FLUG REVUE September 2005: Luftwaffe training at Sheppard continues

September 2005

LUFTWAFFE PILOT TRAINING TO CHANGE

By Ulrich Metternich/KS

With up to 400 flights per day, Sheppard Air Force Base in north-west Texas is probably one of the most active military airfields in the world. The fleet of 200 Cessna T-37B's, Northrop T-38A's and AT-38B's are used for over 66,000 training sorties or 75,000 flying hours every year. The German Air Force is the second largest user of the Euro NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) facilities after the US Air Force. Some of the aircraft are even the property of the Federal Republic, even if for legal reasons the 34 German T-37B's and 39 T-38A/AT-38B's fly with American tail codes and national markings.

At present some 25 would-be pilots of the Luftwaffe pass through the 61-week training programme in Sheppard every year. This consists of 280 flying hours (123 of which are on the T-37) plus 538 hours of theory. The programme is divided into three main sections. The first section is devoted to theory and pre-pilot training at the hands of the 80th Operations Support Squadron. In phase 2, Primary Flight Training, students learn the basic principles of flying on T-37B's which are provided by the 89th Flying Training Squadron. Advanced training on the T-38A is then provided by the 90th Flying Training Squadron.

Having completed their T-38A training and received their pilot's wings, the young German jet pilots then undergo a further six- to eight-week “Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals” (IFF) course, which includes almost 20 flights acquiring additional role-specific skills. In the 88th Flying Training Squadron, the students learn the basic principles of their future operational roles (fighter pilot or fighter bomber pilot).

This sequence has remained unchanged for years but is set to change in the future, since, according to Wing Commander Hans-Ludwig Rau (54), Senior National Representative (SNR) of the Luftwaffe on the ENJJPT programme, jet pilot training is currently undergoing a period of upheaval. Financial cuts and new requirements are making it necessary to rethink the programme and to consider the possibility of new training concepts.

Further change is also being driven by the imminent modernisation of the aircraft fleet as the T-38A/AT-38B Talon is upgraded to the T-38C commencing this autumn and the ageing Cessna T-37B Tweet is replaced by the Raytheon T-6A Texan II from 2008. The introduction of modern avionics, such as digital instruments, multi-function displays (MFD), head-up displays (HUD), hands on throttle and stick (HOTAS), GPS and the Traffic Collision Avoidance System (TCAS), also needs to be reflected in the training plan.

From 2008 the first half of ab initio training will be given on the T-6A Texan II turboprop trainer. Under the US Air Force's Joint Primary Aircraft Training System (JPATS) programme, there are also firm plans for new flight simulators and computer-aided training. T-38C simulator facilities are already available in Sheppard AFB, and the simulator centre is to be expanded to include T-6A simulators as well. Parts of the present T-38C training will then be included in the T-6A phase, while some of the later weapons training for the operational units will be brought forward to the T-38C phase. As a result, pilot training will in future be more cost-effective and capable of being better adapted to new requirements. Wing Commander Hans-Ludwig Rau sees it like this. “A completely new, higher quality training programme will increase the level of flying competence among the students, so that the young pilots arrive at the conversion training facilities and operational squadrons with better qualifications.”

But the changes are not confined to the training of student pilots. There is also talk of introducing a specialist Instructor Pilot training course for flying instructors, under which instructors will be taught the educational and psychological skills that they need through “soft skills” training.

After almost 25 years of joint training under an important transatlantic collaborative programme with the USA, ENJJPT is entering a new phase. Following a meeting of the Steering Committee (an international planning body) in April, it looks as if the Memorandum of Understanding will be extended. Eleven out of the thirteen participating nations have already agreed to an extension of the agreement to 2016. “At present Sheppard plays a central role. There is no comparable pilot training facility in the world that offers this degree of efficiency and effectiveness,” says Wing Commander Rau. Over 2,000 jet pilots of the German Air Force and Navy who have undergone training in Sheppard since 1966 are a living proof of this.

From page 44 of FLUG REVUE 9/2005

Last updated 18 August 2005

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