Welcome to Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training, the rigorous course for NATO’s fighter pilots.
Synopsis
The next generation of Allied fighter pilots is being trained at the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) Program, a multinational training program based at Sheppard Air Force Base in the United States.
Allied students go to Texas to learn the fundamentals of flight, progressing from ground school to the prop-driven T-6 Texan trainer - and finally, to the T-38 Talon, a supersonic jet trainer that prepares them for the physical and mental strain of flying a tactical aircraft. With 12-hour working days and plenty of bookwork to supplement the flying, ENJJPT ensures that only the most skilled and dedicated graduates are certified to serve as fighter pilots in their nation’s air forces.
Founded in the 1980s, the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program hosts student pilots and instructors from 14 NATO Allies. Some Allies – Belgium, Denmark and Germany, for example – only train pilots at ENJJPT, underscoring the program’s importance to the future of Allied air power.
Footage includes shots of students and instructors flying in T-38 Talons from Sheppard Air Force Base, as well as an interview with the ENJJPT Vice Commander.
Transcript
---SHOTLIST—
(00:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – EURO-NATO JOINT JET PILOT TRAINING (ENJJPT) RAMP AT SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE
(00:06) MEDIUM SHOT – DUTCH STUDENT PILOT CLIMBING IN T-38C TALON JET TRAINER
(00:09) MEDIUM SHOT – SPANISH FLIGHT INSTRUCTOR PREPARING TO CLIMB IN TALON
(00:13) MEDIUM SHOT – DUTCH STUDENT PILOT PUTTING HELMET ON
(00:16) MEDIUM SHOT – DUTCH STUDENT PILOT IN COCKPIT
(00:20) MEDIUM SHOT – TALON PULLING OUT FROM PARKING SPOT
(00:27) SLOW-MO SHOTS (MUTE) – BELGIAN STUDENT PILOT TAXIING TO RUNWAY
(00:36) WIDE SHOT – ROMANIAN FIGHTER PILOTS RETURNING FROM TRAINING FLIGHT
(00:47) VARIOUS SHOTS – US AIR FORCE INSTRUCTOR PILOTS PREPPING TALON FOR FLIGHT
(01:18) TELEPHOTO SHOT – STUDENT PILOTS PREPARING FOR A TRAINING FLIGHT
(01:25) VARIOUS SHOTS – TALONS TAXIING
(02:00) VARIOUS SHOTS – TALONS TAKING OFF
(02:30) VARIOUS SHOTS – TALONS IN FLIGHT
(03:17) MEDIUM SHOT – HELMETS IN EQUIPMENT ROOM AT ENJJPT BUILDING
(03:20) MEDIUM SHOT – PILOT GETTING FITTED FOR MASK
(03:23) MEDIUM SHOT – INSTRUCTOR PILOT DEMONSTRATES MANEUVERS
(03:30) VARIOUS SHOTS – PILOTS GET BRIEFED PRIOR TO FLYING
(03:39) VARIOUS SHOTS – BELGIAN STUDENT PILOT GETTING READY FOR FLIGHT
(03:49) SLOW-MO SHOT (MUTE) – STUDENT PILOTS WALKING OUT OF THE BUILDING TO GO TO TRAINING AREA
(03:52) VARIOUS SHOTS – STUDENT AVIATORS TRAINING IN FLIGHT SIMULATORS
(04:11) VARIOUS SHOTS (MUTE) – TALON ON DISPLAY AT ENTRANCE TO ENJJPT FACILITIES
(04:18) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) US Air Force Colonel Scott Gunn, Vice Commander, 80th Flying Training Wing
“ENJJPT is the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot training. It was founded back in 1980, in October, and the first class graduated in 1983. Early on, the US and Germany had been training pilots here together, and we ended up pulling in more NATO partners at the very beginning as the program began to grow. At this point, we have 14 nations that are providing students and instructors across T-6s as well as T-38s and our Introductory to Fighter Fundamentals, which is a graduate T-38 course.”
(04:48) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) US Air Force Colonel Scott Gunn, Vice Commander, 80th Flying Training Wing
“The other intangible, and probably more strategic impact, is that from the very beginning, our lieutenants, captains, are learning how to work together, appreciate each other’s cultures, and then carry that forward in their careers.”
(05:02) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) US Air Force Colonel Scott Gunn, Vice Commander, 80th Flying Training Wing
“It’s not OK to just be good enough to get through the program. You really need to be constantly trying to do your best because, at the end of the day, you’re not going out there and just flying aircraft, you’re going out there to be a fighter or bomber pilot in whatever nation you’re going to serve. And you may be called upon to serve and defend that country. And whoever you’re up against doesn’t care whether you’re good enough, they care if you’re the best.”
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