Location

Vance Air Force Base, Oklahoma is located in Garfield County, on the south side of the City of Enid. Enid is approximately 95 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, 115 miles west of Tulsa, and 123 miles south of Wichita, Kansas. This is a military town and the community appreciates our presence.

Mission

The mission of the 71st Flying Training Wing is to develop professional Airmen, deliver worldclass U.S. & Allied pilots and deploy combat-ready warriors. Vance is responsible for training Air Force and allied student pilots for worldwide deployment and Aerospace Expeditionary Force support. The wing reports to Air Education and Training Command.

Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training (SUPT) is divided into three phases that cover 52 weeks. Phase I (preflight) is 24 days long and is split into two units: five hours of ground training, including emergency procedures, aircraft operating limitations, checklist usage and local radio procedures; and 220.9 hours of academic training including aerospace physiology/human factors, T-6 systems, flying fundamentals and introduction to aerodynamics. As part of the primary training syllabus developed at Vance, water survival training was added to Phase I in April 1998.

Phase II (T-6) primary training is 90 flying training days (28 calendar weeks) long and split into five units: Contact, instrument, navigation, formation and low-level. These units include 50.6 hours of academic and ground training, including instruments, weather, navigation and mission planning; 48.3 hours of flight simulator training; and 86.8 hours of aircraft flying training.

Phase III fighter-bomber track (T-38C) advanced training is 120 days long and is split into five units: 60 hours of ground training, 80 hours of academic training, including T-38C systems, aerodynamics, flight planning, and an instrument qualifying examination; three hours of cockpit familiarization; 29 hours of simulator training; and 119 hours of aircraft flying training.

Phase III tanker-airlift track (T-1A) advanced training is 120 days long and is split into five units: 10 hours of ground training; 140 hours of academic training, including T-1A systems, aerodynamics, instruments and an instrument qualifying examination; three hours of cockpit familiarization; 42 hours of simulator training; and 87 hours of aircraft flying training.

Vance Air Force Base is named for Lt. Col. Leon R. Vance, a local World War II hero and Medal of Honor recipient. Originally a flight school that trained more than 9,000 pilots for the Army Air Corps between 1941 and 1945, the base was activated Jan. 13, 1948, within the Air Training Command of the newly formed Air Force.

Vance was the first base in AETC to have extensive civilian contractor support for base functions ranging from aircraft maintenance to fire department to child care services. The support contract began in 1960 with Serv-Air. Northrop Worldwide Aircraft Services assumed the contract in 1972 and then on Feb. 1, 2001, the support contract transferred to DynCorp Technical Services. DynCorp's contract was assumed by Computer Sciences Corporation in 2005. Computer Sciences Corporation’s contract was assumed by Pacific Architects and Engineers in 2013 and they presently perform in that capacity.

Population

Vance has about 1,200 active duty and Reserve military, as well as more than 1,100 family members living in the local area. The base also employs almost 1,300 Federal civilian employees, non-appropriated fund civilian employees, contractors and private business employees. There are an estimated 2,200 retired military members in the local area.

Area Population

Enid Oklahoma's population is 52,787, making it the 9th largest city in Oklahoma.