81st Training Wing

Keesler Air Force Base is home to the 81st Training Wing (TRW). Our lineage dates back to 1941 as the Army Air Corps’ schoolhouse – training everyone from aircraft and engine mechanics to cooks and meat cutters. In 1948, Keesler Field was officially re-designated as an Air Force Base. Today, the 81st Training Wing is the second largest technical training wing in the Air Force, consisting of military, Department of Defense civilians, and international students. The wing is charged with producing the technical operators the AF and the DoD need to ensure our national security. Our graduates are assigned to expeditionary air, space, and cyberspace forces all around the world, supporting both combat and non-combat missions.

Vision: Develop Airmen of Character

Our vision is to deliver Focused Driven Warriors to the field. Honing in on modularized training, blended learning, proficiency advancement testing and self-paced performance will allow the Air Force to more quickly deliver ready and capable Airmen.

Mission:  Train, Develop, and Inspire Premier Warfighters

Our mission is to technically train warfighters, and to develop and inspire them. We provide a wide array of capabilities in over 160 career field specialty training courses from 8 operating locations in the continental United States. Annually, the 81 TRW graduates over 29,000 Total Force Airmen, joint, international, and coalition partners.

Priority 1: People - Care for "A"irmen and Families

Priority 2: Installation - Adaptive, resilient, right-sized and fiscally sustainable infrastructure to assure combat readiness, lethality and Airmen resilience

Priority 3: Mission - Train, Develop and Deliver Focus Driven Warriors

Priority 4: Community - Strengthen partnerships within the Gulf Coast community

History
 
The 81 Training Wing replaced Keesler Training Center in July 1993, taking on the mission of specialized technical training in electronics, avionics, computers, operations, maintenance, weather, radar, precision measurement, network controllers and personnel and information management for USAF, AF Reserve, Air National Guard, other DoD agencies and foreign nations. Keesler AFB received severe damage from Hurricane Katrina on 29 Aug 2005. The wing's relief and recovery mission, Operation Dragon Comeback, restored the base to full mission readiness within a month.