13 Nations Converge on Sheppard Published March 23, 2012 By 2nd Lieutenant Jerred Moon 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program Steering Committee concluded their 63rd bi-annual meeting March 23 at Sheppard. Sheppard hosted the annual Steering Committee spring meeting in which representatives from the 13 participating nations discussed topics such as new country participation, budgetary plans and syllabus changes. German air force Brig. Gen. Helmut Schuetz, the newly appointed Steering Committee chairman, said the meeting was productive and he is glad to be working with such great people. "I am very pleased to see a group of people who are very dedicated to the job and fulfill all of their tasks and want to improve this training even more," he said. "We have a wonderful training program producing the best pilots you could imagine, so there are little improvements we have to fulfill to make it even better." Col. Dieter Bareihs, 80th Flying Training Wing commander, said it is great to see the nations working together to improve the program. "The key strength of the program is the people," he said. "The senior national representatives from all of the various countries, the instructor pilots, the support personnel, the civilians and, of course, the group and squadron leadership all work together in the spirit of ENJJPT." Schuetz, a graduate of this program 30 years ago, knows the importance of nations working together and said he thinks the ENJJPT program is vital and should stay at Sheppard for many years to come. "If you know each other you can trust each other because we know how we think on the ground and in the air," he said. "I do not think we should ever disband the ENJJPT program, not only because it is the best flying program but, because of how it integrates the nations." Bareihs said one of the topics of discussion was the syllabus. "You will not see any major changes that affect the program," he said. "We made some minor changes to the syllabus that we put forward, and they accepted." Schuetz said they discussed possibilities of new country participation. "Some nations who are not currently sending student pilots will start to send some soon," he said. "Belgium is coming in with an instructor pilot and probably some student pilots as well, so ENJJPT will be expanding in that respect." The fall Steering Committee meeting will be held in Greece this September. The Steering Committee is held every six months with the spring conference at Sheppard and the fall meeting at one of the partner nations.