What is a Naval Flight Officer?

A Naval Flight Officer (NFO) is a Navy or Marine Corps officer who flies as aircrew but is not the pilot. CNAF M-3710.7, the NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual dated February 7, 2025, defines the NFO as an officer "that specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems," who may perform many co-pilot functions, operates the advanced systems in multi-crew aircraft, and may act as the overall mission commander and tactical coordinator of multiple air assets. The same glossary defines a Naval Aviator as an officer or warrant officer qualified as a pilot. That pair of definitions is the whole distinction: the pilot flies the aircraft, the NFO runs the mission. This page covers NFO versus pilot, the pipeline at Training Air Wing Six, the four tracks and where they lead, the wings and the designation's history, the NFO classifications in NATOPS, what an NFO does in the E-2D, and the career path the Navy describes.

NFO versus pilot

The Navy's recruiting page puts it plainly: "Pilots aren't the only Officers behind our aircraft." The Naval Flight Officer career page calls NFOs the navigators, the lookouts and the weapon operators of naval aviation, whether hunting submarines from a P-8 Poseidon, navigating an E-2 Hawkeye, or dropping bombs from the back seat of an F-18. The responsibilities it lists are studying aerodynamics, engine systems, meteorology, navigation and flight planning, specializing in the EA-18G Growler, E-2C Hawkeye or P-8A Poseidon, and electronically detecting and tracking ships, submarines, aircraft and missiles.

CNAF M-3710.7 shows the difference in its structure. Chapter 12, Classification and Qualification of Flight Personnel, has separate sections for pilots and NFOs. Section 12.2 classifies pilots of multi-piloted fixed-wing aircraft as third pilot, second pilot and aircraft commander, and section 12.3 does the same for helicopter pilots. Section 12.5 classifies NFOs by community. Chapter 13 requires all pilots in a flying status, except DIFOPS Code 2 aviators, to maintain a valid instrument rating, while an NFO may be excused from an instrument qualification at the discretion of the type wing or wing commander, and paragraph 11.2.6 treats pilots and NFOs alike when they are in replacement aircrew training. Both are aeronautically designated officers who log flight time and take the annual NATOPS evaluation; the designator and the seat are what differ.

The two train in different places. The Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA) runs pilots through Training Air Wings One, Two, Four and Five, and NFOs through Training Air Wing Six. CNATRA's mission page gives the 2025 output: 1,009 new naval aviators, 234 naval flight officers and 11 air vehicle pilots, from 704 aircraft that flew more than 272,000 hours.

Where the designation came from

The Naval History and Heritage Command's chronology, United States Naval Aviation 1910-2010, chapter 9, records the designation's creation in three entries. On November 30, 1963, Paul H. Nitze approved the use of funds effective July 1, 1964 to place naval aviation observers in the same pay status as pilots. On February 8, 1965, the title and designation of naval aviation observer, 135X, was changed to naval flight officer, 132X, to be effective on May 1. CNAF M-3710.7 still lists 132X as the Naval Flight Officer designator in chapter 11.

The wings came later. Under August 24, 1968 the chronology records that a change in uniform regulations provided a new breast insignia for Sailors and Marines qualified as flight officers, and that effective December 31, 1968 "the new wings replaced the old naval aviation observer wings." For three and a half years, from May 1965 to the end of 1968, an NFO wore an observer's wings under a flight officer's title. A searcher who finds the older term naval aviation observer, or NAO, in a biography or a squadron history is looking at the same job under its earlier name.

The NFO pipeline at Training Air Wing Six

Every NFO trains at one wing. The Training Air Wing Six page says Commander, Training Air Wing Six (CTW-6), headquartered at NAS Pensacola, Florida, is responsible for all CNATRA NFO training and production and graduates approximately 300 Navy, Marine Corps and foreign military students a year. The wing is unique in CNATRA in conducting primary, intermediate and advanced NFO training at one location, through three squadrons: Training Squadron Ten (VT-10), Training Squadron Four (VT-4) and Training Squadron Eighty-Six (VT-86). The 2nd German Air Force Training Squadron is part of the wing's international training program.

The wing describes its aircraft and simulators under the name Naval Flight Officer Training System (NFOTS). The fleet is more than 40 T-6A Texan II turboprops and 20 T-45C Goshawk jets, each paired with an operational flight trainer. The T-45Cs carry the Virtual Mission Training System (VMTS), a synthetic radar used to train students selected for the F/A-18D and F/A-18F and the EA-18G. The Multi-Crew Simulator (MCS) is used for all maritime patrol, airborne early warning, electronic warfare and TACAMO student training and provides crew resource management, communications and sensor employment practice for students headed to the P-3C, P-8A, EP-3E, E-6B and E-2C/D.

