14th FTW closes out FY07

  • Published
  • By Capt. Richard McElhaney
  • 14th Operations Support Squadron
COLUMBUS AFB, Miss. --  The 14th Flying Training Wing closed out its Fiscal Year 2007 flying hour program Sept. 27 when Capt. Andrew Krebs and 2nd Lt. Zachary Johnson, both of the 41st Flying Training Squadron, flew the last T-6 sortie of the year. 

This year members of the 14th FTW produced 326 new pilots for our Air Force; Fourteen students from coalition and allied nations graduated pilot training and 11 Aviation Leadership Program students from allied nations were trained at CAFB. In addition, 59 students were sent to NAS Corpus Christi, Texas, and Fort Rucker, Ala., to continue training in the T-44 and UH-1. With the return of Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals, the wing also produced 24 fighter pilots. 

At the beginning of FY07, Columbus AFB had a goal of flying 90,205 hours and 64,198 sorties. This goal was completed, ranking the 14th FTW second in total hours and first in sorties for all of Air Education and Training Command. 

The 14th FTW saw several transformations in FY07, beginning with the addition of 62 T-6 Texan IIs to the Columbus inventory, along with 12 AT-38s. IFF came back after a stint at Moody AFB, Ga., with 30 personnel and 14 aircraft added. This beddown brought our total fleet to 250 aircraft; giving Columbus AFB the distinction of having the second most aircraft in the Air Force. 

Behind the scenes, agencies throughout the wing supported the flying hour program with dedicated work and countless man hours. 

The 14th Operation Support Squadron logged more than 300,000 air traffic movements in the radar approach control facility and around 61,424 in the tower. These results gave the 14th FTW the distinction of the busiest airfield in AETC and fourth busiest in the AF. In addition, the runway supervisory units tallied 49,217 T-38 movements and 176,404 T-6/T-37 movements. Life support, now known as aircrew flight equipment, also counts two lives saved. 

Throughout FY07, the 14th Civil Engineer Squadron, 14th Medical Group and flight safety representatives responded to 256 in-flight and ground emergencies. The men and women of the 14th Medical Group, in cooperation with aviation management resource professionals, also processed 5,280 AF1042s to ensure instructors and the students were physically fit to fly. The teamwork continued with the 14th CES, contracting and airfield management replacing approximately 300 slabs of concrete, coordinating numerous alternate taxi procedures and finishing a rubber removal project totaling around $12 million during the project. 

As the new flying year starts, the 14th FTW will continue to look for the opportunities in the challenges that lie ahead. Transformation will continue as the T-37s make their final flights and finally give the lead to T-6 operations, which will take SUPT to new heights. Next year the 14th FTW fierce operational tempo will continue as 408 new aviators pin-on the coveted wings of an Air Force pilot, while 83 will continue to IFF. The wing will execute a $53 million FHP and with our DynCorp partners fly over 91,101 hours in support of the pilot training mission.