VT-86

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Training Squadron 86
VT-86 Insignia
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Navy
Type	Training
Garrison/HQ	NAS Pensacola
Nickname(s)	Sabrehawks
Colors	Red
Commanders
Current commander	CDR Daniel M. "Yao" Gauvin, USN

Training Squadron EIGHT SIX (VT-86), also known as the "Sabrehawks," is a United States Navy advanced jet training squadron based at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida. Training Squadron 86 is a tenant command of Training Air Wing 6. They are a training squadron flying the

. Their tailcode is F and their radio callsign is ROKT.

History

Training Squadron 86 is known by several names: TRARON EIGHT SIX, VT-86, or the Sabrehawks, a name derived from its history of flying the

aircraft, and approximately 350 enlisted maintenance and support personnel from NATTC and NAS Glynco. After receiving the aircraft and personnel, the squadron's mission was expanded to include flight support for Air Intercept Control and Ground Controlled Approach training functions.

Following a decision to close NAS Glynco and deactivate TRAWING 8 as part of post-Vietnam War defense budget reductions, a Sabrehawk detachment was established at

for nearly all carrier-based aircraft.

Since its establishment, Training Squadron EIGHT SIX has received numerous awards to include multiple Meritorious Unit Commendations, the Training Effectiveness Award from the Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA), the CNATRA Retention Award, the Chief of Naval Operations Safety Award and 26 CNATRA Safety awards for accident-free operations. The squadron later amassed over 310,000 mishap-free flight hours and received the Admiral John H. Towers Safety Award and the Chief of Naval Education and Training (CNET) Shore/Technical Training Excellence Award.

In 1994, Training Squadron EIGHT SIX's role was expanded to include the training of U.S. Air Force Navigators/

aircraft.

VT-86 has also historically provided training to international students. In 1996, VT-86's responsibilities also entailed training international officer students from Saudi Arabia, Italy, Singapore, and Germany; nearly 200 International Military Trainees have earned their wings through VT-86.

Today, VT-86 trains Naval Flight Officers in the U.S. Navy's

. Replacement of the T-2C, which preceded the T-45, was completed in September 2008.

Today, VT-86's mission is to provide advanced flight instruction to Student

(NFO) destined for strike fighter, bomber and electronic warfare aircraft in the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps, as well as continuing training for international students destined for similar aircraft. The squadron syllabus builds on that training previously received in the primary and intermediate NFO training squadrons, with additional emphasis on systems, instrument and radar navigation, radar intercept and attack, high-speed low-level flight, advanced aerial combat maneuvering and advanced communications.

Upon completion of VT-86's program, newly winged NFOs undergo further training at the respective Fleet Replacement Squadrons (FRS) for their new aircraft before reporting to their first operational Fleet squadron.

VT-86 has trained NFOs for many well-known retired aircraft such as the

until that mission was assumed by the E-2 Fleet Replacement Squadrons in the mid-1970s when NAS Glynco closed and prior to the reestablishment of Training Squadron FOUR (VT-4) in that role.

Today, new

.

.

Italian Air Force Navigators/WSOs fly the Panavia Tornado IDS and ECR variants.

IDS and Air Defence (ADV) variants.

F-15SG

Strike Eagle.

Training squadron EIGHT SIX is staffed by approximately 80 U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps officers. Additional instructor pilots, instructor NFOs and instructor WSOs augment VT-86 and are sourced from the TRAWING 6 staff, Naval Aviation Schools Command staff, and part-time Navy Reserve pilots and Navy Reserve NFOs embedded in TRAWING 6's and VT-86's respective Reserve Component units. German and Italian Navigator/WSO instructors also support VT-86 training operations, although they are administratively assigned to collocated German Air Force and Italian Air Force training squadrons at NAS Pensacola. With the ever-changing strategy of national defense for the United States and that of its NATO and Allied partners, VT-86 will continue to train Navy, Marine Corps and international officers in preparation for flying the world's most advanced and complex tactical combat aircraft.

VT-86 celebrated its 25th anniversary of mishap-free flying on 8 April 2002. Since its inception in June 1972, VT-86 had logged more than 332,000 mishap-free flight hours and has the distinction of maintaining the longest documented accident-free period of any active flying squadron in Naval Aviation history. This flight-hour total and cumulative time without mishaps also represents the longest mishap-free safety record in Naval Air Training Command history. Over the years, VT-86 has also earned twenty-seven Chief of Naval Air Training safety awards for accident-free operations and it also won the Admiral John H. Towers Safety Award in 1995. The 25 years of mishap-free flying 332,000 hours breaks down to more than 1,100 hours per month.

In May 2002, VT-86 suffered a fatal mishap when two T-39 aircraft collided while conducting training over the Gulf of Mexico. All students and instructors in both aircraft, a total of seven personnel, were killed. In January 2006, a T-39 from VT-86 crashed along a mountain ridgeline while conducting low level training in northwest Georgia

In November 2014, VT-86 retired its last two T-39 Sabreliners,[4]^[5] having flown the T-39 type/model since the squadron's establishment over 40 years earlier. Today, VT-86 conducts advanced SNFO training in a combination of simulators and the T-45C Goshawk aircraft.

CDR Nicholas E. “Rabbit” Alfano relieved CDR George "COB" Zintak as commanding officer of Training Squadron EIGHT SIX during a change of command ceremony held ashore at the Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, on May 5, 2022.

.

General information

Upon graduation from Student NFO Primary Training at Training Squadron TEN (VT-10) at NAS Pensacola, students will follow certain follow-on training tracks, also known as "pipelines," similar to their

(pilot) peers.

USN and certain international students selected to fly multi-crew aircraft, such as the land-based

USN, USMC and other international students destined for strike and strike fighter aircraft will complete an Intermediate NFO Training syllabus in the T-6A at VT-10. This is followed by reassignment to VT-86 and Advanced Training in either the Strike syllabus for students destined for the USN

• The radio callsign for VT-86 is ROKT (Rocket).

Aircraft flown

Present

• McDonnell Douglas/Boeing
  T-45C Goshawk

Past

• T-39N/G Sabreliner
• Douglas / McDonnell Douglas
  TA-4J Skyhawk II
• T-47A Citation II
• T-39D Sabreliner
• Lockheed
  EC-121K Warning Star
• Grumman
  TS-2A Tracker
• North American Rockwell
  T-2 Buckeye
• Vought F-8 Crusader

External links

• VT-86's official website

See also

• History of the United States Navy
• List of United States Navy aircraft squadrons

References