TWEET RETREAT - PILOT TRAINING WORKHORSE RETIRES

  • Published
  • By John Ingle
  • 82nd Training Wing Public Affairs
SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  More than 50 years of dependable service is a lot to ask, especially from a tool used to train thousands of people in a critical and sometimes dangerous business.

But as the Air Force said farewell to the T-37 Tweet July 31, it did so knowing it got all it asked for and more from the venerable training aircraft.

Among those who came to Sheppard to usher off the end of an era and welcome in a new technological advancement in undergraduate pilot training was Gen. Donald J. Hoffman, commander of Air Force Materiel Command. His story, like many of those who came before and after him, includes the Tweet, a durable, safe and rugged training platform that provided the foundation of more than 78,000 Air Force, NATO and other international pilots since it became operational in 1957.

The general, who "owns" the final destination of the Tweet -- the "boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., and home to the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, or AMARG -- said his last flight in the aircraft is one that holds a special place in his heart. Not only because of its heritage, but because it was the beginning of his 35-year Air Force career.

His first active assignment was as an 80th Flying Training Wing instructor pilot at Sheppard.

"Because I flew the Sheppard jets during my first assignment, and now have the boneyard at Tucson as part of Air Force Materiel Command, I have a close sense of identity with the final retirement of this wonderful aircraft," Hoffman said. "Nothing compares to the feeling of stepping out of the aircraft and launching your students on their first solo ... you can almost see the grin coming out from the edges of their oxygen mask."

The general is part of the group that took four aircraft to AMARG. Another group took a couple more Tweets to the Utah Test and Training Range located at Hill AFB, Utah.

But why has the T-37B, which has been replaced by the T-6A Texan II, been such a dependable beginning platform for so many pilots?

"For most students, the T-37 is the first jet, the first ejection seat, the first helmet and oxygen mask, and the first formal Air Force flying syllabus they have been exposed to," Hoffman said. "This can be an intimidating experience, but they get the ground training, simulator training and personalized attention of the instructor to get them through it."

Col. Kevin Schneider, commander of the 80th FTW, said when most people think of the Air Force and the air forces of our NATO partners, they think of fighters and bombers going off to war to preserve freedom and democracy across the world. Those flying the warbirds didn't just get in them and begin to fly. They had to learn how first.

"Combat skill and success doesn't happen overnight and it certainly doesn't start without disciplined training," the colonel said. "The T-37 Tweet has been that starting point for pilots for more than 50 years."