Other Flight Training

The Other Flight Training (OFT) program, under Program Element (PE) 0804743F, is an Air Force initiative focused on the research, development, test, and evaluation (RDT&E) of systems that record and manage aircrew training, flying hour tracking, flight pay management, and readiness data for approximately 60,000 Air Force members. The primary objective of this program is to ensure the safety of flight operations and to determine eligibility for aviation-related events, thereby supporting Air Force readiness. The program is managed within Budget Activity 7, Operational Systems Development, which covers development efforts for upgrading fielded systems or those approved for full-rate production.

The legacy system, Aviation Resource Management System (ARMS), was designed to support base-level Directors of Operations, aircrew supervisors, and managers with web-based tools for tracking flying and ground training programs, resource allocation, and scheduling. ARMS included five logical modules Flight, Individual Training, Jumper Aircrew, Resource Tracking, Reports, and System and was hosted at a Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) DECC. The system supported tracking for USAF, Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), and Air National Guard (ANG) personnel, facilitating millions of transactions per week. However, ARMS was limited by its production environment and sunset in FY 2025 to make way for newer capabilities.

Air Resource Tool Enterprise Mission Information System (ARTEMIS) is the successor to ARMS, initiated in FY 2026 to provide enhanced, cloud-based capabilities. ARTEMIS aims to deliver a common architecture across multiple programs and applications, offering real-time analytics for aircrew, missileer, and parachutist training and readiness. The system supports electronic flying hours reports for tens of thousands of aircrew and parachutists and is used by thousands of Career Field members. ARTEMIS is designed to interface with the Defense Readiness Reporting System Strategic (DRRS-S), ensuring that readiness data is integrated across the Department of Defense.

The goals of ARTEMIS include incremental development of new features such as electronic flight records, flying hour management and execution, simulator and remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) management, full career logbooks, training look-back capabilities, aircrew member man-month allocation, and enhanced resource and jump module management. These enhancements are intended to improve data accuracy, accessibility, and interoperability, supporting both operational decision-making and compliance with statutory requirements such as financial audits mandated by Title 10 U.S.C. Chapter 9A, Sec 240-D.

The acquisition strategy for ARTEMIS leverages Agile development methodologies and cloud technologies, with contractor support provided by Deloitte and oversight from the USAF Business Enterprise Systems (BES) Directorate's Business Enterprise Systems Programming Innovation (BESPIN) office. This approach allows for continuous integration and deployment (CI/CD) within a DevSecOps framework, ensuring rapid delivery of software updates and system enhancements. The program utilizes contract programmers for code development and sustainment, while government civilians provide program management, engineering, and IT support.

Funding adjustments within OFT reflect the transition from ARMS to ARTEMIS, with a reduction in FY 2025 due to the sunset of ARMS and an increase in FY 2026 as ARTEMIS development ramps up. The program does not include significant civilian pay expenses in the current or upcoming fiscal years, as those are budgeted separately in other program elements. The OFT program is structured to provide robust, scalable, and secure management of aviation resources, supporting the Air Force's mission to maintain high levels of readiness and operational effectiveness.