Young but experienced

  • Published
  • By Airman Jacob Corbin
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  The Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program doesn't have long history, given it's only 25 years old this month.

But, the world's only international pilot training program is years head of any program available today or was available in the past.

It began on Oct. 23, 1981, after years of research and deliberation by a NATO working group tasked with deciding on the location of ENJJPT. The process started in 1974 and eventually the United States was chosen to host the program in 1978.

ENJJPT was created because of the "rising cost of pilot training," according to the Sheppard AFB Website, www.sheppard.af.mil.

The group, consisting of representatives from the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Turkey and Italy, announced Sheppard Air Force Base as a short-term answer.
Eventually though, ENJJPT's stay at Sheppard was extended repeatedly and currently still resides at Sheppard.

Sheppard was chosen to host the ENJJPT program based on a number of factors. First, Sheppard already had an international pilot training program in place. Germany and the United States had an agreement wherein German pilots attended their basic flight training here.

Second, Sheppard offered flying weather that provided a greater amount of flying hours.

The first NATO nations to join ENJJPT were the U.S, the United Kingdom, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway, Turkey and Portugal. Eventually other NATO nations would come on board, including Spain, Italy and Greece.
Currently13 nations participate in one way or another, whether sending pilots or instructors, or even just helping fund the program. The current ENJJPT countries are the United States, the United Kingdom, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the Netherlands.

Variants of the T-38 Talon and T-37 Tweet have been used as ENJJPT training aircraft since its inception, and in the near future the T-6 Texan II will replace the long-running Tweet in pilot training.

ENJJPT trains an average of 250 pilots each year in their undergraduate pilot training program, as well as numerous instructor pilots. Also, a large number of pilots transition through the Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals and IFF Upgrade Instructor Pilot training programs.

Years of planning and selection went into choosing the location for the ENJJPT program, and in December 1982, the first class of 29 pilot-students graduated. After graduating the ENJJPT program, students go on to a variety of bases to be trained in aircraft such as the F-16 Falcon or the F-4 Phantom.

While it has 25 years of history behind it, the 80th Flying Training Wing, also known as the ENJJPT wing, still has a lot of "history" ahead of it.

"This wing is only 30-years old," said John Murphy, the 80th FTW historian. "It's (in historical terms) a very young wing.