1.
Air Force One
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Air Force One is the official air traffic control call sign for a United States Air Force aircraft carrying the President of the United States. In common parlance the term describes those Air Force aircraft designed, built, the presidential aircraft is a prominent symbol of the American presidency and its power. A C-87 Liberator Express was reconfigured for use as a presidential transport, a number of aircraft types have been used as Air Force One since the creation of the presidential fleet, starting with two Lockheed Constellations in the late 1950s, Columbine II and Columbine III. The Air Force plans to procure the Boeing 747-8 for the version of Air Force One. On 11 October 1910, Theodore Roosevelt became the first U. S. president to fly in an aircraft, however, he was no longer in office at the time, having been succeeded by William Howard Taft. The record-making occasion was a brief overflight of the crowd at a county fair but was nonetheless the beginning of air travel. Prior to World War II, overseas and cross-country presidential travel was rare, the lack of wireless telecommunication and available modes of transportation made long-distance travel impractical, as it took much time and isolated the president from events in Washington, D. C. Railroads were a safer and more reliable if the president needed to travel to distant states. By the late 1930s, with the arrival of such as the Douglas DC-3. All-metal aircraft, more engines, and new radio aids to navigation had made commercial airline travel safer. Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first president to fly in an aircraft while in office, the Dolphin was modified with luxury upholstery for four passengers and a small separate sleeping compartment. The aircraft remained in service as a transport from 1933 until 1939. There are no reports, however, on whether the president actually flew in the aircraft. During World War II, Roosevelt traveled on the Dixie Clipper, a Pan Am-crewed Boeing 314 flying boat to the 1943 Casablanca Conference in Morocco, the threat from the German submarines throughout the Battle of the Atlantic made air travel the preferred method of VIP transatlantic transportation. Concerned about relying upon commercial airlines to transport the president, USAAF leaders ordered the conversion of an aircraft to accommodate the special needs of the Commander-in-Chief. The first dedicated aircraft proposed for use was a C-87A VIP transport aircraft. This aircraft, number 41-24159, was re-modified in 1943 for use as a presidential VIP transport, had it been accepted, it would have been the first aircraft to be used in presidential service, in effect the first Air Force One. However, after a review of the C-87s highly controversial safety record in service, the Guess Where II was used to transport senior members of the Roosevelt administration on various trips
2.
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
3.
Military Air Transport Service
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The Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and it was inactivated and discontinued on 8 January 1966 when the Air Force and Navy set up separate strategic airlift commands. In 1982, the World War II Air Transport Command and the Military Air Transport Service were consolidated with Military Airlift Command, the Military Air Transport Service was activated under United States Air Force Major General Laurence S. Kuter, in order to harness interservice efforts more efficiently. It was an amalgamation of Navy and Army air transport commands, MATS was the first Joint-Service command and Naval aircrews participated in every major MATS airlift operation. During the Berlin Airlift, Naval aviators flew transport aircraft from the United States to European supply depots, in the Korean War, in its original organization, a Rear Admiral commanded the MATS Pacific Division and another rear admiral served as MATS vice-commander. During the 1958 reorganization, senior Naval officers were on the staffs of the commanders of both EASTAF and WESTAF, and at MATS Headquarters. In 1965 conflicting views of the Air Force and Navy triggered by the demands of the Vietnam War led to the returning to separate airlift commands. In turn, MATS was disbanded and superseded in the Air Force by the Military Airlift Command, with the end of World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command found itself in limbo. Senior ATC officers, on the hand, thought that ATC should be developed into a national government operated airline. While the war had firmly established the necessity of a troop carrier mission, when the United States Air Force was established as a separate service in 1947, the Air Transport Command was not established as one of its major commands. The ATC commander and his staff took it upon themselves to convince the new leadership of the newly created Department of Defense that ATC had a mission. Williams had been pressing for the development of a troop carrier airplane when he made his statement. Also, as a measure, MATS would combine the resources of Air Transport Command with those of the Naval Air Transport Service. This way the command would be sanctioned by the Department of Defense, although MATS was under the operational control of the United States Air Force, the United States Navy was a full partner in the command and operational components of the organization. Major naval components of MATS were naval air transport squadrons, vR-3 and VR-6 were assigned to McGuire AFB and VR-22 was assigned to the Naval Air Transport Station at Naval Station Norfolk/Chambers Field, Virginia. Together they constituted MATS EASTAFs Naval Air Transport Wing, Atlantic, on the Pacific Coast, Naval Air Transport Wing, Pacific, consisted of Air Transport Squadron VR-7 and Maintenance Squadron VR-8, both at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California. A detachment of VR-7 was also stationed at Tachikawa Air Base, Naval aviators flew scheduled MATS routes to Newfoundland, Iceland, Scotland, West Germany, Italy, Puerto Rico and Africa. In the Pacific, MATS naval aviators flew to all MATS stations from Hawaii to Japan to South Vietnam, Bangkok, India, Air Force pilots flew Navy MATS planes, just as naval aviators could be found piloting Air Force MATS transport aircraft
4.
