1.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
2.
Virginia
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Virginia is a state located in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, as well as in the historic Southeast. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth are shaped by the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Chesapeake Bay, the capital of the Commonwealth is Richmond, Virginia Beach is the most populous city, and Fairfax County is the most populous political subdivision. The Commonwealths estimated population as of 2014 is over 8.3 million, the areas history begins with several indigenous groups, including the Powhatan. In 1607 the London Company established the Colony of Virginia as the first permanent New World English colony, slave labor and the land acquired from displaced Native American tribes each played a significant role in the colonys early politics and plantation economy. Although the Commonwealth was under one-party rule for nearly a century following Reconstruction, the Virginia General Assembly is the oldest continuous law-making body in the New World. The state government was ranked most effective by the Pew Center on the States in both 2005 and 2008 and it is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginias economy changed from agricultural to industrial during the 1960s and 1970s. Virginia has an area of 42,774.2 square miles, including 3,180.13 square miles of water. Virginias boundary with Maryland and Washington, D. C. extends to the mark of the south shore of the Potomac River. The southern border is defined as the 36° 30′ parallel north, the border with Tennessee was not settled until 1893, when their dispute was brought to the U. S. Supreme Court. The Chesapeake Bay separates the portion of the Commonwealth from the two-county peninsula of Virginias Eastern Shore. The bay was formed from the river valleys of the Susquehanna River. Many of Virginias rivers flow into the Chesapeake Bay, including the Potomac, Rappahannock, York, and James, the Tidewater is a coastal plain between the Atlantic coast and the fall line. It includes the Eastern Shore and major estuaries of Chesapeake Bay, the Piedmont is a series of sedimentary and igneous rock-based foothills east of the mountains which were formed in the Mesozoic era. The region, known for its clay soil, includes the Southwest Mountains around Charlottesville. The Blue Ridge Mountains are a province of the Appalachian Mountains with the highest points in the state. The Ridge and Valley region is west of the mountains and includes the Great Appalachian Valley, the region is carbonate rock based and includes Massanutten Mountain. The Cumberland Plateau and the Cumberland Mountains are in the southwest corner of Virginia, in this region, rivers flow northwest, with a dendritic drainage system, into the Ohio River basin
3.
Air National Guard
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When Air National Guard units are used under the jurisdiction of the state governor they are fulfilling their militia role. However, if federalized by order of the President of the United States and they are jointly administered by the states and the National Guard Bureau, a joint bureau of the Army and Air Force that oversees the National Guard of the United States. The ANG of the territories of Guam and the Virgin Islands have no aircraft assigned, ANG units typically operate under Title 32 USC. However, when operating under Title 10 USC all ANG units are operationally-gained by an active duty USAF major command. ANG units of the Combat Air Forces based in the Continental United States, conversely, CONUS-based ANG units in the Mobility Air Forces, plus the Puerto Rico ANGs airlift wing and the Virgin Islands ANGs civil engineering squadron are gained by the Air Mobility Command. The vast majority of ANG units fall under either ACC or AMC, established under Title 10 and Title 32 of the U. S. S. When not in a status, the Air National Guard operates under their respective state. The exception to rule is the District of Columbia Air National Guard. Because both state Air National Guard and the Air National Guard of the United States relatively go hand-in-hand, Air National Guard of the United States units or members may be called up for federal active duty in times of Congressionally sanctioned war or national emergency. The United States Air National Guard has about 110,000 men and women in service, even traditional part-time air guardsmen, especially pilots, navigators/combat systems officers, air battle managers and enlisted aircrew, often serve 100 or more man-days annually. As such, the concept of Air National Guard service as representing only one weekend a month, the Georgia Air National Guard and the Kansas Air National Guard previously flew the B-1B Lancer prior to converting to the E-8 Joint STARS and KC-135R Stratotanker, respectively. In addition, the 131st Fighter Wing of the Missouri Air National Guard transitioned from flying the F-15C/D Eagle at St and these proposals were eventually overruled and cancelled by the U. S. Congress. As state militia units, the units in the Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command and they are under the jurisdiction of the United States National Guard Bureau unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. Air National Guard units are trained and equipped by the United States Air Force, the state ANG units, depending on their mission, are operationally gained by a major command of the USAF if federalized. Air National Guard personnel are expected to adhere to the moral and physical standards as their full-time active duty Air Force. The same ranks and insignia of the U. S. Air Force are used by the Air National Guard, the Air National Guard also bestows a number of state awards for local services rendered in a service members home state or equivalent. The creation of the regiments was caused by the perceived need to defend the Bay Colony against American Indians. This organization formed the basis of subsequent colonial and, post-independence, state and this distinction accounts for why there are no National Guard components in the U. S. Navy, U. S. Marine Corps or U. S. Coast Guard
4.
Virginia Air National Guard
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The Virginia Air National Guard is the air force militia of the Commonwealth of Virginia, United States of America. It is, along with the Virginia Army National Guard, an element of the Virginia National Guard, as commonwealth militia units, the units in the Virginia Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Virginia though the office of the Virginia Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Virginia Air National Guard is headquartered in Richmond, and its commander is Brigadier General Zane R. Johnson, under the Total Force concept, Virginia Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Virginia ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. Commonwealth missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. The 149th Fighter Squadron is the first Air National Guard squadron to fly the F-22 Raptor, in May 1946, the United States Department of Defense reactivated the 328th Fighter Squadron and redesignated it the 149th Fighter Squadron. The 328th had been organized at Mitchell Field, New York, on 10 October 1942, the newly designated 149th FS was assigned to the Virginia Air National Guard, which earned official recognition from the National Guard Bureau in June 1947. The unit was called to federal service on 1 March 1951. This activation temporarily resulted in the dissolution of the Virginia Air National Guard, as members were sent to places, including for many. The Virginia ANG was reorganized in November 1953 as a B-26 bomber outfit, in 1957, the unit was redesignated the 149th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and was scheduled to get F-86E Saber jets. However, later that year, the became the 149th Tactical Fighter Squadron. At the height of the Cold War in 1961, the squadron was federalized as a result of tensions concerning the Berlin Wall, the squadron remained at Richmond in an active-duty status for about a year before being released. Twenty-two Virginia ANG members were sent to Chaumont-Semoutiers Air Base, France, in December 1961 to support the 7180th Tactical Fighter Wing and they spent eight months in Europe. In October 1962, the Virginia ANG unit was redesignated as the 192nd Tactical Fighter Group, other squadrons assigned into the group were the 192nd Headquarters, 192nd Material Squadron, 192nd Combat Support Squadron, and the 192nd USAF Dispensary. During 1971, the Virginia ANG was assigned the F-105D Thunderchief, the groups special tasking during the next 10 years included several deployments to Red Flag live-fire exercises in Nevada and a deployment to RAF Lakenheath, United Kingdom, in 1976. In 1981, the unit transitioned to the A-7D Corsair II, the 10-year A-7 era included several deployments, to Ecuador, Norway, and to Panama, in support of the defense of the Panama Canal. A Virginia contingent competed in Gunsmoke 85, the USAFs tactical fighter competition, the 192nd also earned the General Spruance Safety Award and was recognized as having had the best Operational Readiness Inspection in the Ninth Air Force during 1985
5.
192nd Fighter Wing
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The 192nd Fighter Wing, also referred to as the 192D Fighter Wing, is a unit of the Virginia Air National Guard and the United States Air Force, stationed at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia. If activated to service the 192 FW is gained by Air Combat Command. 192D Fighter Wing is the military nomenclature of the unit and it is commonly referred to as the 192nd Fighter Wing. It is often interchanged within military writing and speech, either way, - Reserves numbers 101 through 299 for Air National Guard units giving position for the unit numbering. The 192 FW is an Air National Guard unit co-located with the active duty 1st Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, the 149th TFS becoming the groups flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 192nd Headquarters, 192nd Material Squadron, 192nd Combat Support Squadron, during 1971, the 192nd was assigned the F-105D Thunderchief, a battle-hardened supersonic fighter-bomber that was the backbone of America’s fighter element during the Vietnam War. The group’s special tasks during the decade included several deployments to Red Flag live-fire exercises at Nellis AFB, Nevada. In 1981, the converted to the A-7D Corsair II. The decade long A-7 era included several deployments to Howard AFB, Panama to aid the defense of the Panama Canal, shortly after a deployment to Ecuador, the 192nd deployed in September 1985 to Evenes Air Station, Norway,150 miles above the Arctic Circle. A few weeks later, a Virginia ANG contingent competed in Gunsmoke 85, the Air Forces tactical fighter competition, the 192nd also earned the General Spruance Safety Award and was recognized as having the best operational readiness inspection in the Ninth Air Force during 1985. In 1987, the 192nd earned its first USAF Outstanding Unit Award, in 1991, the 192nd became the first Air National Guard unit to receive the Air Forces upgraded Fighting Falcon—the F-16C/D. The unit was initially assigned 24 single-seat F-16C models and two F-16D models, by early 1994, defense cutbacks reduced the units assigned inventory to 18 F-16s, and eventually to 15. Conversion to the F-16 airframe required the 192nd to build a $2 million hush house, between 1 December 1993, and 15 January 1994, ANG pilots patrolled the no-fly zone over northern Iraq to prevent Iraqi forces from inflicting damage on the villages of Kurdish minorities. This marked the first time Air National Guard units were called to duty in the Middle East. The unit returned to Incirlik in February 1996 for another round of patrols over Iraq, during October 1995, the wing designation was changed to 192nd Fighter Wing. At the direction of the commander of Air Combat Command, in January, the Air Force aimed to reduce the number of F-16 maintenance workers, consolidate their training, reduce duplication of resources, and lower maintenance costs per flying hour. The 192 FW was also selected to test the capability of electro-optical recce pods, for 45 days, the 192 FW flew recce missions over Bosnia to support international peacekeeping efforts. In December 1996, the wing was awarded its second Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, in December 2000,29 members of the 192nd deployed to Southwest Asia in support of Operation Southern Watch
6.
Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor
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The Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor is a fifth-generation, single-seat, twin-engine, all-weather stealth tactical fighter aircraft developed for the United States Air Force. The aircraft was variously designated F-22 and F/A-22 before it entered service in December 2005 as the F-22A. The Raptors combination of stealth, aerodynamic performance, and situational awareness gives the aircraft unprecedented air combat capabilities, a final procurement tally of 187 operational production aircraft was established in 2009, and the last F-22 was delivered to the USAF in 2012. In 1981 the U. S. Air Force developed a requirement for an Advanced Tactical Fighter as a new air superiority fighter to replace the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon. Code named Senior Sky, this program was influenced by the emerging threats, including development and proliferation of Soviet Su-27 Flanker-. Each design team produced two prototype air vehicles, one for each of the two engine options, the Lockheed-led team employed thrust vectoring nozzles on YF-22 for enhanced maneuverability in dogfights. The ATFs increasing weight and cost drove out certain requirements during development, side-looking radars were deleted, and the dedicated infra-red search and track system was downgraded from multi-color to single color and then deleted as well. However, space and cooling provisions were retained to allow for future addition of these components, the ejection seat requirement was downgraded from a fresh design to the existing McDonnell Douglas ACES II. After the flight test demonstration and validation of the prototypes, on 23 April 1991, the YF-23 design was considered stealthier and faster, while the YF-22 was more maneuverable. The aviation press speculated that the YF-22 was also adaptable to the U. S. Navys Navalized Advanced Tactical Fighter, but by 1992. F-22 production was split up over many subcontractors across 46 states to increase Congressional support, though this production split may have contributed to increased costs, many capabilities were deferred to post-service upgrades, reducing the initial cost but increasing total program cost. Production supported over 1,000 subcontractors and suppliers and up to 95,000 jobs, the F-22 had several design changes from the YF-22. The swept-back angle of the edge was decreased from 48° to 42°, while the vertical stabilizers were shifted rearward. To improve pilot visibility, the canopy was moved forward 7 inches, the shapes of the wing and stabilator trailing edges were refined to improve aerodynamics, strength, and stealth characteristics. Increasing weight during development caused slight reductions in range and aerodynamic performance, the first F-22, an engineering and manufacturing development aircraft named Raptor 4001, was unveiled at Marietta, Georgia, on 9 April 1997, and first flew on 7 September 1997. In 2006, the Raptors development team, composed of over 1,000 contractors, the F-22 was in production for 15 years, at a rate of roughly two per month during peak production. The USAF originally envisioned ordering 750 ATFs at a cost of $26.2 billion, the 1990 Major Aircraft Review led by Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney reduced this to 648 aircraft beginning in 1996. By 1997, funding instability had further cut the total to 339, in 2004, the Department of Defense further reduced this to 183 operational aircraft, despite the USAFs preference for 381
7.
113th Operations Group
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The 113th Operations Group is a flying group of the United States Air Force. Its predecessor, the 352d Fighter Group, was one of the most highly decorated United States Army Air Forces Fighter Groups in World War II, the 352d was composed of three squadrons. Once deployed to the European Theater of Operations, the group was headquartered in RAF Bodney. It performed a variety of missions for the Eighth Air Force, the 121st Fighter Squadron of the 113th Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the 121st Observation Squadron, established on 10 July 1940. The 113ths primary mission is training of air combat and operational airlift crews for national defense, the 113th also provides a ready response force of fighters for the defense of the District of Columbia area. Members of the 113th also assist local and federal law enforcement agencies in combating trafficking in the District of Columbia on a case by case basis. The groups 121st Fighter Squadron is a descendant organization of the 121st Observation Squadron, the group was equipped with the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighter. The initial squadrons to be assigned were the 21st and 34th Fighter Squadrons, on 18 May 1943 the assignment of the 21st and 34th Squadrons was retroactively revoked and they were replaced by the 486th and 487th Fighter Squadrons effective 1 October 1942. Shortly thereafter, the 328th was moved back to Mitchel Field in and was joined by the 487th in March, the 486th moved to Republic Field on 8 March. Training was in its advanced phase when the group was reassembled at Westover in late May in anticipation of deployment orders. Skirmishes with the Luftwaffe were frequent, but it wasnt until 26 November when Major John C. Meyer of the 487th Squadron scored the groups first victory over Europe, Meyer later became deputy commander of the 352d during its most successful period of operations. On 8 April 1944, the 352d exchanged its radial-engined P-47s for sleek North American P-51 Mustang fighter planes and it was then that the Group adopted their unique blue nose marking and the nickname the Blue Nosed Bastards of Bodney. In the end, the Group flew nearly 60,000 combat hours in 19 months, claimed 519 enemy aircraft destroyed in the air,287 on the ground, notable pilots of the 352d include top scoring P-51 aces Major George Preddy and Col. John C. John Thornell, Capt. William T. Whisner, Captain Donald S. Bryan, Capt. Raymond Littge Lt. Robert Punchy Powell, John Smokey Stover and Capt. William C. Miller. One of the 352ds greatest accomplishments was its victory over the Luftwaffe on 1 January 1945. In December 1944, the 352d received orders to deploy to Asch Airfield, after arriving on 22 December, it began operating on the 24th. Poor weather hampered operations and the Battle of Bulge was raging nearby. Unknown to the Allies, the Luftwaffe was preparing a New Years Day attack, however, many of the Luftwaffe pilots were poorly trained and did not have the experience necessary to battle seasoned Allied pilots
8.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
9.
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
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The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941–1945. Its primary armament was eight. 50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a load of 2,500 pounds. When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was used by two U. S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat, the P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces fighters of World War II, and served with Allied air forces including France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U. S. were equipped with the P-47, the armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable, offering good visibility. A modern-day U. S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, both had fled from their homeland to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. While the resulting Republic P-43 Lancer was in limited production, Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a powerful engine. The latter was an aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine. The United States Army Air Corps backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47, as the war in Europe escalated in spring 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to the Luftwaffe fighters. Republic unsuccessfully attempted to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September, to be designated the XP-47B, the XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of construction with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the seat was comfortable—like a lounge chair. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, the cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends, the complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was problematic since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide clearance for the enormous propeller
10.
First Air Force
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The First Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida and its primary mission is the air defense of the Contiguous United States, United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Its mission lineage can be traced to the Air Defense Command, during the war, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. First Air Force is commanded by Lieutenant General R. Scott Williams and its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sgt. The command has responsibility for ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the Contiguous United States, United States Virgin Islands. As the CONUS Region for NORAD, the bi-national North American Aerospace Defense Command, 1AF is also the designated air component for the United States Northern Command. USNORTHCOMs area of responsibility includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada and Mexico, the command is unique in both its mission and composition. First Air Force has been an Air Combat Command organization since 1 June 1992 and its subordinate units are located throughout the continental United States. It was redesignated First Air Force on 9 April 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Northeast, AAFSC would eventually expand that mission to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean until the antisubmarine mission was taken over completely by the Navy in mid-1943. The First Air Force became predominantly a fighter OTU and RTU organization, most P-47 Thunderbolt fighter groups were trained by I Fighter Command, along with P-39/P-63 Airacobra groups, C-47 Skytrain and later C-46 Commando groups by I Troop Carrier Command. Air Defense Wings were also organized for the metropolitan areas along the northeast coast. By 1944 the likelihood of an air attack along the eastern seaboard was remote, and these air defense wings were reduced to paper units. By 1944, the vast majority of the USAAF was engaged in operations in various parts of the world, such as the Eighth Air Force in Europe. First Air Force Headquarters was located at Fort Slocum, New York, the command was originally assigned the region of the New England states, along with New York and New Jersey. The command was inactivated on 23 June 1958 for budgetary reasons, First Air Force was reactivated at Stewart Air Force Base, Newburgh, N. Y. on 20 January 1966 due to the inactivation of the ADC Air Defense Sectors. First Air Force assumed responsibility for the ADC 21st, 33d, 34th, 35th and it also was responsible for the air defense of Greenland, Iceland and parts of Canada. By July 1968, First Air Force had again assumed responsibility for the air defense of the eastern seaboard. On 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designated Aerospace Defense Command as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces, ADCOM reassigned the units under the inactivated First Air Force were reassigned primarily to the 20th, 21st or 23d Air Divisions
11.
European Theater of Operations, United States Army
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The European Theater of Operations, United States Army was a United States Army formation which directed US Army operations in parts of Europe from 1942 to 1945. It referred to Army Ground Forces, United States Army Air Forces, and Army Service Forces operations north of Italy and it was bordered to the south by the North African Theater of Operations, US Army, which later became the Mediterranean Theater of Operations. As the armies advanced, both these zones and the areas into which they were divided would shift forward to new areas of control. Major General James E. Chaney, an Army Air Corps officer, arrived in the United Kingdom on 18 May 1941, SBOPS also had the role of studying British use of Lend Lease supplies. His formal title was the Special Army Observer in the United Kingdom, after the United States entered the war, SPOBS was succeeded by United States Army Forces in the British Isles, actually SPOBS under a new name. At the time of the ARCADIA Conference, December 1941 – January 1942, daley, and make him in turn responsible to General Chaney, designated as CG, USAFBI. Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee became Chief, Services of Supply, U. S. Army Forces British Isles, on June 8,1942, the United States Department of War officially established ETOUSA in its place. Its mission was to conduct planning for the retaking of Europe and to exercise administrative. The 133rd Infantry Regiment of the 34th Infantry Division was the first United States Army unit sent to Europe in World War II, the first battalion arrived in Belfast in late January 1942, followed by the rest of the regiment in February. These units were designated as U. S. Army Northern Ireland Forces, the 133rd and 168th Infantry Regiments trained in the peat bogs, and performed border guard patrols between British Northern Ireland and the neutral Irish Free State. The remaining unit of the division, the 135th Infantry Regiment, until SHAEF was operational ETOUSA liaised closely with the British in the planning and organising of Operation Overlord. General Dwight D. Eisenhower had multiple command appointments, he replaced Chaney in late June 1942 and he then relinquished command of ETOUSA to Lt. Gen. Frank M. Andrews in February 1943, who was killed in an air crash in May. He was replaced by Lt. Gen. Jacob L. Devers, in December 1943 it was announced that Eisenhower would be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe. In January 1944 he resumed command of ETOUSA and the month was officially designated as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces. He served in a role until the end of hostilities in Europe in May 1945. From February 1944, SHAEF was the command and ETOUSA administrative command. Some units were transferred between operational commands and administrative commands at different times, by the end of 1944, Eisenhower, through SHAEF, commanded three powerful Allied army groups. The British 21st Army Group and French elements of the 6th Army Group were not part of ETOUSA, the ETOUSA planning staff in London was usually referred to by its Army Post Office number, APO887
12.
