1.
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
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
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
4.
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
5.
Pacific Air Forces
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Pacific Air Forces is a Major Command of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Pacific Command. The mission of Pacific Air Forces is to provide air and space power to promote U. S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region during peacetime, through crisis. PACAF comprises three numbered Air Forces, nine main bases and nearly 375 aircraft. The commands area of responsibility extends from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of Asia and from the Arctic to the Antarctic, the area is home to nearly two billion people who live in 44 countries. Not to be confused with Far East Air Force, the military organization of the United States Army in the Philippine Islands from 1941 to 1942. The beginnings of PACAF can be traced back to June 1944, Far East Air Forces was activated on 3 August 1944, at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. FEAF had actually created on 15 June 1944, and Fifth Air Force assigned to it. FEAF was subordinate to the U. S. Army Forces Far East, the creation of FEAF consolidated the command and control authority over United States Army Air Forces units widely deployed throughout the southwest Pacific in World War II. A realignment of forces was needed by the USAAF to better organize its forces in the Pacific for peacetime. Shortly afterwards, Eighth Air Force was reassigned to the newly established Strategic Air Command on 7 June 1946, the major mission of PACUSA in the postwar years was occupation duty in Japan and the demilitarization of the Japanese society in conjunction with the United States Army. In addition, PACUSA helped to support atomic bomb testing in the Pacific Proving Grounds beginning with the Operation Crossroads test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946. With the impending establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service later that year, on that same date, Seventh Air Force in Hawaii was inactivated with its organization absorbed by HQ, FEAF. On 25 June 1950, the forces of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea invaded South Korea. On 27 June, the United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion, president Harry Truman authorized General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to commit units to the battle. MacArthur ordered General George E. Stratemeyer, CIC of FEAF, despite the post-World War II demobilization of United States armed forces, the U. S. Air Force still had substantial forces in the Pacific to oppose the North Korean military. Support units were equipped with the Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo aircraft and the Boeing RB-17 Flying Fortress, the 512th and 514th Weather Reconnaissance Squadrons of the 2143d Air Weather Wing were located at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. On 29 June 1950, the unit began flying missions over the Korean Peninsula in their RB-29 Superfortresses to provide FEAF Bomber Command with target. Eventually, these USAF F-86 units would establish a kill ratio of 10,1 versus their KPAF adversaries, during the Korean War FEAFs Fifth Air Force was the main United Nations combat air command until the Korean Armistice Agreement ended the combat 1953
6.
Vietnam War
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It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
7.
Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
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The unit with the most Presidential Unit Citations is the USS Parche with 9 citations. The Army citation was established by Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, superseded by Executive Order 9396 on Dec.2,1943, as with other Army unit citations, the PUC is in a larger frame than other ribbons, and is worn above the right pocket. All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they participated in the acts for which the unit was cited. Only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award, for both the Army and Air Force, the emblem is a solid blue ribbon enclosed in a gold frame. The Air Force PUC was adopted from the Army Distinguished Unit Citation after the Air Force became a military branch in 1947. By Executive Order 10694, dated Jan,10,1957 the Air Force redesignated the Distinguished Unit Citation as the Presidential Unit Citation. The Air Force PUC is the color and design as the Army PUC but slightly smaller. The Citation is carried on the units colors in the form of a blue streamer,4 ft long and 2.75 in wide. For the Army, only on rare occasions will a larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration. The Navy citation was established by Executive Order 9050 on 6 February 1942, the Navy version has blue, yellow, and red horizontal stripes, and is the only Navy ribbon having horizontal stripes. These are only worn by persons who meet the criteria at the time it is awarded to the unit, unlike the Army, those who later join the unit do not wear it on a temporary basis. The current decoration is known as the Department of Homeland Security Presidential Unit Citation. A Coast Guard version of the award was awarded to all U. S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel responding to Hurricane Katrina by President George W. Bush for rescue, the United States Public Health Service Presidential Citation was established in 2015. The design was finalized by the Army Institute of Heraldry on 17 August 2015, two units of the Free French Forces were awarded Presidential Unit Citations during World War II. On April 22,1986, the 1st Fighter Group Força Aérea Brasileira was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in the Po Valley region of Italy in World War II. The Brazilians, operating in Italy in support of Allied forces, destroyed in one day over 45 vehicles, strafed pontoon bridges on the River Po, eleven missions of 44 sorties were flown destroying nine motor transports and damaging 17. One Belgian-Luxembourgian battalion of the Belgian United Nations Command was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation once for actions during the Battle of the Imjin River, the Colombia Battalion received the citation while attached to the American 21st Infantry Regiment in 1951. One Dutch unit, the Netherlands Detachment United Nations, part of the Regiment Van Heutsz, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation twice for actions during the Korean War, the first citation was awarded after the battle near Wonju and Hoengson in February 1951
8.
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
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The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force. It was established in 1954 and was the first independent Air Force decoration created, the Air Force Longevity Service Award would follow in 1957 with most of the standard Air Force awards established in the early to mid 1960s. The Outstanding Unit Award is awarded to any unit of the U. S, multiple awards of the Outstanding Unit Award are denoted by oak leaf clusters on the ribbon. Until 2004, the Outstanding Unit Award was the senior most unit award in the U. S. Air Force and it is awarded to personnel who were assigned or attached to the unit receiving the award during the period it was awarded for. Non-USAF personnel personnel assigned to USAF units awarded the Outstanding Unit Award are also eligible to wear the ribbon on their uniforms, however, the ribbon does not come in the larger size of unit awards common to the U. S. Army
9.
"V" device
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The decorations with which a V may be authorized differ between the military services, as well as the manner in which the V is worn and the name by which it is referred to. The Department of Defense, Army, and Air Force refer to the V as the V Device, the Coast Guard refers to it as the Valor Device, while the Navy and Marine Corps refer to it as the Combat Distinguishing Device or Combat V. Until 2 February 2017, the also used different criteria in determining whether a V could be authorized. Soldiers and airmen who were awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroism in combat, were now authorized to wear a bronze V on the suspension, only one V was allowed to be worn on a ribbon. Most World War II veterans who were entitled to the V probably did not know about or apply for the device, since large scale separations from the services were taking place after the war ended. Stocks of the device also were not available for issue for at least a year since the Army circular, to be worn on a decoration, the V device must have been specifically authorized in the written award citation issued with the medal. In 1996, the V device garnered public attention after the suicide of Admiral Jeremy Boorda, there has not been a living repeat Medal of Honor recipient since the World War I era, so the V device was never actually worn in this fashion. Until 2017, the criteria and conditions under which the V device could be awarded differed between the services, for the Army, the V was worn solely to denote participation in acts of heroism involving conflict with an armed enemy. Prior to 1 January 2014, the device was authorized on Outstanding Unit Awards. The V device is authorized for the Air Medal by all the services where heroism in aerial combat was involved on an individual mission. Two new C and R devices will also be used on relevant awards. On 2 February 2017, a new silver plated and gold plated V device was introduced, sometime after 2 February 2017, the individual services will change their regulations such that the silver and gold V device will be used to denote second and third awards with the V. A fourth, fifth, and sixth awarding with the V is to be issued with a bronze, silver, currently, the following decorations of the United States Armed Forces are eligible to be awarded with a V device. For the Army and the Air Force, the V is positioned to the right of any bronze or silver oak leaf clusters from the wearers perspective, the following examples depict decorations that were awarded with the V Device before 2 February 2017. After 2 February 2017, bronze, silver, and gold V devices will be used to indicate first, second, the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard continue to award and issue the bronze version. The Marine Corps allows anodized medals and gold anodized Combat Vs to be worn on the blues uniform. Fourth, fifth, and sixth awards with the V would be denoted by a bronze V with wreath, silver V with wreath, the following examples depict decorations that were awarded with the device in at least one instance. After 2 February 2017, bronze, silver, and gold V devices will be used to indicate first, second, and third awards of the device
10.
Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)
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The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross also known as the Vietnam Gallantry Cross or Vietnam Cross of Gallantry is a military decoration of the former Government of South Vietnam. Individuals who received the medal, ribbon, and a citation were personally cited at the Armed Forces, Corps, Division, the Republic of Vietnam authorized members of units and organizations that were cited, to wear the Gallantry Cross Unit Citation Emblem with Palm and Frame. The medal is gold in color,35 mm wide and it consists of a Celtic cross with two crossed swords between the arms. The cross is superimposed over a wreath, the center of the cross contains a disc with the outline of the country of Vietnam between two palm branches joined at the bottom. A scroll is on top of the map and is inscribed QUOC-GIA LAO-TUONG, the suspension ribbon of the medal is 35 mm wide and is made up of the following stripes,9 mm of Old Glory Red,17 mm center stripe in Golden Yellow. The center stripe has sixteen strands of Old Glory Red, and 9 mm of Old Glory Red, degrees The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross was awarded in four degrees, with a basic medal followed by higher degrees which were the equivalent of personal citations on an organizational level. U. S. Marine Corps uniform regulations in 2003, state the recipient should wear only one Gallantry Cross award regardless of the number received, for multiple awards, wear as many authorized devices as will fit on one medal suspension ribbon or ribbon bar. Wear the devices for subsequent awards in order of seniority from the wearers right, the first palm is 1 7⁄16 inches on the suspension ribbon or 6⁄8 inch on the service ribbon. Subsequent palms are 6⁄8 inch on the ribbon or 3⁄8 inch on the service ribbon. Service versions The Gallantry Cross was awarded to members of all branches, as well as service members of foreign. The similarly named decorations were the Air Gallantry Cross and Navy Gallantry Cross and these decorations were awarded under a different authority, with different criteria, and were considered separate decorations. The former Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces awarded the Gallantry Cross to specific units that distinguished themselves to the same level as would be required for the individual award. Regulations for the issuance of the Vietnam Gallantry Cross permit the wearing of both the individual and unit award simultaneously since both are considered separate awards, the Gallantry Cross was awarded to every Allied nation which provided support to South Vietnam. The Gallantry Cross became the most commonly awarded Vietnamese decoration to foreigners, Fourragere The South Vietnamese military Fourragere in the colors of the Gallantry Cross represented a military unit cited two times. It was a brilliant golden-yellow, with red intermixed, Department of the Army message 111030Z from April 1974, established the policy that only one emblem for a unit award was authorized to be worn at a time. This change resulted in the fourragere being no longer authorized for wear, U. S. authorization Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, U. S. Department of Defense, U. S. The United States military began authorizing the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross in March 1968 with retroactive presentation of the decoration to 1961, the full medal and or unit citation award are both considered foreign military awards and are not issued to Vietnam veterans by the NPRC. John Beal, film and television composer, was awarded the RVN Gallantry Cross with palm, george R. Christmas, USMC Lieutenant General who was awarded the RVN Gallantry Cross with palm
11.
35th Fighter Wing
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The 35th Fighter Wing is an air combat unit of the United States Air Force and the host unit at Misawa Air Base, Japan. The wing is part of Pacific Air Forces s Fifth Air Force, the wing was first activated in August 1948 at Johnson Air Base, Japan when PACAF implemented the wing base organization. It participated in the Korean War and later served in the air defense of Japan until inactivating in 1957, in 1966, the wing was again activated and served in combat in the Vietnam War until inactivating in 1972 with the withdrawal of US forces from Southeast Asia. It was soon reactivated at George Air Force Base, California and it was activated the following year in Iceland as an air defense unit. With the drawdown of US forces in Iceland, it was inactivated the following year, the mission of the 35th Wing is to project power throughout the Pacific theater and execute worldwide deployments. The 35th Fighter Wing is a combat-ready F-16 wing composed of 4 groups,2 fighter squadrons,27 support squadrons and agencies, host unit for 13, 500-manned base supporting 35 associate units representing all four US military services and the Japan Air Self Defense Force. The Operations Group controls all flying and airfield operations, the Maintenance Group performs Aircraft and Aircraft support equipment maintenance. The Maintenance Group provides aircraft and mission support equipment maintenance, while the Medical Group provides medical and dental care, redesignated 35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in January 1950 and two squadrons were equipped with Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star jet fighters. In July 1950, the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group commenced combat from Ashiya Air Base in southwestern Japan and it quickly converted from F-80Cs back to the rugged and longer-range North American F-51D Mustangs it had given up only a short time before. Group headquarters and the 40th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron moved to Pohang Air Base on South Koreas south eastern coast in mid-July, the precarious ground situation in Korea forced the 35th Group to return to Tsuiki Air Base, Japan on 13 August, where it remained until early October. The two squadrons of the 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group were attached to the wartime 6131st Tactical Support Wing from 1 August, the Korean War squadrons of the 35th FIG were the 39th, 40th and 339th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons. From 6 September, the group supported United Nations ground forces moving north of the 38th parallel, when Communist Chinese Forces surrounded the 1st U. S. Marine Division at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, the F-51 Mustang-equipped squadrons provided close air support to the Marines. Relocating to Pusan East Air Base in early December 1950, the 35th Group continued supporting UN ground forces, eventually staging out of Suwon Air Base in March 1951 and Seoul Air Base in April. After the 35ths squadrons transferred back to Johnson in 1951, the group was reunited with the wing, the wing also added aerial reconnaissance to its air defense mission. Aircraft flown included the RC-45, RF-51, North American F-86F Sabre, the group was returned to operational status on 15 July 1954, and from 14 August to 30 September 1954 was detached from the wing, moving to Yokota Air Base. On 14 March 1966, the wing was redesignated the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing, two weeks later, it was organized at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, to replace the 6252nd Tactical Fighter Wing. While at Da Nang Air Base, the wing had five flying squadrons assigned or attached to it, with the transfer, the 35th became the parent wing at Phan Rang Air Base. The attached No.2 Squadron RAAF provided day and night bombing, photo strike assessment, missions included air support of ground forces, interdiction, visual and armed reconnaissance, strike assessment photography, escort, close and direct air support, and rapid reaction alert
12.
