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.
North Carolina
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North Carolina is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west, Virginia to the north, North Carolina is the 28th most extensive and the 9th most populous of the U. S. states. The state is divided into 100 counties, the most populous municipality is Charlotte, which is the second largest banking center in the United States after New York City. The state has a range of elevations, from sea level on the coast to 6,684 feet at Mount Mitchell. The climate of the plains is strongly influenced by the Atlantic Ocean. Most of the falls in the humid subtropical climate zone. More than 300 miles from the coast, the western, mountainous part of the state has a highland climate. North Carolina is bordered by South Carolina on the south, Georgia on the southwest, Tennessee on the west, Virginia on the north, the United States Census Bureau places North Carolina in the South Atlantic division of the southern region. So many ships have been lost off Cape Hatteras that the area is known as the Graveyard of the Atlantic, the most famous of these is the Queen Annes Revenge, which went aground in Beaufort Inlet in 1718. The coastal plain transitions to the Piedmont region along the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, the Piedmont region of central North Carolina is the states most populous region, containing the six largest cities in the state by population. It consists of rolling countryside frequently broken by hills or low mountain ridges. The Piedmont ranges from about 300 feet in elevation in the east to about 1,500 feet in the west, the western section of the state is part of the Appalachian Mountain range. Among the subranges of the Appalachians located in the state are the Great Smoky Mountains, Blue Ridge Mountains, the Black Mountains are the highest in the eastern United States, and culminate in Mount Mitchell at 6,684 feet, the highest point east of the Mississippi River. North Carolina has 17 major river basins, the five basins west of the Blue Ridge Mountains flow to the Gulf of Mexico, while the remainder flow to the Atlantic Ocean. Of the 17 basins,11 originate within the state of North Carolina, but only four are contained entirely within the states border – the Cape Fear, the Neuse, the White Oak, and the Tar-Pamlico basin. Elevation above sea level is most responsible for temperature change across the state, the climate is also influenced by the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf Stream, especially in the coastal plain. These influences tend to cause warmer winter temperatures along the coast, the coastal plain averages around 1 inch of snow or ice annually, and in many years, there may be no snow or ice at all. North Carolina experiences severe weather in summer and winter, with summer bringing threat of hurricanes, tropical storms, heavy rain
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.
North Carolina Air National Guard
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The North Carolina Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of North Carolina, United States of America. It is, along with the North Carolina Army National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the North Carolina Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of North Carolina through the office of the North Carolina Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The North Carolina Air National Guard is headquartered in Raleigh, under the Total Force concept, North Carolina Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. North Carolina ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. The 118th ASOS provides Tactical Command and Control of air assets to the Joint Forces Air Component Commander. 235th Air Traffic Control Squadron Stationed at, Stanly County Airport, 263d Combat Communications Squadron Stationed at, Stanly County Airport. Provides theater communications for the Commander of the United States Central Command and these unit designations were allotted and transferred to various State National Guard bureaus to provide them unit designations to re-establish them as Air National Guard units. The North Carolina Air National Guard origins date to 15 March 1948 with the establishment of the 156th Fighter Squadron and is oldest unit of the North Carolina Air National Guard and it was federally recognized and activated at Morris Field, near Charlotte and was equipped with F-47D Thunderbolts. Its mission was the air defense of the state, in 1950 the 156th was re-equipped with former World War II F-51 Mustangs, now designated RF-51D which had been used in the United States in a training role. Te squadron became part of Tactical Air Command as a Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, the 156th Fighter Squadron was federalized due to the Korean War on 10 October 1950. During its federalization period, the 157th was deployed to Toul-Rosières Air Base, on 9 July 1952 the activated North Carolina Air National Guard was released from active duty and returned to state control. In 1955 the facilities at Morris Field were expanded, two later the 145th Fighter Group was organized consisting of the 156th Fighter Squadron and subordinate units. In 1960 the 145th FG group was redesignated the 145th Aeromedical Transport Group flying evacuation missions, in 1964 the 145th ATG was redesignated 145th Air Transport Group. From 1966 to 1971 the 145th ATG was deployed to Vietnam, in 1990 North Carolina Army and Air National Guard units were mobilized for Operation Desert Shield, followed by Operation Desert Storm in 1991. Personnel from the 145th Airlift Wing were deployed to Germany and other locations, in 1995 North Carolina Army and Air National Guard troops were mobilized for service in Bosnia, Hungary, and Germany. After the September 11th,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, also, North Carolina ANG units have been deployed overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq as well as other locations as directed
5.
Charlotte Douglas International Airport
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Charlotte Douglas International Airport is a joint civil-military public international airport located in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States. Established in 1935 as Charlotte Municipal Airport, in 1954 the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport after former Charlotte mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, as of 2015, it was the 6th busiest airport in the United States, ranked by passenger traffic and by aircraft movements. Charlotte is the largest airport in the United States without nonstop service to Asia, the airport serves as a major gateway to the Caribbean. The city received a $200,000 grant from the Works Progress Administration in 1930 to establish Charlottes first municipal airport, in 1936, the Charlotte Municipal Airport opened, operated by the City of Charlotte, Eastern Air Lines began scheduled passenger service in 1937. The original passenger terminal still exists at Fenway Sports Groups Boeing 727 parking area, the United States Army Air Forces took control of the airport and established Morris Field Air Base in 1941. The airfield was used by the Third Air Force for antisubmarine patrols, aerial view circa 1946 In 1954, a 70, 000-square-foot passenger terminal opened and the airport was renamed Douglas Municipal Airport in honor of former Charlotte Mayor Ben Elbert Douglas, Sr. The terminal had two floors, though operations were confined to the ground floor. Ticketing and baggage claim were on side of an open space that bisected the building from north to south. Delta Air Lines began scheduled service in 1956. The OAG for April 1957 shows 57 weekday departures on Eastern,7 Piedmont,6 Capital,4 Delta and 2 Southern, nonstop flights did not reach beyond Newark, Pittsburgh, Columbus, Louisville, Birmingham, and Jacksonville. Airport diagram for 1955 Eastern Air Lines began scheduled jet flights with the Boeing 720 in early 1962, Eastern used the west pier, Piedmont and Delta the center pier, and United and Southern used the east pier. A major renovation project in the late 1960s expanded the facility considerably, Eastern opened a unit terminal in 1967, replacing the old west pier. This new facility had eight dedicated gates for Eastern, each with its own departure lounge, Eastern passengers continued to check in at the main terminal. In 1969, a new enclosed concourse was built parallel to the center pier, when it was completed, Piedmont, Eastern, and Delta moved in and the old center pier was demolished. The new concourse also had separate departure lounges, as well as restrooms, uniteds flights continued to use the east pier, with an enclosed holding room added for waiting passengers. In 1973, Eastern added two more gates to the end of its west concourse, after airline deregulation in 1978, passenger numbers at the terminal nearly doubled between 1978 and 1980, and a new 10, 000-foot parallel runway and control tower opened in 1979. The airports master plan called for a new terminal across the runway from the existing site, with ground broken in 1979. At the time, the airport had two concourses, one used exclusively by Eastern, and one used by other carriers, including United, Delta, Piedmont
6.
