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.
Vermont
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Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It borders the other U. S. states of Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York to the west, and the Canadian province of Quebec to the north. Lake Champlain forms half of Vermonts western border with the state of New York, Vermont is the 2nd-least populous of the U. S. states, with nearly 50,000 more residents than Wyoming. The capital is Montpelier, the least populous state capital in the U. S, the most populous municipality, Burlington, is the least populous city in the U. S. to be the most populous within a state. As of 2015, Vermont continued to be the producer of maple syrup in the U. S. It was ranked as the safest state in the country in January 2016, for thousands of years inhabited by indigenous peoples, including the Algonquian-speaking Abenaki and Mohawk, much of the territory that is now Vermont was claimed by Frances colony of New France. France ceded the territory to Great Britain after being defeated in 1763 in the Seven Years War, for many years, the nearby colonies, especially the provinces of New Hampshire and New York, disputed control of the area. Settlers who held land titles granted by New York were opposed by the Green Mountain Boys militia, ultimately, those settlers prevailed in creating an independent state, the Vermont Republic. Founded in 1777 during the American Revolutionary War, the republic lasted for 14 years, aside from the original 13 states that were formerly colonies, Vermont is one of only four U. S. states that were previously sovereign states. Vermont was also the first state to join the U. S. as its 14th member state after the original 13, while still an independent republic, Vermont was the first of any future U. S. state to partially abolish slavery. It played an important geographic role in the Underground Railroad, sights in Vermont Vermont is located in the New England region of the northeastern United States and comprises 9,614 square miles, making it the 45th-largest state. It is the state that does not have any buildings taller than 124 feet. Land comprises 9,250 square miles and water comprises 365 square miles, making it the 43rd-largest in land area, in total area, it is larger than El Salvador and smaller than Haiti. The west bank of the Connecticut River marks the eastern border with New Hampshire. 41% of Vermonts land area is part of the Connecticut Rivers watershed, Lake Champlain, the major lake in Vermont, is the sixth-largest body of fresh water in the United States and separates Vermont from New York in the northwest portion of the state. From north to south, Vermont is 159 miles long and its greatest width, from east to west, is 89 miles at the Canada–U. S. Border, the narrowest width is 37 miles at the Massachusetts line, the states geographic center is approximately three miles east of Roxbury, in Washington County. There are fifteen U. S. federal border crossings between Vermont and Canada, the origin of the name Vermont is uncertain, but likely comes from the French les Verts Monts, meaning the Green Mountains
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.
Vermont Air National Guard
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The Vermont Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Vermont, United States of America. It is, along with the Vermont Army National Guard, an element of the Vermont National Guard, the 158th Fighter Wing is its sole unit. It is under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Vermont through the office of the Vermont Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States, the Vermont Air National Guard is headquartered at Burlington Air National Guard Base. Under the Total Force concept, Vermont Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force, Vermont ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally 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. 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 Vermont Air National Guard origins date to the formation of the 134th Fighter Squadron at Burlington International Airport and it was equipped with F-47D Thunderbolts. and its mission was the air defense of the state. It was assigned directly to the Vermont Air National Guard until the Massachusetts ANG 67th Fighter Wing, was federally recognized on 15 October 1946. The 67th Fighter Wing was the first ANG command and control organization in New England, on 4 April 1947, it was transferred to the Maine ANG 101st Fighter Group. Its mission was expanded to include the air defense of New England, the squadron was then attached to the Air Defense Command 23d Fighter-Interceptor Wing at Presque Isle AFB, Maine on 1 April 1951 with no change of mission. It was reassigned to the 4711th Defense Wing on 6 February 1952 at Presque Isle AFB and it was released from active duty and returned to control of State of Vermont on 1 November 1952. On 1 May 1956 the 134th was authorized to expand to a level, and the 158th Fighter Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. Circa 1992, in line with an Air Force-wide redesignation, the wing became simply the 158th Fighter Wing, from 1989 to 1997 the wing had aircraft on 5-minute alert, seven days a week,24 hours a day. After the September 11th,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, also, Vermont ANG units have been deployed overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq as well as other locations as directed. The 158th currently flies the F-16 Falcon, which are nearing the end of their service lives. Burlington Air Guard Station is expected to receive 18 F-35As, replacing the 18 F-16 fighting Falcons currently assigned to the 158th Fighter Wing, the F-35A is expected to arrive in 2020. Vermont State Guard Vermont Wing Civil Air Patrol This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/
5.
Burlington International Airport
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Burlington International Airport is a joint-use civil-military airport in Chittenden County, Vermont, United States. It is owned by the city of Burlington, Vermont, the airport is located in South Burlington, three nautical miles east of the central business district of Burlington. As per Federal Aviation Administration records, the airport had 640,790 passenger boardings in calendar year 2010 and this airport is included in the FAAs National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, which categorized it as a primary commercial service airport. The airport serves as the base of the 158th Fighter Wing, Vermont Air National Guard, on Saturday, August 14,1920, the first aircraft landed at what became the Burlington Municipal Airport. It had been a 72 acres cornfield, Airport developers took a lease on the land for one year for $100. On May 22,1934, at the airport, Amelia Earhart was presented with the keys to the city of Burlington. With the onset of the Second World War, the United States government created a Defense Zone extending inland 150 miles from the coastline, where private aircraft were restricted from operating. Due to increased demand, the Burlington Municipal Airport was noted as being the busiest airport in the world on both August 14,1942 and February 11,1943, with 662 and 793 landings respectively, in 1970, Mohawk Airlines introduced the first jet service to the airport. On May 11,1971 Burlington voters approved a $1.25 Million bond for a new 40 and this terminal opened October 7,1973. From 2000 to 2008, the experienced a increase in growth. Since 2000, $24 million in renovations and expansion has been invested at Burlington, the airport set a local record in July 2008 when 79,154 passengers flew from Burlington, the first time the figure has crossed 70,000. BTV enplaned over 759,000 people in 2008, a 7. 3% increase from 2007, Burlington International Airport serves its metropolitan area, which contained over 206,000 residents as of 2006 U. S. Census estimates. Due to the small size of the market, airlines mostly fly regional airliners on their Burlington routes. JetBlue Airways, United Airlines, and Delta Air Lines notably fly some of the daily flights using mainline aircraft. Atlanta, Georgia is the farthest destination served by any airline out of BTV, in 2008, Big Sky Airlines stopped flying the Boston route. The airport has used natural resources such as marble and granite, in 2009, the airport had fifteen gates serving seven airlines. On February 3,2010, it was announced that AirTran Airways would not be returning to Burlington, AirTran planned on resuming service in the spring of 2010, but due to various reasons not specified they did not. AirTran service lasted for 8 months in 2009, allegiant Air ended service from BTV in March of 2017
6.
Fighter aircraft
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A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat against other aircraft, as opposed to bombers and attack aircraft, whose main mission is to attack ground targets. The hallmarks of a fighter are its speed, maneuverability, many fighters have secondary ground-attack capabilities, and some are designed as dual-purpose fighter-bombers, often aircraft that do not fulfill the standard definition are called fighters. This may be for political or national security reasons, for advertising purposes, a fighters main purpose is to establish air superiority over a battlefield. Since World War I, achieving and maintaining air superiority has been considered essential for victory in conventional warfare, the word fighter did not become the official English-language term for such aircraft until after World War I. In the British Royal Flying Corps and Royal Air Force these aircraft were referred to as scouts into the early 1920s, the U. S. Army called their fighters pursuit aircraft from 1916 until the late 1940s. In most languages a fighter aircraft is known as a hunter, exceptions include Russian, where a fighter is an истребитель, meaning exterminator, and Hebrew where it is matose krav. As a part of nomenclature, a letter is often assigned to various types of aircraft to indicate their use. In Russia I was used, while the French continue to use C and this has always been the case, for instance the Sopwith Camel and other fighting scouts of World War I performed a great deal of ground-attack work. Several aircraft, such as the F-111 and F-117, have received fighter designations but had no fighter capability due to political or other reasons, the F-111B variant was originally intended for a fighter role with the U. S. Navy, but it was cancelled. This blurring follows the use of fighters from their earliest days for attack or strike operations against ground targets by means of strafing or dropping small bombs, versatile multirole fighter-bombers such as the F/A-18 Hornet are a less expensive option than having a range of specialized aircraft types. An interceptor is generally an aircraft intended to target bombers and so often trades maneuverability for climb rate, fighters were developed in World War I to deny enemy aircraft and dirigibles the ability to gather information by reconnaissance. Early fighters were very small and lightly armed by later standards, and most were built with a wooden frame, covered with fabric. As control of the airspace over armies became increasingly important all of the major powers developed fighters to support their military operations, between the wars, wood was largely replaced by steel tubing, then aluminium tubing, and finally aluminium stressed skin structures began to predominate. By World War II, most fighters were all-metal monoplanes armed with batteries of guns or cannons. By the end of the war, turbojet engines were replacing piston engines as the means of propulsion, further increasing aircraft speed. Since the weight of the engine was so less than on piston engined fighters. This in turn required the development of ejection seats so the pilot could escape, in the 1950s, radar was fitted to day fighters, since pilots could no longer see far enough ahead to prepare for any opposition. Since then, radar capabilities have grown enormously and are now the method of target acquisition
7.
158th Fighter Wing
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The 158th Fighter Wing is a unit of the Vermont Air National Guard, stationed at Burlington Air National Guard Base, Burlington, Vermont. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The mission of the 158th Fighter Wing is to utilize the F-16 Fighting Falcon to provide a relatively low-cost, high-performance weapon system for the United States and allied nations. Federal government, To provide the United States Air Force with combat ready personnel, State government, To provide assistance to the State of Vermont for use during local and statewide disasters or emergencies, to protect life, property, and preserve peace, and public safety. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 158th Headquarters, 158th Material Squadron, 158th Combat Support Squadron, the mission of the 158th Fighter Group was the air defense of Vermont. Its 134th FIS was initially equipped with the F-94 Starfire interceptor, on 25 June 1960, Air Defense Command inactivated the active-duty 14th Fighter Group at Ethan Allen AFB, and the base reverted to full Air National Guard jurisdiction. The 158th Fighter Group now manned alert hangars 24 hours a day, in the summer of 1960, summer field training was conducted at Otis Air Force Base at Cape Cod, MA, from 18 June to 2 July. The aging F-94s were replaced by twin-engine F-89D Scorpion fighters in 1958, two years later F-89Js replaced the D models. The J model was designed to carry two AIR-2 Genie nuclear-tipped air-to-air missiles under the wings to defend against enemy bomber attack, the 134th was reorganized as the 158th Fighter Interceptor Group and was placed under the United States Air Defense Command. Lt Col Robert P. Goyette assumed command of the group, the Air Guard now manned alert hangars 24 hours a day, a mission which had previously belonged to the active Air Force. During the 1950s and early 1960s, better training and equipment, the Vermont Air National Guard received the ADC Operational Readiness award in October 1962, for having the greatest degree of readiness of any F-89 unit in the country. In 1965, the 134th received supersonic F-102A Delta Dagger interceptors, in 1971 the 158th embarked on an intensive recruiting program that made Vermont one of the top units in the country in total strength. During this period the Vermont ANG began to recruit women into all open career fields. Maryanne T. Lorenz was the first woman officer and SSgt Karen Wingard left active duty with the Air Force to become the first enlisted woman to join the Green Mountain Boy unit. She later became First Sergeant of the 158th Mission Support Squadron, received her commission, the 158th Fighter Interceptor Group became the 158th Defense Systems Evaluation Group in June 1974, with the unit receiving twenty EB-57 Canberras. These two-seat, twin-engine aircraft were former medium bombers that were re-equipped with electronic counter-measures, the new mission was to act as the friendly enemy to evaluate both air and ground radar systems. This mission took pilots, electronic warfare officers, and maintenance personnel all over the United States, Canada, and as far as Iceland, South Korea, the unit provided direct operational training of now-Aerospace Defense Command, U. S. The 158th Tactical Fighter Group deployed to the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center, Mississippi and this was the units first large-scale deployment in 23 years
8.
