1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
3.
Air National Guard
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When Air National Guard units are used under the jurisdiction of the state governor they are fulfilling their militia role. However, if federalized by order of the President of the United States and they are jointly administered by the states and the National Guard Bureau, a joint bureau of the Army and Air Force that oversees the National Guard of the United States. The ANG of the territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands have no aircraft assigned, ANG units typically operate under Title 32 USC. However, when operating under Title 10 USC all ANG units are operationally-gained by an active duty USAF major command. ANG units of the Combat Air Forces based in the Continental United States, conversely, CONUS-based ANG units in the Mobility Air Forces, plus the Puerto Rico ANGs airlift wing and the Virgin Islands ANGs civil engineering squadron are gained by the Air Mobility Command. The vast majority of ANG units fall under either ACC or AMC, established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U. S. S. When not in a status, the Air National Guard operates under their respective state. The exception to rule is the District of Columbia Air National Guard. Because both state Air National Guard and the Air National Guard of the United States relatively go hand-in-hand, Air National Guard of the United States units or members may be called up for federal active duty in times of Congressionally sanctioned war or national emergency. The United States Air National Guard has about 110,000 men and women in service, even traditional part-time air guardsmen, especially pilots, navigators/combat systems officers, air battle managers and enlisted aircrew, often serve 100 or more man-days annually. As such, the concept of Air National Guard service as representing only one weekend a month, the Georgia Air National Guard and the Kansas Air National Guard previously flew the B-1B Lancer prior to converting to the E-8 Joint STARS and KC-135R Stratotanker, respectively. In addition, the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard transitioned from flying the F-15C/D Eagle at St and these proposals were eventually overruled and cancelled by the U. S. Congress. As state militia units, the units in the Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command and they are under the jurisdiction of the United States National Guard Bureau unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. Air National Guard units are trained and equipped by the United States Air Force, the state ANG units, depending on their mission, are operationally gained by a major command of the USAF if federalized. Air National Guard personnel are expected to adhere to the moral and physical standards as their full-time active duty Air Force. The same ranks and insignia of the U. S. Air Force are used by the Air National Guard, the Air National Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in a service members home state or equivalent. The creation of the regiments was caused by the perceived need to defend the Bay Colony against American Indians. This organization formed the basis of subsequent colonial and, post-independence, state and this distinction accounts for why there are no National Guard components in the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps or U. S. Coast Guard
4.
Texas Air National Guard
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The Texas Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Texas, United States of America. It is, along with the Texas Army National Guard, an element of the Texas National Guard, No element of the Texas Air National Guard is under United States Air Force command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Texas through the office of the Texas Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Texas Air National Guard is headquartered at Camp Mabry, Austin, under the Total Force concept, Texas Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Texas ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. Gained by, Air Mobility Command The 136th AW mission is tactical airlift, the aircraft is capable of operating from rough, dirt strips and is the prime transport for air dropping troops and equipment into hostile areas. Its combat support sorties provide theater and national-level leadership with critical real-time Intelligence, Surveillance, airCC units are embedded with their parent Texas Air National Guard units in San Antonio, Austin, Ft. Worth, Garland, Houston and La Porte. S. 204th Security Forces Squadron The 204th Security Forces Squadron located at Biggs Army Airfield, Fort Bliss and they are the only heavy weapons security forces unit in the Air National Guard. Since the September 11 attacks, members of the 204th SFS have seen duty in central and southwest Asia, in Africa and they have served on installations in several states in the U. S. and taught military base defense in Latin American countries. 217th Training Squadron The 217th TRS is a training unit that is subordinate to the 149th Fighter Wing at Lackland AFB. The 217th TRS is a GSU and is located on Goodfellow AFB,217 TRS instructors are integrated into the existing courses taught within the 17 TRG - primarily the 315 TRS. Although some 217th TRS instructors are drill status guardsmen, most are full-time air technicians, lieutenant Colonel James W. Marrs became the first commander of the newly formed 217th Training Squadron upon its activation. Additionally, the 217 TRS will soon be a major training source for Incident Awareness and Assessment, the unit will be responsible for training any Air National Guard units that require it in order for them to be better prepared to respond to local and national disasters. 221st Combat Communications Squadron The 221st Combat Communications Squadron is co-located in Grand Prairie with their command unit, the function of the 221st Combat Communications Squadron is to provide communications in a deployed environment. Such requirements may include establishing a Local Area Network, Telephone Network, Wide Area Network, all this while ensuring reliable connectivity for those parties serviced and maintaining mission effectiveness. Securing the AF gateways against IO attacks and it is subordinate to the 149th Fighter Wing located on Lackland AFB. The Texas Air National Guard origins date to 14 August 1917 with the establishment of the 111th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I United States Army Air Service
5.
Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base
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The host wing for the installation is the Texas Air National Guards 147th Reconnaissance Wing. Opened in 1917, Ellington Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I. It is named for 1st Lt. Eric Ellington, a U. S. Army aviator who was killed in a crash in San Diego. The United States Air Forces 147th Reconnaissance Wing is an Air National Guard unit operationally-gained by the Air Combat Command, the 147 RW provides a 24/7 capability with MQ-1B Predator Unmanned Aerial Systems. A collocated Air Support Operations Squadron provides terminal control for weapons employment in a Close Air Support scenario, integrating combat air, new construction designated under the Grow the Army project was completed in 2010. The project consisted of ten buildings for the Army National Guard and reserve units, “This will be a tremendous cost benefit to the Army Reserve as travel and logistical costs will be streamlined, ” noted Major General Eldon Regua, 75th division commander. The $80 million construction project includes a 40, 000-square-foot Battle Command Training Center, a second Armed Forces Reserve Center with an assembly hall and offices, a Welcome Center, which will handle retention, recruitment and military identification services. In 1917, the U. S. government purchased 1,280 acres of land from Dr. R. W. Knox, the location, near Genoa Township in southeast Houston, was selected because the weather conditions were ideal for flight training. Soldiers from nearby Camp Logan briefly assisted with the construction of the airfield when civilian workers went on strike. Soon after construction began on the airfield, the base was named after Lt. Eric Lamar Ellington, the base, which consisted of a few hangars and some wooden headquarters buildings, was completed in a matter of months. In December, the first planes from Ellington Field flew over Houston for a benefit for the American Red Cross, a flight of ten JN-4s took off from grass runways and followed the interurban tracks stretching north from Genoa to Houston. Throngs of men, women, and children watched in amazement as the JN-4s flew overhead, the roar of the aircraft was almost drowned out by the wail of sirens and factory whistles as the planes passed over. As the planes circled the city, they dropped paper flyers for the American Red Cross, next, the formation flew to Camp Logan and then turned south toward Galveston Island. The entire flight took about an hour, during World War I, Ellington served as an advanced flight training base. As of 1918, Ellington had its own gunnery and bombing range on a peninsula in the Gulf of Mexico near San Leon. Within the year, however, this changed for the worse. By August 1918, Ellington Field recorded the most pilot fatalities of the 18 U. S. Army Air Service training bases in the United States, before the end of the war, approximately 5,000 men and 250 aircraft were assigned to the base. Ellington was considered surplus to requirements after World War I and the base was inactivated as an active duty airfield in January 1920, in May 1923, the War Department had ordered the small caretaker force at Ellington Field to dismantle all remaining structures and to sell them as surplus
6.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
7.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
8.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
9.
147th Reconnaissance Wing
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The 147th Reconnaissance Wing is a unit of the Texas Air National Guard, stationed at Ellington Field Joint Reserve Base, Houston, Texas. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The 111th Reconnaissance Squadron, assigned to the Wings 167th Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the World War I 111th Aero Squadron, the 147th Reconnaissance Wing provides a 24/7 capability with MQ-1B Predator Unmanned Aerial Systems. A collocated Air Support Operations Squadron provides terminal control for weapons employment in an air support scenario integrating combat air. On 1 July 1957, the National Guard Bureau extended federal recognition to the 147th Fighter-Interceptor Group, the 111th FIS was reassigned from the 136th Fighter-Interceptor Group to the 147th FIG, becoming the new groups flying squadron. Support squadrons of the 147th FIG were the 144th Headquarters, 144th Material Squadron, 144th Combat Support Squadron, initially equipped with the F-86D Sabre Inerceptor, in June 1959 the squadron traded their F-86Ds for the upgraded F-86L Sabre Interceptor with uprated afterburning engines and new electronics. In August 1960 the unit one of the first to transition to the F-102A Delta Dagger Mach-2 all-weather interceptor. In August 1961, as part of an Air Defense Command re-organization, the 147th was directly assigned to the Texas Air National Guard, being operationally gained by the Air Defense Command 33d Air Division. One pilot who flew TF/F-102As with the 111th was 1st Lt. George W. Bush, George W. Bushs military service began in 1968 when he enlisted in the Texas Air National Guard after graduating with a bachelors degree in history from Yale University. After being accepted into the ANG, Airman Basic Bush was selected to pilot training. His six weeks of training was completed at Lackland AFB in Texas during July. Upon its completion, Bush was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant required for pilot candidates. He spent the year in flight school at Moody AFB in Georgia from November 1968 to November 1969. Bush then returned to Ellington AFB in Texas to complete seven months of combat training on the F-102 from December 1969 to June 1970. This period included five weeks of training on the T-33 Shooting Star and 16 weeks aboard the TF-102 Delta Dagger two-seat trainer, Bush graduated from the training program in June 1970. Lt. Bush remained in the Texas ANG as a certified F-102 pilot who participated in frequent drills, Lt. Bush was honorably discharged from the Air National Guard in October 1973 at the rank of First Lieutenant. In May 1971, the 111th added F-101B/F Voodoos and became the RTU tar the twin seat F-101F type, in January 1975, after 14 years of service, the units F-102s were retired, but the unit maintained a full fleet of F-101s. The 111th also operated detachment 1 of the 147th FIW at New Orleans, the detachment was apart from the squadron in that it maintained constant alert status whilst facing towards Cuba
10.
MQ-1B Predator
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The General Atomics MQ-1 Predator is an American remotely piloted aircraft built by General Atomics and used primarily by the United States Air Force and Central Intelligence Agency. The aircraft, in use since 1995, has seen combat in war in Afghanistan, Pakistan, the NATO intervention in Bosnia, Serbia, Iraq War, Yemen, Libyan civil war, the intervention in Syria, the USAF describes the Predator as a Tier II MALE UAS. The UAS consists of four aircraft or air vehicles with sensors, a control station. Powered by a Rotax engine and driven by a propeller, the air vehicle can fly up to 400 nmi to a target, loiter overhead for 14 hours, then return to its base. Civilian applications have included border enforcement and scientific studies, and to monitor wind direction, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Pentagon began experimenting with unmanned reconnaissance aircraft in the early 1980s. The CIA preferred small, lightweight, unobtrusive drones, in contrast to the United States Air Force, in the early 1990s, the CIA became interested in the Amber, a drone developed by Leading Systems, Inc. The companys owner, Abraham Karem, was the chief designer for the Israeli Air Force. Karems company had gone bankrupt and been bought up by a U. S. defense contractor. Karem agreed to produce an engine for the vehicle, which had until then sounded like a lawnmower in the sky. The new development became known as the Predator, first flight took place on 3 July 1994 at the El Mirage airfield in the Mojave Desert. The aircraft itself was a derivative of the GA Gnat 750, during the ACTD phase, three systems were purchased from GA, comprising twelve aircraft and three ground control stations. From April through May 1995, the Predator ACTD aircraft were flown as a part of the Roving Sands 1995 exercises in the U. S. The exercise operations were successful, and this led to the decision to deploy the system to the Balkans later in the summer of 1995. By the start of the United States Afghan campaign in 2001, the USAF had acquired 60 Predators, few if any of the losses were from enemy action, the worst problem apparently being foul weather, particularly icy conditions. Some critics within the Pentagon saw the loss rate as a sign of poor operational procedures. In response to the losses caused by weather conditions, a few of the later USAF Predators were fitted with de-icing systems, along with an uprated turbocharged engine. This improved Block 1 version was referred to as the RQ-1B, or the MQ-1B if it carried munitions, the Predator system was initially designated the RQ-1 Predator. The R is the United States Department of Defense designation for reconnaissance, the 1 describes it as being the first of a series of aircraft systems built for unmanned reconnaissance
11.