Lockheed C-130 Hercules
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The Lockheed C-130 Hercules is a four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft designed and built originally by Lockheed. Capable of using unprepared runways for takeoffs and landings, the C-130 was originally designed as a troop, medevac and it is now the main tactical airlifter for many military forces worldwide. Over forty variants and versions of the Hercules, including a civilian one marketed as the Lockheed L-100, the C-130 entered service with the U. S. in the 1950s, followed by Australia and others. During its years of service, the Hercules family has participated in numerous military, the C-130 Hercules is the longest continuously produced military aircraft at over 60 years, with the updated Lockheed Martin C-130J Super Hercules currently being produced. The new transport would have a capacity of 92 passengers,72 combat troops or 64 paratroopers in a compartment that was approximately 41 feet long,9 feet high. Unlike transports derived from passenger airliners, it was to be designed from the ground-up as a transport with loading from a hinged loading ramp at the rear of the fuselage. A key feature was the introduction of the Allison T56 turboprop powerplant, as was the case on helicopters of that era, such as the UH-1 Huey, turboshafts produced much more power for their weight than piston engines. Lockheed would subsequently use the engines and technology in the Lockheed L-188 Electra. The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter also had a ramp, which made it possible to drive vehicles onto the plane. The ramp on the Hercules was also used to airdrop cargo, the new Lockheed cargo plane design possessed a range of 1,100 nmi, takeoff capability from short and unprepared strips, and the ability to fly with one engine shut down. Fairchild, North American, Martin, and Northrop declined to participate, the remaining five companies tendered a total of ten designs, Lockheed two, Boeing one, Chase three, Douglas three, and Airlifts Inc. one. The contest was an affair between the lighter of the two Lockheed proposals and a four-turboprop Douglas design. The Lockheed design team was led by Willis Hawkins, starting with a 130-page proposal for the Lockheed L-206, both Hibbard and Johnson signed the proposal and the company won the contract for the now-designated Model 82 on 2 July 1951. The first flight of the YC-130 prototype was made on 23 August 1954 from the Lockheed plant in Burbank, the aircraft, serial number 53-3397, was the second prototype, but the first of the two to fly. The YC-130 was piloted by Stanley Beltz and Roy Wimmer on its 61-minute flight to Edwards Air Force Base, Jack Real, kelly Johnson flew chase in a Lockheed P2V Neptune. After the two prototypes were completed, production began in Marietta, Georgia, where over 2,300 C-130s have been built through 2009. The initial production model, the C-130A, was powered by Allison T56-A-9 turboprops with three-blade propellers, deliveries began in December 1956, continuing until the introduction of the C-130B model in 1959. Some A-models were equipped with skis and re-designated C-130D, four-bladed Hamilton Standard propellers replaced the Aeroproducts three-blade propellers that distinguished the earlier A-models
7.
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
8.
RMS Queen Elizabeth
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RMS Queen Elizabeth was an ocean liner operated by the Cunard Line. With her sister ship Queen Mary she provided luxury liner service between Southampton in the United Kingdom and New York City in the United States, via Cherbourg in France. She was also contracted for over 20 years to carry the Royal Mail thus enabling her to carry the prestigious Royal Mail Ship designation, as the second half of the two ships weekly express service. With a design that improved upon that of Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth was a larger ship. She also has the distinction of being the largest-ever riveted ship by gross tonnage and she first entered service in February 1940 as a troopship in World War II, and it was not until October 1946 that she served in her intended role as an ocean liner. With the decline in the popularity of the route, both ships were replaced by the smaller, more economical Queen Elizabeth 2 in 1969. Queen Mary was retired from service on 9 December 1967, and was sold to the city of Long Beach, California, Queen Elizabeth was sold to a succession of buyers, most of whom had adventurous and unsuccessful plans for her. Finally she was sold to a Hong Kong businessman, Tung Chao Yung, in 1972, while undergoing refurbishment in Hong Kong harbour, she caught fire under mysterious circumstances and was capsized by the water used to fight the fire. In 1973, her wreck was deemed an obstruction, and she was scrapped where she lay. On the day RMS Queen Mary sailed on her voyage, Cunards chairman, Sir Percy Bates. The official contract between Cunard and government financiers was signed on 6 October 1936 and she was to be eleven feet longer and of 4,000 tons greater displacement than her older sister ship, Mary. Queen Elizabeth was built on four at John Brown & Company in Clydebank. During her construction she was commonly known by her shipyard number. The interiors were designed by a team of artists headed by the architect George Grey Wornum, Cunards plan was for the ship to be launched in September 1938, with fitting out intended to be complete for the ship to enter service in the spring of 1940. The Queen herself performed the ceremony on 27 September 1938. It was announced that on 23 August 1939 the King and Queen were to visit the ship and tour the engine room, due to the outbreak of World War II, these two events were postponed and Cunards plans were shattered. Queen Elizabeth sat at the dock at the shipyard in her Cunard colours until 2 November 1939. On 29 December her engines were tested for the first time, running from 0900 to 1600 with the propellers disconnected to monitor her oil and steam operating temperatures and pressures
9.
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
10.
Normandy
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Normandy is one of the regions of France, roughly corresponding to the historical Duchy of Normandy. Administratively, Normandy is divided into five departments, Calvados, Eure, Manche, Orne and it covers 30,627 km², forming roughly 5% of the territory of France. Its population of 3.37 million accounts for around 5% of the population of France, Normans is the name given to the inhabitants of Normandy, and the region is the homeland of the Norman language. The historical region of Normandy comprised the region of Normandy, as well as small areas now part of the départements, or departments of Mayenne. For a century and a following the Norman conquest of England in 1066, Normandy and England were linked by Norman. Archaeological finds, such as paintings, prove that humans were present in the region in prehistoric times. Celts invaded Normandy in successive waves from the 4th to the 3rd century BC, when Julius Caesar invaded Gaul, there were nine different Celtic tribes living in Normandy. The Romanisation of Normandy was achieved by the methods, Roman roads. Classicists have knowledge of many Gallo-Roman villas in Normandy, in the late 3rd century, barbarian raids devastated Normandy. Coastal settlements were raided by Saxon pirates, Christianity also began to enter the area during this period. In 406, Germanic tribes began invading from the east, while the Saxons subjugated the Norman coast, the Roman Emperor withdrew from most of Normandy. As early as 487, the area between the River Somme and the River Loire came under the control of the Frankish lord Clovis, the Vikings started to raid the Seine Valley during the middle of the 9th century. As early as 841, a Viking fleet appeared at the mouth of the Seine, after attacking and destroying monasteries, including one at Jumièges, they took advantage of the power vacuum created by the disintegration of Charlemagnes empire to take northern France. The fiefdom of Normandy was created for the Norwegian Viking leader Hrólfr Ragnvaldsson, Rollo had besieged Paris but in 911 entered vassalage to the king of the West Franks, Charles the Simple, through the Treaty of Saint-Clair-sur-Epte. In exchange for his homage and fealty, Rollo legally gained the territory which he, the name Normandy reflects Rollos Viking origins. The descendants of Rollo and his followers adopted the local Gallo-Romance language and they became the Normans – a Norman-speaking mixture of Saxons and indigenous Franks and Celts. Besides the Norman conquest of England and the subsequent conquests of Wales and Ireland, Norman families, such as that of Tancred of Hauteville, Rainulf Drengot and Guimond de Moulins played important parts in the Norman conquest of southern Italy and Crusades. They also carved out a place for themselves and their descendants in the Crusader states of Asia Minor, the 14th century Norman explorer Jean de Béthencourt established a kingdom in the Canary Islands
11.
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
12.
