Air Training Officers (ATO) were specially selected
commissioned officer
An officer is a person who holds a position of authority as a member of an armed force or uniformed service.
Broadly speaking, "officer" means a commissioned officer, a non-commissioned officer (NCO), or a warrant officer. However, absent ...
s who served as surrogate upperclass cadets at the
United States Air Force Academy
The United States Air Force Academy (USAFA) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Air Force Academy, Colorado, Air Force Academy Colorado, immediately north of Colorado Springs, Colorado, Colorado Springs. I ...
.
Establishment of the Air Force Academy
the history of flight training by the predecessor organizations of the United States Air Force. The U.S. Army purchased its first airplane, built and successfully flown by Orville and Wilbur Wright, in 1909, and placed both lighter- and heavier-than-air aeronautics in the Division of Military Aeronautics of the Signal Corps.
The original Air Training Officers were commissioned junior officers who served as a surrogate upperclass for incoming cadets before there were actual upperclass cadets to conduct training and oversee the Cadet Wing.
Admission of Women to the Academy
In 1976, the ATO program was revived in a modified form when women were allowed to attend the Air Force Academy. The academy brought in a number of female junior officers to learn about Academy life and act as surrogate upperclassmen specifically for the new female cadets.
Before taking on their roles, the new ATOs underwent
Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape
Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) is a training concept originally developed by the British during World War II. It is best known by its military acronym and prepares a range of Western forces to survive when evading or b ...
(SERE) training, physical conditioning, various
airmanship
Airmanship is skill and knowledge applied to Air navigation, aerial navigation, similar to seamanship in maritime navigation. Airmanship covers a broad range of desirable behaviors and abilities in an aviator. It is not simply a measure of skill ...
programs, field training at
Jacks Valley and audited academic courses. Special counseling courses enabled the ATOs to help women cadets with potential personal problems.
Notes
1. Cameron 1999, p. iii.
External links
AFMC General First to Introduce Women to AF Academy Life AFMC Public Affairs article
References
*
[Cameron, Rebecca Hancock (1999). Training to fly : military flight training, 1907-1945]
United States Air Force Academy
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