Army National Guard
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The Army National Guard, in conjunction with the Air National Guard, is a militia force and a federal military reserve force of the United States. They are simultaneously part of two different organizations, the National Guard of the states, territories and the District of Columbia. The Army National Guard is divided into units stationed in each of the 50 states. Members or units of the Army National Guard may be ordered, temporarily or indefinitely, if mobilized for federal service, the member or unit becomes part of the Army National Guard of the United States, which is a reserve component of the United States Army. Individuals volunteering for active service may do so subject to the consent of their governors. Governors generally cannot veto involuntary activations of individuals or units for federal service, the President may also call up members and units of the Army National Guard, in its status as the militia of the several states, to repel invasion, suppress rebellion, or enforce federal laws. The Army National Guard of the United States is one of two organizations administered by the National Guard Bureau, the other being the Air National Guard of the United States. The Director of the Army National Guard is the head of the organization, Militia members were required to equip themselves, take part in regular training, and report to their units when called. This war resulted in hundreds of deaths, hundreds of Native Americans sold into slavery or scattered throughout North America, the militias of the Southern New England colonies fought Native Americans again in King Philips War from 1675 to 1676. This conflict led to the defeat of the Narragansets, further straining relationships between Native Americans and white Europeans, but enabling continued white settlement of New England. In addition, the colonists had little interest in paying the taxes to maintain permanent garrisons of British troops, the militias were also an early experiment in democracy, with company grade officers often elected by their men, and the higher officers appointed by colonial governors or legislatures. The colonies did not exert centralized control over the militias or coordinate their efforts, Training typically took place during musters each summer, with militia members reporting for inspection and undergoing several days of training in drill and ceremony. Militia members served throughout the Revolution, often near their homes, Militia units served in combat, as well as carrying out guard duty for prisoners, garrisoning of forts, and local patrols. On some occasions, militia members performed ineffectively, as at the Battle of Camden in North Carolina, on other occasions they performed capably, including the Battles of Lexington and Concord, Battle of Bunker Hill, Battle of Bennington, Battles of Saratoga, and Battle of Cowpens. Perhaps the most important role played by the militia was off the battlefield, during the period of the Articles of Confederation, the weak federal government reduced the Continental Army to a handful of officers and soldiers. The Articles of Confederation required each state to maintain a militia, such consent was not forthcoming in an era when the population still harbored a distrust of a standing army, so Congress largely left the defense of the new nation to the state militias. During the Constitutional Convention in 1787, Federalist delegates argued for a federal government. Federalists anticipated using the military to defend the country if it were attacked, anti-Federalists advocated limited federal government, and wanted continued state control over the militias
12.
Kelly Field Annex
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Kelly Field Annex is a United States Air Force facility located in San Antonio, Texas. The base is under the jurisdiction of the 802d Mission Support Group, Air Education, Kelly Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the United States entry into World War I, being established on 27 March 1917. It was used as a field, primary flying school, school for adjutants, supply officers, engineers, mechanics school. As of 2006, there are some isolated USAF activities on Port San Antonio subordinate to Lackland. Several large warehouses on the grounds of Port San Antonio were cleared, cleaned and equipped with large air conditioning units to house evacuees from Hurricane Katrina. The first evacuees began to arrive on September 2,2005, Kelly Field Annex is named in honor of 2d Lieutenant George Edward Maurice Kelly. Lt. Kelly, who after a course of training at the Curtiss Aviation School, Rockwell Field, California, was ordered to Fort Sam Houston, near San Antonio. While attempting to land on 10 May 1911 in order to avoid running into a tent and thereby possibly injuring several others, died in a crash, the center was to be built for the Aviation Section of the U. S. Army Signal Corps. General Scriven described San Antonio as “the most important strategic position of the South, ” in response to the unrest resulting from the Mexican Revolution. S. ”In November 1915, when the newly created 1st Aero Squadron arrived at Fort Sam Houston after a cross-country flight from Fort Sill, Oklahoma. Problems experienced by the 1st Aero Squadron on that expedition and the war in Europe persuaded Congress to improve. It was quickly apparent that Fort Sam Houston had inadequate space for flying operations, especially with newer. Major Benjamin Foulois, with the support of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce, bordered by the Frio City Road on the northwest, the site was also adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad, providing easy access by road and rail. In addition, the new site was relatively flat, and thus suitable for flying operations, initially, the site was called the South San Antonio Aviation Camp. On 5 April 1917, four took off from Fort Sam Houston, flew across San Antonio and landed on the new airfield. Tents had been erected as hangars, however a permanent presence at the airfield was not established until 7 May when 700 men arrived, a week later, the population had grown to 4,000. Construction of the facility was rapid, with the United States now at war, the ground was cleared and scores of buildings - hangars, barracks, mess halls, a street system, electrical and plumbing systems, warehouses, machine shops were all constructed during the summer. By the end of June, it was clear that Foulois original site, a committee of the San Antonio Chamber of Commerce provided the necessary land and presented the proposition to the Aviation Production Board in Washington, D. C. in June 1917. A contract was signed in July 1917, comprising all of what was Kelly Field #2, Kelly soldiers organized approximately 250,000 men into Aero Squadrons during the hectic months of 1917 and 1918
13.
Curtiss JN-4
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The Curtiss JN-4 Jenny was one of a series of JN biplanes built by the Curtiss Aeroplane Company of Hammondsport, New York, later the Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Curtiss combined the best features of the model J and model N trainers, built for the Army and Navy, Curtiss built only a limited number of the JN-1 and JN-2 biplanes. The design was commissioned by Glenn Curtiss from Englishman Benjamin Douglas Thomas, the JN-2 was an equal-span biplane with ailerons controlled by a shoulder yoke in the aft cockpit. It was deficient in performance, particularly climbing, because of excessive weight, the improved JN-3 incorporated unequal spans with ailerons only on the upper wings, controlled by a wheel. In addition, a bar was added to control the rudder. The 1st Aero Squadron of the Aviation Section, U. S. Signal Corps received eight JN-2s at San Diego in July 1915. The squadron was transferred to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, in August to work with the Field Artillery School, during which one JN-2 crashed, resulting in a fatality. The pilots of the met with its commander, Capt. Benjamin Foulois, to advise that the JN-2 was unsafe because of low power, shoddy construction, lack of stability. Foulois and his executive officer Capt. Thomas D, milling disagreed, and flights continued until a second JN-2 crashed in early September, resulting in the grounding of the six remaining JN-2s until mid-October. When two new JN-3s were delivered, the aircraft were then upgraded in accordance with the new design. In March 1916, these eight JN-3s were deployed to Mexico for aerial observation during the Pancho Villa Expedition of 1916–1917, the Curtiss JN-4 is possibly North Americas most famous World War I aircraft. It was widely used during World War I to train beginning pilots, the U. S. version was called Jenny, a derivation from its official designation. It was a twin-seat dual-control biplane and its tractor propeller and maneuverability made it ideal for initial pilot training with a 90 hp Curtiss OX-5 V8 engine giving a top speed of 75 mph and a service ceiling of 6,500 ft. The British used the JN-4, along with the Avro 504, many Royal Flying Corps pilots earned their wings on the JN-4, both in Ontario and later in winter facilities at Camp Taliaferro, Texas. Although ostensibly a training aircraft, the Jenny was extensively modified while in service to undertake additional roles, due to its robust but easily adapted structure able to be modified with ski undercarriage, the Canadian Jenny was flown year-round, even in inclement weather. Most of the 6,813 Jennys built were unarmed, although some had machine guns, with deployment limited to North American bases, none saw combat service in World War I. Production from spare or reconditioned parts continued sporadically until 1927, although most of the orders were destined for the civil market in Canada. A floatplane version was built for the Navy which was so modified, in U. S. Army Air Service usage, the JN-4s and JN-6s were configured to the JNS model
14.
Consolidated PT-1 Trusty
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The Consolidated PT-1 Trusty was a biplane primary trainer used by the United States Army Air Service. In 1921, Colonel Virginius Clark, chief designer of the Dayton-Wright Company, the airframe was advanced in its use of the new Clark Y airfoil thick-section aerofoil and a welded fuselage framework of chrome-molybdenum steel tubing. A departure from the structures found in other trainers, the structure proved sturdy. It was offered to the US Army Air Service as a replacement for the Curtiss JN-4D trainer, in 1922, the Army ordered three TA-3 machines for evaluation with the Le Rhone engine and dual controls. Evaluation showed that the type had the makings of a good trainer, the USAAS then ordered ten examples of this up-engined model, and these were the last US Army aircraft to be delivered with a rotary-engine. Appreciating this type of powerplant had passed its development peak, the USAAS then contracted for three examples of the TW-3 with a 150 hp Wright-Hispano I V8, when Gallaudet shareholders expressed disapproval at this move, Fleet left the company and established the Consolidated Aircraft Corporation. It was to new company the TW-3 order went. Visibility was still poor, so Fleet secured US Army permission to rebuild one TW-3 with a new, slimmer fuselage and this revised aircraft was generally known as the Camel due to the hump between its two cockpits. The Camel may be regarded as the prototype of the Consolidated response to the USAASs 1924 requirement for a new primary trainer, the first 171 of the 221 produced used a streamlined nose radiator, the remainder used the unfaired installation. One PT-1 airframe was completed as XPT-2 with a 220 hp Wright J-5 radial engine, the PT-1 became the first training airplane purchased by the Army Air Service in substantial quantity following World War I. Aviation cadets in Texas and California flew it extensively during the late 1920s and it acquired the nickname Trusty for their excellent ability to make a quick and effective recovery from a spin. Easy to fly, the Trusty made some students overconfident, one of the aircraft was diverted to the US Navy for trials, and four other generally similar aircraft were delivered to Siam in 1928. From 1928 the PT-1 was replaced in service by the Consolidated PT-3. It was obtained from The Ohio State University in 1957, PT-1 Trusty is on display at the San Diego Air & Space Museum in San Diego, California. It was purchased from Harry E. Kirk in Rushville, Indiana in 1978, after completing the work to put the aircraft on exhibit, it was donated to the Museum by the Atlas Hotels of San Diego
15.
Douglas O-2
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The Douglas O-2 was a 1920s American observation aircraft built by the Douglas Aircraft Company. The important family of Douglas observation aircraft sprang from two XO-2 prototypes, the first of which was powered by the 420 hp Liberty V-1650-1 V-engine, the second XO-2 was powered by the 510 hp Packard 1A-1500 Vee engine, which proved unreliable. The XO-2 had been flown with short and long-span wings, the latter giving improved handling, the fixed tailskid landing gear included a main unit of the divided type, the horizontal tail surface was strut braced, and the engine was cooled by a tunnel radiator. In 1927 the O-2BS was adapted as a three-seater with a radial engine, the O-2Hs were an entirely new design but continued the same basic model number. Major differences were heavily staggered wings, a compact engine installation. Up to 2011 there were no O-2s known to exist, however, in 2011 the wreckage of O-2H 29-163 that crashed out of Kelly Field Texas on March 16,1933 has been positively identified. The rear and central/forward portion of the fuselage behind the firewall, wing attachments and landing gear parts, tailplane and many engine parts, research is continuing on this aircraft. It is known it was flown by Aviation Cadet Charles D. Rogers on a night recon advanced training mission, apparently flying low, the aircraft hit a hill and burned after the crash leaving only the found wreckage today. Weather was not considered a contributing factor, Cadet Rogers was instantly killed in the crash by the impact. His body was recovered but the wreckage was abandoned due to the airframe, the only similar aircraft known to exist are a restored Douglas M-2 mailplane and a follow-on derivative of the O-25 variant, an O-38. O-2 Initial production model -45 built, o-2A O-2 with night flying equipment -18 built. O-2B Dual control version of O-2 - six built, O-2C These differed from the O-2 in having frontal radiators for their Liberty engines and modified oleo-strut landing gear. The USAAC took delivery of 18 aircraft, while the remaining 27 went to reserve National Guard units -45 built, o-2D Unarmed staff transport versions of the O-2C - two built. O-2E A one-off aircraft which replaced the wire link between upper and lower wing ailerons of production aircraft by rigid struts, O-2H The fuselage was redesigned and a new tailplane was fitted, with staggered wings of unequal span. The O-2H incorporated the rigid-strut aileron interconnections of the O-2E, an improved split-axle landing gear was standard. The USAAC received 101 O-2Hs between 1928 and 1930, and the National Guard a further 40 -141 built, O-2J Unarmed dual control version of the O-2H for service as USAAC staff transports - three built. O-2K A slightly modified version of the O-2J for US Army staff transport,30 built for the USAAC and 20 for the National Guard -50 built. O-2M various export versions of O-2 that saw services with Republic of China Air Force and these aircraft were used as scout-bombers by the Chinese in the Second Sino-Japanese War with somewhat limited success against Japanese ground targets
16.