Germany
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Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a federal parliamentary republic in central-western Europe. It includes 16 constituent states, covers an area of 357,021 square kilometres, with about 82 million inhabitants, Germany is the most populous member state of the European Union. After the United States, it is the second most popular destination in the world. Germanys capital and largest metropolis is Berlin, while its largest conurbation is the Ruhr, other major cities include Hamburg, Munich, Cologne, Frankfurt, Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Leipzig. Various Germanic tribes have inhabited the northern parts of modern Germany since classical antiquity, a region named Germania was documented before 100 AD. During the Migration Period the Germanic tribes expanded southward, beginning in the 10th century, German territories formed a central part of the Holy Roman Empire. During the 16th century, northern German regions became the centre of the Protestant Reformation, in 1871, Germany became a nation state when most of the German states unified into the Prussian-dominated German Empire. After World War I and the German Revolution of 1918–1919, the Empire was replaced by the parliamentary Weimar Republic, the establishment of the national socialist dictatorship in 1933 led to World War II and the Holocaust. After a period of Allied occupation, two German states were founded, the Federal Republic of Germany and the German Democratic Republic, in 1990, the country was reunified. In the 21st century, Germany is a power and has the worlds fourth-largest economy by nominal GDP. As a global leader in industrial and technological sectors, it is both the worlds third-largest exporter and importer of goods. Germany is a country with a very high standard of living sustained by a skilled. It upholds a social security and universal health system, environmental protection. Germany was a member of the European Economic Community in 1957. It is part of the Schengen Area, and became a co-founder of the Eurozone in 1999, Germany is a member of the United Nations, NATO, the G8, the G20, and the OECD. The national military expenditure is the 9th highest in the world, the English word Germany derives from the Latin Germania, which came into use after Julius Caesar adopted it for the peoples east of the Rhine. This in turn descends from Proto-Germanic *þiudiskaz popular, derived from *þeudō, descended from Proto-Indo-European *tewtéh₂- people, the discovery of the Mauer 1 mandible shows that ancient humans were present in Germany at least 600,000 years ago. The oldest complete hunting weapons found anywhere in the world were discovered in a mine in Schöningen where three 380, 000-year-old wooden javelins were unearthed
13.
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
14.
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
15.
Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress
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The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engine heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps. Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 bombers, although Boeing lost the contract because the prototype crashed, the air corps ordered 13 more B-17s for further evaluation. From its introduction in 1938, the B-17 Flying Fortress evolved through numerous design advances, the B-17 was primarily employed by the United States Army Air Forces in the daylight strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and military targets. The B-17 also participated to an extent in the War in the Pacific, early in World War II. From its prewar inception, the USAAC promoted the aircraft as a weapon, it was a relatively fast, high-flying. It developed a reputation for toughness based upon stories and photos of badly damaged B-17s safely returning to base, the B-17 developed a reputation as an effective bomber, dropping more bombs than any other U. S. aircraft in World War II. Of the 1.5 million tonnes of bombs dropped on Germany, in addition to its role as a bomber, the B-17 was also employed as a transport, antisubmarine aircraft, drone controller, and search-and-rescue aircraft. As of May 2015, ten aircraft remain airworthy, none of them are combat veterans. Dozens more are in storage or on static display, the oldest of these is a D-series veteran of combat in the Pacific and the Caribbean. On 8 August 1934, the U. S. Army Air Corps tendered a proposal for a bomber to replace the Martin B-10. The air corps was looking for a capable of reinforcing the air forces in Hawaii, Panama. Requirements were that it would carry a useful bombload at an altitude of 10,000 ft for ten hours with a top speed of at least 200 mph. They also desired, but did not require, a range of 2,000 mi, the competition for the air corps contract would be decided by a fly-off between Boeings design, the Douglas DB-1, and the Martin Model 146 at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio. The prototype B-17, with the Boeing factory designation of Model 299, was designed by a team of engineers led by E. Gifford Emery and Edward Curtis Wells and it combined features of the experimental Boeing XB-15 bomber with the Boeing 247 transport aircraft. The B-17s armament consisted of up to 4,800 lb of bombs on two racks in the bay behind the cockpit, and initially possessed five.30 caliber machine guns. It was powered by four Pratt & Whitney R-1690 Hornet radial engines each producing 750 hp at 7,000 ft, the first flight of the Model 299 was on 28 July 1935 with Boeing chief test-pilot Leslie Tower at the controls. Richard Williams, a reporter for the Seattle Times, coined the name Flying Fortress with his comment, Why, when the Model 299 was rolled out bristling with multiple machine gun installations. The most unusual gun emplacement was the installation which allowed the single machine gun to be fired toward almost any frontal angle
16.
Consolidated B-24 Liberator
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The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some models were laid down as export models designated as various LB-30s. At its inception, the B-24 was a design featuring a highly efficient shoulder-mounted. The wing gave the Liberator a high speed, long range. Early RAF Liberators were the first aircraft to cross the Atlantic Ocean as a matter of routine, however, the type was difficult to fly and had poor low speed performance. It also had a ceiling and was less robust than the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. While aircrews tended to prefer the B-17, General Staff favored the B-24, the B-24 was used extensively in World War II. It served in every branch of the American armed forces, as well as several Allied air forces and navies, along with the B-17, the B-24 was the mainstay of the US strategic bombing campaign in the Western European theater. Due to its range, it proved useful in bombing operations in the Pacific, long range anti-submarine Liberators played an instrumental role in closing the Mid-Atlantic Gap in the Battle of the Atlantic. The C-87 transport derivative served as a range, higher capacity counterpart to the Douglas C-47 Skytrain. The B-24 was produced in large numbers. At the end of World War II, the Liberator had been surpassed by more modern types such as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress, the type was rapidly phased out of US service, although the PB4Y-2 Privateer derivative carried on in service with the US Navy in the Korean War. Two B-24s, one LB-30B and one Liberator V representing a B-24H, are airworthy as of 2016, the Liberator originated from a United States Army Air Corps request in 1938 for Consolidated to produce the B-17 under license. After company executives including President Reuben Fleet visited the Boeing factory in Seattle, Washington and this new fuselage was intentionally designed around twin bomb bays, each one being the same size and capacity of the B-17 bomb bays. In January 1939, the USAAC, under Specification C-212, formally invited Consolidated to submit a design study for a bomber with longer range, higher speed, the specification was written such that the Model 32 would automatically be the winning design. The program was run under the group, Project A. Although the B-24 did not meet Project A goals, it was a step in that direction, Project A led to the development of the Boeing B-29 and Consolidateds own B-32 and B-36. The B-24 had a shoulder mounted high aspect ratio Davis wing and this wing was highly efficient allowing a relatively high airspeed and long range
17.
