concise Operational Conversion Unit history

From the early eighties, pilot conversion and training were setup within each of the the Fighter / Fighter-Bomber wings. 

New 10W pilots were trained on the F-16B two-seaters used by the "Operational Conversion Flight F16".

On 25 November 1983 this unit was renamed in "B-Flight".

After having converted the 1st Fighter Wing (All Weather) and 10th Fighter-Bomber Wing into Tactical Wings , the General Staff concluded that a centralized training syllabus would be far more efficient.  So the OCU (Operational Conversion Unit) was activated on 01 September 1987 with the mission to provide the basic conversion and the tactical training of future fighter pilots.  The OCU became part of 1WTac  on Beauvechain Air Base.  The new O.C.U.  squadron inherited the crest (a vulture on an arrow) and traditions of the previous Fighter School of Koksijde, a unit that was disbanded in 1958.

The squadron-mission is to train young graduates coming from basic flight training and to train F-16 pilots in air defense tactics.  Other training was still carried out in the squadrons (for example air-to-ground tactics etc).  In November 1993, the mission of the OCU was modified by the introduction of the Conversion Improvement Program (CIP).  So from that moment he complete training of all F-16 pilots was carried out by the OCU.

After the disbandment of the 1WTac on 4 March 1996, the OCU was established at the Kleine-Brogel base (10 WTac).  This meant the end of the B-Flight in Kee-Bee.

At that time a standardized conversion syllabus was installed which consists of academic courses, around 40 Operational Flight Trainer (OFT) hours and around 100 'advanced' flights.  Besides that the squadron also provides re-conversion training of F-16 pilots and Staff personnel as well as the theater conversion of F-16 pilots who return from courses in the US.

To this day, the OCU is still located in Kleine-Brogel, but the mission has changed completely over the years.  In the past, the basic conversion of an F-16 pilot (in the OCU) consisted of an academic education, 40 hours of flight simulator and about 100 flights.  So many years later, the conversion has evolved together with the F-16.  All types of updates and new weapon systems under the F-16 have been incorporated into the current basic conversion: BQTC or Basic Qualification Training Course.  This consists of 79 theory lessons (+/- 220 hours), 33 flight simulator flights of 1.5 hours (49.5 hours), 61 flights (82 hours), various briefings and tasks.

In addition to the basic conversion, the OCU is also responsible for the reconversions of F-16 pilots who return after a long period without jet experience.

In order to be able to perform these tasks, the OCU has 5 IPs (Instructor Pilots), including a squadron commander and an OPS.  As well as the support of some visitor IPs from the other squadrons and COA (Comopsair), ASD (Aviation Safety Department), …

However, with the arrival of the F-35 the OCU-future looks dark as pilot-training is conducted by the 312th Fighter Squadron of the United States Air Force on Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.

1987: F-16B 'Fighting Falcon' (part of 1 WTac)

1996: F-16B 'Fighting Falcon' (part of 10 WTac, Kleine Brogel)

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