VIII Fighter Command
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The VIII Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces unit of command above the Wings and below the numbered air force. Its primary mission was command and control of operations within the Eighth Air Force. In the World War II European Theater, its mission was air superiorty. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, being stationed at RAF Honington, It was formed at Selfridge Field, in May, the headquarters moved to England to conduct combat operations over Occupied Europe. After the end of the European War in May 1945, VIII Fighter Command took part in the occupation of Germany until May 1946 while simultaneously coordinating its own demobilization. It inactivated in March 1946 at RAF Honington, the last Royal Air Force station used by the USAAF to be returned to the British Air Ministry, the VIII Fighter Command was constituted initially as VIII Interceptor Command at Selfridge Field, Michigan on 19 January 1942. Equipped with the 4th and 5th Air Defense wings, the mission was air defense over the north central United States. During much of 1943, bomber escort for VIII Bomber Command was the mission for VIII Fighter Command. Fighter groups had a mix of aircraft models of the fighter type plus some administrative utility, during 1942-1943, the assigned fighter groups flew three types of aircraft during 1942-43, the Supermarine Spitfire, the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt and the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. The Command itself was engaged in command and control, without a complement of aircraft for combat, eventually the fighter groups were organized into three Fighter Wings. These were the 65th, 66th and 67th, when the Eighth Air Force converted from Bombardment Divisions to Air Divisions, the Fighter Wings came under operational control of the three Air Divisions. The effect of the Mustang on the Luftwaffe was swift and decisive, the result was that the Luftwaffe was notable by its absence over the skies of the Europe after D-Day, and the Allies were starting to achieve air superiority over the continent. When Lt. Gen. Jimmy Doolittle took command of the Eighth Air Force in January 1944, previously, fighters were largely tied to the bombers, but Doolittle and Kepner freed many fighters to go down on the deck and allowed them to become far more aggressive. The fighters were now able to out the Luftwaffe and actively attack their airfields. In September 1944, the VIII Fighter Command attached its fighter wings to the Eighth Air Forces Bombardment Divisions and this administrative move allowed each division operational control of several fighter groups to fly escort to their heavy bomb wings. The 65th Fighter Wing was attached to the 2nd Bombardment Division, the 66th Fighter Wing to the 3rd Bombardment Division and this reassignment of the three fighter wings created the Air Divisions within the Eighth Air Force, replacing the Bombardment Divisions. After the initial German attack was blunted by early January, the units remained attached until February 1945, first seen by Allied airmen during the late summer of 1944, it wasnt until March 1945 that German Jet aircraft started to attack Allied bomber formations in earnest. On 2 March, when Eighth Air Force bombers were dispatched to attack the oil refineries at Leipzig
13.
North American P-51 Mustang
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The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II, the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission, the Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force. Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design, the prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940,102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was originally designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine and it was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to the P-51B/C model transformed the Mustangs performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, the P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft, despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbird and air racing aircraft, in April 1940 the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self. Self was given responsibility for Royal Air Force production and research and development, and also served with Sir Wilfrid Freeman. Self also sat on the British Air Council Sub-committee on Supply and one of his tasks was to organize the manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was limited, as no U. S. aircraft then in production or flying met European standards. The Curtiss-Wright plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply, North American Aviation was already supplying its Harvard trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underutilized. NAA President Dutch Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new medium bomber, instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture the Tomahawk under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have an aircraft with the same engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40. In March 1940,320 aircraft were ordered by Sir Wilfred Freeman who had become the head of the Ministry of Aircraft Production. The NA-73X, which was designed by a led by lead engineer Edgar Schmued, followed the best conventional practice of the era. One was a wing designed using laminar flow airfoils which were developed co-operatively by North American Aviation and these airfoils generated very low drag at high speeds. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with the NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, the other feature was a new cooling arrangement that reduced the cooling drag. It was later discovered that, after lot of development, the assembly could take advantage of the Meredith Effect
14.
IX Fighter Command
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The IX Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Erlangen and it was inactivated on 16 November 1945. IX Fighter Command was the tactical fighter air arm of Ninth Air Force in the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa during 1942-1943. Reassigned to England, it became the dominant tactical air force over the skies of Western Europe during the 1944 Battle of Normandy, after its inactivation, the majority of its units were incorporated into the postwar United States Air Force Tactical Air Command. In Egypt during January 1943, IX Fighter Command became the organization for Ninth Air Force fighter units assigned to the Western Desert Campaign. IX Fighter Command was reassigned to England in November 1943 as part of Normandy invasion planning and its subordinate units were reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force. During the winter of 1943/44 IX Fighter Command expanded at a rate so that by the end of May 1944. On D-Day IX Fighter Command units carried out air attacks on German forces in Normandy area with P-51 Mustang. Air cover during the amphibious assault by Allied forces on the beaches of France was flown by P-38 Lightnings. With the beaches secure, grups began deploying to France on June 16,1944, by early August most IX Fighter Command groups were transferred to bases in France and assigned to the U. S. Twelfth Army Group. Air Force Combat Units of World War II, Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History. U. S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields, D-Day to V-E Day, Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center, Maxwell AFB, Alabama
15.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
16.
Belgium
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Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a sovereign state in Western Europe bordered by France, the Netherlands, Germany, Luxembourg, and the North Sea. It is a small, densely populated country which covers an area of 30,528 square kilometres and has a population of about 11 million people. Additionally, there is a group of German-speakers who live in the East Cantons located around the High Fens area. Historically, Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg were known as the Low Countries, the region was called Belgica in Latin, after the Roman province of Gallia Belgica. From the end of the Middle Ages until the 17th century, today, Belgium is a federal constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of governance. It is divided into three regions and three communities, that exist next to each other and its two largest regions are the Dutch-speaking region of Flanders in the north and the French-speaking southern region of Wallonia. The Brussels-Capital Region is a bilingual enclave within the Flemish Region. A German-speaking Community exists in eastern Wallonia, Belgiums linguistic diversity and related political conflicts are reflected in its political history and complex system of governance, made up of six different governments. Upon its independence, declared in 1830, Belgium participated in the Industrial Revolution and, during the course of the 20th century, possessed a number of colonies in Africa. This continuing antagonism has led to several far-reaching reforms, resulting in a transition from a unitary to a federal arrangement during the period from 1970 to 1993. Belgium is also a member of the Eurozone, NATO, OECD and WTO. Its capital, Brussels, hosts several of the EUs official seats as well as the headquarters of major international organizations such as NATO. Belgium is also a part of the Schengen Area, Belgium is a developed country, with an advanced high-income economy and is categorized as very high in the Human Development Index. A gradual immigration by Germanic Frankish tribes during the 5th century brought the area under the rule of the Merovingian kings, a gradual shift of power during the 8th century led the kingdom of the Franks to evolve into the Carolingian Empire. Many of these fiefdoms were united in the Burgundian Netherlands of the 14th and 15th centuries, the Eighty Years War divided the Low Countries into the northern United Provinces and the Southern Netherlands. The latter were ruled successively by the Spanish and the Austrian Habsburgs and this was the theatre of most Franco-Spanish and Franco-Austrian wars during the 17th and 18th centuries. The reunification of the Low Countries as the United Kingdom of the Netherlands occurred at the dissolution of the First French Empire in 1815, although the franchise was initially restricted, universal suffrage for men was introduced after the general strike of 1893 and for women in 1949. The main political parties of the 19th century were the Catholic Party, French was originally the single official language adopted by the nobility and the bourgeoisie
17.
Battle of the Bulge
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The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive campaign of World War II. It was launched through the densely forested Ardennes region of Wallonia in Belgium, France, the surprise attack caught the Allied forces completely off guard. American forces bore the brunt of the attack and incurred their highest casualties of any operation during the war, the battle also severely depleted Germanys armoured forces on the Western Front, and they were largely unable to replace them. German personnel and later, Luftwaffe aircraft, also sustained heavy losses, the Germans officially referred to the offensive as Unternehmen Wacht am Rhein, while the Allies designated it the Ardennes Counteroffensive. The phrase Battle of the Bulge was coined by contemporary press to describe the bulge in German front lines on wartime news maps, once that was accomplished, the German dictator Adolf Hitler believed he could fully concentrate on the Soviets on the Eastern Front. The offensive was planned by the German forces with utmost secrecy, with minimal radio traffic and movements of troops, intercepted German communications indicating a substantial German offensive preparation were not acted upon by the Allies. The Germans achieved total surprise on the morning of 16 December 1944, due to a combination of Allied overconfidence, preoccupation with Allied offensive plans, and poor aerial reconnaissance. The Germans attacked a weakly defended section of the Allied line, columns of armor and infantry that were supposed to advance along parallel routes found themselves on the same roads. This, and terrain that favored the defenders, threw the German advance behind schedule, improved weather conditions permitted air attacks on German forces and supply lines, which sealed the failure of the offensive. In the wake of the defeat, many experienced German units were left severely depleted of men and equipment, the Germans initial attack involved 406,000 men,1,214 tanks, tank destroyers, and assault guns, and 4,224 artillery pieces. These were reinforced a couple of later, bringing the offensives total strength to around 450,000 troops. Between 67,200 and 125,000 of their men were killed, missing, for the Americans, out of 610,000 troops involved in the battle,89,000 were casualties. While some sources report that up to 19,000 were killed, British historian Antony Beevor reports the number killed as 8,407. It was the largest and bloodiest battle fought by the United States in World War II, after the breakout from Normandy at the end of July 1944 and the Allied landings in southern France on 15 August 1944, the Allies advanced toward Germany more quickly than anticipated. The Allies were faced with several military logistics issues, - troops were fatigued by weeks of continuous combat supply lines were stretched extremely thin supplies were dangerously depleted. General Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff chose to hold the Ardennes region which was occupied by the U. S, the Allies chose to defend the Ardennes with as few troops as possible due to the favorable terrain and limited Allied operational objectives in the area. They also had intelligence that the Wehrmacht was using the area across the German border as an area for its troops. The speed of the Allied advance coupled with a lack of deep-water ports presented the Allies with enormous supply problems
18.
