Editing Sheppard Air Force Base (section)

==History==
Sheppard Air Force Base is named in honor of [[U.S. Senator|Senator]] [[John Morris Sheppard]] of Texas (1875–1941), chairman of the [[United States Senate Committee on Armed Services|Senate Military Affairs Committee]] from 1933 until his death on 9 April 1941. Senator Sheppard helped lead the fight for military preparedness before the [[attack on Pearl Harbor]].

The base began as Sheppard Field on 300 acres (1.2&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) just south of [[Wichita Falls Municipal Airport#History|Kell Field]]. A Texas cattleman, oilman, and philanthropist, Joseph Sterling Bridwell, sold the land to the [[United States Army]] for one dollar.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/fbrdd|title=Jack O. Loftin, "Joseph Sterling Bridwell"|publisher=[[Texas State Historical Association]] online|access-date=30 April 2013}}</ref>

It was officially opened as a [[United States Army Air Corps]] training center on 17 October 1941, following the arrival of the first military members on 14 June. As the Army Air Corps became the [[Army Air Forces]], facilities were completed sufficiently to allow the first class of 22 aviation mechanics to enter training that October; the class graduated 23 February 1942.

During World War II, then-Sheppard Field conducted basic training, and it also trained glider mechanics, technical and flying training instructors and [[B-29 Superfortress]] flight engineers. In addition to the basic flying training, the base also provided advanced pilot training.

Sheppard Field reached its peak strength of 46,340 people while serving as a separation center for troops being discharged following World War II from September through November 1945. Sheppard Field was deactivated 31 August 1946 and declared surplus to the [[United States Department of War|War Department]]'s needs. It was transferred to the jurisdiction of the [[United States Army Corps of Engineers]] 30 April 1947. Over the next two years the [[Texas National Guard]] used the base.

===USAF Training Center===
[[File:3630th Flying Training Wing - ATC - Emblem.png|thumb|125px|left|Emblem of the 3630th Pilot Training Wing (ATC)]]
Control and accountability for Sheppard Field was transferred to the [[Department of the Air Force]] 1 August 1948 and was reactivated 15 August 1948 to supplement [[Lackland AFB]], Texas, as a basic training center renamed as Sheppard AFB. Basic training was discontinued in June 1949, but was resumed from July 1950 to May 1952.

Over the next three decades, three training schools were stationed at the base training students in aircraft maintenance, transportation, communication, [[civil engineering]], aircrew life support and field training.

The aircraft mechanics school was transferred to Sheppard from [[Keesler AFB]], Mississippi in April 1949 to make room for expansion of electronic training at that base. The school was renamed the Department of Aircraft Maintenance Training within the 3750th Technical School. During the [[Korean War]] (1950–1953) several airmen from such places as Greece and Turkey were trained as mechanics.
[[File:Sheppard AFB - Postcard.jpg|thumb|Sheppard AFB postcard from around 1953]]
Comptroller, transportation, and intelligence training moved to Sheppard from [[Lowry AFB]], Colorado, in the fall of 1954. Communications, refrigeration, air conditioning, and power production operator and repairman training were transferred here from [[F.E. Warren AFB]], Wyoming in 1959. Intelligence training returned to Lowry in February 1962. Training in certain missile systems began at Sheppard in 1957 and was conducted there through September 1985 when [[LGM-25C Titan II|Titan II]] training operations were terminated following that weapon system's retirement.

The 3950th Technical Training Wing was designated the Sheppard Technical Training Center 1 January 1959. It has had two subsequent name changes and is now the 82d Training Wing.

Helicopter pilot training was transferred from [[Stead AFB]], Nevada in October 1965, with [[Sikorsky H-19|H-19]], [[H-43 Huskie|H-43]], [[Bell UH-1 Iroquois variants|Bell TH-1F]], [[HH-3E|CH-3C]] and [[HH-3E]] helicopters used for training. Additional training in airborne firefighting was also conducted, given the role of the USAF [[H-43 Huskie|HH-43]] aircraft as a local rescue and aircraft firefighting asset at selected air force bases in the United States and at air bases overseas.

