NO(^44) THE MAGAZINE 01 45
SCANDINAVIAN
AVIATION MAGAZINE
The future of the program
The ENJJPT program has never been more
important than it is now, with a shortage of pilots
in many air forces, and a higher demand for new
pilots than in previous years. As Col. Themely
explains: “We have an important mission right
now, as we have a fighter pilot crisis in the United
States where we don’t have enough pilots to fill
up all of our airframes.
The other nations in the program are also
experiencing the same kind of crisis. Some of
them haven’t experienced it to the level we have,
that’s just because our air force is so much bigger,
but they are affected just as we are. So, we know
our role is going to be critical in the years ahead
to continue to build a backup from that loss of
pilots we have right now, and to continue to train
the best fighter pilots possible, while doing that.”
Even with the high importance of this program,
the program must continuously evolve, and
ENJJPT has a bright future with the T-X (a
program established to find the replacement
of the T-38) giving the program an even bigger
capability to get the soon-to-be pilots an insight
in the fifth-generation fighters.
Col. Themely shares her thoughts and visions
for the program: “Our future of the program is
predicated on two main factors. One of them
is the pilot crisis. Our job from [our] steering
committee, from all fourteen nation-members,
is how do we realistically grow? Right now, our
maximum student load is 28 students per class.
They want us to evaluate our capacity limitations
for 32, 35, and 40 per class, and how we are
able to get to those numbers. Due to the nations
wanting to add at the same time, it makes it
difficult for us, because we have limitations.
These aren’t solely the amount of aircraft on the
flightline or the hours of daylight. The numbers
of simulators we have available to us and also,
of course, our instructor core is also being
pushed. So, we have to look at that and evaluate
how we’re going to be able to accommodate
that increase in capacity without losing training
quality.”