Richmond International Airport
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Richmond International Airport is a joint civil-military public airport in Sandston, Virginia, an unincorporated community. The airport is about 7 miles southeast of downtown Richmond, the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, Richmond International Airport is the busiest airport in central Virginia and the third busiest in the state behind Washington D. Cs two major airports, Washington–Dulles and Washington–National. It is the 64th largest airport in the United States falling behind Memphis International Airport, seven commercial air carriers currently serve RIC, with non-stop flights to 22 destinations, and connecting flights to other countries. An estimated record 3,630,000 passengers used RIC in 2007, in October 2016 RIC reported its 32nd straight month of growth, with nearly 330,000 travelers that month. On December 8,2016 One Jet announced non-stop service from Richmond to Pittsburgh International Airport, the airline has also hinted at adding service from Richmond to Albany International Airport. To help accommodate the current and proposed increase in passengers and air service and it has increased the number of gates to 28, added parking spaces, and created a new terminal roadway and air traffic control tower. Construction on the renovated two-level terminal was completed in spring 2007, in 2016, Richmond International Airport handled over 63,000 tons of cargo, an all-time high. Cargo services offered at the airport more than 100,000 square feet of warehouse/office space and 1,000,000 square feet of apron space. The airport is designated a Foreign Trade Zone, because of its position on the Eastern Seaboard, cargo transit via RIC is on the rise. Goods shipped out of the metropolitan Richmond area can reach 68% of the U. S. population within 24 hours,2016 was a record breaking year for RIC. The most western flight ever from RIC started on United Airlines, and Delta begun serving Richmond with larger aircraft on its 7 routes (planes were Boeing 757, Boeing 737, E170, and CRJ900. American Airlines, recently merged with US Airways started more flights to PHL, ORD, LGA, Jet Blue started 3 more daily flights to ORL. Two new airlines were welcomed into RIC, Allegiant, and One Jet, Piedmont Airlines will open up a hub in RIC,5 jets are based in RIC doing daily flights to PHL, and LGA. Piedmont did a 2 million dollar renovation of one of the hangars at RIC, the airport was dedicated as Richard Evelyn Byrd Flying Field in 1927 in honor of aviator Richard E. Byrd, brother of then Gov. Harry F. Byrd. Charles Lindbergh attended the dedication ceremony, although the facility was in Henrico County, Richmond Mayor John Fulmer Bright was instrumental in the creation of Byrd Field, which was initially owned by the City of Richmond. It was renamed Richard E. Byrd Airport in 1950, the current president and CEO of the airport is Jon Mathiasen. A terminal building designed by Marcellus Wright and Son was completed in 1950 and it was expanded from 1968 to 1970, which included the current passenger concourses. The April 1957 Official Airline Guide shows 43 weekday departures,22 on Eastern,10 Piedmont,5 American,4 National, in 2007, the airport served 3,634,544 passengers, a record for the airport, a 10. 3% increase over 2006
19.
Fourteenth Air Force
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The Fourteenth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Space Command. It is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, established on 5 March 1943 at Kunming, China,14 AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force deployed to the Pacific Theater of World War II. It engaged in primarily in China. After World War II Fourteenth Air Force subsequently served Air Defense Command, Continental Air Command,14 AF is commanded by Lt Gen John W. Raymond. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sgt, in 1993, Fourteenth Air Force became part of Air Force Space Command responsible for performing space operations. The overall mission is control and exploit space for global and theater operations, in 1997,14 AF established the Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB in California for the 24-hour command and control of all space operations resources. In 2002,14 AF became the Air Force space operational component of United States Strategic Command, in 2005,14 AF officially opened up its newly renovated operations center. The new command and control capabilities of the Joint Space Operations Center ensured unity of effort for all space capabilities supporting joint military operations around the globe, Bissell was General Henry H. ‘Hap’ Arnolds choice to command the USAAFs proposed combat organization in China. As early as 30 December 1941, the U. S, War Department in Washington, D. C. had authorized the induction of the Flying Tigers into the U. S. Army Air Forces. Chennault was opposed to inducting the Flying Tigers into the Army, Stilwell and Bissell made it clear to both Chennault and Chiang that unless the AVG became part of the U. S. Army Air Force, its supplies would be cut off. Chennault agreed to return to duty but he made it clear to Stilwell that his men would have to speak for themselves. Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to induction of the AVG into the USAAF, with the situation in Burma rapidly deteriorating, Stilwell and Bissell wanted the AVG dissolved by 30 April 1942. Chennault, wanting to keep the Flying Tigers going as long as possible, proposed the group disband on 4 July, Chennault was recalled to active duty in the USAAF on 15 April 1942. He was promoted eight days later, on 23 April, from colonel to brigadier general, Chennault was told that he would have to be satisfied to command a China Air Task Force of fighters and bombers as part of the Tenth Air Force. Its mission was to defend the supply operation over the Himalayan mountains between India and China — nicknamed the Hump — and to provide air support for Chinese ground forces. Bissell had been promoted to brigadier general with one days seniority to Chennault in order to command all American air units in China as Stillwells Air Commander, friction developed when Chennault and the Chinese government were disturbed by the possibility that Chennault would no longer control combat operations in China. The CATF had 51 fighters in July 1942,31 81A-1 and P-40B Tomahawks, both fighters were good medium-altitude day fighters, with their best performance between 15,000 and 18,000 feet, and they were excellent ground-strafing aircraft. Chennault also had seven B-25C Mitchell medium bombers, out of an original 12 sent from India, the AVG was disbanded on 4 July 1942, simultaneous with the activation of the 23rd FG
20.
Continental Air Command
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Continental Air Command was a Major Command of the United States Air Force responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve. During the Korean War, ConAC provided the necessary augmentation to the regular Air Force while it rebuilt itself under wartime conditions, later, during the 1950s, it was a training force for reservists with no prior military service. ConAC provided peacetime airlift missions for the Air Force and it was mobilized twice in 1961 and 1962 by president Kennedy for the Berlin and Cuban Missile Crisis. Lastly, it was used by president Lyndon B. Johnson for airlift operations into the Dominican Republic and it was inactivated in 1968 and replaced by Headquarters, Air Force Reserve. After the end of World War II, the Truman Administration was determined to bring the Federal budget back into balance, an enormous deficit had built up, so expenditure was cut, resulting in relatively little money for the new United States Air Force to modernize its forces. Planning for reserve forces took place, in any event. Their single firm conviction about the nature of the program was that it must provide opportunities for pilots to fly. This was fundamentally different from the National Guard concept, the National Guard is the designated state militia by the Constitution of the United States. Although the Air National Guard fulfills state and some federal needs, in the first place, not every person in the United States with an obligation or desire for military service wants to serve in a state militia. Second, the prescribed nature and organization of the National Guard does not provide for service as individuals. As the Army Air Forces demobilized in 1945 and 1946, inactivated unit designations were allotted and transferred to various State Air National Guard bureaus, as individual units were organized, they began obtaining federal recognition, and the state Air National Guard units were established. The Army Air Forces Air Reserve program was approved by the War Department in July 1946, Army Air Forces Base Units were organized by Air Defense Command at each training location. They were located at both Army Airfields and civil airports where the Air Force retained partial jurisdiction after turning over the facility to the community after the end of World War II. The reservists were to report to a unit located in their area. The base unit furnished the personnel to operate the detachment and provided base services. ADC programmed to have AT-6 Texans, AT-11 Kansans and P-51 Mustangs available for pilots to fly four hours per month to train and maintain proficiency. ADC intended to activate forty base units operational by 1 July, by the end of 1946, the command had organized Air Reserve training detachments at seventy bases and airfields. On 21 February 1947, Headquarters Army Air Forces informed ADC to eliminate twenty-nine reserve training detachments as quickly as possible, the Air Force Reserve was affected by fundamental legislation pertaining to the parent Air Force
21.
National Guard Bureau
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It was created by the Militia Act of 1903. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, elevated the National Guard to a joint function of the Department of Defense. This act also elevated the Chief of the National Guard Bureau from Lieutenant General to General with the appointment of General Craig R. McKinley, the National Guard Bureau holds a unique status as both a staff and operation agency. United States Secretary of War Elihu Root militated for reform of the guard, in annual reports of 1901 of 1903. The Militia Act of 1792 was obsolete, the resulting Militia Act of 1903 became law. It gave federal status to the militia and required the militia of the States to conform to Regular Army organization. It dramatically increased funding of the militia, between 1903 and 1916, the federal government spent $53 million on the Guard, more than the total of the previous hundred years. The 1903 act authorized the creation of a section responsible for National Guard affairs. The Division remained a part of the Office of the Secretary of War until July 25,1910 when the Chief was directed to report directly to the Army Chief of Staff. The Division continued to perform under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Staff until the passage of the National Defense Act of June 3,1916. Then the Division of Militia Affairs became the Militia Bureau of the War Department, the National Defense Act of 1916 is the most important piece of legislation in the history of the National Guard. It transformed the militia from individual state forces into a Reserve Component of the U. S. Army—and made the term National Guard mandatory. The act stated that all units would have to be recognized. It increased the number of training days to 15, increased the number of yearly drills to 48. The 1916 act transformed the Division of Militia Affairs into a separate Militia Bureau, increasing its autonomy, eight new civilian positions were authorized, something which the various Chiefs had been requesting for years, the number of military assigned to the Bureau had grown to 13. The National Defense Act also authorized the President to assign two National Guard officers to duty with the Militia Bureau, the inclusion of National Guard officers in the Militia Bureau was an important step towards creating a centralized planning organization for the National Guard headed by its own officers. The first National Guard officer assigned to the Bureau was Major Louis C. Wilson of Texas in 1916, thus the National Guard Bureau was charged with the responsibility of maintaining high standards in the National Guard. Prior to 1910 the Chief of the Militia Bureau was a Regular Army officer and this situation changed on June 4,1920, when Congress passed an amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916
22.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
23.
Naval Air Station Albany
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Naval Air Station Albany is a former United States Navy station whose site is located within the current city limits of Albany, Georgia. From 1940 to 1967, it was operated by the United States Army and USAF, following its closure it was transferred to the U. S. Navy and renamed NAS Albany. It continued to serve as an active USN installation until its closure in July 1974, most of the site was taken over as a brewery from 1978. Anticipating the economic benefit to the area, the government accepted the proposal. The Air Corps looked at sites including the existing Albany Municipal Airport. The municipal airport eventually became the site of a primary Contract Pilot School, the Air Corps finally settled on a site four miles northeast of town in Dougherty County. The Chamber of Commerce raised $95,000 to purchase over 4,700 acres for the main base, when the Army indicated it desired an additional 200 acres for the main base, the City purchased the property outright. All of the land was leased to the Air Corps for $1 a year with a 99-year option. Construction got under way on 25 March 1941 for the new training airfield, the immediate 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. It was activated on 12 August, although the base was far from complete, in addition to the main base, Turner AAF had the following satellite airfields, Turner AAF Aux No.1 –, Leesburg, Georgia 31°47′00″N 84°03′00″W Turner AAF Aux No. Turner was initially operated as a school for navigators, the initial core of navigators, slated to become instructors, received the training at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. In July 1941, fifteen navigator instructors arrived at Turner Field with the rank of cadet, for the next two months, the nav instructors oversaw the construction of the navigation school while organizing a training syllabus. When navigation training began in September, the instructors were commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants, the aircraft used exclusively for navigation training at Turner was the Beech AT-7, a modification of the C-45 Expeditor. The AT-7 carried three navigation students, each with a table and instruments, an instructor, and a pilot. Navigators received approximately 100 hours of training in the AT-7. In September 1942, the school moved to Selman Field in Monroe
24.
