82d Training Wing The 82d Training Wing ( 82 TRW ) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command , Second Air Force . It is stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base , Texas where it also is the host unit . The 82d Training Wing ' s mission to Train and Inspire Airmen makes it the most diversified training base in the Air Education and Training Command . The Wing produces more than 62 , 000 graduates annually in more than 1 , 000 Technical Training courses . The primary training includes aircraft maintenance , civil engineering , nuclear and conventional munitions , aerospace ground equipment , avionics and telecommunications training conducted by the four assigned training groups . It also hosts the 80th Flying Training Wing , the world ' s only internationally manned and managed flying training program . The units ' history goes back to the 82d Fighter Group , which was a Twelfth and Fifteenth Air Force combat unit that fought in North Africa and Italy during World War II . During the early years of the Cold War , the 82d Fighter Wing was a Strategic Air Command unit that trained in fighter escort and tactical fighter operations in the postwar era . The commander of the 82d Training Wing is Brig . Gen Scott A . Kindsvater . The Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Eric Johnson . Mission and Vision . The host unit on Sheppard Air Force Base is the 82nd Training Wing whose mission makes it the most diversified training base in AETC . For more than 70 years , the men and women of Sheppard AFB have ensured that America ' s Airmen have the skills they need to succeed in combat . Today , Sheppard ' s training influence reaches around the globe . The 82nd Training Wing produced more than 62 , 000 graduates in 2012 in nearly 1 , 000 courses , including aircraft maintenance ( propulsion , flight equipment , fuels ) , civil engineering , nuclear and conventional munitions , aerospace ground equipment , avionics , electricians and plumbers and telecommunications specialties . Mission : To Train and Inspire Airmen Vision : The Global Leader for Airmen Development - The Recognized Technical Training Center of Excellence Motto : Combat Capability Starts Here ! Units . The 82 TRW is the largest of four technical training wings in Air Education and Training Command and is the most diversified in scope of training . The 82d , 782d , and 982d Training Groups conduct training at Sheppard and at geographically separated locations around the country . The 982d Training Group conducts training at locations worldwide . 82d Training Group ( 82 TRG ) 782d Training Group ( 782 TRG ) 982d Training Group ( 982 TRG ) 82d Mission Support Group ( 82 MSG ) 82d Medical Group ( 82 MDG ) Additionally , the 82d Comptroller Squadron ( 82 CPTS ) reports directly to the 82 TRW . History . World War II . During World War II , the 82d Flying Training Wing ( Flexible Gunnery ) instructed thousands of aerial gunners the skill of air - to - air combat using . 50 caliber machine guns . Among the training devices used in this instruction was the manipulation trainer — 12 towers arranged to resemble a formation of planes . The towers ranged in height from 10 to 40 feet , each equipped with 2 nose , 2 tail , 2 ring sighting , and 4 blister positions . As students in these positions faced simulated attacks from PT - 13 and PT - 17 aircraft , they " fired " camera guns at the attacking fighters . Cold War . Strategic Air Command . The 82d was established as a Strategic Air Command fighter wing on 28 July 1947 at Grenier Air Force Base , New Hampshire . The 82d Fighter Wing was established in accordance with the Hobson Plan which established a controlling wing at each Air Force Base that commanding all groups and support units on the facility . However , the Air Force did not organize ( assign personnel ) to the wing until 15 August 1947 . The wing was attached to the 307th Bomb Wing from 15 August 1947 to 15 December 1948 . On 16 December 1948 the wing was reassigned to Fifteenth Air Force . The operational flying component of the wing was the 82d Fighter Group , composed of the 95th ; 96th and 97th Fighter Squadrons and were equipped with P - 38 Lighting aircraft . Most officers that arrived were rated pilots that had recently returned to military life . Many had World War II combat experience . Many officers and enlisted men arrived at Grenier from 62nd Fighter Squadron , a unit that had just returned from a winter test in Alaska . The wing was relieved of its responsibilities to the Fifteenth Air Force on 22 August 1949 and was inactivated on 20 October 1949 . Its component 82d Fighter Group was redesignated as the 82d Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) , and was activated on 18 August 1955 and assigned to Air Defense Command ( ADC ) at New Castle County Airport , Delaware . Air Training Command . The 82d replaced and absorbed resources of the 3525th Pilot Training Wing in February 1973 at Williams AFB , Arizona and assumed undergraduate pilot training operations in T - 37 and T - 38 aircraft . Assigned to the wing were the 96th and 97th Flying Training Squadrons . On 19 September 1976 , the first women entered undergraduate pilot training . Ten female students were in Class 77 - 08 . First Lieutenant Christine E . Schott became the first woman to solo in the T - 38 . On 2 September 1977 , Class 77 - 08 graduated . The ten women received their wings along with 36 male classmates . In March 1978 , the 82d ’ s first female instructor pilot , Capt Connie Engel , was assigned to the 97th Fighter Training Squadron to instruct T - 38 students . Air Training Command activated the 98th and the 99th Flying Training Squadrons on 1 June 1988 to test a four - squadron organization . The test showed the wing needed a fifth squadron to provide operational support . On 1 September 1989 , ATC activated the 100th Flying Training Squadron . In 1991 Congress approved the second round of base closures , as identified by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission . On that list was Williams AFB . The base was to cease operation as of 30 September 1993 . With Williams AFB , Arizona , scheduled to close , ATC decided to move part of that base ’ s T - 38 fleet to Sheppard during 1992 . HQ USAF redesignated the 82d Flying Training Wing as the 82d Training Wing and assigned the designation to Air Education and Training Command on 1 July 1993 . The 82d was inactivated at Williams and HQ AETC activated the 82d Training Wing at Sheppard AFB and assigned it to Second Air Force . The 82d ’ s new mission was to conduct ground technical training . The 82d also became the host unit at Shepphard AFB . The 782d Training Group was activated on 23 March 1994 and assigned it to the 82d Training Wing . At the same time , the 396th Technical Training Group changed its name to the 82d Training Group , the 82d Medical Group became the 882d Training Group , and the 82d Field Training Group became the 982d Training Group . On 30 March , the wing began providing mission ready technician training , first in the C - 141 crew chief course and , a day later , in the F - 16 crew chief course . The C - 141 program graduated its first class in August , followed in September by the F - 16 class . Components . Groups Squadrons