CFB Moose Jaw

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Canadian Forces Base Moose Jaw (also CFB Moose Jaw or 15 Wing - Moose Jaw) is a Canadian Forces Base located 70 km west of Regina, Saskatchewan, immediately south of the city of Moose Jaw. CFB Moose Jaw is home of 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School, 15 Air Traffic Control Squadron, the NATO Flying Training in Canada program, and 431 Air Demonstration Squadron, better known as the Snowbirds. It is one of only two Canadian Forces Bases in Saskatchewan, the other being CFB Dundurn, a support detachment of 17 Wing out of CFB Winnipeg. CFB Moose Jaw has a long history of pilot training that began in the early 1920s. Its location has proven to be an ideal training site for the thousands of pilots who have earned their wings at the base over the years.

1 Base history
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Base history

The base was originally founded in 1928 as a flying club. During World War II the flying club helped with the training of airmen from the RAF's No. 32 Service Flying Training School (SFTS). Major construction took place to improve the airfield in 1940 and the base began operation in early 1941. The training school formally became part of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan in 1942. No. 32 SFTS flew Harvards, and later, Oxfords. It was instrumental in training hundreds of Canadian, British, Norwegian, New Zealander, Polish, French, Czechoslovakian, Belgian, American and Dutch military pilots.

The aerodrome was returned to civilian service after the war, in 1946. In 1953 the base was once again selected to be a military training school and reopened as the Royal Canadian Air Force Station Moose Jaw and more construction was undertaken to support additional personnel. In 1968 when the Canadian forces were united under a single title, the base became a Canadian Forces Base (CFB) and served to house the Tutor Jet Training Program.

By the early 1990s, CFB Moose Jaw was operated by over 1,300 employees and made a significant economical impact on the region, but pending cutbacks in military spending spread rumors of possible closure of the base. In 1994 Bombardier Inc. put forth a proposal to provide what is now the NATO Flying Training Program. The proposal was accepted and eliminated all worries that the base would be closed. Many of the base's structures were renovated to accommodate new personnel and new training aircraft. Pilots from Denmark, Singapore, Great Britain, Italy, Hungary, Germany, Finland and many other nations train at CFB Moose Jaw every year, ensuring the base's place in the Canadian Forces well into the future.

Each year 15 Wing holds the Moose Jaw Air Show which attracts tourists from all over to see a wide assortment of Canadian and guest nation aircraft, as well as flight demonstrations headlined by their own Snowbirds.