Douglas O-38
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The Douglas O-38 was an observation airplane used by the United States Army Air Corps. Between 1931 and 1934, Douglas built 156 O-38s for the Air Corps, some were still in service at the time of the Pearl Harbor Attack in 1941. The O-38 is a derivative of the O-25, itself a re-engined variant of the earlier Douglas O-2. Survivors were converted to wheels, and served as trainers until 1940, for several decades it was believed that no examples of this aircraft survived, until the wreckage of an O-38F was located in Alaska in the late 1960s. This aircraft was the first airplane to land at Ladd Field near Fairbanks, Alaska and it had gone down on 16 June 1941 as a result of engine failure, and made a soft landing in the Alaskan wilderness about 70 miles southeast of Fairbanks. Both crewmen survived the landing unhurt, and hiked to safety after supplies were dropped to them, the wreckage was eventually rediscovered nearly thirty years later during an aerial survey of the area, and the planes type was soon identified. The staff of the Air Force Museum recognized it as the last surviving example, upon arriving at the crash site they found the aircraft surprisingly well preserved, with only the two seats and the tailwheel curiously missing. The team was able to light their campfires using the aircrafts remaining fuel. Plans were soon made to remove the aircraft by a CH-47 Chinook helicopter from Fort Greeley on 10 June 1968, meanwhile, the missing seats were found in the shack of a local frontiersman where they were being used as chairs. The missing tailwheel was taken because he thought he might build a wheelbarrow someday, the restoration by the museums staff took several years, and many structural pieces of the wings had to be reverse engineered from original plans and damaged parts. The finished aircraft with its engine was completed and placed on display in 1974. It is currently displayed hanging in the museums Interwar Years Gallery, peru Peruvian Navy United States United States Army Air Corps Data from United States Military Aircraft Since 1909 by F. G. Swanborough & Peter M. Bowers 1964,596 pp. National Museum of the United States Air Force
17.
Douglas O-43
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The Douglas O-43 was a monoplane observation aircraft used by the United States Army Air Corps. Five Y1O-31A service-test aircraft were ordered in 1931, and delivered to the USAAC in early 1933 designated Y1O-43 and they differed from the final configuration of the O-31A, with a wire-braced parasol wing, and a new fin and rudder. An order for 23 O-43A aircraft was completed during 1934, with a deepened fuselage, powered by a single 675 hp Curtiss V-1570-59 inline engine, it also had taller vertical surfaces with an inset rudder similar to the O-31A. The canopy was enlarged, and fully enclosed both cockpits, the 24th airframe of the O-43A contract was completed as the XO-46 prototype. Data from United States Military Aircraft Since 1909 by F. G. Swanborough & Peter M. Bowers 1964,596 pp
18.
North American O-47
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The North American O-47 was an observation fixed-wing aircraft monoplane used by the United States Army Air Corps. It had a low-wing configuration, retractable landing gear and a three-blade propeller, the O-47 was developed as a replacement for the Thomas-Morse O-19 and Douglas O-38 observation biplanes. It was larger and heavier than most preceding observation aircraft and its crew of three sat in tandem under the long canopy, windows in the deep belly overcame the obstacle that the wings presented to downward observation and photography. The design for the XO-47 prototype originated in 1934 with General Aviation, the Air Corps ordered 174 O-47s in 1937 to 1938,93 of which were assigned to National Guard units. In 1938, the Army ordered 74 O-47Bs with an engine cowling for better cooling, a more powerful engine. Training maneuvers in 1941 demonstrated the shortcomings of the O-47, light airplanes proved more capable of operating with ground troops, while fighters and twin-engine bombers showed greater ability to perform recon and photo duties. Thus, O-47s during World War II, except for those caught at overseas bases by the Japanese attacks, were relegated to duties as towing targets, coastal patrol. An O-47A is in storage at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, an O-47A is under restoration at Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California as of August 2013. An O-47B is on display at Combat Air Museum in Topeka, KS
19.
Brownwood Regional Airport
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Brownwood Regional Airport is six miles north of Brownwood, in Brown County, Texas. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as an aviation facility. The 21st Cavalry Brigade of the III Corps, U. S. Army use the airport for training in Apache, the airport has been served by airlines in the past. The airport opened during World War II as Brownwood Army Airfield and was used by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base. The 68th and 77th Reconnaissance Groups trained at Brownwood during 1942 with a variety of aircraft, including B-17 Flying Fortress, B-24 Liberators, P-40 Warhawks, in addition to the training performed at the airfield, patrols were flown over the Gulf of Mexico and along the Mexican border. The role of the Brownwood Army Airfield from November,1943, to September,1944 was to operate as a refresher school, one of the primary aircraft used in this role was the Stinson L-5. In October,1944, the became the new combat crew training center. From January,1945, until the end of World War II, the U. S. Government deeded the airport to the City of Brownwood after World War II. An F-4 Phantom and an F-111 are on display, trans-Texas/Texas International stopped at BWD until 1976-77. The airport covers 1,497 acres at an elevation of 1,387 feet and it has two asphalt runways, 17/35 is 5,599 by 150 feet and 13/31 is 4,608 by 101 feet. In the year ending February 6,2012 the airport had 6,000 aircraft operations, average 16 per day, 83% general aviation, 12% air taxi,44 aircraft were then based at the airport, 82% single-engine, 16% multi-engine, and 2% helicopter. Texas World War II Army Airfields List of airports in Texas Brownwood Regional
20.
Fort Clark, Texas
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Fort Clark was a frontier fort located just off U. S. Route 90 near Brackettville, in the county of Kinney, in the U. S. state of Texas. It later became the headquarters for the 2nd Cavalry Division, the Fort Clark Historic District was added to the National Register of Historic Places on December 6,1979. The Commanding Officers Quarters at Fort Clark was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1988, the Fort Clark Guardhouse became a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1962. The Fort Clark Officers Row Quarters was designated a Recorded Texas Historic Landmark in 1991, the Old Fort Clark Guardhouse Museum is operated by the Fort Clark Historical Society. Located in the guardhouse, the museum features exhibits about the forts history, including uniforms, weapons, photographs. There is a focus on artifacts from several African American military units, including the Black Seminole Scouts. The land that became Fort Clark was owned by Samuel A, Maverick at the time its potential for military development was recognized by William H. C. Whiting and William F. Smith in 1849. Whiting and Smith were actually engaged in surveying the path of the San Antonio-El Paso Road when they came upon the Las Moras Springs at the headwaters of Las Moras Creek. They told their superiors that they believed the ground above the springs would be an appropriate placement for a fort. The fort was located as anchor to the cordon of army posts that had been established along the southwest Texas border after the Mexican War. The forts purpose was to guard the Mexican border, to protect the road to El Paso. On June 20,1852, the military use of it, placing Companies C and E of the 1st US Infantry Regiment under the command of Maj. Joseph H. LaMotte. Mounted Rifles on the post they called Fort Riley, after retired General Bennett C, Riley himself requested that the fort be named instead for Major John B. Clark, an officer of the 1st Infantry who died during the Mexican-American War on August 23,1847. It was accordingly renamed on July 15 of that year, and on July 30,1852, tompkins, to permit development of a fort. After soldiers and officers quarters were constructed in 1853 and 1854, the fort was expanded with a hospital, stone quarters for the commanding officer, recorded as near completion in the summer of 1857, were converted to the post headquarters in 1873. The nearby village of Las Moras was founded in 1852 by local dry-goods merchant Oscar B, two companies of these Texas military volunteers, under captains Charles E. Travis and William Henry, were sent to Fort Clark, where they assisted the regulars in patrolling the road. The town was renamed Brackett in his honor in 1856 and renamed Brackettville in 1873 upon receiving a government post office and it became a stop on the San Antonio-El Paso Road stagecoach
21.
Daniel Field
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Daniel Field is a public use airport located one nautical mile west of the central business district of Augusta, a city in Richmond County, Georgia, United States. It is owned by the City of Augusta and operated by the General Aviation Commission and this airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a general aviation facility. The origins of Daniel Field begin in 1924, when the City of Augusta leased 302 acres for an airport, about 35,000 people attended the airports dedication on October 29,1927. Against the Mayors wishes, the City Council named the airport Daniel Field, for Mayor Raleigh Daniel, who was a major proponent of the city leasing the land in the early 1920s. On December 1,1931, Eastern Air Transport began passenger service, Eastern resumed service in November 1932 after obtaining a mail contract. The same year, Delta Air Lines began serving Atlanta and Charleston, in 1938, the Works Progress Administration began a project that added paved runways, drainage and other improvements. Alarmed by the fall of France in 1940, Congress funded an increase in the strength of the United States Army Air Corps from 29 to 54 combat groups, the quickest way for the Air Corps to obtain additional bases was to utilize existing civil airports. On September 21,1940, the Air Corps announced a $1.5 million project to build facilities at Daniel Field to support 100 to 110 pursuit aircraft and 2000 men, because of technicalities in the land transfer, construction did not begin until March 1941. Once begun, a construction program was needed to turn the civil airport into a military airfield. Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed, buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. This was due to the fact that Daniels longest runway was a relatively short 4,200 ft, the geographical restrictions of ravines to the west and the city of Augusta to the east made the extension of the runways impractical. The 61sts group headquarters was formed at Olmsted Field, near Harrisburg, the squadrons flew C-47 Skytrains, as well as Douglas C-39s, which was the Air Corps version of the Douglas DC-2. After organizational training and flying a few operations, the 61st. Five transport squadrons of the Air Force Combat Command 89th Transport Group, the 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th and these squadrons were equipped with C-47s and Douglas DC-3s pressed into military service from the airlines. The 89th stay at Daniel was a short one, only five weeks later the group moved on to Air Technical Service Command depot at Harding AAF, near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Also during February, three squadrons, the 16th, 111th, 122nd, and 154th, arrived from various other bases
22.
Augusta, Georgia
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It is in the piedmont section of the state. The city was named after Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha, according to 2012 US Census estimates, the Augusta–Richmond County population was 197,872, not counting the unconsolidated cities of Hephzibah and Blythe. It is the 116th-largest city in the United States, internationally, Augusta is best known for hosting The Masters golf tournament each spring. The area along the river was inhabited by varying cultures of indigenous peoples. The site of Augusta was used by Native Americans as a place to cross the Savannah River, in 1735, two years after James Oglethorpe founded Savannah, he sent a detachment of troops to explore the upper Savannah River. He gave them an order to build at the head of the part of the river. The expedition was led by Noble Jones, who created the settlement to provide a first line of defense for coastal areas against potential Spanish or French invasion from the interior, Oglethorpe named the town Augusta, in honor of Princess Augusta, wife of Frederick, Prince of Wales. Oglethorpe visited Augusta once, in September 1739, Augusta was the second state capital of Georgia from 1785 until 1795. Augusta developed rapidly as a town as the Black Belt in the Piedmont was developed for cotton cultivation. Invention of the cotton gin made processing of cotton profitable. Cotton plantations were worked by labor, with hundreds of thousands of slaves shipped from the Upper South to the Deep South in the domestic slave trade. In the mid-20th century, it was a site of civil rights demonstrations, in 1970 Charles Oatman, a mentally disabled teenager, was killed by his cellmates in an Augusta jail. A protest against his death broke out in a riot involving 500 people, after six black men were killed by police, the noted singer and entertainer James Brown was called in to help quell lingering tensions, which he succeeded in doing. Augusta is located on the Georgia/South Carolina border, about 150 miles east of Atlanta and 70 miles west of Columbia, the city is located at 33°28′12″N 81°58′30″W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the Augusta–Richmond County balance has an area of 306.5 square miles. Augusta is located halfway up the Savannah River on the fall line. The city marks the end of a waterway for the river. The Clarks Hill Dam is built on the line near Augusta
23.