Misawa Air Base
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Misawa Air Base is a U. S. It is a Pacific Air Forces facility with the 35th Fighter Wing as its host wing, Misawa is the only combined, joint service installation in the western Pacific. It houses three U. S. military services (Air Force, Navy and Army, as well as the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, the base is home to 5,200 US military personnel, as well as 350 US civilian employees and 900 Japanese national employees. The Misawa Passive Radio Frequency space surveillance site was used for tracking satellites using the signals they transmit and it also provided coverage of geosynchronous satellites using the Deep Space Tracking System but was dismantled around 2002. The Misawa Security Operations Center, located in the part of the Air Base, is believed to be one of the largest ECHELON ground stations. The United States Air Forces 35th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Misawa Air Base, the wing conducts daily F-16 flight training to maintain its combat readiness. Its pilots fly air-to-air weapons delivery exercises over water and sharpen their skills using the Draughn Gunnery Range located 12 miles north of Misawa. Five groups are assigned to the 35th Fighter Wing, the 35th Maintenance Group, the 35th Fighter Wing also serves as the host unit to a variety of other tenant units representing three U. S. military services and those of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. Air Force 373d Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Group 301st Intelligence Squadron 373rd Mission Support Squadron U. S. S, Misawa remained a training center for Japanese Cavalry until the Japanese Army constructed the first runway at Misawa for military aircraft in 1938. Misawa Air Base was near the site of the worlds first non-stop trans-Pacific flight in 1931. The runway is commemorated by a sign in the coastal forest and is a popular beach. The cities of Wenatchee and Misawa cemented their relationship by becoming official sister cities in 1981. The Imperial Army transformed Misawa into an air base in 1938 when it was used as a base for long-range bombers, by early 1941, the Gensan Flying Corps trained at Misawa. The base was taken over by the Imperial Navy Air Corps in 1942 when the 22d Imperial Naval Air Wg assumed control of the base, in 1944, facilities were built for Kamikaze Special Attack forces. Before the outbreak of World War II, Lake Ogawara at Misawa was used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service to practice for the attack on Pearl Harbor, the lake was used because it was similar in depth to Pearl Harbor. The Japanese military fashioned hills near the shore of the lake to resemble the shapes of Battleships and this provided for a realistic view for their pilots from the air. The pilots conducted low level bombing runs, dropping torpedoes into the depths of Lake Ogawara. This practice developed and refined the method to attack the ships that were anchored at Pearl Harbor, during World War II, the Misawa area was heavily damaged by U. S. fighters and bombers
13.
Wild Weasel
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The Wild Weasel concept was developed by the United States Air Force in 1965, after the introduction of Soviet SAM missiles and their downing of U. S. strike aircraft over the skies of North Vietnam. The program was headed by General Kenneth Dempster, the modern term used in the U. S. Armed Forces for this profile is Suppression of Enemy Air Defenses. While an effective airframe, the F-100F Wild Weasel did not have the characteristics to survive in a high threat environment. The first Wild Weasel squadron was the 354th Tactical Fighter Squadron based at Takhli Royal Thai Air Base, the Wild Weasel II version was the first unsuccessful attempt to use the F-4C as the Wild Weasel platform. When that effort failed, the Wild Weasel role was passed to the F-105F in the summer of 1966. The F-105F was converted for the role and was designated Wild Weasel III, the F-105F was equipped with more advanced radar, jamming equipment, and a heavier armament. Anti-radiation missiles were outfitted that could seek out radar emplacements, the F-105F Wild Weasel airframes were eventually modified with improved countermeasures components in a standardized configuration and designated the F-105G. The F-105G was also designated Wild Weasel III,61 F-105F units were upgraded to F-105G specifications, although in some documentation the F-105F was referred to as an EF-105F, that designation never existed in the operational flying squadrons. The F-105 had gone out of production by 1964, with severe combat attrition of the F-105 inventory, the need for a still more sophisticated aircraft resulted in the conversion of 36 F-4C Phantom II aircraft, designated F-4C Wild Weasel IV. The F-4C Wild Weasel IV was also not designated as an EF-4C, the F-4E, the most advanced Phantom variant with extensive ground-attack capabilities and an internal gun, became the basis for the F-4G Wild Weasel V. A total of 134 F-4G models were converted from F-4Es with the first one flying in 1975, f-4Gs were deployed to three active wings. F-4Gs from George AFB and Spangdahlem AB saw combat during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, after an investigation into the loss of the aircraft which occurred during several aborted landing attempts in a sandstorm, it was determined that a fuel cell was punctured by anti-aircraft fire. The pilot and EWO safely ejected after the shut down when the aircraft ran out of fuel attempting to land at a forward airstrip. After Desert Storm, some of the George AFB aircraft were assigned to the 124th Wing of the Air National Guard at Boise, Idaho, 190th Fighter Squadron. Aircraft from Spangdahlem, Clark, and the remainder from George were assigned to the 57th Fighter Wing assigned to Nellis AFB at Las Vegas, by this time the F-4G was the last operational variant of the Phantom II in the US forces. Many of the airframes were used as target drones and Aircraft Battle Damage Repair training aids. A change in design theory to stress versatile multi-role aircraft meant that the F-4G was the last aircraft in the USAF inventory specifically outfitted for the SEAD role
14.
Surface-to-air missile
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A surface-to-air missile, or ground-to-air missile, is a missile designed to be launched from the ground to destroy aircraft or other missiles. It is one type of system, in modern armed forces, missiles have replaced most other forms of dedicated antiaircraft weapons. The first serious attempts at SAM development took place during World War II, further development in the 1940s and 1950s led to the first operational systems being introduced by most major forces during the second half of the 1950s. Smaller systems, suitable for work, evolved through the 1960s and 1970s. The American Nike Ajax was the first operational guided missile SAM system, widely used modern examples include the Patriot and S-300 wide-area systems, SM-6 naval missiles, and short-range man-portable systems like the Stinger and Strela-3. The first known idea for a guided missile was in 1925. A selenium cell was mounted on the tip of each of the rockets four tail fins, when one selenium cell was no longer in the light beam, it would be steered in the opposite direction back into the beam. During World War II, efforts were started to develop surface-to-air missiles as it was considered that flak was of little use against bombers of ever-increasing performance. The lethal radius of a shell is fairly small. Against the Boeing B-17, which operated just within the range of the numerous German eighty-eights flak guns, bombers flying at higher altitudes require larger guns and shells to reach them. This greatly increases the cost of the system, and slows the rate of fire, faster aircraft fly out of range more quickly, reducing the number of rounds fired against them. Against late-war designs like the Boeing B-29 Superfortress or jet-powered designs like the Arado Ar 234, the first serious consideration of a SAM development project was a series of conversations that took place in Germany during 1941. Von Braun became convinced a better solution was a manned rocket interceptor, the directors of the Luftwaffe flak arm were not interested in manned aircraft, and the resulting disagreements between the teams delayed serious consideration of a SAM for two years. None of these saw any real development until 1943, when the first large-scale raids by the Allied air forces started. As the urgency of the problem grew, new designs were added, including Enzian and Rheintochter, in general, these designs could be split into two groups. One set of designs would be boosted to altitude in front of the bombers and these designs included the Feuerlilie, Schmetterling and Enzian. The second group were high-speed missiles, typically supersonic, that flew directly towards their targets from below, both types used radio control for guidance, either by eye, or by comparing the returns of the missile and target on a single radar screen. Development of all systems was carried out at the same time
15.
Republic F-105 Thunderchief
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The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The F-105 was commonly known as the Thud by its crews, first flown in 1955, the Thunderchief entered service in 1958. The F-105 could deliver a bomb load than some American heavy bombers of World War II such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The F-105 was one of the attack aircraft of the Vietnam War, over 20,000 Thunderchief sorties were flown. Although less agile than smaller MiG fighters, USAF F-105s were credited with 27.5 kills, during the war, the single-seat F-105D was the primary aircraft delivering the heavy bomb loads against the various military targets. Two Wild Weasel pilots were awarded the Medal of Honor for attacking North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile sites, the dangerous missions often required them to be the first in, last out, suppressing enemy air defenses while strike aircraft accomplished their missions and then left the area. When the Thunderchief entered service it was the largest single-seat, single-engine combat aircraft in history and it could exceed the speed of sound at sea level and reach Mach 2 at high altitude, the F-105 could carry up to 14,000 lb of bombs and missiles. The Thunderchief was later replaced as an aircraft over North Vietnam by both the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the swing-wing General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark. However, the Wild Weasel variants of the F-105 remained in service until 1984 after being replaced by the specialized F-4G Wild Weasel V. Republic Aviation started the Thunderchief as a project to replace the RF-84F Thunderflash. The design team led by Alexander Kartveli examined some 108 configurations before settling on a large, single-engine AP-63FBX, the new aircraft was intended primarily for supersonic, low altitude penetration to deliver a single, internally carried nuclear bomb. The emphasis was placed on speed and flight characteristics, range. The aircraft would be fitted with an engine, and a relatively small wing with a high wing loading for a stable ride at low altitudes. Traditional fighter attributes such as maneuverability were a secondary consideration, enthusiastic at first, the United States Air Force awarded Republic with a contract for 199 aircraft in September 1952. However, by March 1953, the USAF had reduced the order to 37 fighter-bombers and nine tactical reconnaissance aircraft, anticipating a protracted development of the engine, it was expected that the first aircraft would use the smaller Pratt & Whitney J57. Near the end of 1953, the program was canceled by the USAF due to a number of delays. However, on 28 June 1954, the USAF officially ordered 15 F-105s under the Weapon System designation WS-306A, the YF-105A prototype first flew on 22 October 1955, with the second YF-105A following on 28 January 1956. In spite of being powered by a less potent J57-P-25 engine with 15,000 pounds-force of afterburning thrust, in March 1956, the USAF placed a further order for 65 F-105Bs and 17 RF-105Bs
16.
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
17.
Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base
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During the Vietnam War, from 1962 through 1975, Korat RTAFB was the largest front-line facility of the United States Air Force in Thailand. During the 1980s and early-1990s, the airfield was operated as a civil airport for Nakhon Ratchasima. This ended with the opening of Nakhon Ratchasima Airport in the early-1990s, Korat RTAFB is the home of the 1st RTAF Wing, consisting of three squadrons. The airfield has a single 9,800 + foot runway with a single,102 Squadron flies 15 F-16A-15ADF and one F-16B-15ADF Fighting Falcon air defense airplanes acquired from the USAF and delivered to the RTAF in 2003 and 2004. These airplanes were acquired under the code name Peace Naresuan IV, all F-16s are the block 15 version. A detachment of 1 UH-1H Iroquois helicopters from 203 Squadron, Wing 2 is also based at Korat, Korat RTAFB is a major facility for the Cope Tiger exercises, an annual, multinational exercise conducted in two phases in the Asia-Pacific region. Cope Tiger involves air forces from the United States, Thailand, US naval aircraft have also been involved in Cope Tiger. The flying training portion of the exercise promotes closer relations and enables air force units in the region to air combat skills. Pilots fly both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat training missions, Thai Forces fly F-16A/B Fighting Falcons, F-5E Tigers and ground attack L-39s, and Alpha jets of 231 Squadron. Singaporean forces fly F-5Es, F-16C/D Fighting Falcons, Lockheed KC-130B Hercules, Grumman E-2C Hawkeye, Boeing CH-47SD Chinooks, more than 1,100 people participate, including approximately 500 US service members and 600 service members from Thailand and Singapore. Over the last few years, Cope Tiger has widened to include CSAR assets and these included a C-130E Hercules from 36 Airlift Squadron,374 Airlift Wing in 2006, and a G-222 and a C-130H from the RTAF in 2007. Since the 1980s United States Marine Corps F/A-18C Hornet fighters have used Korat as a base during Cobra Gold exercises, the origins of Korat Air Base dates back to the Japanese Occupation of Thailand during World War II. After the end of the war, the facilities were taken over by the Thai government as a military base, various Japanese facilities were used by the Royal Thai Air Force until the 1960s. In 1961, the Kennedy administration feared a communist invasion or insurgency inside Thailand would spread from the Laotian Civil War, the United States Army Corps of Engineers were deployed and established a headquarters at the RTAF airfield that later became Korat Air Base. The first facilities were built on the side of the runway. They included a hospital, some barracks and some warehouses for equipment that was flown in using the existing runway, under the agreement, United States forces using Thai air bases were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun bunkers. The Geneva Accords of 1962 ended the threat, but both Camp Friendship and Korat Air Base were developed as part of the buildup of forces in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War
18.
Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base
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Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force base, the home of 2nd Air Division/23rd Wing Air Combat Command. It is near the city of Udon Thani in northern Thailand and is now the airport serving the city. The RTAF231 Squadron Hunter is assigned to Udorn, equipped with the Dassault/Dornier Alpha Jet-A, Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base was established in the 1950s as a RTAF base. Udorn was one of those bases, under Thailands gentlemans agreement with the US, Royal Thai Air Force Bases used by the US Air Force were considered RTAF bases and were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun emplacements. Numbers of other USAF personnel were assigned as security police augmentees, USAF personnel, other than security police, augmentees, and combat aircrew members, were normally unarmed. Also, under the US-Thailand operations agreement, USAF military serving guard duty at Udorn were prohibited from chambering a round in their weapons until fired upon by an enemy, all USAF personnel were fully armed after 1967. Prior to that time weapons were stored in secured shipping containers, for first threat defense, US personnel depended on Thai guards who were armed with US-issued M1 Carbines. The USAF forces at Udorn were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces Thirteenth Air Force, Udorn RTAFB was also the Asian headquarters of Air America, a US passenger and cargo airline covertly owned and operated by the Central Intelligence Agency. It supplied and supported operations in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. The first USAF unit assigned to Udorn was a detachment from the 1st Mobile Communications Group, based at Clark Air Base, Philippines. The first permanent USAF unit assigned at Udorn RTAFB was the 333d Air Base Squadron in October 1964, prior to the formation of the squadron, support personnel were provided by temporary duty personnel from the 35th Tactical Group at Don Muang Royal Thai Air Force Base. The 333d ABS came under the command and control of 13th Air Force On 18 July 1965 and this also unit came under the command and control of 13th Air Force and to the 6234th Tactical Fighter Wing, a provisional wing at Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base. In July 1965, the 6234th TFW was the tactical wing in Thailand. The formation of the 6232d at Udorn was brought about because of expanding air force programs, an increase in assigned personnel, the majority of personnel at Udorn, prior to the formation of the group, were temporary duty assignments. Shortly before the group was activated, an input of permanent party personnel was made to replace those on temporary duty. On 15 November 1965, the 6232nd CSG was given the responsibility of reporting directly to the Deputy Commander 2nd Air Division, 13th Air Force, rather than directly to the 13th Air Force commander. The 6232nd CSG was re-designated the 630th Combat Support Group on 8 April 1966, with a responsibility to the Deputy Commander, 7th Air Force/13th Air Force
19.
MacDill Air Force Base
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MacDill Air Force Base is an active United States Air Force base located approximately 4 miles south-southwest of downtown Tampa, Florida. The host wing for MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Mobility Wing of the Air Mobility Command, the 6th Air Mobility Wing is commanded by Colonel April Vogel, and the wings Command Chief Master Sergeant is CMSgt Melanie Noel. The host unit at MacDill AFB is the 6th Air Mobility Wing, MacDill also hosts the Aircraft Operations Center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, whose NOAA Corps flies Hurricane Hunter missions in WP-3D Orion and Gulfstream IV aircraft. The 6 AMW is a 3, 000-person force organized into four groups, the 6 AMW also has a collocated Associate wing at MacDill, the 927th Air Refueling Wing of the Air Force Reserve Command. The 6 AMW and the 927 ARW operate and share the same assigned KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft. MacDill Air Force Base, located in south Tampa, was constructed as MacDill Field, with the establishment of the U. S. Air Force as an independent service in 1947, it became MacDill Air Force Base. During the 1950s and 1960s, it was a Strategic Air Command base for B-47, in the early 1960s, it transitioned to a Tactical Air Command installation briefly operating the F-84 Thunderstreak jet fighter before transitioning to the F-4 Phantom II. During the 1960s, 1970s and early 1980s, it operated F-4 Phantom II fighters, followed by F-16 Fighting Falcons in the mid and late 1980s, both commands are independent from one another and each is commanded by a respective 4-star general or admiral. The noise produced by the aircraft was also considered inappropriate in a densely populated urban area. However, despite recommendations, the base remained open to house. With the disestablishment of Tactical Air Command a few months later, in 1993, the MacDill flightline was permanently reopened for NOAA WP-3D hurricane hunter operations, which had relocated from Miami International Airport. The wing was renamed the 6th Air Mobility Wing following the establishment. MacDill AFB is a significant contributor to Tampas economy and the city is very supportive of the military community, in 2001 and 2003, the Tampa Bay area was awarded the Abilene Trophy, which annually honors the most supportive Air Force city in Air Mobility Command. MacDill historically hosts an air show enjoyed by thousands of spectators each year. However, there were no shows in 2002 and 2003 due to security concerns following the attacks on the United States of Sep,11,2001 and the initiation of Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. The 2006 show was canceled due to security concerns on base. It was cancelled again in 2013 due to budget constraints. AirFest 2016 was the first-ever airshow to feature a live webcast of the performers, the 6 AMW consists of, 6th Operations Group 91st Air Refueling Squadron Operates the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker
20.
21st Bombardment Group
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The 21st Operations Group is an operational component of the 21st Space Wing, stationed at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. The mission of the 21st OG is to provide management and guidance to 21 geographically separated units assigned to the wing. Its history goes back to World War II when the 21st Fighter Group flew very long range escort missions of Twentieth Air Force B-29 Superfortress bombardment groups against Japan. During the Cold War, the unit was a USAFE tactical fighter unit assigned to France in the 1950s and later controlled all operational squadrons at Elmendorf AFB. Responsibilities include establishment of operational requirements and managing the training, standardization and evaluation programs and this includes conducting command-directed evaluations and staff assistance visits. Additionally, the 21st OG develops and maintains operational procedures and regulations for field units, the 21st OG funnels Defense Support Program satellite information to forward users, and the Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station missile warning. The group is also the point for the Air Forces transition from DSP to the new Space-Based Infrared Satellite system. For additional history and lineage see 21st Space Wing Constituted as 21st Bombardment Group on 13 January 1942, activated on 1 February 1942 at Bowman Field, Kentucky. The 21st initially trained on B-25 Mitchell bombers then converted to B-26 Marauders, for this action the group received the Anti-Submarine 1941–1945 campaign streamer. The 21st inactivated on 10 October 1943, the 21st did not have to wait long to write a further chapter in the history of warfare. Another unit, the 21st Fighter Group, activated on 21 April 1944 at Wheeler Army Airfield in the Hawaii Territory, assigned to VII Fighter Command, the group consisted of the 46th, 72d, and 531st Fighter Squadrons. Over the next two months, the group trained on its first aircraft type, the P-39Q Airacobra, the 21st provided air defense over the Hawaiian Islands from July 1944, then began upgrading into the P-38J/L Lightning in September. By the end of October, rumors filled the air that the group soon would upgrade airframes again and this change in aircraft heralded a new mission for the 21 FG. True to rumor, leading echelons began deploying by ship to the island of Iwo Jima in the western Pacific in February 1945, before the end of the month, the 21st began flying patrols over the critical island base in support of ground operations. The final group arrived at Iwo Jima on 25 March. Early the next morning, elements of the 21st were attacked in their encampment by Japanese soldiers, assisted by a patrol of American Marines, 21st personnel counterattacked and in the tent-by-tent fighting killed 250 of the enemy. Fourteen group personnel were killed and 50, including 21 FG commander Colonel Kenneth R. Powell, were wounded and this mission marked the first time fighters had escorted bombers over Japan. Moreover, this mission has been credited as having been the longest over-water fighter escort sortie to date, over the following weeks, the 21st escorted American B-29s over enemy airfields and industrial targets and engaged rival Japanese fighter aircraft
21.
Bowman Field (airport)
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Bowman Field is a public airport five miles southeast of downtown Louisville, in Jefferson County, Kentucky, United States. The airport covers 426 acres and has two runways, the FAA calls it a reliever airport for nearby Louisville International Airport. Bowman Field is Kentuckys first commercial airport and is the oldest continually operating airfield in North America. The airport has played a role in the growth of the countrys aviation industry. Bowman leased a parcel of land east of Louisville from the U. S. Government in 1919 to operate the airfield, the first business ventures began with the aerial photography business in 1921, and the 465th Pursuit Squadron began operations at Bowman Field in 1922. Charles Lindbergh landed the Spirit of St. Louis at the airport in 1927, during the Great Depression, Louisvillians would often come to the Art Deco terminal building to watch airplanes depart and land as a form of inexpensive entertainment. During the 1920s and 1930s, Eastern Air Lines, Trans World Airlines, commercial airline service continued until 1947 when operations were transferred to Standiford Field. During World War II, Bowman Field was one of the nations most important training bases as well as the nations busiest airport. The facility became known as Air Base City when a bomber squadron moved in, the United States Army Air Forces school for flight surgeons, medical technicians, and flight nurses also called Bowman Field home. Bowman Field was used in the James Bond film Goldfinger as the base for Pussy Galores Flying Circus, principal photography of hangars, aircraft, in 1988 three adjacent buildings at the airport were added to the National Register of Historic Places as the Bowman Field Historic District. They are the airport Administration Building, the Curtiss Flying Service Hangar, since many urban airports are located in industrial areas, this verdant setting is unusual and contributes to the ambience of the Bowman Field Historic District. The dominant landmark of Bowman Field is its terminal, known as the Administration Building, as built in 1929 it was a fairly modest two-story structure with one-story wings, housing administrative and communications offices, weather station, and restaurant. During 1936 and 1937 it nearly tripled in size and this was accomplished by demolishing the east wing and retaining the west and central sections as west wings of the new building. The Administration Building faces a landscaped island surrounded by a driveway. The 1920s Art-Deco style Le Relais French restaurant has made its home in the historic terminal for more than 25 years. Bowman Field is surrounded by tree-lined suburban neighborhoods, but accidents are relatively rare, as of 2008, the most recent two landing accidents had occurred in April 2008 and April 2002. and Louisville Executive Aviation. Several flight schools operate there as well, for the 12-month period ending September 23,2013, the airport averaged 203 aircraft operations per day, 47% Local general aviation, 47% transient general aviation 5% air taxi and <1% military. 193 aircraft are based at airport,159 single-engine,33 multi-engine,3 jet
22.
Louisville, Kentucky
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Louisville is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 30th-most populous city in the United States. It is one of two cities in Kentucky designated as first-class, the other being the states second-largest city of Lexington, Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County. Louisville was founded in 1778 by George Rogers Clark and is named after King Louis XVI of France, making Louisville one of the oldest cities west of the Appalachian Mountains. Sited beside the Falls of the Ohio, the major obstruction to river traffic between the upper Ohio River and the Gulf of Mexico, the settlement first grew as a portage site. It was the city of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad. Its main airport is also the site of United Parcel Services worldwide air hub, since 2003, Louisvilles borders have been the same as those of Jefferson County because of a city-county merger. The official name of this consolidated city-county government is the Louisville/Jefferson County Metro Government, the citys total consolidated population as of the 2014 census estimate was 760,026. However, the total of 612,780 excludes other incorporated places and semiautonomous towns within the county and is the population listed in most sources. As of 2014, the MSA had a population of 1,269,702, the history of Louisville spans hundreds of years, and has been influenced by the areas geography and location. The rapids at the Falls of the Ohio created a barrier to river travel, the first European settlement in the vicinity of modern-day Louisville was on Corn Island in 1778 by Col. George Rogers Clark, credited as the founder of Louisville. Several landmarks in the community are named after him, two years later, in 1780, the Virginia General Assembly approved the town charter of Louisville. The city was named in honor of King Louis XVI of France, early residents lived in forts to protect themselves from Indian raids, but moved out by the late 1780s. In 1803, explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark organized their expedition across America in the town of Clarksville, Indiana at the present-day Falls of the Ohio opposite Louisville, Kentucky. The citys early growth was influenced by the fact river boats had to be unloaded and moved downriver before reaching the falls. By 1828, the population had swelled to 7,000, the city grew rapidly in its formative years. Louisville was a shipping port and slaves worked in a variety of associated trades. The city was often a point of escape for slaves to the north, during the Civil War, Louisville was a major stronghold of Union forces, which kept Kentucky firmly in the Union. It was the center of planning, supplies, recruiting, and transportation for numerous campaigns, by the end of the war, Louisville had not been attacked, although skirmishes and battles, including the battles of Perryville and Corydon, took place nearby
23.
