BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- Underneath his email signature line, Lt. Col. Brandon Wolf, 93rd Bomb Squadron B-52 instructor pilot, poses a haunting question to the reader: “Our adversaries got better today…what did we do?”
The question reveals a quiet intensity that runs beneath the surface of his usual relaxed, smiling persona.
That relentless attitude propelled Wolf to spearhead the development of a virtual reality air-to-air refueling simulator for B-52 student pilots and helped him earn the Exploratory or Advanced Technological Development Award, one of the Department of the Air Force 2024 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics accolades.
“I’ve been on the training side of the Air Force for a while, and I’ve seen the need for repetition and access to these tools,” said Wolf. “The innovation push has allowed us to easily put them in the hands of students.”
Wolf began working with Specular Theory, a software development company in 2020 to develop the Experiential Air Refueling Lightweight Simulator (EARL).
EARL allows B-52 student aviators to practice air-to-air refueling virtually with boom operators on the KC-135 Stratotanker in a realistic environment that includes haptic response and live communication capabilities.
That work drew the attention of Dr. Donna Senft, Air Force Global Strike Command Chief Scientist, and Dr. Paul Hausgen, AFGSC Deputy Chief Scientist, compelling them to nominate Wolf for the DAF honor.
Two aspects of Wolf’s work stood out to Senft and Hausgen.
“First, is his resourceful and dogged pursuit to not only develop the capability, but to energetically pursue fielding (the trainer) and its operational use,” said Hausgen. “Second, is the multi-pronged, very high return on investment.”
Hausgen said the development and procurement costs of EARL are significantly lower than existing B-52 simulator options and provide increases in B-52 pilot readiness and substantial savings in fuel and maintenance.
Wolf, a member of the Air Force Reserve, works as a commercial pilot in his civilian career. Despite juggling military duties and a busy civilian career, Wolf said he plans to expand training capabilities for B-52 student aviators.
“My hope is that we can make the training effective and efficient for the entire life cycle of the aviator, not just air refueling,” said Wolf. “My immediate goal is to get these trainers normalized and established in the formal process so when I’m gone, they don’t die.”