An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
Official websites use .mil
A
.mil
website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
Secure .mil websites use HTTPS
A
lock (
lock
)
or
https://
means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.
Skip to main content (Press Enter).
WHO WE ARE
Force Development
FY23 NETC Annual Report
NETC Leadership
NETC Headquarters
Equal Employment Opportunity Office
Inspector General
Senior Enlisted Academy
NETC Site West
NETC History
Who We Are
COMMANDS
Navy Recruiting Command
Naval Service Training Command
Navy Band Great Lakes
NJROTC
NROTC
OTCN
Recruit Training Command
STA-21
Naval Education and Training Command Human Resources Office
Center for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Diving
CENEODDIVE Detachment Great Lakes
Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center
Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Center for Information Warfare Training
Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station
Information Warfare Training Site Keesler
Information Warfare Training Site Fort Eisenhower
Information Warfare Training Command Monterey
Information Warfare Training Command Monterey Detachment Goodfellow
Information Warfare Training Command San Diego
Information Warfare Training Site Hawaii
Information Warfare Training Site Pacific Northwest
Information Warfare Training Site Yokosuka
Information Warfare Training Command Virginia Beach
Information Warfare Training Command Virginia Beach Detachment Groton
Information Warfare Training Site Jacksonville
Information Warfare Training Site Kings Bay
Information Warfare Training Site Mayport
Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture
Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training
Atsugi
Camp Pendleton
Eglin AFB
Lakehurst
Point Mugu
Tinker AFB
Whiting Field
Cherry Point
Jacksonville
Keesler AFB
Lemoore
New River
Norfolk
North Island
Oceana
Whidbey Island
Naval Air Technical Training Center
Center for Seabees and Facilities Engineering
Fort Leonard Wood
Sheppard AFB
Naval Civil Engineer Corps Officers School
NCTC Port Hueneme
China Lake
NCTC Gulfport
Center for Security Forces
Naval Technical Training Center Lackland
Center for Service Support
Naval Chaplaincy School
Naval School of Music
Naval Technical Training Center Meridian
Navy Service Support Advanced Training Command
Navy Supply Corps School
Engineering Duty Officer School
Naval Aviation Schools Command
Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center
Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity
NETSAFA International Training Center
Naval Leadership and Ethics Center
Enlisted Leader Development
Naval Leadership and Ethics Command Dam Neck
Naval Leadership and Ethics Command San Diego
Naval Special Warfare Leadership Education and Development Command
Senior Enlisted Academy
Submarine Learning Center
Naval Submarine School
Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific
Submarine Training Facility San Diego
Submarine Learning Facility Norfolk
Trident Training Facility Kings Bay
Trident Training Facility Bangor
Surface Combat Systems Training Command
SCSTC AEGIS Training and Readiness Center
SCSTC San Diego
SCSTC Hampton Roads
Mine Warfare Training Center
Surface Warfare Schools Command
Surface Warfare Engineering School Command Great Lakes
Surface Warfare Officers School Command
Mariner Skills Training Center Atlantic
Mariner Skills Training Center Pacific
Commands
RESOURCES
NETC Directives
Education Verification
Employment Verification
SCP-ETMS
FAQs
FOIA
Links
Translate
Contact Us
Resources
MEDIA CENTER
News Stories
Press Releases
Biographies
Photo Gallery
Videos
Graphics
Media Center
READY RELEVANT LEARNING
WARRIOR TOUGHNESS
Search
Home
Media Center
News Stories
News Stories Display
Home
Media Center
News Stories
News Stories Display
WHO WE ARE
Force Development
FY23 NETC Annual Report
NETC Leadership
NETC Headquarters
Equal Employment Opportunity Office
Inspector General
Senior Enlisted Academy
NETC Site West
NETC History
COMMANDS
Navy Recruiting Command
Naval Service Training Command
Navy Band Great Lakes
NJROTC
NROTC
OTCN
Recruit Training Command
STA-21
Naval Education and Training Command Human Resources Office
Center for Explosive Ordnance Disposal and Diving
CENEODDIVE Detachment Great Lakes
