This week, millions of people within a 100-mile-wide path across America witnessed a total solar eclipse. It’s one of the most incredible acts of nature you can ever experience. We wanted to use the opportunity to shine on the men and women serving, and figured intercepting a solar eclipse in T-38s with the USAF might do the trick.
The USAF agreed, so we linked up with the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program (ENJJPT) at Sheppard AFB in Wichita Falls, TX, and began planning the mission.
Training NATO fighter pilots in America
ENJJPT serves a critical role for NATO. It’s hosted by the USAF and conducted by the 80th Flying Training Wing, but its mission is to train NATO fighter pilots. Students from various nations (currently 14) come to ENJJPT to train alongside allies in the T-6A Texan and supersonic T-38C Talon.
ENJJPT’s integrated structure means, for example, an American student pilot may have a Belgian instructor pilot, a Dutch flight commander, a Turkish section commander, an Italian operations office, and a German squadron commander. The student pilots and staff instructors of today will be the leaders of NATO’s air forces of tomorrow.
ENJJPT does much more than Undergraduate Pilot Training too. They also conduct Pilot Instructor Training, Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals, and IFF Upgrade Instructor Pilot training. About 200 students earn their wings at ENJJPT annually after a 55-week, three-phased training regimen. About 80 new instructor pilots are trained annually and up to 150 pilots transition through IFF each year, supported by over 1,400 military, civilian and contract personnel.
Training in Europe can be tough due to weather. North Texas provides ENJJPT with plenty of sun and airspace for the uniquely manned multi-national organization to train regularly.
Building long-lasting international relationships
There’s also an arguably more important aspect of ENJJPT than the training itself. It’s the relationships and bonds that students build, sharing such a challenging experience.
As the saying goes, it’s a small world, with even smaller Air Forces, so airmen will run into each other while serving NATO. Having that common training and established relationships means they are ready to fly, fight and win together when called upon.
“The relationships made at ENJJPT carry-on throughout their careers,” said USAF Major Doug ‘POISON’ Holland, an instructor pilot and the USAF Senior National Rep (SNR) at ENJJPT. “You’re going to run into the same people again. Having that good relationship already established pays in dividends down the road.”
Some of these people eventually go on to leadership positions in their Air Forces too, bringing with them those bonds and relationships and common training established at ENJJPT.
Totality at 30,000 ft with ENJJPT and the “Boxing Bears”
We arrived early to ENJJPT on the morning of the eclipse, to undergo the normal routine of medical checks, safety overviews and suit-up. The mission was handed to the 90th Flying Training Squadron, the “Boxing Bears”, with USAF Capt. Zach “JORTS” Trujillo as our pilot and flight leader.
We were joined by 2 other Talons, flown by USAF Capt. Taylor “PETRIE” Bye and Capt. Connor “GUTTER” Sipe. A highly experienced crew of USAF ENJJPT instructors.
Petrie is the first woman to earn the Koren Kolligian Jr. Trophy to recognize her outstanding airmanship when she belly-landed a broken A-10C after a catastrophic gun malfunction in 2020.
The mission would mark Gutter’s 1000th flight hour too. Adventure Journalist Jim Clash from Forbes joined us as well (read his report here).
The plan was to takeoff before 1pm to intercept totality NE of Dallas at 30,000 ft. We wanted to avoid most of the predictable congested air traffic around Dallas, but we would soon find out that was easier said than done. Our plan was to hit the northern edge of the eclipse shadow path of totality, as the moon’s shadow overtakes us on its path NE.
Totality was set to begin at 1:42pm, lasting just over 4 minutes. The eclipse was 50% partial when we took-off, giving us some opportunity to view through our solar eclipse glasses while in-transit to the intercept area. As we entered the airspace the lights and shadows in the cockpit took on an indescribable contrast and color, almost like silver, as the 115-mile wide shadow of the moon became visible, racing across Earth at 1,700 mph.
There were LOTS of other planes
Our plan was to set the other 2 jets 1500 – 2000 ft away, up high in the totality, to capture zoomed in photos of them with the eclipse. However, a lot of planes were above and below us. ATC could not give us more vertical airspace. They were giving aircraft vertical blocks of just 1000 ft. It seemed every few seconds another aircraft would cross above or below.
We shot some wider pics and video clips, and intercepted on time on target, experiencing the eclipse in a way few ever have, or ever will. The crew really showed the professionalism and TOT capability to intercept anywhere, any time they are called on.
Another crew captured the first pair of above images, taken by Thompson Knox and Rico Kruijsen. We even photobombed someone’s view from the ground. Not sure which of our crews he captured but it’s pretty cool. Our thanks to Michael Libiez for the shot!
Those 4 minutes felt like 60 seconds, and before we knew it we saw the diamond ring appear in totality and back came the sun. The silver lighting again filled the cockpit as the darkness brightened back into daytime in a matter of seconds.
The folks at ENJJPT are some of the best in the USAF and NATO
The folks at ENJJPT are some of the best in the military, and an amazing group of folks. They serve a critical role for the United States and NATO. We can’t thank them enough for the honor to visit and work with them. Especially for such a rare event! Another total solar eclipse won’t cross the mainland U.S. until 2044.
Sheppard AFB will be holding their air show April 27-28, if you’re in that part of the country we strongly encourage you to go! Say hi to the folks at ENJJPT, shake their hands and tell them AvGeekery sent you!