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
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The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft, over 4,500 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U. S. Air Force, in 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting weapons, the F-16 has also been procured to serve in the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2015, it is the second most common operational military aircraft in the world. Experiences in the Vietnam War revealed the need for air superiority fighters, boyds work called for a small, lightweight aircraft that could maneuver with the minimum possible energy loss, and which also incorporated an increased thrust-to-weight ratio. Air Force F-X proponents remained hostile to the concept because they perceived it as a threat to the F-15 program, however, the Air Forces leadership understood that its budget would not allow it to purchase enough F-15 aircraft to satisfy all of its missions. The Advanced Day Fighter concept, renamed F-XX, gained political support under the reform-minded Deputy Secretary of Defense David Packard. As a result, in May 1971, the Air Force Prototype Study Group was established, with Boyd a key member and this was the region where USAF studies predicted most future air combat would occur. The anticipated average flyaway cost of a version was $3 million. This production plan, though, was only notional as the USAF had no plans to procure the winner. Five companies responded and in 1972, the Air Staff selected General Dynamics Model 401 and Northrops P-600 for the prototype development. GD and Northrop were awarded contracts worth $37.9 million and $39.8 million to produce the YF-16 and YF-17, respectively, with first flights of both prototypes planned for early 1974. To overcome resistance in the Air Force hierarchy, the Fighter Mafia, the high/low mix would allow the USAF to be able to afford sufficient fighters for its overall fighter force structure requirements. The mix gained broad acceptance by the time of the flyoff, defining the relationship of the LWF. The YF-16 was developed by a team of General Dynamics engineers led by Robert H. Widmer. The first YF-16 was rolled out on 13 December 1973, and its 90-minute maiden flight was made at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California and its actual first flight occurred accidentally during a high-speed taxi test on 20 January 1974. The test pilot, Phil Oestricher, decided to lift off to avoid a potential crash, the slight damage was quickly repaired and the official first flight occurred on time
9.
Ethan Allen Army Airfield
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Not to be confused with Ethan Allen Air Force Base Ethan Allen Army Airfield is a former United States Army airfield located on Fort Ethan Allen, Vermont. It was used for aircraft between World War I and World War II. Army observation planes began using a field at Fort Ethan Allen in the early 1920s and it was used primarily for artillery spotting by the 7th Field Artillery Regiment during training exercises. The Army used new Consolidated PT-1 trainers, and probably World War I Curtiss JN-4, the airfield was closed by the Army about 1940 along with the gradual inactivation of Fort Ethan Allen. The Air Force used Fort Ethan Allen primarily for personnel housing, Vermont Army National Guard troops trained at the Fort and the old grass airfield is used occasionally by Army Aviation in the form of Army National Guard helicopters. This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/
10.
Fort Ethan Allen
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Fort Ethan Allen was a United States Army installation in Vermont, named for American Revolutionary War figure Ethan Allen. Established as a cavalry post in 1894, today it is the center of a national historic district straddling the town line between Colchester and Essex. Locally, it is simply as The Fort, and now houses a variety of businesses, academic institutions. The former grounds of Fort Ethan Allen stand on the side of Vermont Route 15. The grounds are more than 130 acres, and include a variety of military buildings. Fronting the parade ground along Dalton Drive are houses that served as officer housing. Barracks, former stables, and other types of service buildings line the roads further out from the parade ground. A cluster of buildings at the far end of the property includes one that has been converted into a museum recounting the forts history. Its original buildings were built in the then-popular Colonial Revival style, Fort Ethan Allen was authorized by Congress in 1892, which had decided that some measure of permanent defense should be established in the vicinity of the US-Canada Border. It was built on farmland donated to the federal government. When the 10th Cavalry departed Vermont many of its members retired and remained in the area, as a result, many of their descendants still reside in Colchester, Winooski and Burlington. The post was deactivated by the Army in 1944, while there are some newer structures on the original post, the original buildings are put to good use. Various businesses occupy what used to be horse barns, barracks have been converted to apartments, an abandoned theater and church are often used for firefighting practice. The former base hospital is a nursing home, despite all the activity, it is a quiet neighborhood with many families. National Register of Historic Places listings in Chittenden County, Vermont Historic Fort Ethan Allen
11.
7th Field Artillery Regiment
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The 7th Field Artillery Regiment is a United States Army field artillery regiment, whose lineage traces back to the early 20th century. Note that the lineage of the 7th Regiment of Artillery constituted 8 March 1898 is carried by the 7th Air Defense Artillery Regiment, the regiment was constituted on 1 July 1916 in the Regular Army as the 7th Field Artillery. It was organized on 15 July 1916 at Fort Sam Houston, after fighting across North Africa, the regiment participated in 1st Infantry Divisions assault of Omaha Beach. On 20 January 1964 the unit was redesignated the 1st Battalion, 7th Artillery, the redesignation included a new design for the units distinctive unit insignia to an artillery red square shield divided by a silver band running from the top right corner to the bottom left corner. In the upper division of the shield appears three silver crescent moons, while the lower division holds seven silver crosslets alluding to the designation of the battalion. The primary charge of the shield however is the three large artillery red arrow heads or pheons that rest upon the silver band and it is from these three pheons that the nickname for the battalion the Pheons is derived. The units motto was shortened to Nunquam Fractum written in silver on a red scroll beneath the shield. The unit would carry this designation throughout its tour of Vietnam from 25 June 1965, on 23 June 1965, Private First Class Gerold Worster arrived by plane in Saigon, in the Republic of Vietnam. Not only was Gerold the first soldier from the 1st Infantry Division, known as the Big Red One, even as he climbed from the plane, his comrades were loading aboard the USNS General W. H. Gordon for the trip to Vietnam. On 12 July, Charlie Battery of the 1st Battalion, 7th Artillery made landfall at Cam Ranh Bay, part of a taskforce with the 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry, 1st Infantry Division. This force was the first tactical US Army unit to be deployed in the Republic of Vietnam directly from the continental United States, after returning from Vietnam in March 1970, the 7th Artillery was redesignated the 7th Field Artillery once again on 1 September 1971. The motto Nunquam Fractum was replaced with Nunquam Aerumna Nec Proelio Fractum, during its Vietnam tour the 105mm howitzers of the 1st Battalion, 7th Artillery fired more than 1,250.000 rounds in its 55 continuous months of combat while earning 11 new battle honors. With the change of the insignia and the loss of the pheons from the shield. Although the unit itself was not activated for duty as a whole. The 3rd Battalion, 7th Field Artillery 3rd Brigade Combat Team, the unit was headquartered at Kandahar Airfield and provided indirect fire, close combat air control, and fire support for the Bronco Brigade and throughout Afghanistan during the 12-month rotation. During this deployment, Bravo Battery was recorded as having shot the first artillery round against an enemy for the 25th ID since Vietnam. 1st Battalion, 7th Field Artillery Regiment was relieved from assignment to the 25th Infantry Division and assigned to the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, on 5 August 2006 3–7 FA deployed from Schofield Barracks, Hawaii to the Province of Kirkuk in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The unit conducted a traditional counter-fire mission and also served as a maneuver taskforce conducting infantry-type missions, the use of 3–7 FA as a maneuver asset instead of a direct support field artillery battalion was a result of the implementation of the counter insurgency doctrine in Iraq
12.
National Guard Bureau
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It was created by the Militia Act of 1903. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, elevated the National Guard to a joint function of the Department of Defense. This act also elevated the Chief of the National Guard Bureau from Lieutenant General to General with the appointment of General Craig R. McKinley, the National Guard Bureau holds a unique status as both a staff and operation agency. United States Secretary of War Elihu Root militated for reform of the guard, in annual reports of 1901 of 1903. The Militia Act of 1792 was obsolete, the resulting Militia Act of 1903 became law. It gave federal status to the militia and required the militia of the States to conform to Regular Army organization. It dramatically increased funding of the militia, between 1903 and 1916, the federal government spent $53 million on the Guard, more than the total of the previous hundred years. The 1903 act authorized the creation of a section responsible for National Guard affairs. The Division remained a part of the Office of the Secretary of War until July 25,1910 when the Chief was directed to report directly to the Army Chief of Staff. The Division continued to perform under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Staff until the passage of the National Defense Act of June 3,1916. Then the Division of Militia Affairs became the Militia Bureau of the War Department, the National Defense Act of 1916 is the most important piece of legislation in the history of the National Guard. It transformed the militia from individual state forces into a Reserve Component of the U. S. Army—and made the term National Guard mandatory. The act stated that all units would have to be recognized. It increased the number of training days to 15, increased the number of yearly drills to 48. The 1916 act transformed the Division of Militia Affairs into a separate Militia Bureau, increasing its autonomy, eight new civilian positions were authorized, something which the various Chiefs had been requesting for years, the number of military assigned to the Bureau had grown to 13. The National Defense Act also authorized the President to assign two National Guard officers to duty with the Militia Bureau, the inclusion of National Guard officers in the Militia Bureau was an important step towards creating a centralized planning organization for the National Guard headed by its own officers. The first National Guard officer assigned to the Bureau was Major Louis C. Wilson of Texas in 1916, thus the National Guard Bureau was charged with the responsibility of maintaining high standards in the National Guard. Prior to 1910 the Chief of the Militia Bureau was a Regular Army officer and this situation changed on June 4,1920, when Congress passed an amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916
13.
Vultee A-31 Vengeance
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The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was designated A-35, the A-31 remained in service with U. S. units until 1945, primarily in a target-tug role. In 1940, Vultee Aircraft started the design of a single engined dive-bomber, the V-72 was built with private funds and was intended for sale to foreign markets. The V-72 was a low-wing, single-engine monoplane with a closed cockpit, an air-cooled radial Wright Twin Cyclone GR-2600-A5B-5 engine rated at 1,600 hp powered the V-72. It was armed with both fixed forward-firing and flexible-mounted.30 in machine guns in the rear cockpit, the aircraft also carried up to 1,500 lb of bombs in an interior bomb bay and on external wing racks. The Vengeance was uniquely designed to dive vertically without lift from the wing pulling the aircraft off target, to this end, it had a 0° angle of incidence on the wing to better align the nose of the aircraft with the target during the dive. This resulted in the aircraft cruising in an attitude, giving a poor forward view for the pilot. It had an unusual, W-shaped wing planform and this resulted from an error in calculating its centre of gravity. Moving the wing back by sweeping the centre section was a simpler fix than re-designing the wing root and this gives the impression of an inverted gull wing when seen from an angle, when in fact the wing has a more conventional dihedral on the outer wing panels. France placed an order for 300 V-72s, with deliveries intended to start in October 1940, the first prototype V-72 flew from Vultees factory at Downey, California, on 30 March 1941. Additional aircraft were ordered for Britain in June 1941 under the Lend-Lease scheme, after the U. S. entered the war following the attack on Pearl Harbor, a number of V-72 and A-31 aircraft were repossessed for use by the Army Air Corps. It was fitted with a more powerful Wright Twin Cyclone R-2600-19 engine, when production of the Vengeance was completed in 1944, a total of 1,931 aircraft had been produced. The majority were produced at the Vultee plant in Nashville, Tennessee, indecision about which aircraft type should replace it in production at the Vultee plant led to several make-work contracts for Vengeance aircraft to prevent dispersion of the skilled workforce. This resulted in overproduction of what was considered an obsolete aircraft, to be effective, all these aircraft required an environment of local air superiority and fighter escort. Fighter escort and lack of opposition in the theatres in which it served, combined with its vertical dive capability. Early experience with the aircraft showed that there were problems with engine cooling, in service, the British managed to solve these problems, but Free French aircraft that did not have these problems remedied were declared uneconomical and unreliable to operate and were grounded. The aircraft was described as being stable in flight and in a dive, with elevator and rudder control. Forward visibility was considered due to the large radial engine
14.
