In 1964, the Air Force decided to use the off-the-shelf Cessna 172 as a preliminary flight screener for pilot candidates and ordered 237 T-41As from Cessna. The T-41B was the US Army version. In 1968, the Air Force acquired 52 more powerful T-41Cs for use at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs.

In 1996, the aircraft were further upgraded to the T-41D, which included an upgrade in avionics.

Beginning in 1993, the United States Air Force replaced much of the T-41 fleet with the Slingsby T-3A Firefly for the flight screening role and aerobatics training, which the T-41 was not capable of. The T-3A fleet was indefinitely grounded in 1997 and scrapped in 2006 following a series of fatal accidents at the United States Air Force Academy and further engine problems. The Air Force no longer trains non-fliers, so no longer has a replacement for this type.