![]() If training sorties are canceled due to bad weather or maintenance problems, instructors pivot to discussion time indoors. (Benoit Doppagne/Belga Mag/AFP via Getty Images) Relying on experience 9, 2022, after a visit to Amari Air Base in Harjumaa, Estonia. That course introduces students to air combat maneuvers, multi-plane flight formations, and the building blocks of air-to-air engagements with planes that mimic enemy jets.Ī Belgian F-16 fighter plane flies home Feb. Newcomers first learn the basics of flight in the T-6 Texan II, then graduate to the more advanced T-38 Talon fighter/bomber training jet. But as security concerns galvanize member countries to reexamine their national defenses, Sheppard expects to see demand for its services spike.Īt a biannual meeting of the program’s member countries in March, officials will debate whether Sheppard can pump out more pilots in response to the fighting on NATO’s doorstep. ![]() ![]() The 73-year-old alliance is not formally part of the conflict, which has snowballed into Europe’s largest armed conflict since World War II. “When I was there and it was quiet … we scrambled maybe once or twice, a few times per month. Patrick Pahlke, a German instructor pilot who took charge of Sheppard’s 89th Flying Training Squadron last April. “My squadron at home was on 24-hour recall as soon as started invading,” said Maj. It’s overseen by a steering committee of uniformed and civilian representatives from each country that meets at least twice a year and reports to chains of command on both continents. The remainder hail from 13 countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. Over 200 student pilots, plus the instructors who also train here, graduate each year.Ībout 60% of the students are American. More than 8,000 NATO aviators have earned their wings in Wichita Falls, Texas, since the program began in 1981. They have to be the best at what they do.” “They have no better time than right now to really focus on the profession. ![]() Brad Orgeron, who oversees the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program as the 80th Flying Training Wing commander here. “Within a year, they could find themselves flying in a combat environment, and they need to prepare themselves every single day with that eventuality in mind,” said U.S. Now the U.S.-led unit tasked with training NATO pilots must ensure it has enough teachers and working planes, and the right curriculum, to meet the demands of an alliance in transition. ![]()
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