USAF Weapons School The USAF Weapons School is a unit of the United States Air Force , assigned to the 57th Wing . It is stationed at Nellis AFB , Nevada . Mission . The mission of the USAF Weapons School is to teach graduate - level instructor courses , which provide advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces . The USAF Weapons School is headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada with detachments at Dyess Air Force Base , Texas , Hurlburt Field , Florida , Little Rock Air Force Base , Arkansas , Whiteman Air Force Base , Missouri , Holloman Air Force Base , New Mexico , Fairchild Air Force Base , Washington , and Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana . The Weapons School accomplishes its mission by providing graduate - level , instructor academic and flying courses to USAF Combat Air Forces ( CAF ) . It conducts extensive technical off - station training and is a liaison with CAF units . It publishes the quarterly USAF Weapons Review with worldwide readership . All positions are selectively manned . The Weapons School ' s squadrons include the Weapons Instructor Courses for the following aircraft and systems : Air Battle Manager , A - 10 Thunderbolt II , Lockheed AC - 130 , B - 1 Lancer , B - 2 Spirit , B - 52 Stratofortress , C - 17 Globemaster III , C - 130 Hercules , EC - 130H Compass Call , F - 15C Eagle , F - 15E Strike Eagle , F - 16 Fighting Falcon , F - 22A Raptor , Joint Terminal Attack Controller , Unmanned Aircraft Systems , HH - 60 Pave Hawk , KC - 135 Stratotanker , MC - 130 , RC - 135 Rivet Joint , Intelligence , Space , ICBM , and Support . History . Origins . The USAF Weapons School traces its roots to the Aircraft Gunnery School established in 1949 at Las Vegas Air Force Base ( which became Nellis Air Force Base in 1950 ) . This organization brought together a cadre of World War II combat veterans dedicated to teaching the next generation of pilots . The Gunnery School converted to combat crew training to meet the needs of the Korean War . In January 1954 , the school assumed the mission of training fighter instructors , and took on the title , " USAF Fighter Weapons School . " Students at Nellis trained in F - 51 Mustang . F - 80 Shooting Star . F - 84 Thunderjet and all versions of the F - 100 Super Sabre aircraft during this period . By 1960 . the F - 100 and the F - 105 Thunderchief were left as the two primary aircraft flown at the Weapons School . Vietnam Era . In 1965 , the Fighter Weapons School added the F - 4 Phantom II to its courses . As the roles of fighter aircraft expanded during the Vietnam War , the Fighter Weapons School began to have an impact across the larger Air Force . Many of the air - to - ground and air - to - air innovations of this period can be traced to the Weapons School . Assigned aircraft continued to change in concert with Air Force inventories . The Weapons School deactivated the F - 100 and F - 105 courses , and added the F - 111 and A - 7D Corsair II . Post - Vietnam War era . The Aggressors , flying the T - 38 Talon and F - 5E Tiger II were stood - up as part of the Weapons School in the early 1970s to improve air - to - air skills by providing accurate threat replication for dissimilar air combat training . The A - 7D tenure in the school was a brief 3 years as the squadron transitioned from A - 7s to F - 5 Aggressors in 1975 . Fighter modernization brought both the A - 10 Thunderbolt II and the F - 15 Eagle into Weapons School operations in 1977 . The 1980s ushered in a time of significant change for the Weapons School . In 1981 , the school underwent a complete reorganization as the squadrons became divisions . The Aggressor squadrons transferred to the 57th Fighter Weapons Wing . The F - 1ll Division became a geographically separated detachment of the Nellis - based Weapons School . The newly formed F - 16 Fighting Falcon Division graduated its first students in 1982 . In 1984 the Weapons School expanded its courses beyond the traditional fighter aircrew , adding a course to train weapons controllers in the F - 15 Division . A passing of the torch to the current Weapons School occurred when the last F - 4 class graduated in 1985 , ending 20 years of F - 4 weapons officer training . The Air Weapons Controller Division , later known as the Command and Control Operations ( CCO ) Division activated as a separate unit in 1987 . The school gained a Fighter Intelligence Officers Course in 1988 which became the graduate patch - awarding Intelligence Division in 1990 . The F - 15E Strike Eagle Division became part of the school in 1991 . Modern Era . With the stand - up of Air Combat Command in 1992 , the school embarked on a dramatic shift from its 43 - year focus exclusively on fighter aviation , dropping the " fighter " from its title and becoming the " Air Force Weapons School . " The change was much more than symbolic with the activation of the B - 52 and B - 1 Divisions that year . Rescue helicopters joined the school with the HH - 60 Division in 1995 while the F - 111 retired . That year also saw the addition of RC - 135 RIVET JOINT and EC - 130 COMPASS CALL courses to the CCO Division . To increase the graduate - level understanding of space and air integration for operators , the school added the Space Division in 1996 . With a growing need for weapons officers skilled at integrating all aspects of air and space power , the Weapons School has continued to expand . 2000 saw the addition of the E - 8 JSTARS to the CCO Division . Special Operations Forces ( SOF ) also became part of the Weapons School in 2000 , developing courses for the MH - 53 and AC - 130 . Stealth joined the school in 2002 with the addition of the F - 117 and B - 2 Divisions . SOF added an MC - 130 course that year as well . In 2003 , all of the Weapons School divisions were re - designated ( or initially activated ) as squadrons , and the Intelligence Sensor Weapons Instructor Course was added to provide graduate - level training in intelligence , surveillance , and reconnaissance integration . In 2006 , the F - 117 Weapons Instructor Course deactivated and the merger with the Mobility Weapons School added the C - 130 , KC - 135 , and C - 17 Weapons Instructor Courses . In 2008 , the F - 22 joined the Weapons School and in 2009 , the ICBM Weapons Instructor Course was added . Students of the ICBM and Space courses share a common Air Force Specialty code ( AFSC ) as well as a building on Nellis . Today ' s Weapons School encompasses 17 squadrons , teaching 22 combat specialties at 8 locations . Only 30 % of today ' s students come from the classic fighter specialties . Components . On 3 February 2003 , the divisions of the USAF Weapons School formally became squadrons . Each of the new squadrons received the designation of a previously highly decorated notable inactivated unit . Nellis - based units Geographically separated units Inactive units