53d Electronic Warfare Group
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The 53d Electronic Warfare Group is a component unit of the 53d Wing of the Air Force Warfare Center, Air Combat Command, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. This includes the responsibility for emergency reprogramming and dissemination of EW system mission data software for CAF aircraft. The group manages the Combat Shield Electronic Warfare Assessment Program for CAF aircraft EW systems, Combat Shield provides operational units a system-specific capability assessment for their radar warning receivers, electronic attack pods, and integrated EW systems. 1, 16th Electronic Warfare Squadron 36th Electronic Warfare Squadron 68th Electronic Warfare Squadron 453d Electronic Warfare Squadron 513th Electronic Warfare Squadron Det. 1, 53d Electronic Warfare Group The group was first established as the 68th Observation Group in 1941 at Brownwood Army Air Field, Texas and its primary mission was observation aircraft training and antisubmarine patrols. The group moved to several different U. S. locations in preparation for deployment in 1942. It moved to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations, October–November 1942, shortly after the group began operations most of its squadrons were detached for separate duty in order to carry out diverse activities over a wide area. The group moved to Italy and became part of Fifteenth Air Force in November 1943 and it continued visual and photographic reconnaissance and began flying weather reconnaissance missions in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, and the Balkans. The 68th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was activated by Strategic Air Command on 10 October 1951, the group was assigned as a subordinate unit to the new wing at Lake Charles AFB, Louisiana. The wing was assigned to the 37th Air Division of Second Air Force, support organizations for the wing were also activated, but they were located at Lockbourne AFB, Ohio and were not controlled by the wing. It was not until May 1952 that the wing received Boeing RB-29 Superfortress aircraft and its primary mission was gathering intelligence on the Soviet Union. In June the group was discontinued entirely, under SACs new Dual Deputate organization, squadrons all flying and maintenance squadrons were directly assigned to the wing, so no operational group element was needed. It added a Boeing KC-97 refueling mission in November 1953, the wing replaced its propeller-driven RB-29s with new Boeing B-47E Stratojet swept-wing medium bombers in October 1953 and was redesignated as the 68th Bombardment Wing. The B-47 was capable of flying at high speeds and primarily designed for penetrating the airspace of the Soviet Union. Becoming operationally ready with the B-47 in May 1954, the wing conducted strategic bombardment training, the wing performed Reflex deployments to RAF Fairford, England from 14 June to 7 August 1954 and to RAF Brize Norton, England from 27 September 1957 to 8 January 1958. The B-47s were reaching the end of their lifetime in the late 1950s. The wing was organized at the start of May when the 53d Aviation Depot Squadron moved from Barksdale Air Force Base. Starting in 1960, one third of the aircraft were maintained on fifteen-minute alert, fully fueled
24.
Stinson L-1 Vigilant
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The Stinson L-1 Vigilant was a 1940s American light observation aircraft built by the Stinson Aircraft Company at Wayne, Michigan. The aircraft was operated by the United States Army Air Corps as the O-49 until 1942, the Vigilant was designed in response to a 1938 United States Army Air Corps design competition for a two-seat light observation aircraft. When the German-manufactured Fieseler Storch was demonstrated at the Cleveland Air Races, Stinson, won the $1.5 million contract over 11 competitors, including the Bellanca YO-50 and Ryan YO-51 Dragonfly. The Model 74 was a radial engined high-wing monoplane with trailing-edge high-lift devices for low speed. The prototype aircraft was built full-span leading-edge automatic slots manufactured by Handley Page, the Model V-74 was given the Army designation YO-49 for evaluation, with the first flight by test pilot Al Schramm on 15 July 1940. The aircraft was built of steel tubing and fabric, with the forward of the wing enclosed in sheet metal. Control surfaces and the empennage were fabric-covered stainless steel, the Lycoming power plant was hand-cranked inertia starting, and was fitted with a Hamilton Standard constant speed propeller. At least 12 ambulance conversions were fitted with Edo 49-4000 pontoons for amphibious landings, the Vigilant was capable of stopping in less than its own length, and could maintain stable flight at 31 miles per hour. Anecdotally, the Vigilant was said to be capable of flight in a strong headwind. The Stinson Vigilant was used in roles such as towing training gliders, artillery spotting, liaison, emergency rescue, transporting supplies. Another contract was awarded for the O-49A which had a slightly longer fuselage. In April 1942 the aircraft were redesignated the L-1 and L-1A, up to 17 L-1 and 96 L-1A aircraft were allocated to the British Royal Air Force under the Lend-Lease Act, with varying numbers given for aircraft actually delivered. The RAF designated the aircraft the Vigilant Mk I and Vigilant Mk II respectively, general Harry Crerar, Commander of the First Canadian Army in Europe during World War II, maintained a Vigilant for his personal use. Aircraft were modified for a variety of including as an ambulance aircraft. No further production orders were placed as the aircraft was superseded by procurement of vast numbers of the L-5 Sentinel, a Vigilant was modified in 1943-44 for experiment in boundary layer control. Stinson Model 74 company designation O-49 Vigilant U. S. Army designation for first production batch,142 built, L-1 Vigilant 1942 redesignation of O-49. O-49A Vigilant Fuselage lengthened 13 in 182 built, O-49B Vigilant Conversion to ambulance variant, three or four converted. L-1A Vigilant 1942 redesignation of O-49A, l-1B Vigilant 1942 redesignation of O-49B
25.
Douglas A-20 Havoc
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The Douglas A-20 Havoc was an American attack, light bomber, and intruder aircraft of World War II. It served with several Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces, the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Naval Aviation, Soviet units received more than one in three of the DB-7s ultimately built. It was also used by the air forces of Australia, South Africa, France, and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards. In British Commonwealth air forces, bomber/attack variants of the DB-7 were usually known by the service name Boston, an exception to this was the Royal Australian Air Force, which referred to all variants of the DB-7 by the name Boston. The USAAF referred to night fighter variants as P-70 and it was estimated that it could carry a 1,000 lb bomb load at 250 mph. Reports of aircraft performance from the Spanish Civil War indicated that this design would be seriously underpowered, in the autumn of the same year, the United States Army Air Corps issued its own specification for an attack aircraft. The Douglas team, now headed by Heinemann, took the Model 7A design, upgraded with 1,100 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines and it faced competition from the North American NA-40, Stearman X-100, and Martin 167F. The Model 7B was maneuverable and fast, but did not attract any US orders, the model did, however, attract the attention of a French Purchasing Commission visiting the United States. The French discreetly participated in the trials, so as not to attract criticism from American isolationists. The secret was revealed when the Model 7B crashed on 23 January while demonstrating single-engine performance, the French were still impressed enough to order 100 production aircraft, with the order increased to 270 when the war began. Sixteen of those had been ordered by Belgium for its Aviation Militaire, in a report to the British Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Boscombe Down, test pilots summed it up as, has no vices and is very easy to take off and land. The aeroplane represents a definite advantage in the design of flying controls, extremely pleasant to fly and manoeuvre. Ex-pilots often consider it their favorite aircraft of the war due to the ability to toss it around like a fighter, the Douglas bomber/night fighter was extremely adaptable and found a role in every combat theater of the war, and excelled as a true pilots aeroplane. When DB-7 series production ended on 20 September 1944, a total of 7,098 had been built by Douglas. Douglas redesigned its Santa Monica plant to create a production line to produce A-20 Havocs. The assembly line was over a long, but by looping back and forth. Man-hours were reduced by 50% for some operations, the French order called for substantial modifications, resulting in the DB-7 variant. It had a narrower, deeper fuselage,1,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3-G radials, French-built guns, midway through the delivery phase, engines were switched to 1,100 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G
26.
Operation Torch
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Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa during the North African Campaign of the Second World War which started on 8 November 1942. The Soviet Union had pressed the United States and United Kingdom to start operations in Europe, while the American commanders favored Operation Sledgehammer, landing in Occupied Europe as soon as possible, the British commanders believed that such a course would end in disaster. The U. S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, suspected the African operation would rule out an invasion of Europe in 1943 but agreed to support the British Prime Minister Winston Churchill. The Allies planned an Anglo-American invasion of north-western Africa — Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia, with much of North Africa already under Allied control, this would allow the Allies to carry out a pincer operation against Axis forces in North Africa. These forces included 60,000 troops in Morocco,15,000 in Tunisia, in addition, there were 10 or so warships and 11 submarines at Casablanca. The Allies believed that the Vichy French forces would not fight, the French were former Allies of the U. S. and the American troops were instructed not to fire unless they were fired upon. However, they harbored suspicions that the Vichy French navy would bear a grudge over the British action at Mers-el-Kebir in 1940, an assessment of the sympathies of the French forces in North Africa was essential, and plans were made to secure their cooperation, rather than resistance. German support for the Vichy French came in the shape of air support, several Luftwaffe bomber wings undertook anti-shipping strikes against Allied ports in Algiers and along the North African coast. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was given command of the operation, the Allied Naval Commander of the Expeditionary Force would be Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham, his deputy was Vice-Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsay, who would plan the amphibious landings. Planners identified Oran and also Algiers and Casablanca as key targets, ideally there would also be a landing at Tunis to secure Tunisia and facilitate the rapid interdiction of supplies travelling via Tripoli to Rommels forces in Libya. However, Tunis was much too close to the Axis airfields in Sicily, a compromise would be to land at Bône, some 300 miles closer to Tunis than Algiers. They therefore chose the Casablanca option as the less risky since the forces in Algeria and Tunisia could be supplied overland from Casablanca in the event of closure of the straits. In July 1941, Mieczysław Słowikowski set up Agency Africa, one of the Second World Wars most successful intelligence organizations and his Polish allies in these endeavors included Lt. Col. Gwido Langer and Major Maksymilian Ciężki. The information gathered by the Agency was used by the Americans, to gauge the feeling of the Vichy French forces, Murphy was appointed to the American consulate in Algeria. His covert mission was to determine the mood of the French forces and he succeeded in contacting several French officers, including General Charles Mast, the French commander-in-chief in Algiers. These officers were willing to support the Allies, but asked for a conference with a senior Allied General in Algeria. However, Giraud would take no position lower than commander in chief of all the invading forces, when he was refused, he decided to remain a spectator in this affair. The Allies organized three amphibious task forces to seize the key ports and airports of Morocco and Algeria simultaneously, targeting Casablanca, Oran, successful completion of these operations was to be followed by an advance eastwards into Tunisia
27.
Bell P-39 Airacobra
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The Bell P-39 Airacobra was one of the principal American fighter aircraft in service when the United States entered World War II. The P-39 was used by the Soviet Air Force, which scored the highest number of individual kills attributed to any U. S. fighter type in the Eastern European theatre. Other major users of the type included the Free French, the Royal Air Force, the United States Army Air Forces, and the Italian Co-Belligerent Air Force. Designed by Bell Aircraft, it had a layout, with the engine installed in the center fuselage, behind the pilot. It was also the first fighter fitted with a tricycle undercarriage, although its mid-engine placement was innovative, the P-39 design was handicapped by the absence of an efficient turbo-supercharger, preventing it from performing high-altitude work. As such it was rejected by the RAF for use over western Europe but adopted by the USSR where most air combat took place at medium, together with the derivative P-63 Kingcobra, the P-39 was one of the most successful fixed-wing aircraft manufactured by Bell. It was a request for a single-engine high-altitude interceptor having the mission of interception. Despite being called an interceptor, the aircrafts role was simply an extension of the traditional pursuit role, using a heavier. This was the most demanding set of fighter specifications USAAC had presented to that date and this happened because H. M. Poyer, designer for project leader Robert Woods, was impressed by the power of this weapon and pressed for its incorporation. This was unusual, because fighter design had previously driven by the intended engine. Although devastating when it worked, the T9 had very limited ammunition, a low rate of fire, a secondary benefit of the mid-engine arrangement was that it created a smooth and streamlined nose profile. Much was made of the fact that this resulted in a configuration “with as trim, entry to the cockpit was through side doors rather than a sliding canopy. There were no problems with propeller shaft failure, the XP-39 made its maiden flight on 6 April 1938. At Wright Field, Ohio, achieving 390 mph at 20,000 ft, however, the XP-39 was found to be short on performance at altitude. Flight testing had found its top speed at 20,000 feet to be lower than the 400 mph claimed in the original proposal, as originally specified by Kelsey and Saville, the XP-39 had a turbo-supercharger to augment its high-altitude performance. Bell cooled the turbo with a scoop on the side of the fuselage. Kelsey wished to shepherd the XP-39 through its early engineering teething troubles, the XP-39 project was handed over to others, and in June 1939 the prototype was ordered by General Henry H. Arnold to be evaluated in NACA wind tunnels to find ways of increasing its speed, tests were carried out, and Bell engineers followed the recommendations of NACA and the Army to reduce drag such that the top speed was increased 16%
28.
