Commemorating the 80th anniversary of the dedication of Sheppard Air Force Base and the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program.

Whereas, in 1940, Major General Rush B. Lincoln, Commandant of United States Army Air Corps Technical Schools, surveyed the sites surrounding the city of Wichita Falls, Texas, for a future training school; Whereas, 80 years ago, Sheppard Air Force Base began as Sheppard Field and opened as a United States Army Air Corps training facility on 300 acres of land in Wichita Falls, named after former United States Senator John Morris Sheppard; Whereas, during World War II, Sheppard Field trained more than more than 42,000 aircraft mechanics, 1,800 glider mechanics and 445,000 basic trainees, playing a vital role in the development of airpower for defeating the Axis powers; Whereas after serving as an Army Air Force separation center following the end of World War II, Sheppard Field was inactivated in August of 1946; Whereas, on August 1, 1948, Sheppard Field was reactivated activated by the Department of the Air Force to enhance basic training and was dedicated as Sheppard Air Force Base; Whereas, by 1953, the base qualified more than 80,000 trained aircraft maintainers and served as the home for 2 percent of all airmen; Whereas Sheppard Air Force Base adapted and matured alongside the United States Armed Forces by becoming the home of missile maintenance training in 1955; Whereas, from 1959 to 1962, Sheppard Air Force Base hosted the 4245th Strategic Wing, and from 1962 to 1966 the 494th Bombardment Wing, directing aerial refueling and bombardment squadrons; Whereas, in 1965, the 3630th Flying Training Wing was activated and in 1966 began providing pilot training to German Air Force students; Whereas, in 1968, Sheppard Air Force Base became the epicenter for field training in the aircraft maintenance training pipeline, carried on today by the 982d Training Group, who deliver more than 35,000 trained students each year; Whereas the 3630th Flying Training Wing became the 80th Flying Training Wing, expanding its student radius in 1973 to Iran, El Salvador, Ecuador, Saudi Arabia, and other nations under the security assistance program; Whereas, in 1973, Sheppard Air Force Base held the honor of serving as a reception point for Operation Homecoming, welcoming home Vietnam prisoners of war after years of captivity; Whereas, in 1981, at Sheppard Air Force Base, the 80th Flying Training Wing began the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program with 12 partner nations Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States, providing the partner nations with several domains of pilot training; Whereas, on July 1, 1993, Sheppard Air Force Base became the home of all aircraft maintenance training when the Sheppard Training Center became the 82nd Training Wing; Whereas, in 2016, the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program added Romania as its 14th partner and was extended through 2026; Whereas the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program remains the world’s only internationally manned and managed flying training program; Whereas, since 1981, the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program has delivered more than 7,800 combat pilots for its 14 partner nations in support of NATO; Whereas the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program trains 50 percent of all United States Air Force fighter pilots and is the sole source of fighter pilots for the partner nations of Belgium, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway; Whereas the 80th Flying Training Wing launches 50,000 sorties per year and is recognized as the busiest joint-use airfield in the Air Force; Whereas, in fiscal year 2019, Sheppard Air Force Base created $4,600,000,000 in economic impact and served as the region’s largest employer, accounting for 1 in 8 jobs in Wichita County; Whereas the 82nd Training Wing, stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base, graduates more than 60,000 officer and enlisted students each year; Whereas the 82nd Training Wing is the largest technical training wing in the United States Air Force, teaching 6,000 students on a daily basis across the globe; Whereas Sheppard Air Force Base is home to more than 2,000 instructors teaching 990 Community College of the Air Force courses, totaling 41 percent of all Community College of the Air Force courses worldwide; and Whereas, over the course of 80 years, Sheppard Air Force Base has delivered more than 7,000,000 trained airmen, soldiers, sailors, marines, and international partners and pilots to support military interoperability around the world: Now, therefore, be it That the House of Representatives commemorates the 80th anniversary of the opening of Sheppard Air Force Base and the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program.

Summary: This resolution commemorates the 80th anniversary of the opening of Sheppard Air Force Base and the 40th anniversary of the creation of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program.