India
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India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and it is bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the southwest, and the Bay of Bengal on the southeast. It shares land borders with Pakistan to the west, China, Nepal, and Bhutan to the northeast, in the Indian Ocean, India is in the vicinity of Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Indias Andaman and Nicobar Islands share a border with Thailand. The Indian subcontinent was home to the urban Indus Valley Civilisation of the 3rd millennium BCE, in the following millennium, the oldest scriptures associated with Hinduism began to be composed. Social stratification, based on caste, emerged in the first millennium BCE, early political consolidations took place under the Maurya and Gupta empires, the later peninsular Middle Kingdoms influenced cultures as far as southeast Asia. In the medieval era, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and Islam arrived, much of the north fell to the Delhi sultanate, the south was united under the Vijayanagara Empire. The economy expanded in the 17th century in the Mughal empire, in the mid-18th century, the subcontinent came under British East India Company rule, and in the mid-19th under British crown rule. A nationalist movement emerged in the late 19th century, which later, under Mahatma Gandhi, was noted for nonviolent resistance, in 2015, the Indian economy was the worlds seventh largest by nominal GDP and third largest by purchasing power parity. Following market-based economic reforms in 1991, India became one of the major economies and is considered a newly industrialised country. However, it continues to face the challenges of poverty, corruption, malnutrition, a nuclear weapons state and regional power, it has the third largest standing army in the world and ranks sixth in military expenditure among nations. India is a constitutional republic governed under a parliamentary system. It is a pluralistic, multilingual and multi-ethnic society and is home to a diversity of wildlife in a variety of protected habitats. The name India is derived from Indus, which originates from the Old Persian word Hindu, the latter term stems from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, which was the historical local appellation for the Indus River. The ancient Greeks referred to the Indians as Indoi, which translates as The people of the Indus, the geographical term Bharat, which is recognised by the Constitution of India as an official name for the country, is used by many Indian languages in its variations. Scholars believe it to be named after the Vedic tribe of Bharatas in the second millennium B. C. E and it is also traditionally associated with the rule of the legendary emperor Bharata. Gaṇarājya is the Sanskrit/Hindi term for republic dating back to the ancient times, hindustan is a Persian name for India dating back to the 3rd century B. C. E. It was introduced into India by the Mughals and widely used since then and its meaning varied, referring to a region that encompassed northern India and Pakistan or India in its entirety
15.
Tenth Air Force
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The Tenth Air Force is a unit of the U. S. Air Force, specifically a numbered air force of the Air Force Reserve Command. 10 AF is headquartered at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field, the command directs the activities of 14,000 Air Force Reservists and 950 civilians located at 30 military installations throughout the United States. In addition, Tenth Air Force units fly satellites for Air Force Space Command in support of the Department of Defense and NOAA. Tenth Air Force was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force created for operations in India, Burma and Indochina during World War II in the China Burma India Theater of operations. It was established at New Delhi, India on 12 February 1942, around a nucleus of air force personnel newly arrived from Java, the 10th Air Force is commanded by Maj Gen Richard W. Scobee. With approximately 60 full-time headquarters staff members, Tenth Air Force acts as the point for all matters pertaining to assigned Air Force Reserve units. Tenth Air Force is the only Numbered Air Force that touches every Major Command in USAF with the exception of the Air Force Material Command, the 610th Regional Support Group at NAS Fort Worth JRB is responsible for the management of twelve geographically separated units throughout the United States. Other organizations include combat air operations, medical, civil engineer, combat logistics, communications, security forces, aerial port, intelligence and aeromedical units. Reservists from 10th Air Force units are deployed to Air Expeditionary units in combat areas of Central. It had its headquarters at New Delhi, components of the air force moved to India over a three-month period from March to May 1942. The Tenth Air Force initially provided control of all USAAF combat operations in the China Burma India Theater under theater commander Lt. Gen. Joseph Stillwell. Units based in China were controlled by the China Air Task Force of the Tenth Air Force, created 4 July 1942 to replace the American Volunteer Group, and commanded by Brig. Gen. Claire Chennault. Units based in India were controlled by the India Air Task Force, created 8 October 1942, in March 1943 the China Air Task Force was dissolved and its components made part of the new Fourteenth Air Force, activated in China under Chennault. The Tenth operated in India and Burma as part of the Allied Eastern Air Command until it moved to China late in July 1945, the command was re-activated on 24 May 1946 at Brooks Field, Texas. It moved to Offutt AFB, Nebraska,1 July 1948, Fort Benjamin Harrison, the 56th Fighter Wing at Selfridge AFB, Michigan, joined Tenth Air Force on 1 December 1948, transferring in from SACs Fifteenth Air Force. Moved to Selfridge AFB, Michigan,16 January 1950 where for the decade it concentrated on air reserve training throughout the decade. On 1 July 1960, the Fifth Air Force Reserve Region was formed at Selfridge AFB, Tenth Air Force was reactivated on 20 January 1966, at Richards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri as part of Air Defense Command with the inactivation of its organization of Air Defense Sectors. Its area of responsibility was the region of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River
16.
North American A-36 Apache
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A total of 500 A-36 dive bombers served in North Africa, the Mediterranean, Italy and the China-Burma-India theater during World War II before being withdrawn from operational use in 1944. Supplementing the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks already in service, Mustang Is were first supplied to No.26 Squadron RAF, then rapidly deployed to 10 additional squadrons by June 1942. First used in combat over the Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942, a Mustang of No.414 Squadron downed one of the formidable Focke-Wulf Fw 190s, the first victory for a Mustang. Despite the limited performance of the Allison V-1710 engine, the RAF was enthusiastic about its new mount. Since appropriations were available for an aircraft, Echols specified modifications to the P-51 to turn it into a dive bomber. With orders on the books, North American Aviation began modifying the P-51 to accept the bomb shackles which had already tested in a long-range ferry program that the RAF had stipulated. Engineering studies totaling 40,000 hours and wind tunnel testing with a model were completed in June 1942. Due to the slightly inboard placement of the racks and unique installation of four cast aluminum dive brakes. The A-36A continued the use of nose-mounted.50 in machine guns along with wing armament of four.50 in caliber machine guns. The main air scoop inlet was redesigned to become a unit with a larger opening, replacing the earlier scoop which could be lowered into the airstream. In addition the A-36 carburetor air intake was fitted with a tropical air filter to stop sand. The USAAF later ordered 310 P-51As, which were essentially A-36s without the dive-brakes and nose mounted weapons, an Allison V-1710-811,200 hp was fitted and used the same radiator and air intake as the A-36A. The P-51A was still fitted with bomb racks although it was not intended to be used primarily as a fighter-bomber, the A-36A-1-NA Apache joined the 27th Fighter-Bomber Group composed of four squadrons based at Ras el Ma Airfield in French Morocco in April 1943 during the campaign in North Africa. On 6 June 1943, both of these A-36A units flew combat missions directed against the island of Pantelleria, the island fell to Allied attack and became the home base for the two A-36A groups during the Allied invasion of Sicily. The A-36A proved to be a potent weapon, it could be put into a dive at 12,000 ft with deployed dive brakes. Proper technique soon cured this anomaly and, subsequently, pilots achieved extremely consistent results, depending on the target and defenses, the bomb release took place between 2,000 ft and 4,000 ft, followed by an immediate sharp pull up. Capt. Charles E. Dills, 522d Fighter Squadron, 27th FBG, XIIth Air Force emphatically stated in an interview, I flew the A-36 for 39 of my 94 missions. They were never wired shut in Italy in combat and this wired shut story apparently came from the training group at Harding Field, Baton Rouge, LA
17.
Myanmar
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Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar and also known as Burma, is a sovereign state in South East Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. About one third of Myanmars total perimeter of 5,876 km, forms an uninterrupted coastline of 1,930 km along the Bay of Bengal, the countrys 2014 census revealed a much lower population than expected, with 51 million people recorded. Myanmar is 676,578 square kilometres in size and its capital city is Naypyidaw and its largest city and former capital city is Yangon. Early civilizations in Myanmar included the Tibeto-Burman-speaking Pyu city-states in Upper Burma, the Pagan Kingdom fell due to the Mongol invasions and several warring states emerged. In the 16th century, reunified by the Taungoo Dynasty, the country was for a period the largest empire in the history of Mainland Southeast Asia. The early 19th century Konbaung Dynasty ruled over an area included modern Myanmar and briefly controlled Manipur. The British invaded Myanmar after three Anglo-Burmese Wars in the 19th century and the became a British colony. Myanmar became an independent nation in 1948, initially as a nation and then, following a coup détat in 1962. For most of its independent years, the country has been engrossed in rampant ethnic strife, during this time, the United Nations and several other organisations have reported consistent and systematic human rights violations in the country. In 2011, the junta was officially dissolved following a 2010 general election. While former military leaders still wield enormous power in the country, there is, however, continuing criticism of the governments treatment of the Muslim Rohingya minority and its poor response to the religious clashes. In the landmark 2015 election, Aung San Suu Kyis party won a majority in both houses, Myanmar is a country rich in jade and gems, oil, natural gas and other mineral resources. In 2013, its GDP stood at US$56.7 billion, the income gap in Myanmar is among the widest in the world, as a large proportion of the economy is controlled by supporters of the former military government. As of 2016, according to the Human Development Index, Myanmar had a level of human development. The renaming remains a contested issue, many political and ethnic opposition groups and countries continue to use Burma because they do not recognise the legitimacy of the ruling military government or its authority to rename the country. The countrys official name is the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. Countries that do not officially recognise that name use the long form Union of Burma instead, in English, the country is popularly known as either Burma or Myanmar /ˈmjɑːnˌmɑːr/. Both these names are derived from the name of the majority Burmese Bamar ethnic group, Myanmar is considered to be the literary form of the name of the group, while Burma is derived from Bamar, the colloquial form of the groups name
18.
Yangon
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Yangon is a former capital of Myanmar and the capital of Yangon Region. Although Yangons infrastructure is undeveloped compared to that of major cities in southeast Asia. Yangon is a combination of the two words yan and koun, which enemies and run out of, respectively. It is also translated as End of Strife, Rangoon most likely comes from the British imitation of the pronunciation of Yangon in the Arakanese language, which is. Yangon was founded as Dagon in the early 11th century by the Mon, Dagon was a small fishing village centred about the Shwedagon Pagoda. In 1755, King Alaungpaya conquered Dagon, renamed it Yangon, the British captured Yangon during the First Anglo-Burmese War, but returned it to Burmese administration after the war. The city was destroyed by a fire in 1841, the British seized Yangon and all of Lower Burma in the Second Anglo-Burmese War of 1852, and subsequently transformed Yangon into the commercial and political hub of British Burma. Yangon is also the place where the British sent Bahadur Shah II, Yangon became the capital of all British Burma after the British had captured Upper Burma in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of 1885. By the 1890s Yangons increasing population and commerce gave birth to prosperous residential suburbs to the north of Royal Lake, the British also established hospitals including Rangoon General Hospital and colleges including Rangoon University. Colonial Yangon, with its spacious parks and lakes and mix of modern buildings, by the early 20th century, Yangon had public services and infrastructure on par with London. Before World War II, about 55% of Yangons population of 500,000 was Indian or South Asian, karens, the Chinese, the Anglo-Burmese and others made up the rest. After World War I, Yangon became the epicentre of Burmese independence movement, three nationwide strikes against the British Empire in 1920,1936 and 1938 all began in Yangon. Yangon was under Japanese occupation, and incurred heavy damage during World War II, the city was retaken by the Allies in May 1945. Yangon became the capital of Union of Burma on 4 January 1948 when the country regained independence from the British Empire, soon after Burmas independence in 1948, many colonial names of streets and parks were changed to more nationalistic Burmese names. In 1989, the current military junta changed the citys English name to Yangon, since independence, Yangon has expanded outwards. Successive governments have built satellite towns such as Thaketa, North Okkalapa and South Okkalapa in the 1950s to Hlaingthaya, Shwepyitha, today, Greater Yangon encompasses an area covering nearly 600 square kilometres. During Ne Wins isolationist rule, Yangons infrastructure deteriorated through poor maintenance, in the 1990s, the current military governments more open market policies attracted domestic and foreign investment, bringing a modicum of modernity to the citys infrastructure. Some inner city residents were relocated to new satellite towns
19.