Flak tower
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Flak towers were eight complexes of large, above-ground, anti-aircraft gun blockhouse towers constructed by Nazi Germany in the cities of Berlin, Hamburg, and Vienna from 1940 onwards. Other cities that used flak towers included Stuttgart and Frankfurt, smaller single-purpose flak towers were built at key outlying German strongpoints, such as at Angers, France and Helgoland, Germany. The towers were used by the Luftwaffe to defend against Allied air raids against these cities during World War II and they also served as air-raid shelters for tens of thousands of local civilians. After the RAFs raid on Berlin in 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered the construction of three massive towers to defend the capital from air attack. Each tower had an installation with a radar dish which could be retracted behind a thick concrete. Hitler was interested in the design of the towers, and even made some sketches and they were constructed in six months. The priority of the project was such that the German national rail schedule was altered to facilitate the shipment of concrete, steel and timber to the construction sites. The towers were able to sustain a rate of fire of 8000 rounds per minute from their multi-level guns, however, only the 128 mm guns had effective range to defend against the RAF and USAAF heavy bombers. The three flak towers around the outskirts of Berlin created a triangle of fire that covered the centre of Berlin. The flak towers had also designed with the idea of using the above-ground bunkers as a civilian shelter, with room for 10,000 civilians. The towers, during the fall of Berlin, formed their own communities, the Soviets, in their assault on Berlin, found it difficult to inflict significant damage on the flak towers, even with some of the largest Soviet guns, such as the 203 mm howitzers. Soviet forces generally manoeuvred around the towers, and eventually sent in envoys to seek their surrender, unlike much of Berlin, the towers tended to be fully stocked with ammunition and supplies, and the defenders used 2 cm Flak cannon to defend against assault by ground units. The Zoo Tower was one of the last points of defence, with German armoured units rallying near it at Tiergarten, after the war, the demolition of the towers was often considered not feasible and many remain to this day, with some having been converted for alternate use. Generation 1 G-Towers were 70.5 m ×70.5 m ×39 m, usually armed with eight 128mm FlaK40, l-Towers were 50 m ×23 m ×39 m, usually armed with sixteen 20 mm guns. Generation 2 G-Towers were 57 m ×57 m ×41.6 m, usually armed with eight 128 mm guns, l-Towers were 50 m ×23 m ×44 m, usually armed with forty 20 mm guns. Generation 3 G-Towers were 43 m ×43 m ×54 m, usually armed with eight 128 mm guns, the evaluation of even larger Battery Towers was commissioned by Adolf Hitler. These would have three times the size and firepower of flak towers. Berlin Zoo G-Tower was demolished by the British at the end of the war,52. 509886°N13. 335862°E /52.509886,13.335862 L-Tower was demolished after the war
18.
Arnhem
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Arnhem /ˈɑːrnəm/ or /ˈɑːrnhɛm/ is a city and municipality, situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland and located on banks of the rivers Nederrijn and Sint-Jansbeek, which was the source of the citys development. Arnhem had a population of 151,356 in 2014 and is one of the cities of the Netherlands. The municipality is part of the city region Arnhem-Nijmegen, which has a combined 736,500 inhabitants, Arnhem is home to the Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen, ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, Netherlands Open Air Museum, Royal Burgers Zoo and National Sports Centre Papendal. The oldest archeological findings of human activity around Arnhem are two firestones of about 70,000 years ago and these come from the stone age, when the Neanderthals lived in this part of Europe. In Schuytgraaf, remnants of a camp from around 5000 BC have been discovered. In Schaarsbergen,12 grave mounds were found from 2400 BC, the earliest settlement in Arnhem dates from 1500 BC, of which traces have been found on the Hoogkamp, where the Van Goyenstraat is currently located. Arnhem arose on the location where the road between Nijmegen and Utrecht/Zutphen split, Seven streams provided the city with water, and only when the flow of the Rhine was changed in 1530, was the city located on the river. Arnhem was first mentioned as such in 893 as Arneym or Arentheym, in 1233 Count Otto II of Guelders from Zutphen, conferred city rights on the town, which had belonged to the abbey of Prüm, settled in, and fortified it. Arnhem entered the Hanseatic League in 1443, in 1473, it was captured by Charles the Bold of Burgundy. In 1514, Charles of Egmond, duke of Guelders, took it from the dukes of Burgundy, in 1543, as capital of the so-called Kwartier van Veluwe it joined the Union of Utrecht during the Eighty years war in 1579. After its capture from the Spanish forces by Dutch and English troops in 1585 the city part of the Republic of the Seven United Provinces of the Netherlands. The French occupied the town 1672–74, from 1795 to 1813, it was reoccupied by the French, by both revolutionary and imperial forces. In the early 19th century, the fortifications were almost completely dismantled. The Sabelspoort is the remaining part of the medieval walls. In the 19th century, Arnhem was a resort town famous for its picturesque beauty. It was known as het Haagje van het oosten, mainly because a number of former sugar barons or planters from the Indies settled there. Even now the city is famous for its parks and greenery, the urbanization in the north on hilly terrain is also quite unusual for the Netherlands
19.
Operation Market Garden
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Operation Market Garden was an unsuccessful Allied military operation, fought in the Netherlands and Germany in the Second World War. Field Marshal Montgomerys strategic goal was to encircle the heart of German industry, the northern end of the pincer would circumvent the northern end of the Siegfried Line giving easier access into Germany. The aim of Operation Market Garden was to establish the end of a pincer ready to project deeper into Germany. Allied forces would project north from Belgium,60 miles through the Netherlands, across the Rhine, the operation made massed use of airborne forces, whose tactical objectives were to secure the bridges and allow a rapid advance by armored ground units to consolidate north of Arnhem. The operation required the seizure of the bridges across the Maas, several bridges between Eindhoven and Nijmegen were captured at the beginning of the operation. Lieutenant-General Brian Horrocks XXX Corps ground force advance was delayed by the failure of the airborne units to secure bridges at Son. German forces demolished the bridge over the Wilhelmina Canal at Son before being secured by the 101st Airborne Division, the 82nd Airborne Divisions failure to capture the main road bridge over the river Waal at Nijmegen before 20 September also delayed the advance of XXX Corps. At the furthest point of the operation at Arnhem, the British 1st Airborne Division encountered initial strong resistance. The delays in capturing the bridges at Son and Nijmegen gave time for German forces, including the 9th and 10th SS panzer divisions who were present at time, to organize. In the ensuing battle, only a small force managed to capture the end of the Arnhem road bridge and after the ground forces failed to relieve them. The remainder of the 1st Airborne Division were trapped in a small pocket west of the bridge, the Allies had failed to cross the Rhine and the river remained a barrier to their advance into Germany until offensives at Remagen, Oppenheim, Rees and Wesel in March 1945. The failure of Market Garden to form a foothold over the Rhine ended Allied expectations of finishing the war by Christmas 1944. After major defeats in Normandy in the summer of 1944, remnants of German forces withdrew across the Low Countries and eastern France towards the German border by the end of August. To the south, the U. S. 12th Army Group under Lieutenant General Omar Bradley was nearing the German border and had ordered to orient on the Aachen gap with Lieutenant General Courtney Hodges U. S. First Army, in support of Montgomerys advance on the Ruhr, Third Army, under Lieutenant General George S. Patton, moved eastward towards the Saar. At the same time, the U. S. 6th Army Group under General Jacob L. Devers was advancing towards Germany after their landings in southern France. The Overlord plan had foreseen this, calling for the exploitation of ports in Brittany to move the supply points forward as the armies moved, Eisenhower persisted with his plans to capture these ports, but some argued that the capture of Le Havre and Antwerp made this unnecessary. Although over-the-beach supply operations outperformed expectations, September saw deteriorating weather and rising seas, deep-water ports were therefore required, Cherbourg was useful, but far from the front
20.
