F-15C training moving to Oregon

[tigershark]

F-15C training moving to Oregon
By Bruce Rolfsen - Staff writer
Posted : Monday Jun 22, 2009 7:32:48 EDT
   
With far fewer F-15C Eagles to fly next year, the Air Force is merging its active-duty pilot training with an Air National Guard program but still needs a place for the crew chiefs to learn.

Air Education and Training Command decided to rethink F-15C training for both pilots and crew chiefs after Defense Secretary Robert Gates recommended phasing out 112 of the service’s 405 F-15Cs by the end of 2010, said Col. Jeff Kendall, deputy director for flying training at AETC headquarters, Randolph Air Force Base, Texas.

Right now, most active-duty pilots and crew chiefs get their instruction from the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., near the Gulf Coast.

The F-15C school house will move over the coming months to the Guard’s 173rd Fighter Wing, based at Kingsley Field near Klamath Falls in south central Oregon. The F-15C crew chief apprentice course, the final step for student crew chiefs before they report to operational squadrons, hasn’t been relocated but the 173rd is an option, Kendall said.

The 173rd trains Guard and some active-duty pilots using the same syllabus as the 325th, said Kendall, an F-15 pilot and former flying training wing commander.

Tyndall graduates 60 to 80 pilots a year; the 173rd produces 40 to 45 pilots, about the same number the service will need for its smaller F-15C fleet, Kendall said.

The consolidation won’t uproot any of Tyndall’s instructors or support personnel to Oregon, Kendall said. The 173rd’s staff will continue to be primarily Guard members.

As for aircraft, the only shift from the 325th to the 173rd will be a quartet of two-seat F-15D training jets. The addition of the four planes will bring the number of the unit’s primary jets to about 25, Kendall said.

Tyndall’s other 44 F-15s will be retired or assigned to operational squadrons.

Air battle managers will continue training at Tyndall, although they will have to go elsewhere to practice working with fourth-generation jets such as the F-15C and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Also staying at Tyndall is the F-22 Raptor pilot course.

This move isn’t the first time the Eagle school house has changed bases, according to Air Force histories. Starting in 1974, Luke Air Force Base, Ariz., hosted F-15 training. In 1983, the school began moving to Tyndall as Luke focused on instructing F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots.

Source
http://www.airforcetimes.com/news/2009/06/airforce_f15c_move_062109/