edge when they were deployed again. They believed that these shorter rotations would help them stay more focused and efficient. There were also the reductions in planes to be dealt with. The military was facing more large cuts again. This was despite more demands being put on them to cover more active areas in the world. It was straining every part of the force to find the equipment and men to keep force strengths adequate around the world without having people and equipment pushed beyond reasonable limits.

   There was already a new class in training and they would be ready to step into the rotation by the time it came up. That would allow more pilots to be fully trained and ready as the new F/A-48's arrived. The exact rotation schedule would be adjusted to find the best schedule, but it looked like a short six weeks on followed by four weeks off would be the new schedule. That was for pilots only. The ground crews would have longer rotations and unfortunately the planes still had to remain for the full deployment. It wasn't perfect, but maybe it would be better than what had been done. The last of the training was the hardest part of it and they had three more drop from the program. They were all Air Force pilots. They simply didn't like the carrier landing requirement. That left only enough pilots for the planes the Air Force would have for the first deployment. It had been a tough 18 months, but Sarah and James had made it all the way. Together they had captured a dream, now they had to go live that dream.

   They had known for a while that the two flights would be deployed in two separate areas, but they had also known they would be in the same general area. Both flights were being assigned to the always volatile Middle East region. Things had been getting steadily worse there for years. Iran had taken control of Afghanistan years ago and was trying to keep the pot stirred in the rest of the region. Iraq and Turkey were the real problems areas now though. There were still American bases in Turkey, but it had been in an undeclared civil war for over a decade now. The U.N. was trying to keep the peace, but that peace was almost laughable. Turkey had three major divisions fighting for power within it. Iraq had two divisions struggling inside its borders as well. But in spite of that both nations were heavily involved in Syria which had been in constant chaos for as long as James could remember and still was. James had been paired up as the wingman for Lt. Colonel Wilson. They would be going to the U.N. base in Turkey. Sarah had been paired with Major Hawks and they were headed to a base in Saudi Arabia. That effectively put them on opposite sides of the same area of conflict.

   They wouldn't be likely get to see each other much, but there was a chance they might be flying in the same general airspace at the same time. It would also make it easier for them to stay in touch and see each other on their limited leaves too. Since they were going to be deployed together they should be on a similar rotation as well. It was almost too good to be true. They were released for two weeks of leave after completion of their training. That would give everyone time to get ready for deployment. James and Sarah still didn't have much in the way of personal stuff to worry with, so it was easier for them. They packed things away in storage and then spent a week with each set of parents before it was time to go back. After that neither of them was sure how long it would be before they saw each other again. They had spent a little over 18 months together, but now it was time to see how long they could stand being apart.