Schneider set to lead 80th FTW

  • Published
  • By Airman Adawn Kelsey
  • 82nd Training Wing
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE,Texas --  As Sheppard welcomes Col. Kevin B. Schneider as the new commander of the 80th Flying Training Wing, members of the community can also look forward to improvements and new ideas. 

Colonel Schneider began his Air Force career here at Sheppard 21 years ago in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. He said the base has changed somewhat since he was here as a student. But, as with anyone who spends the length of time he has in the Air Force, it's difficult to remember everything. 

"I've never really been settled in one place," the colonel said. "A lot of the memories from Sheppard that I have are from 20 years ago and they are coming back; so in a way it is a familiar place for me." 

Although there have been a few changes at Sheppard, the colonel said he has great memories with old friends that he still keeps in touch with. He said he and his pilot training roommate are still great friends and still get together every once-in-a-while, but he doesn't recall individual flights or the training. 

"When I was going through pilot training - and it was much more stressful and I was worried a little more about the individual rides and events themselves - but my memories of the stressful parts of the program over time have faded away," Colonel Schneider said. "Now I remember the good group of folks, the good times we had both in the flight room and off duty." 

When the colonel found out he was coming to Sheppard, he said he was thrilled and excited. But, he said he did not have any thoughts of how or if he was going to change. 

Colonel Schneider said he still has a learning curve when it comes to running an internationally-manned pilot training program. He said he didn't have the opportunity to see the whole picture when he was a student. Now he'll have that opportunity. 

"As I settle into this new role, the first thing I am working on is keeping my eyes open and trying to figure out how exactly we do business here at the 80th Flying Training Wing," he said. 

One thing will remain the same as Colonel Schneider takes on this position - produce the absolutely best trained pilots. 

"As we continue to go through the process of training NATO warriors for the fight tomorrow, I will continue to focus on ways that we can improve our program so we can put the best trained pilot out the door on his or her graduation date," he said. 

Mingling with the local community is also one of the things the colonel said he looks forward to while at Sheppard. He said his focus during pilot training was on completing the curriculum as a student. But, he said he understanding the importance of a great relationship with local leaders and surrounding communities. 

"The local communities are incredibly supportive of what goes on here at the base and what we do here at the 80th Flying Training Wing," he said. "I look forward to working with both our supporters and our patriots here in the local community." 

One of the challenges of the wing commander's job, the colonel said, is that he now has more partners and a few other interests that he will have to weigh as he makes decisions. He said working with the 13 partner countries and the ENJJPT committee is key to ensuring a successful endeavor continues into the future. 

"I would like to continue to work towards a Memorandum of Understanding that takes us years into the future and we will work towards that goal as a team and as an alliance," the colonel said. 

A new "toy" the commander will have at his disposal is the T-6A Texan II, the introductory airframe that will replace the T-37 Tweet at the end of July. The first time he had an up-close look at the new aircraft was July 1 during his change of command ceremony. 

He looks forward to learning about that aircraft and flying it in the future. However, he believes that the T-37 was strong and dependable aircraft. 

"The first thought that comes to mind when I think about the T-37 is, 'what an incredibly durable aircraft,'" he said. "The T-37 has been used for training pilots not only for the U.S. Air Force, but for pilots around the world in their initial pilot training." 

He provided some insight to the retiring aircraft's durability. He said he spoke with an instructor pilot who delivered a T-37 to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and the location of the infamous aircraft bone yard. 

He said the airplane had been in service for 50 years, pilots had logged 18,000 flight hours and landed "Code 1" on its final sortie. 

"This means that the aircraft had no maintenance defects or issues; all it needed a quick refuel and thorough flight inspection," he said. "It has been the foundation of pilot training fleet for decades." 

Col. Schneider said that working in the operational Air Force has been great and the learning process to understand the training side will be interesting to experience. 

"Coming here to Sheppard, while it's tactically focused, it's a little bit different and I need to learn the subtle differences about life in the operational versus life in the training environments," Col. Schneider said.