80th FTW CC visits England

  • Published
  • By 1st Lt. Ian Phillips
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  While the pilots of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program took to the Texoma skies, Col. Jeffrey Kendall, 80th Flying Training Wing commander, attended a fighter training conference last week in England to gain insight into how other pilot-training programs do business and share the ENJJPT way with others from the international fighter training community. 

During the two-day conference aviation industry and international training programs shared ideas and updates on what their programs are about, giving attendees an opportunity for networking updates and ideas related to fighter pilot training. 

About 60 people attended the conference where Colonel Kendall was the keynote speaker. They also heard briefings on issues ranging from a joint strike fighter update to how training programs are conducted in other countries. Colonel Kendall spoke about the emerging changes to the ENJJPT program and the new 2008 syllabus that will help the program better meet its international needs. 

"We consider ourselves the gold standard in training and we want to share with others in how we do things," Colonel Kendall said. 

Programs from other countries such as Canada, France, Belgium and Spain were also presented and allowed Colonel Kendall to get better insight into the validity and appropriate direction the ENJPPT program is headed in. 

"Seeing these other programs firmly cemented my confidence in our chosen direction for keeping this program viable for the future," Colonel Kendall said. "I listened to what other programs do and how similar some of their thoughts are relating to the direction we are headed in. I am fully convinced that our current path of excellence is the right one." 

Colonel Kendall's speech focused on what the ENJJPT program is designed to do now and in the future under the 2008 syllabus that more effectively incorporates the new T-6 Texan II aircraft scheduled to replace the T-37 Tweet, along with more efficient and effective utilization of the new simulators to rehearse training events before performing them in the air. 

The new syllabus is designed to produce fighter pilots better equipped to handle our newest generations of fighter aircraft, while simultaneously cutting costs and making more efficient use of time - an important aspect that drew keen interest from other conference attendees, Colonel Kendall said. 

"Keeping our program visible in Europe is important to NATO, as it is not a pure United States training program," Colonel Kendall said. "This is an international program with U.S. participation, not just a U.S. program with international participation."