Hawkins Field (airport)
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Hawkins Field is a joint civil-military public airport three miles northwest of Jackson, in Hinds County, Mississippi. It is owned by the City of Jackson and operated by the Jackson Metropolitan Airport Authority, the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a general aviation facility. Aviation in Jackson began in 1928 with the purchase of 151 acres of land in the City of Jackson known then as Davis Stock Farm. Davis Field, Jackson’s first airport was dedicated November 9,1928, delta Air Lines made its first flight that year beginning in Dallas landing in Jackson and several other cities on their way to Atlanta. In 1936 the Works Progress Administration’s, Civil Conservation Corps invested $62,150 to improve the airport with a building and paving of an apron. In 1941 the airfield was named Hawkins Field after A. F. Hawkins, in May 1941 the Dutch government-in-exile, following the occupation of the Netherlands, established the Royal Netherlands Military Flying School at Hawkins Field. The school operated Lend-Lease aircraft with pilots from the Mississippi Institute of Aeronautics. Training was conducted with U. S. Army Air Corps and later with U. S. Army Air Forces units in the southeast United States, however, operation of the school, in June 1941 Hawkins Field was redesignated Jackson Army Airfield. It activated on May 1,1942 and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Flying Training Command as a flying training airfield. When the U. S. Army took over Hawkins Field, construction was rapid given the emergency wartime conditions and within three months the post was to be in full operation. The airfield had four concrete runways 3,317 by 150 feet NNE/SSW,3,310 by 150 feet NNW/SSE,4,825 by 150 feet NW/SE,5,400 by 150 feet NNW/SSE, asphalt on first two runways and concrete the others. The runways were laid out on an A layout, with one extended length main runway, to conserve critical materials, most facilities were constructed of wood, concrete, brick, gypsum board and concrete asbestos. There were libraries, social clubs for officers, and enlisted men, the 35th Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron was responsible for the operation of the non-flying elements of the base. Training was re-organized under the 2159th Army Air Force Base Unit, the Netherlands aviators left in May 1945 and flight training was closed down in October. Third Air Force operated the airfield as an Air Force Reserve training center until March 31,1949 when the United States Air Force excessed Hawkins Field and it was not until 1949 that Hawkins was again classified as a civil airfield. With the introduction of jet service to Jackson in 1963, the City began work to annex land in Rankin County, allen C. Thompson Field, Jackson Municipal Airport opened later that year, one of the first airports with parallel runways versus cross wind intersecting runways. With the opening of Jackson Municipal Airport, Hawkins Field became a general aviation airport, the Kerry Committee report which began in the United States Senate in early 1986 contains a U. S. Customs and DEA investigation report on drug trafficking using DC-4 aircraft at Hawkins Field. The United States Air Force returned in the summer of 1953 when the Mississippi Air National Guard began utilizing certain facilities of Hawkins Field, six Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcars replaced the RB-26 in 1957 when the 183d became an Aeromedical Transport Squadron as part of the Military Air Transport Service
24.
Columbia Army Air Base
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Columbia Army Air Base was a World War II United States Army Air Forces base. It was primarily used for advanced training of B-25 Mitchell medium bomber units. It was used as a base in early 1942 for Doolittles Raiders. It was closed during the summer of 1945, and turned over for use as the Columbia Metropolitan Airport. In 1940 the United States Army Air Corps indicated a need for the Lexington County Airport as part of the buildup of its forces after World War II began in Europe. The earliest recorded Air Corps use of the airport was when the 105th Observation Squadron began flying Douglas O-38, in 1941, the airport came under formal military control and an immediate construction program began to turn the civil airport into a military airfield. Construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed, buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. On 8 December 1941, the Columbia Army Airbase was activated with Lt. Colonel Dashe W. Reeves as commander and it was assigned to Third Air Force, III Air Support Command. The 121st OS, which had also been flying observation flights as part of the Carolina Maneuvers, began antisubmarine patrols over the Atlantic coast using O-47s and L-4 Grasshoppers. The 96th Air Base Squadron was initially assigned as the base host unit for ground support squadrons, the antisubmarine patrol mission was reassigned to Charleston AAF which was much better suited for it, as Charleston was located right on the Atlantic coast. Columbia Army Airfields mission was changed become a base for B-25 Mitchell medium bomber aircrews. The squadrons of the 17th Bomb group came to Columbia AAB from Pendleton Field, contrary to popular belief, the volunteers who made up the crews of the Doolittle Raid did not train for the Raid itself at Columbia. The 21st Bombardment Group became the B-25 Operational training unit at Columbia on 21 April 1942, until the unit was reassigned organizationally to Key Field, the 21st was replaced by the 309th Bombardment Group, which exchanged designations with the 21st, being reassigned from Key Field. It was subsequently re-designated as the 329th Army Air Force Base Replacement Unit on 1 August 1944, on 1 October 1944, Columbia AAB was reassigned to III Bomber Command, and the training units were again re-designated as the Columbia Combat Crew Training Depot. All sub-bases and satellite airfields were either reassigned or inactivated, on 1 February 1945, Columbia was relieved from assignment to Third Air Force, and was transferred to First Air Force. The base unit was re-designated as the 129th Army Air Force Base Unit, the 319th Bombardment Group arrived at Columbia on 28 February 1945 from Twelfth Air Force in Italy for conversion training from B-25s to A-26s
25.
Operational - Replacement Training Units
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Operational Training Units and Replacement Training Units were training organizations of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Most were disbanded in the Spring of 1944 and replaced by combat crew replacement centers assigned to base units, when the Army Air Corps began its great expansion program in 1939, no provision for operational training existed outside the combat groups themselves. Graduates of the schools were assigned either to fill the requirements of existing combat squadrons or to round out the cadre taken from an older unit to form a new one. Each combat squadron was responsible for training its own personnel in order to meet standards set by training directives from the GHQ Air Force. This method was developed after World War I, and was used successfully in the peacetime Air Corps of the 1920s and 1930s, however, with war imminent, the number of authorized groups in the Air Corps had risen from twenty-five in April 1939 to eighty-four. With this expansion, the level of experience in all groups had declined sharply, in its first year the system proved difficult to implement to full effect. By early 1943, however, the plan was in general operation, in most instances, six months were required after the formation of a group to complete its organization and training. Operational training officially commenced for a new group on the day that the cadre was assigned it from the parent groups overstrength, in 1942 the four continental air forces provided training directives to familiarize key members of cadre with their obligations but these varied from air force to air force. Cadres for medium and heavy bombardment units were trained by AAFSATs Bombardment Department, fighter cadres by its Air Defense Department, the AAFSAT course consisted of both an academic and a practical phase. During the academic phase, cadre leaders reviewed problems of command, operations, during the practical phase, the cadre was assigned to an AAFSAT base for 50 hours of operational exercises assisted by the bases demonstration squadron, including simulated combat missions. On returning to their assigned OTU stations, the cadres began training with their units and this method, though simple, followed no orderly plan and jeopardized effective unit training by removing experienced personnel from U. S. -based groups. As was true of the OTU system, many months were required to place the RTU plan into full operation, by the end of 1943, however, when the formation of new groups was virtually completed, RTU operations had become the major activity of the continental air forces. The RTU system was simpler than the OTU and necessitated few important changes from the organization and administration of combat units. Men designated as replacements were sent to an RTU group, where received a similar though shorter course than that given in an OTU. Considerably less time was given to integrated activities at the group level, as they completed the required phases of training, individuals and crews were drawn from the RTU to serve in established units overseas. During most of the war, OTU-RTU operations were governed by AAF Headquarters through the air forces, I Troop Carrier Command. Under each of the air forces various subordinate commands, wings, by the spring of 1944 the Army Air Forces had found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization, were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit, while the groups
26.
Anti-submarine warfare
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Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of underwater warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines. Successful anti-submarine warfare depends on a mix of sensor and weapon technology, training, sophisticated sonar equipment for first detecting, then classifying, locating and tracking the target submarine is a key element of ASW. To destroy submarines both the torpedo and mine are used, launched from air, surface and underwater platforms, other means of destruction have been used in the past but are now obsolete. ASW also involves protecting friendly ships, the first self-propelled torpedo was invented in 1863 and launched from surface craft. The first submarine with a torpedo was Nordenfelt I built in 1884-1885, in the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5, the submarine was a significant threat. By the start of the First World War nearly 300 submarines were in service, some warships were fitted with an armoured belt as protection against torpedoes. There were, however, no means to detect submerged U-boats, the Royal Navy torpedo establishment, HMS Vernon, studied explosive grapnel sweeps, these sank four or five U-boats in the First World War. A similar approach featured a string of 70 lb charges on a cable, fired electrically. Also tried were dropping 18.5 lb hand-thrown guncotton bombs, the Lance Bomb was developed, also, this featured a 35–40 lb cone-shaped steel drum on a 5 ft shaft, intended to be thrown at a submarine. Firing Lyddite shells, or using trench mortars, was tried, use of nets to ensnare U-boats was also examined, as was a destroyer, HMS Starfish, fitted with a spar torpedo. Problems with the lanyards tangling and failing to function led to the development of a chemical pellet trigger as the Type B and these were effective at a distance of around 20 ft. The best concept arose in a 1913 RN Torpedo School report, describing a device intended for countermining, at Admiral John Jellicoes request, the standard Mark II mine was fitted with a hydrostatic pistol preset for 45 ft firing, to be launched from a stern platform. Weighing 1,150 lb, and effective at 100 ft, the mine was a potential hazard to the dropping ship. During the First World War, submarines were a major menace and they operated in the Baltic, North Sea, Black Sea and Mediterranean as well as the North Atlantic. Previously they had limited to relatively calm and protected waters. The vessels used to them were a range of small, fast surface ships using guns. They mainly relied on the fact a submarine of the day was often on the surface for a range of reasons, the first approach to protect warships was chainlink nets strung from the sides of battleships, as defense against torpedoes. Nets were also deployed across the mouth of a harbour or naval base to stop submarines entering or to stop torpedoes of the Whitehead type fired against ships, British warships were fitted with a ram with which to sink submarines, and U-15 was thus sunk in August 1914
27.
Gulf of Mexico
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The Gulf of Mexico is an ocean basin largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States, on the southwest and south by Mexico, and on the southeast by Cuba. The U. S. states of Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas border the Gulf on the north, Atlantic and Pacific coasts, or sometimes the south coast, in juxtaposition to the Great Lakes region being the north coast. One of the seven main areas is the Gulf of Mexico basin. The Gulf of Mexico formed approximately 300 million years ago as a result of plate tectonics, the Gulfs basin is roughly oval and is approximately 810 nautical miles wide and floored by sedimentary rocks and recent sediments. It is connected to part of the Atlantic Ocean through the Florida Straits between the U. S. and Cuba, and with the Caribbean Sea via the Yucatan Channel between Mexico and Cuba, with the narrow connection to the Atlantic, the Gulf experiences very small tidal ranges. The size of the Gulf basin is approximately 1.6 million km2, almost half of the basin is shallow continental shelf waters. The basin contains a volume of roughly 2,500 quadrillion liters, the consensus among geologists who have studied the geology of the Gulf of Mexico, is that prior to the Late Triassic, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist. It was created by the collision of plates that formed Pangea. As interpreted by Roy Van Arsdale and Randel T. Cox, geologists and other Earth scientists agree in general that the present Gulf of Mexico basin originated in Late Triassic time as the result of rifting within Pangea. The rifting was associated with zones of weakness within Pangea, including sutures where the Laurentia, South American, first, there was a Late Triassic-Early Jurassic phase of rifting during which rift valleys formed and filled with continental red beds. Second, as rifting progressed through Early and Middle Jurassic time and it was at this time that tectonics first created a connection to the Pacific Ocean across central Mexico and later eastward to the Atlantic Ocean. This flooded the basin created by rifting and crustal thinning to create the Gulf of Mexico. While the Gulf of Mexico was a basin, the subsiding transitional crust was blanketed by the widespread deposition of Louann Salt. Initially, during the Late Jurassic, continued rifting widened the Gulf of Mexico and progressed to the point that sea-floor spreading, at this point, sufficient circulation with the Atlantic Ocean was established that the deposition of Louann Salt ceased. During the Late Jurassic through Early Cretaceous, the occupied by the Gulf of Mexico experienced a period of cooling. The subsidence was the result of a combination of stretching, cooling. Initially, the combination of stretching and cooling caused about 5–7 km of tectonic subsidence of the central thin transitional
28.