Myitkyina
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Myitkyina is the capital city of Kachin State in Myanmar, located 1,480 kilometers from Yangon, and 785 kilometers from Mandalay. In Burmese it means near the big river, and Myitkyina is on the west bank of the Ayeyarwady River and it is the northernmost river port and railway terminus in Myanmar. The city is served by Myitkyina Airport, Myitkyina has been an important trading town between China and Burma since ancient times. American Baptist missionary George J. Geis and his wife arrived in Myitkyina in the late 1890s, japanese forces captured the town and nearby airbase during World War II in 1942. The town was important not only because of its rail and water links to the rest of Burma. Myitkyina is business center of Kachin State, resources are jade, gold, teak and forestry products and agriculture products. Due to short term contract of jade, gold mines, teak, as per government data, almost US$2 billion in jade were exported yearly in 2010,2011. Now, due to fighting between Kachin KIA rebels and government army, all business are going down, most of Kachin State business trades are done in Myitkyina. It has two big markets. S. and Asia, notably Kachin Theological College-Nawng Nang and it is also home to a branch of the I. L. B. C. Chain of schools, an institution in the Myanmar sector of private schools. Technological University, Myitkyina Computer University, Myitkyina Myitkyina University Myitkyina Education College Myitkyina Airport is the airport serving the city. It connects to the cities of Putao and Mandalay, the Mandalay to Myitkyina railway has been used for 100 years. It takes almost 24 hours because of old and bad railway tracks and this railway is major transportation for all kind of goods. The Myitkyi Moegaung Tanai to Putao city road was constructed under British rule, now, the road is very bad condition, Due to Kachin Rebel KIA, there is a good road from Myitkyina to Laiza to go to China. Another developing road is from Bamo to Myitkyina, as the capital of the state, it has government offices, and a greater population than other cities in the state. The city has a population of approximately 150,000, with a mix of Kachin, Shan, Bamar peoples and some Chinese, fragrant rice produced near Myitkyina, called khat cho, is considered the best in Myanmar. The Kachin language is the language among the Kachin, but Burmese is the national language. Foreigners are now free to visit Myitkyina without prior government permission, major religions are Theravada Buddhism and Christianity
20.
Bhamo
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Bhamo is a city of Kachin State in the northernmost part of Myanmar, located 186 km south from the capital city of the state of Kachin. It is on the Ayeyarwady River and it lies within 65 km of the border with Yunnan Province, China. The population consists of Chinese and Shan, with Kachin peoples in the hills around the town and it is the administrative center of Bhamo District and Bhamo Township. Bhamo was an important trading post with the Chinese Empire up to the nineteenth century, VOC records identified these copper coins as an important source of profit, and also mention the presence of a Customs Office in Bhamo to regulate the border trade. From 1869 to 1879, it was the seat of British colonial Assistant political agent, subordinate to the Resident with the king of and in Ava. As of 1935, the town was situated at the highest navigable point of the river, Bhamo was once called Sampanago, the capital of the now-extinct Shan predecessor kingdom of Wanmaw. The ruins of the old city walls, dating from the fifth Century, are found some 5 km from the modern town, a once weekly Myanma Airways flight is available, as are three times a week river ferries. It is the terminus of river ferries from Mandalay, there is no river ferry between Bhamo and state capital Myitkyina. The land route between Bhamo and Mu Se District, is in poor condition, Bhamo is one of the official border trading towns between China and Myanmar. The town is home to Bhamo Degree College. And other chance been studied Engineering subject from Technological University, computer, Bhamo has a humid subtropical climate. Temperatures are very warm throughout the year, although the months are milder. There is a dry season and a summer wet season. Banmaw Airport This article incorporates text from The Modern World Encyclopædia, Illustrated and this may be out of date or biased to the timeframe of that reference. WorldStatesmen - Burma/Myanmar 17th Century Burma and the Dutch East Indies Company 1634-1680, by Wil O. Dijk, NIAS Press
21.
The Hump
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Flying over the Himalayas was extremely dangerous and made more difficult by a lack of reliable charts, an absence of radio navigation aids, and a dearth of information about the weather. The task was given to the AAFs Tenth Air Force. The operation began in April 1942, after the Japanese blocked the Burma Road, and continued daily to August 1945, final operations were flown in November 1945 to return personnel from China. The India-China airlift delivered approximately 650,000 tons of materiel to China at great cost in men, the Japanese invasion of French Indochina closed all sea and rail access routes for supplying China with materiel except through Turkestan in the Soviet Union. That access ended following the signing of the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact in April 1941, the rapid success of Japanese military operations in Southeast Asia threatened this lifeline, prompting discussion of an air cargo service route from India as early as January 1942. Chiangs foreign minister, T. V. Soong, estimated that 12,000 tons of materiel could be delivered monthly by air from India if 100 C-47 Skytrain-type transports were committed to an airlift. The original scheme envisioned the Allies holding northern Burma and using Myitkyina as a terminal to send supplies by barge downriver to Bhamo. However, on 8 May 1942 the Japanese seized Myitkyina and this, coupled with the loss of Rangoon, to maintain the uninterrupted supply to China, U. S. and other allied leaders agreed to organize a continual aerial resupply effort directly between Assam and Kunming. Tenth Air Force was hampered by a constant diversion of men and aircraft to Egypt and its Air Service Command was still en route by ship from the United States, forcing it to get aircraft and personnel for the India-China Ferry from any available source. Ten former Pan American World Airways DC-3s and flight crews were sent from the ferry route to outfit the new operation. Armys Services of Supply, commanded in the CBI by Maj. Gen. Raymond A. Wheeler, the airlift was the final leg of a journey of 12,000 mi from Los Angeles to China often taking four months. Col. Robert L. Scott, a pursuit pilot awaiting an assignment in China, was assigned as his operations officer and a month later as executive officer. Haynes was a choice to be the airlifts first commander. However, at the time the India-China Ferry was conceived, the ABC Ferry Command was not prepared to plan, control and its formal organization was minimal, it had no units of its own, and its few aircraft were committed to establishing air transport routes. By June, however, the ABC Ferry Command had begun a greatly expanded wartime restructuring, the first mission over the hump took place on 8 April 1942. Flying from the Royal Air Force airfield at Dinjan, Lt. Col. William D, old used a pair of the former Pan Am DC-3s to ferry 8,000 U. S. gallons of aviation fuel intended to resupply the Doolittle Raiders. The collapse of Allied resistance in northern Burma in May 1942 meant further diversion of the already minuscule air effort, only two-thirds of the aircraft were serviceable at any time. Dinjan was within range of Japanese fighters now based at Myitkyina, forcing all-night maintenance operations, the official history of the Army Air Forces states, The Brahmaputra valley floor lies 90 feet above sea level at Chabua
22.
North American P-51 Mustang
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The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission, the Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force. Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design, the prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940,102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine and it was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustangs performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, the P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft, despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbird and air racing aircraft, in April 1940 the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self. Self was given responsibility for Royal Air Force production and research and development, and also served with Sir Wilfrid Freeman. Self also sat on the British Air Council Sub-committee on Supply and one of his tasks was to organize the manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was limited, as no U. S. aircraft then in production or flying met European standards. The Curtiss-Wright plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply, North American Aviation was already supplying its Harvard trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underutilized. NAA President Dutch Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber, instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture the Tomahawk under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have an aircraft with the same engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40. In March 1940,320 aircraft were ordered by Sir Wilfred Freeman who had become the head of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The NA-73X, which was designed by a led by lead engineer Edgar Schmued, followed the best conventional practice of the era. One was a wing designed using laminar flow airfoils which were developed co-operatively by North American Aviation and these airfoils generated very low drag at high speeds. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with the NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, the other feature was a new cooling arrangement that reduced the cooling drag. It was later discovered that, after lot of development, the assembly could take advantage of the Meredith Effect
23.
Merrill's Marauders
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The unit became famous for its deep-penetration missions behind Japanese lines, often engaging Japanese forces superior in number. In the Quebec Conference of August 1943, Allied leaders decided to form a U. S. deep penetration unit that would attack Japanese troops in Burma. The new U. S. force was inspired by. A call for volunteers attracted around 3,000 men, General Douglas MacArthur was also directed to transfer 274 Army combat-experienced volunteers from the Southwest Pacific Command, veterans of the New Guinea and Bougainville campaigns. A few Pacific veteran volunteers came from stockades where volunteering earned them their freedom and they were sprinkled throughout the unit and called The Dead End Kids after the Hollywood film series featuring juvenile delinquents. The unit was designated as 5307th Composite Unit with the code name Galahad. The men were first sent to India arriving in Bombay on 31 October 1943 to train, here they were reinforced with Air Corps and Signal Corps personnel, as well as an animal transport company with mules and experienced muledrivers. The 5307th was originally destined to train in long-range penetration tactics under the direction of Brigadier Charles Orde Wingate, at Deolali,200 km outside Bombay, the troops endured both physical conditioning and close-order drill, before entraining for Deogarh, Madhya Pradesh. The unit was to have 700 animals that included 360 mules, there were to be as many more but the ship that was carrying them was torpedoed in the Arabian Sea. They were replaced by 360 Australian Waler horses that had originally been with the 112th Cavalry in New Caledonia who were deemed unfit for jungle warfare and they had traveled to India where they served with the Chinese Army before being assigned to the 5307th. From the end of November 1943 to the end of January 1944, special emphasis was placed on jungle lane marksmanship at pop-up and moving targets using small arms. In December the 5307th conducted a maneuver in coordination with Chindit forces. General Joseph Stilwell was determined that the only U. S. combat troops available in the theater would not serve under British command, Stilwell appointed brigadier general Frank Merrill to command them, leading American war correspondents to dub the unit Merrill’s Marauders. In early 1944, the Marauders were organized as infantry assault unit, with mule transport for their 60 mm mortars, bazookas, ammunition, communications gear. Without heavy weapons support, the unit would have to rely on flexibility, while compact, the K ration not only had fewer calories but less bulk, and included some components so unappetizing as to be thrown away by many users. On the advice of British General Orde Wingate, the force was divided into two self-contained combat teams per battalion, in February 1944, in an offensive designed to disrupt Japanese offensive operations, three battalions in six combat teams marched into Burma. On 24 February, the force began a 1000-mile march over the Patkai region of the Himalayas, a total of 2,750 Marauders entered Burma, the remaining 247 men remained in India as headquarters and support personnel. While in Burma, the Marauders were usually outnumbered by Japanese troops from the 18th division, near Walawbum, a town believed by General Stilwells NCAC staff to be lightly held, the 3rd Battalion killed some 400–500 enemy soldiers
24.
Fourteenth Air Force
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The Fourteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command. It is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, established on 5 March 1943 at Kunming, China,14 AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force deployed to the Pacific Theater of World War II. It engaged in primarily in China. After World War II Fourteenth Air Force subsequently served Air Defense Command, Continental Air Command,14 AF is commanded by Lt Gen John W. Raymond. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sgt, in 1993, Fourteenth Air Force became part of Air Force Space Command responsible for performing space operations. The overall mission is control and exploit space for global and theater operations, in 1997,14 AF established the Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB in California for the 24-hour command and control of all space operations resources. In 2002,14 AF became the Air Force space operational component of United States Strategic Command, in 2005,14 AF officially opened up its newly renovated operations center. The new command and control capabilities of the Joint Space Operations Center ensured unity of effort for all space capabilities supporting joint military operations around the globe, Bissell was General Henry H. ‘Hap’ Arnolds choice to command the USAAFs proposed combat organization in China. As early as 30 December 1941, the U. S, War Department in Washington, D. C. had authorized the induction of the Flying Tigers into the U. S. Army Air Forces. Chennault was opposed to inducting the Flying Tigers into the Army, Stilwell and Bissell made it clear to both Chennault and Chiang that unless the AVG became part of the U. S. Army Air Force, its supplies would be cut off. Chennault agreed to return to duty but he made it clear to Stilwell that his men would have to speak for themselves. Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to induction of the AVG into the USAAF, with the situation in Burma rapidly deteriorating, Stilwell and Bissell wanted the AVG dissolved by 30 April 1942. Chennault, wanting to keep the Flying Tigers going as long as possible, proposed the group disband on 4 July, Chennault was recalled to active duty in the USAAF on 15 April 1942. He was promoted eight days later, on 23 April, from colonel to brigadier general, Chennault was told that he would have to be satisfied to command a China Air Task Force of fighters and bombers as part of the Tenth Air Force. Its mission was to defend the supply operation over the Himalayan mountains between India and China — nicknamed the Hump — and to provide air support for Chinese ground forces. Bissell had been promoted to brigadier general with one days seniority to Chennault in order to command all American air units in China as Stillwells Air Commander, friction developed when Chennault and the Chinese government were disturbed by the possibility that Chennault would no longer control combat operations in China. The CATF had 51 fighters in July 1942,31 81A-1 and P-40B Tomahawks, both fighters were good medium-altitude day fighters, with their best performance between 15,000 and 18,000 feet, and they were excellent ground-strafing aircraft. Chennault also had seven B-25C Mitchell medium bombers, out of an original 12 sent from India, the AVG was disbanded on 4 July 1942, simultaneous with the activation of the 23rd FG
25.
