The 47th Student Squadron was activated at Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, and assigned to the 47th Operations Group on Dec. 2, 2011. The 47th Student Squadron traces its roots back to the 47th STURON which was constituted by order of the Secretary of the Air Force on March 22, 1972. The 47th STURON was assigned to the then newly reactivated and renamed 47th Flying Training Wing, which replaced the deactivated 3646th Pilot Training Wing. This change was an effort by the Air Force to replace the four digit major command units with Air Force controlled units. This was part of an Air Force program to retain and utilize units that have a history of combat operations.
The 47 STUS is primarily responsible for the administration and day-to-day non-flying support for more than 400 US and International students currently going through Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training. The squadron also manages over 200 students that are awaiting pilot training and pilot training graduates that are waiting to transition to their next assignment. These students fill critical jobs throughout Laughlin AFB that are vital to day-to-day operations of the 47 FTW. Additionally, the 47 STUS oversees nearly 80 Civilian Simulator Instructors that are key to accomplishing over 40,000 hours of flying simulator instruction every year.
At its peak, the 47 STUS graduated 461 students in 1982, with a total of over 6,398 student pilots graduating over 18 years. The squadron manages approximately 25 international students each year, peaking in 1979 with 156 foreign students, 121 of which were Iranian students; entire classes were constituted solely of Iranian students. The training of Iranian students stopped abruptly in November of 1979 with the Iranian Hostage Crisis. Throughout its history, the 47 STUS has managed international military aviators from Afghanistan, Bulgaria, Kuwait, Turkey, Italy, Kenya, Poland, Iraq, Japan, Nigeria, Romania, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, Tunisia and Vietnam.
(Current as of May 2024)