PAVE
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The word PAVE is a United States Air Force program identifier relating to electronic systems. Prior to 1979, PAVE was said to be a word for the Air Force unit responsible for the project. PAVE was used as an inconsequential prefix identifier for a range of different programs, though backronyms. For example, in the helicopters PAVE Low and PAVE Hawk it was said to mean Precision Avionics Vectoring Equipment, Pave Hawk – Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawk special operations and combat search and rescue helicopter. Pave Knife – Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-10 Pave Knife early laser targeting pod, Pave Low – Sikorsky MH-53 Pave Low special ops and combat search and rescue helicopter. Pave Onyx – Vietnam era Advanced Location Strike System c.1973, Pave Pace – A fully integrated avionics architecture featuring functional resource allocation. PAVE PAWS – The Phased-Array Warning System which replaced the three BMEWS radars, Pave in this case is a backronym for Perimeter or Precision Acquisition Vehicle Entry. Pave Penny – Lockheed-Martin AN/AAS-35 laser spot tracker, Pave Pillar – Generic core avionics architecture system for combat aircraft. Pave Pronto – Lockheed AC-130 Spectre gunship program, Pave Spectre – Lockheed AC-130E gunships. Pave Eagle – Modified Beechcraft Bonanza drone aircraft for low altitude sensor monitoring, Pave Spike – Westinghouse AN/ASQ-153\AN/AVQ-23 electro-optical laser designator pod. Pave Sword – AN/AVQ-11 Pave Sword laser tracker, Pave Tack – Ford Aerospace AN/AVQ-26 electro-optical targeting pod. Used first on F-4 and then later on F-111F model aircraft, paveway – A family of laser-guided bomb conversion kits, to be fitted to standard unguided bombs. Light Airborne Multi-Purpose System Laser Guided Bombs, - Contains a list of PAVE program names relating to Laser Guided bombs
29.
388th Fighter Wing
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The 388th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Twelfth Air Force. The unit is stationed at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, 388th Operations Group 4th Fighter Squadron The squadron conducts flying operations and equipment maintenance to maintain combat readiness of an 18-aircraft F-16C LANTIRN squadron. It prepares to deploy worldwide to conduct air-to-air and air-to-ground operations for daylight, 421st Fighter Squadron The squadron conducts flying operations to maintain combat readiness of a 24-aircraft F-16CG squadron. It prepares to deploy worldwide to conduct Day/Night air superiority and precision strike sorties employing laser-guided and inertially aided munitions during contingencies, 34th Fighter Squadron This squadron is the first operational F-35A Lightning II fighter squadron in the world. It was declared combat-ready on 2 August 2016 after transitioning from the F-16 Fighting Falcon in September of the previous year, the OSS provides combat-related staff support for the entire wing. The OSS provides combat-related staff support for the entire wing and it comprises the following flights, Intelligence, Aircrew Flight Equipment, Current Operations, and Weapons & Tactics. 388th Combat Support Group 388th Maintenance Group The group comprises different support facets as squadrons, the Munition Maintenance Squadron has many flights, but is primarily responsible for munitions storage, maintenance and delivery. The Munitions Loading Squadron takes responsibility for attaching the delivered munitions to the various aircraft, on 23 November 1953, the 388th Fighter-Bomber Wing was activated as part of Tactical Air Command. The 388th Fighter-Interceptor Wing activated as the 388th Fighter-Bomber Group and became the primary combat element. The groups squadrons were equipped with North American F-86F Sabres, once training levels for pilots and aircrews had reached operational levels, the 50th FBW began preparations for its move to France. On 12 December 1954, the 388th FBW arrived at its new home, upon arrival in France in December 1954, the 388th FBW flying elements consisted of the 561st, 562d, and 563d FB Squadrons, each equipped with 26 F-86F Sabres. Wing support aircraft consisted of 4 C-47s of various types, one L-20A, the mission of the 388th FBW was to train for and conduct tactical nuclear weapons delivery. Its secondary mission was to conduct tactical air operations. Upon arrival of 388th Wing Headquarters at Etain, the construction delays, the 562nd FBSquadron was forced to operate from Spangdahlem Air Base, the 563rd from Bitburg Air Base and the 561st from Hahn Air Base in West Germany for the winter of 1954-55. In April and May 1955, rotational deployments to Wheelus Air Base, Libya began for their first gunnery, in the fall, with enough facilities construction completed, the three flying squadrons were transferred from Germany and took up their home assignment at Étain. In August 1955, First Lt. Philip Ortego was assigned to the 561st Fighter Bomber Squadron as its Intelligence Officer, on 22 November 1955, Det #1, 388th Fighter-Bomber Group was activated at Hahn Air Base to stand nuclear alert with the Wings F-86s. Personnel and aircraft came from the 561st FBS. In February 1956 the detachment was transferred to more spacious facilities at Spangdahlem Air Base, rotational deployments of 8 F-86s and support personnel to Germany continued until the fall of 1957 when the 388th was inactivated
30.
432d Wing
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The 432d Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to Air Combat Command, stationed at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The group operates unmanned reconnaissance aircraft which provide real-time reconnaissance, surveillance, the 432d Wing is the first United States Air Force wing dedicated to unmanned aircraft systems. The wing stood up 1 May 2007 at Creech Air Force Base, the 432d is the first wing totally dedicated to operating remotely piloted aircraft, the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and RQ-170 Sentinel. The wing has flown aircraft in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom for intelligence surveillance reconnaissance and tactical missions, flown by pilots, the 432d is authorized 160 Predator and 60 Reapers. As of May 2007,6 Reapers and about 85 Predators have been delivered with half of the Predators deployed forward in the United States Central Command area of operations, the wing is expected to fly 12 combat air mission in Iraq and Afghanistan each day. The wing includes several operational squadrons and a maintenance squadron, there are 440 aircrew members, about half of whom are pilots and the other half sensor operators. There are also 450 maintenance personnel, half of whom are contractors and it served as the operational training unit of the USAAF School of Applied Tactics at Keystone Army Air Field, Florida. The group trained and provided reconnaissance to assist fighter, bombardment, Aircraft included Bell P-39 Airacobra fighter and Aeronca L-3 Grasshopper light observation aircraft. The group was disbanded on 1 November 1943, on 23 March 1953, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Group was activated at Shaw Air Force Base]], South Carolina. The 432ds mission at Shaw was to assume the reconnaissance training mission that was handled previously by the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, the group initially conducted training with two squadrons flying the Republic RF-84F Thunderflash and two squadrons flying the Martin RB-57A Canberra. In 1957, the group upgraded the 20th and 29th to the McDonnell RF-101C Voodoo, when elevated to the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing on 8 February 1958, the wing operated the USAF Advanced Flying Training School, Tactical Reconnaissance. With the elevation to wing status, the 432d TFW was realigned to a four squadron RF-101C wing, from 8 February 1958 to 18 June 1959 the wing was supervised by the 837th Air Division. In a budgetary move, the 432d TRW was inactivated on 8 April 1959, on 18 September 1966, the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing was activated at Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand as an Douglas RF-4C Phantom II wing. The wing assumed the personnel, aircraft and equipment of the 6234th Tactical Fighter Wing, at Udon, it became one of the most diversified units of its size in the Air Force. The wing had numerous missions in the support area, the 432d TRW accounted for more than 80 percent of all reconnaissance activity over North Vietnam. In addition to the mission, the 432d also had a tactical fighter squadron component. The squadrons flew missions over North Vietnam and the pilots. In 1968, the 7th Airborne Command and Control Squadron, flying specialized Lockheed C-130 Hercules aircraft, the squadron had been attached to the wing as a temporary duty unit from Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam
31.
Military mascot
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Military mascot refers to a pet animal maintained by a military unit as a mascot for ceremonial purposes or as an emblem of that unit. It may also be referred to as a pet or regimental mascot. It differs from an animal in that it is not employed for use directly in warfare as a weapon or for transport. The custom of adopting mascots originated from troops bringing a pet to war, some regimental mascots, such as those of most British infantry regiments, represent their home counties history. Regiments of the British Army have long been prone to adopt members of the world as their mascots, dogs, goats. When the custom of having regimental mascots first started is not clear, some mascots in the British Army are indicative of the recruiting area of a regiment, such as the Derbyshire Ram, Staffordshire Bull Terrier, Irish Wolfhounds and Welsh Goats. British Army mascots are classified as regimental pets or regimental mascots. The former are unofficial mascots since they are not recognized by the Army, while the latter are official mascots, official British Army mascots are entitled to the services of the Royal Army Veterinary Corps, as well as quartering and food at public expense. It costs the Army the equivalent of $55,000 a year for the upkeep of official mascots, There are also mascots whose upkeep are borne by the regiment or unit itself. They are unofficial mascots which are referred to as regimental pets. The Army is keen in preserving the distinction between pets kept by the soldiers and official mascots of the regiments, the case for official mascot recognition is presented before the Army Honours and Distinction Committee. By getting an official status, the mascot will receive a number, assume a proper rank, with prospects of promotion. There are three rules set down in 1953 that need to be hurdled to get official mascot status, first, the regiment must comply with the welfare guidelines issued by the Army Veterinary Corps to ensure that the mascot is properly fed and housed. Second, the regiments Commanding Officer must give approval before the case goes to the Army Honours, a total of seventeen ceremonial pets are kept by eleven Army regiments, but only ten are recognized as official regimental mascots by the Army. It is a jealously guarded by those who have it. So far, the animals that have made the grade of official regimental mascot are the horse, pony, wolfhound, goat, ram, a Welsh Mountain Pony named Emrys. A Welsh Mountain Pony was selected to reflect the Regiment’s Welsh heritage, the Mascots full title is 16851959 Tpr Emrys Forlan Jones. His number embodies the years of formation for the Queens Bays and Kings Dragoon Guards, Emrys means The Immortal One in Welsh and is a name steeped in Welsh history and mythology
32.
Black panther
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A black panther is the melanistic color variant of any Panthera species. Black panthers in Asia and Africa are leopards and black panthers in the Americas are black jaguars, melanism in the jaguar is conferred by a dominant allele, and in the leopard by a recessive allele. Melanistic and non-melanistic animals can be littermates and it is thought that melanism may confer a selective advantage under certain conditions since it is more common in regions of dense forest, where light levels are lower. Recently, preliminary studies also suggest that melanism might be linked to mutations in the immune system. The Javan leopard was described as being black with dark black spots. Black leopards are common in the equatorial rainforest of Malaya and the tropical rainforest on the slopes of some African mountains such as Mount Kenya, one was recorded in the equatorial forest of Cameroon. According to Funk and Wagnalls Wildlife Encyclopedia, captive black leopards are less fertile than spotted leopards, with litter sizes of 1.8 and 2.1. This is likely due to inbreeding depression, in the early 1980s, Glasgow Zoo acquired a 10-year-old black leopard, nicknamed the Cobweb Panther, from Dublin Zoo. She was exhibited for several years before being moved to the Madrid Zoo and this leopard had a uniformly black coat profusely sprinkled with white hairs as though draped with spider webs. The condition appeared to be vitiligo, as she aged, the became more extensive. Since then, other cobweb panthers have been reported and photographed in zoos, in jaguars, the melanism allele is dominant. Consequently, black jaguars may produce either black or spotted cubs, individuals with two copies of the allele are darker than ones with just one copy, whose background colour may appear to be dark charcoal rather than black. The black jaguar was considered a species by indigenous peoples. W H Hudson wrote, The jaguar is a beautiful creature and they scout the notion that their terrible black tiger is a mere melanic variation, like the black leopard of the Old World and the wild black rabbit. A black jaguar named Diablo was inadvertently crossed with a lioness named Lola at the Bear Creek Wildlife Sanctuary in Barrie, Ontario, the offspring were a charcoal black jaglion female and a tan-coloured, spotted jaglion male. It therefore appears that the jaguar melanism gene is dominant over normal lion colouration. In preserved, stuffed specimens, black leopards often fade to a rusty colour, there are no authenticated cases of truly melanistic cougars. Melanistic cougars have never been photographed or shot in the wild, unconfirmed sightings, known as the North American black panther, are currently attributed to errors in species identification by non-experts, and by the mimetic exaggeration of size
33.