Andrews Air Force Base
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Andrews Field is the airfield portion of Joint Base Andrews which is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force. In 2009, Andrews Air Force Base merged with Naval Air Facility Washington to form Joint Base Andrews, Andrews is the home base of two Boeing VC-25A aircraft with the call sign Air Force One when the president is on board, that serve the President of the United States. The host unit at Andrews is the 11th Wing, assigned to the Air Force District of Washington, the wing commander is Colonel Kenneth R. Rizer. The Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Anthony Brinkley, for statistical purposes the base is delineated as a census-designated place by the U. S. Census Bureau. As of the 2010 census, the resident population was 2,973, union American Civil War troops used a country church near Camp Springs, Maryland for sleeping quarters and on 25 August 1941, President Roosevelt directed use of the land for an airfield. Camp Springs Air Base was designated on 5 September 1942, Camp Springs Army Air Base opened on 2 May 1943, and the airfield became operational 2 May 1943 when the first Republic P-47 Thunderbolts arrived. After the 367th Fighter Squadron was stationed at Camp Springs on 21 April 1943, the airfield had 5,500 feet runways by 1944 when the 90th Fighter Control Squadron was formed, and the last Camp Springs combat units departed for World War II combat on 10 April 1944. Camp Springs was expanded to become the headquarters of Continental Air Forces —the 161st AAF Base Unit became the Andrews Field operating unit on 16 April 1945. Andrews Field was named on 7 February 1945 in honor of Lt Gen. Frank Andrews and in 1946, strategic Air Command headquarters transferred from Bolling Field to Andrews. The command of CONAFs Radar Bomb Scoring detachments transferred to Andrews on 17 March 1946 when the 263 AAF BU was assigned to Carswell AFB). Andrews transferred from the Army to the 1947 United States Air Force and Headquarters Command held command reins at Andrews from 1947 through 1952, Headquarters Military Air Transport Service controlled the base during the interim period. The year 1947 marked the arrival of the first permanently assigned jet-powered aircraft, the long-lived and versatile training version of the F-80, the T-33, still played an important role in proficiency flying programs at Andrews more than 30 years later. Andrews Air Force Base was designated on 24 June 1948, and in June 1950, HQ Air Research and Development Command moved to Andrews from Baltimore,24 June 1958. Andrews air defense role was strengthened in the 1950s with the latest in fighter-interceptor hardware appearing on the flight line, f-94 Starfires, F-102 Delta Daggers and finally, F-106 Delta Darts formed the backbone of the three fighter interceptor squadrons which operated from the base until 1963. In the late 1950s Andrews began an open house and air show on base. This event later evolved into the Department of Defense Joint Services Open House, the open house is held every year over Armed Forces Day weekend. In the years since 1959, Andrews flight operations and importance have increased greatly, in 1961, the last of the Military Air Transport Services flying units at Washington National Airport transferred to Andrews. This was followed a year later by the transfer to Andrews of all fixed-wing flying activities from Bolling Air Force Base, Andrews has become firmly established as the main port of entry for foreign military and government officials en route to Washington and the United States
5.
