Laughlin Air Force Base Graduates 25 Pilots From International Training Class

Twenty-five student pilots from three nations received their silver pilot wings at Laughlin Air Force Base on March 19, completing Undergraduate Pilot Training with Class 26-07, the latest graduating class produced by the 47th Flying Training Wing in Del Rio.

The class was international in composition. U.S. Air Force, Japanese, and Tunisian officers gathered for a group photo at the base following the ceremony. The graduation marked one of the more diverse UPT classes to complete training at Laughlin, a base whose international training mission stretches back decades. The 47th Flying Training Wing specializes in undergraduate pilot training for the Air Force and allied nations. Over the past 50 years, Laughlin has trained more than 15,000 pilots for the U.S. Air Force, Air Force Reserve, Air National Guard, and allied nations.

Approximately 400 new military pilots earn their silver wings at Laughlin each year after an intensive 52-week course. Class 26-07's 25 graduates represent one installment in that annual pipeline, joining a long line of aviators who began their careers on the flight lines of Val Verde County before moving on to assignments across the U.S. military and allied air forces.

The 47th Flying Training Wing conducts specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training using the T-6 Texan II and T-38 Talon aircraft. Student pilots are taught the fundamentals of aviation through academic and hands-on training. The program's completion earns graduates the aeronautical rating of pilot. A diploma presented at graduation declares that the student has completed Undergraduate Pilot Training and is awarded the aeronautical rating of pilot.

The ceremony was photographed by Senior Airman Jarrett Smith of the 47th Flying Training Wing. The Wing's mission is to deliver mission-ready airmen while developing professional, disciplined leaders for the United States and its global partners. The presence of Japanese and Tunisian officers in Class 26-07 reflects that partnership in practice, with allied pilots training alongside their American counterparts before returning to serve in their own national air forces.

Laughlin Air Force Base is named after 2nd Lt. Jack Thomas Laughlin, a native of Del Rio who served as a B-17 bomber pilot and was killed in action on January 29, 1942, during a bombing mission over Java. He was the first Del Rio native to die in World War II, and the base honors his sacrifice and connection to the local community. Eighty-four years after that loss, the base that bears his name continues to send newly winged pilots into the skies on behalf of the United States and its allies.