Black Panther Party
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In 1969, community social programs became a core activity of party members. The party enrolled the largest number of members and made the greatest impact in the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Area, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle, Federal Bureau of Investigation Director J. The program was accused of assassinating Black Panther members. Black Panther Party membership reached a peak in 1970, with offices in 68 cities and thousands of members, after being vilified by the mainstream press, public support for the party waned, and the group became more isolated. In-fighting among Party leadership, caused largely by the FBIs COINTELPRO operation, by 1972 most Panther activity centered on the national headquarters and a school in Oakland, where the party continued to influence local politics. Though under constant police surveillance, the Chicago chapter remained active, the Seattle chapter lasted longer than most, with a breakfast program and medical clinics that continued even after the chapter disbanded in 1977. Party contractions continued throughout the 1970s, and by 1980 the Black Panther Party had just 27 members, the history of the Black Panther Party is controversial. Other commentators have described the Party as more criminal than political, the sweeping migration of black families out of the South during World War II transformed Oakland and cities throughout the West and the North. But not much changed in the cities of the North and West, Police departments were almost all white. In 1966, only 16 of Oaklands 661 police officers were African American, insurgent civil rights practices proved incapable of redressing these conditions, and the organizations that had led much of the nonviolent civil disobedience such as SNCC and CORE went into decline. Young black people in Oakland and other cities developed a rich ferment of study groups and political organizations, in late October 1966, Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale founded the Black Panther Party. In formulating a new politics, they drew on their experiences working with a variety of Black Power organizations, Newton and Seale first met in 1962 when they were both students at Merritt College. They joined Donald Warden’s Afro-American Association, where they read widely, debated, dissatisfied with the failure of these organizations to directly challenge police brutality and appeal to the brothers on the block, Huey and Bobby sought to take matters into their own hands. After the police killed Matthew Johnson, a young black man in San Francisco. He had an epiphany that would distinguish the Black Panther Party from the multitude of organizations seeking to build Black Power. Newton saw the explosive rebellious anger of the ghetto as a force, inspired by Robert F. Williams armed resistance to the KKK, Newton studied California gun law until he knew it better than many police officers. Like the Community Alert Patrol in Los Angeles after the Watts Rebellion, but with a crucial difference, his patrols would carry loaded guns. According to Bobby Seale, they would sell the books, make the money, buy the guns, well protect a mother, protect a brother, and protect the community from the racist cops
34.
Eldridge Cleaver
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Leroy Eldridge Cleaver was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. His 1968 book, Soul On Ice, is a collection of essays that, at the time of its publication, was praised by The New York Times Book Review as brilliant and revealing. As editor of the official Panthers newspaper, The Black Panther, Cleavers influence on the direction of the Party was rivaled only by founders Huey P. Newton, Cleaver and Newton eventually fell out with each other, resulting in a split that weakened the party. Cleaver wrote in Soul on Ice, If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America. Born in Wabbaseka, Arkansas, as a child, Cleaver moved with his family to Phoenix and he was the son of Leroy Cleaver and Thelma Hattie Robinson. He had four siblings, Wilhelima Marie, Helen Grace, James Weldon, as a teenager, he was involved in petty crime and spent time in youth detention centers. At the age of 18, he was convicted of a drug charge. In 1958, he was convicted of rape and assault with intent to murder and eventually served time in Folsom, while in prison, he was given a copy of the Communist Manifesto. Cleaver petitioned for habeas corpus to the Solano County Court and was granted it along with a release of a $50,000 bail, Eldridge Cleaver was released from prison on December 12,1966. He was writing for Ramparts magazine and organizing efforts to revitalize the Organization of Afro-American Unity, at this time, President John F. Kennedy and Malcolm X were dead. The Black Panther Party was only two months old and he then joined the Oakland-based Black Panther Party, serving as Minister of Information, or spokesperson. What initially attracted Cleaver to the Panthers, as opposed to other prominent groups, was their commitment to armed struggle, in 1967, Eldridge Cleaver, along with Marvin X, Ed Bullins, and Ethna Wyatt, formed the Black House political/cultural center in San Francisco. The same year, he married Kathleen Neal Cleaver with whom he would have son Ahmad Maceo Eldridge, Cleaver was a presidential candidate in 1968 on the ticket of the Peace and Freedom Party. Having been born on August 31,1935, Cleaver would not have been the requisite 35 years of age more than a year after Inauguration Day 1969. Courts in both Hawaii and New York held that he could be excluded from the ballot because he could not possibly meet the Constitutional criteria, Cleaver and his running mate Judith Mage received 36,571 votes. Also in 1968, Cleaver led an ambush of Oakland police officers, in the aftermath of the ambush, Cleaver was wounded and 17-year-old Black Panther member Bobby Hutton was killed. The eight Panthers who ambushed the police department had two objectives, to break Newton out of jail and to police officers. In 1980, he claimed that he had led the Panther group on an ambush of the police officers
35.
56th Fighter Wing
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The 56th Fighter Wing is a fighter wing in the United States Air Force. It is the Air Force’s only active-duty F-16 training wing, the 56th graduates more than 400 General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots and 300 air control professionals annually. Additionally, the 56th Fighter Wing oversees the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field and the Barry M. Goldwater Range, the 56th Fighter Group, flying Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars, became its operational component. The wing base organization was made permanent in 1948, the wings mission included the air defense of a large portion of the United States. This mission was emphasized when the unit was redesignated 56th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in January 1950 and it converted to the North American F-86 Sabre later that year. Its operational squadrons were transferred to the recently organized 4708th Defense Wing, almost nine years later the wing was reactivated at K. I. The wing once again had air defense mission, the wing controlled a single tactical unit, the 62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, flying the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo, which was capable of carrying the nuclear armed AIR-2 Genie. At the time the wing was activated, it maintained two aircraft on five minute alert status, in February 1962, in addition to these two interceptors, one third of the wings aircraft were placed on fifteen minute alert. On 22 October 1962, at the beginning of the Cuban Missile Crisis, Continental Air Defense Command directed the dispersal of interceptors within the United States. The wing sent one third of its aircraft there, all wing aircraft, including those at home and those at Phelps Collins were armed and placed on fifteen minute alert status. The increased alert posture was maintained through mid-November, when CONAD returned the wing to its normal alert status, the wing was assigned to the Sault Sainte Marie Air Defense Sector until October 1963 when it became part of the Duluth Air Defense Sector. It participated in many ADC exercises, tactical evaluations and other air defense operations and these reductions made it apparent that the primary mission of K. I. Sawyer would be to support SAC. The wing was assigned to Thirteenth Air Force, but was attached Seventh Air Force in Saigon for operational control, the wing entered combat in Southeast Asia as soon as it was activated. It employed a variety of aircraft to meet specialized missions. The Battle of Lima Site 85 began in January 1968 and continued through March, the wing provided close air support for the defending forces. While this battle was continuing in Laos, the Siege of Khe Sanh, just across the border in South Vietnam, the wing continued to support the defenses of both sites through the end of the battles in April 1968. In the middle of 1968, the became the 56th Special Operations Wing and its various air commando. Operations at Nakhon Phanom continued to expand as the 602d Squadron moved from Udorn in June and a squadron of A-1s
36.
Weapon systems officer
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A weapon systems officer is an air flight officer directly involved in all air operations and weapon systems of a military aircraft. That included two-seat variants of fighter or attack/strike aircraft, roles can be customized, based on experience, expertise, workload, tactics, and weapons being employed. Pilots usually retain the responsibility for flying the aircraft in tactical situations, however, bomber aircraft typically retain more rigidly defined and conventional roles. In the British Royal Air Force, a WSO is an officer that operates aircraft mission systems on the Tornado GR4 amongst other platforms. Non-commissioned aircrew can serve as a WSOp, a term for the various specialist aircrew responsible for assisting the pilot in operating the mission systems of the aircraft. In the United States Navy, WSOs are naval flight officers responsible for manning the weapon systems of the F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter from that jets aft seat. In the United States Marine Corps, WSO refers to flight officers serving as the aft crew member of the F/A-18D Hornet. In U. S. Naval Aviation, when designated as the mission commander, in the U. S. Air Force, WSO also refers to a USAF combat systems officer who is the aft crew member in the F-15E Strike Eagle. In the B-52, the CSO crew members in the portion of the aircraft are weapon systems officers. In the B-1B Lancer bomber, there are 2 weapon systems officers manning crew positions aft of the pilot and co-pilot and they are known as the offensive systems officer, and the defensive systems officer. WSOs also flew in the now-retired F-111 Aardvark strike bomber, flown by the US Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force, in the F-111, the WSO was seated directly to the right of the pilot/aircraft commander. The WSO integrates with the pilot to achieve and maintain crew efficiency, situational awareness. In the U. S. Air Force fighter aircraft such as the F-15E Strike Eagle, when designated as the mission commander, the WSO is also responsible for all phases of the assigned mission, especially if there are multiple aircraft involved. Currently, all USN WSOs begin their training as student naval flight officers at NAS Pensacola, Training begins with Introductory Flight Screening, where the WSO flies a Cessna 172 to show he/she is competent enough in aviation to continue the rigorous training ahead. Then the SNFO starts the U. S. Navy indoctrination course called Aviation Preflight Indoctrination with his/her student naval aviator counterparts, the SNFO is treated like a pilot training student for these six flights. After Contacts, the SNFO goes back to academics to learn instrument flying rules, Primary ends with a final instrument checkride. After primary the SNFO is compared to his or her shipmates and those destined for the F/A-18F Super Hornet or the F/A-18D Hornet will become WSOs. Intermediate picks up where Primary ends for USAF SWSOs, after the instrument phase of training, students move to visual navigation low levels at 2000AGL, and finish in the T-6 with a final training block called forms
37.
35th Operations Group
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The 35th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 35th Fighter Wing. It is stationed at Misawa Air Base, Japan, and is a part of Pacific Air Forces. During World War II, the predecessor unit, the 35th Fighter Group operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as part of Fifth Air Force, first using P-38s and P-39s. The group engaged the enemy in numerous campaigns being awarded both the United States Distinguished Unit Citation and the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. From the 1990s, the 35th Operations Group deployed aircraft and personnel to Southwest Asia in support of Operations NORTHERN and SOUTHERN WATCH and the Global War on Terrorism 1997–2003. Responsible for flight operations, airfield management, intelligence, tactical air control, combat plans, weapons and tactics, initial squadrons of the group were the 21st Pursuit Squadron and 34th Pursuit Squadrons. Initially training with Seversky P-35s, P-36 Hawks, P-39 Airacobras, and Curtiss P-40 aircraft, the air echelons of the 21st and 34th Pursuit squadrons arrived in Philippines and were attached to the 24th Pursuit Group, being stationed at Nichols and Del Carmen Fields on Luzon. Headquarters and a squadron sailed for Manila on 5 December. The 21st and 34th Pursuit Squadrons fought in the Battle of the Philippines, both squadrons were wiped out in the battle, with the men eventually fighting as infantry during the Battle of Bataan. The survivors were subjected to the Bataan Death March, although some did escape to Australia, headquarters and the 70th squadron sailed for Brisbane, Australia on 12 January 1942. On 15 January all the squadrons were relieved and three others, still in the US, were assigned. Headquarters reached Brisbane Australia in February 1942 while the squadrons had moved from the US to various locations in Australia and were training for combat with P-39s. From Australia, the 35th entered combat with Fifth Air Force, operating successively from bases in Australia, New Guinea, Owi, Morotai, first used P-38s and P-39s, equipped with Republic P-47 Thunderbolts late in 1943 and with North American P-51 Mustangs in March 1945. In 1944 the 35th began long-range missions against enemy airfields and installations in the southern Philippines, Halmahera, beginning in January 1945, operated in support of ground forces on Luzon. Also escorted bombers and completed some fighter sweeps to Formosa and China, bombed and strafed railways and airfields in Kyūshū and Korea after moving to Okinawa in June 1945. After the surrender of Japan, the became part of Far East Air Forces occupation forces and trained, took part in maneuvers. The 35th entered combat in the Korean War in July 1950, flying F-80s, transferring back to Japan in May 1951, it became non-operational in January–July 1954. It then provided air defense for central Japan until late 1956 but was not operational from October 1956 – October 1957, in an administrative realignment in Washington DC in January 1984, the inactive 35th Tactical Group and the inactive 35th Fighter-Interceptor Group were consolidated into one unit
38.