French protectorate in Morocco
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The French Protectorate in Morocco, Arabic, حماية فرنسا في المغرب Ḥimāyat Faransā fi-l-Maḡrib) was established by the Treaty of Fez. It existed from 1912, when a protectorate was established, until independence. However, in the part of the 19th century Morocco’s weakness and instability invited European intervention to protect threatened investments. The first years of the 20th century witnessed a rush of diplomatic maneuvering through which the European powers, French activity in Morocco began during the end of the 19th century. France and Spain secretly partitioned the territory of the sultanate, with Spain receiving concessions in the far north and south of the country. The First Moroccan Crisis grew out of the rivalries of the great powers, in this case. Germany took immediate action to block the new accord from going into effect. Although the Algeciras Conference temporarily solved the First Moroccan Crisis it only worsened international tensions between the Triple Alliance and the Triple Entente, in 1911, a rebellion broke out in Morocco against the Sultan, Abdelhafid. By early April 1911, the Sultan was besieged in his palace in Fez, the French dispatched a flying column at the end of April 1911 and Germany gave approval for the occupation of the city. Moroccan forces besieged the French-occupied city, approximately one month later, French forces brought the siege to an end. On 5 June 1911 the Spanish occupied Larache and Ksar-el-Kebir, on 1 July 1911 the German gunboat Panther arrived at the port of Agadir. There was a reaction from the French, supported by the British. France officially established a protectorate over Morocco with the Treaty of Fez, from a strictly legal point of view, the treaty did not deprive Morocco of its status as a sovereign state. The Sultan reigned but did not rule, Sultan Abdelhafid abdicated in favor of his brother Yusef after signing the treaty. On April 17,1912, Moroccan infantrymen mutinied in the French garrison in Fez, in late May 1912, Moroccan forces again unsuccessfully attacked the enhanced French garrison at Fez. First, the protectorate was established two years before the outbreak of World War I, which brought with it a new attitude toward colonial rule. Second, Morocco had a tradition of independence, though it had been strongly influenced by the civilization of Muslim Iberia. These circumstances and the proximity of Morocco to Spain created a relationship between the two countries
29.
Spanish protectorate in Morocco
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The Spanish protectorate in Morocco was established on 27 November 1912 by a treaty between France and Spain that converted the Spanish sphere of influence in Morocco into a formal protectorate. The Spanish protectorate consisted of a strip on the Mediterranean and the Strait of Gibraltar. The northern zone was retroceded to an independent Morocco on 7 April 1956, Spain finally ceded her southern zone through the Treaty of Angra de Cintra around Cintra Bay on 1 April 1958, only after the short Ifni War. The city of Tangiers was excluded of the Spanish protectorate and received an special internationally controled status, since France already held a protectorate over the entire country and controlled Moroccos foreign affairs, it also held the power to delegate a zone to Spanish protection. The surface area of the zone was about 20,948 km2, in a convention dated 27 June 1900, France and Spain agreed to recognize separate zones of influence in Morocco, but did not specify their boundaries. In 1902, France offered Spain all of Morocco north of the Sebu River and south of the Sous River, in regard to these interests the French Government will come to an understanding with the Spanish Government. The agreement which may be come to on the subject between France and Spain shall be communicated to His Britannic Majestys Government. The British goal in negotiations with France was to ensure that a weaker power held the strategic coast opposite Gibraltar in return for Britain ceding all interest in Morocco. France began negotiating with Spain at once, but the offer of 1902 was no longer on the table, since France had given up her ambitions in Ottoman Libya in a convention with Italy in 1903, she felt entitled to a greater share of Morocco. On 3 October 1904, France and Spain concluded a treaty that defined their precise zones, Spain received a zone of influence consisting of a northern strip of territory and a southern strip. The northern strip did not reach to the border of French Algeria, nor did it include Tangier, the treaty also recognized the Spanish enclave of Ifni and delimited its borders. In March 1905, the German kaiser, Wilhelm II, visited Tangier, there he loudly touted Germanys economic interests in Morocco and assured the sultan of financial assistance in the event of a threat to Moroccan independence. At Wilhelms urging, Sultan Abd el Aziz called for an international conference, the final Spanish zone of influence consisted of a northern strip and a southern strip centred on Cape Juby. The consideration of the strip as part of the protectorate back in 1912 eventually gave Morocco a solid legal claim to the territory in the 1950s. The Protectorate system was established in 1912, the Islamic legal system of qadis was formally maintained. The Spanish lost more than 13,000 soldiers at Annual in July–August 1921, controversy in Spain over the early conduct in the war was a driving factor behind the military coup by General Miguel Primo de Rivera in 1923 which foreshadowed the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39. After the successful 1925 Alhucemas landing, the French–Spanish alliance ended up achieving victory, before 1934, the southern part of the protectorate was governed from Cape Juby since 1912, Cape Juby was also head of the Spanish West Africa. The Spanish Civil War started in 1936 with the partially successful coup against the Republican Government
30.
Allied invasion of Sicily
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The Allied invasion of Sicily, codenamed Operation Husky, was a major campaign of World War II, in which the Allies took the island of Sicily from the Axis powers. It was an amphibious and airborne operation, followed by a six-week land campaign and was the beginning of the Italian Campaign. Husky began on the night of 9/10 July 1943, and ended on 17 August, the Italian leader, Benito Mussolini, was toppled from power in Italy and the way was opened for the Allied invasion of Italy. The German leader, Adolf Hitler, canceled a major offensive at Kursk after only a week, in part to divert forces to Italy, resulting in a reduction of German strength on the Eastern Front. The plan for Operation Husky called for the assault of Sicily by two Allied armies, one landing on the south-eastern and one on the central southern coast. The amphibious assaults were to be supported by gunfire, as well as tactical bombing, interdiction. As such, the operation required a complex structure, incorporating land, naval. The overall commander was American General Dwight D. Eisenhower, as Commander-in-Chief of all the Allied forces in North Africa, British General Sir Harold Alexander acted as his second-in-command and as the 15th Army Group commander. The American Major General Walter Bedell Smith was appointed as Eisenhowers Chief of Staff, the overall Naval Force Commander was the British Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham. The Allied land forces were from the American, British and Canadian armies, the Eastern Task Force was led by General Sir Bernard Montgomery and consisted of the British Eighth Army. The Western Task Force was commanded by Lieutenant General George S. Patton, the two task force commanders reported to Alexander as commander of the 15th Army Group. Seventh Army consisted initially of three divisions, organized under II Corps, commanded by Lieutenant General Omar Bradley. Middleton, sailed from the United States via Oran in Algeria, the 2nd Armored Division, under Major General Hugh Joseph Gaffey, also sailing from Oran, was to be a floating reserve and be fed into combat as required. On 15 July, Patton reorganized his command into two corps by creating a new Provisional Corps headquarters, commanded by his deputy army commander, Major General Geoffrey Keyes. The two divisions of XIII Corps, the 5th and 50th Infantry Divisions, commanded by Major-Generals Horatio Berney-Ficklin and Sidney Kirkman and this request was granted by the British, displacing the veteran British 3rd Infantry Division. The Red Patch Division was added to Leeses XXX Corps to become part of the British Eighth Army, in addition to the amphibious landings, airborne troops were to be flown in to support both the Western and Eastern Task Forces. To the east, the British 1st Airborne Division, commanded by Major-General George F. Hopkinson, was to seize vital bridges and high ground in support of the British Eighth Army. The initial plan dictated that the U. S. 82nd Airborne Division, Allied naval forces were also grouped into two task forces to transport and support the invading armies
31.
Operation Dragoon
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Operation Dragoon was the code name for the Allied invasion of Southern France on 15 August 1944. By July 1944 the landing was reconsidered, as the ports in Normandy did not have the capacity to adequately supply the Allied forces. Concurrently, the French High Command pushed for a revival of the operation that would include large numbers of French troops, as a result, the operation was finally approved in July to be executed in August. The goal of the operation was to secure the ports on the French Mediterranean coast. After some preliminary commando operations, the US VI Corps landed on the beaches of the Côte dAzur under the shield of a naval task force. Hindered by total Allied air superiority and an uprising by the French Resistance. The Germans decided to withdraw towards the north through the Rhône valley, Allied mobile units were able to overtake the Germans and partially block their route at the town of Montélimar. The ensuing battle led to a stalemate, with neither able to achieve a decisive breakthrough, until the Germans were finally able to complete their withdrawal. While the Germans were retreating, the French managed to capture the important ports of Marseille and Toulon, the Germans were not able to hold Dijon and ordered a complete withdrawal from Southern France. Army Group G retreated further north, pursued by Allied forces, the fighting ultimately came to a stop at the Vosges mountains, where Army Group G was finally able to establish a stable defense line. After meeting with the Allied units from Operation Overlord, the Allied forces were in need of reorganizing and, facing stiffened German resistance, Operation Dragoon was considered a success by the Allies. The captured French ports were put into operation, allowing the Allies to solve their supply problems soon after, during planning stages, the 1942 operation was known as Anvil, to complement Operation Sledgehammer, at that time the code name for the invasion of Normandy. Subsequently, both plans were renamed, Sledgehammer becoming Operation Overlord, and Anvil becoming Operation Dragoon, the original idea of an invasion of Southern France had come from General George Marshall, the U. S. Army Chief of Staff already in 1942. Operation Dragoon was controversial from the time it was first proposed, the American military leadership and its British counterparts disagreed on the operation. When first planned, the landings were to take place simultaneously – Overlord in Normandy and it soon became clear that a dual landing was impossible to conduct with the available forces. The expansion of Overlord from a three- to a five-division front required many additional LSTs, at the same time, another Allied amphibious landing in Italy at Anzio had gone badly. All of these resulted in the postponing of Anvil by the Allies, after the landing at Normandy, a revival of Anvil became increasingly attractive to the Allied planners. These factors led to a reconsideration of the plan, despite Churchills objections, the operation was authorized by the Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff on 14 July and then renamed Dragoon on 1 August
32.
Victory in Europe Day
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It thus marked the end of World War II in Europe. The term VE Day existed as early as September 1944, in anticipation of victory, on 30 April 1945, Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader, committed suicide during the Battle of Berlin. Germanys surrender, therefore, was authorised by his successor, Reichspräsident Karl Dönitz, the administration headed by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg Government. The act of surrender was signed on 7 May in Reims, France and on 8 May in Berlin. The former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc countries have historically celebrated the end of World War II on 9 May, however, the Baltic countries now commemorate VE day on 8 May. In Ukraine from 2015,8 May was designated as a day of Remembrance and Reconciliation, upon the defeat of Germany, celebrations erupted throughout the world. From Moscow to Los Angeles, people celebrated, in the United Kingdom, more than one million people celebrated in the streets to mark the end of the European part of the war. Princess Elizabeth and her sister Princess Margaret were allowed to wander incognito among the crowds, in the United States, the victory happened on President Harry Trumans 61st birthday. He dedicated the victory to the memory of his predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, flags remained at half-staff for the remainder of the 30-day mourning period. Truman said of dedicating the victory to Roosevelts memory and keeping the flags at half-staff that his wish was that Franklin D. Roosevelt had lived to witness this day. Later that day, Truman said that the victory made it his most enjoyable birthday, massive celebrations also took place in Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami and especially in New Yorks Times Square. As the Soviet representative in Reims had no authority to sign the German instrument of surrender, the surrender ceremony was repeated in Berlin on 8 May, where the instrument of surrender was signed by supreme German military commander Wilhelm Keitel, by Georgy Zhukov and Allied representatives. East Germany as Tag der Befreiung, a holiday from 1950 to 1966. Between 1975 and 1990, as Tag des Sieges, France as Victoire 1945 Slovakia as Deň víťazstva nad fašizmom Czech Republic as Den vítězství or Den osvobození Poland as Narodowy Dzień Zwycięstwa – National Victory Day. Norway as Frigjøringsdagen Ukraine День памяті та примирення Ukraine День перемоги над нацизмом у Другій світовій війні — from 2015
33.
