Homestead reservist graduates Weapons Instructor Course

by Ross Tweten
482nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs

6/20/2013 - HOMESTEAD AIR RESERVE BASE, Fla. -- A reservist here recently graduated from the Air Force Weapons School's Weapons Instructor Course at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

Maj. Ryan Freeman, an F-16 pilot with the 93rd Fighter Squadron, was one of only three reservists, in a class of 105 Airmen, to graduate the most recent round of classes.

The school teaches graduate-level instructor courses that provide training in weapons and tactics employment. During the six month course, students receive an average of 400 hours of academics and participate in demanding combat training missions.

The goal of the course is to train students to be tactical experts in their combat specialty while also learning the art of battle-space dominance. The graduates then use the knowledge gained from the school to instruct the pilots at their home unit to employ their weapons to the best of their ability.

As the 93rd FS's newest weapons officer, Major Freeman is the lead tactician for the wing, said Lt. Col. Timothy Rusch, 93rd FS director of operations.

"It's up to him to teach and guide the 93rd FS to be the most lethal and most survivable it can possibly be in today's combat environment," said Rusch. "This training is crucial due to the nature of our evolving combat environment. What he brings back to the 93rd FS will directly impact the success of the squadron in the lethal combat environment."

According to Freeman, the school was the most challenging he's ever attended.

"It tested every part of what we do in the F-16, as an instructor, and as an officer," he said. "Everyone there wants to make you a better instructor pilot and tactical leader. For 12-plus hours, six to seven days a week for six months, the instructors pour all they have into you with 100 percent focus on weapons and tactics."

Weapons school graduates are extensively familiar not just with the weapons platform or system they have been trained in through their career path, but also in how all Air Force and DOD assets can be employed in concert to achieve synergistic effects. Every six months, the school graduates approximately 100 weapons officers.

"Only the very best pilots and tacticians are considered for fighter weapons school," said Rusch. "Out of those, only a few are selected and sent to the school. They are among the most professional and dedicated officers the Air Force has to offer."

From briefing to in-flight execution to debriefing, the instructors work hard to find weaknesses and push students harder to get every ounce from every sortie, said Freeman.

"You're afforded the opportunity to train just like combat with very little simulated," he added. "As an F-16 pilot there, we're able to employ nearly all the munitions we carry, plus fight very realistic surface and air threats every day. We fly alongside classmates who operate other fighters, bombers, cargo, space, cyber, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets.

"The F-16 weapons instructor course is intended to make you better at teaching others so we're all ready for war," he added. "My only hope is that I can do a great job teaching my fellow Airmen at Homestead."