108th Operations Group
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The 108th Operations Group is a unit of the New Jersey Air National Guard, one of the many units stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. If activated to service, the group is gained by Air Mobility Command. Its World War II predecessor, the 348th Fighter Group, was the most successful Republic P-47 Thunderbolt group in the Southwest Pacific Theater and its commander, Neel E. Kearby was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat. Over a dozen of the pilots became aces. The 108th Group mission is air refueling, the wing enhances the Air Forces capability to accomplish its primary missions of Global Reach and Global Power. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, the wing is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pallets during aeromedical evacuations. It was the most successful Repiublic P-47 Thunderbolt unit in the Pacific War, the Groups commander, Colonel Neel Kearby ran up 20+ kills, including a 6-kills-in-1-mission, for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor. The Group scored 396 kills, over half of all the kills credited to Fifth Air Force P-47s, on 24 May 1946, the group was redesignated as the 108th Fighter Group and allotted to the National Guard. The 348th Fighter Group was activated at Mitchel Army Airfield, New York and it was equipped with the P-47 Thunderbolt. The 348th was one of the first USAAF groups to be equipped with the P-47, after an extended period of training in the northeast United States, the personnel boarded the Army transport ship Henry Gibbons and left the wharf at Weehawken, New Jersey on 15 May 1943. They groups personnel all thought they were heading for the European theatre of war, however, they went through the Panama Canal instead and crossed the Pacific Ocean reaching Brisbane, Australia on 14 June 1943. They moved to Archer Field and waited for their aircraft to arrive, in mid-June the 348ths three squadrons made the 1, 200-mile flight from Brisbane to Port Moresby, New Guinea. The group operated from New Guinea and Noemfoor until November 1944, flying patrol and reconnaissance missions and escorted bombers to targets in New Guinea, the 460th Fighter Squadron, stationed at Noemfoor, New Guinea, was also later attached to the 348th Fighter Group on 23 September 1944. The arrival of the 348th as the first P-47 group in the Southwest Pacific area coincided with the opening of the Allied offensive in New Guinea. The group met its first air combat over Tsili on 16 August 1943, Lieutenant Colonel Neel Kearby, the Commanding Officer of the 348th Fighter Group shot down his first Japanese aircraft on 4 September 1943. He shot down an aircraft on the 15 September 1943. Colonel Kearby was awarded the Medal of Honor for action over New Guinea on 11 October 1943, after leading a flight of four fighters to reconnoiter the enemy base at Wewak, Lt Col Kearby sighted a Japanese bomber formation escorted by more than 30 fighters. Despite the heavy odds and a low supply, and although his mission had been accomplished, Kearby ordered an attack
25.
Strategic Air Command
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At a lower echelon, headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communications. In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of the U. S. Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U. S. Air Force had begun by the fall of 1945, with the Simpson Board tasked to plan. the reorganization of the Army, SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel. S. Air Force as an independent service, kenney, initial units reporting to the Strategic Air Command headquarters on 21 March 1946 included the Second Air Force, the IX Troop Carrier Command and the 73d Air Division. In addition to the bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance. An F-13 squadron, the F-13 later re-designated as the RB-29 Superfortress, was also established, SAC conducted routine aerial reconnaissance missions near the Soviet borders or near the 12-mile international waters limit, although some missions actually penetrated into Soviet airspace. The flight profiles of these missions—above 30,000 feet and in excess of 300 knots—made interception by Soviet air forces difficult until the Soviets 1948 introduction of the MiG-15 jet fighter. Project Nanook, the Cold War’s first Top Secret reconnaissance effort, used the first RB-29 missions for mapping and visual reconnaissance in the Arctic, later missions were Project LEOPARD along the Chukchi Peninsula, followed by Projects RICKRACK, STONEWORK, and COVERALLS. In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven B-29s capable at any one time of delivering them, unfortunately, postwar budget and personnel cuts had had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions. This continued to wear down SAC as a command and morale plummeted, as a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SACs eleven groups were combat ready. In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire a share of USAF infrastructure. In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on Limestone AAF, Maine, fort Dix AAF, New Jersey, Spokane AAF, Washington, and Wendover Field, Utah were also transferred to SAC between 30 April and 1 September 1947. Following establishment of the USAF as a service, SAC bases in the United States consisted of
26.
Boeing B-50 Superfortress
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The Boeing B-50 Superfortress is an American strategic bomber. A post–World War II revision of the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, it was fitted more powerful Pratt & Whitney R-4360 radial engines, stronger structure, a taller tail fin. It was the last piston-engined bomber designed by Boeing for the United States Air Force, not as well known as its direct predecessor, the B-50 was in USAF service for nearly 20 years. After its primary service with SAC ended, B-50 airframes were modified into aerial tankers for Tactical Air Command and as weather reconnaissance aircraft for the Air Weather Service. Both the tanker and hurricane hunter versions were retired in March 1965 due to fatigue and corrosion found in the wreckage of KB-50J, 48-065. A B-29A-5-BN was modified by Pratt & Whitney as a testbed for the installation of the R-4360 in the B-29, the modified aircraft, designated XB-44 Superfortress, first flew in May 1945. The planned Wasp-Major powered bomber, the B-29D, was to incorporate changes in addition to the engine installation tested in the XB-44. A larger vertical fin and rudder and enlarged flaps were provided to deal with the increased weight, Armament was similar to that of the B-29, with two bomb bays carrying 20,000 lb of bombs, and a further 8,000 lb externally. Defensive armament was 13 ×.50 in machine guns in five turrets, in December that year, B-29D orders were cut from 200 to 60, while at the same time the designation of the aircraft was changed to B-50. Officially, the new designation was justified by the changes incorporated into the revised aircraft. The first production B-50A made its flight on 25 June 1947. The last airframe of the order was held back for modification to the prototype YB-50C. It was to have a fuselage, allowing the two small bomb bays of the B-29 and the B-50A to be replaced by a single large bomb bay. It would also have longer wings, which required additional outrigger wheels to stabilize the aircraft on the ground. The B-54 program was canceled in April 1949, work on the YB-50C being stopped prior to it being completed. While the B-54 was canceled, production of less elaborate developments continued as a stopgap until jet bombers like the Boeing B-47, to give the Superfortress the range to reach the Soviet Union, B-50s were fitted to be refueled in flight. While this system worked, it was clumsy, and Boeing designed the alternative Flying Boom method to refuel SACs bombers, revisions to the B-50 would boost top speed to just under 400 mph. The B-29 and B-50 were phased out with introduction of the jet-powered B-47 Stratojet, the B-50 was nicknamed Andy Gump because the redesigned engine nacelles reminded aircrew of the chinless newspaper comic character popular at the time
27.
Godman AFB
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Godman Army Airfield is a military airport located on the Fort Knox United States Army post in Hardin County, Kentucky, United States. It has four runways and is used entirely by the United States Army Aviation Branch, Godman Army Airfield was established about October 1918 for the 29th Aero Squadron for World War I at then Camp Knox United States Army Air Corps. Its initial mission was to support Army forces at Fort Knox, the 73ds mission was to train and provide tactical reconnaissance in support of Army maneuvers. After the United States entered World War II, Godman AAF became a First Air Force group training station for B-25 Mitchell medium bomber groups, the 387th and 391st Bombardment Groups formed and trained at Godman in 1943 prior to their overseas deployment. In 1944, the changed to replacement training, and the 477th Bombardment Group became the B-25 Replacement Training unit. It trained replacement personnel prior to their reassignment to combat units overseas and it remained at Godman after World War II, and the airfield was designated as a permanent station of the USAAF. In 1946, Godman was reassigned to the Tenth Air Force as part of the Air Force Reserve, the 315th Army Air Force Base Unit became the host organization, and the 477th Bomb Group remained as the flying organization until its inactivation in October 1946. Concurrently, Godman Field was renamed Godman Air Force Base, the airfield was then reassigned to Tactical Air Command. The units P-51 Mustangs were ferried to the Far East, during its federal service period, the wing trained to conduct long range bombardment escort missions. On 9 December 1951, the wing was reassigned to Godman AFB and it was relieved from active service on 1 December 1952 and returned to the control of the New Jersey ANG. After the 1953 armistice in Korea, Godman was phased down, Air Force activities were ended and the base was inactivated on 31 December 1953. It was subsequently transferred to the United States Army and became an aircraft and helicopter airfield in support of Fort Knox. The Thomas Mantell incident began at 1, 20pm on 7 January 1948, several senior officers were summoned, and the base Operations and Intelligence Officer were soon joined by the Commanding Officer, but none were able to identify the object. At the time a flight of four P-51 fighters was on a training flight under the supervision of Flight Commander Captain Thomas Mantell. They were flying towards Godman Field when, at approximately 2, 45pm, the next message came from one of the three remaining pilots, who said he was losing his bearings and was becoming fearful of becoming lost. He too was granted permission to break away and return, the only aircraft now in pursuit of the object was that piloted by Captain Thomas Mantell. At 15,000 feet Mantell contacted the tower and stated that he had the object in sight and was climbing to investigate. A short time later Mantell reported that he was closing on the object, mantells aircraft crashed approximately 90 miles south of Godman Field
28.