Before any of that, students pass through the Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation (NIFE). A July 23, 2026 feature by the Chief of Naval Air Training, Rear Adm. Max McCoy, says NIFE consolidated the former Aviation Preflight Indoctrination and Introductory Flight Screening into a single eight-and-a-half-week curriculum at Pensacola that teaches aviation fundamentals and screens for aeronautical adaptability. The students who report to it are newly commissioned ensigns and second lieutenants from the Naval Academy, Officer Candidate School and Naval ROTC, along with international officers.

Primary, intermediate and advanced tracks

CNATRA's NFO pipeline page names four pipelines: Strike Fighter, Airborne Early Warning (AEW), Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance (MPR), and Take Charge and Move Out (TACAMO). All NFOs begin primary training at VT-10 in the T-6A Texan II, learning the basic skills of aviation, visual and instrument navigation, and communications, through academics, navigation and communication trainers, simulators, and instrument, navigation and formation flights. Students selected for land-based aircraft, MPR and TACAMO, move on to advanced training at VT-4. Carrier-based students, Strike Fighter and AEW, receive additional T-6A training first; strike students then go to VT-86 and AEW students to VT-4. The 2026 CNATRA feature calls the extra T-6A phase intermediate training and says the strike students complete it at VT-10.

The page describes the Multi-Crew Simulator as a reconfigurable trainer in which students employ the systems and tactics of their fleet aircraft in mission scenarios with multiple crew members and multiple aircraft, learning radar including synthetic aperture and inverse synthetic aperture modes, data links, electro-optical and infrared cameras, electronic surveillance, acoustic systems, and navigation and communications. The 2026 feature adds that the strike pipeline produces Weapon Systems Officers and Electronic Warfare Officers for the F/A-18F and EA-18G, that the AEW pipeline trains students to manage radar surveillance, communications and networks in the E-2D, and that the MPR pipeline trains them for anti-submarine warfare, anti-surface warfare and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aboard the P-8A.

The wings and what comes after them

On completing advanced training, the CNATRA page says, NFOs receive their wings of gold and move on to their Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS). The FRS teaches the fleet aircraft itself. The Navy's September 12, 2019 release on VAW-120 states that squadron's mission as training naval aviators, naval flight officers, Navy aircrewmen and qualified maintainers to operate E-2 and C-2 aircraft. Pilots arrive at the same squadron by a different road: CNATRA's Student Naval Aviator page says E-2/C-2 pilots complete T-44C multi-engine training and a T-45C syllabus ending in carrier qualification before reporting to VAW-120.

The FRS is also where the new NFO's first NATOPS evaluation happens. CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 2.7.2.2 requires fleet replacement squadrons to ensure their pilots, NFOs and aircrewmen have completed a NATOPS evaluation before completing the course of instruction, and thereafter every aircrewmember is evaluated annually under paragraph 2.7.1.

NFO classifications in NATOPS

Section 12.5 of CNAF M-3710.7 establishes the classifications for NFO crewmembers of aircraft that require a qualified NFO to accomplish the mission. There are seven: tactical coordinator for the VP and VS communities; navigator for VR and VQ; weapon systems officer for VFA and VMFA; air battle manager for VAW; electronic warfare evaluation officer for VQ; electronic countermeasures officer for VAQ; and airborne communication officer for VQ. Paragraph 12.5.1.2 allows intermediate classifications that mark progress toward the final one, giving patrol plane navigator and patrol plane tactical navigator as steps toward USW tactical coordinator in patrol aircraft.

Paragraph 12.5.2 sets what an NFO must demonstrate to qualify in a class and model of aircraft: flight hours as the commanding officer requires, a satisfactory level of skill in tactical employment of the aircraft and its equipment, flight technique during normal and emergency procedures, and all types of navigation the mission uses, and thorough knowledge, by oral and written examination, of the aircraft and its flight manual, the unit mission and tactics, fleet and type tactical doctrine, applicable naval warfare publications, recognition, communications, navigation, flight planning, local flying rules and flight safety. Commanding officers set the detailed standards within that frame.

What an NFO does in the E-2D

The E-2D Advanced Hawkeye carries NFOs in the back. CNAF M-3710.7 gives their classification as Air Battle Manager, the section 12.5 title for the VAW community. CNATRA's pipeline page says AEW students learn command and control and air intercept control, and the 2026 feature says the pipeline trains them to manage radar surveillance, communications and networks in complex battlespace in the E-2D. The manual's glossary definition adds the senior role: an NFO may act as the overall mission commander and tactical coordinator of multiple air assets during a mission.

