Elite NATO pilot training in US features a Romanian as the youngest trainer

At 24 years old, Romanian Claudiu Fusaru is the youngest T-38 instructor in the 469th Squadron of the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training (ENJJPT), the most complex international program for training NATO fighter pilots.

The pilot training program, active since 1981, brings together 14 NATO nations and trains the best fighter pilots in the world to the US.

Claudiu Fusaru is the first Romanian to have fulfilled all the requirements to remain an instructor immediately after completing training (FAIP – First Assignment Instructor Pilot). The proposal of the program’s steering committee was submitted and approved by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

“In a squadron made up of numerous international pilots, with thousands of flight hours, experience in operational theaters, and on various 4th- and 5th-generation aircraft, the youngest instructor is a representative of the Romanian Air Force,” the institution said in a post on Facebook.

Fusaru is currently a flight instructor at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, US.

He was born in Tulnici, Vrancea County, and attended the ‘Henri Coandă’ Air Force Academy in Brașov. Between 2019 and 2023, Fusaru flew the IAK-52, Cessna 172, and IAR-99. In 2023, he was selected to participate in the ENJJPT program, with the final goal of transitioning to the F-16.

“I am grateful to be part of this team and to learn from the best people in the field, pilots experienced on 4th- and 5th-generation aircraft, with missions conducted in various theaters of operations, in both peacetime and conflict. In the squadron, we are instructors from 14 countries, with different languages, cultures, religions, and customs, but when it comes to flying, we all speak the same language,” Claudiu Fusaru said.

(Photo source: Fortele Aeriene Romane on Facebook)