Operation Southern Watch
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Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. Nothing in the resolution spelled out the Iraqi no-fly zones or Operation Southern Watch, military forces from Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France participated in Operation Southern Watch. An intensification was noted prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and it is now known that this increased activity occurred during an operation known as Operation Southern Focus. At first, Iraqi forces did not attack Coalition aircraft, later in the day, several Iraqi fighters dodged back and forth across the 32nd parallel, staying out of missile range of American fighters. However, an Iraqi MiG-25 crossed too far and was trapped inside the 32nd parallel by a flight of USAF F-16 Falcons of the 33rd Fighter Squadron, after intelligence verified the aircraft was hostile, the fighter pilot received clearance to fire. The lead plane piloted by then-Lieutenant Colonel Gary North, USAF and this was the first combat kill by an F-16 in USAF service, and the first combat kill using the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. On 17 January 1993, a USAF F-16C destroyed an Iraqi MiG-23 Flogger with an AMRAAM missile for the second USAF aerial victory, on 7 January 1993, Iraq agreed to American, British, and French demands to withdraw their surface-to-air missiles from below the 32nd parallel. However, they did not remove all of them, and U. S. President George H. W. Bush ordered U. S. aircraft to bomb the remaining missile sites. On 13 January, more than 100 American, British, and French aircraft attacked Iraqi missile sites near Nasiriyah, Samawah, Najaf, around half the Iraqi sites south of the 32nd parallel were hit. On 29 June, a USAF F-4G Phantom II destroyed an Iraqi radar which had illuminated it, the first nine months of 1994 were quiet, and the USAF began to withdraw forces from the region. Saddam later withdrew the Iraqi Republican Guard out of the Kuwati border due to massive American military buildup and this served to increase Coalition resolve to enforce the no-fly zones and contain Iraqi aggression. On 25 June 1996, terrorists bombed the U. S. base at Khobar Towers in Dhahran, the attack killing 19 American airmen and injured an additional 372 people. In August 1996, Iraqi forces invaded the Kurdish regions of northern Iraq, as a result, the no-fly zone was extended north to the 33rd parallel. This marked renewed conflict with Iraqi air defenses and several more radars were destroyed by F-16 fighters, on 15 December 1998, France suspended participation in the no-fly zones, arguing that they had been maintained for too long and were ineffective. On 16 December, U. S. President Bill Clinton ordered execution of Operation Desert Fox and this resulted in an increased level of combat in the no-fly zones which lasted until 2003. On 30 December 1998, Iraqi SA-6 missile sites fired 6 to 8 surface-to-air missiles at American military aircraft, USAF F-16s responded by bombing the sites. On 5 January 1999, four Iraqi MiG-25s crossed into the southern no-fly zone, the American fighters fired a total of six missiles at the Iraqi aircraft, but they were able to evade them all and escape back to the north. Over the same period, American aircraft had attacked Iraqi targets on 73 occasions
39.
Mayaguez incident
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It was the last official battle of the Vietnam War. The names of the Americans killed, as well as those of three U. S, Marines who were left behind on the island of Koh Tang after the battle and were subsequently executed by the Khmer Rouge, are the last names on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial. The merchant ships crew, whose seizure at sea had prompted the U. S. attack, had released in good health. Marines or the U. S. command of the operation before they attacked, nevertheless, the Marines boarded and recaptured the ship anchored offshore a Cambodian island, finding it empty. The U. S. did not recognize 12 nautical miles territorial waters claims at that time, recognizing only 3 nautical miles, at 14,18, a Khmer Rouge naval forces Swift Boat was sighted approaching the Mayaguez. Captain Miller ordered the transmission of an SOS and then stopped the ship, seven Khmer Rouge soldiers boarded the Mayaguez and their leader, Battalion Commander Sa Mean, pointed at a map indicating that the ship should proceed to the east of Poulo Wai. One of the crew members broadcast a Mayday which was picked up by an Australian vessel, the Mayaguez arrived off Poulo Wai at approximately 16,00 and a further 20 Khmer Rouge boarded the vessel. Sa Mean indicated that the Mayaguez should proceed to Ream on the Cambodian mainland, Sa Mean radioed his superiors and was apparently instructed to stay at Poulo Wai, dropping anchor at 16,55. The Mayaguez was carrying 107 containers of cargo,77 containers of government and military cargo. The Khmer Rouge never inspected the containers, and exact contents have not been disclosed, the captain had a U. S. government envelope only to be opened in special circumstances, which he destroyed. The Mayaguezs SOS and Mayday signals were picked up by a number of listeners including an employee of Delta Exploration Company in Jakarta, Indonesia, by 05,12 Eastern Daylight Time the first news of the incident reached the National Military Command Center in Washington D. C. President Gerald Ford was informed of the seizure of the Mayaguez at his morning briefing with his deputy assistant for security affairs. At 12,05 EDT, a meeting of the National Security Council was convened to discuss the situation, meanwhile, the NMCC ordered Admiral Noel Gayler, Commander in Chief, United States Pacific Command, to launch reconnaissance aircraft to locate the Mayaguez. S. s reputation. It was determined that keeping the Mayaguez and its crew away from the Cambodian mainland was essential, following the NSC meeting the White House issued a press release stating that President Ford considered the seizure an act of piracy, though this claim did not have foundation in maritime law. Secretary of Defense James R. Schlesinger ordered the military to locate the Mayaguez and prevent its movement to the Cambodian mainland, Kissinger then instructed George H. W. Bush, then head of the U. S. If that release does not immediately take place, the authorities in Phnom Penh will be responsible for the consequences, the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea, then en route to Australia, was ordered into the area. The destroyer escort Harold E. Holt and the missile destroyer Henry B. Wilson were both ordered to proceed at high speed from the Philippine Sea towards the Mayaguezs last known location. An alert order was sent to 1st Battalion 4th Marines at Subic Bay, a reinforced company from 1/4 Marines was ordered to assemble at Naval Air Station Cubi Point for airlift to Thailand, while an 1100-man Battalion Landing Team assembled in Okinawa
40.
18th Wing
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The United States Air Forces 18th Wing is the host wing for Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan and is the Air Force’s largest combat wing. It is the largest and principal organization in the Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force, the Wings 18th Operations Group is a successor organization of the 18th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. The 18th Wings mission is to defend U. S. and Japanese mutual interests by providing a staging and operational airbase with integrated, deployable. The focus of the operations is directed to accomplishing this mission. The 18th Wing is composed of five groups each with specific functions, the Operations Group controls all flying and airfield operations. The Maintenance Group performs Aircraft and Aircraft support equipment maintenance, the Mission Support Group has a wide range of responsibilities but a few of its functions are Security, Communications, Personnel Management, Logistics, Services and Contracting support. The Civil Engineer Group provides facilities management, while the Medical Group provides medical and dental care, in addition to the 61 aircraft of the 18th Wing, associate units operate more than 20 permanently assigned, forward-based or deployed aircraft from the base on a daily basis. The fighting cock emblem, approved in 1931, symbolizes the courage, for additional history and lineage, see 18th Operations Group The 18th Fighter Wing was established on 10 August 1948, and activated four days later at Clark Air Force Base. On January 20,1950, the wing was re-designated the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing, the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing was reassigned to Korea in July 1950 and entered combat. In late July, the headquarters with two of its squadrons deployed with F-80s from the Philippines to Taegu AB, South Korea. From July 28 to August 3, the 18th Group operated directly under Fifth Air Force then passed to the control of the 6002nd Fighter Wing, pilots exchanged their F-80s for F-51 Mustangs. Combat targets included tanks and armored vehicles, locomotives and trucks, artillery and antiaircraft guns, fuel and ammunition dumps, warehouses and factories, and troop concentrations. Because the front advanced so rapidly, operations from Pusan East Air Base soon became impractical, the 2nd SAAF Squadron joined the 18th in mid-November. The Chinese Communist caused the group to move twice in as many weeks, first to Suwon AB, South Korea, from there the 18th FBG continued to support ground forces and carry out armed reconnaissance and interdiction missions. From November 1950 through January 1951, it earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for destroying roughly 2,400 enemy vehicles and severely damaging almost 500 more. From early 1951 until January 1953, the group and its squadrons, moving from base to base in South Korea. When in January 1953 the group rejoined the wing at Osan-ni AB and it flew its first F-86 counter air mission on February 26,1953. In the final days of the war, the 18th FBG attacked dispersed enemy aircraft at Sinuiju and Uiju Airfields, the group remained in Korea for some time after the armistice
41.
432d Operations Group
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The 432d Operations Group is the flying component of the United States Air Force 432d Wing, stationed at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The Group is also responsible for all air traffic control, airfield management, controlled two squadrons of F-16 Falcon tactical fighters at Misawa AB, Japan, 1991-1994. Unit inactivated along with parent organization when 35th Fighter Wing was assigned to Misawa and 432d Wing, the unit was again reactivated in 2007 when its parent 432d Wing stood up at Creech AFB, Nevada. The unit has control over several squadrons which operate unmanned reconnaissance aircraft, as the 432d Air Expeditionary Group, the unit consists of combat-ready Airmen who fly the MQ-1B Predator and MQ-9 Reaper aircraft to support United States and Coalition warfighters. The 19th Attack Squadron and 30th Reconnaissance Squadron are stated at Tonopah Test Range Airport, Nevada, established as 432d Operations Group and activated on 31 May 1991 Inactivated on 1 Oct 1994. afhra. af. mil/
42.
Meridian Regional Airport
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Meridian Regional Airport is a public use airport located at Key Field, a joint use public/military airfield. It is located 3 nautical miles southwest of Meridian, a city in Lauderdale County, Mississippi, the airport is owned by the Meridian Airport Authority. At 10,003 feet, Key Field is home to the longest public use runway in Mississippi and it is mostly used for general aviation and military traffic, but is also served by one commercial airline with scheduled passenger service subsidized by the Essential Air Service program. As per the Federal Aviation Administration, this airport had 19,599 passenger boardings in calendar year 2008,18,560 in 2009, the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a primary commercial service facility. Meridian Regional Airport was established in 1928 and opened in November 1930 with the completion of the terminal, hangar, powerhouse, Meridian city officials asked Al and Fred Key, who operated the Key Brothers Flying School at Bonita, to co-manage the new facility. With the onset of the Great Depression, the City of Meridian considered abandoning the airport because of the cost of maintenance, airmail deliveries tapered off, and few people could afford to take commercial flights or pay for flying lessons. The Key Brothers, however, devised a scheme to keep the airport operating and they hoped that by breaking the standing flight endurance record of 23 days they would focus worldwide attention on Meridian and its airport. From June 4 until July 1,1935, the brothers flew over Meridian, Key Field is named in their honor. The hangar and offices used by the Key brothers preceding and following the flight are still in use today and are listed in the National Register of Historic Places, during World War II, the facility operated under the control of the United States Army Air Corps. Key Field is home to the Mississippi Air National Guards 186th Air Refueling Wing, at the Air National Guard enclave, operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command, the 186 ARW operates a fleet of KC-135R Stratotanker aerial refueling and cargo aircraft. Key Field is also home to the Mississippi Army National Guards 185th Army Aviation Support Facility, the 185th operates a fleet of CH-47 Chinook helicopters, a multipurpose transport/cargo helicopter capable of carrying 55 troops and gear or can also sling-load up to 25,000 pounds. Navy T-45 Goshawk aircraft from nearby NAS Meridian and Air Force T-6A, T-1A and T-38C aircraft from Columbus AFB also frequently practice approaches, Aircraft Rescue and Firefighting capabilities are provided by the Air National Guard. Due to their mission as an air refueling wing, the ANG ARFF assets provide the airport with firefighting capabilities that will rival any airport in the Southeastern United States. In 2008, the 186 ARW entered into an arrangement with the active Air Force, USAF plans to procure 38 MC-12W aircraft. Mission qualification training in the MC-12W is currently conducted by a combined active Air Force and these transfers are to take place in 2010 and 2011, although the recent addition of the MC-12W Project Liberty program at Key Field may delay or eliminate the ARFF reassignment. In 2011, the year that the 2005 BRAC realignments are to be completed. According to Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour and State Adjutant General Harold Cross, these missions are to be a new Joint Cargo Aircraft mission, according to Tom Williams, CEO of Meridian Airport Authority, this will result in an increase in local jobs at Meridians Air National Guard facility. The 286th Air Operations Group activated on April 8,2011 to support the missions of the Continental US NORAD Region and 1st Air Force at Tyndall AFB, the new group belongs to Key Fields 186th Air Refueling Wing, which is losing its KC-135 tankers under BRAC2005
43.
Hattiesburg Bobby L. Chain Municipal Airport
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Hattiesburg Bobby L. Chain Municipal Airport in Forrest County, Mississippi is owned by the City of Hattiesburg and is five miles southeast of downtown. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 called it a general aviation facility, there is no scheduled airline service. Alarmed by the fall of France in 1940, Congress funded an increase from 29 to 54 combat groups in the United States Army Air Corps, the quickest way to get more bases was to use existing civil airports. The Air Corps signed an agreement to lease Hattiesburg Airport, construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed, buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. On 8 December 1941, Hattiesburg Army Air Field opened, assigned to the Third Air Force, the first mission was antisubmarine patrols along the Gulf of Mexico coast. In early June 1942, the 21st Bombardment Group, based at Jackson Army Air Base and they was replaced in late June by the 113th Observation Squadron which flew light observation planes until the end of July. The 27th Bombardment Group, flying A-20 Havocs arrived at Hattiesburg in mid-August and its pilots reformed the unit in Australia, but its A-24 Dauntlesses were badly mauled during the battle of the Dutch East Indies and in New Guinea. The entire unit was withdrawn from the Southwest Pacific and reformed and reequipped in the United States, the reconstituted group trained at Hattiesburg until the end of October then were moved for final training before joining Twelfth Air Force in North Africa. In early 1945 military activities were phased down, and the Air Force put Hattiesburg on standby inactive status, return to full civil control was in April 1946. The first airline flights were Delta DC-3s in 1948, Delta left in 1960, the airport covers 420 acres at an elevation of 151 feet. Its one runway, 13/31, is 6,094 by 150 feet asphalt, in the year ending June 14,2012 the airport had 39,672 aircraft operations, average 108 per day, 88% general aviation, 8% military, 3% airline, and 1% air taxi. 45 aircraft were based at the airport, 78% single-engine, 16% multi-engine
44.
