US Sheppard AFB elephant walk 1 640USAF's largest Elephant Walk ever

On 7 April 2023, the 80th Flying Training Wing conducted a massive "Elephant Walk" at Sheppard AFB near Wichita Falls (TX).

Some 80 EN coded training aircraft, consisting of Northrop T-38C Talons and Beechcraft T-6A Texan IIs, joined on Sheppard's runway for what was probably the largest and most unique “Elephant Walk” in USAF's history. Besides the above mentioned 80 aircraft, four thousand student Airmen from the 82nd Training Wing also gathered at the runway.

The Sheppard based 80th FTW is home of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT) Programme. ENJJPT, established within the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), is the world's only multi-nationally manned and managed flying training programme chartered to produce (future) combat pilots for multiple NATO countries. Some 200 training aircraft are based at Sheppard.

Photo via USAF

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