Last week Air Education and Training Command awarded Pueblo, Colo.-based Doss Aviation the contract for the Air Force’s revised pilot screening and training program and that has left Selma, Ala., and Midland, Tex., wondering why. Both communities worked to get the $178 million deal. Selma teamed with Lockheed Martin and Midland with DynCorp, both defense contractors with significant training experience. According to the Montgomery Advertiser, even active support by Alabama’s two Republican Senators, Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions, could not secure the contract. Doss Aviation told the newspaper that the answer is simple, “We won on merit.”
The Air Force is targeting August 2027 for its new T-7A Red Hawk trainer jet to reach its initial operational capability. To get there, the head of Air and Education Training has three milestones he needs to see the program hit.