Air Transport Command
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Air Transport Command was a United States Air Force unit that was created during World War II as the strategic airlift component of the United States Army Air Forces. ATC also operated an air transportation system for military personnel. Inactivated on 1 June 1948, Air Transport Command was the precursor to what became the Military Air Transport Service in 1948 and was redesignated Military Airlift Command in 1966. It was consolidated with MAC in 1982, providing a history of long range airlift through 1992 when the mission was transferred to todays Air Mobility Command. By no means least among the achievements of the Army Air Forces in World War II was its development of a system of air transport. That system, and its functions, soon became synonymous with the organization which controlled it, railroads was used to move the equipment and aircraft from one base to another and to the Ports of Embarkation along the East Coast for subsequent sea shipment to the battlefields of France. It wasnt until the 1920s that the development of cargo and personnel transport aircraft began with such as the Boeing Model 40. In the early 1930s, the Air Corps began formally experimenting with the use of air transport for the distribution of aviation supplies. The group, redesignated the 10th Transport Group in 1937, also transported supplies from one depot to another, with the outbreak of war in Europe in 1939, several European governments approached the United States for military equipment. They needed immediate help for the battles they might soon have to fight on their own soil against invading German armies. The French ordered Douglas DB-7 two-engine light bombers, Curtiss P-36 Hawks, the idea of developing a regular military service for ferrying aircraft was the result of several factors. Production of aircraft by United States manufacturers was increasing for both the Army Air Corps and for purchase by the British, as produced and ready for delivery at the factory, these aircraft were flyable but also needed modifications before they were ready for combat service. It was advantageous to fly the aircraft to a modification center where changes could be made. By ferrying these bombers under their own power, vital shipping space was saved, however, the British Government had limited funds, and was rapidly running out of resources for the purchase of war materiel of all types from the United States. In the spring of 1941, the Roosevelt Administration was committed to all possible help, short of actual combat, to the United Kingdom. With that clear intention, the doors were opened for larger numbers of aircraft to be sent to the Royal Air Force to defend Great Britain and it was also clear that the pioneering efforts of the British would have to be expanded to accommodate the increased number of aircraft. These shipments to the British caused a shortage in the United States of multi-engine aircraft in particular, Air Corps units were in need of training in long-range navigation, weather and radio-flying that a coast-to-coast ferrying service would give them in the latest models of aircraft. This would make possible the ferrying of medium and light bombers across the North Atlantic Ocean, the British ferrying service was well under way when the Lend-Lease Act became law on 11 March 1941
6.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
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Franklin Delano Roosevelt, commonly known as FDR, was an American statesman and political leader who served as the 32nd President of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. A Democrat, he won a record four presidential elections and emerged as a figure in world events during the mid-20th century. He directed the United States government during most of the Great Depression and he is often rated by scholars as one of the three greatest U. S. Presidents, along with George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Roosevelt was born in 1882 to an old, prominent Dutch family from Dutchess County and he attended the elite educational institutions of Groton School, Harvard College, and Columbia Law School. At age 23 in 1905, he married Eleanor Roosevelt, and he entered politics in 1910, serving in the New York State Senate, and then as Assistant Secretary of the Navy under President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920, Roosevelt was presidential candidate James M. Coxs running mate and he was in office from 1929 to 1933 and served as a reform governor, promoting the enactment of programs to combat the depression besetting the United States at the time. In the 1932 presidential election, Roosevelt defeated incumbent Republican president Herbert Hoover in a landslide to win the presidency, Roosevelt took office while in the United States was in the midst of the worst economic crisis in its history. Energized by his victory over polio, FDR relied on his persistent optimism and activism to renew the national spirit. He created numerous programs to support the unemployed and farmers, and to labor union growth while more closely regulating business. His support for the repeal of Prohibition in 1933 added to his popularity, the economy improved rapidly from 1933–37, but then relapsed into a deep recession in 1937–38. The bipartisan Conservative Coalition that formed in 1937 prevented his packing the Supreme Court, when the war began and unemployment ended, conservatives in Congress repealed the two major relief programs, the WPA and CCC. However, they kept most of the regulations on business, along with several smaller programs, major surviving programs include the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Wagner Act, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and Social Security. His goal was to make America the Arsenal of Democracy, which would supply munitions to the Allies, in March 1941, Roosevelt, with Congressional approval, provided Lend-Lease aid to Britain and China. He supervised the mobilization of the U. S. economy to support the war effort, as an active military leader, Roosevelt implemented a war strategy on two fronts that ended in the defeat of the Axis Powers and initiate the development of the worlds first atomic bomb. His work also influenced the creation of the United Nations. Roosevelts physical health declined during the war years, and he died 11 weeks into his fourth term. One of the oldest Dutch families in New York State, the Roosevelts distinguished themselves in other than politics. One ancestor, Isaac Roosevelt, had served with the New York militia during the American Revolution, Roosevelt attended events of the New York society Sons of the American Revolution, and joined the organization while he was president
7.