Naval Diving and Salvage Training Center
Naval School Explosive Ordnance Disposal
Center for Information Warfare Training
Information Warfare Training Command Corry Station
Information Warfare Training Site Keesler
Information Warfare Training Site Fort Eisenhower
Information Warfare Training Command Monterey
Information Warfare Training Command Monterey Detachment Goodfellow
Information Warfare Training Command San Diego
Information Warfare Training Site Hawaii
Information Warfare Training Site Pacific Northwest
Information Warfare Training Site Yokosuka
Information Warfare Training Command Virginia Beach
Information Warfare Training Command Virginia Beach Detachment Groton
Information Warfare Training Site Jacksonville
Information Warfare Training Site Kings Bay
Information Warfare Training Site Mayport
Language, Regional Expertise, and Culture
Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training
Atsugi
Camp Pendleton
Eglin AFB
Lakehurst
Point Mugu
Tinker AFB
Whiting Field
Cherry Point
Jacksonville
Keesler AFB
Lemoore
New River
Norfolk
North Island
Oceana
Whidbey Island
Naval Air Technical Training Center
Center for Seabees and Facilities Engineering
Fort Leonard Wood
Sheppard AFB
Naval Civil Engineer Corps Officers School
NCTC Port Hueneme
China Lake
NCTC Gulfport
Center for Security Forces
Naval Technical Training Center Lackland
Center for Service Support
Naval Chaplaincy School
Naval School of Music
Naval Technical Training Center Meridian
Navy Service Support Advanced Training Command
Navy Supply Corps School
Engineering Duty Officer School
Naval Aviation Schools Command
Naval Education and Training Professional Development Center
Naval Education and Training Security Assistance Field Activity
NETSAFA International Training Center
Naval Leadership and Ethics Center
Enlisted Leader Development
Naval Leadership and Ethics Command Dam Neck
Naval Leadership and Ethics Command San Diego
Naval Special Warfare Leadership Education and Development Command
Senior Enlisted Academy
Submarine Learning Center
Naval Submarine School
Naval Submarine Training Center Pacific
Submarine Training Facility San Diego
Submarine Learning Facility Norfolk
Trident Training Facility Kings Bay
Trident Training Facility Bangor
Surface Combat Systems Training Command
SCSTC AEGIS Training and Readiness Center
SCSTC San Diego
SCSTC Hampton Roads
Mine Warfare Training Center
Surface Warfare Schools Command
Surface Warfare Engineering School Command Great Lakes
Surface Warfare Officers School Command
Mariner Skills Training Center Atlantic
Mariner Skills Training Center Pacific
RESOURCES
NETC Directives
Education Verification
Employment Verification
SCP-ETMS
FAQs
FOIA
Links
Translate
Contact Us
MEDIA CENTER
News Stories
Press Releases
Biographies
Photo Gallery
Videos
Graphics
READY RELEVANT LEARNING
WARRIOR TOUGHNESS
New Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation Program Provides Modern Foundation for Flight Training
09 November 2020
From Anne Owens, Chief of Naval Air Training Public Affairs
The first 33 students graduated from the Navy’s new Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation (NIFE) program aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Oct. 14.
CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas - The first 33 students graduated from the Navy’s new Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation (NIFE) program aboard Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola, Oct. 14.
NIFE, launched in September, combines and replaces the Aviation Preflight Indoctrination (API) and Introductory Flight Screening (IFS) programs, which have been in place for decades.
NIFE is the first step in the undergraduate aviation-training pipeline for every student naval aviator and student naval flight officer in the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. It is designed to provide students with fundamental aviation knowledge, introduce military procedural-based training and performance standards, provide aeronautical adaptability screening, decrease attrition later in the training pipelines, and improve overall student performance during Primary flight training.
Naval Aviation Schools Command (NASC) facilitates the 8 1/2–week program, delivering students to
Chief of Naval Air Training
(CNATRA) for their first flight experience in Navy aircraft.
