The 80th Flying Training Wing here at Sheppard has a long history of international pilot training, dating all the way back to the 1960s. The training, however, looked different than the current Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program which has been running here for over 30 years.
At the dawn of the Cold War, the nations of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization recognized the threat the Soviet Union posed to Western Europe, and came to the conclusion that rearming the Federal Republic of Germany, more commonly known as West Germany, would help to mitigate this threat. One aspect of this rearmament was the retraining of the German Air Force, which had been grounded following Germany’s defeat in World War II.
The U.S. Air Force chose Sheppard Air Force Base in 1965 as the location for German pilot training. With excellent flying weather year round, as well as incredible support from the local community, Sheppard was, and still is, an ideal location for pilot training.
The training fell to the 3630th Flying Training Wing, which was established 10 Dec 1965. The wing conducted undergraduate pilot training for both the German Air Force as well as helicopter pilot training for US forces engaged in Vietnam. The wing was a tenant unit at Sheppard, which also housed the Sheppard Technical Training Center as the host wing. The wing was made up of four squadrons: the 3630th and 3631st pilot training squadrons, and the 3630th and 1st German Air Force student squadrons. 80thWelcomeSign
The first German class began training in August 1966 and graduated the 55 week program in September 1967. Through this time, the program was improved and implemented. As more students arrived for the course, relationships with the Wichita Falls community prospered. The mayor of Wichita Falls even went as far as awarding honorary Texas citizenship to the German permanent party in the wing.
Each pilot training class had over 20 German students, both officers and non-commissioned officers, totaling 212 students per year. Forty German officers and NCOs were assigned for liaison purposes, with an additional eight officers serving as instructor pilots.
Undergraduate pilot training consisted of three phases. Phase one consisted primarily of academics. Students learned basic flying maneuvers in the T-37B Tweet in phase two before moving onto more advanced training in the T-38A Talon during phase three.
In 1967, the program became truly international as Air Training Command, or ATC, dictated that more than a dozen US students be included in each pilot training class, allowing German and American pilots to train together in a single unit. The first combined class graduated in May 1968.
80th FTW Training in the 1970sThe wing ended its helicopter training mission in April 1971, but the support of the program for the Vietnam War effort did not stop. A new pilot training squadron, the 3632nd, activated and provided training for South Vietnamese Air Force student pilots under the US Air Force Military Assistance program. Sixty South Vietnamese pilots were in training at Sheppard by the end of 1971. This squadron operated separately from the German and American program, flying with different instructors and syllabi.
The 80th Flying Training Wing was born on Jan 1, 1973 when the 3630th Flying Training Wing was deactivated, but there were no changes to the mission or personnel as a result. Squadrons were redesignated, as the 88th, 89th and 90th Flying Training Squadrons and the 80th Student Squadron. The 88th continued with the Vietnamese training mission, with the 89th and 90th carrying out phases two and three, respectively, of the German/US partnered training. Only the 1st German Air Force Student Squadron remained unaffected.
Training continued in this manner until 1973, when the US Air Force made the decision to downsize the partnered training program, with the plan to eliminate US participation in the program by 1975. Numbers for both German and US students began to decline, even with graduating the 50th class of German pilots in 1973. Aircraft in the 1970sThe last class with US participation graduated in 1975, after which pilot training became solely devoted to foreign nations. Further, with the draw down of US involvement in South Vietnam, participation in South Vietnamese pilot training was reduced, with the last South Vietnamese class graduating in 1975. In order to compensate, Sheppard opened its doors to other nations for pilot training through the Security Assistance Program, including El Salvador, Kuwait, Kenya and Iran.
Shortly after US pilots were removed from the program, the partner nations of NATO began to consider hosting the newly-envisioned Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program at Sheppard Air Force Base. In 1975, visitors from several partner nations came to Sheppard as part of a tour of possible sites for the program. Drawn by the excellent training conditions, capabilities and support for the base, as well as the consideration that the Netherlands sent 20 pilot trainees to the 80th in 1979, the NATO committee announced that Sheppard would host the ENJJPT Program.
The first ENJJPT class began training in October 1981 with a planned peak load of 346 students. ENJJPT became the sole mission of the 80th when the US Air Force terminated the Security Assistance Program training at Sheppard.
T-37B Tweet Flight Manual Air Force Manual Pilot's Handbook
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