Naval Flight Officer - The Fleet

The Fleet

In the Fleet, NFOs are currently assigned to Navy and Marine squadrons flying the EA-18G Growler, F/A-18F Super Hornet, F/A-18D Hornet (USMC Only), EA-6B Prowler, E-6 Mercury, E-2C/D Hawkeye, EP-3 Aries, the P-3C Orion and the P-8A Poseidon.

In the EA-6B Prowler NFOs are designated as Electronic Countermeasures Officers (ECMOs) and may also be Mission Commanders.

In the EA-18G Growler NFOs are designated as Electronic Warfare Officers (EWOs) and may also be Mission Commanders.

In the E-2C Hawkeye and E-2D Advanced Hawkeye, NFOs are initially as designated Radar Officers (RO), then upgrade to Air Control Officers (ACO) and finally to Combat Information Center Officers (CICO) and CICO/Mission Commanders (CICO/MC).

In the E-6B Mercury, NFOs are designated as Airborne Communications Officers (ACOs) and may also be Mission Commanders (ACO/MC).

In the EP-3E Aries, NFOs are initially designated as Navigators (NAV) and eventually upgrade to Electronic Warfare Officer/Signals Evaluator (EWO SEVAL) and EWO/SEVAL/Mission Commander (SEVAL/MC).

In the F/A-18F Super Hornet and F/A-18D Hornet, the NFO position is known as the Weapons Systems Officer (WSO) and may also be Mission Commander (MC) qualified.

In the P-3C Orion and P-8A Poseidon, the NFO is initially designated as a navigator/communicator (NAV/COM) and eventually upgrades to Tactical Coordinator TACCO and then TACCO/Mission Commander (TACCO/MC).

NFOs also serve as Instructors/Mission Commanders in current versions of the T-39 Sabreliner and USAF T-1A Jayhawk.

In all, the specific roles filled by an NFO can vary greatly depending on the type of aircraft to which an NFO is assigned.