71st Flying Training Wing
Encyclopedia
The 71st Flying Training Wing (71 FTW) is a United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of...

 unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command
Air Education and Training Command
Air Education and Training Command was established July 1, 1993, with the realignment of Air Training Command and Air University. It is one of the U.S. Air Force's ten major commands and reports to Headquarters, United States Air Force....

 Nineteenth Air Force
Nineteenth Air Force
The Nineteenth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base and belonging to the Air Education and Training Command...

. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base
Vance Air Force Base
Vance Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located 6 km south of downtown Enid, Oklahoma, and within its city limits, about north northwest of Oklahoma City...

, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 where it also is the host unit.

The mission of the Wing is threefold: Produce pilots for U.S. Air Force, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and allied nations as directed. Second, prepare forces to support mobility taskings and deploy when directed. Third, provide support to, and execute mission directives. The 71 FTW is the only Air Force unit to conduct joint specialized undergraduate pilot training for officers of the Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard and the air forces of several allied countries.

The unit has a long and decorated history. The group's World War II predecessor unit, the 71st Reconnaissance Group operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater flying reconnaissance missions. It was awarded the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation for its role in the liberation of the Philippines during 1944-1945. During the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, the 71st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (Fighter) was a part of Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

. The wing performed strategic reconnaissance and also tested a technique for launching small RBF-84 aircraft from GRB-36 bombers to extend the range of photographic reconnaissance and fighter escort. The testing ended in 1956, but the wing continued strategic reconnaissance until inactivated on 1 July 1957.

Units

  • 71st Operations Group
    71st Operations Group
    The 71st Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 71st Flying Training Wing. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma....

     (71 OG)
    (Tail Code: VN)
The 71 OG conducts joint specialized undergraduate pilot training for over 410 student pilots each year. The group flies more than 55,000 sorties annually, and logs over 81,000 flying hours each year.
5th Flying Training Squadron
5th Flying Training Squadron
The 5th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training.-World War II:...

 (5 FTS) T-1 Jayhawk
8th Flying Training Squadron
8th Flying Training Squadron
The 8th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates the T-6A Texan II aircraft conducting flight training.-History:...

 (8 FTS) T-6A Texan II
25th Flying Training Squadron
25th Flying Training Squadron
The 25th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates T-38 Talon aircraft conducting flight training.-Overview:...

 (25 FTS) T/AT-38 Talon
32d Flying Training Squadron
32d Flying Training Squadron
The 32d Flying Training Squadron is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training.-History:...

 (32 FTS) T-1 Jayhawk
33d Flying Training Squadron
33d Flying Training Squadron
The 33d Flying Training Squadron is a United States Air Force squadron based out of Vance Air Force Base in Enid, Oklahoma. It is a part of the 71st Flying Training Wing...

 (33 FTS) T-6A Texan II
71st Operations Support Squadron (71 OSS)

  • 71st Mission Support Group (71 MSG)
71st Communications Squadron (71 CS)
71st Logistics Readiness Squadron (71 LRS)
71st Security Forces Squadron (71 SFS)
71st Force Support Squadron (71 FSS)

  • 71st Medical Group (71 MDG)
71st Medical Operations Squadron (71 MDOS)
71st Medical Support Squadron (71 MDSS)


Additionally, the 71st Comptroller Squadron (71 CPTS) reports directly to the 71 FTW.

History

For additional lineage and history, see 71st Operations Group
71st Operations Group
The 71st Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 71st Flying Training Wing. It is stationed at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma....


The 71st Flying Training Wing's heritage begins on 18 August 1948 when it was activated as the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, assigned to the Far East Air Forces 1st Air Division at Kadena Air Base
Kadena Air Base
, is a United States Air Force base in the towns of Kadena and Chatan and the city of Okinawa, in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan. Kadena Air Base is the hub of U.S. airpower in the Pacific, and home to the USAF's 18th Wing and a variety of associate units.-Units:The 18th Wing is the host unit at Kadena...