Republic of China Air Force
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The Republic of China Air Force is the aviation branch of the Taiwanese military. The ROCAFs primary mission is the defense of the airspace over, as of 2006, all medium and long range SAM units were transferred from ROC Armys Missile Command to ROCAF, while ROCAFs airbase security units were transferred to ROC Army Military Police. Missile Command is now directly under Defense Ministrys GHQ control, on 21 September 2011, it was announced that the US had agreed to a US$5 billion upgrade to the F-16s. In 2012 Rob Nabors wrote that the United States was considering the sale of aircraft to the ROC. Like most of the branches of the ROC armed forces, much of the ROCAFs structure. Like the USAF, the ROCAF used to have a wing → group → squadron structure, Air Force GHQ is subordinate to the Chief of the General Staff, the Minister of National Defense and the President. Internal Units, Personnel, Combat Readiness and Training, Logistics, Planning, Communications, Electronics & Information, General Affairs, Comptroller,1 TK-1/2 Air Defense Missile battalion, 951st Brigade, 611st battalion with 6 companies/batteries. 1 Patriot PAC-2+ GEM/PAC-3 Air Defense/Anti-Ballistic Missile battalion, with 3 mixed companies/batteries that are all upgrading to PAC-3 standard, at least 2 AAA Air Defense Artillery battalions, with 40mm/L60 and 12. 7mm AAA guns. In this period, various airplanes were purchased and deployed by warlords in their struggle for power until nominal Chinese reunification in 1928. During the Second Sino-Japanese War, the ROCAF participated in attacks on Japanese warships on the eastern front, Chinese Boeing P-26/281 fighters engaged Japanese Mitsubishi A5M fighters in what is among the worlds first aerial dogfighting between all-metal monoplane fighter aircraft. A unique mission in April 1938 saw two Chinese B-10 bombers fly a mission over Japan, but dropping only propaganda leaflets over the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Saga. It was a war of attrition for the Chinese pilots, as many of their most experienced ace fighter pilots, such as Lieutenant Liu Tsui-Kang and Colonel Kao Chih-Hang were lost early in the war. In the latter-half of the Sino-Japanese War, part of World War II, throughout the war, the ROCAF was involved in attacks on Japanese air and ground forces in the Chinese theatre. ROCAF General HQ was established in June 1946, the ROCAF reportedly enjoyed a 31,1 kill ratio against the PLA. GHQ was evacuated to Taiwan along with the rest of the ROC Government in April 1949 following the Communist victory in the Chinese Civil War, the ROCAF assisted in halting the PLA advance at the Battle of Kuningtou on Kinmen the same year. The ROCAF regularly patrolled the Taiwan Straits and fought engagements with its Communist counterpart. The ROCAF received second hand equipment from the US at that time, such as the F-86 Sabrejets, F-100, during the Cold War, the ROCAF was involved in combat air patrols over the Taiwan Strait and engaged the PLAAF and PLAN-AF on several occasions. The ROCAF was also the testbed of American technology at this time, the first successful kill scored by an air-to-air missile was accomplished by an ROCAF F-86 Sabrejet with then experimental AIM-9 Sidewinder
26.
F-47D Thunderbolt
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The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941–1945. Its primary armament was eight. 50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a load of 2,500 pounds. When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was used by two U. S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat, the P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces fighters of World War II, and served with Allied air forces including France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U. S. were equipped with the P-47, the armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable, offering good visibility. A modern-day U. S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, both had fled from their homeland to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. While the resulting Republic P-43 Lancer was in limited production, Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a powerful engine. The latter was an aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine. The United States Army Air Corps backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47, as the war in Europe escalated in spring 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to the Luftwaffe fighters. Republic unsuccessfully attempted to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September, to be designated the XP-47B, the XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of construction with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the seat was comfortable—like a lounge chair. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, the cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends, the complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was problematic since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide clearance for the enormous propeller
27.
67th Fighter Wing
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The 67th Fighter Wing was a unit of the United States Air Force for four years, between 1946 and 1950. It was located at Logan Airport, in Boston, Massachusetts and it is unrelated to the modern 67th Network Warfare Wing. The 6th Air Defense Wing was organized as a command and control organization for Eighth Air Force, deployed to England in July 1943 and initially was used to organize air defense units. After the war, the 67th Fighter Wing was activated at Logan Airport in Boston, the National Guard Bureau began a major expansion of its air units. The 67th Fighter Wing was assigned to Air Defense Command, the wing was Extended federal recognition and activated on 15 October 1946. At the end of October 1950, the Air National Guard converted to the wing-base Hobson Plan organization, as a result, the wing was withdrawn from the Massachusetts ANG and was inactivated on 31 October 1950. 26 August 1943 RAF Troston, England, c.25 October –21 November 1945. afhra. af. mil/
28.
157th Air Refueling Wing
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The 157th Air Refueling Wing is a unit of the New Hampshire Air National Guard, stationed at Pease Air National Guard Base, Portsmouth, New Hampshire, United States. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. Missions are as follows, Federal government, Staff, equip and train combat flying, State government, Provide units trained and equipped to protect life and property and to preserve peace, order and public safety. Community, To participate in local, state, and national programs that add value to the community, 64th Air Refueling Squadron The direct predecessor to the 101st Air Refueling Wing is the World War II 311th Fighter Group. The 311th was one of three groups to use the A-36 Apache dive bomber version of the P-51 Mustang. It was created in 1942 as a bombardment group, training with the Vultee Vengeance. Moved to India, via Australia, July–September 1943, operating from India and using A-36A Apaches. The red nose was also a squadron marking, many planes of this group had a girls name on the nose, but very few had any artwork. Converted to P-51C Mustangs in May 1944, moved to Burma in July and continued to support ground forces, including Merrills Marauders, also flew numerous sweeps over enemy airfields in central and southern Burma. Moved to China in August 1944 and assigned to Fourteenth Air Force, escorted bombers, flew interception missions, struck the enemys communications, and supported ground operations, serving in combat until the end of the war. Ferried P-51s from India for the Chinese Air Force in November 1945, returned to the US in December 1945. The 134th FIS becoming the flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 101st Material Squadron, 101st Air Base Squadron, the 101st Fighter Group was assigned to the Maine Air National Guard 101st Air Defense Wing. The wartime 311th Fighter Group was re-designated as the 101st Fighter Group and it was organized at Camp Keyes, Augusta, Maine, and was extended federal recognition on 4 April 1947 by the National Guard Bureau. The 101st Fighter Group was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, and colors of the 311th Fighter Group, the group was assigned to the Massachusetts ANG 67th Fighter Wing, operationally gained by Continental Air Command. The three squadrons were all re-designations of the 311th Fighter Groups operational squadrons during World War II, all were initially equipped with F-47D Thunderbolts, with a mission of air defense of their respective states. In the summer of 1948, the 132d Fighter Squadron replaced their F-47 Thunderbolts with jet F-80C Shooting Stars and were re-designated with the Jet Propelled suffix on 1 August, the 134th received Very Long-Range F-51H Mustangs in the summer of 1950. The unit assumed the F-94 Starfire aircraft of the 134th FIS, by April 1958, the 101st counted nearly 700 officers and airmen
29.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
30.
101st Fighter-Interceptor Wing
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The 101st Air Refueling Wing is a unit of the Maine Air National Guard, stationed at Bangor Air National Guard Base, Bangor, Maine. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. afhra. af. mil/. Cornett, Lloyd H, Johnson, Mildred W, a Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization,1946 -1980. Peterson AFB, CO, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, mcLaren, David, Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star, A Photo Chronicle, Schiffer Publishing, Ltd. First Edition, ISBN0887409075 Rogers, Brian, United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. 134th Fighter Squadron lineage and history 158th Fighter Wing History Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, a Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 –1980, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson AFB, CO. 101st Air Refueling Wing website
31.
New England
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New England is a geographical region comprising six states of the northeast United States, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York to the west and south, the Atlantic Ocean is to the east and southeast, and Long Island Sound is to the south. Its largest metropolitan area is Greater Boston, which also includes Worcester, Manchester, ten years later, more Puritans settled north of Plymouth Colony in Boston, thus forming Massachusetts Bay Colony. Over the next 126 years, people in the region fought in four French and Indian Wars, until the British and their Iroquois allies defeated the French and their Algonquin allies in North America. In 1692, the town of Salem, Massachusetts and surrounding areas experienced one of the most infamous cases of hysteria in the history of the Western Hemisphere. The Boston Tea Party was a protest to which Britain responded with a series of punitive laws stripping Massachusetts of self-government, the confrontation led to the first battles of the American Revolutionary War in 1775, and the expulsion of the British authorities from the region in spring 1776. Each state is subdivided into small incorporated municipalities known as towns. The only unincorporated areas in the region exist in the populated northern regions of Vermont, New Hampshire. The region is one of the U. S. Census Bureaus nine regional divisions, the earliest known inhabitants of New England were American Indians who spoke a variety of the Eastern Algonquian languages. Prominent tribes included the Abenaki, Mikmaq, Penobscot, Pequot, Mohegans, Narragansett Indians, Pocumtuck, prior to the arrival of Europeans, the Western Abenakis inhabited New Hampshire, New York, and Vermont, as well as parts of Quebec and western Maine. Their principal town was Norridgewock in present-day Maine, the Penobscot lived along the Penobscot River in Maine. The Narragansett and smaller tribes under Narragansett sovereignty lived in most of modern-day Rhode Island, west of Narragansett Bay, the Wampanoag occupied southeastern Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and the islands of Marthas Vineyard and Nantucket. The Pocumtucks lived in Western Massachusetts, and the Mohegan and Pequot tribes in the Connecticut region, the Connecticut River Valley includes parts of Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, and linked different indigenous communities culturally, linguistically, and politically. As early as 1600, French, Dutch, and English traders began exploring the New World, trading metal, glass, on April 10,1606, King James I of England issued a charter for each of the Virginia Companies, London and Plymouth. These were privately funded ventures, intended to land for England, conduct trade. In 1620, Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts was settled by Pilgrims from the Mayflower, in 1616, English explorer John Smith named the region New England. As the first colonists arrived in Plymouth, they wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact, the Massachusetts Bay Colony came to dominate the area and was established by royal charter in 1629 with its major town and port of Boston established in 1630. Massachusetts Puritans began to settle in Connecticut as early as 1633, roger Williams was banished from Massachusetts for heresy, led a group south, and founded Providence Plantation in the area that became the Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations in 1636
32.