Messerschmitt Me 262
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The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed Schwalbe in fighter versions, or Sturmvogel in fighter-bomber versions, was the worlds first operational jet-powered fighter aircraft. Design work started before World War II began, but problems with engines, metallurgy, the Me 262 was faster and more heavily armed than any Allied fighter, including the British jet-powered Gloster Meteor. One of the most advanced designs in operational use during World War II. Me 262 pilots claimed a total of 542 Allied kills, the Allies countered its potential effectiveness in the air by attacking the aircraft on the ground and during takeoff and landing. In the end, the Me 262 had a impact on the course of the war as a result of its late introduction. While German use of the aircraft ended with the close of the Second World War, a number of aircraft have survived on static display in museums, and there have also been several privately built flying reproductions that use the modern J-85 jet engine. Several years before World War II, the Germans foresaw the potential for aircraft that used the jet engine constructed by Hans Joachim Pabst von Ohain in 1936. As a result, the Me 262 was already under development as Projekt 1065 before the start of World War II, the project originated with a request by the Reichsluftfahrtministerium for a jet aircraft capable of one hours endurance and a speed of at least 850 km/h. Dr Waldemar Voigt headed the team, with Messerschmitts chief of development, Robert Lusser. The progression of the design was delayed greatly by technical issues involving the new jet engine. Since the BMW003 jets proved heavier than anticipated, the wing was swept slightly, by 18. 5°, funding for the jet engine program was also initially lacking as many high-ranking officials thought the war could easily be won with conventional aircraft. By that time, problems with engine development had slowed production of the aircraft considerably, the aircraft made its first successful flight entirely on jet power on 18 July 1942, powered by a pair of Jumo 004 engines, after a November 1941 flight ended in a double flameout. The project aerodynamicist on the design of the Me 262 was Ludwig Bölkow and he initially designed the wing using NACA airfoils modified with an elliptical nose section. Later in the process, these were changed to AVL derivatives of NACA airfoils, the NACA 00011-0. 825-35 being used at the root. The elliptical nose derivatives of the NACA airfoils were used on the horizontal and vertical tail surfaces, wings were of single-spar cantilever construction, with stressed skins, varying from 3 mm skin thickness at the root to 1 mm at the tip. To expedite construction, save weight and use less strategic materials, late in the war, the wings were fastened to the fuselage at four points, using a pair of 20 mm and forty-two 8 mm bolts. In mid-1943, Adolf Hitler envisioned the Me 262 as an aircraft rather than a defensive interceptor. The configuration of a high-speed, light-payload Schnellbomber was intended to penetrate enemy airspace during the expected Allied invasion of France and his edict resulted in the development of the Sturmvogel variant
21.
Camp Kilmer
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Camp Kilmer, New Jersey is a former United States Army camp that was activated in June 1942 as a staging area and part of an installation of the New York Port of Embarkation. The camp was organized as part of the Army Service Forces Transportation Corps, troops were quartered at Camp Kilmer in preparation for transport to the European Theater of Operations in World War II. Eventually, it became the largest processing center for troops heading overseas and returning from World War II, the camp was named for Joyce Kilmer, a poet killed in World War I while serving with 69th Infantry Regiment. His home was in nearby New Brunswick, New Jersey, the site was selected in 1941 by the War Department as the best site to serve the New York Port of Embarkation. Located in Piscataway Township, New Jersey and Edison Township, New Jersey at 40°31′00″N 74°26′45″W, plainfield was located four miles north of the camp. New York City, about 22 miles to the northeast, could be reached by the mainline of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a flyover loop crossing the four-track mainline allowed movements into the large train loading yards without interference with mainline traffic. Many troop embarkations would be at the New Jersey locations of Military Ocean Terminal at Bayonne, the camp was also served by the Port Reading branch of the Reading Railroad and the Amboy branch of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The post was activated in June 1942 and the first unit to arrive at Camp Kilmer was the 332nd Engineer General Service Regiment, the unit arrived July 22,1942 on three separate trains from Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. The buildings were constructed of wood and were painted bright contrasting colors for a camouflage effect and this was similar to the dazzle camouflage used for ships in World War I. The camp primarily consisted of ten Disposition Areas, or sets of barracks in which units, at Camp Kilmer troops sent personal effects home, received medical injections and the supplies needed before loading onto transport ships for travel to the European Theater of Operations. After V-E Day, the post was used to deprocess troops returning from Europe, prior to sending them on to their local Personnel Center, the camp remained active until the fall of 1949 when it was no longer needed. In the fall of 1950, with hostilities in Korea, the camp was reactivated and it was placed on inactive status again in June 1955. In November 1956 it served as a place for housing for refugees from the 1956 Hungarian Revolution until June 1957. In March 1958, Camp Kilmer became Headquarters for the U. S. Army II Corps, Camp Kilmer also housed a maintenance and repair facility supporting the Nike/Hercules missile sites in the greater New York metropolitan area. This facility included large, armored rooms with heavy blast doors where missile engines, during the Cold War after the failed 1956 Hungarian Revolution 30,000 refugees were resettled at Camp Kilmer. Many settled in New Brunswick, which had a thriving Hungarian American community in its Fifth Ward, in 1963, most of the 1600 acres was auctioned and sold to local governments, and Rutgers University. The Livingston College campus currently sits on 540-acres acquired by Rutgers in 1964. Camp Kilmer By the 1960s much of the Camps properties and land were dispersed. The 78th Division, nicknamed the Lightning Division or Jersey Lightning, is the descendant of the 78th Division of World War I
22.
New Jersey
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New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania, New Jersey is the fourth-smallest state but the 11th-most populous and the most densely populated of the 50 United States. New Jersey lies entirely within the statistical areas of New York City. New Jersey was inhabited by Native Americans for more than 2,800 years, in the early 17th century, the Dutch and the Swedes made the first European settlements. New Jersey was the site of decisive battles during the American Revolutionary War in the 18th century. In the 19th century, factories in cities such as Camden, Paterson, Newark, Trenton, around 180 million years ago, during the Jurassic Period, New Jersey bordered North Africa. The pressure of the collision between North America and Africa gave rise to the Appalachian Mountains, around 18,000 years ago, the Ice Age resulted in glaciers that reached New Jersey. As the glaciers retreated, they left behind Lake Passaic, as well as rivers, swamps. New Jersey was originally settled by Native Americans, with the Lenni-Lenape being dominant at the time of contact, scheyichbi is the Lenape name for the land that is now New Jersey. The Lenape society was divided into clans that were based upon common female ancestors. These clans were organized into three distinct phratries identified by their animal sign, Turtle, Turkey, and Wolf and they first encountered the Dutch in the early 17th century, and their primary relationship with the Europeans was through fur trade. The Dutch became the first Europeans to lay claim to lands in New Jersey, the Dutch colony of New Netherland consisted of parts of modern Middle Atlantic states. Although the European principle of ownership was not recognized by the Lenape. The first to do so was Michiel Pauw who established a patronship called Pavonia in 1630 along the North River which eventually became the Bergen, peter Minuits purchase of lands along the Delaware River established the colony of New Sweden. During the English Civil War, the Channel Island of Jersey remained loyal to the British Crown and it was from the Royal Square in St. Helier that Charles II of England was proclaimed King in 1649, following the execution of his father, Charles I. The North American lands were divided by Charles II, who gave his brother, the Duke of York, the region between New England and Maryland as a proprietary colony. James then granted the land between the Hudson River and the Delaware River to two friends who had remained loyal through the English Civil War, Sir George Carteret and Lord Berkeley of Stratton, the area was named the Province of New Jersey. Since the states inception, New Jersey has been characterized by ethnic, New England Congregationalists settled alongside Scots Presbyterians and Dutch Reformed migrants
23.
