Male Air Force Military Training Instructors (MTIs) start wearing the olive drab Army style “Smokey Bear” hats to readily identify themselves to others as drill sergeants. In 1974, the color will be changed to Air Force blue. Women MTIs will receive approval to wear their own distinctive style of Smokey Bear hats in 1976. The female instructor hats have the left brim turned upward.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