Douglas A-26 Invader
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A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Southeast Asia until 1969. It was a fast aircraft capable of carrying twice its specified bomb load, a range of guns could be fitted to produce a formidable ground-attack aircraft. A re-designation of the type from A-26 to B-26 led to confusion with the Martin B-26 Marauder, which first flew in November 1940, about 16 months before the Douglas designs maiden flight. The A-26 was Douglas Aircrafts successor to the A-20 Havoc, also known as Douglas Boston, one of the most successful and widely operated types flown by Allied air forces in World War II. Designed by Ed Heinemann, Robert Donovan, and Ted R. Smith, the Douglas XA-26 prototype first flew on 10 July 1942 at Mines Field, El Segundo, with test pilot Benny Howard at the controls. Flight tests revealed excellent performance and handling, but problems with engine cooling led to cowling changes, repeated collapses during testing led to strengthening of the nose landing gear. The A-26 was originally built in two different configurations, the A-26B had a gun nose, which originally could be equipped with a combination of armament including.50 caliber machine guns, 20mm or 37mm auto cannon, or even a 75mm pack howitzer. Normally the gun nose version housed six.50 caliber machine guns, officially termed the all-purpose nose, the A-26Cs glass nose, officially termed the Bombardier nose, contained a Norden bombsight for medium altitude precision bombing. The A-26C nose section included two fixed M-2 guns, later replaced by underwing gun packs or internal guns in the wings. An A-26C nose section could be exchanged for an A-26B nose section, or vice versa, in a few man-hours, thus changing the designation. The flat-topped canopy was changed in late 1944 after about 820 production aircraft, alongside the pilot in an A-26B, a crew member typically served as navigator and gun loader for the pilot-operated nose guns. In an A-26C, that crew member served as navigator and bombardier, a small number of A-26Cs were fitted with dual flight controls, some parts of which could be disabled in flight to allow limited access to the nose section. A tractor-style jump seat was located behind the navigators seat, general George Kenney, commander of the Far East Air Forces stated that, We do not want the A-26 under any circumstances as a replacement for anything. Until changes could be made, the 3d Bomb Group requested additional Douglas A-20 Havocs, the 319th Bomb Group worked up on the A-26 in March 1945, joining the initial 3rd BG, with the 319th flying until 12 August 1945. The A-26 operations wound down in mid-August 1945 with only a few dozen missions flown, several of the A-20 and B-25 AAF units in the Pacific received the A-26 for trials, in limited quantities. Douglas needed better results from the Invaders second combat test, so A-26s began arriving in Europe in late September 1944 for assignment to the Ninth Air Force, the initial deployment involved 18 aircraft and crews assigned to the 553d Squadron of the 386th Bomb Group. This unit flew its first mission on 6 September 1944, no aircraft were lost on the eight test missions, and the Ninth Air Force announced that it was happy to replace all of its A-20s and B-26s with the A-26 Invader. Due to a shortage of A-26C variants, the groups flew a combined A-20/A-26 unit until deliveries of the glass-nose version caught up, besides bombing and strafing, tactical reconnaissance and night interdiction missions were undertaken successfully
29.
Tactical Air Command
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Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 1 June 1992 and its personnel and equipment absorbed by Air Combat Command. Tactical Air Command was established to provide a balance between strategic, air defense, and tactical forces of the post–World War II U. S. Army Air Forces followed by, in 1947, the U. S. Air Force. In 1948, the Continental Air Command assumed control over air defense, tactical air, after two years in a subordinate role, Tactical Air Command was established as a major command. World War II showed the effectiveness of air power in supporting army ground forces. However, the demobilization in late 1945 meant that the huge air armada that had brought Germany to her knees. Following the end of World War II, Headquarters United States Army Air Forces had little funding and most wartime personnel had been released from active duty and returned to civilian life. Many USAAF aircraft were being sent to storage or scrapyards, although the tension with the Soviet Union meant that combat military air forces were still needed. The big questions were how large and what kind of forces, a major realignment of the USAAF was undertaken in early 1946. As part of the realignment, three major divisions within the Continental United States were formed, Strategic Air Command, Tactical Air Command. Each was given a specific responsibility, using assets prescribed to accomplish the assigned mission, Tactical Air Command was formed to command, organize, equip, train and administer assigned or attached forces. It was to plan for and participate in tactics for fighter, light bombardment and these included tactical fighters, tactical bombers, tactical missiles, troop carrier aircraft, assault, reconnaissance, and support units. TAC also planned for and developed the capability to deploy tactical striking forces anywhere in the world, during its existence, Tactical Air Command deployed personnel, material and/or aircraft to Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia in support of its prescribed mission. TACs original authorization was 25,500 officers and enlisted men, aircraft assets available consisted of propeller-driven North American P-51 Mustangs, Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and a handful of the new jet-powered Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars. TAC was also given control of the Third Air Force, Ninth Air Force, on 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force was established as a separate military force, with TAC as one of its major commands. At the time, there was only one U. S. Air Forces in Europe tactical air unit available in Europe, TAC was called upon to send additional units and aircraft to Europe to reinforce the 86 FG. The 36th Fighter Group, flying Lockheed F-80B Shooting Stars, was transferred from Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone to Furstenfeldbruck Air Base near Munich. In addition to fighter aircraft, TAC also deployed available C-47 Skytrain transports to Europe, transferring them to USAFE
30.
Aerospace Defense Command
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Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Forces, responsible for continental air defence. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980 and its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inactivated in 1950, reactivated in 1951, and then redesignated Aerospace rather than Air in 1968. Its mission was to air defense of the Continental United States. It directly controlled all active measures, and was tasked to coordinate all passive means of air defense, the air districts established on 16 January 1941 before the Pearl Harbor attack. The four air districts also handled USAAF combat training with the Army Ground Forces and organization and training of bomber, fighter and other units, the USAAFs Aircraft Warning Corps provided air defense warning with information centers that networked an areas Army Radar Stations which communicated radar tracks by telephone. The AWC information centers also integrated visual reports processed by Ground Observer Corps filter centers, AWC information centers notified air defense command posts of the 4 continental air forces for deploying interceptor aircraft which used command guidance for ground-controlled interception. The USAAF inactivated the aircraft warning network in April 1944, Continental Air Forces was activated on 12 December 1944 with the four Air Forces as components to consolidate the CONUS air defense mission under one command. The Continental Air Forces reorganization began in 1945, when ground radar, the Distant Early Warning Line was first conceived—and rejected—in 1946. By 1948 there were only 5 AC&W stations, including the Twin Lights station in NJ that opened in June and Montauk NY Air Warning Station #3 --cf. SAC radar stations, e. g. at Dallas & Denver Bomb Plots. By the time ADC was inactivated on 1 July 1950, ADC had deployed the Lashup Radar Network with existing radars at 43 sites, in addition,36 Air National Guard fighter units were called to active duty for the mission. ADC was reinstated as a command on 1 January 1951 at Mitchel Air Force Base. The headquarters was moved to Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs on 8 January 1951 and it received 21 former ConAC active-duty fighter squadrons. ADC was also assigned the 25th, 26th 27th and 28th Air Divisions ADC completed the Priority Permanent System network for Aircraft Warning, gaps were filled by additional Federal Aviation Administration radar stations and the Ground Observation Corps. During the mid-1950s, planners devised the idea of extending the wall of powerful land-based radar seaward with Airborne early warning, the RC-121s, EC-121s and Texas Towers, it was believed, would contribute to extending contiguous east-coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of the air threat of the 1950s, this meant a gain of at least 30 extra minutes warning time of a bomber attack. ADCs Operation Tail Wind on 11–12 July tested its augmentation plan that required Air Training Command interceptors participate in an air defense emergency, a total of seven ATC bases actively participated in the exercise, deploying aircraft and aircrews and supporting the ADC radar net. As the USAF prepared to deploy the Tactical Air Command E-3 Sentry in the later 1970s, all remaining EC-121s were transferred to the Air Force Reserve, which formed the 79th AEWCS at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida in early 1976. Besides monitoring Cuban waters, these last Warning Stars also operated from NAS Keflavik, final EC-121 operations ended in September 1978
31.
North American F-86 Sabre
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The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war and its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956, in the United States, Japan and Italy. Variants were built in Canada and Australia, the Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 airframes, and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre, had a production run of 112. The Sabre was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with production of all variants at 9,860 units. North American Aviation had produced the propeller-powered P-51 Mustang in World War II, by late 1944, North American proposed its first jet fighter to the U. S. Navy, which became the FJ-1 Fury. It was an unexceptional transitional jet fighter that had a wing derived from the P-51. Initial proposals to meet a United States Army Air Forces requirement for a medium-range, single-seat, in early 1945, North American Aviation submitted four designs. The USAAF selected one design over the others, and granted North American a contract to build three examples of the XP-86, despite the gain in speed, early studies revealed the XP-86 would have the same performance as its rivals, the XP-80 and XP-84. It was also feared that, because these designs were advanced in their development stages. Crucially, the XP-86 would not be able to meet the top speed of 600 mph. The North American F-86 Sabre was the first American aircraft to take advantage of research data seized from the German aerodynamicists at the end of World War II. By 1944, German engineers and designers had established the benefits of swept wings based on designs dating back to 1940. Study of the data showed that a wing would solve their speed problem. Because development of the XP-86 had reached a stage, the idea of changing the sweep of the wing was met with resistance from some senior North American staff. Despite stiff opposition, after results were obtained in wind tunnel tests. Many Sabres had the 6–3 wing retrofitted after combat experience was gained in Korea and this modification changed the wing airfoils to the NACA 0009-64 mod at the root and the NACA0008. 1–64 mod at the tip. Delays caused by the major redesign meant that manufacturing did not begin until after World War II, the XP-86 prototype, which would lead to the F-86 Sabre, was rolled out on 8 August 1947. The maiden flight occurred on 1 October 1947 with George Welch at the controls, flying from Muroc Dry Lake, the United States Air Forces Strategic Air Command had F-86 Sabres in service from 1949 through 1950
32.
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
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The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American-built swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design, the RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version. In 1949, a swept wing version of the F-84 was created with the hope of bringing performance to the level of the F-86. The last production F-84E was fitted with a tail, a new wing with 38.5 degrees of leading edge sweep and 3.5 degrees of anhedral. It flew on 3 June 1950 with Otto P. Haas at the controls, although the airplane was capable of 602 knots, the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor. Nonetheless, it was ordered into production in July 1950 as the F-84F Thunderstreak, the F-84 designation was retained because the fighter was expected to be a low-cost improvement of the straight-wing Thunderjet with over 55 percent commonality in tooling. Production delays with the F-84F forced the USAF to order a number of straight-wing F-84Gs as an interim measure, although tooling commonality with the Thunderjet was supposed to be 55 percent, in reality only fifteen percent of tools could be reused. To make matters worse, the F-84F utilized press-forged wing spars, at the time, only three presses in the United States could manufacture these, and priority was given to the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber over the F-84. The YJ65-W-1 engine was considered obsolete and the improved J65-W-3 did not become available until 1954, when the first production F-84F finally flew on 22 November 1952, it differed from the service test aircraft. It had a different canopy which opened up and back instead of sliding to the rear, the aircraft was considered not ready for operational deployment due to control and stability problems. The first 275 aircraft, equipped with conventional stabilizer-elevator tailplanes, suffered from accelerated stall pitch-up, beginning with Block 25, the problem was ameliorated by the introduction of a hydraulically powered one-piece stabilator. A number of aircraft were retrofitted with spoilers for improved high-speed control. As a result, the F-84F was not declared operational until 12 May 1954, the second YF-84F prototype was completed with wing-root air intakes. These were not adopted for the due to loss of thrust. However, this arrangement permitted placement of cameras in the nose, the first YRF-84F was completed in February 1952. The aircraft retained an armament of four guns and could carry up to fifteen cameras. Being largely identical to the F-84F, the Thunderflash suffered from the production delays and engine problems. The aircraft was retired from duty in 1957, only to be reactivated in 1961
33.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare
34.