Service star
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The service star may also be referred to as a campaign star or battle star depending on which award is authorized the star and the manner in which the device is used for the award. Service stars, Campaign stars, and Battle stars are worn with one point of the star pointing up on the ribbon of a medal. A silver star is worn instead of five bronze stars, a service star is sometimes mistaken for a Bronze Star or Silver Star. The service star is similar to the gold and silver 5⁄16 Inch Stars which may be authorized to be worn on specific individual decorations of certain services to denote additional decorations. Service stars are authorized for the following United States expeditionary medals, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Navy Expeditionary Medal, Service stars are also authorized for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal effective February 9,2015 retroactive to September,11,2001. Each star represents a deployment in support of an approved GWOT operation, only one GWOT-EM is awarded for each operation. The five GWOT-EM approved operations by inclusive dates are, Enduring Freedom,11,2001 - TBD Iraqi Freedom, Mar.19,2003 - Aug.31, 2010Nomad Shadow, Nov.05,2007 - TBD New Dawn, Sep. 01,2010 - Dec.31,2011 Inherent Resolve, the bronze service star is also authorized for certain unit awards such as the Presidential Unit Citation to denote a second and subsequent award. The service ribbon itself indicates the first award, with a service star being added to indicate the second. If ever applicable, a service star is worn instead of five bronze stars. As a result, at least one star will be worn on the ribbon. However, though authorized for wear, no battle stars have been approved for wear, only a combatant commander can initiate a request for a battle star. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is the approving authority, only one award of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and one award of the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal may be authorized for any individual. The specific manner of wear and symbolism of the stars varied from medal to medal, for example, an American Campaign Medal with a bronze service star indicated the service member had participated in an antisubmarine campaign. On other medals, bronze service stars were used on the service ribbon for those recipients of medals in possession of authorized campaign claps for those medals. Similarly, during the Vietnam War and afterwards, the Battle Effectiveness Award took the place of receiving battle stars for superior battle efficiency in place of combat operations. Awards and decorations of the United States military United States military award devices 5/16 inch star Oak leaf cluster United States award regulations for World War II
34.
Distinguished Unit Citation
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The unit with the most Presidential Unit Citations is the USS Parche with 9 citations. The Army citation was established by Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, superseded by Executive Order 9396 on Dec.2,1943, as with other Army unit citations, the PUC is in a larger frame than other ribbons, and is worn above the right pocket. All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they participated in the acts for which the unit was cited. Only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award, for both the Army and Air Force, the emblem is a solid blue ribbon enclosed in a gold frame. The Air Force PUC was adopted from the Army Distinguished Unit Citation after the Air Force became a military branch in 1947. By Executive Order 10694, dated Jan,10,1957 the Air Force redesignated the Distinguished Unit Citation as the Presidential Unit Citation. The Air Force PUC is the color and design as the Army PUC but slightly smaller. The Citation is carried on the units colors in the form of a blue streamer,4 ft long and 2.75 in wide. For the Army, only on rare occasions will a larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration. The Navy citation was established by Executive Order 9050 on 6 February 1942, the Navy version has blue, yellow, and red horizontal stripes, and is the only Navy ribbon having horizontal stripes. These are only worn by persons who meet the criteria at the time it is awarded to the unit, unlike the Army, those who later join the unit do not wear it on a temporary basis. The current decoration is known as the Department of Homeland Security Presidential Unit Citation. A Coast Guard version of the award was awarded to all U. S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel responding to Hurricane Katrina by President George W. Bush for rescue, the United States Public Health Service Presidential Citation was established in 2015. The design was finalized by the Army Institute of Heraldry on 17 August 2015, two units of the Free French Forces were awarded Presidential Unit Citations during World War II. On April 22,1986, the 1st Fighter Group Força Aérea Brasileira was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in the Po Valley region of Italy in World War II. The Brazilians, operating in Italy in support of Allied forces, destroyed in one day over 45 vehicles, strafed pontoon bridges on the River Po, eleven missions of 44 sorties were flown destroying nine motor transports and damaging 17. One Belgian-Luxembourgian battalion of the Belgian United Nations Command was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation once for actions during the Battle of the Imjin River, the Colombia Battalion received the citation while attached to the American 21st Infantry Regiment in 1951. One Dutch unit, the Netherlands Detachment United Nations, part of the Regiment Van Heutsz, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation twice for actions during the Korean War, the first citation was awarded after the battle near Wonju and Hoengson in February 1951
35.
181st Fighter Squadron
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The 181st Airlift Squadron is a unit of the 136th Airlift Wing of the Texas Air National Guard stationed at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. The 181st is equipped with the Lockheed C-130H Hercules, the squadron was first activated during World War II as the 395th Fighter Squadron. It served in the European Theater of Operations as a bomber unit, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation. After the war it became part of the forces in Germany until it was inactivated in August 1946. The squadron was allotted to the United States National Guard as the 181st Fighter Squadron and was activated in 1947, the squadron was first activated in June 1943 as the 395th Fighter Squadron, a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron. It trained under I Fighter Command on Long Island, New York, the 395th moved to England, arriving in January 1944. The unit began operations with IX Fighter Command on 14 March and it supported the landings in Normandy in June 1944 and began operations from the Continent later the same month. It operated with the Allied forces that pushed across the Rhine, during its operations the squadron earned a Distinguished Unit Citation and was cited twice in the Order of the day of the Belgian Army, earning the Belgian Fourragère. After V-E Day, the served with the occupation forces. It was inactivated in Germany on 20 August 1946 and its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 82d Fighter Squadron, the wartime 395th Fighter Squadron was redesignated the 181st Fighter Squadron and allotted to the National Guard the day after it was inactivated in Germany. It was organized at Love Field, Dallas, Texas and was extended federal recognition on 27 February 1947. The squadron was assigned to its World War II headquarters, which had also assigned to the National Guard as the 136th Fighter Group. The mission of the squadron was to train for air defense, the 181st Fighter Squadron remained in the Texas Air National Guard and was assigned directly to its headquarters. The 181st was re-equipped with the Very Long Range F-51H Mustang, the F-51H would allow the squadron to intercept any unidentified aircraft over any part of Texas. In September 1952, the became the 181st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron With the 136th Fighter-Bomber Groups release from active duty in July 1952. It became the 181st Fighter-Bomber Squadron the following January, despite this name change, the squadron remained focused on the air defense mission. It wasnt until January 1955 that the received its first jets. In July it was redesignated the 181st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, the 181st was selected by ADC to man an alert program on an around the clock basis, with armed fighters ready to scramble at a moments notice
36.
Dallas Love Field
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Dallas Love Field is a city-owned public airport 6 miles northwest of downtown Dallas, Texas. It was Dallas main airport until 1974 when Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport opened, the corporate headquarters for Southwest Airlines is located at Love Field. The airport is also a city for Southwest as well as for Virgin America. Seven full-service fixed-base operators provide general aviation service, fuel, maintenance, hangar rentals, some also provide meeting rooms, car rentals, limousine service and restaurants. His Wright Model C biplane crashed during practice for his Military Aviator Test, Love Field was named by the United States Army on October 19,1917. The airfield was one of thirty-two new Air Service fields and it was constructed just southeast of Bachman Lake, and it covered over 700 acres and could accommodate up to 1,000 personnel. Dozens of wooden buildings served as headquarters, maintenance, and officers’ quarters, enlisted men had to bivouac in tents. Love Field served as a base for training for the United States Army Air Service. In 1917, flight training occurred in two phases, primary and advanced, primary training took eight weeks and consisted of pilots learning basic flight skills under dual and solo instruction. After completion of their training at Love Field, flight cadets were then transferred to another base for advanced training. After officially opening on October 19,1917, the first unit stationed at Love Field was the 136th Aero Squadron, which was transferred from Kelly Field, south of San Antonio, Texas. Only a few U. S. Army Air Service aircraft arrived with the 136th Aero Squadron and it was assigned to the Aviation Repair Depot, Dallas Texas in April 1918. It was demobilized in March 1919, with the sudden end of World War I in November 1918, the future operational status of Love Field was unknown. Many local officials speculated that the U. S. government would keep the open because of the outstanding combat record established by Love-trained pilots in Europe. Locals also pointed to the weather conditions in the Dallas area for flight training. Cadets in flight training on November 11,1918, were allowed to complete their training, however, also the separate training squadrons were consolidated into a single Flying School detachment, as many of the personnel assigned were being demobilized. In what was called the largest recruiting mission in the spring and summer of 1919, clagett began with seven DH-4s departing Dallas and flying as far as Boston. A small caretaker unit was assigned to the facility for administrative reasons, in January 1921, 1st Lt William D
37.
182d Fighter Squadron
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The 182d Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Texas Air National Guard 149th Fighter Wing located at Kelly Field Annex, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. The 115th is equipped with the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon, established in mid-1943 as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron, trained under I Fighter Command on Long Island and Massachusetts. Moved to England, arriving in January 1944, began operations with IX Fighter Command on 14 March and flew a fighter sweep over the English Channel coast of France. Made strafing and bombing attacks on airfields, rail and highway bridges, trains, vehicles, flak positions, supported the landings in Normandy early in June 1944 and began operations from the Continent later the same month. Operated with the Allied forces that pushed across the Rhine and into Germany, after V-E Day, served with the army of occupation, being assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. Inactivated in Germany on 20 August 1946, the wartime 396th Fighter Squadron was re-designated as the 182d Fighter Squadron, and was allotted to the Texas Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946. It was organized at the Brooks Army Airfield and was extended federal recognition on 27 January 1947 by the National Guard Bureau, the 182d Fighter Squadron was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, and colors of the 396th Fighter Squadron. The squadron was assigned to the Texas Air National Guard 136th Fighter Group and was equipped with F-51D Mustangs, the mission of the squadron was the air defense of Texas. As a result of the Korean War, the Texas Air National Guard was federalized and placed on active-duty status on 10 October 1950, being assigned to Ninth Air Force, Tactical Air Command. TAC ordered the 136th Fighter Group to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where the unit was re-designated to a Fighter-Bomber unit, at Langley, the 136th Fighter-Bomber Wing consisted of the following units, 111th Fighter-Bomber Squadron 182d Fighter-Bomber Squadron 154th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. At Langley AFB, the 136th trained with their F-51D Mustangs, unfortunately losing two 111th FBS pilots in a training accident on 15 December. A third pilot was killed on 27 January 1951 in another accident, in February 1951, the aged F-51Ds that the unit had been flying since its activation in 1947 were replaced by F-84E Thunderjets, and the squadron began transition training on the jet fighter-bomber. Most of the training place at Langley, although some pilots were sent to Shaw AFB. Maintenance crews, all new to jet aircraft, were trained at Langley, assigned to the Arkansas ANG 154th FBS at the time was a Navy exchange pilot, future NASA astronaut Lieutenant Walter Schirra. The 136th replaced the Strategic Air Command 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, which had deployed to Far East Air Force in the days of the Korean War. At Itazuke, the took over the F-84Es of the 27th FEW. On 2 June, the elements of the 136th arrived in Japan, the national guardsmen officially relieved the 27th Fighter Bomber Wing. The 136th was the first Air National Guard wing in history to enter combat, two other 111th FBS pilots, 1st Lt John Morse and John Marlins scored probables in the same encounter
38.
