Vance AFB prepares for boost in pilot training
Staff Writer bfelder@oklahoman.com
An increase of more than 100 student pilots is expected at Vance Air Force Base in Enid in the coming years, reversing years of decline and helping address a shortage of pilots across the U.S. Air Force.
“We are short right now about 2,000 pilots,” said U.S. Sen. Jim Inhofe, during a visit to Vance on Tuesday.
Inhofe, who is acting-chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, told Vance officials that $716 billion in military spending is included in the fiscal year 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, which was passed by the Senate last month.
Inhofe said the funding will help bases like Vance improve training resources and other modernization efforts as the number of students increases.
“We have an increased student load coming and from 2017 to 2021 the forecast is a 34 percent increase in students,” said Col. Darrell Judy, 71st Flying Training Wing commander.
Judy said the student increase won’t come with more instructors, at least not for a few
more years.
Instead, Vance will increase its use of simulators and reconfigure other parts of its training program.
“We believe we have found a way to trim off about six weeks from the current 54 weeks of training that students go through,” Judy said. “That will allow us a greater throughput (of students) with the amount of instructors we currently have now.”
By 2021, Vance plans to serve around 450 student pilots.
During his visit to Vance, Inhofe said the new military spending package would represent a reinvestment in the military that had been lost under the former administration.
“His priority was not the military,” Inhofe said of former President Barack Obama.
While Inhofe praised the Trump administration for what he saw as a reinvestment in the military, he criticized any effort to decrease military infrastructure, such as a Base Realignment and Closure round, something Secretary of Defense James Mattis has requested.
“You don’t save any money until about four to five years out and hopefully we aren’t going to be in the same strapped position we are in today,” said Inhofe, referring to a potential Base Realignment and Closure, which wasn’t included in the pending National Defense Authorization Act.