Harry S. Truman
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Harry S. Truman was an American politician who served as the 33rd President of the United States, assuming the office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt during the waning months of World War II. In domestic affairs, he was a moderate Democrat whose liberal proposals were a continuation of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal, but the conservative-dominated Congress blocked most of them. He also used weapons to end World War II, desegregated the U. S. armed forces, supported a newly independent Israel. Truman was born in Lamar, Missouri, and spent most of his youth on his familys 600-acre farm near Independence, in the last months of World War I, he served in combat in France as an artillery officer with his National Guard unit. After the war, he owned a haberdashery in Kansas City, Missouri, and joined the Democratic Party. Truman was first elected to office as a county official in 1922. After serving as a United States Senator from Missouri and briefly as Vice President, he succeeded to the presidency on April 12,1945, upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Germany surrendered on Trumans 61st birthday, just a few weeks after he assumed the presidency, but the war with Imperial Japan raged on and was expected to last at least another year. Although this decision and the issues that arose as a result of it remain the subject of debate to this day. Truman presided over a surge in economic prosperity as America sought readjustment after long years of depression. His presidency was a point in foreign affairs, as the United States engaged in an internationalist foreign policy. Truman helped found the United Nations in 1945, issued the Truman Doctrine in 1947 to contain Communism and his political coalition was based on the white South, labor unions, farmers, ethnic groups, and traditional Democrats across the North. Truman was able to rally groups of supporters during the 1948 presidential election. The Soviet Union became an enemy in the Cold War, Truman oversaw the Berlin Airlift of 1948 and the creation of NATO in 1949, but was unable to stop Communists from taking over China. When communist North Korea invaded South Korea in 1950, he sent U. S. troops, after initial successes in Korea, however, the UN forces were thrown back by Chinese intervention, and the conflict was stalemated throughout the final years of Trumans presidency. Scholars, starting in 1962, ranked Trumans presidency as near great, Harry S. Truman was born on May 8,1884, in Lamar, Missouri, the oldest child of John Anderson Truman and Martha Ellen Young Truman. His parents chose the name Harry after his mothers brother, Harrison Harry Young, while the S did not stand for any one name, it was chosen as his middle initial to honor both of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young. The initial has been written and printed followed by a period
8.
Yalta Conference
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The conference convened in the Livadia Palace near Yalta in Crimea, USSR. The goal of conference was to shape a post-war peace that represented not just a collective security order, the meeting was intended mainly to discuss the re-establishment of the nations of war-torn Europe. Within a few years, with the Cold War dividing the continent, to a degree, it has remained controversial. Yalta was the second of three wartime conferences among the Big Three and it had been preceded by the Tehran Conference in 1943, and was followed by the Potsdam Conference in July 1945, which was attended by Stalin, Churchill and Harry S. Truman, Roosevelts successor. All three leaders were attempting to establish an agenda for governing post-war Germany and they wanted to keep peace between post-world war countries. On the Eastern Front, the front line at the end of December 1943 remained in the Soviet Union but, by August 1944, Soviet forces were inside Poland, by the time of the Conference, Red Army Marshal Georgy Zhukovs forces were 65 km from Berlin. Stalins position at the conference was one which he felt was so strong that he could dictate terms. According to U. S. delegation member and future Secretary of State James F. Byrnes, t was not a question of what we would let the Russians do, moreover, Roosevelt hoped for a commitment from Stalin to participate in the United Nations. Stalin, insisting that his doctors opposed any long trips, rejected Roosevelts suggestion to meet at the Mediterranean and he offered instead to meet at the Black Sea resort of Yalta, in the Crimea. Stalins fear of flying also was a factor in this decision. Each leader had an agenda for the Yalta Conference, Roosevelt wanted Soviet support in the U. S, Poland was the first item on the Soviet agenda. Stalin stated that For the Soviet government, the question of Poland was one of honor, in addition, Stalin stated regarding history that because the Russians had greatly sinned against Poland, the Soviet government was trying to atone for those sins. Stalin concluded that Poland must be strong and that the Soviet Union is interested in the creation of a mighty, free, Roosevelt wanted the USSR to enter the Pacific War with the Allies. Stalin agreed that the Soviet Union would enter the Pacific War three months after the defeat of Germany, Stalin pledged to Truman to keep the nationality of the Korean Peninsula intact as Soviet Union entered the war against Japan. At the time, the Red Army had occupied Poland completely, the Declaration of Liberated Europe did little to dispel the sphere of influence agreements that had been incorporated into armistice agreements. They also agreed to give France a zone of occupation, carved out of the U. S. also, the Big Three agreed that all original governments would be restored to the invaded countries and that all civilians would be repatriated. The Declaration of Liberated Europe is a declaration that was created by Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and it was a promise that allowed the people of Europe to create democratic institutions of their own choice. The declaration pledged, the earliest possible establishment through free elections governments responsive to the will of the people and this is similar to the statements of the Atlantic Charter, which says, the right of all people to choose the form of government under which they will live
9.