Brooks Air Force Base
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Brooks Air Force Base was a United States Air Force facility, located in San Antonio, Texas. It was closed on 30 September 2011, in 2002 Brooks Air Force Base was renamed Brooks City-Base when the property was conveyed to the Brooks Development Authority as part of a unique project between local, state, and federal government. The Brooks Development Authority is now the owner and operator of the property, and is redeveloping it as a science, business, the Air Force was the largest tenant at Brooks City-Base. Flying at Brooks, however predates its establishment, as the facility was known as Gosport Field prior to the first Army airplanes arriving on 5 December 1917. He was awarded his wings and commission posthumously, the history of Brooks Air Force Base parallels the history of military aviation and aviation medicine in the United States. After the United States entered World War I, in April 1917, San Antonio was chosen for a year-round training site due to its favorable climate, good water supply and convenient transportation facilities. The Chamber of Commerce assembled an 873-acre tract southeast of the city near Bergs Mill, the site was originally called Gosport Field, a name derived from the flight instruction system used at the new base. On 5 December 1917, the Army named the site Kelly Field No,5, and on 8 December, ground breaking ceremonies were held. The first aircraft flown from the new Brooks Field 28 March 1918, was a Curtiss JN-4D Jenny of World War I fame, Brooks Field, contained the principal flight instructors school. Brooks Field was used as the Air Service Flight Instructors School and it was a six-week course, with a maximum student capacity of 300. During its first year of operation, Brooks Field consisted of 16 hangars with extensive support facilities, of these early buildings, Hangar 9, now the Edward H. White, II Memorial, is the only structure still in existence. A huge 91, 000-square-foot airship hangar was constructed, the Primary Flying School operated between September 1922 through July 1931. The school took about six months initially, with advanced training later divided into three months each of basic and advanced instruction, the dual trainer initially used was the Curtiss JN-6H. Brooks later accepted other planes, including Vought VE-7 Bluebirds and Dayton-Wright TA-3s, for evaluation, the beginning class in March of that year was the first without Jennies. Students now flew in the new Consolidated PT-1, with tandem seats, a few National Guard officers went to Brooks Field in January 1923 for pilot instruction. World War I flyers underwent refresher training while others took the regular course, eight of the ten officers entering graduated to become junior airplane pilots. The Air Service suggested, and the Militia Bureau adopted, a policy of giving men flying training before commissioning them in the Guard, during the 1920s, the Primary Flying School at Brooks expanded but still could not accommodate all primary students. Needing another school, the Air Corps reopened March Field, California, reorganizing pilot training, the Air Corps created a Training Center at San Antonio with Brig. Gen. Frank P. Lahm in charge
39.
Ninth Air Force
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The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces Air Combat Command. It has been headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, from 1990, units were deployed to the Middle East against Iraq, and from 2001 against threats emanating from Afghanistan. In this role, the organization was known as United States Air Forces Central, until August 2009, the Ninth Air Force shared its commander with USAFCENT. S. This article deals with the current organization, as the lineage of the organization currently belongs to USAFCENT. This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, archives of the Ninth Air Force Association Digital Collection at The University of Akron Archival Services Ninth Air Force Association
40.
Tactical Air Command
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Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 1 June 1992 and its personnel and equipment absorbed by Air Combat Command. Tactical Air Command was established to provide a balance between strategic, air defense, and tactical forces of the post–World War II U. S. Army Air Forces followed by, in 1947, the U. S. Air Force. In 1948, the Continental Air Command assumed control over air defense, tactical air, after two years in a subordinate role, Tactical Air Command was established as a major command. World War II showed the effectiveness of air power in supporting army ground forces. However, the demobilization in late 1945 meant that the huge air armada that had brought Germany to her knees. Following the end of World War II, Headquarters United States Army Air Forces had little funding and most wartime personnel had been released from active duty and returned to civilian life. Many USAAF aircraft were being sent to storage or scrapyards, although the tension with the Soviet Union meant that combat military air forces were still needed. The big questions were how large and what kind of forces, a major realignment of the USAAF was undertaken in early 1946. As part of the realignment, three major divisions within the Continental United States were formed, Strategic Air Command, Tactical Air Command. Each was given a specific responsibility, using assets prescribed to accomplish the assigned mission, Tactical Air Command was formed to command, organize, equip, train and administer assigned or attached forces. It was to plan for and participate in tactics for fighter, light bombardment and these included tactical fighters, tactical bombers, tactical missiles, troop carrier aircraft, assault, reconnaissance, and support units. TAC also planned for and developed the capability to deploy tactical striking forces anywhere in the world, during its existence, Tactical Air Command deployed personnel, material and/or aircraft to Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia in support of its prescribed mission. TACs original authorization was 25,500 officers and enlisted men, aircraft assets available consisted of propeller-driven North American P-51 Mustangs, Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and a handful of the new jet-powered Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars. TAC was also given control of the Third Air Force, Ninth Air Force, on 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force was established as a separate military force, with TAC as one of its major commands. At the time, there was only one U. S. Air Forces in Europe tactical air unit available in Europe, TAC was called upon to send additional units and aircraft to Europe to reinforce the 86 FG. The 36th Fighter Group, flying Lockheed F-80B Shooting Stars, was transferred from Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone to Furstenfeldbruck Air Base near Munich. In addition to fighter aircraft, TAC also deployed available C-47 Skytrain transports to Europe, transferring them to USAFE
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Langley Air Force Base
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Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located adjacent to Hampton and Newport News, Virginia. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1917, on 1 October 2010, Langley Air Force Base was joined with Fort Eustis to become Joint Base Langley–Eustis. The base was established in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the 2005 Base Realignment, the Air Force mission at Langley is to sustain the ability for fast global deployment and air superiority for the United States or allied armed forces. It was used during World War I as a field, balloon station, observers’ school, photography school, experimental engineering department. It is situated on 3,152 acres of land between the cities of Hampton, NASA LaRC, and the northwest and southwest branches of the Back River, airPower over Hampton Roads is a recurring airshow held at Langley in the spring. Many demonstrations take place, including the F-22 Raptor Demonstration, Aerobatics, and parachute demos. The Wing is composed of the units worldwide, 480th ISR Group, Fort Gordon, Ga. 497th ISR Group, Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Va. 548th ISR Group, Beale Air Force Base. Langley also hosts the Global Cyberspace Integration Center field operating agency, Langley is also home to the F-22 Raptor Demo Team. This team, who travel all over the world performing different maneuvers used in air combat, is used to recruit for the United States Air Force. Performing at airshows and other events, the squadron is the only demonstration team to use the F-22 Raptor. Langley Field was named after Samuel Pierpont Langley, an aerodynamic pioneer, Langley began aerodynamic experiments in 1887 and formed a basis for practical pioneer aviation. He built and saw the first steam model airplane in 1896, both planes were believed to be capable of flight. He also built the first man-carrying gasoline airplane in 1903, which failed to fly on its first attempt and broke apart and crashed on its second. It was, after major modification eleven years later, flown successfully by Glenn Curtiss for a little over 3 seconds, traveling 150 feet through the air in 1914. Langley Field was the first Air Service base built especially for air power, is the oldest continually active air base in the world. In 1916, the National Advisory Council for Aeronautics, predecessor to NASA, established the need for a joint airfield and proving ground for Army, Navy and NACA aircraft. NACA determined that the site must be near water for over-water flying, be flat and relatively clear for expansion and the landing and take-off of aircraft, the Army appointed a board of officers who searched for a location. The officers sometimes posed as hunters and fishermen to avoid land speculation which would arise if the governments interest in purchasing land was revealed
42.
182d Fighter-Bomber Squadron
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The 182d Fighter Squadron is a unit of the Texas Air National Guard 149th Fighter Wing located at Kelly Field Annex, Joint Base San Antonio, Texas. The 115th is equipped with the F-16C/D Fighting Falcon, established in mid-1943 as a P-47 Thunderbolt fighter squadron, trained under I Fighter Command on Long Island and Massachusetts. Moved to England, arriving in January 1944, began operations with IX Fighter Command on 14 March and flew a fighter sweep over the English Channel coast of France. Made strafing and bombing attacks on airfields, rail and highway bridges, trains, vehicles, flak positions, supported the landings in Normandy early in June 1944 and began operations from the Continent later the same month. Operated with the Allied forces that pushed across the Rhine and into Germany, after V-E Day, served with the army of occupation, being assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. Inactivated in Germany on 20 August 1946, the wartime 396th Fighter Squadron was re-designated as the 182d Fighter Squadron, and was allotted to the Texas Air National Guard, on 24 May 1946. It was organized at the Brooks Army Airfield and was extended federal recognition on 27 January 1947 by the National Guard Bureau, the 182d Fighter Squadron was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, and colors of the 396th Fighter Squadron. The squadron was assigned to the Texas Air National Guard 136th Fighter Group and was equipped with F-51D Mustangs, the mission of the squadron was the air defense of Texas. As a result of the Korean War, the Texas Air National Guard was federalized and placed on active-duty status on 10 October 1950, being assigned to Ninth Air Force, Tactical Air Command. TAC ordered the 136th Fighter Group to Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where the unit was re-designated to a Fighter-Bomber unit, at Langley, the 136th Fighter-Bomber Wing consisted of the following units, 111th Fighter-Bomber Squadron 182d Fighter-Bomber Squadron 154th Fighter-Bomber Squadron. At Langley AFB, the 136th trained with their F-51D Mustangs, unfortunately losing two 111th FBS pilots in a training accident on 15 December. A third pilot was killed on 27 January 1951 in another accident, in February 1951, the aged F-51Ds that the unit had been flying since its activation in 1947 were replaced by F-84E Thunderjets, and the squadron began transition training on the jet fighter-bomber. Most of the training place at Langley, although some pilots were sent to Shaw AFB. Maintenance crews, all new to jet aircraft, were trained at Langley, assigned to the Arkansas ANG 154th FBS at the time was a Navy exchange pilot, future NASA astronaut Lieutenant Walter Schirra. The 136th replaced the Strategic Air Command 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, which had deployed to Far East Air Force in the days of the Korean War. At Itazuke, the took over the F-84Es of the 27th FEW. On 2 June, the elements of the 136th arrived in Japan, the national guardsmen officially relieved the 27th Fighter Bomber Wing. The 136th was the first Air National Guard wing in history to enter combat, two other 111th FBS pilots, 1st Lt John Morse and John Marlins scored probables in the same encounter
43.
154th Training Squadron
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The 154th Training Squadron is a unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard 189th Airlift Wing. It is assigned to Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas and is equipped with the C-130H Hercules aircraft, the squadron is a descendant organization of the World War I 154th Aero Squadron, established on 8 December 1917. The 154th Training Squadron is one of the most highly decorated Air National Guard units in the nation, the unit is currently converting to C-130H aircraft modified under the C-130 Avionics Modernization Program. Additionally, the school is one of two flight engineer schools to provide entry-level flight engineer training for Air Force flight engineers. The 154th Training Squadron traces its origins to the 154th Aero Squadron, organized at Kelly Field, Texas, the squadron was formed with 150 men collected from thirty-two states in every region of the nation. After a week at Kelly Field, the men were moved to Scott Field, Illinois, at Scott, the men were instructed in drill and guard duty. Many personnel transfers happened at Scott with about 76 men transferred to other squadrons, on 26 January, the squadron was ordered for overseas duty, and was moved to the Aviation Concentration Center, Garden City, Long Island. It arrived on 29 January 1918 at Mineola Field, where it was prepared and equipped for overseas duty, the squadron was quarantined for several weeks at Mineola due to a rash of measles. However, on 16 February, the squadron was ordered to report to the New York Port of Embarkation at Hoboken, New Jersey, to board the former Cunard Liner RMS Carmania and sailed immediately. The voyage across the Atlantic was uneventful and it arrived at Liverpool, England, in England, the squadron moved to the American Rest Camp at Romsey, near Winchester, arriving there the same date. The squadron was the first American unit assigned to part of England. It was assigned to the RFC-34 Wing, and the men were assigned to duty and training in the hangars and various schools of instruction. At the end of two months training, the 154th was in control of two full Flights, consisting of about 24 airplanes, Sopwith Camels, Pups and Avroes. On 16 August, the squadron was split up into several Flights for final training at advanced bases in England, there, orders were received for transfer to France. On 12 September the squadron proceeded to Le Havre, France and it then moved to the Replacement Concentration Center, AEF, St. Maixent Replacement Barracks, France, arriving on 17 September 1918. On 25 September the 154th was ordered to report to the Commander, Air Service Acceptance Park No.1 at Orly Aerodrome, Versailles, France for temporary duty and to await orders for the Front. However, due to the sudden and unforeseen developments in the war situation, while at Orly, the men were assigned to several departments, owing to their trades learned while on duty in England. On 24 December, the 154th was ordered to demobilize and moved to the Base Port at St. Nazarine for immediate transport back to the United States
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Arkansas ANG
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The Arkansas Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Arkansas, United States of America. It is, along with the Arkansas Army National Guard, an element of the Arkansas National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Arkansas Air National Guard are not typically in the normal United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Arkansas through the office of the Arkansas Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Arkansas Air National Guard is headquartered at North Little Rock, under the Total Force concept, Arkansas Air National Guard units are an Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Arkansas ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. The unit operates the C-130 Tactical Airlift Instructor School, where instructors are trained to they can return to their units. The Arkansas Air National Guard origins date to 28 August 1917 with the establishment of the 154th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I American Expeditionary Force, the 154th served in France on the Western Front, then after the 1918 Armistice with Germany was demobilized in 1919. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units. The unit was reorganized with the establishment of a permanent air service in 1920 as the 154th Observation Squadron on 24 October 1925 and it is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. The 154th Observation Squadron was activated for one year of training on 16 September 1940, the unit completed its one-year training and returned to state control, but was recalled to active duty on 7 December 1941 as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. These unit designations were allotted and transferred to various State National Guard bureaus to provide them unit designations to re-establish them as Air National Guard units, the modern Arkansas ANG received federal recognition on 27 May 1946 as the 154th Fighter Squadron at Adams Field, Little Rock. It was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of the state, on 2 October 1950, the 154th Fighter Squadron, along with detachment B, 237th Air Services Group and the 154th Utility Flight reported to active duty for service in Korea. The unit went to Langley Air Force Base, VA where it was re-equipped with the F-84E fighter, the 154th flew its first combat sortie 2 May 1951. Initially operating out of Itaeke, Japan the unit moved to Taegu. The 154th returned to Arkansas and was relieved from active duty 1 July 1952, on 22 August 1962, the 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 188th Tactical Reconnaissance Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 184th TRS becoming the flying squadron
45.