Tyndall Air Force Base
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Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located 12 miles east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall, the base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command. The base is delineated as a place and had a resident population of 2,994 at the 2010 census. Tyndalls combat mission is performed by the 95th Fighter Squadron, Training for F-22 pilots is performed in the 43d Fighter Squadron and the 2d Fighter Training Squadron. The 325th Air Control Squadron trains air battle managers for assignment to combat Air Force units. From 1983 until 2010, training for F-15 Eagle pilots was performed at Tyndall AFB by the 1st, 2d, the 1 FS inactivated in 2006, while the 2 FS and 95 FS inactivated in May and September 2010, respectively. During this time, Tyndall also hosted training for F-15C/D maintenance personnel, the 95 FS was reactivated in September 2013 as part of the F-22 Raptor consolidation plan that moved the 7th Fighter Squadrons aircraft to Tyndall. The 2nd Fighter Training Squadron was activated in 2014 to perform T-38 adversary operations in support of the F-22 training mission, the 325th Fighter Wing is host to more than 30 tenant organizations located at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The wing consists of the 325th Operations Group, 325th Maintenance Group, 325th Mission Support Group and it is also augmented by two Air Reserve Component units from the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard, respectively. The 44th Fighter Group of the Air Force Reserve Command is a unit of the 325 FW and. Otherwise, it operates at Tyndall as a unit of AFRCs 301st Fighter Wing at NAS JRB Fort Worth/Carswell Field. The 44 FG flies and maintains the F-22A Raptor in partnership with the 325 FW, headquarters, First Air Force at Tyndall is part of the Air Combat Command, ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the continental United States. Operationally-gained by ACC,1 AF is the only Numbered Air Force in the Air National Guard and is responsible for all Air National Guard F-15 and F-16 fighter units. The 53d Weapons Evaluation Group, is an Air Combat Command tenant organization that reports to the 53d Wing at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, the 53 WEG previously managed QF-4 Phantom II FSATSs, most of which were converted F-4E and F-4G aircraft. The 337th Air Control Squadron conducts Undergraduate Air Battle Manager Training at Tyndall AFB, Tyndall Field was opened on 13 January 1941 as a gunnery range. The airfield was named in honor of 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall, with the establishment of the United States Air Force in 1947, the facility was renamed Tyndall Air Force Base on 13 January 1948. In December 1940, a site determined that Flexible Gunnery School No.9 would be located 12 miles southeast of Panama City. On 6 May 1941, Army and local dignitaries held a ground breaking for the school
45.
Douglas B-18 Bolo
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The Douglas B-18 Bolo is an American medium bomber which served with the United States Army Air Corps and the Royal Canadian Air Force during the late 1930s and early 1940s. The Bolo was built by the Douglas Aircraft Company, based on its DC-2, by 1940, it was considered to be underpowered, to have inadequate defensive armament and to carry too small a bomb load. Many were destroyed during the attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines in December 1941, in 1942, the B-18 survivors were relegated to antisubmarine, transport duty, and training. A B-18 was one of the first American aircraft to sink a German U-boat, U-654 on 22 August 1942 in the Caribbean. In 1934, the United States Army Air Corps put out a request for a bomber with double the load and range of the Martin B-10. In the evaluation at Wright Field the following year, Douglas showed its DB-1 and it competed with the Boeing Model 299 and Martin Model 146. While the Boeing design was superior, the crash of the B-17 prototype removed it from consideration. During the depths of the Great Depression, the price of the DB-1 also counted in its favor. The Douglas design was ordered into production in January 1936 as the B-18. The DB-1 design was essentially that of the DC-2, with several modifications, the wingspan was 4.5 ft greater. The fuselage was deeper, to better accommodate bombs and the six-member crew, added armament included nose, dorsal, and ventral gun turrets. Preston Tuckers firm received a contract to supply a remote controlled gun turret for the aircraft, the initial contract called for 133 B-18s, using Wright R-1820 radial engines. The last B-18 of the run, designated DB-2 by the company, had a nose turret. This design did not become standard, additional contracts in 1937 and 1938 were for the B-18A, which had the bombardiers position further forward over the nose-gunners station. The B-18A also used more powerful engines, deliveries to operational groups began in late 1937, the first being the 7th Bombardment Group at Hamilton Field, California. Production B-18s, with military equipment fitted, had a maximum speed of 217 mph, cruising speed of 167 mph. By 1940, most USAAC bomber squadrons were equipped with B-18s or B-18As, however, the deficiencies in the B-18/B-18A bomber were becoming readily apparent to almost everyone. To send crews out in such a plane against a well-armed, determined foe would have been nothing short of suicidal
46.
Douglas A-20 Havoc
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The Douglas A-20 Havoc was an American attack, light bomber, and intruder aircraft of World War II. It served with several Allied air forces, principally the United States Army Air Forces, the Soviet Air Forces, Soviet Naval Aviation, Soviet units received more than one in three of the DB-7s ultimately built. It was also used by the air forces of Australia, South Africa, France, and the Netherlands during the war, and by Brazil afterwards. In British Commonwealth air forces, bomber/attack variants of the DB-7 were usually known by the service name Boston, an exception to this was the Royal Australian Air Force, which referred to all variants of the DB-7 by the name Boston. The USAAF referred to night fighter variants as P-70 and it was estimated that it could carry a 1,000 lb bomb load at 250 mph. Reports of aircraft performance from the Spanish Civil War indicated that this design would be seriously underpowered, in the autumn of the same year, the United States Army Air Corps issued its own specification for an attack aircraft. The Douglas team, now headed by Heinemann, took the Model 7A design, upgraded with 1,100 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp engines and it faced competition from the North American NA-40, Stearman X-100, and Martin 167F. The Model 7B was maneuverable and fast, but did not attract any US orders, the model did, however, attract the attention of a French Purchasing Commission visiting the United States. The French discreetly participated in the trials, so as not to attract criticism from American isolationists. The secret was revealed when the Model 7B crashed on 23 January while demonstrating single-engine performance, the French were still impressed enough to order 100 production aircraft, with the order increased to 270 when the war began. Sixteen of those had been ordered by Belgium for its Aviation Militaire, in a report to the British Aeroplane and Armament Experimental Establishment at RAF Boscombe Down, test pilots summed it up as, has no vices and is very easy to take off and land. The aeroplane represents a definite advantage in the design of flying controls, extremely pleasant to fly and manoeuvre. Ex-pilots often consider it their favorite aircraft of the war due to the ability to toss it around like a fighter, the Douglas bomber/night fighter was extremely adaptable and found a role in every combat theater of the war, and excelled as a true pilots aeroplane. When DB-7 series production ended on 20 September 1944, a total of 7,098 had been built by Douglas. Douglas redesigned its Santa Monica plant to create a production line to produce A-20 Havocs. The assembly line was over a long, but by looping back and forth. Man-hours were reduced by 50% for some operations, the French order called for substantial modifications, resulting in the DB-7 variant. It had a narrower, deeper fuselage,1,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-SC3-G radials, French-built guns, midway through the delivery phase, engines were switched to 1,100 hp Pratt & Whitney R-1830-S3C4-G
47.
North American B-25 Mitchell
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The North American B-25 Mitchell is an American twin-engine, medium bomber manufactured by North American Aviation. It was named in honor of Major General William Billy Mitchell, used by many Allied air forces, the B-25 served in every theater of World War II and after the war ended many remained in service, operating across four decades. Produced in numerous variants, nearly 10,000 Mitchells rolled from NAA factories and these included a few limited models, such as the United States Marine Corps PBJ-1 patrol bomber and the United States Army Air Forces F-10 reconnaissance aircraft and AT-24 trainers. The Air Corps issued a circular in March 1938 describing the performance they required from the next bombers — a payload of 1,200 lb with a range of 1,200 mi at more than 200 mph and those performance specifications led NAA to submit their NA-40 design. However, the experience from the XB-21 contributed to the design. The single NA-40 built flew first at the end of January 1939 and it went through several modifications to correct problems. These improvements included fitting 1,600 hp Wright R-2600 Twin Cyclone radial engines, in March 1939, in March 1939, North American delivered the substantially redesigned and improved NA-40 to the United States Army Air Corps for evaluation. It was in competition with other manufacturers designs but failed to win orders, however, the French had already opted for a revised Douglas 7B. Unfortunately, the NA-40B was destroyed in a crash on 11 April 1939 while undergoing testing, although the crash was not considered due to a fault with the aircraft design, the Army ordered the DB-7 as the A-20. There was no YB-25 for prototype service tests, in September 1939, the Air Corps ordered the NA-62 into production as the B-25, along with the other new Air Corps medium bomber, the Martin B-26 Marauder off the drawing board. The NA-40 lost out to the Douglas A-20 in the competition, but NAA developed a more advanced design, the NA-40B. Early into B-25 production, NAA incorporated a significant redesign to the wing dihedral, the first nine aircraft had a constant-dihedral, meaning the wing had a consistent, upward angle from the fuselage to the wingtip. Flattening the outer wing panels by giving them a slight anhedral angle just outboard of the engine nacelles nullified the problem, less noticeable changes during this period included an increase in the size of the tail fins and a decrease in their inward tilt at their tops. NAA continued design and development in 1940 and 1941, both the B-25A and B-25B series entered AAF service. The B-25B was operational in 1942, combat requirements lead to further developments. Before the year was over, NAA was producing the B-25C, also in 1942, the manufacturer began design work on the cannon-armed B-25G series. The NA-100 of 1943 and 1944 was an interim armament development at the Kansas City complex known as the B-25D2, Similar armament upgrades by U. S-based commercial modification centers involved about half of the B-25G series. Further development led to the B-25H, B-25J, and B-25J2, the gunship design concept dates to late 1942 and NAA sent a field technical representative to the SWPA
48.
Martin B-26 Marauder
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The Martin B-26 Marauder was a World War II twin-engined medium bomber built by the Glenn L. Martin Company from 1941 to 1945. First used in the Pacific Theater in early 1942, it was used in the Mediterranean Theater. After entering service with the US Army, the received the reputation of a Widowmaker due to the early models high accident rate during takeoffs. The Marauder had to be flown at exact airspeeds, particularly on final runway approach, the B-26 became a safer aircraft once crews were re-trained, and after aerodynamics modifications. After aerodynamic and design changes, the aircraft distinguished itself as the chief bombardment weapon on the Western Front according to a United States Army Air Forces dispatch from 1946, the Marauder ended World War II with the lowest loss rate of any USAAF bomber. A total of 5,288 were produced between February 1941 and March 1945,522 of these were flown by the Royal Air Force and the South African Air Force. By the time the United States Air Force was created as an independent service separate from the Army in 1947, the Douglas A-26 Invader then assumed the B-26 designation — before officially returning to the earlier A for Attack designation in May 1966. On 5 July 1939, the Glenn L. Martin Company submitted its design, produced by a led by Peyton M. Magruder, to meet the requirement. Martins design was evaluated as superior to the proposals and was awarded a contract for 201 aircraft. The B-26 went from concept to an operational bomber in approximately two years. Additional orders for a further 930 B-26s followed in September 1940, the B-26 was a shoulder-winged monoplane of all-metal construction, fitted with a tricycle landing gear. A gunner manned a turret armed with two.50 in machine guns, while an additional.30 in machine gun was fitted in the tail. The aircraft was powered by two Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engines in nacelles slung under the wing, driving four-bladed propellers, the engines were manufactured at the Ford Dearborn Engine plant in Dearborn, Michigan, USA. The first B-26, with Martin test pilot William K, ken Ebel at the controls, flew on 25 November 1940 and was effectively the prototype. Deliveries to the US Army Air Corps began in February 1941 with the second aircraft, in March 1941, the Army Air Corps started Accelerated Service Testing of the B-26 at Patterson Field, Ohio. At least two of the earliest B-26s suffered hard landings and damage to the landing gear, engine mounts, propellers. The type was grounded briefly in April 1941 to investigate the landing difficulties, two causes were found, insufficient landing speed and improper weight distribution. The latter was due to the lack of a dorsal turret, some of the very earliest B-26s suffered collapses of the nose landing gear
49.
Jeffrey Feinstein
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Jeffrey S. Feinstein is a retired career officer of the United States Air Force. Born in Chicago, Illinois, on January 29,1945 and he subsequently entered the United States Air Force Academy in 1964 and graduated in 1968. Feinstein subsequently served as an F-4 pilot with the 526th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 86th Tactical Fighter Wing at Ramstein Air Base, lieutenant Colonel Feinstein retired from the U. S. Air Force on 1 July 1996. US Air-to-Air Victories Airman, Vietnam War Aces
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
