Sheppard Air Force Base
Sheppard Air Force Base | |
---|---|
Characteristics | |
ICAO code | KSPS |
IATA code | PLC |
Coordinates | |
Height above MSL | 311 m (1020 ft ) |
Transport links | |
Distance from the city center | 5 miles north of Wichita Falls |
Basic data | |
opening | 1941 |
operator | United States Air Force |
Passengers | 69,560 (2017) |
Flight movements |
105,028 (2013/14) |
Runways | |
15C / 33C | 3049 m × 46 m asphalt / concrete |
15L / 33R | 1829 m × 46 m asphalt / concrete |
15R / 33L | 3993 m × 91 m concrete |
17/35 | 2140 m × 46 m asphalt |
The Sheppard Air Force Base is a military airport of the United States Air Force in Wichita Falls in north Texas . The civil part forms the Wichita Falls Municipal Airport .
Units and associations
There are two Air Education and Training Command training associations at Sheppard AFB . The 82d Training Wing trains technical ground personnel, the 80th Flying Training Wing pilots . The latter is also the NATO flight school of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) program . The ENJJPT squadron is a multinational association established in October 1981, in which prospective fighter pilots, initially from Denmark , Germany (Sheppard has been using it since 1965), Italy , the Netherlands , Norway , Turkey and the USA , on type T 6 and T-38 were trained. Most recently, Belgium and the United Kingdom have been using the facility for the first time since 2019 . A total of 14 nations have training here. Because of the large German proportion of the squadron, the commander of the flying group ( 80th Operations Group ) is usually a German staff officer.
The Air Force Tactical Training Command has also been stationed here since April 1, 2019
history
The 1.2 km² area for the airfield, which opened in October 1941, was acquired by the United States Army Air Corps for one US dollar from a local farmer. The base was named after the Chairman of the Committee on Military Affairs at the US Senate , John Morris Sheppard , who died in April 1941 . Shortly after the Second World War, various training units were stationed at Sheppard AFB, since the Korean War and foreign soldiers were training, including since 1961, pilots of the Air Force of the Armed Forces .
The cities of Wichita Falls and Fürstenfeldbruck have had a city partnership since 1985, which was largely due to the common ground in the aeronautical training.
Web links
- luftwaffe.de on the German part ENJJPT
- Homepage of Sheppard AFB
- GlobalSecurity.org to Sheppard AFB, Texas
- The Handbook of Texas - Sheppard Air Force Base
Individual evidence
- ^ Wichita Falls, TX: Sheppard AFB / Wichita Falls Municipal (SPS). Transtats.BTS.gov , accessed July 8, 2018 .
- ↑ AirportIQ 5010: Sheppard AFB / Wichita Falls Municipal. GCR1.com, accessed July 8, 2018 .
- ↑ RAF fast jet pilots to train in US, Janes, October 24, 2018