Republic F-84 Thunderjet
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The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces proposal for a day fighter, the aircraft was not considered fully operational until the 1949 F-84D model and the design matured only with the definitive F-84G introduced in 1951. In 1954, the straight-wing Thunderjet was joined by the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak fighter, the Thunderjet became the USAFs primary strike aircraft during the Korean War, flying 86,408 sorties and destroying 60% of all ground targets in the war as well as eight Soviet-built MiG fighters. Over half of the 7,524 F-84s produced served with NATO nations, the USAF Strategic Air Command had F-84 Thunderjets in service from 1948 through 1957. The F-84 was the first production aircraft to utilize inflight refueling and the first fighter capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. The F-84 nomenclature can be somewhat confusing, the straight-wing F-84A to F-84E and F-84G models were called the Thunderjet. The F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash were different airplanes with swept wings, the XF-84H Thunderscreech was an experimental turboprop version of the F-84F. The F-84F swept wing version was intended to be a variation of the normal Thunderjet with only a few different parts. Production delays on the F-84F resulted in order of the straight-wing version. In 1944, Republic Aviations chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, began working on a replacement for the P-47 Thunderbolt piston-engined fighter. The initial attempts to redesign the P-47 to accommodate a jet engine proved futile due to the large cross-section of the centrifugal compressor turbojets. Instead, Kartveli and his team designed a new aircraft with a streamlined fuselage largely occupied by an axial compressor turbojet engine, in addition, the new aircraft had to use the General Electric TG-180 axial turbojet which entered production as the Allison J35. On 11 November 1944, Republic received an order for three prototypes of the new XP-84—Model AP-23, the name Thunderjet was chosen to continue the Republic Aviation tradition started with the P-47 Thunderbolt while emphasizing the new method of propulsion. On 4 January 1945, even before the aircraft took to the air, meanwhile, wind tunnel testing by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics revealed longitudinal instability and stabilizer skin buckling at high speeds. The weight of the aircraft, a concern given the low thrust of early turbojets, was growing so quickly that the USAAF had to set a gross weight limit of 13,400 lb. The results of preliminary testing were incorporated into the third prototype, designated XP-84A. The first prototype XP-84 was transferred to Muroc Army Air Field where it flew for the first time on 28 February 1946 with Major Wallace A and it was joined by the second prototype in August, both aircraft flying with J35-GE-7 engines producing 3,745 lbf. In particular, the impact of wingtip tanks on aircraft handling was not thoroughly studied, after the creation of the United States Air Force by the National Security Act of 1947, the Pursuit designation was replaced with Fighter, and the P-84 became the F-84
46.
Shaw Air Force Base
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Shaw Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 8.4 miles west-northwest of downtown Sumter, South Carolina. It is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command, the United States Air Force 20th Fighter Wing is the host unit. It is one of the largest military bases operated by the United States, the Shaw line was constructed in 1941 to bring in materials for base development, and has two GE 80-ton locomotives,1644 and 1671. The base is named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lieutenant Ervin David Shaw, Lieutenant Shaw was one of the first Americans to fly combat missions in World War I. Shaw, a Sumter County native, was assigned to the Royal Air Force 48 Squadron, Shaw died after three enemy aircraft attacked his Bristol F. 2B while he was returning from a reconnaissance mission on 9 July 1918. Lt. Shaw downed one of his attackers before he was killed, Shaw Field was activated on 30 August 1941 and placed under the jurisdiction of the Army Air Corps Southeast Air Corps Training Center. The mission of the new airfield was a flying school to instruct air cadets in flying. The airfield consisted of three 4, 500-foot runways and several auxiliary airfields, enough construction was completed for the first group of cadets entered training December 15,1941, and the first class completed training in February 1942. The concrete parking ramp was completed during May 1942, in October 1942, the flight training was changed to Advanced flying training and AT-6 Texan single-engine and Beech AT-10 twin-engine trainers were used. On 1 April 1945 jurisdiction of Shaw Field was transferred to First Air Force, the 139th Army Air Force Base Unit, I Fighter Command became the host unit. And pilots were sent to Shaw for fighter training in Republic P-47 Thunderbolt single-engined fighters. For a brief time, Shaw Field also served as a prisoner-of-war camp, the first group of German POWs arrived on 1 March 1945. Eventually,175 of them lived in an encampment just off the base, on Peach Orchard Road across from Shaws hospital gate. They departed in the months of 1946 for the rebuilding of European cities. Those prisoners were repatriated to Germany around 1947, with some returning to the Shaw and Sumter area. Shaw Army Airfield was designated a permanent Army Air Forces installation after the war, after a period of reorganization, jurisdiction was transferred to Air Defense Command on 1 March 1946. From July 1946 until May 1947 Shaw was the home of the 414th and 415th Night Fighter Squadrons, the squadrons flew the P-61 Black Widow in Europe with Ninth Air Force during World War II, and were reassigned back to the United States after the end of hostilities. The 414th was transferred to Caribbean Air Force at Rio Hato AB, the 415th was reassigned to Alaska Air Command at Adak Island, Alaska in May 1947 also to perform an air defense mission, over the Aleutian Islands and the territorial waters of western Alaska
47.
NASA
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President Dwight D. Eisenhower established NASA in 1958 with a distinctly civilian orientation encouraging peaceful applications in space science. The National Aeronautics and Space Act was passed on July 29,1958, disestablishing NASAs predecessor, the new agency became operational on October 1,1958. Since that time, most US space exploration efforts have led by NASA, including the Apollo Moon landing missions, the Skylab space station. Currently, NASA is supporting the International Space Station and is overseeing the development of the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, the agency is also responsible for the Launch Services Program which provides oversight of launch operations and countdown management for unmanned NASA launches. NASA shares data with various national and international such as from the Greenhouse Gases Observing Satellite. Since 2011, NASA has been criticized for low cost efficiency, from 1946, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics had been experimenting with rocket planes such as the supersonic Bell X-1. In the early 1950s, there was challenge to launch a satellite for the International Geophysical Year. An effort for this was the American Project Vanguard, after the Soviet launch of the worlds first artificial satellite on October 4,1957, the attention of the United States turned toward its own fledgling space efforts. This led to an agreement that a new federal agency based on NACA was needed to conduct all non-military activity in space. The Advanced Research Projects Agency was created in February 1958 to develop technology for military application. On July 29,1958, Eisenhower signed the National Aeronautics and Space Act, a NASA seal was approved by President Eisenhower in 1959. Elements of the Army Ballistic Missile Agency and the United States Naval Research Laboratory were incorporated into NASA, earlier research efforts within the US Air Force and many of ARPAs early space programs were also transferred to NASA. In December 1958, NASA gained control of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, NASA has conducted many manned and unmanned spaceflight programs throughout its history. Some missions include both manned and unmanned aspects, such as the Galileo probe, which was deployed by astronauts in Earth orbit before being sent unmanned to Jupiter, the experimental rocket-powered aircraft programs started by NACA were extended by NASA as support for manned spaceflight. This was followed by a space capsule program, and in turn by a two-man capsule program. This goal was met in 1969 by the Apollo program, however, reduction of the perceived threat and changing political priorities almost immediately caused the termination of most of these plans. NASA turned its attention to an Apollo-derived temporary space laboratory, to date, NASA has launched a total of 166 manned space missions on rockets, and thirteen X-15 rocket flights above the USAF definition of spaceflight altitude,260,000 feet. The X-15 was an NACA experimental rocket-powered hypersonic research aircraft, developed in conjunction with the US Air Force, the design featured a slender fuselage with fairings along the side containing fuel and early computerized control systems
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Wally Schirra
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He flew the six-orbit, nine-hour Mercury-Atlas 8 mission on October 3,1962, becoming the fifth American, and the ninth human, to ride a rocket into space. In the two-man Gemini program, he achieved the first space rendezvous, in October 1968, he commanded Apollo 7, an 11-day low Earth orbit shakedown test of the three-man Apollo Command/Service Module. He was the first person to go into three times, and the only person to have flown in Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo. He retired from the U. S. Navy at the rank of Captain and from NASA after his Apollo flight and he joined Walter Cronkite as co-anchor for the seven Moon landing missions. Schirra died at the age of 84 on May 3,2007 of an attack while undergoing treatment for abdominal cancer. Schirra was born in Hackensack, New Jersey, on March 12,1923, Schirras father, Walter M. Schirra Sr. who was born in Philadelphia, joined the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War I, and flew bombing and reconnaissance missions over Germany. After the war he barnstormed at county fairs around New Jersey, Schirras mother, Florence Shillito Schirra, went along on her husbands barnstorming tours and performed wing walking stunts. By the time he was 15, Wally was flying his fathers airplane and his hobbies were skiing, hunting, sailing, and fishing. Schirra was a Boy Scout and earned the rank of First Class in Troop 36 in Oradell, Schirra attended elementary school in Oradell, graduating in 1936, and graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in Englewood, New Jersey in 1940. He attended the Newark College of Engineering, where he was a member of Sigma Pi fraternity and he was later appointed to the United States Naval Academy, and graduated with the accelerated Class of 1946 with a Bachelor of Science degree in 1945. He married the former Josephine Cook Jo Fraser of Seattle, Washington on February 23,1946 and they had two children, Walter M. Schirra, III, born June 23,1950 and Suzanne, born September 29,1957. Jo Schirra died April 27,2015 and he attended the United States Naval Academy from 1942 until graduation in 1945 when he was commissioned as an ensign in the United States Navy on June 6,1945. Schirra served during the months of World War II aboard the large battlecruiser USS Alaska. After the war ended, he trained as a Naval Aviator at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, received his wings in 1948 and he was the second Navy pilot to log 1,000 hours in jet aircraft. Upon the outbreak of the Korean War, Schirra was dispatched to South Korea as a pilot on loan to the U. S. Air Force. He served as a leader with the 136th Fighter Bomber Wing. He flew 90 combat missions between 1951 and 1952, mostly in F-84 Thunderjet, Schirra was credited with downing one MiG-15 and damaging two others. Schirra received the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal with an oak leaf cluster for his service in Korea, after his tour in Korea, Schirra served as a test pilot
United States
Texas
Air National Guard
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This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
