JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas -- Basic Military Training is taking a significant step in enhancing readiness with the arrival of an F-16 Fighting Falcon. The aircraft is part of a new, immersive training environment designed to give trainees hands-on experience from day one.
The non-flying fighter jet arrived March 20 from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, where it was previously used as a maintenance training platform.
The F-16 is one of three aircraft trainees will experience as part of the 737th Training Group’s new Air Base Training Range. Two C-130s are expected to join the fleet this fall, expanding opportunities for trainees to practice skills crucial to defending, operating, generating and sustaining combat airpower in contested environments. Those skills include cargo loading, aircraft marshaling and aircraft refueling.
The effort is part of a larger BMT Next initiative, led by Maj. Gen. Wolfe Davidson, commander of Second Air Force. It builds on BMT 2.0, launched in October 2025, which increased physical fitness standards, emphasized small team dynamics, and introduced Airmindedness as a foundational concept.
Trainees will also engage in realistic, hands-on scenarios ranging from air base defense to munitions loading on the F-16 using containerized training modules. The first which arrived March 24. The airfield and containerized training modules are designed to simulate the complexity of real-world operations.
The goal is to forge Airmindedness in every trainee from day one, giving them a clear understanding of their role in generating and projecting combat power.
During a fireside chat at the Air & Space Warfare Symposium in February, Davidson said the transformation at BMT is focused on developing Airmen who understand how to defend, operate, generate, and sustain airpower.
By this fall, a second expeditionary airfield is planned at the Primary Agile Combat Employment Range Forward Operations Readiness Generation Exercise, or PACER FORGE, where trainees will build upon the foundational skills in an even more complex and simulated deployed environment.
“In any operation, Airmen should understand the mission, and they should understand the ‘why’, and that will build a connection to airpower,” said Col. Bill Ackman, 737th TRG commander. “That is what we are trying to develop here at BMT.”
The changes come as the Air Force sharpens its focus on a more lethal and combat-ready force capable of meeting global evolving threats to meet current and future mission needs.
The revamped BMT experience is already giving trainees a closer look at the operational Air Force during an aircraft fundamental lesson at the Inter-American Air Forces Academy, where trainees in their fourth week of training receive an introductory lesson on the C-130.
At the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Park, those visiting the base on a Saturday may see trainees conducting Airmindedness exercises in small teams. The object of the lesson is to learn more about each of the 42 static aircraft by answering a series of questions.
“No matter where you are or where you sit, if you remember the Air Force past or present, you have an understanding of how you contributed to that mission, that’s what we’re trying to reinforce here,” said Chief Master Sgt. Whitfield Jack, senior enlisted leader of the 737th TRG.
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A man examines an F-16 Fighting Falcon aboard an 18-wheeler at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, March 20, 2026. The F-16 was transported from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, where it served as maintenance training platform. The aircraft will be situated at the Air Base Training Range, as one of three aircraft designed to provide a more realistic and immersive training environment for trainees at Basic Military Training. The initiative aligns with BMT Next, led by Maj. Gen. Wolfe Davidson, commander of Second Air Force, to build a more lethal force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Vanessa R. Adame)