Hawk Eye, Arizona. (April 3, 2024): In this desert wilderness, America’s finest aviators are teaching future instructors in a grueling seven-week course in advanced weapons and tactics. In this photo by Corporal Tyler Raab, Marine Lance Corporal Elijah Scott, an air traffic control navigational aids technician assigned to Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron One, monitors the radio during an expeditionary air traffic control exercise. Officially dubbed the Weapons and Tactics Instructors course (WTI), this graduate-level program gives advanced tactical training to future instructors who then bring their knowledge and experience back to their unit. Students graduate as experts on their particular aircraft and how to plan and train others.

To attend this advanced course, pilots must possess a number of certifications including previous experience as a low altitude and air combat instructor. Candidates will spend nearly two months doing class work, practicing on flight simulators, and pilot training on their specific aircraft. Their instructors are hand-picked from the very finest in American military aviation.

The Marines see the value in having their most experienced flyers “Train the Trainers” for the next generation of military aviators.