{"id":32295,"date":"2023-03-06T13:28:51","date_gmt":"2023-03-06T13:28:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2023\/03\/06\/preparing-for-russia-inside-nato-fighter-pilot-training-in-texas\/"},"modified":"2026-08-07T21:16:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-07T21:16:55","slug":"preparing-for-russia-inside-nato-fighter-pilot-training-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/training-sim\/2023\/03\/06\/preparing-for-russia-inside-nato-fighter-pilot-training-in-texas\/","title":{"rendered":"Preparing for Russia: Inside NATO fighter pilot training in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas \u2014 More than 5,000 miles from NATO\u2019s eastern flank<\/a>, a new generation of allied fighter pilots is coming of age in North Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After decades of peace at home, American and European airmen here face a new reality: They are the frontline flyers<\/a> who will keep Russia\u2019s war in Ukraine from spilling across NATO\u2019s borders, and the instructors who will teach the new pilots how to do it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the U.S.-led unit tasked with training NATO pilots must ensure it has enough teachers and working planes, and the right curriculum, to meet the demands of an alliance in transition.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWithin a year, they could find themselves flying in a combat environment, and they need to prepare themselves every single day with that eventuality in mind,\u201d said U.S. Air Force Col. Brad Orgeron, who oversees the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program as the 80th Flying Training Wing commander here. \u201cThey have no better time than right now to really focus on the profession. They have to be the best at what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 8,000 NATO aviators have earned their wings in Wichita Falls, Texas, since the program began in 1981. Over 200 student pilots, plus the instructors who also train here, graduate each year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

About 60% of the students are American. The remainder hail from 13 countries: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom. It\u2019s overseen by a steering committee of uniformed and civilian representatives from each country that meets at least twice a year and reports to chains of command on both continents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The base has produced more than half of the U.S. Air Force\u2019s fighter pilots. Five countries \u2014 Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Norway \u2014 send all of their pilots to train at Sheppard, while the other European nations pick students in a competitive process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Orgeron believes that shared training and the trust built at Sheppard allowed NATO to spin up its defenses within hours last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Royal Canadian Air Force Capt. William “Handi” Hamilton and U.S. Air Force Capt. Jake “Trap” Werner, 90th Flying Training Squadron instructor pilots with the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program, prepare for takeoff in a T-38 Talon on July 14, 2022, at Minot Air Force Base, N.D. (Senior Airman Michael A. Richmond\/Air Force)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe could put up E-3s out of Geilenkirchen<\/a> [in Germany] to provide an airborne early warning radar picture, and then fighters from all of the nations could go to [combat air patrols],\u201d he told Air Force Times here on Feb. 21. \u201cWe could move air forces around to any of the nations and forward deploy to Romania. If we hadn\u2019t been doing that for the last 20 or 30 years, we would not have been able to.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\t