, Okinawa. It was assigned RB-17 Flying Fortress and RB-29 Superfortress long range reconnaissance aircraft.

With its tactical group detached, the wing had but a single reconnaissance squadron attached from 18-24 Aug 1948 to perform photographic reconnaissance. When it lost the attached squadron, the Wing was not operational, and became attached to the 32d Composite Wing. Budget shortfalls led to its activation on 25 October 1948.

Strategic Air Command

On 4 November 1954, HQ USAF redesignated the wing as the 71st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing (Fighter). Then, on 24 January 1955, the wing was activated, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force
Fifteenth Air Force
The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....

, and stationed at Larson AFB, Washington. The wing performed strategic reconnaissance with the RF-84F Thunderflash fighter, primarily with the 92d Bombardment Wing at Fairchild AFB, doubling as an escort squadron with RF-84K variant reconnaissance and nuclear strike fighters

At the time, jet aircraft possessed relatively short range and aerial refueling was not yet proven. The wing's 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron (SRS) tested what was known as a "parasite" fighter, with the B-36 carrying the RF-84K. This testing, known as the FICON (FIghter CONveyer) project, called for the recon aircraft or attack fighter to leave the carrier aircraft (a modified GR-36 bomber) upon reaching hostile territory, make a dash to the target and perform its mission. The aircraft then returned to the waiting carrier, hooked up underneath it and was carried back to a base.

Beginning in 1952, as the 91st SRS tested two F-84 FICON prototypes, the USAF ordered 25 RF-84Ks and began modifying 10 B-36s into GRB-36 FICON carriers. The RF-84K design was a modification of the RF-84F, the USAF's most numerous and advanced tactical reconnaissance aircraft at the time. The only major differences were the RF-84K's retractable hook in the upper part of the nose, rods on either side behind the cockpit, and downward angled horizontal stabilizers (to fit inside the GRB-36's bomb bay).

The RF-84K entered service with the 91st SRS in 1955. For the next year, pilots of the 91st SRS successfully flew their RF-84Ks, but they experienced many near disasters while separating or hooking back up to the GRB-36 carrier aircraft.

By 1957, the development of more capable strategic reconnaissance aircraft, along with greater range provided by dependable aerial refueling, made the parasite aircraft concept obsolete. The 91st SRS's RF-84Ks were transferred to other units flying RF-84Fs and thereafter flew conventional missions from runways. The Wing inactivated on 1 July 1957

Air Defense Command

After a period of inactivation, the 71st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was redesignated the 71st Surveillance Wing, Ballistic Missile Early Warning System and activated on 6 December 1961. On 1 January 1962 , it was organized and assigned to the 9th Aerospace Defense Division, Ent AFB, Colorado.

The wing operated and maintained the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
Ballistic Missile Early Warning System
The United States Air Force Ballistic Missile Early Warning System was the first operational ballistic missile detection radar. The original system was built in 1959 and could provide long-range warning of a ballistic missile attack over the polar region of the Northern Hemisphere. They also...

 (BMEWS) at Ent, its primary mission being to provide NORAD with Tactical Warning/Attack Assessment (TW/AA) data on all ICBMs and SLBMs penetrating the system's coverage. The secondary mission was to provide NORAD with Launch and Impact (L&I) predictions for attack assessment by NORAD. From its headquarters, it monitored BWEMS sites at Clear AFS, Alaska, RAF Fylingdales
RAF Fylingdales
RAF Fylingdales is a Royal Air Force station on Snod Hill in the North York Moors, England. Its motto is "Vigilamus" . It is a radar base and part of the United States-controlled Ballistic Missile Early Warning System...

, United Kingdom, and Thule AB, Greenland.

On 1 January 1967, HQ USAF re-designated the wing as the 71st Missile Warning Wing. In 1968 it moved to McGuire AFB, New Jersey. There the wing operated the sea-launched ballistic missile detection and warning system to detect Submarine-launched ballistic missile
Submarine-launched ballistic missile
A submarine-launched ballistic missile is a ballistic missile capable of delivering a nuclear warhead that can be launched from submarines. Modern variants usually deliver multiple independently targetable reentry vehicles each of which carries a warhead and allows a single launched missile to...

