Pilot Categories (Flight Lead etc etc)

[DGC338]

How are Pilots categorised in the worlds airforces/navies?

 

I know in the RAAF it is as follows:

 

Categorisation. Categorisation (CAT) is an indication of a member’s proficiency in a

flying role and is indicated by the award and recording of one of the following

categories:

i. Cat A—Select

ii. Cat B—Highly Proficient

iii. Cat C—Proficient

iv. Cat D—Converted to Type

 

Are other airforces similar. (I would guess the RAAF systems comes from the RAF?)

What does the USAF/USN use? do the use things like Flight Lead qualified.

 

I see on the fighter pilot podcast his Patrons are divided up into Section/division/strike lead. Are these official categories within the Navy. Like perhaps element/flight/...... lead in the USAF Or do they have categories like in the RAAF?

[RShackleford]

USAF fighter pilots start as wingmen flying as number 2 or 4, then it goes to 2-ship flight lead which can be a flight lead of just a 2-ship or it can be number 3 as an element lead of a 4-ship. Then there's a 4-ship flight lead which I've seen be in charge of up to 6 aircraft at once (generally on cross country flights, a tanker dragging 6 aircraft from one place to another.) After that there's instructor, who can instruct for all the upgrades to those different positions. Finally there's mission commander, who will usually be leading a 4-ship in the fight but ultimately responsible for the success of a much larger force. Beyond that, few pilots/WSOs are sent to fighter weapons instructor course and some are brought back there to be instructors at the course. WIC is definitely not for everyone, as they're spending 16-18 hours a day with maybe 1-2 hours of that being flying and the rest of the time debriefing to every detail of a flight, but the final product of WIC is not just extremely good flyers but also human encyclopedias for every system and weapon the aircraft is able to employ.

[Sandman1330]

In the RCAF, it depends on the community you are in.

 

I don’t know about fighters, but in Tactical Helicopter Aviation, we have CAT III, which is a first officer, CAT IIIs is aircraft captain, CAT II is section lead (2-3 aircraft) and a CAT I can lead complex, multiple sections and mixed assets. There are other more specialized categories, but this is the gist of it