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  • Laughlin and AETC: A legacy of air power

    Every year, hundreds of U.S. Air Force pilots earn their wings and embark on a journey to stake their claim in the pages of history. For 80 years, each and every pilots’ story has started from within the Air Education Training Command. Laughlin Air Force Base, one of 12 installations within the

  • Laughlin Heritage Corner: October

    October brings cooler weather, Halloween, and a number of historical anniversaries and remembrances to Laughlin AFB!First, this year is the 25th anniversary of the U.S. Air Force’s decision to retire the F-111 Aardvark.

  • Laughlin Heritage Corner: August

    This August we remember two major historical anniversaries.First, this month marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War II. The war, which had ended in Europe with the defeat of Nazi Germany back in May, finally concluded in the Pacific after the U.S.A. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and

  • Laughlin Heritage Corner: July

    Happy birthday, Laughlin!This month we celebrate our 78th year as a base: The installation that would become Laughlin AFB was officially established as an Army Air Forces Advanced Flying School under the Army Air Corps, Central Flying Training Command, on 2 July 1942.

  • The Laughlin Heritage Corner - May

    This May we celebrate two major anniversaries: The 50th anniversary of when the Air Force ROTC program first began accepting female cadets, and the 75th V-E Day. Here at Laughlin, we also have a big anniversary to celebrate this month: On the 25th, the 47 Comptroller Squadron (47 CPTS) celebrates 25

  • The Laughlin Heritage Corner - April

    April is notable for many reasons. In April 1989, for example, Congress designated Laughlin AFB a remote facility for Morale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR)—making it the only facility so designated in Air Training Command (now AETC). April also saw the opening, twenty years ago, of the First Term

  • The Laughlin Heritage Corner with the 47 FTW Historian

    Here at Laughlin, we started training pilots for the first time in February 1943. We had spent all summer and fall in 1942 constructing and preparing the base for occupation, and it was finally time to fly. These first classes were small and had irregular start dates, but this was the very beginning

  • 47 years of 47, Laughlin's Air Force Ball

    Mess dresses and semi-formal uniforms got pulled out of dry cleaning to strut the red carpet at Laughlin’s Air Force Ball in Del Rio, Texas, Sept. 13, 2019. In celebration of the Air Force’s 72nd birthday, as well as the 47th year as the 47th Flying Training Wing, Laughlin Airmen smiled through the

  • Airman Spotlight: Airman 1st Class Vernell Butler

    Airman 1st Class Vernell Butler, 47th Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment technician, said February, recognized as African American Heritage Month, gives him a chance to reflect on his heritage and be proud of the progress America has made.

  • Phoenix wings: Tradition carries on through third aviator

    The World War II era conjures visions of monochromatic film flickering in sync with the distinctive pop of a reel-to-reel projector, coupled with a monotone voice-over description of planes roaring overhead, gunfire whizzing back and forth and explosions dealing real death and destruction. Those