T-38A Talons of the 25th FTS at Vance AFB in November 1997.įollowed by the T-1A Jayhawk for students identified for jet tanker, transport or large reconnaissance aircraft, and the T-38 Talon for fighter, bomber and other USAF fixed-wing aircraft. In keeping with the Air Force tradition of naming bases for deceased Air Force flyers, on July 9, 1949, the base was renamed after a local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Robert Vance Jr. Its initial mission was to provide training for advanced students in multi-engine aircraft. Reactivated as Enid Air Force Base, the installation became one of several pilot training bases within the Air Training Command (ATC). Vance, USAAF, an Enid native who was awarded the Medal of Honor in World War II. On July 9, 1949, the base was renamed for Lieutenant Colonel Leon R. He exhumed the Enid AAF folder, and the base was reactivated on August 1, 1948, as Enid Air Force Base. Air Force, realizing a need for training facilities, asked Welsh if any World War II airfields remained in inventory. Truman ordered an airlift to resupply the city. Two years later the Soviet Union blockaded Berlin, Germany, and President Harry S. Welsh, the War Surplus Property Officer in Washington, D.C., had pigeonholed the Enid AAF folder when it crossed his desk for disposal action. For the duration of the war, the basic phase of training graduated 8,169 students, while the advanced phase of training graduated 826.Īs the demand for pilots decreased with the end of the war in Europe, the Enid Army Flying Field began ramping down pilot production and deactivated on 31 January 1947, by which time 9,895 Army Air Force pilots had earned wings there. On 8 January 1943, the War Department constituted and activated the 31st Flying Training Wing (Primary) at Enid and assigned it to the AAF Central Flying Training Command. It was officially activated on 11 February 1942. It was not until 1942, that the base was officially named Enid Army Flying School, also known as Woodring Field. Fairchild PT-19s were the primary trainer used. The facility was assigned to the AAF Gulf Coast Training Center, with the Army Air Force Pilot School (Primary) activated (phase 1 pilot training), in which flight cadets were taught basic flight using two-seater training aircraft. The mission of the school was to train aviation cadets to become aircraft pilots and commissioned officers in the United States Army Air Forces.
The installation was without a name but was generally referred to as Air Corps Basic Flying School. In 1941, for the sum of $1 a year, this land was leased from the city of Enid to the federal government as a site for a pilot training field, and on November 21 the base was officially activated. Dorr supervised the construction and developed the basic pilot training base. Army Air Corps Project Officer, Major Henry W. Lieutenant Colonel Leon Vance, Medal of Honor recipient.Ĭonstruction began on 12 July 1941 for a cost of $4,034,583. The vice-commander is Colonel Charles Schuck and the command chief is Chief Master Sergeant Brandon Smith. The commander of the 71 FTW is Colonel Jay Johnson. The host unit at Vance is the 71st Flying Training Wing (71 FTW), which is a part of Air Education and Training Command (AETC). The base is named after local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient, Lieutenant Colonel Leon Robert Vance Jr. Vance Air Force Base ( IATA: END, ICAO: KEND, FAA LID: END) is a United States Air Force base located in southern Enid, Oklahoma, about 65 mi (105 km) north northwest of Oklahoma City.
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