Mission Qualification

What is mission qualification within Master Arms?

Mission qualification is simply a tool for Master Arms' pilots to review and assess their knowledge and skills in avation, communication and operation of a specific type of aircraft. Mission qualification is not required to participate in Master Arms missions.

The goals of the mission qualification program are:

1. Help pilots find gaps or flaws in their knowledge and their skills, so that they know how to improve.
2. Give pilots the confidence that they can successfully participate in a Master Arms mission.
3. Foster a culture of mentorship so that pilots help eachother improve.

A pilot that has been mission qualified will have their name listed in the #mission-quals Discord channel.

What is mission qualification NOT?

Mission qualification is NOT meant as a tool for hiearchy, rank or authority. A mission qualified pilot is simply someone who took an interest in assessing their knowledge and skills, and eventually lived up to a certain standard. Anyone, mission qualified or not, is encouraged to participate in Master Arms events, both as lead and wingman.

How is the mission qualification performed?

A fellow qualified pilot ("the examiner") shadows the candidate during a whole training mission, privately, and assesses the candidate's performance.

The examiner also assists the mission process by:

1. Acting as ATC and package controller, in a simplified form.
2. Briefly acting as flight lead when the candidate demonstrates ability to rejoin and maintain formation.
3. Facilitating buddyspike/raygun calls.
4. Participating in the overhead break.

Pilots are encouraged to use TacView so that issues can be reviewed after the mission.

Who can confirm someone as mission qualified?

Anyone who is mission qualified, and has participated in at least one mission, can confirm a fellow pilot as mission qualified. However, the mission qualification protocol must be strictly adhered to, where applicable to the airframe used.

Mission Qualification protocol

The contents of the mission qualification is very similar to the Intro Flight. But here, the pilot is expected to demonstrate a self-sufficiency in navigation, radio communication and completing mission objectives.

The candidate should demonstrate, where applicable, proficiency in the following procedures:

1. Cold start
2. Changing radio presets
3. Joker/Bingo settings
4. Dumb bomb Configuration
5. Checking in (examiner pretends to be wingman)
6. Request taxi from ATC
7. Read back any instructions received over radio (whole mission)
8. Follow taxi instructions
9. 2-ship takeoff or CASE 1 departure
10. Waypoint navigation
11. Report own bullseye position
12. Anchor on radial+distance from airfield/carrier (examiner gives random position)
13. Fence In / Fence Out procedures (examiner pretends to be wingman)
14. Raygun / Buddyspike procedures (examiner assists)
15. Using radio communication to locate and safely rejoin flight lead (examiner acts as lead)
16. Formation flying: Echelon and 1 NM Trail (examiner acts as lead)
17. Basic Radar Usage and Fox 3 Launch
18. "Fox" and "Splash" Calls
19. Find and join up with tanker
20. Air-to-air refuel (optional)
21. Dropping dumb bombs with appropriate maneuvering
22. Using countermeasures pre-emptively
23. TACAN/Waypoint navigation to airfield or carrier
24. Contact airfield ATC on correct channel
25. Overhead Break over airfield or CASE 1 recovery
26. Land using correct procedure for airframe

Upon a completed mission qualification, the examiner reports this on Discord so that an administator can update the #mission-quals list.