 (SLBM) launches, supported the USAF United States Space Surveillance Network
United States Space Surveillance Network
The United States Space Surveillance Network is a critical part of United States Strategic Command's mission and involves detecting, tracking, cataloging and identifying artificial objects orbiting Earth, i.e. active/inactive satellites, spent rocket bodies, or fragmentation debris...

 (SPACETRACK), and monitored the Over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar
Over-the-horizon radar, or OTH , is a design concept for radar systems to allow them to detect targets at very long ranges, typically up to thousands of kilometers...

 (OTH) system until the wing inactivated on 30 April 1971.

Air Training Command

Following a brief period of inactivation, HQ USAF redesignated the wing as the 71st Flying Training Wing on 14 April 1972 . It was assigned to Air Training Command and activated at Vance on 1 November 1972 . At the same time, Air Training Command also activated the 8th and 25th Flying Training Squadrons and assigned them to the wing.

When Air Training Command activated the 71st Flying Training Wing, the wing not only became the host unit at Vance, but it also absorbed the resources of the 3575th Pilot Training Wing, which ATC had discontinued at the same time. The mission of the 71st became providing Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT) for the US Air Force, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and selected foreign allies, using T-37 and T-38 aircraft.

Modern era

Throughout the early 1990s, the wing underwent several organizational changes. Headquarters Air Training Command directed a significant organizational change in its undergraduate pilot training wings in 1990. The 71st Flying Training Wing reorganized into five flying training squadrons, adding the 5th, 7th and 26th Flying Training Squadrons to the already existing operational squadrons, the 8th and 25th. Air Training Command activated the 7th and 26th Flying Training Squadrons on 19 January 1990 and the 5th Flying Training Squadron on 16 February 1990 . Also on this date, the wing inactivated the 71st Student Squadron, and the 5th gained the responsibility for the ACE program and fixed-wing qualification training. The 7th and 8th squadrons trained students during the T-37 aircraft phase of undergraduate pilot training and the 25th and 26th during the T-38 aircraft phase.

The wing reorganized under the concept of "One Base, One Boss, One Wing," in order to bring all the tools of the base under one commander. This restructure directed that Vance's 71st Air Base Group be redesignated as the 71st Support Group, and the 71st Flying Training Wing Clinic became the 71st Medical Squadron. The reorganization order also directed the activation of the 71st Operations Group, the 71st Operations Support Squadron, and the 71st Logistics Squadron. The 71st Operations Support Squadron replaced the 5th Flying Training Squadron, which HQ ATC had inactivated on the same date.

After an organizational review of the flying training squadrons, ATC consolidated the T-37 squadrons and T-38 squadrons into one squadron per aircraft system at each UPT base. This action was a result of the drastic decrease in pilot production. Vance held ceremonies on 1 October 1992 to inactivate the 7th and 26th Flying Training Squadrons. The 8th and 25th Flying Training Squadrons remained as the T-37 and T-38 flying squadrons.

The ATC, now known as Air Education and Training Command, directed the activation of the 26th Flying Training Squadron (Provisional) on 1 October 1994 as the wing's T-1A squadron. Plans called for the provisional squadron to inactivate and the 26th Flying Training squadron to activate in June 1995. It would provide Phase III tanker-transport training for the specialized undergraduate training program beginning with Class 96-04 in September 1995. The wing received its first T-1A "Jayhawk" on 8 December 1994 . It was used as a maintenance trainer. The 71st estimated it would receive three aircraft per month until it had its total complement of 41. On 1 June 1995 , AETC inactivated the 26th (Provisional) and, instead, activated the 32d Flying Training Squadron, a unit with a history more attuned to the current mission.

In 1996, the Air Force increased pilot production because of shortages. A downsizing of the total force plus a high operations tempo was squeezing Air Force resources. Air Force surveys indicated that pilots were leaving the service in increasing numbers because of a high operations tempo, impact of frequent moving on families, and a ready market for their flying skills.

