Traditional Career Mode

[Adamfp3]

Are there plans to incorporate a traditional career mode similar to GB where we can join a squadron and rise through the ranks or has this been replaced by the Squadron Commander mode? (Are we stuck leading a squadron and always being flight lead?)

[LukeFF]

Possibly in the future.

[Koziolek]

13 hours ago, LukeFF said:

Possibly in the future.

Possibly? From your previous posts I thought it was granted and was just a question of time. 

I tried the Commander mode, it was quite  interesting but for a few hours only and I do not imagine it not being optional 

Like the OP I would like to be able to start as a begginer pilot

[wiscstar]

It's unrealistic and historically inaccurate to put a rookie in charge of a flight or squadron.  That's not how it worked in the real war and not how it should work here.  You start out flying wingman in a two-ship element.  Then, as you gain experience, you progress to element lead, then flight lead.  Judgment and experience don't come quickly.  Great Battles had it right.

[AEthelraedUnraed]

9 minutes ago, wiscstar said:

It's unrealistic and historically inaccurate to put a rookie in charge of a flight or squadron.  That's not how it worked in the real war and not how it should work here.  You start out flying wingman in a two-ship element.  Then, as you gain experience, you progress to element lead, then flight lead.  Judgment and experience don't come quickly.  Great Battles had it right.

The idea is that you're not a rookie. All of the backgrounds/biographies you can choose for your pilot, describe a highly skilled one that could certainly be a squadron leader. And let's face it, many of us virtual pilots have a lot more combat experience than most of the real-life pilots would have had. I would argue that it'd be even more unrealistic to have us start at the bottom as a rookie pilot.

That said, I'd love the ability to start somewhere in the middle. Not quite as squadron leader, not quite at the bottom. Perhaps a wing leader.

[YoYo]

On 8/19/2026 at 2:04 AM, LukeFF said:

Possibly in the future.

I didn't know about that. Great news, because I miss some of that too. It would have to be a slightly different mode, though, I think, where some kind of automation would initially handle management (AI, without the player's ability to intervene in orders, selecting wings for missions, deliveries, pilot promotions, etc.). So, at first, you'd just be a rookie. As you advance, reaching the commander role, management would be transferred to the player. That would make a lot of sense.