Third Air Force
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The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany and it is responsible for all U. S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa operations and support activities in the U. S. European Command and U. S. Africa Commands areas of responsibility, during the war, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Phillip L. Easton, the command directs all USAFE and AFAFRICA forces engaged in contingency and wartime operations in the United States European Command and United States Africa Command areas of responsibility. It also has a mission as the U. S. militarys primary liaison to the British government. Through the Partnership for Peace program, Third Air Force manages military contact, Third Air Force is also responsible for contingency planning and support of American security interests in Africa. It is composed of more than 25,000 military people, Third Air Force is assigned more than 200 aircraft, while tasked to provide support servicing to thousands of other transient aircraft that visit its bases each year. It was redesignated Third Air Force on 26 March 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Southeast and it moved to offices in downtown Tampa on 8 January 1941. MacDill Field was one of two major Army Air Corps bases established in the Tampa Bay area in the prior to World War II. Tampas Drew Field Municipal Airport, established in 1928 was leased by the Air Corps in 1940, a major expansion of the airport was initiated and Drew Army Airfield was opened in 1941. Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the operations of MacDill. The Bonita Springs Auxiliary Field, located near Fort Myers provided an emergency landing field for MacDill. All of these came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force. III Fighter Command, the arm, was headquartered at Drew Field. Third Air Force initially provided air defense for the southeastern United States and flew patrols along coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Third Air Force primarily trained B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder medium bomber groups and A-20 Havoc, Third Air Force also provided support to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics in Florida. Also by 1944, the majority of the Numbered Air Forces of the AAF were fighting in parts of the world, such as the Eighth Air Force in Europe. When the Army Air Forces reorganized in 1946, Tactical Air Command was established as one of its three major commands
24.
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
25.
F-47D Thunderbolt
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The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt was a World War II era fighter aircraft produced by the United States between 1941–1945. Its primary armament was eight. 50-caliber machine guns and in the fighter-bomber ground-attack role it could carry five-inch rockets or a load of 2,500 pounds. When fully loaded the P-47 weighed up to eight tons making it one of the heaviest fighters of the war. The P-47 was designed around the powerful Pratt & Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp engine which was used by two U. S. Navy fighters, the Grumman F6F Hellcat and the Vought F4U Corsair. The Thunderbolt was effective as a short-to-medium range escort fighter in high-altitude air-to-air combat, the P-47 was one of the main United States Army Air Forces fighters of World War II, and served with Allied air forces including France, Britain, and Russia. Mexican and Brazilian squadrons fighting alongside the U. S. were equipped with the P-47, the armored cockpit was relatively roomy and comfortable, offering good visibility. A modern-day U. S. ground-attack aircraft, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, both had fled from their homeland to escape the Bolsheviks. In 1939, Republic Aviation designed the AP-4 demonstrator powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1830 radial engine with a belly-mounted turbocharger. While the resulting Republic P-43 Lancer was in limited production, Republic had been working on an improved P-44 Rocket with a powerful engine. The latter was an aircraft powered by the Allison V-1710 liquid-cooled V-12 engine. The United States Army Air Corps backed the project and gave it the designation XP-47, as the war in Europe escalated in spring 1940, Republic and the USAAC concluded that the XP-44 and the XP-47 were inferior to the Luftwaffe fighters. Republic unsuccessfully attempted to improve the design, proposing the XP-47A, kartveli then designed a much larger fighter, which was offered to the USAAC in June 1940. The Air Corps ordered a prototype in September, to be designated the XP-47B, the XP-47A, which had little in common with the new design, was abandoned. The XP-47B was of construction with elliptical wings, with a straight leading edge that was slightly swept back. The air-conditioned cockpit was roomy and the seat was comfortable—like a lounge chair. Main and auxiliary self-sealing fuel tanks were placed under the cockpit, the cowling admitted cooling air for the engine, left and right oil coolers, and the turbosupercharger intercooler system. At full power, the pipes glowed red at their forward ends, the complicated turbosupercharger system with its ductwork gave the XP-47B a deep fuselage, and the wings had to be mounted in a relatively high position. This was problematic since long-legged main landing gear struts were needed to provide clearance for the enormous propeller
26.
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
27.
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
28.
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
29.
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
30.
Kentucky ANG
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The Kentucky Air National Guard is the air force militia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, United States of America. It is, along with the Kentucky Army National Guard, an element of the Kentucky National Guard, as commonwealth militia units, the units in the Kentucky Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Kentucky though the office of the Kentucky Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Kentucky Air National Guard is headquartered at Louisville Air National Guard Base, under the Total Force concept, Kentucky Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Kentucky 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. Truman, allocated inactive unit designations to the National Guard Bureau for the formation of an Air Force National Guard and these unit designations were allotted and transferred to various state National Guard bureaus to provide them unit designations to re-establish them as Air National Guard units. The Kentucky Air National Guard origins date to 9 June 1947 with the establishment of the 123d Fighter Group and is oldest unit of the Kentucky Air National Guard and it was federally recognized and activated at Standiford Field, near Louisville. Its 165th Fighter Squadron, the component of the 123d, was equipped with P-51D Mustangs. Its mission was the air defense of the state, with the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, and the regular militarys complete lack of readiness, the ANG was mobilized into federal active duty. The 165th Fighter Squadron was federalized and ordered to duty on 10 October 1950. The squadron was moved to Godman Air Force Base at Fort Knox along with the 123d Fighter Group, at Godman, the squadron was joined by the North Carolina ANG 156th Fighter Squadron and the West Virginia ANG 167th Fighter Squadron. All three squadrons were equipped with P-51Ds, the 123d left their P-51Ds at Godman AFB and the personnel boarded C-124 Globemaster II transports to England where they initially began conversion training on F-84E Thunderjets. Today, the 123d Airlift Wing provides worldwide theater airlift for U. S. military, the wing is equipped with eight C-130H2.5 model aircraft. Since the September 11th,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, also, Kentucky ANG units have been deployed overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Operation Iraqi Freedom in Iraq as well as other locations as directed. Kentucky Wing Civil Air Patrol This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/
31.
123d Airlift Wing
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The 123d Airlift Wing is a unit of the Kentucky Air National Guard, stationed at Louisville Air National Guard Base, Kentucky. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. The Kentucky Air National Guards 123rd Airlift Wing mission is to provide theater airlift for U. S. military. The wing is equipped with eight C-130H Hercules aircraft and it flew its last mission on 20 April 1945. On the ground-support team were the 448th Air Service Group, the 824th Air Engineering Squadron, the 648th Air Material Squadron, on 7 October 1943, the group boarded transports in NY Harbor, arriving in England on 19 October, being assigned to VIII Fighter Command. The 359th FG entered combat in mid-December 1943 after five 359th FG pilots flew combat missions with the 78th Fighter Group, began operations with P-47s, later converting to P-51s in April 1944. The role of the station in the air war strategy was to operate and maintain its fighter aircraft against the enemy for a three-fold purpose. The 359th FG received a Distinguished Unit Citation for operations over Germany on 11 September 1944 when the group protected a formation of bombers against large numbers of enemy fighters. The group flew missions to support the assault across the Rhine in March 1945, the 359th Fighter Group returned to Camp Kilmer, New Jersey and was inactivated on 10 November 1945. The wartime 359th Fighter Group was re-designated as the 123d Fighter Group and it was organized at Standiford Field, Louisville, Kentucky, and was extended federal recognition on 9 June 1947 by the National Guard Bureau. The 123d Fighter Group was bestowed the history, honors, the unit was gained by the Tenth Air Force, Continental Air Force. Upon recognition, the 165th Fighter Squadron was assigned as the Groups operational squadron, Support squadrons of the group were the 123d Headquarters, 123d Material Squadron, 123d Combat Support Squadron, and the 123d USAF Dispensary. During the postwar years, the Air National Guard was almost like a country club. However, these also had regular military exercises that kept up proficiency and in gunnery. With the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, and the militarys complete lack of readiness. The 165th Fighter Squadron was federalized and ordered to duty on 10 October 1950. The squadron was moved to Godman Air Force Base at Fort Knox along with the 123d Fighter Group, at Godman, the squadron was joined by the North Carolina ANG 156th Fighter Squadron and the West Virginia ANG 167th Fighter Squadron. All three squadrons were equipped with F-51Ds, the 123d left their F-51Ds at Godman AFB and the personnel boarded C-47s to Westover AFB, MA and later to transport ships to England
32.
