ACES Team Talks Training, Tarmac in Enid

The ACES team recently made site visits to Vance Air Force Base and Woodring Regional Airport in Enid.

Vance AFB is responsible for training Air Force student pilots for worldwide deployment andAerospace Expeditionary Force support, and is the northernmost Undergraduate Pilot Training base in the Air Education and Training Command.

Pilot Training Transformation (PTT) is a new training curriculum, with Vance AFB being the first base to implement it at scale. PTT has two different tracks from which student pilots will earn their wings. The cornerstone of the popular Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5 track is the use of Immersive Training Devices (ITDs)–virtual reality (VR) aircraft simulators, which can save time and money by allowing students to practice maneuvers outside the cockpit.

The wing operates more than 200 aircraft, flies more than 50,000 sorties annually, and logs more than 74,000 flying hours in the T-1A Jayhawk, T-6A Texan II and T-38C Talon aircraft. More than 300 U.S. Air Force student pilots graduate from pilot training at Vance each year.

The team also visited Enid’s Woodring Regional Airport to check out the 14,400-square-foot heated community hangar and eight new joint-use box hangars, as well as the reconstruction of its south ramp. The Department of Commerce was instrumental in helping provide funding for the project, along with other partners. The projects not only benefit the community but also help advance Vance’s mission, as the joint-use hangars and ramp can be used for base-related operations in severe weather, operational diverts, and other situations as necessary.