{"id":5407,"date":"2023-04-15T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-15T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=5407"},"modified":"2023-04-16T06:48:17","modified_gmt":"2023-04-16T06:48:17","slug":"sheppard-afb-elephant-walk-asserts-trainings-role-in-airpower","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/?p=5407","title":{"rendered":"Sheppard AFB \u2018elephant walk\u2019 asserts training\u2019s role in airpower"},"content":{"rendered":"
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SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) — \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Four thousand student Airmen from the 82nd Training Wing<\/strong><\/a> shared the runway with 80 training aircraft from the 80th Flying Training Wing<\/strong><\/a> in possibly the largest and most unique \u201celephant walk\u201d in Air Force history \u2013 all to shine a light on the importance of training and partnerships.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe key to airpower is exceptional Airmen, and the key to exceptional Airmen is exceptional training,\u201d said Brig. Gen. Lyle K. Drew<\/strong><\/a>, 82nd TW commander. \u201cThat\u2019s what we do here at Sheppard [AFB]<\/strong><\/a>, and this elephant walk was our message to the world that the U.S. and its international partners remain committed to delivering the best-trained Airmen in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

As home to three of the eight technical training groups in the Air Force as well as Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training<\/strong><\/a>, Sheppard AFB is unique in the Air Force. It\u2019s also home to the service\u2019s largest Noncommissioned Officer Academy<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo other base could bring this many training aircraft and student Airmen to bear like this,\u201d said Col. Brad Orgeron<\/strong><\/a>, 80th FTW commander. \u201cThe fundamental technical and pilot training missions that happen here every day affect literally every base and every combat sortie in the Air Force \u2013 not to mention the impact on our global partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

Leaders from the two wings planned the event as a message to friends and competitors alike that the U.S. and its allies remain committed to the legacy of unequalled training as the foundation of combat power.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want our allies to know that we are committed to and value our shared training experience with them, and we want our potential adversaries to know that we are bound together with our friends and partners from the very beginning of our military careers as we train side by side to defend our way of life,\u201d Orgeron said.<\/p>\n

It’s also a way to highlight the immense strategic impact Sheppard AFB has on the Air Force and our partner nations, Drew added.<\/p>\n

\u201cA picture is worth a thousand words, and this elephant walk really illustrates the scope and magnitude of what we do here,\u201d he said. \u201cAbout 48 percent of all new Airmen are trained in the 82nd TW, in 55 career fields ranging from aircraft maintenance, logistics, civil engineering, nuclear operations, and telecommunications. Plus, we support students from at least 30 partner nations.<\/p>\n

\u201cMeanwhile, our sister wing at the 80th FTW forges key international partnerships as they train combat pilots for 14 nations of our NATO Alliance, five of whom only train fighter pilots here in Texas,\u201d Drew said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSheppard AFB is like the epicenter of a huge sonic boom that reverberates around the planet as we graduate nearly 65,000 Airmen annually and send them off to deliver combat power all over the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

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U.S. Air Force Logo<\/title><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"ast-split ntext breakout \">\n<div class=\"item\">\n<div class=\"body\">\n<section class=\"ast-brandedhr\">\n<div class=\"ast-brandedhr-line\">\n<p> <title>U.S. Air Force Logo<\/title><\/p><\/div>\n<\/section><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) — \u00a0 Four thousand student Airmen from the 82nd Training Wing shared the runway with 80 training aircraft from the 80th Flying Training Wing in possibly the largest and most unique \u201celephant walk\u201d in Air Force history \u2013 all to shine a light on the importance of training and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":5409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5407","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5407"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5410,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5407\/revisions\/5410"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5407"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5407"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/adn.monetizemail.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5407"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}