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
33.
Republic F-84 Thunderjet
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The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces proposal for a day fighter, the aircraft was not considered fully operational until the 1949 F-84D model and the design matured only with the definitive F-84G introduced in 1951. In 1954, the straight-wing Thunderjet was joined by the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak fighter, the Thunderjet became the USAFs primary strike aircraft during the Korean War, flying 86,408 sorties and destroying 60% of all ground targets in the war as well as eight Soviet-built MiG fighters. Over half of the 7,524 F-84s produced served with NATO nations, the USAF Strategic Air Command had F-84 Thunderjets in service from 1948 through 1957. The F-84 was the first production aircraft to utilize inflight refueling and the first fighter capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. The F-84 nomenclature can be somewhat confusing, the straight-wing F-84A to F-84E and F-84G models were called the Thunderjet. The F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash were different airplanes with swept wings, the XF-84H Thunderscreech was an experimental turboprop version of the F-84F. The F-84F swept wing version was intended to be a variation of the normal Thunderjet with only a few different parts. Production delays on the F-84F resulted in order of the straight-wing version. In 1944, Republic Aviations chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, began working on a replacement for the P-47 Thunderbolt piston-engined fighter. The initial attempts to redesign the P-47 to accommodate a jet engine proved futile due to the large cross-section of the centrifugal compressor turbojets. Instead, Kartveli and his team designed a new aircraft with a streamlined fuselage largely occupied by an axial compressor turbojet engine, in addition, the new aircraft had to use the General Electric TG-180 axial turbojet which entered production as the Allison J35. On 11 November 1944, Republic received an order for three prototypes of the new XP-84—Model AP-23, the name Thunderjet was chosen to continue the Republic Aviation tradition started with the P-47 Thunderbolt while emphasizing the new method of propulsion. On 4 January 1945, even before the aircraft took to the air, meanwhile, wind tunnel testing by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics revealed longitudinal instability and stabilizer skin buckling at high speeds. The weight of the aircraft, a concern given the low thrust of early turbojets, was growing so quickly that the USAAF had to set a gross weight limit of 13,400 lb. The results of preliminary testing were incorporated into the third prototype, designated XP-84A. The first prototype XP-84 was transferred to Muroc Army Air Field where it flew for the first time on 28 February 1946 with Major Wallace A and it was joined by the second prototype in August, both aircraft flying with J35-GE-7 engines producing 3,745 lbf. In particular, the impact of wingtip tanks on aircraft handling was not thoroughly studied, after the creation of the United States Air Force by the National Security Act of 1947, the Pursuit designation was replaced with Fighter, and the P-84 became the F-84
34.
RAF Manston
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RAF Manston was an RAF station in the north-east of Kent, at grid reference TR334663 on the Isle of Thanet from 1916 until 1996. In the winter of 1915-1916 these early aircraft first began to use the open farmlands at Manston as a site for emergency landings, thus was soon established the Admiralty Aerodrome at Manston. By 1917 the Royal Flying Corps was well established and taking a part in the defence of England. The German air raids had lasted for thirteen weeks, the last being on 22 August 1917, shortly after such formation raids and in consequence the Cabinet recommended the creation of a separate Air Ministry. The RAF was officially formed on 1 April 1918, at the start of the Second World War, Manston hosted a School of Air Navigation but this was quickly moved out. On 10 September 1939, No.3 Squadron flew in equipped with Hawker Hurricanes, during an eventful Battle of Britain, Manston was heavily bombed, at its height, diary entries recorded a steady stream of damage to aircraft and buildings. The station was also littered with unexploded bombs and this caused many staff to move to nearby woods for at least a week. Others were dispersed to surrounding housing, for example, WAAFs stationed at Manston were billeted at the nearby Ursuline Convent in Westgate on Sea. Barnes Wallis used the base to test his bouncing bomb on the coast at nearby Reculver prior to the Dambusters raid, a prototype is on public display at the Spitfire & Hurricane Museum. Hawker Typhoon attack aircraft were based there later in the war and it was used as a departure point for airborne forces in Operation Market Garden. It was one of the few airfields installed with the Fog Investigation Dispersal Organisation system designed to remove fog from airfields by burning it off with petrol, along with RAF Carnaby and RAF Woodbridge, Manston was developed as a South coast emergency landing ground for bomber crews. These airfields were intended for use by returning bombers suffering from low-fuel and/or suspected damage to their pneumatic and/or hydraulic systems, all three airfields were equipped with a single runway,9,000 ft long and 750 ft wide. There was a clear area of 1,500 ft at each end of the runway. At each of the three airfields, the runway was divided into three 250 ft lanes, the northern and central lanes were allocated by flying control, while the southern lane was the emergency lane on which any aircraft could land without first making contact with the airfield. The hilltop site was chosen as it was usually fog-free and had no approach obstructions, the museums on site display some startling aerial views dating from this era and the post-war years. After the war, the runway was reconfigured, becoming 200 feet wide with a parallel taxiway. During the Cold War of the 1950s the United States Air Force used RAF Manston as a Strategic Air Command base for its bomber, fighter and fighter-bomber units, in the early 1950s, SACs backbone bombers were the Convair B-36 and Boeing B-47 Stratojet. To support this strategy, the SAC 7th Air Division was established in May 1951, at the time, Manston had only partially recovered from the ravages of the Second World War
35.
