US Army Aviators Start Training at New CAE Dothan Training Center

CAE USA has celebrated the grand opening of the new CAE Dothan Training Center located at the Dothan Regional Airport in Alabama.

The first class of United States Army aviators officially started training at the center in mid-February, including the first class for the Initial Entry Fixed-Wing training track created by CAE and the Army. The facility was developed primarily to support the Army Fixed-Wing Flight Training program, which will provide training to more than 600 US Army and US Air Force fixed-wing aviators annually.

CAE is now managing the syllabus to deliver all the training required for the following Army courses:

The grand opening ceremony and official launch of training was attended by Major General William K. Gayler, Commanding General, US Army Aviation Center Of Excellence (USAACE) and Fort Rucker; United States Representative Martha Roby (R-Ala.); Alabama Governor Robert Bentley; Mayor Mike Schmitz, City of Dothan; General Bryan "Doug" Brown, US Army (Retired), Chairman of the CAE USA board of directors; and Marc Parent, President and CEO of CAE. The CAE Dothan Training Center grand opening was also attended by other local, state, and federal government officials, small business partners and suppliers, and customers from the US Army and US Air Force.

"When we look at what we ask of our soldiers and families, and we deploy them and put them in harm's way, we owe it to our warfighters to give them the best training opportunity that we can possibly give, and the best equipment to ensure that they are ready," said Major General William K. Gayler, Commanding General of the US Army Aviation Center of Excellence and Fort Rucker. "That is exactly what you are going to see when you walk in the Dothan Training Center - it represents our commitment to our nation and our soldiers."

The Army Fixed-Wing Flight Training program is responsible for providing the training required for experienced Army rotary-wing aviators transitioning to fly the Army's fleet of more than 350 fixed-wing aircraft. The Army and CAE have implemented the new IEFW training program so that entry-level Army students can begin their career track to fixed-wing aircraft much sooner. In addition, the Army Fixed-Wing Flight Training program serves as the formal training unit for Army C-12/RC-12 Huron recurrent training, as well as providing annual training to US Air Force C-12 Huron pilots.

CAE has delivered a suite of simulators and training devices to the Dothan Training Center, including two CAE 7000XR Series C-12 King Air full flight simulators (FFSs) and two reconfigurable CAE Simfinity C-12 King Air integrated procedures trainers (IPTs).

In addition, CAE has developed two other CAE 7000XR Series FFSs, referred to as motherships. These simulators feature CAE's revolutionary roll-on/roll-off (RORO) cockpit design, which enables cockpits representing various aircraft types to be used in the full-flight simulator. CAE has developed four RORO cockpits representing various configurations of the C-12 aircraft used by the Army and U.S. Air Force. When two of the cockpits are installed on the full-flight simulator mothership, the other two can be connected to a docking station and be used as Level 6-equivalent flight training devices.