Aerospace Defense Command
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Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Forces, responsible for continental air defence. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980 and its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inactivated in 1950, reactivated in 1951, and then redesignated Aerospace rather than Air in 1968. Its mission was to air defense of the Continental United States. It directly controlled all active measures, and was tasked to coordinate all passive means of air defense, the air districts established on 16 January 1941 before the Pearl Harbor attack. The four air districts also handled USAAF combat training with the Army Ground Forces and organization and training of bomber, fighter and other units, the USAAFs Aircraft Warning Corps provided air defense warning with information centers that networked an areas Army Radar Stations which communicated radar tracks by telephone. The AWC information centers also integrated visual reports processed by Ground Observer Corps filter centers, AWC information centers notified air defense command posts of the 4 continental air forces for deploying interceptor aircraft which used command guidance for ground-controlled interception. The USAAF inactivated the aircraft warning network in April 1944, Continental Air Forces was activated on 12 December 1944 with the four Air Forces as components to consolidate the CONUS air defense mission under one command. The Continental Air Forces reorganization began in 1945, when ground radar, the Distant Early Warning Line was first conceived—and rejected—in 1946. By 1948 there were only 5 AC&W stations, including the Twin Lights station in NJ that opened in June and Montauk NY Air Warning Station #3 --cf. SAC radar stations, e. g. at Dallas & Denver Bomb Plots. By the time ADC was inactivated on 1 July 1950, ADC had deployed the Lashup Radar Network with existing radars at 43 sites, in addition,36 Air National Guard fighter units were called to active duty for the mission. ADC was reinstated as a command on 1 January 1951 at Mitchel Air Force Base. The headquarters was moved to Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs on 8 January 1951 and it received 21 former ConAC active-duty fighter squadrons. ADC was also assigned the 25th, 26th 27th and 28th Air Divisions ADC completed the Priority Permanent System network for Aircraft Warning, gaps were filled by additional Federal Aviation Administration radar stations and the Ground Observation Corps. During the mid-1950s, planners devised the idea of extending the wall of powerful land-based radar seaward with Airborne early warning, the RC-121s, EC-121s and Texas Towers, it was believed, would contribute to extending contiguous east-coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of the air threat of the 1950s, this meant a gain of at least 30 extra minutes warning time of a bomber attack. ADCs Operation Tail Wind on 11–12 July tested its augmentation plan that required Air Training Command interceptors participate in an air defense emergency, a total of seven ATC bases actively participated in the exercise, deploying aircraft and aircrews and supporting the ADC radar net. As the USAF prepared to deploy the Tactical Air Command E-3 Sentry in the later 1970s, all remaining EC-121s were transferred to the Air Force Reserve, which formed the 79th AEWCS at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida in early 1976. Besides monitoring Cuban waters, these last Warning Stars also operated from NAS Keflavik, final EC-121 operations ended in September 1978
33.
23d Wing
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The 23d Wing is a front-line United States Air Force Air Combat Command wing currently assigned to Moody Air Force Base, Georgia. The mission of the 23d Wing is to organize, train and employ combat-ready A-10, HC-130 and HH-60, as well as pararescuemen, the 23d Fighter Group was assigned as the operational group under the new 23d Fighter Wing. The wing was assigned to Far East Air Forces, the 23ds mission on Guam was to provide air defense of the island. The 23d Fighter Group was assigned the 74th, 75th and 76th Fighter Squadrons, the 23d Fighter Wing was reassigned to Howard Air Force Base, Canal Zone, in April 1949, where it also acquired a squadron of Lockheed RF-80 Shooting Stars. The 23d Fighter Wing conducted air defense of the Canal Zone under the Caribbean Air Command until it was inactivated on 24 September 1949. The 23 FIW was inactivated 6 February 1952 along with the 23d Fighter-Interceptor Group, the 23 TFW was activated to replace the 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at McConnell after its deployment to Korat RTAFB, Thailand. When Southeast Asian camouflaged, the squadrons carried the following codes,561 TFS MD,562 TFS ME,563 TFS MF. Flying the Republic Aviation F-105D/G Thunderchief aircraft, the mission of the 23 TFW at McConnell was to provide training for Thud pilots prior to their deployment to Southeast Asia. The 560th acted as a training squadron, while the other three squadrons began rotational TDY deployments to Southeast Asia beginning in November 1964. In February 1965, when the 23 TFW deployed three squadrons to Southeast Asia for combat, these units were initially under the control of the 2d Air Division. Later, the 6441 TFW was activated at Takhli RTAFB in July 1965 and it was during this five-month tour that the 563d TFS lost 10 of its 18 F-105s deployed and was awarded two Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards with Combat V for Valor. In addition to the deployments to Thailand, detachments of the 561 TFS also deployed to Da Nang Air Base RVN for operations within the borders of the Republic of Vietnam. On 1 August 1967, the 4519th Combat Crew Training squadron was added to the 23 TFW, and the 560 TFS was inactivated on 25 September 1968. For the dual role it played from June 1970 to June 1971 as both an operational and a unit, the wing received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award in March 1971. Two of its squadrons, the 562d and 563d, also received the award for their duty in Vietnam during 1965, but with the combat V added. For its participation in Linebacker I and Linebacker II during 1972 the 561st received the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Combat V, during combat operations in Southeast Asia, the 562 TFS lost three aircraft, while the 563 TFS lost eleven aircraft. On 1 July 1972 the 23 TFW was transferred to England AFB Louisiana, the 23d Tactical Fighter Wing moved on paper without people or equipment to England Air Force Base, Louisiana,1 July 1972 and took over the assets and personnel of the 4403d Tactical Fighter Wing. All 23 TFW aircraft carried the EL tail code at England AFB, on 5 July 1973, the 74 TFS deployed to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, on temporary duty with the 354 TFW from Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina
34.
4711th Air Defense Wing
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The 4711th Air Defense Wing is a discontinued United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 30th Air Division of Air Defense Command at Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan and it assumed control of several fighter Interceptor squadrons that had been assigned to the 23d Fighter-Interceptor Wing, including two Air National Guard squadrons mobilized for the Korean War. In early 1953 it also was assigned six radar squadrons in Maine, Vermont, the wing was redesignated as an air defense wing in 1954. In 1956, as ADC prepared to implement the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment air defense system, the wing lost its combat components and moved to Selfridge, the wing assumed operational control and the air defense mission of fighter squadrons formerly assigned to the inactivating 23d Fighter-Interceptor Wing. The two dispersed squadrons were federalized Air National Guard squadrons that had attached to the 23rd FIW. The 27th FIS at Griffiss AFB, another F-86 squadron, was transferred to the wing from direct assignment to Eastern Air Defense Force. In June, the 74th FIS converted to Northrop F-89 Scorpion interceptor aircraft, but by fall its F-89Cs had been grounded and the squadron was forced to convert to F-94 Starfires. In November 1952, the two ANG fighter squadrons were returned to the control of their states and replaced by the 37th FIS at Ethan Allen, in February 1953, another major reorganization of ADC activated Air Defense Groups at ADC bases with dispersed fighter squadrons. Two groups were assigned to the wing and assumed control of the fighter squadrons. The reorganization also resulted in the wing adding the radar detection, control and warning mission, the 49th FIS traded in its F-80s for F-86s in the same month. Meanwhile, the 75th FIS moved to Suffolk County AFB in October and was reassigned to another wing, in 1954, two of the wings squadrons upgraded to radar equipped and rocket armed fighters. The 49th FIS received later model F-86D Sabres, while the 27th FIS converted to F-94C Starfires, in 1955, ADC implemented Project Arrow, which was designed to bring back on the active list the fighter units that had compiled memorable records in the two world wars. As a result of Project Arrow, the 23d Fighter Group, charles H. McDonald,1 February 1952 – after Mar 1952 Col. Norvel K. Heath, by Jul 1952 –1952 Col. James O. afhra. af. mil/. Buss, Lydus H. Sturm, Thomas A. Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F. History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, Cornett, Lloyd H, Johnson, a Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980. Peterson AFB, CO, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, the Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, USAF Historical Study No.126 Maurer, Maurer, ed. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History, Maurer, Maurer, ed. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History, Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977
35.
517th Air Defense Group
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The 517th Air Defense Group is a disbanded United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the 4711th Air Defense Wing at Ethan Allen Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 18 August 1955. The group was activated as the 517th Air Service Group in Italy in early 1945, designed to support a single combat group. Together with the 518th Air Service Group, it supported the 464th and 465th Bombardment Groups at Pantanella Airfield, the group relocated to Trinidad and provided support to combat units redeploying from Europe to the United States. During the Cold War, the group was reconstituted, redesignated as the 517th Air Defense Group and it was assigned the 37th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was already stationed at Ethan Allan AFB, and flying World War II era F-51 Mustangs as its operational component. The 37th FIS had been assigned directly to the 4711th Defense Wing, the group replaced the 75th Air Base Squadron as USAF host organization at the base. It was assigned three squadrons to perform its support responsibilities, the 37th FIS converted to airborne intercept radar equipped and Mighty Mouse rocket armed North American F-86 Sabres in June 1953. The group was disbanded again in 1984. 27 May 1945 Caribbean Wing, Air Transport Command c, richardson, c.13 Jan 1945 - c. Feb 1945 Lt Col. Lloyd L. Connell, c. afhra. af. mil/, buss, Lydus H. Sturm, Thomas A. Volan, Denys, and McMullen, Richard F. History of Continental Air Defense Command and Air Defense Command July to December 1955, Directorate of Historical Services, Air Defense Command, Ent AFB, CO, Coleman, the Development of Tactical Services in the Army Air Forces. New York, NY, Columbia University Press, cornett, Lloyd H, Johnson, Mildred W. A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980, peterson AFB, CO, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Maurer, Maurer, ed. Air Force Combat Units of World War II, washington, DC, Office of Air Force History. Maurer, Maurer, ed. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, washington, DC, Office of Air Force History. The Development of Continental Air Defense to 1 September 1954, USAF Historical Study No.126 Leonard, History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense. Fort McNair, DC, Center for Military History
36.
Lockheed T-33
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The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star is an American jet trainer aircraft. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948 piloted by Tony LeVier, the T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A. It was used by the U. S. Navy initially as TO-2 then TV-2, as of 2015, Canadian-built examples remain in service with the Bolivian Air Force. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 by lengthening the fuselage by slightly over three feet and adding a seat, instrumentation and flight controls. It was initially designated as a variant of the P-80/F-80, the TP-80C/TF-80C, design work for the Lockheed P-80 began in 1943 with the first flight on 8 January 1944. Following on the Bell P-59, the P-80 became the first jet fighter to enter squadron service in the United States Army Air Forces. As more advanced jets entered service, the F-80 took on another role—training jet pilots, the two-place T-33 jet was designed for training pilots already qualified to fly propeller-driven aircraft. Originally designated the TF-80C, the T-33 made its first flight on 22 March 1948 with U. S. production taking place from 1948 to 1959, the US Navy used the T-33 as a land-based trainer starting in 1949. It was designated the TV-2, but was redesignated the T-33B in 1962, the Navy operated some ex-USAF P-80Cs as the TO-1, changed to the TV-1 about a year later. A carrier-capable version of the P-80/T-33 family was developed by Lockheed. The two TF-80C prototypes were modified as prototypes for an all-weather two-seater fighter variant which became the F-94 Starfire, a total of 6,557 Shooting Stars were produced,5,691 by Lockheed,210 by Kawasaki and 656 by Canadair. The two-place T-33 proved suitable as a trainer, and it has been used for such tasks as drone director. The T-33 was used to train cadets from the Air Force Academy at Peterson Field, the T-37 replaced the T-33 for Academy training in 1975. The final T-33 used in advanced training was replaced 8 February 1967 at Craig AFB, similar replacement also occurred in the U. S. Navy with the TV-1 as more advanced aircraft such as the North American T-2 Buckeye and Douglas TA-4 Skyhawk II came on line. The RT-33A version, reconnaissance aircraft produced primarily for use by countries, had a camera installed in the nose. The T-33 has served with over 30 nations, and continues to operate as a trainer in smaller air forces, Canadair built 656 T-33s on licence for service in the RCAF—Canadian Forces as the CT-133 Silver Star while Kawasaki manufactured 210 in Japan. Other operators included Brazil, Turkey and Thailand which used the T-33 extensively, in the 1980s, an attempt was made to modify and modernize the T-33 as the Boeing Skyfox, but a lack of orders led to the projects cancellation. About 70% of the T-33s airframe was retained in the Skyfox, in the late 1990s,18 T-33 Mk-III and T-33 SF-SC from the Bolivian Air Force went to Canada to be modernized at Kelowna Flightcraft
37.