While students will still get their first flight hours in civil aircraft with mostly civilian flight instructors, NIFE introduces students to military procedures earlier than ever before. NIFE also incorporates military flight instructors (MFIs), who provide flight instruction, serve as mentors, and oversee students’ progress throughout the program. This allows MFIs to manage students’ expectations of Primary training requirements, provide assistance to underperformers earlier, and lay the foundation of students’ military aviation knowledge so they feel confident moving through the pipeline. Working with MFI mentors and applying appropriate study techniques early on is expected to reduce the number of initial progress checks, ready room UNSATs, and reduce academic failure overall.
“The restructuring of NIFE is a major step forward in CNATRA’s vision for the Naval Aviation Enterprise,” said NIFE Director Cmdr. Mark Yates. “Students are briefing, pre-flighting, and executing procedures in flight just like they would in Primary, Advanced, and the fleet. When NIFE students arrive in Primary, they will be very comfortable with how to prepare and execute sorties. We have essentially moved the learning curve to the left with expectations of higher performance in Primary.”
NIFE is divided into two parts: ground school and flight. The first is what was formerly known as API. It covers the gamut from physiology and water survival to aerodynamics, weather, and engineering. The program includes five academic exams as well. Students then progress to the flight phase where they review Primary-styled course material, conduct briefings, aircraft pre-fight inspections, and execute airborne procedures just as they would in Primary flight training and beyond. Instruction has a greater focus on Navy Air Training and Operating Procedures Standardization (NATOPS) and relies less on commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS) flight training programs. The goal is to develop a more confident and successful flight student throughout the remainder of training.
The aeronautical adaptability-screening portion allows the earlier application of Naval Aviation processes to identify active and passive airsickness. Students who are unable to achieve success due to physical considerations will know earlier to pursue alternate career choices, reducing Primary attrition and instances of airsickness.
“NIFE represents a generation leap in preparing students for success in Primary,” CNATRA Assistant Chief of Staff for Training Capt. Steven Hnatt said. “The program will shift skill set development to the left, reducing time to train and increasing competency for the officer beginning Primary. This permits opportunity to train to a more challenging Primary, Advanced, and FRS phase. We are training for victory in the high-end fight - each level of training becomes more sophisticated from year to year. The demands on skill sets and required competencies continue to increase based on the threat we train to as directed in the National Military Strategy.”
Ensign Kyle Roberts, a native of Chicago who grew up in Orlando, Florida, is currently enrolled in NIFE. He attended Florida Gulf Coast University in Fort Myers, Florida, and earned a Bachelor of Science in criminal justice in 2016 before commissioning via Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island. He has already completed the ground school portion of NIFE and three of seven scheduled flights in a Cessna 172 Skyhawk, a single-engine high wing civil aircraft.
“My favorite part has been the academic challenge,” Roberts said. “My degree is not in a related field so this is all new to me. I’m learning so much about aviation in general and it has been really fun.”
Roberts is on track to become a naval flight officer and will report to the “Wildcats” of Training Squadron (VT) 10 at NAS Pensacola for Primary flight training in a T-6A Texan II turboprop aircraft. VT-10 graduates select either jets and go on to operate in EA-18G Growlers or F/A-18F Super Hornets, or they select “big-wing” aircraft and go on to operate in the P-8 Poseidon, EP-3 Aries, E-2C/D Hawkeye or E-6 Mercury.
NASC provides an educational foundation in technical training, character development, and professional leadership to prepare Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, and partner nation officers and enlisted students to become combat-quality aviation professionals. CNATRA trains the world’s finest combat-quality Naval Aviation professionals, delivered at the right time, in the right numbers, and at the right cost to naval forces that are ready to fly, fight, lead, and win.
For more information on NASC or the NIFE program, visit the NASC website at
https://www.netc.navy.mil/NASC
.
Guidance-Card-Icon
Dept-Exclusive-Card-Icon