The public Navy pages cited here describe the E-2D's back-end crew by designation and function, not by seat. The informal seat titles aircrew use are not on any of them, so this page does not list them. A 2021 NAVAIR article and the NAVAIR E-2D page, both discussed in What a Naval Flight Officer does aboard the E-2, give the crew as two pilots and three flight officers or mission systems operators. Readers who need the seat names should take them from the E-2D NATOPS flight manual, which is not public, rather than from this page.

Career paths

The Navy's recruiting page lays out the officer's route. A candidate attends Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, then a six-week air indoctrination course at Naval Aviation Schools Command in Pensacola, then primary flight training; candidates request an aircraft pipeline before the intermediate phase, finish advanced training focused on mission specifics, receive their wings of gold and report to an FRS for aircraft-specific training. A four-year degree is required, and the page says candidates must hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution in a technical field, be U.S. citizens, be willing to serve worldwide and be qualified for sea duty. Promotion is described as regularly available but competitive and based on performance.

After the first flying tour, the page says, an NFO may attend the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, and it lists the Naval War College and the Air Force's Air Command and Staff College among further education options. The Navy Reserve NFO position is open only to prior or current military aviators. A May 20, 2025 DVIDS story from VP-30 shows one career's shape: the squadron renamed its training center for retired Cmdr. Dondi Michael Sheehy, a naval flight officer whose career spanned more than 20 years, with an additional 13 years as deputy director for plans, training and requirements, in which he orchestrated the P-3C to P-8A transition.

Marine Corps NFOs follow the same pipeline at Training Air Wing Six and then, per the CNATRA page, train in the F/A-18D with VMFAT-101 at Miramar. CNAF M-3710.7 chapter 11 applies to Marine Corps naval aviators and naval flight officers as well as Navy ones.

What to check

• Does a document mean a Naval Flight Officer or a Naval Aviator? CNAF M-3710.7 defines both, and the designators differ: 132X for the NFO.
• Which pipeline did the officer come through, Strike Fighter, AEW, MPR or TACAMO, and which FRS follows it on the CNATRA page?
• Is an E-2D crew description using the NATOPS classification, Air Battle Manager, a functional description such as air intercept control, or an informal seat title that no public Navy page defines?
• Does a biography that says naval aviation observer predate May 1, 1965, when the designation became naval flight officer, or December 31, 1968, when the wings changed?
• Does a quoted production figure carry its year? CNATRA's 234 NFOs is for 2025, and Training Air Wing Six's approximately 300 includes Marine Corps and foreign students.
• Has the NFO completed the NATOPS evaluation that CNAF M-3710.7 paragraph 2.7.2.2 requires before leaving the FRS?

Azcuna's ELLMENT, the E-2D Large Language Model Entity, was proposed to NAVAIR PMA-231 under Navy SBIR Phase I topic DON26BZ01-NV010. The prototype, built at private expense on publicly available doctrine, answers with a page-level citation and refuses when the documents do not support an answer. The proposal has been submitted.

Questions people ask

What is a Naval Flight Officer?

A Naval Flight Officer, or NFO, is an officer in the Navy or Marine Corps who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. CNAF M-3710.7, the NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual, says an NFO may perform many co-pilot functions, operates the advanced systems on board multi-crew aircraft, and may act as the overall mission commander and tactical coordinator of multiple air assets during a mission. NFOs earn the same wings of gold as pilots after a separate training pipeline.

What is the difference between an NFO and a pilot?

The pilot flies the aircraft and the NFO operates its mission systems. CNAF M-3710.7 defines a Naval Aviator as an officer or warrant officer qualified as a pilot and a Naval Flight Officer as an officer who specializes in airborne weapons and sensor systems. The two train in different pipelines: pilots at Training Air Wings One, Two, Four and Five, NFOs at Training Air Wing Six. In 2025 CNATRA produced 1,009 naval aviators and 234 naval flight officers.

Are Naval Flight Officers pilots?

No. An NFO is not qualified as a pilot and does not fly the aircraft, although CNAF M-3710.7 says an NFO may perform many co-pilot functions depending on the aircraft. The manual keeps the two designations separate in chapter 12, with pilot classifications such as third pilot, second pilot and aircraft commander in section 12.2 and NFO classifications such as tactical coordinator, weapon systems officer and air battle manager in section 12.5. Both are aeronautically designated officers.

What is the NFO pipeline?

