80th Flying Training Wing

80th Flying Training Wing
80th Flying Training Wing emblem
Active	13 January 1942 — present
Country	United States
Branch	Air Force
Type	Training
Part of	Air Education and Training Command
Garrison/HQ	Sheppard Air Force Base
Decorations	DUC AFOUA
Commanders
Commander	Colonel David E. Petersen
Vice-Commander	Colonel Daniel R. Torweihe
Wing-Superintendent	Chief Master Sergeant Norman D. Theirolf

Euro-NATO Joint Pilot Training Program Logo

The 80th Flying Training Wing (80 FTW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Mission

The 80th FTW mission is to provide combat airpower by producing top quality fighter pilots for the NATO alliance.

The 80th FTW is home of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) Program. The ENJJPT, established in the spirit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is the world's only multi-nationally manned and managed flying training program chartered to produce combat pilots for NATO.

Components

80th Operations Group (80 OG)

The 80th OG provides operational support, flying training, air traffic control and evaluation of 256 student pilots and 110 instructor pilot candidates, well as Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals for more than 145 trainees annually. The group maintains five squadrons - 80th Operations Support Squadron, 88th Fighter Training Squadron, 89th Flying Training Squadron, 90th Flying Training Squadron and the 97th Flying Training Squadron - that support and train undergraduate pilots from NATO countries.

• 80th Operations Support Squadron (80 OSS)
• 88th Fighter Training Squadron (88 FTS)
• 89th Flying Training Squadron (89 FTS) T-6A Texan II
• 90th Flying Training Squadron (90 FTS) T-38C Talon (Blue tail stripe)
• 459th Flying Training Squadron (459 FTS) T-6A Texan II
• 469th Flying Training Squadron (469 FTS) T-38C Talon (White tail stripe)

History of the Group

The 80th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) was constituted on 13 Jan 1942 and activated on Feb 1942. It was redesignated as the 80th Fighter Group in May 1942. The unit returned to the US in Oct 1945. Inactivated on 3 Nov 1945.

During World War II, the group was the first USAAF unit to be stationed in Burma after the Allied retreat in 1942. During its two years in combat, this group, which called itself the Burma Banshees, kept the supply lines open to China while clearing the way for Merrill's Marauders to sweep northern Burma clean of the Japanese.

The 80th Flying Training Wing was re-established on 25 May 1972 and activated on 1 January 1973.

Bases stationed

• Selfridge Field, Michigan 9 Feb 1942 - 5 Jul 1942
• Farmingdale, New York 5 Jul 1942 - 9 March 1943
• Mitchel Field, NY, 9 March 1943 - 30 April 1943
• Karachi, India, 28 June 1943 - October 1943
• Nagaghuli, India, October 1943 - 29 August 1944
• Tingkawk Sakan, Burma, 29 August 1944 - 20 January 1945
• Myitkyina, Burma, 20 January 1945 - 24 May 1945
• Dudhkundi Airfield, India, 24 May 1945 - 6 October 1945
• Camp Kilmer, New Jersey (1945)
• Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas (1972 – Present)

Aircraft operated

• P-47 Thunderbolt (1942 – 1945)
• P-40 Warhawk (1943 – 1944)
• P-38 Lightning (1943 – 1944)
• T-37B Tweet (1973 – 2009)
• T-38 Talon (1973 – Present)
• AT-38B Talon (1993 – 2006)
• T-6A Texan II (2008 – Present)

Operations in World War II

The 80th trained for combat and served as part of the defense force for the northeastern United States from, 1942-1943. It's flying squadrons were the 88th, 89th, and 90th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadrons. It first trained with the P-47 Thunderbolt and later in the Curtis P-40.

The 80th sailed for India, via Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ceylon, in May 1943, commencing combat operations in the China-Burma-India theater in September 1943. The group supported Allied ground forces during the battle for northern Burma and the push southward to Rangoon, bombing and strafing troop concentrations, supply dumps, lines of communication, artillery positions, and other objectives.

The 80th was assigned the defense of the Indian terminus of the Hump route, which it carried out by striking Japanese airfields and patrolling Allied air bases to safeguard them from attack. The 80th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for intercepting a formation of Japanese aircraft, preventing the destruction of a large oil refinery in Assam, India, on 27 March 1944. Though its primary mission in Burma was the protection of the "Hump" cargo route, the group also played an important role in reopening the Ledo/Burma Road. Using modified, so-called B-40 fighter bombers (the Curtiss P-40 fitted with a 1,000 pound bomb), the 80th FG attacked Japanese-held bridges, sometimes demolishing their target with a single bomb. By the end of the war, the group had destroyed more than 200 bridges and killed scores of bridge repair crews. Air-to-air and air-to-ground sweeps by the group's pilots claimed 80 enemy planes destroyed in the air or on the ground.

The 80th Fighter Group was withdrawn from combat in May 1945.

USAF Training Wing

Since it's reactivation, the wing has provided undergraduate pilot training, initially for USAF, German Air Force, and South Vietnamese Air Force students.

Although South Vietnamese Air Force pilot training ceased in September 1974, students from other nations continued to train under the security assistance program through April 1980. It also provided USAF rotary-wing pilots' conversion training to fixed-wing aircraft from June 1977-November 1981. The wing has conducted pilot training and pilot instructor training under the Euro-NATO Joint Pilot Training Program, since October 1981, with participating nations contributing staff and financial support. In January 1994, the 80th began training Euro-NATO pilots in fighter fundamentals, using AT-38 aircraft.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

External links

• How to earn a slot flying in the 80th FTW from an Air Force Commission source from WANTSCHECK.com
• 80 FTW Home Page