Where are NATO Fighter Pilots Born? In TEXAS of Course! (ENJJPT)

If you had to guess where Danish or Belgian fighter pilots learned how to fly, would you say Texas? It seems unlikely, but it's true. For 40 years, aspiring pilots from more than a dozen NATO nations have traveled to the USA to learn how to fly at Shepard Air Force Base, home to the EuroNATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program. We're looking for that drive, that determination. A lot of people naturally have that ingrained in them, and that's why they chose this profession. Welcome to Texas. It's a long way from Europe, but if NATO student pilots are going to become fully-fledged military aviators, they still have a long way to go. I wanted to become a pilot since I was a small boy, and when I joined the Air Force just after high school, I decided that going for the pilot path was my dream. Everyone wishes to have an impact on the world, and that's how I think I can make the biggest impact. These young men and women are stepping into a decades-long tradition of multinational training. More than 40 years ago, several NATO allies wanted to find a more efficient way to train fighter pilots. They decided then to set up a joint course at Shepard Air Force Base, where frequently clear skies made for an ideal training environment. It was founded in October of 1980 and initially had a few partners. Germany and the U.S. have been training together. It has since grown to 14 nations that send us instructors, students. Today, this course works like a microcosm of the larger alliance, from the nations involved to the way they make decisions. It allows us to get from the very beginning of our military careers an appreciation and understanding of the cultures of our allies. When student aviators arrive, they undergo an intensive academic course known as ground school. After that, it's on to their first aircraft, the T-6 Texan II, a turboprop jet designed to teach them the fundamentals of flight, including takeoffs, landings, and formations. The first time climbing the T-6 was really exciting because we had been so much in the simulator, but still it's really hard to prepare for the real thing. So just getting to do the ground operations and pressing all the right switches at the right moment was quite difficult, but as you get more experienced, it becomes more and more natural. Flying the T-6 is an awesome experience. It's a really powerful aircraft. You can pull some G's and do some aerobatics in the area, so that's really nice. Some students then move on to the T-38 Talon, a jet fighter trainer capable of supersonic speeds and dizzying feats of aerobatics. Going from the T-6 Texan to a supersonic jet trainer, obviously a lot faster. You get some afterburner, that's pretty fun. In the beginning, first flight I had on T-38, you light the afterburners and you just release the brakes and you feel the afterburners kick in for the first time. It's an amazing feeling. T-38s are difficult. You get to push yourself to your limits. In formation, you have to monitor the other aircraft. You have to match him. You have to be able to anticipate. All the while, students are immersed in a multinational environment. A student might have an Italian flight commander and a German squadron commander. The point is we, as NATO, can truly come up with the most efficient and best practices for our air forces. For students, the days start early and end late. They sacrifice sleep for study time, leisure for long sessions in the simulator. Being a military aviator takes more than raw skill, it takes grit. A lot of the folks that arrive here are the best of the best of the best. They're the top 10% in their classes. Many of them are not used to failing, but they are put in challenges, frankly just not natural for the human body and the human mind, and oftentimes they meet with failure for the first time in their lives. And the big thing that we emphasize to them is that's okay. You move past it, you learn from it, and that experience of those little micro failures so that you can ultimately reach success is probably one of the greater assets of this program. There's a reason behind the marathon study sessions and the long days in the cockpit. These men and women aren't just pilots. They're military officers sworn to protect their country and their allies. Should NATO need to defend itself, some of that responsibility will fall on their shoulders. The conflict that is going on right now in Ukraine has definitely changed the tenor. Definitely focus everyone's attention, make sure that they are on point, and trying to do not just enough to get by, but to be the best they can in the event that sometime in the future they are called to serve the NATO alliance. When the students pass their final flights, there's only one thing left to do, figure out which aircraft they'll spend their careers flying. They find out at a ceremony called Drop Night. Usually it's a ton of emotions, a ton of excitement. The class is there for support. Everyone loves celebrating as a class. I want to fly the F-16, the Viper. It's the only fighter aircraft we have in Belgium, but it's it's a good one. Working together with student pilots from almost all over the world has been for me, like, the best thing that's happened to me in my life, I would say. You get friends that you will have for life. You will most probably work with them in the future. It's a thrilling moment, and NATO's newest pilots carry themselves with hard-earned pride. From here, it's back to their home countries to train on their assigned aircraft, and prepare themselves for the task of securing NATO's skies.