Berlin Wall
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The Berlin Wall was a guarded concrete barrier that physically and ideologically divided Berlin from 1961 to 1989. Its demolition officially began on 13 June 1990 and was completed in 1992, the barrier included guard towers placed along large concrete walls, which circumscribed a wide area that contained anti-vehicle trenches, fakir beds and other defenses. The Eastern Bloc claimed that the Wall was erected to protect its population from fascist elements conspiring to prevent the will of the people in building a socialist state in East Germany. In practice, the Wall served to prevent the massive emigration and defection that had marked East Germany, the West Berlin city government sometimes referred to it as the Wall of Shame—a term coined by mayor Willy Brandt—while condemning the Walls restriction on freedom of movement. Between 1961 and 1989, the Wall prevented almost all such emigration, during this period, around 5,000 people attempted to escape over the Wall, with an estimated death toll ranging from 136 to more than 200 in and around Berlin. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany, crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the Wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere. Over the next few weeks, euphoric people and souvenir hunters chipped away parts of the Wall, contrary to popular belief the Walls actual demolition did not begin until the summer of 1990 and was not completed until 1992. The fall of the Berlin Wall paved the way for German reunification, the capital of Berlin, as the seat of the Allied Control Council, was similarly subdivided into four sectors despite the citys location, which was fully within the Soviet zone. Within two years, political divisions increased between the Soviets and the occupying powers. Property and industry was nationalized in the East German zone, if statements or decisions deviated from the described line, reprimands and punishment would ensue, such as imprisonment, torture and even death. Indoctrination of Marxism-Leninism became a part of school curricula, sending professors. The East Germans created a political police apparatus that kept the population under close surveillance. In 1948, following disagreements regarding reconstruction and a new German currency, Stalin instituted the Berlin Blockade, preventing food, materials and supplies from arriving in West Berlin. The United States, Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and several countries began a massive airlift, supplying West Berlin with food. The Soviets mounted a public campaign against the Western policy change. Communists attempted to disrupt the elections of 1948, preceding large losses therein, in May 1949, Stalin lifted the blockade, permitting the resumption of Western shipments to Berlin. The German Democratic Republic was declared on 7 October 1949, by a secret treaty, the Soviet Ministry of Foreign Affairs accorded the East German state administrative authority, but not autonomy. The Soviets permeated East German administrative, military and secret police structures and had full control, East Germany differed from West Germany, which developed into a Western capitalist country with a social market economy and a democratic parliamentary government
35.
108th Wing
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The 108th Wing is a unit of the New Jersey Air National Guard, one of the many units stationed at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. The World War II predecessor unit, 348th Fighter Group, was the most successful P-47 Thunderbolt group in the South West Pacific Theatre and its commander, Colonel Neel Ernest Kearby was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions in combat. Over a dozen of the pilots became Flying aces. The 108th Wing principal mission is air refueling, the wing enhances the Air Forces capability to accomplish its primary missions of Global Reach and Global Power. It also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy, the wing is also capable of transporting litter and ambulatory patients using patient support pallets during aeromedical evacuations. The group performs noncombat evacuations, humanitarian relief operations, and disaster response as well as full spectrum war airbase opening and it is also the first course of its kind in the intelligence community that integrates active duty, National Guard and reserve students. The wing operates a total of 8 KC-135R Stratotankers and Detachment 2, the World War II 348th Fighter Group was redesignated as the 108th Fighter Group and allotted to the New Jersey National Guard on 24 May 1946. It was organized at Newark Municipal Airport and extended federal recognition later that year, initially, the group reported to the 52d Fighter Wing of the New York National Guard and was supported by the 208th Air Service Group. In the fall of 1950, the Air National Guard reorganized its units under the wing base organization that had been used by the regular Air Force since 1947. At Turner it became the 108th Fighter-Bomber Wing in May, in December 1951 it was transferred to Tactical Air Command and moved to Godman Air Force Base, Kentucky where it replaced the 123d Fighter-Bomber Wing, which had moved to England. On 1 December 1952, the wing transferred its mission, personnel and equipment to the 405th Fighter-Bomber Wing, with return to state control, the wing assumed the air defense mission. Despite its retention of the bomber designation, it was gained by Air Defense Command upon mobilization. It was not until 1955 that the wing was redesignated the 108th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, the redesignation coincided with the change from long-range North American P-51H Mustang fighter. Designed for the invasion of Japan, the P-51H was the last variant of the P-51 Mustang of World War II, but was produced too late to see any wartime combat. Not used in the Korean War due to it not being believed as rugged as its famous D model predecessor, in 1955, the Mustangs were retired and the squadron entered the jet age, with the arrival of the North American F-86E Sabre. The 108th FIW was transferred to Tactical Air Command in 1958, the 141st and 119th Tactical Fighter Squadrons transferred its interceptors and received and F-84F Thunderstreak fighter-bombers. On 1 October 1961, as a result of the Berlin crisis, all three squadrons were flying the F-84F Thunderstreak
36.
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
37.
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
38.
Nellis Air Force Base
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Nellis Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation in southern Nevada with military schools and more squadrons than any other USAF base. Nellis hosts air combat such as Exercise Red Flag and close air support exercises such as Green Flag-West flown in Military Operations Area airspace. Associated with the nearby Nevada Test and Training Range, the base also has the Combined Air and Space Operations Center-Nellis. The Nellis AFB mission of advanced training for composite strike forces is commonly conducted in conjunction with air and grounds units of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps. The base also supports operations at the nearby Creech Air Force Base, the Tonopah Test Range, since World War II, Nellis has had areas added, such as Area II in 1969, but still has about 7,000 acres of undeveloped space. One World War II runway has been removed, Nellis Area I has the airfield, recreation and shopping facilities, dormitories/temporary lodging, some family housing, and most of the command and support structures, e. g. Suter Hall for Red Flag. Nellis Area III is west of the base with family housing, administration and industrial areas. The Nellis Air Force Base CDP is a 3.1 sq mi region defined by the United States Census Bureau as of the 2010 United States Census, the CDP area includes military family housing, dormitories, and lodging as for aircrew temporary quarters during Red Flag exercises. The CDP residents include a portion of the Nellis work force of ~12,000 military, as of the census of 2000, there were 8,896 people,2,873 households, and 2,146 families residing in the CDP. Population density was 2,895.9 people per square mile, there were 3,040 housing units at an average density of 989. 6/sq mi. The gender ratio was 4813 males to 4083 females. The racial makeup of the base was 68. 5% White,14. 3% African American,1. 4% Native American,5. 0% Asian,0. 7% Pacific Islander,4. 9% from other races, and 5. 2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11. 7% of the population, of all households 17. 9% were made up of individuals and 1. 1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.91 and the family size was 3.36. 2000 census median incomes were $33,118, $34,307, $25,551, & $19,210, and per capita income was $13,601. About 10. 0% of families and 11. 1% of the population were below the poverty line, Nellis AFB also leases space at the former Las Vegas AFS, and environmental sites of the Tonopah Bombing Range are monitored by the EPA. Additional Formerly Used Defense Sites associated with the military operations are the Nye County Areas A, G, H, & I, the Delamar Dry Lake Test Annex. After World War I, Nevada and other western states were surveyed by Capt. Lowell H. Smith
39.
NATO
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The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party, three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear-weapon states. NATOs headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries across North America and Europe, an additional 22 countries participate in NATOs Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total, Members defence spending is supposed to amount to 2% of GDP. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, politically, the organization sought better relations with former Warsaw Pact countries, several of which joined the alliance in 1999 and 2004. N. The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Unions Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism. He got a hearing, especially considering American anxiety over Italy. In 1948 European leaders met with U. S. defense, military and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon, marshalls orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association. Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty and it included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the goal was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in. Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, the creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought called Atlanticism which stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic cooperation. The members agreed that an attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor, although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels, which states that the response will be military in nature. It is nonetheless assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily, the treaty was later clarified to include both the members territory and their vessels, forces or aircraft above the Tropic of Cancer, including some Overseas departments of France. The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, the roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements codified many of the common practices that NATO has achieved
40.
RAF Lakenheath
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Royal Air Force Lakenheath or RAF Lakenheath is a Royal Air Force station near the town of Lakenheath in Suffolk, England,4.7 miles north-east of Mildenhall and 8.3 miles west of Thetford. Although an RAF station, it hosts United States Air Force units, the host wing is the 48th Fighter Wing, also known as the Liberty Wing, assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. The 48th Fighter Wing at RAF Lakenheath is the Statue of Liberty Wing, the 48 FW has nearly 5,700 active-duty military members,2,000 British and U. S. civilians, and includes a Geographically Separate Unit at nearby RAF Feltwell. Tactical squadrons of the 48th Operations Group are, 492d Fighter Squadron 493d Fighter Squadron 494th Fighter Squadron Aircraft of the 48th FW carry the tail code LN, the 56th and 57th Rescue Squadrons will re-locate to Aviano Air Base starting 2017. The first use of Lakenheath Warren as a Royal Flying Corps airfield was in World War I and it appears to have been little used, and was abandoned when peace came in 1918. In 1940, the Air Ministry selected Lakenheath as an alternative for RAF Mildenhall, false lights, runways and aircraft diverted Luftwaffe attacks from Mildenhall. In 1941, hard runways were put down with the runway, 04/22, being 2,000 yards. Another 100 yards was added to runway 16/34, hardstands for 36 aircraft were built, along with two T-2s and a B-1 hangar. One T-2 was on the site, the other hangars to the east across the A1065 Mildenhall-Brandon road were reached by taxiways. Lakenheath Airfield was used by RAF flying units on detachment late in 1941, the station soon functioned as a Mildenhall satellite with Short Stirling bombers of No.149 Squadron RAF dispersed from the parent airfield as conditions allowed. The squadron exchanged its Vickers Wellingtons for Stirlings late in during November 1941, after becoming fully operational with its new aircraft, the squadron moved into Lakenheath on 6 April 1942 and remained until mid 1944 when the squadron moved to RAF Methwold. Taking part in more than 350 operations, more than half mine-laying,149 Squadron had one of the lowest percentage loss rates of all Stirling squadrons, middleton was killed when the Stirling, BF372 OJ-H, crashed into the English Channel. In early 1943, three T-2 hangars were erected on the side of the airfield for glider storage,40 Horsa Gliders being dispersed at Lakenheath during that year. On 21 June 1943, No.199 Squadron RAF was established as a second Stirling squadron, commencing operations on 31 July, it laid mines during the winter of 1943–44. At the end of April 1944, after 68 operations, the transferred to No.100 Group RAF for bomber support. No.149 Squadron ended its association with RAF Lakenheath the same month, between them, the two squadrons lost 116 Stirling bombers in combat while flying from Lakenheath. The reason for the departure of the two squadrons was Lakenheaths selection for upgrading to a Very Heavy Bomber airfield. The work entailed removal of the runways and laying new ones comprising 12 inches of high-grade concrete
41.