Douglas MacArthur
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Douglas MacArthur was an American five-star general and field marshal of the Philippine Army. He was Chief of Staff of the United States Army during the 1930s and he received the Medal of Honor for his service in the Philippines Campaign, which made him and his father Arthur MacArthur, Jr. the first father and son to be awarded the medal. He was one of five men ever to rise to the rank of General of the Army in the US Army. During the 1914 United States occupation of Veracruz, he conducted a reconnaissance mission, in 1917, he was promoted from major to colonel and became chief of staff of the 42nd Division. From 1919 to 1922, MacArthur served as Superintendent of the U. S, Military Academy at West Point, where he attempted a series of reforms. His next assignment was in the Philippines, where in 1924 he was instrumental in quelling the Philippine Scout Mutiny, in 1925, he became the Armys youngest major general. He served on the martial of Brigadier General Billy Mitchell and was president of the American Olympic Committee during the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. In 1930, he became Chief of Staff of the United States Army, as such, he was involved in the expulsion of the Bonus Army protesters from Washington, D. C. in 1932, and the establishment and organization of the Civilian Conservation Corps. He retired from the US Army in 1937 to become Military Advisor to the Commonwealth Government of the Philippines, MacArthur was recalled to active duty in 1941 as commander of United States Army Forces in the Far East. A series of disasters followed, starting with the destruction of his air forces on 8 December 1941, MacArthurs forces were soon compelled to withdraw to Bataan, where they held out until May 1942. In March 1942, MacArthur, his family and his staff left nearby Corregidor Island in PT boats and escaped to Australia, upon his arrival in Australia, MacArthur gave a speech in which he famously promised I shall return to the Philippines. For his defense of the Philippines, MacArthur was awarded the Medal of Honor, after more than two years of fighting in the Pacific, he fulfilled a promise to return to the Philippines. He officially accepted Japans surrender on 2 September 1945, aboard USS Missouri anchored in Tokyo Bay, as the effective ruler of Japan, he oversaw sweeping economic, political and social changes. He led the United Nations Command in the Korean War until he was removed from command by President Harry S. Truman on 11 April 1951 and he later became Chairman of the Board of Remington Rand. A military brat, Douglas MacArthur was born 26 January 1880, at Little Rock Barracks, Little Rock, Arkansas, to Arthur MacArthur, Jr. a U. S. Army captain, Pinkney came from a prominent Norfolk, Virginia, family. Two of her brothers had fought for the South in the Civil War, Arthur and Pinky had three sons, of whom Douglas was the youngest, following Arthur III, born on 1 August 1876, and Malcolm, born on 17 October 1878. The family lived on a succession of Army posts in the American Old West, conditions were primitive, and Malcolm died of measles in 1883. In his memoir, Reminiscences, MacArthur wrote I learned to ride and shoot even before I could read or write—indeed and this time on the frontier ended in July 1889 when the family moved to Washington, D. C. where Douglas attended the Force Public School
10.