By the year 2000, pilot production at Vance more than doubled from 1996 levels—165 pilots produced in fiscal year 1996 compared to 347 in fiscal year 2000. To increase the span of control for students in the T-37 phase of training, the 33rd Flying Training Squadron was reactivated on 1 October 1998. The wing once again had five flying training squadrons; the 5th FTS, 8th FTS, 25th FTS, 32nd FTS, and 33rd FTS.

Lineage

  • Established as 71 Tactical Reconnaissance Wing on 10 August 1948
Activated on 18 August 1948
Inactivated on 25 October 1948
  • Redesignated 71 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Fighter, on 4 November 1954
Activated on 24 January 1955
Inactivated on 1 July 1957
  • Redesignated 71 Surveillance Wing (Ballistic Missile Early Warning System), and activated, on 6 December 1961.
Organized on 1 January 1962
Redesignated 71 Missile Warning Wing on 1 January 1967
Inactivated on 30 April 1971
  • Redesignated 71 Flying Training Wing on 14 April 1972
Activated on 1 November 1972

Assignments

  • 1st Air Division, 18 August-25 October 1948
Attached to 32d Composite Wing, 24 August-25 October 1948
  • Fifteenth Air Force
    Fifteenth Air Force
    The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....

    , 24 January 1955-1 July 1957
  • Air Defense Command, 6 December 1961
  • 9th Aerospace Defense Division
    9th Air Division
    Several air forces and space forces have included a 9th Air Division:*9th Air Division, of the Luftwaffe*9th Anti-Missile Defence Division of the Russian Space Forces*9th Assault Ropshinskaya red banner, Order of Ushakov Air Division of Soviet Naval Aviation...

    , 1 January 1962
  • Fourteenth Aerospace Force, 1 July 1968-30 April 1971
  • Air Training Command
    Air Training Command
    Air Training Command is a former major command of the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force. ATC came into being as a redesignation of the Army Air Forces Training Command on July 1, 1946...

    , 1 November 1972
  • Nineteenth Air Force
    Nineteenth Air Force
    The Nineteenth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base and belonging to the Air Education and Training Command...

    , 1 July 1993–present

Components

Groups
  • 71 Tactical Reconnaissance (later, 71 Operations): 18 August-25 October 1948 (detached); 15 December 1991–present


Squadrons
  • 23d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron: attached 18–24 August 1948
  • 25th Strategic Reconnaissance (later, 25 Flying Training) Squadron
    25th Flying Training Squadron
    The 25th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates T-38 Talon aircraft conducting flight training.-Overview:...

    : 24 January 1955-1 July 1957; 1 November 1972-15 December 1991
  • 82d Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron: 24 January 1955-1 July 1957
  • 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron: 24 January 1955-1 July 1957

  • 12th Missile Warning Squadron, 1 January 1967-30 April 1971 (Thule AB, Greenland)
  • 13th Missile Warning Squadron, 1 January 1967-30 April 1971 (Clear AFS, Alaska)

  • 5th Flying Training Squadron
    5th Flying Training Squadron
    The 5th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training.-World War II:...

    : 16 February 1990-15 December 1991
  • 7th Flying Training Squadron: 19 January 1990-15 December 1991
  • 8th Flying Training Squadron
    8th Flying Training Squadron
    The 8th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 71st Flying Training Wing based at Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It operates the T-6A Texan II aircraft conducting flight training.-History:...

    : 1 November 1972-15 December 1991
  • 26th Flying Training Squadron: 19 January 1990-15 December 1991

Stations

  • Kadena AB, Okinawa, 18 August-25 October 1948
  • Larson AFB, Washington, 24 January 1955-1 July 1957
  • Ent AFB, Colorado
    Colorado
    Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

    , 1 January 1962
  • McGuire AFB, New Jersey
    New Jersey
    New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...

    , 21 July 1969-30 April 1971
  • Vance AFB, Oklahoma
    Oklahoma
    Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

    , 1 November 1972–present

External links

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