Flying through 100 years

  • Published
  • By Second Lieutenant Sara Harper
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  April 14 marks the 100th anniversary of manned aircraft flight in Wichita Falls. In the past 100 years, aviation has grown to play an instrumental role in Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base, which now operates the second busiest airfield in the Air Force.

"The history of Wichita Falls in the 20th century is tied inextricably to aviation, and especially to the Air Force," said 80th Flying Training Wing Historian Bill Clifton.

"Sheppard Field was established in 1941, but military aviation predated Sheppard by several decades with the establishment of Call Army Aviation Field in 1917," Clifton said.
"Call Field was one of five U.S. Army airfields in Texas during World War I. The completed field consisted of 46 buildings, 12 hangars and a permanent compliment of 100 officers and 930 enlisted men."

"Call Field closed in July 1919, but its instructors had trained over 3,000 pilots and mechanics and sent two squadrons to Europe," said Clifton.

Hundreds of pilots learned how to fly using the Curtiss JN4-D, known as the "Jenny," which is a biplane and the first mass-produced aircraft in the United States. According to the Museum of North Texas History website, there are only five Curtiss Jenny aircraft that remain in flying condition worldwide, and the Call Field Museum in Wichita Falls is home to one of them.

Sheppard Air Force Base's aviation history dates from the 1940's, when glider pilots and mechanics were trained here. In 1942, the base became the only helicopter pilot training school in the nation, and in 1945, the base was the largest concentration of American air corps troops in the world.

Today, Sheppard stands out as it trains thousands of maintainers on every aircraft in the Air Force inventory each year. These maintainers keep military aircraft in the skies by ensuring that the planes are in great condition.

Between 1960 and 1965, the Strategic Air Command had an operational wing based at Sheppard. The following year, U.S. and German pilot training began with the 3630th Flying Training Wing at Sheppard in 1966.

The 3630th was inactivated and the 80th Flying Training Wing was activated in 1973. The mission of the 80th Flying Training Wing until the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program began was to train pilots for Germany and the U.S., as well as nations such as South Vietnam, Iran, Kenya, El Salvador and Kuwait.

Finally in 1981, the ENJJPT program began which just celebrated its 30th Anniversary at Sheppard last year. The ENJJPT program trains combat pilots for the NATO alliance and is now home to 13 partnering NATO nations.

Aviation history is intertwined with the history of Wichita Falls and Sheppard Air Force Base. Throughout the past 100 years, thousands of pilots have developed a love for aviation and learned to fly over the plains of North Texas, and Sheppard is proud to be flying those same skies.