End of an era as final Jayhawk departs Pensacola, marking shift to all-simulator training for Combat System Officers.
The 451st Flying Training Squadron retired their final T-1A Jayhawk to Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona on July 28, 2025. This brings T-1A operations to an end for the 451st FTS and 479th Flying Training Group as training for Undergrade Combat System Officers moves to simulator only training for the second part of the UCO syllabus. UCOs are non-pilot officers who fly in crewed aircraft.
The final T-1A for the 451st FTS, serial #90-0405, departed from NAS Pensacola, Florida, on July 28th with 12, 187.2 hours, 15,901 landings using the ‘Raider 01’ radio callsign. It arrived at D-M with signatures, messages and even a shark’s mouth drawn on the nose. This has become a common tradition for aircraft being retired by the unit. On June 6 a formal ceremony, piano burn on the beach and opportunity for photos with the few remaining jets was held to mark the pending end of T-1A Jayhawk training. 90-0405 is now awaiting induction to D-M for long-term storage.
The T-1A has been a common site in the skies above the region for the last 15 years and was operated by the United States Air Force under a shared-basing agreement with the United States Navy. The 451st FTS is part of the larger 479th Flying Training Group which stood up at NAS Pensacola on Oct. 2, 2009. The first T-1As modified for the UCO mission arrived on July 23, 2010, with actual training of students beginning in the fall of 2011.
The 479th FTG operated T-6A Texan II turboprop trainers in the Undergraduate Combat System Officer Training role with follow-on to the T-1A Jayhawk. Combat System Officers are not pilots, but essential crewmembers on multi-place fighter aircraft and part of a larger crew on combat aircraft such as bombers, tankers, reconnaissance and electronic warfare platforms.
While most aircraft have gone to the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona, three were transferred to aviation technical training programs/schools for use as maintenance trainers.
