80th Flying Training Wing

Infobox Military Unit
unit_name=80th Flying Training Wing


caption= 80th Flying Training Wing Shield
dates= 13 January 1942 — present
country=United States
allegiance=
branch=Air Force
type=Training
role=
size=
command_structure=Air Education and Training Command
current_commander=Colonel [http://www.sheppard.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?id=10190 David E. Petersen]
current_commander_label=Commander
garrison=Sheppard Air Force Base
ceremonial_chief=Colonel [http://www.sheppard.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?id=10415 Daniel R. Torweihe]
ceremonial_chief_label=Vice-Commander
colonel_of_the_regiment=Chief Master Sergeant [http://www.sheppard.af.mil/library/biographies/bio.asp?id=9116 Norman D. Theirolf]
colonel_of_the_regiment_label=Wing-Superintendent
nickname=
patron=
motto=
colors=
identification_symbol=
march=
mascot=
battles=
notable_commanders=
anniversaries=
decorations=
battle_honours=The 80th Flying Training Wing (80 FTW) is a wing of the United States Air Force based out of Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas.

Mission

Provide combat airpower by producing top quality fighter pilots for the NATO alliance.

ubordinate organizations

80th Operations Group (80 OG)
*89th Flying Training Squadron (89 FTS)
*90th Flying Training Squadron (90 FTS)
*80th Operations Support Squadron (80 OSS)

History of the Group

The 80th Pursuit Group (Interceptor) was constituted on 13 Jan 1942 and activated on Feb 1942. It was redesignated as the 80th Fighter Group in May 1942. The unit returned to the US in Oct 1945. Inactivated on 3 Nov 1945.

During World War II, the group was the first USAAF unit to be stationed in Burma sfter the Allied retreat in 1942. During its two years in combat, this group, which called itself the Burma Banshees, kept the supply lines open to China while clearing the way for Merrill's Marauders to sweep northern Burma clean of the Japanese.

The 80th Flying Training Wing was re-established on 25 May 1972 and activated on 1 January 1973.

Bases stationed

*Selfridge Field, Michigan 9 Feb 1942 - 5 Jul 1942
* Farmingdale, New York 5 Jul 1942 - 9 March 1943
* Mitchel Field, NY, 9 March 1943 - 30 April 1943
* Karachi, India, 28 June 1943 - October 1943
* Nagaghuli, India, October 1943 - 29 August 1944
* Tingkawk Sakan, Burma, 29 August 1944 - 20 January 1945
* Myitkyina, Burma, 20 January 1945 - 24 May 1945
* Dudhkundi, India, 24 May 1945 - 6 October 1945
*Camp Kilmer, New Jersey (1945)
*Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas (1972 – Present)

Aircraft operated

*P-47 Thunderbolt (1942 – 1945)
*P-40 Warhawk (1943 – 1944)
*P-38 Lightning (1943 – 1944)
*T-37B Tweet (1973 – 2009)
*T-38A Talon (1973 – 2009)
*AT-38B Talon (1993 – 2006)
*T-38C Talon (2005 – Present)
*T-6A Texan II (2008 – Present)

Operations in World War II

The 80th trained for combat and served as part of the defense force for the northeastern United States from, 1942-1943. It's flying squadrons were the 88th, 89th, and 90th Pursuit (later Fighter) Squadrons. It first trained with the P-47 Thunderbolt and later in the Curtis P-40.

The 80th sailed for India, via Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope, and Ceylon, in May 1943, commencing combat operations in the China-Burma-India theater in September 1943. The group supported Allied ground forces during the battle for northern Burma and the push southward to Rangoon, bombing and strafing troop concentrations, supply dumps, lines of communication, artillery positions, and other objectives.

The 80th was assigned the defense of the Indian terminus of the Hump route, which it carried out by striking Japanese airfields and patrolling Allied air bases to safeguard them from attack. The 80th received a Distinguished Unit Citation for intercepting a formation of Japanese aircraft, preventing the destruction of a large oil refinery in Assam, India, on 27 March 1944. Though its primary mission in Burma was the protection of the "Hump" cargo route, the group also played an important role in reopening the Ledo/Burma Road. Using modified, so-called "B-40" fighter bombers (the Curtiss P-40 fitted with a 1,000 pound bomb), the 80th FG attacked Japanese-held bridges, sometimes demolishing their target with a single bomb. By the end of the war, the group had destroyed more than 200 bridges and killed scores of bridge repair crews. ["Playing Large Part In Burma Fighting Against Japs", The CBI Roundup, Vol. II, No. 32, 20 April 1944] Air-to-air and air-to-ground sweeps by the group's pilots claimed 80 enemy planes destroyed in the air or on the ground.

The 80th Fighter Group was withdrawn from combat in May 1945.

USAF Training Wing

Since it's reactivation, the wing has provided undergraduate pilot training, initially for USAF, German Air Force, and South Vietnamese Air Force students.

Although South Vietnamese Air Force pilot training ceased in September 1974, students from other nations continued to train under the security assistance program through April 1980. It also provided USAF rotary-wing pilots' conversion training to fixed-wing aircraft from, [June 1977-November 1981. The wing has conducted pilot training and pilot instructor training under the Euro-NATO Joint Pilot Training Program, since October 1981, with participating nations contributing staff and financial support. In January 1994, the 80th began training Euro-NATO pilots in fighter fundamentals, using AT-38 aircraft.

Notes

References

External links

* [http://www.sheppard.af.mil/units/80thflyingtrainingwing.asp 80 FTW Home Page]