The Chief of Naval Air Training runs four NFO pipelines, Strike Fighter, Airborne Early Warning, Maritime Patrol and Reconnaissance, and TACAMO, all at Training Air Wing Six at NAS Pensacola. Every student starts primary training at VT-10 in the T-6A Texan II. Strike students go to VT-86 for advanced training in the T-45C; AEW, maritime and TACAMO students go to VT-4 and train in the Multi-Crew Simulator. Graduates receive their wings and report to a Fleet Replacement Squadron.

How long is NFO training?

The public CNATRA pages do not give a duration for the NFO pipeline. They give the sequence instead: the Naval Introductory Flight Evaluation at Pensacola, an eight-and-a-half-week course that replaced Aviation Preflight Indoctrination and Introductory Flight Screening, then primary training at VT-10, then intermediate and advanced training at VT-4 or VT-86. Training Air Wing Six says it graduates approximately 300 Navy, Marine Corps and foreign students a year.

What does an NFO do in the E-2D Hawkeye?

CNAF M-3710.7 section 12.5 classifies the E-2 community's NFO as an Air Battle Manager. The CNATRA pipeline page says airborne early warning students learn command and control and air intercept control before reporting to VAW-120 in Norfolk for E-2C or E-2D training, and a 2026 CNATRA feature says the pipeline trains them to manage radar surveillance, communications and networks in the E-2D. The manual's definition adds that an NFO may act as overall mission commander.

When was the Naval Flight Officer designation created?

On February 8, 1965. The Naval History and Heritage Command's chronology, United States Naval Aviation 1910-2010, records that on that date the title and designation of naval aviation observer, 135X, was changed to naval flight officer, 132X, effective May 1, 1965. The same chronology records that funds were approved on November 30, 1963, effective July 1, 1964, to place naval aviation observers in the same pay status as pilots, and that a new flight officer breast insignia replaced the observer wings effective December 31, 1968.

Do NFOs wear wings?

Yes. CNATRA's pipeline page says NFOs receive their wings of gold on completing advanced training. The insignia dates from 1968: the Naval History and Heritage Command chronology records that on August 24, 1968 a change in uniform regulations provided a new breast insignia for Sailors and Marines qualified as flight officers, and that effective December 31, 1968 the new wings replaced the old naval aviation observer wings that NFOs had worn since the designation was created in 1965.

What aircraft do NFOs fly in?

The CNATRA pipeline page names the fleet aircraft at the end of each track: the F/A-18F Super Hornet and EA-18G Growler for Navy strike NFOs and the F/A-18D for Marine Corps NFOs, the E-2C and E-2D Hawkeye for airborne early warning, the P-3C, EP-3E or P-8A for maritime patrol, and the E-6B Mercury for TACAMO. CNAF M-3710.7 section 12.5 also lists NFO classifications for the VQ and VR communities, including navigator and electronic warfare evaluation officer.

What are the requirements to become a Naval Flight Officer?

The Navy's recruiting page for the Naval Flight Officer career says a four-year degree is required, that candidates must hold a bachelor's degree from a regionally accredited institution in a technical field, be U.S. citizens, be willing to serve worldwide and be qualified for sea duty. Candidates attend Officer Candidate School in Newport, Rhode Island, then aviation indoctrination at Pensacola before primary flight training. The Navy Reserve NFO position is open only to prior or current military aviators.

Sources

1. 1CNAF M-3710.7, NATOPS General Flight and Operating Instructions Manual (February 7, 2025) · Commander, Naval Air Forces, hosted by Navy Medicine (Naval Aerospace Medical Institute)
2. 2Naval Flight Officer (NFO) Aviation Training Pipeline · Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA)
3. 3Welcome to Training Air Wing Six · Training Air Wing Six, Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA)
4. 4Our Mission · Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA)
5. 5Student Naval Aviator (SNA) Aviation Training Pipeline · Chief of Naval Air Training (CNATRA)
6. 6Naval Air Training Command: Forging Naval Aviators · Chief of Naval Air Training, via DVIDS (July 23, 2026)
7. 7United States Naval Aviation 1910-2010, Volume I, Chapter 9: On the Brink, 1960-1969 · Naval History and Heritage Command
8. 8Naval Flight Officer Careers · U.S. Navy Recruiting Command (Navy.com)
9. 9Airborne Early Warning Plane With Aerial Refueling Joins Squadron · U.S. Navy (September 12, 2019)
10. 10VP-30 Hosts Annual CAG/NARG · Patrol Squadron 30, via DVIDS (May 20, 2025)

Where this shows up in our work

• ELLMENT, the offline LLM for E-2D crews answers a crew's question from the aircraft's own manuals and cites the page, with no network.
• TRACE, the offline S1000D and IETM viewer opens S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 and PDF technical manuals on a tablet with every marking intact.