UNITED STATES
03.27.2023
Courtesy Video
NATO Channel
Welcome to Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, the rigorous course for NATO’s fighter pilots.
The next generation of Allied fighter pilots is being trained at the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) Program, a multinational training program based at Sheppard Air Force Base in the United States.
Allied students go to Texas to learn the fundamentals of flight, progressing from ground school to the prop-driven T-6 Texan trainer - and finally, to the T-38 Talon, a supersonic jet trainer that prepares them for the physical and mental strain of flying a tactical aircraft. With 12-hour working days and plenty of bookwork to supplement the flying, ENJJPT ensures that only the most skilled and dedicated graduates are certified to serve as fighter pilots in their nation’s air forces.
Founded in the 1980s, the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program hosts student pilots and instructors from 14 NATO Allies. Some Allies – Belgium, Denmark, and Germany, for example – only train pilots at ENJJPT, underscoring the program’s importance to the future of Allied air power.
Footage includes shots of students and instructors flying in T-38 Talons from Sheppard Air Force Base, as well as an interview with the ENJJPT Vice Commander.
(05:02) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) US Air Force Colonel Scott Gunn, Vice Commander, 80th Flying Training Wing
“It’s not OK to just be good enough to get through the program. You really need to be constantly trying to do your best because, at the end of the day, you’re not going out there and just flying aircraft, you’re going out there to be a fighter or bomber pilot in whatever nation you’re going to serve. And you may be called upon to serve and defend that country. And whoever you’re up against doesn’t care whether you’re good enough, they care if you’re the best.”