United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
38.
Lockheed F-94 Starfire
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The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was a first-generation jet aircraft of the United States Air Force. It was developed from the twin-seat Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star in the late 1940s as an all-weather, the aircraft reached operational service in May 1950 with Air Defense Command, replacing the piston-engined North American F-82 Twin Mustang in the all-weather interceptor role. The F-94 was the first operational USAF fighter equipped with an afterburner and was the first jet-powered all-weather fighter to combat during the Korean War in January 1953. It had a brief operational life, being replaced in the mid-1950s by the Northrop F-89 Scorpion. The last aircraft left active-duty service in 1958 and Air National Guard service in 1959, the F-94 was derived from the TF-80C which was a two-seat trainer version of the F-80 Shooting Star. A lengthened nose area with guns, radar and automatic control system was added. Since the conversion seemed so simple, a contract was awarded to Lockheed in early 1949, the early test YF-94s used 75% of the parts used in the earlier F-80 and T-33As. The fire control system was the Hughes E-1, which incorporated an AN/APG-33 radar and this short-range radar system was useful only in the terminal phases of the interception. Most of the operation would be directed using ground-controlled interception, as was the case with the aircraft it replaced. The combination reduced the fuel capacity. The F-94 was to be the first US production jet with an afterburner, the J33-A-33 had standard thrust of 4,000 pounds-force, and with water injection this was increased to 5,400 pounds-force and with afterburning a maximum of 6,000 pounds-force thrust. The YF-94As afterburner had many teething problems with its igniter and the stabilization system. The initial production model was the F-94A, which entered service in May 1950. Its armament was four 0.50 in M3 Browning machine guns mounted in the fuselage with the muzzles exiting just behind the radome, two 165 US Gallon drop tanks, as carried by the F-80 and T-33, could be carried beneath the wingtips. Alternatively, these could be replaced by 1,000 lb bombs, the F-94A was in operational service for only a brief time as it was originally built, and was not received well by its aircrews. Primarily, this was due to the unreliability of its J33 engine, the aircraft was judged as unstable and hard to maneuver at high altitude by its pilots. The pilot and radar operator found that the cockpit was too narrow for them to be able to get in and out of the aircraft quickly during alerts, the clearance for the ejection seats was too small, resulting in several tragic accidents during emergency ejections. The subsequent F-94B, which entered service in January 1951, was virtually identical to the F-94A
39.
Otis Air National Guard Base
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It was previously known as Otis Air Force Base prior to its transfer from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard. In the local community, it is commonly known as Otis Air Base or simply Otis. It is also called by its old name, Otis Air Force Base. It was named in honor of pilot and Boston surgeon, Lt. Frank Jesse Otis, today major units include the Coast Guard Air Station Cape Cod and the 102nd Intelligence Wing. Otis Air National Guard Base is named for pilot, flight surgeon and he was a member of the 101st Observation Squadron who was killed on 11 January 1937 when his Douglas O-46A crashed at Hennepin, Illinois, while on a cross-country training mission. In 1938, the field area at Camp Edwards was named Otis Field in his memory. Ten years later the base was renamed Otis Air Force Base in his honor, until 1973, it was the largest Aerospace Defense Command base in the world and is the only base named for a doctor. During World War II, the field was known as Naval Auxiliary Air Facility Otis and was a field for Naval Air Station Quonset Point. During the Cold War, the base was a key Aerospace Defense Command installation, the 551st flew the EC-121 Warning Star before moving to Hanscom Air Force Base in 1969. The 551st was also the first Air Force wing to fly the EC-121, the 33rd flew various fighter jets in conjunction with the 60th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. The expanding mission led to the runways being lengthened in 1960, the base was also home to the 26th Air Defense Missile Squadron, which operated BOMARC surface-to-air missiles. The regular air force began leaving Otis in the late 1960s as improvements in radar made the 551st more costly compared to newer technologies. The 551st and the 60th left Otis when the Air Force began to move the air defense mission over to the Air National Guard. Strategic Air Command maintained the 19th Air Refueling Squadron at Otis AFB flying the KC-97 Stratofreighter, after active duty units left, the Massachusetts Air National Guards 102d Fighter Wing became the main unit at the base, flying fighter and air defense missions. The Wings 101st Tactical Fighter Squadron shared missions with the 33rd Tactical Fighter Wing during the Cold War, in 1987, the 102 FW transitioned to the F-15A Eagle, and, later, to the F-15C Eagle. The base was utilized as a stopover for a French Air Force Mirage IV on the way to French Polynesia for Operation Tamoure. Following the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, the 102 FW was directed to transfer its F-15 aircraft to its sister unit, all F-15 aircraft were transferred by January 2008 and the 102 FW was redesignated as the 102d Intelligence Wing, a non-flying unit. President John F. Kennedy used Otis on many occasions for the landing of Air Force One when he traveled to the Kennedy Compound in Hyannis and he would then board an Army or Marine Corps helicopter which would then take him to the compound
40.
14th Operations Group
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The 14th Operations Group is the flying component of the 14th Flying Training Wing, assigned to the United States Air Forces Air Education and Training Command. The group is stationed at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi, the group was first activated in 1941 as the 14th Pursuit Group at Hamilton Field, California. For a short time following the Attack on Pearl Harbor it flew patrols along the Pacific coast and it moved to the United Kingdom as the 14th Fighter Group in the summer of 1942 and was the first fighter unit to ferry its own aircraft across the Atlantic. After combat training with the Royal Air Force, the moved to the Mediterranean Theater of Operations following Operation Torch. It continued in combat until V-E Day, earning a Distinguished Unit Citation for defending bombers attacking a target in Austria in 1944 and it was inactivated in Italy in September 1945. The 14th was again activated at Dow Field, Maine in 1946 as part of Air Defense Command and it became the first Army Air Forces combat unit to equip with the Republic P-84 Thunderjet. The group was inactivated in 1949 when reductions in the Department of Defense budget required a reduction of groups in the United States Air Force to 48 and it remained there until 1960, when it was inactivated. The group was activated as the 14th Operations Group at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi in December 1991. The group uses a fleet of Beechcraft T-6 Texan II, Northrop T-38 Talon, the Groups 250 aircraft fly about 90,000 hours annually in 11,500 square miles of airspace. It moved to March Field in California in early June 1941, the group trained with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks, Republic P-43 Lancers and Lockheed P-38D/E Lightnings. It returned to Hamilton Field on 7 February 1942 to receive operational P-38Fs, even though the defense of the US west coast initially took priority, plans were made in the spring of 1942 to deploy the 14th and other P-38 groups to Great Britain. The group was redesignated as the 14th Fighter Group in May 1942, the ground echelon departed 16 July 1942 on the first stage of the movement to England. They sailed on the USS West Point in early August 1942, the air echelon departed for Bradley Field, Connecticut on 1 July 1942. It flew its P-38s to the United Kingdom via the ferry route. The first aircraft departed Presque Isle Army Air Field, Maine on 22 July 1942 and this was the first transatlantic crossing successfully made by single-seat fighters. In Britain, the group was stationed at RAF Atcham as part of Eighth Air Force, the Ground echelon left Atcham on 30 October 1942, and sailed on the USS Brazil and USS Uruguay from Liverpool and arrived in Oran, Algeria on 10 November 1942. The air echelon departed for North Africa on 6 November 1942, from bases in Algeria, and later Tunisia, the group flew escort, strafing, and reconnaissance missions from the middle of November 1942 to late in January 1943. In November, Lt. Carl T. Williams scored the first United States victory in the desert over a German aircraft
41.
Northrop F-89 Scorpion
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The Northrop F-89 Scorpion was an American all-weather interceptor built during the 1950s, the first jet-powered aircraft designed as such from the outset to enter service. The Scorpion stemmed from a United States Army Air Forces Air Technical Service Command specification for a fighter to replace the P-61 Black Widow. The preliminary specification, sent to manufacturers on 28 August 1945. The aircraft was to be armed with aerial rockets stored internally, each mount had to be capable of 15° of movement from the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. Each mounts guns were to be controlled by radar. For ground attack, it had to be capable of carrying 1, 000-pound bombs, bell Aircraft, Consolidated-Vultee, Douglas Aircraft, Goodyear, Northrop and Curtiss-Wright all submitted proposals. In March 1946, the USAAF selected the Curtiss-Wright XP-87, adapted from their proposed XA-43 attack aircraft, the N-24, designed by Jack Northrop, was a slim-bodied swept-wing aircraft with a two-man pressurized cockpit and conventional landing gear. To reduce drag, the two Allison J35 turbojet engines were buried in the fuselage, directly behind their air intakes. The horizontal stabilizer was mounted just above the junction of the stabilizer with the fuselage and had some dihedral. It was inspected on 25 September, and the USAAF was not impressed, other changes had to be made as wind tunnel and other aerodynamic tests were conducted. The swept wings proved to be less satisfactory at low speeds, delivery of the first prototype was scheduled for November 1947,14 months after the inspection. The position of the horizontal stabilizer proved to be unsatisfactory, as it was affected by the engine exhaust, moving the horizontal stabilizer forward solved the problem. Another major change occurred when USAAF revised its specification to delete the rear gun installation on 8 October, another inspection of the mock-up was held on 17 December, and the inspectors only suggested minor changes, even though the fuselage fuel tanks were still above the engines. Northrops efforts to protect the tanks were considered sufficient, as the only alternative was to redesign the entire aircraft. The XP-89 had a thin, straight, mid-mounted wing and a crew of two, seated in tandem, the slim rear fuselage and the high-mounted horizontal stabilizer led Northrop employees calling it the Scorpion—a name later formally adopted by the Air Force. The intended armament of four 20 mm M-24 cannon in a nose turret was not ready when the XP-89 was completed in 1948. Pending the availability of either of the two turrets under development, an interim six-gun fixed installation, with 200 rounds per gun, was designed for the underside of the nose. The thin wing had a ratio of 9% and used a NACA 0009-64 section
42.
AIR-2 Genie
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The Douglas AIR-2 Genie was an unguided air-to-air rocket with a 1.5 kt W25 nuclear warhead. It was deployed by the United States Air Force and Canada during the Cold War, production ended in 1962 after over 3000 were made, with some related training and test derivatives being produced later. The interception of Soviet strategic bombers was a major preoccupation of the late 1940s and 1950s. The World War II-age fighter armament of guns and cannon were inadequate to stop attacks by massed formations of high-speed bombers. Firing large volleys of unguided rockets into bomber formations was not much better, in 1954 Douglas Aircraft began a program to investigate the possibility of a nuclear-armed air-to-air weapon. To ensure simplicity and reliability, the weapon would be unguided, the resultant weapon carried a 1. 5-kiloton W25 nuclear warhead and was powered by a Thiokol SR49-TC-1 solid-fuel rocket engine of 162 kN thrust. It had a range of slightly under 10 km, targeting, arming, and firing of the weapon were coordinated by the launch aircrafts fire-control system. Detonation was by time-delay fuze, although the mechanism would not arm the warhead until engine burn-out, to give the launch aircraft sufficient time to turn. Lethal radius of the blast was estimated to be about 300 metres, the first test firings of inert rounds took place in 1956, and the weapon entered service with the designation MB-1 in 1957. The popular name was Genie, but it was often nicknamed Ding-Dong, about 3,150 rounds were produced before production ended in 1963. In 1962 the weapon was redesignated AIR-2A Genie, many rounds were upgraded with improved, longer-duration rocket motors, the upgraded weapons sometimes known as AIR-2B. An inert training round, originally MB-1-T and later ATR-2A, was produced in small numbers. A live Genie was detonated only once, in Operation Plumbbob on 19 July 1957 and it was fired by AF Captain Eric William Hutchison and AF Captain Alfred C. Barbee flying an F-89J over Yucca Flats, sources vary as to the height of the blast, but it was between 18,500 and 20,000 ft above mean sea level. A group of five USAF officers volunteered to stand hatless in their light summer uniforms underneath the blast to prove that the weapon was safe for use over populated areas and they were photographed by Department of Defense photographer George Yoshitake who stood there with them. Gamma and neutron doses received by observers on the ground were negligible, doses received by aircrew were highest for the fliers assigned to penetrate the airburst cloud ten minutes after explosion. The Genie was cleared to be carried on the F-89 Scorpion, F-101B Voodoo, F-106 Delta Dart, a trapeze launcher was fitted beneath a Starfighter, but it was never carried in operational service. Convair offered an upgrade of the F-102 Delta Dagger that would have been Genie-capable, operational use of the Genie was discontinued in 1988 with the retirement of the F-106 interceptor
43.
