I talked with Tom Webster of Textron Aviation Defense on July 15, 2025 about the legacy of combat pilot training and the reshaping of that approach to embrace the fifth generation and multi-domain combat pilots needed for the high-end fight.
This article deals with the first part of our conversation which focused on the legacy approach and the demands that are driving the need for change. The second part focuses on the key building blocks for shaping the way ahead for the new pilot training paradigm.
Webster served more than 30 years in the USAF and was an F-16 weapons school graduate and instructor pilot. His last position in the USAF was as Director, Air Combat Command, Joint Integration Division.
For nearly four decades and until relatively recently, Webster contends that military aviation training in the United States remained frozen in time. While the world transformed around it, the fundamental approach to teaching pilots their craft looked virtually identical in 2015 to what it had been in 1983. Students learned the same basic skills, used similar training systems, and graduated with the same “good enough” competency that had sufficed for generations.
But according to Webster, now flying Textron Aviation Defense’s military products, this stagnation created a growing disconnect that threatened the effectiveness of American airpower. The problem wasn’t that the training was inherently flawed, it was that everything else had changed while pilot education stood still.
Webster’s four decades of flying experience gives him a unique perspective on this evolution. As he describes it, the training pipeline continued churning out pilots capable of basic flight operations: taking off, conducting simple aerobatic and formation maneuvers, navigating from point A to point B, and handling standard emergencies. These were the core competencies that had defined military aviation since its inception, and for decades, they were sufficient.
But while training remained static, the operational aircraft these pilots would eventually fly underwent a revolutionary transformation. The rise of computational power fundamentally altered what it meant to operate a military aircraft. Modern fighters like the F-22 and F-35 became sophisticated information processing platforms capable of presenting data and executing missions in ways unimaginable just decades earlier.
As Webster puts it, airplanes are essentially “fancy gray wrappers” for avionics, communications links and mission systems. Whether delivering weapons to targets 100 miles away or navigating complex airspace, the aircraft’s primary job is getting the aircrew to the right place at the right time to accomplish the mission. The dramatic increase in computational power meant these “wrappers” could now process, integrate, and present information at unprecedented levels but levels that are only truly useful if the pilot could keep up.
The “Good Enough” Problem
Perhaps the most limiting factor traditional training was its one-size-fits-all approach. Regardless of natural ability or learning speed, every student received identical instruction aimed at achieving a baseline level of competency. Fast learners, average learners, and slow learners all graduated with the same “good enough” rating, ready to move on to operational aircraft.
This approach had serious implications. It meant that naturally gifted pilots never reached their highest potential during training, while struggling students consumed disproportionate resources to reach minimal standards. More critically, it produced pilots unprepared for the cognitive demands of modern warfare.
The realization that sparked reform was simple yet profound: if training systems could leverage the same computational advances transforming operational aircraft, why continue using outdated methods? Why settle for “good enough” when technology could help push pilots to excel?
Beyond Basic Flight Skills
The traditional skill set focused on fundamental flying abilities: aircraft control, basic maneuvering, emergency procedures, and navigation. These remain important, but they’re no longer sufficient. Modern military aviation demands what Webster calls a dramatically expanded “bubble of awareness.”
His driving analogy illustrates this evolution perfectly. Learning to drive on straight, empty roads requires only basic vehicle control such as acceleration, braking, and steering. But as road systems grew complex with traffic lights, intersections, multiple lanes, and heavy traffic, drivers needed broader situational awareness and decision-making skills. The same transformation occurred in military aviation, but at a much more sophisticated level.
Today’s pilots must process vast amounts of information simultaneously while making split-second decisions that affect not just their own aircraft, but entire battle networks. They’re no longer simply flying their plane. They’re commanding distributed systems, integrating space-based assets, coordinating cyber effects, and managing weapons systems with capabilities their predecessors could never have imagined.
From Tactical Performer to Strategic Decision Maker
This transformation represents perhaps the most fundamental shift in military aviation since powered flight began. Traditionally, pilots operated within clearly defined parameters set by higher command. They executed specific missions with the autonomy to adapt to changing situations, functioning essentially as highly skilled technicians operating sophisticated machines.
Modern warfare demands something entirely different. Today’s pilots have evolved from tactical performers into strategic decision makers with significant battlefield authority. They’re not just executing predetermined plans. They’re actively shaping operations in real-time based on the information their systems provide and their analysis of rapidly changing conditions.
Webster uses the term “quarterback” to describe this new role, and the comparison is apt. Like an NFL quarterback reading defensive alignments and adjusting plays at the line of scrimmage, modern pilots must process multiple information streams, assess threats and opportunities, and make strategic decisions that ripple across the entire battle space.
This shift is particularly evident in pilots flying advanced aircraft like the F-35, where the traditional concept of operating as a “node in a network” fails to capture the reality of their responsibilities. These pilots don’t simply receive and follow orders but actively influence the network, contribute to the broader strategic picture, and make decisions that affect operations far beyond their immediate vicinity.
The Napoleonic Parallel
Webster’s comparison to Napoleonic warfare illuminates both the challenge and the opportunity of modern pilot training. Napoleon sought high ground not primarily for artillery advantage, but for the situational awareness it provided. From elevated positions, he could observe the entire battlefield, track the movement of his forces and the enemy’s, and maintain the span of control necessary for effective command.
Pre-radio warfare required forces to operate in close proximity because dispersion meant lost communication and, ultimately, lost control. Modern military aviation faces the opposite challenge: forces are necessarily dispersed across vast distances, yet pilots must maintain even greater awareness than Napoleon ever achieved.
The computational power of modern aircraft provides this “high ground” in digital form. Advanced sensors, data links, and processing systems give pilots unprecedented battlefield awareness, but only if they’re trained to interpret and act on this information effectively. The challenge isn’t technological; it’s human. Training must evolve to develop pilots capable of functioning at this level of complexity.
The Path Forward
The solution isn’t simply adding more technology to training programs, though advanced simulation and computational tools certainly play a role. The fundamental change required is philosophical: abandoning the “good enough” standard in favor of maximizing each pilot’s potential.
This means developing training programs that adapt to individual learning styles and capabilities, pushing naturally gifted students toward excellence while providing additional support for those who need it. It means incorporating the same information processing and decision-making challenges pilots will face in operational aircraft. Most importantly, it means recognizing that modern pilots are not just aircraft operators: they’re battlefield commanders who happen to work from a cockpit.
As adversaries develop increasingly sophisticated capabilities and warfare becomes more complex, the margin for error continues to shrink. Pilots trained to be “good enough” may find themselves catastrophically unprepared for the cognitive demands of modern conflict.
Tom Webster’s insights reveal a military aviation community in the midst of fundamental transformation. The comfortable certainties of traditional pilot training — focused on basic flight skills and standardized competencies. — are giving way to new realities that demand strategic thinking, information processing, and decision-making capabilities that would have been unimaginable to earlier generations of aviators.
The evolution from “good enough” to excellence isn’t just about improving training efficiency or leveraging new technologies. It’s about recognizing that the nature of military aviation has fundamentally changed, and training must change with it. The pilots graduating from today’s programs won’t just be flying aircraft. They’ll be commanding the future of airpower itself.
The question isn’t whether this transformation will occur, but how quickly military institutions can adapt their training paradigms and toolsets to meet these new demands. In an era where technological superiority is temporary and adversaries are adaptive, the ultimate competitive advantage lies not in the sophistication of the aircraft, but in the cognitive capabilities of the pilots who fly them.