Combat systems officer A combat systems officer ( CSO ) is an aeronautically rated officer in the United States Air Force ( USAF ) , having been previously known by the title " navigator " . CSOs are responsible for in - flight air operations and aircraft mission / weapon systems , and is the new rated designation for navigator s , electronic warfare officer s , and weapon systems officer s who complete Undergraduate Combat Systems Officer Training ( UCSOT ) with the Air Education and Training Command ' s 479th Flying Training Group ( 479 FTG ) at Naval Air Station Pensacola ( NAS Pensacola ) , Florida . Overview . Often the mission commander in USAF aircraft , the CSO manages the mission and integrates with the aircraft commander to collectively achieve and maintain situational awareness and mission effectiveness . CSOs are trained in navigation , the use of the electromagnetic spectrum , and weapon system employment . Aircrew responsibilities include mission planning , mission timing , weapons targeting and employment , threat reactions , aircraft communications , and hazard avoidance . In 2006 , USAF undergraduate navigators began attending Initial Flight Screening ( IFS ) training , a civilian contracted flight training operation under AETC auspices , with their USAF undergraduate pilot counterparts at Pueblo Memorial Airport , Colorado , a program that has continued with the transition of navigators to CSOs . CSO training merges three previous USAF navigator training tracks formerly known as the navigator track , the weapon systems officer ( WSO ) track and the electronic warfare officer ( EWO ) track into one coherent training cycle in order to produce an aeronautically rated officer who is more versatile . Parallel navigator and WSO training tracks ended in 2009 . In 2009 , most navigators still in an operational flying status , or due to rotate back to an operational flying assignment , transitioned to CSO . Under AFI 36 - 402 , rated navigators who do not transition ( those not CSOs ) are not eligible for advanced CSO ratings . The separation between CSO candidates previously attending Undergraduate Navigator Training with the 12th Flying Training Wing ( 12 FTW ) at Randolph AFB until 2009 , and those who attended a joint program with the U . S . Navy ' s Training Air Wing SIX ( TRAWING 6 ) at NAS Pensacola , was in the type of operational USAF aircraft the candidates would later fly : With the establishment of the 479 FTG and UCSOT , the integrated training program with the U . S . Navy and U . S . Marine Corps at TRAWING 6 was discontinued . However , despite the divergence of USAF CSO training from Student naval flight officer ( NFO ) training , all CSOs for all USAF aircraft model design series ( MDS ) now receive their training at NAS Pensacola . While some extant USAF MDS aircraft , such as the pure airlift variant of the C - 130E are being retired , and the pure airlift version C - 130J have eliminated the navigator / CSO position , all the other aforementioned extant MDS aircraft , as well as the HC - 130J , MC - 130J and WC - 130J currently entering the inventory , continue to retain requirements for CSOs , thus ensuring the continued viability of the CSO career path . Until its inactivation and closure in September 1993 due to Base Realignment and Closure ( BRAC ) action , all USAF undergraduate navigator training ( UNT ) took place with the former 323rd Flying Training Wing at the former Mather AFB , California , utilizing the Boeing T - 43A Bobcat aircraft . In October 1993 , training then shifted to the 12th Flying Training Wing at Randolph AFB , Texas , continuing at that location through 2009 . Prior to its disestablishment at Randolph AFB , the 562d Flying Training Squadron of the 12th Flying Training Wing ( 12 FTW ) was responsible for training inflight navigation with the Raytheon T - 1A Jayhawk and Boeing T - 43A Bobcat aircraft , while the 563d Flying Training Squadron taught electronic warfare in an academic and simulator environment . The 563d Flying Training Squadron also incorporated the T - 43A Bobcat and the T - 1A Jayhawk in advanced CSO training . The T - 43A has since been retired and all T - 1A CSO training aircraft transferred to the 479 FTG at NAS Pensacola . From 1994 until late 2009 , a portion of USAF undergraduate navigator training took place at NAS Pensacola , integrated with the US Navy ' s student naval flight officer program under the aegis of the co - located Training Air Wing Six ( TRAWING SIX ) . US Navy Training Squadron 4 ( VT - 4 ) and Training Squadron 10 ( VT - 10 ) conducted basic and intermediate flight training , initially the Raytheon T - 34C Turbomentor until it was replaced by the T - 6 Texan II , followed by training in the Raytheon T - 1A Jayhawk and Rockwell T - 39 Sabreliner . Training Squadron 86 ( VT - 86 ) then conducted advanced training in the T - 39 and the Boeing T - 45 Goshawk for student naval flight officers of the U . S . Navy , U . S . Marine Corps and numerous NATO / Allied and Coalition partner nations in addition to advanced USAF undergraduate navigator students destined for assignment as weapons systems officers in tactical aircraft . Prior to 2010 , these USAF students destined for the F - 15E Strike Eagle and the B - 1B Lancer , as well as several USAF Navigator flight instructors , were also fully integrated into these squadrons , with command of one squadron , VT - 10 , rotating between a USN commander who was a naval flight officer and a USAF lieutenant colonel who was a senior navigator or master navigator . Starting in the summer of 2010 , following completion of initial flight screening , all US Air Force CSO students began attending training at NAS Pensacola as the training squadrons at Randolph AFB closed down in accordance with the 2005 BRAC Committee findings . CSO students now fall under the 479th Flying Training Group with two training squadrons ( 451 FTS and 455 FTS ) and one operations support squadron ( 479 OSS ) . Like the previous navigator training squadrons at Randolph AFB , the 479 FTG and its subordinate squadrons also fall under the control of the 12th Flying Training Wing ( 12 FTW ) at Randolph AFB , albeit as a geographically separated unit ( GSU ) of the 12 FTW . The first CSO class ( 11 - 01 ) under the new syllabus started 5 May 2010 , and graduated on 15 April 2011 . The first member of the CSO Hall of Fame was Maj Andrew J . Maus . Upon completion of training , USAF CSOs receive basic navigator / CSO wings . At seven years of aeronautically rated service , they become eligible for senior CSO rating and at fifteen years master CSO rating , although an effort is underway to rename the master designation to command CSO , standardizing same with their USAF Command Pilot counterparts . The rationale for this change is that USAF navigators / CSOs now serve as aircraft mission commanders , and command operational combat flying squadron s , as well as operations groups and wings with an operational flying mission in the same manner as their USAF pilot counterparts . USAF Navigators - " cum " - combat systems officers at the general officer level have also begun serving in positions of increasing responsibility at the USAF major command ( MAJCOM ) and Unified Combatant Command level , up to and including vice commander of MAJCOMs and deputy commander of combatant commands .