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
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The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft that was built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Forces air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets during the Cold War. Designed and manufactured by Convair,1,000 F-102s were built, a member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the USAFs first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter. It used an internal weapons bay to carry guided missiles and rockets. As originally designed, it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling, the F-102 replaced subsonic fighter types such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, and by the 1960s, it saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground-attack roles. It was supplemented by McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and, later, by McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, the follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart, which was an extensive redesign of the F-102. On 8 October 1948, the board of officers of the U. S. Four months later, on 4 February 1949, the USAF approved the recommendation, in November 1949, the Air Force decided that the new aircraft would be built around a fire-control system. The FCS was to be designed before the airframe to ensure compatibility, the airframe and FCS together were called the weapon system. In January 1950, the USAF Air Materiel Command issued request for proposals to 50 companies for the FCS, by May, the list was revised downward to 10. Following recommendations by the committee to the Saville Board, the proposals were further reduced to two competitors, Hughes Aircraft and North American Aviation. Although the Valley Committee thought it was best to award the contract to companies, Hughes was chosen by Saville and his team on 2 October 1950. Proposals for the airframe were issued on 18 June 1950, on 2 July 1954, three companies, Convair, Republic and Lockheed won the right to build a mockup. Until then, Convair had done research into delta-winged aircraft, experimenting with different designs, of the three, the best design was to win the production contract under the name Project MX-1554. In the end, Convair emerged as the victor with its design, designated XF-102, after Lockheed dropped out, the development of three different designs was too expensive and in November, only Convair was allowed to continue with its Model 8-80. To speed development, it was proposed to equip the prototypes, continued delays to the J67 and MA-1 FCS led to the decision to place an interim aircraft with the J40 and a simpler fire control system into production as the F-102A. The failure of the J40 led to the Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet with afterburner, rated with 10,000 pounds-force of thrust being substituted for the prototypes, the F-102B would later evolve to become the F-106A, dubbed the Ultimate Interceptor. The prototype YF-102 made its first flight on 23 October 1953, at Edwards AFB, the second aircraft flew on 11 January 1954, confirming a dismal performance
44.
Martin B-57 Canberra
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The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twinjet tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force in 1953. The B-57 is a version of the British English Electric Canberra manufactured by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The B-57 Canberra holds the distinction of being the first jet bomber in U. S. service to drop bombs during combat. The B-57 Canberra was also sold to customers abroad, further combat use was seen by the Pakistani Air Force during the Second Kashmir War. At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the USAF found itself in dire need of an all-weather interdiction aircraft, in response to these needs, the USAF requested the British government to provide a private demonstration of the English Electric Canberra, a newly developed jet-powered bomber. On 16 September 1950, the USAF formally issued a request for a bomber, the sought aircraft had to possess a top speed of 630 mph, ceiling of 40,000 feet. Full all-weather capability and a reconnaissance role also had to be included in the design. The American contenders included the Martin XB-51, the North American B-45 Tornado, to expedite the process, only projects based on existing aircraft were considered and, unusually, the service considered foreign aircraft. These included the Canadian Avro Canada CF-100 and the British English Electric Canberra, as part of the USAF evaluations process, all five aircraft were submitted to a series of fly-offs to determine their performance. On 21 February 1951, a British Canberra B, according to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Canberra proved to be significantly superior to any of the competing aircraft, and that its selection was beyond doubt by the end of the competition. Martin Company, under which it was proposed that Martin would receive a license to build the Canberra in the United States. According to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Americanization of the Canberra program proved effective at dismissing many of the opponents that had opposed the project. On 23 March 1951, the USAF issued a contract to Martin, requesting the manufacturing of a quantity of 250 Canberras. On 3 April 1951, English Electric and Martin both signed a licensing agreement to cover the Canberras production. The crash did lead to design changes in the face of political pressure. As such, more than 30 changes that had been requested by the Wright Air Development Center were rejected on program schedule or cost grounds, in early July 1953, the first US-built production aircraft rolled out, it conducted its maiden flight on 20 July 1953. One month later, this initial production aircraft was accepted by the USAF, in place of the curtailed B-57A, a more refined bomber variant, the B-57B, was developed. The B-57B introduced several major changes.50 cal Browning machine guns installed within the wings
45.
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
46.
Air Defense, Tactical Air Command
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Air Defense, Tactical Air Command was a Named Unit of the United States Air Force, and operated at the Numbered Air Force echelon of Tactical Air Command. It was responsible for the air defense of the United States and it was last assigned to Tactical Air Command, and was inactivated on 6 December 1985. ADTAC was established when the Aerospace Defense Command was inactivated as a Major Command on 1 October 1979, Aerospace Defense Commands atmospheric defense resources were subsequently transferred to ADTAC. The command was, essentially, a transition organization between the Aerospace Defense Command, and the transfer of the air defense mission from the USAF to the Air National Guard in 1990. The command had the responsibility to provide operationally ready interceptor aircraft and these assets had to be capable of scrambling to identify and assist or engage unidentified or hostile airborne objects approaching or entering United States airspace without proper approval. These scrambles were initiated from the region headquarters based on information derived from radar site data. During peacetime operations, the mission of ADTAC was to command, train, manage, in doing so, the tasks of preparing budget proposals, acquiring equipment, and providing support requirements, were essential to providing ready air defense forces. Each air division had responsibility for an area of the country. Each air division was commanded from a SAGE blockhouse housing that divisions command and control element plus associated air defense radar, radar sites associated with the SAGE system consisted of 80 Long Range Radars and 21 radar squadrons. Subordinate to each air division were assigned fighter interceptor squadrons, the fighter units allocated to ADTAC consisted of seven Air Force and 10 Air National Guard units. The Air Force fighter squadrons were equipped with F-4 Phantom II, the Air National Guard units possessed the F-101 Voodoo, F-4 Phantom II, and the F-106 Delta Dart. The Distant Early Warning Line was the system of 31 radar sites stretching from Alaska to Greenland used to provide early warning attack information, the Air Defense Weapons Center was the primary location for training air defense forces. F-106 and T-33 pilot and instructor training, as well as weapons controller training, was conducted here. Tactics research and development and weapons system evaluation were important aspects of the Weapons Centers mission, ADTAC also acquired two EB-57 Canberra electronic faker aircraft units, one Air Force and one Air National Guard, each with the mission of providing electronic countermeasure training. HQ ADTAC remained at Peterson AFB, Colorado to direct the transition into TAC, in essence, Tactical Air Command became the old Continental Air Command, of which, TAC and Air Defense Command were part of during the postwar years. The Joint Surveillance System would consist of radars, Regional Operations Control Centers, the ROCCs would be phased in to replace the SAGE blockhouses as command and control centers. The old SAGE system was designed for both peacetime and wartime functions, the JSS/ROCC system was designed primarily for peacetime, or until the tactical situation required transfer of control to an E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System designated for air defense. SAGE centers were to be replaced by four ROCCs, two additional ROCCs were planned, one by the Canadians for the defense of Canada, and one for Alaska
47.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
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It first entered service in 1960 with the U. S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was adopted by the U. S. Marine Corps and the U. S. Air Force. The Phantom is a fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds of weapons on nine hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon, later models incorporated an M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for performance, including an absolute speed record. The Phantom has the distinction of being the last U. S. fighter flown to attain ace status in the 20th century. The F-4 Phantom II remained in use by the U. S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. It was also the aircraft used by both U. S. flight demonstration teams, the USAF Thunderbirds and the US Navy Blue Angels. The F-4 was also operated by the forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with five countries, Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft. The F-4 is currently used by Greece, Iran, Japan, South Korea and it has been recently used in combat against the Islamic State. In 1952, McDonnells Chief of Aerodynamics, Dave Lewis, was appointed by CEO Jim McDonnell to be the preliminary design manager. With no new aircraft competitions on the horizon, internal studies concluded the Navy had the greatest need for a new and different aircraft type, in 1953, McDonnell Aircraft began work on revising its F3H Demon naval fighter, seeking expanded capabilities and better performance. The company developed several projects including a variant powered by a Wright J67 engine, the J79-powered version promised a top speed of Mach 1.97. On 19 September 1953, McDonnell approached the United States Navy with a proposal for the Super Demon, the Navy was sufficiently interested to order a full-scale mock-up of the F3H-G/H, but felt that the upcoming Grumman XF9F-9 and Vought XF8U-1 already satisfied the need for a supersonic fighter. On 26 May 1955, four Navy officers arrived at the McDonnell offices and, within an hour, because the Navy already had the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for ground attack and F-8 Crusader for dogfighting, the project now had to fulfill the need for an all-weather fleet defense interceptor
48.
Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center
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Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center is a United States Air Force training center, located at Gulfport-Biloxi International Airport, Mississippi. It is located 5 miles north-northeast of Gulfport, Mississippi, nearby Camp Shelby, MS features an air-to-ground range and sufficient low-altitude MOA airspace to provide realistic ground attack scenarios. All Airspace and ranges/drop zones are instrumented on the $26 million Air Combat Training System and this system provides advanced, realistic training and debriefing capability and combines sophisticated electronic threat and scoring systems as well. The CRTC has two tenant Mississippi Air National Guard units on base, the 255th Air Control Squadron, activated in 1971 as a Combat Communications Squadron, was converted to a Control and Reporting Center in 1987. They were the first Air National Guard unit to receive datalink capabilities for all joint forces, in 1998, the 255th was converted to their role of Air Control. ACTS provides state-of-the-art Ground Control Intercept capability to the total force, the 255th ACS has 255 personnel and is combat ready in all areas. The 209th CES was formed as the 173rd Civil Engineering Flight in 1969, the mission of the 209th CES is to provide a highly mobile emergency engineering force for base damage recovery after attack. This unit constantly trains and maintains a state of readiness to allow short notice deployment capability and this is accomplished through management of the Rapid Runway Repair site and the fire training facility. Within the first year of opening, the new RRR site had trained 1,600 personnel, the 209th CES began augmenting the United States Air Force Silver Flag Training Program at Tyndall AFB, FL in FY00. When activated for active-duty service, the 209th falls under the jurisdiction of the Air Force Special Operations Command, while not considered a tenant of the CRTC,1108 Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group, Mississippi Army National Guard, is co-located at the Gulfport-Biloxi Regional Airport. They are a full Army aviation maintenance depot facility, the facility was originally constructed in 1942 by the United States Army Air Forces as a training base for Air Corps Flying Training Command. In addition B-29 Superfortress aircrew transition training was performed, with the end of the war and the drawdown of the military, Gulfport AAF was placed into reserve status on 31 January 1946. Gulfport Field was declared excess by the Air Force and conveyed by the War Assets Administration to the City of Gulfport in 1949 for use as a civil airport. The City negotiated airline service contracts with Southern Airways and later National Airlines to provide passenger, in 1957, ATC decided to assign all flying and crew training responsibilities under a single headquarters. Recruiting and Basic Training were also reassigned to HQ ATC, military traffic has expanded each year, and now more than 20,000 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command flight personnel are trained at the base annually. Within 10 minutes, supersonic fighters, in-flight refueling aircraft and airlift aircraft can simulate a combat environment over the Gulf of Mexico or at Camp Shelby in Hattiesburg, MS
United States
Vermont
Air National Guard
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