Bolling Air Force Base
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Bolling Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base in Washington, D. C. In 2010 it was merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling, bollings property has been a Department of Defense asset since 1917. From its beginning, the installation has included the Army Air Corps and Navy aviation, the tract of land selected for the base was scouted by William C. Ocker at the direction of General Billy Mitchell, the base began near Anacostia in 1918, as the only military airfield near the United States Capitol and was originally named The Flying Field at Anacostia on 2 October 1917. It was renamed Anacostia Experimental Flying Field in June 1918, not long after its acquisition by the military, the single installation evolved into two separate, adjoining bases, one Army and one Navy. Bolling Field was officially opened 1 July 1918 and was named in honor of the first high-ranking air service officer killed in World War I, Colonel Raynal C. In the late 1940s, Bolling Fields property became Naval Air Station Anacostia, Bolling AFB has served as a research and testing ground for new aviation equipment and its first mission provided aerial defense of the capital. It moved to its present location, along the Potomac in the citys southwest quadrant, over the years, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and National Guard units, as well as DOD and federal agencies also found the installation to be an ideal place from which to operate. In 1918, pilots from the installation were dispatched by President Woodrow Wilson to create the first permanent airmail route from Washington, Navy seaplanes were first tested and Air Force aerial refueling techniques were developed by installation-based personnel and military commands. Following its successful flight in 1927, Charles Lindberghs Spirit of St. Louis returned to the installation. Soon after, the aircraft was utilized for Lindberghs goodwill flight to Mexico, Air Force Lt. Col. Henry Hap Arnold led a bomber flight from Bolling Field on a 4, 000-mile journey to Alaska in 1934, to demonstrate the capabilities of long-range strategic bombing missions. Throughout World War II, the served as a training and organizational base for personnel. It also served as the gateway to the nations capital. The Air Force’s first headquarters was established at the installation, as Army Air Forces Headquarters in 1941 and, with the creation of the United States Air Force, Air Force Headquarters in 1947. The Sacred Cow, President Harry Trumans initial official aircraft and Franklin Roosevelts only official aircraft and this aircraft was the predecessor to Air Force One and was used for both presidential and VIP support missions. President Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947, which created the United States Air Force, in 1962, fixed-wing aircraft operations at the air force and naval installations ceased, due to congested airspace around Washington National Airport on the opposite shore of the Potomac River
11.
Bell H-13 Sioux
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The Bell H-13 Sioux was a two-bladed, single engine, light helicopter built by Bell Helicopter. Westland Aircraft manufactured the Sioux under license for the British military as the Sioux AH.1, in 1947, the United States Army Air Forces ordered the improved Bell Model 47A. Most were designated YR-13 and three winterized versions were designated YR-13A, the United States Army first ordered Bell 47s in 1948 under the designation H-13. These would later receive the name Sioux, initially, the United States Navy procured several Bell 47s, designated HTL-1, between 1947 and 1958. The United States Coast Guard evaluated this model, and procured two HTL-1s for multi-mission support in the New York Harbor, the most common U. S. Navy version of the 47 was designated the HTL-4, and dispenses with the fabric covering on the tail boom. The U. S. Coast Guard procured three HTL-5s in 1952 and used these until 1960, the Coast Guard procured two of Bells Model 47G and designated them HUL-1G in 1959. The H-13 was used as an observation helicopter early in the Vietnam War, the Bell 47 was ordered by the British Army as the Sioux to meet specification H.240, with licensed production by Westland Helicopters. The first contract was for 200 helicopters, the first 50 helicopters of the contract were built by Agusta at Gallarate in Italy followed by 150 built by Westland at Yeovil. The first Westland Sioux made its flight on 9 March 1965. The Sioux is an observation and basic training helicopter. In 1953 the Bell 47G design was introduced and it can be recognized by the full soap bubble canopy, exposed welded-tube tail boom, saddle fuel tanks and skid landing gear. In its UH-13J version, based on the Bell 47J, it had a tail boom and fuselage. The H-13 and its variants were often equipped with medical evacuation panniers, one to each skid. A single 260 hp Lycoming VO-435 piston engine was fitted to the 47G variant, fuel was fed from two high-mounted external tanks. A single two-bladed rotor with short inertial stabilising minor blades was used on the Sioux, yR-13/HTL-128 Bell 47A helicopters procured by the United States Army Air Forces for evaluation. The YR-13 was powered by a 175 hp Franklin O-335-1 piston engine,10 of the aircraft were evaluated by the U. S. Navy as trainers. YR-13A3 YR-13 aircraft winterized for cold-weather testing in Alaska, HTL-2 US Navy equivalent of the commercial Model 47D. HTL-3 US Navy equivalent of the commercial Model 47E, powered by a 200 hp Franklin 6V4-200-C32 engine, H-13B65 aircraft ordered in 1948 by the U. S. Army
12.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
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This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.