LTV A-7 Corsair II
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The LTV A-7 Corsair II was an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed by Ling-Temco-Vought to replace the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its airframe design was a smaller version of the supersonic Vought F-8 Crusader. The Corsair II initially entered service with the United States Navy during the Vietnam War and it was later adopted by the United States Air Force, including the Air National Guard, to replace the Douglas A-1 Skyraider, and North American F-100 Super Sabre. The aircraft was exported to Greece in the 1970s. In 1962, the United States Navy began preliminary work on the VAX, particular emphasis was placed on accurate delivery of weapons to reduce the cost per target. The requirements were finalized in 1963, announcing the VAL competition, to minimize costs, all proposals had to be based on existing designs. Vought, Douglas Aircraft, Grumman and North American Aviation responded, the Vought proposal was based on the successful Vought F-8 Crusader fighter, having a similar configuration, but shorter and more stubby, with a rounded nose. It was selected as the winner on 11 February 1964, and on 19 March the company received a contract for the batch of aircraft. In 1965, the received the popular name Corsair II. Compared to the F-8 fighter, the A-7 had a shorter, broader fuselage, the wing had a longer span, and the unique, variable incidence feature of the F-8 wing was omitted. The aircraft was fitted with an AN/APQ-116 radar, later followed by the AN/APQ-126 and it was the first U. S. aircraft to have a modern head-up display, now a standard instrument which displayed information such as dive angle, airspeed, altitude, drift and aiming reticle. The integrated navigation system allowed for another innovation – the projected map display system which accurately showed aircraft position on two different map scales, the A-7 had a fast and smooth development. The YA-7A made its first flight on 27 September 1965, the first Navy A-7 squadrons reached operational status on 1 February 1967, and began combat operations over Vietnam in December of that year. The A-7 offered a plethora of cutting-edge avionics compared to contemporary aircraft and this included data link capabilities that, among other features, provided fully hands-off carrier landing capability when used in conjunction with its approach power compensator or auto throttle. Other notable and highly advanced equipment was a map display located just below the radar scope. The map display was slaved to the navigation system and provided a high-resolution map image of the aircrafts position superimposed over TPC/JNC charts. Moreover, when slaved to the auto pilot, the inertial navigation system could fly the aircraft hands off to up to nine individual waypoints. Typical inertial drift was minimal for newly manufactured models and the measurement system accepted fly over, radar
42.
Panama Canal
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The Panama Canal is an artificial 48-mile waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a key conduit for maritime trade. The original locks are 33.5 metres wide, a third, wider lane of locks was constructed between September 2007 and May 2016. The expanded canal began operation on June 26,2016. The new locks allow transit of larger, Post-Panamax ships, capable of handling more cargo, France began work on the canal in 1881 but stopped due to engineering problems and a high worker mortality rate. The United States took over the project in 1904 and opened the canal on August 15,1914, Colombia, France, and later the United States controlled the territory surrounding the canal during construction. The U. S. continued to control the canal and surrounding Panama Canal Zone until the 1977 Torrijos–Carter Treaties provided for handover to Panama. After a period of joint American–Panamanian control, in 1999 the canal was taken over by the Panamanian government and is now managed and operated by the government-owned Panama Canal Authority. Annual traffic has risen from about 1,000 ships in 1914, by 2012, more than 815,000 vessels had passed through the canal. It takes six to eight hours to pass through the Panama Canal, the American Society of Civil Engineers has called the Panama Canal one of the seven wonders of the modern world. Such a route would have given the Spanish a military advantage over the Portuguese, during an expedition from 1788 to 1793, Alessandro Malaspina outlined plans for its construction. Given the strategic location of Panama and the potential offered by its narrow isthmus separating two great oceans, other links in the area were attempted over the years. The ill-fated Darien scheme was launched by the Kingdom of Scotland in 1698 to set up a trade route. Generally inhospitable conditions thwarted the effort, and it was abandoned in April 1700, another effort was made in 1843. They referred to it as the Atlantic and Pacific Canal and it was a wholly British endeavor and it was expected to be completed in five years, but the plan was never carried out. At nearly the same time, other ideas were floated, including a canal across Mexicos Isthmus of Tehuantepec. Nothing came of that plan either. )In 1846 the Mallarino–Bidlack Treaty, negotiated between the U. S. and New Granada, granted the United States transit rights and the right to intervene militarily in the isthmus. In 1849, the discovery of gold in California created great interest in a crossing between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, the Panama Railway was built by the United States to cross the isthmus and opened in 1855
43.
Ninth Air Force
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The Ninth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces Air Combat Command. It has been headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, from 1990, units were deployed to the Middle East against Iraq, and from 2001 against threats emanating from Afghanistan. In this role, the organization was known as United States Air Forces Central, until August 2009, the Ninth Air Force shared its commander with USAFCENT. S. This article deals with the current organization, as the lineage of the organization currently belongs to USAFCENT. This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, archives of the Ninth Air Force Association Digital Collection at The University of Akron Archival Services Ninth Air Force Association
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USAF 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
45.
United States invasion of Panama
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The United States Invasion of Panama, code named Operation Just Cause, was an invasion of Panama by the United States between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. During the invasion, de facto Panamanian leader, general, and dictator Manuel Noriega was deposed, president-elect Guillermo Endara sworn into office, and the Panamanian Defense Force dissolved. Although the canal was destined for Panamanian administration, the bases remained. Noriega received upwards of $100,000 per year from the 1960s until the 1980s, in the mid-1980s, relations between Noriega and the United States began to deteriorate. Later negotiations involved dropping the drug-trafficking indictments, in March 1988, Noriegas forces resisted an attempted coup against the government of Panama. As relations continued to deteriorate, Noriega appeared to shift his Cold War allegiance towards the Soviet bloc, soliciting and receiving aid from Cuba, Nicaragua. American military planners began preparing plans to invade Panama. Their tally showed their candidate, Guillermo Endara, defeating Carlos Duque, candidate of a pro-Noriega coalition, Endara was beaten up by Noriega supporters the next day in his motorcade. Noriega declared the election null and maintained power by force, making him unpopular among Panamanians, Noriegas government insisted that it had won the presidential election and that irregularities had been on the part of U. S. -backed candidates from opposition parties. Bush called on Noriega to honor the will of the Panamanian people, the United States reinforced its Canal Zone garrison, and increased the tempo of training and other activities intended to put pressure on Noriega. In October 1989, Noriega foiled a coup attempt by members of the Panamanian Defense Forces. Pressure mounted on Bush as the media labeled him a wimp for failing to aid Panama, on 15 December, the Panamanian general assembly passed a resolution declaring that the actions of the United States had caused a state of war to exist between Panama and the United States. The next day, four U. S. military personnel were stopped at a roadblock around 9,00 PM outside PDF headquarters in the El Chorrillo neighborhood of Panama City, the PDF asserted later that the Americans were armed and on a reconnaissance mission. The PDF opened fire and Lieutenant Paz was fatally wounded by a round that entered the rear of the vehicle, captain Hadded, the driver of the vehicle, was also wounded in the foot. Paz was rushed to Gorgas Army Hospital but died of his wounds and he received the Purple Heart posthumously. According to U. S. military sources, a U. S. Naval officer, while in police custody, they were assaulted by the PDF. The U. S. Naval officer spent two weeks in hospital recovering from the beating, PDF soldiers sexually threatened his wife. The next day, President Bush ordered the execution of the Panama invasion plan, the military set H-Hour as 0100 on 20 December
46.
Manuel Noriega
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Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno is a former Panamanian politician and military officer. He was military dictator of Panama from 1983 to 1989, when he was removed from power by the United States during the invasion of Panama, from the 1950s until shortly before the U. S. invasion, Noriega worked closely with the U. S. In 1988, Noriega was indicted by the United States on drug trafficking charges in Miami, during the 1989 U. S. invasion of Panama, he was removed from power, captured, detained as a prisoner of war, and flown to the United States. Noriega was tried on eight counts of trafficking, racketeering. On September 16,1992, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison, France was granted its extradition request in April 2010. He arrived in Paris on April 27,2010, and after the re-trial that is a rule in France after any in absentia sentence, he was found guilty and sentenced to seven years in jail in July 2010. A conditional release was granted on September 23,2011, for Noriega to be extradited to serve 20 years in Panama and he returned to Panama on December 11,2011. Noriega was born in Panama City and he was a career soldier who received much of his education at the Military School of Chorrillos in Lima, Peru. He was commissioned in the Panama National Guard in 1967 and promoted to lieutenant in 1968, in a power struggle that followed, including a failed coup attempt in 1969, Noriega supported Omar Torrijos. He received a promotion to lieutenant colonel and was appointed chief of intelligence by Torrijos. Noriega claims that, following Torrijos instructions, he negotiated an amnesty for about 400 defeated guerrilla fighters, enabling them to return from exile in Honduras, Torrijos died in a plane accident on July 31,1981. Colonel Roberto Díaz Herrera, an associate of Noriega, claimed that the actual cause for the accident was a bomb. He was succeeded as Commander of the Panamanian National Guard by Colonel Florencio Flores Aguilar, one year later, Flores was succeeded by Rubén Darío Paredes, and Noriega became chief of staff. The guard was renamed the Panamanian Defense Forces, Paredes resigned as commander to run for the presidency, ceding his post as commander of the forces to Noriega. Although the relationship did not become contractual until 1967, Noriega worked with the U. S, Central Intelligence Agency from the late 1950s until the 1980s. In 1988, grand juries in Tampa and Miami indicted him on U. S. federal drug charges, throughout the 1970s and the 1980s, Noriega was able to manipulate U. S. policy toward his country, while skillfully accumulating near-absolute power in Panama. Noriega was allowed to establish the hemispheres first narcokleptocracy, one of the large financial institutions that he was able to use to launder money was the Bank of Credit and Commerce International. From the mid-1970s, Daisaku Ikeda fostered a relationship with Noriega
United States
Virginia
Air National Guard
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
