Air Education and Training Command - History

History

For a history prior to 1993, see Air Training Command

On 1 January 1993, Air Training Command absorbed Air University and changed the command designation to Air Education and Training Command (AETC). AETC assumed responsibilities for both aspects of career development: training and education. Missions such as combat crew training, pararescue, and combat controller training, and (later) space training transferred to the new command, so that airmen would report to their operational units mission ready. Restructuring the command assumed first place among the issues facing the command staff. The introduction of three new training aircraft, the Raytheon T-1 Jayhawk, Slingsby T-3 Firefly, and Beech T-6 Texan II (JPATS); joint training; and the closure of Chanute, Mather, and Williams Air Force Bases were major challenges.

In 1994 AETC adopted the Objective Wing Concept; stood up several wings responsible for crew training in the F-16, special operations, airlift, and space and missile operations; and began the first Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (SUPT) and Joint-SUPT courses. Lowry Air Force Base was added to the list of AETC bases closed by the Base Realignment and Closure Commission, followed by Reese Air Force Base in 1995. The transition to SUPT was completed in 1996, the delivery of the first JPATS aircraftin 1999, and the discontinuation of the controversial T-3 in 2000.

In response to the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001, AETC went on a war footing, activating a Crisis Action Team and supplying both fighters and tankers from its wings for combat air patrols in American airspace as part of Operation Noble Eagle. An operational test and evaluation of JPATS began in 2002 at Moody Air Force Base and upgrades to its Training Integration Management System (TIMS) were begun the next year, targeting full implementation of JPATS in 2007.