Flying operations began in Moose Jaw in 1928 with the creation of a local flying club. With the onslaught of World War II, the club took on an active role in pilot training in support of the RCAF. This resulted with the inauguration of 32 Service Flying Training School (32SFTS) on 1 January 1941, as part of the Commonwealth Air Training Plan. During the early years, 32SFTS trained hundreds of Canadian, British, Norwegian, New Zealander, Polish, Free French, Czechoslovakian, Belgian, American and Dutch pilots. The school's initial single-engine mandate was fulfilled by the American Harvard. Two years later, the mandate and the aircraft changed with the twin-engine Oxford. The school disbanded on 17 October 1944 and the aerodrome was utilized by 2 Reserve Equipment and Maintenance Unit (2 REMU).
In 1946, 2 REMU closed its doors and the aerodrome was taken over by civilian and private operations. With the increase in strength of the RCAF,
Moose Jaw was selected as the site of a new military training school in July 1952. The airfield resumed military operations, reopening as Royal Canadian Air Force Station Moose Jaw - an ideal location for flight training school because of the nearly perfect weather for flying. The station became an operational unit on 22 June 1953 when 2 Flying Training School was transferred from RCAF Station Gimli, Manitoba. Initially, all training in Moose Jaw was conducted on Harvards. Students then proceeded to Gimli to complete their training on T-33 aircraft.
In 1962 it was decided to consolidate flying training and replace the piston engine Harvard with the Tutor jet. In preparation for the new, all-jet pilot training program, the standard pattern triangle configured runways were changed to dual parallel runways. In 1964, with the jet era, flight operations were modernized. Students trained to a basic level on the Tutor (CT-114) and then advanced on to Wings standard with the T-Bird (T-33). In 1970, advanced training was transferred to Gimli, Manitoba and then to Cold Lake, Alberta.
February 1968 saw the unification of the Air Force, Army, and Navy into the Canadian Forces. This caused the renaming of RCAF Station Moose Jaw to Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Moose Jaw.
In celebration of Canada's 100th birthday, the "Golden Centennaires" were formed in 1967 but, the crowd-pleasing aerobatic team performed for only one year. In the same tradition of aerial excellence, the "Snowbirds" were formed in 1970 and acquired official status as 431 Air Demonstration Squadron in 1978.
Since the T-Bird's retirement from the training program in 1973, pilots have trained to wings standard in the Tutor. However, students chosen for helicopter and multi engine training leave after the basic course to complete their training and achieve their Wings on the Jet Ranger II or King Air in Portage la Prairie, Manitoba. On the first of May 1992, Flying Instructor School was relocated from CFB Portage to CFB Moose Jaw. Finally, on 1 April 1993, CFB Moose Jaw officially adopted the Wing concept and became 15 Wing.
At present, more than 6500 students from around the world have earned their wings from 2 Canadian Forces Flying Training School (2CFFTS). Through the support of dedicated personnel, the "Big 2" has justly gained its nickname of "Best in the West". Between 50 and 100 student pilots are under training at any given time. Historically, 2CFFTS has graduated about 125 pilots each year. This training activity makes 15 Wing the busiest military airport in Canada.
With the conversion to the NATO Fying Training in Canada program (NFTC), the face of flying in Moose Jaw will be changing. Early in the year 2000, the training will switch from the Tutor to the T-6A Harvard II, and the British Aerospace Hawk 100. At present several countries have signed onto the program, including the Royal Dutch Air Force and the Royal Air Force. Moose Jaw will continue to be the center of flying training in Canada, and many of our NATO allies.
Updated: April 2, 2005