The 3630th Flying Training Wing was activated in 1965, and it assumed the helicopter training program. It began providing undergraduate pilot training in the [[T-37 Tweet|T-37]] and [[Northrop T-38 Talon]] for the then-[[German Air Force|West German Air Force]] in August 1966. Helicopter training was discontinued in 1971 when the U.S. Army assumed responsibility for training USAF helicopter pilots at [[Fort Rucker]], Alabama.

The 3630th Flying Training Wing also provided undergraduate pilot training for pilots of the [[Republic of Vietnam Air Force]] from 1971 to 1975. The Wing designation was changed to the [[80th Flying Training Wing]] on 1 January 1973.

The 80th Flying Training Wing began conducting the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program in 1981. This one-of-a-kind program includes 13-NATO countries. They are: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States. Approval to conduct the program was recently extended through the year 2005.

The Air Force School of Health Care Sciences offered training in [[dentistry]], medicine, [[nursing]] (to include [[flight nurse]] training), and health-services administration. The population of the base had declined to 3,825 in 1990.

In February 1992, restructuring and downsizing of the USAF caused a realignment and renumbering of units at Sheppard. Some of the training wings were redesignated as groups, and the technical training groups became squadrons.

===Strategic Air Command===
Between 1960 and 1966 the [[Strategic Air Command]] (SAC) had training units stationed at the base that conducted [[aerospace]] rescue schools and weather instruction. In addition, The [[494th Bombardment Wing]], a SAC operational wing of [[B-52 Stratofortress|B-52D Stratofortress]] bombers and [[KC-135 Stratotanker|KC-135A Stratotanker]] aircraft, previously designated as the 4245th Strategic Wing, was based at Sheppard from 1963 to 1966.

In July 1969, Detachment 1, [[2d Bomb Wing|2nd Bombardment Wing]], with four B-52 aircraft, became a tenant organization at Sheppard and remained until 1975. These aircraft rotated as part of SAC's dispersal concept and utilized the SAC Alert Facility on the northwest end of the airfield.

===BRAC 2005===
The DoD proposed a major realignment of the base, as part of the [[Base Realignment and Closure, 2005]] program announced on 13 May 2005. DoD recommended relocating to [[Eglin AFB]], Florida, front-line and instructor-qualified maintenance technicians and logistics support personnel to stand up the USAF's portion of the [[F-35 Lightning II]] Initial Joint Training Site there. This recommendation would establish Eglin AFB as the Initial Joint Training Site that would teach entry-level aviators and maintenance technicians how to safely operate and maintain the new F-35. Assuming no economic recovery, this recommendation could result in a maximum potential reduction of 487 jobs (295 direct jobs and 192 indirect jobs) over 2006–2011 in the Wichita Falls, TX, [[Metropolitan Statistical Area]] (0.5 percent).<ref>[http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/sheppard.htm Sheppard AFB, Texas] at GlobalSecurity.org</ref>

=== Major commands to which assigned ===

*[[Army Air Forces Technical Training Command]], 13 March 1942 – 31 July 1943
*[[Army Air Forces Training Command]], 31 July 1943 – 1 July 1946
*[[Air Training Command]], 1 July 1946 – 31 August 1946, 1 August 1948 – 1 July 1993
*[[Air Education and Training Command]] 1 July 1993–present

=== Major units assigned ===

*62d Base HQ and Air Base Sq, 4 August 1941 – 1 May 1944
* 3706th AAF Base Unit, 1 May 1944 – 30 September 1946
* 3706th AAF Base Unit, 15 August 1948 – 28 August 1948
* 3750th Air Base Gp, 28 August 1948 – 1 January 1973
* 80th Flying Training Wing, – 1 January 1973–present