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Mission
Columbus Air Force Base is home of the 14th Flying Training Wingof Air Education and Training Command's 19th Air Force. The 14th FTW mission statement is "Train World Class Pilots." The wing's mission focuses on specialized undergraduate pilot training in the T-6 Texan II, T-38C Talon and T-1A Jayhawk aircraft. Each day the wing flies an average of 260sorties on its three parallel runways. In addition to the flying training mission, Columbus AFB maintains more than900 highly trained individuals capable of deploying at a moment's notice to support worldwide taskings and contingencies.
Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5
Pilot training has transformed! Our core curriculum has undergone change and revisions to modernize and enhance pilot production. SUPT was modified by “UPT 2.5” efforts in calendar year 2022. Today, all CAFB students earn their Air Force wings flying the T‐6 Texan II in Undergraduate Pilot Training (UPT). They then advance to graduate training in one of two new programs—1) Air Mobility Fundamentals (AMF), or 2) Fighter/Bomber Fundamentals (F/BF). These new programs, like UPT, capitalize on and incorporate modern training tools and methods. AMF currently leverages the “Mid‐Tier Device,” a simulator that replicates the T‐1A Jayhawk, to prepare graduates for mobility or tanker platforms. The Air Force’s first‐ever F/BF class began at CAFB in June 2023. The new program both combines and streamlines legacy T‐38 Graduate Pilot Training (GPT) and T‐38 Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals (IFF) into a unified syllabus for graduates continuing on to fighter or bomber platforms. Planned for arrival in 2028, the Air Force’s revolutionary new aircraft, the T‐7A Redhawk, will bring F/BF training in line with current fifthgeneration fighter capabilities, and beyond.
History
Columbus Air Force Base began as an advanced twin-engine flying school during the rearming of America before World War II. Efforts by local civic leaders in the 1930s to secure an airport shifted to obtaining a military flying field as U.S. forces geared up for war. On June 26, 1941, the War Department announced Columbus' selection as the site for an Army Air Corps pilot training school. Construction got under way in 1941. Pilot training began in 1942.
With an unparalleled safety record, this is where both instrument training and flying standardization boards got their start, earning the Columbus Army Flying School national recognition in Time magazine and the New York Times. More than 8,000 students came to Columbus for pilot training during World War II to become flying officers in the Army Air Corps. AT-6s, AT-8s, AT-9s, AT-10s, A-29s and TB-25s were used at Columbus during this time. By war's end the air base, then known as Columbus Army Air Field, had become one of the largest in the Southeast, with four runways and seven auxiliary fields.
The base was closed in 1945 and remained inactive until the nation again faced the prospect of war, this time to defend South Korea.
Columbus Air Force Base reopened in 1951 as a contract flying school. Air Training Command's 3301st Pilot Training Squadron oversaw the contract flight instruction of about 3,000 pilots in PA-18 Piper Cubs and T-6s. With the Korean War at an end and pilot production needs dropping, the decision was made to close the contract flying school at Columbus.
Columbus became part of the Strategic Air Command in April 1955. After a rebuilding program, the base became home to a B-52 bomber squadron and a KC-135 tanker squadron in 1958. Beginning in 1965, Columbus' 454th Bombardment Wing deployed to the western Pacific, completing more than 100 missions to South Vietnam without losing a single bomber to enemy aircraft fire.
After 14 years as a Strategic Air Command base, Columbus rejoined Air Training Command on July 1, 1969, and resumed its original mission of training pilots.
Demographics
Population: 2,697
Military: 1,624; Civil Service: 512; Contractors: 944,Other: 222
Average number of students trained annually: 475
Economic impact in FY 18: $315 million
Payroll: $158 million; Expenditures: $116 million; Estimated dollar value of indirect jobs: $41 million. Aircraft: 243