12th Flying Training Wing
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The 12th Flying Training Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Education and Training Command as part of AETCs Nineteenth Air Force. It is headquartered at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, the wing is also the parent organization for the 479th Flying Training Group, a geographically separated unit located at NAS Pensacola, Florida. The wing is also the parent organization for the 306th Flying Training Group, the 12 FTW is the only unit in the Air Force conducting both pilot instructor training and combat systems officer training. The wings predecessor unit, the 12th Tactical Fighter Wing, fought in combat during the Vietnam War and was the host unit at two air bases in South Vietnam. Its F-4 Phantom II aircraft flew thousands of missions between 1965 and 1971 before being withdrawn from combat as part of the United States drawdown of forces in Southeast Asia. The commander of the 12th Flying Training Wing is Col Joel L. Carey, the Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Brian Kentta. The mission of the 12th FTW is to provide pilot training in the Raytheon-Beech T-6A Texan II, the Northrop T-38 Talon. Previously, the wing also conducted Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals in the Northrop AT-38 Talon, the navigator, EWO and WSO training tracks were then merged and all three specialties became known as Combat Systems Officer. This updated CSO training is now conducted by the 479th Flying Training Group as a Geographically Separated Unit of the 12 FTW at NAS Pensacola utilizing T-6 Texan II, the wing is responsible for numerous aviation training programs. The 479th Flying Training Group is a geographically separated unit located at Naval Air Station Pensacola, Florida, the 306th Flying Training Group is a geographically separated unit located at the United States Air Force Academy, Colorado. The 306 FTG conducts powered flight training, soaring, and parachute training for Air Force Academy cadets, the 12th Bombardment Group, as part of Twelfth Air Force, supported the British drive from Egypt to Tunisia during the North Africa Campaign. It was then reassigned to Tenth Air Force in India and flew most of its missions in Burma between April 1944 and May 1945, supporting the British Fourteenth Army, the group was inactivated in January 1946 when it returned to the United States. Strategic Air Command was founded by men who had flown bomb raids against Germany during World War II and they usually encountered swarms of enemy fighters and knew the importance of having fighter escorts, so they had fighter wings placed under their own operational control. As part of the buildup of SAC, therefore, the 12th Fighter Escort Wing was activated at Turner Air Force Base, Georgia and it was assigned to SACs Second Air Force, with a mission to provide fighter escort for SACs Boeing B-50 Superfortress and B-36 Peacemaker strategic bombers. Upon activation, the wing controlled the 12th Fighter-Escort Group, which was activated a few days earlier at Turner, the 12th FEG consisted of the 559th, 560th, 561st Fighter Escort Squadrons. As the 12th arrived at Bergstrom, the unit received personnel from the 27th that did not deploy to Korea and also personnel that were reassigned from the 31st Fighter-Escort Group at Turner. During December 1950 – February 1951, the Groups squadrons were assigned directly to the Wing and it was inactivated on 16 June 1952 without personnel or equipment. In January 1951, the 559th FES and the 560th FES began sending their pilots to the Matagorda Island Gunnery Range, off the southeastern coast of Texas, the new 561st did not have any aircraft assigned as yet
36.
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
37.
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
38.
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
39.
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
40.
35th Air Division
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The 35th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to First Air Force, at Hancock Field and it was inactivated on 19 November 1969. Initially, its area of responsibility included all or part of Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Florida, the division participated in numerous live and simulated exercises such as Apache Brave, Mohawk Echo, and Desk Top. afhra. af. mil/. Cornett, Lloyd H, Johnson, Mildred W, a Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization,1946 -1980. Peterson AFB, CO, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, winkler, David F. Webster, Julie L. Searching the skies, The legacy of the United States Cold War Defense Radar Program, champaign, IL, US Army Construction Engineering Research Laboratories. The unit emblem was designed by A1C Mathias Alfred Jaren
41.
Dobbins Air Reserve Base
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Dobbins Air Reserve Base or Dobbins ARB is a United States Air Force reserve air base located in Marietta, Georgia, a suburb about 20 miles northwest of Atlanta. Originally known as Dobbins Air Force Base, it was named in honor of Captain Charles M. Dobbins and it is also home to the Army Aviation Service Facility #2 of the Georgia Army National Guard and their fleet of UH-60 Blackhawks. Dobbins is also home to Marine and Navy Reserve units, Dobbins ARB has two runways which it shares with the General Lucius D. Clay National Guard Center to its south. Runway 11/29 is the runway and is 10,000 feet long and 300 feet wide with directions 110 and 290 magnetic. The second runway, called a strip, is a 3500×60-foot runway referred to as 110-290. This air traffic environment takes place within the area of the busiest airport in the world and is as busy as many medium-sized commercial airports, originally intended by Cobb County, Georgia as an alternative airfield for Atlantas Candler Field, this airfield was constructed in 1941 as Rickenbacker Field. About 450 to 500 of these were built in preparation for any war against the United States - from the east or from the west. In 1940, the CAA offered to build a paved airport in Cobb County if the local governments provided the land. Due to the labor force for defense factories in this area. On October 24, the government of Cobb County announced the existence of this airport project, the Atlanta City Council also passed a resolution endorsing this project on January 2,1941. Since the Army Air Corps had recently taken part of Candler Field, the principal municipal airport for Atlanta. The CAA next allocated $400,000 for construction of two 4, 000-foot -long runways on the land, the W. L. Florence Company of Powder Springs, Georgia, the low bidder with a bid of $290,000, won the contract. This bid, well-below the estimated cost of $400,000, the construction began on 14 July 1941. In the next month, the Gulf Oil Corporation and Georgia Air Services agreed to lease the airport, once completed, in the same month, the U. S. Navy requested permission to use this airport for the flight training of Naval aviators. In October, Georgia Air Services signed a $70,000 contract for two 180x160-ft, although it was far from completion, the dedication of this airfield took place in October 1941 After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, work on this new airfield accelerated rapidly. In January 1942, Lawrence Dale Bell, the founder and president of the Bell Aircraft Company, meanwhile, the Department of the Navy announced its intention to take over the new airfield as an auxiliary naval air station. The Navy shortly began land-condemnation proceedings, the Department of War, in turn, announced that it would not contest the wish of the Department of the Navy to take over Rickenbacker Field, and that it would build its new factory elsewhere. The Cobb County government appealed to the Secretary of the Navy, Frank Knox, since other options were available for flight training
42.
F-86L Sabre Interceptor
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The North American F-86D Sabre was a transonic jet all-weather interceptor of the United States Air Force and others. Based on North Americans F-86 Sabre day fighter, the F-86D had only 25 percent commonality with other Sabre variants, with a fuselage, larger afterburner engine. The YF-95 was a development of the F-86 Sabre, the first aircraft designed around the new 2. 75-inch Mighty Mouse Folding-Fin Aerial Rocket, a second prototype, 50-578, was also built, but the YF-95 nomenclature was short-lived as the design was subsequently redesignated YF-86D. Later models of the F-86D received an uprated J-47-GE-33 engine rated at 5,550 lbf, a total of 2,504 D-models were built. On 18 November 1952, F-86D, 51-2945, set a record of 698.505 mph. Captain J. Slade Nash flew over a three km course at the Salton Sea in southern California at a height of only 125 ft. Another F-86D broke this record on 16 July 1953, when Lieutenant Colonel William F. Barns, flying F-86D 51-6145, in the same path of the previous flight. YF-95A prototype all-weather interceptor, two built, designation changed to YF-86D YF-86D originally designated YF-95A, F-86D Production interceptor originally designated F-95A,2,504 built. F-86G Provisional designation for F-86D variant with uprated engine and equipment changes,406 built as F-86Ds, yF-86K Basic version of F-86D intended for export with rocket tray replaced by four 20 mm cannon and simplified fire control system, two conversions. F-86K NATO version of F-86D, MG-4 fire control system, four 20 mm M24A1 cannon with 132 rounds per gun,120 were built by North American,221 were assembled by Fiat. F-86L Upgrade conversion of F-86D with new electronics, extended wingtips and wing leading edges, revised cockpit layout, source, Dorr Denmark Royal Danish Air Force Received 59 ex-USAF F-86Ds 1958-1960, assigned to 723,726 and 728 Squadrons. France French Air Force Fiat built 62 F-86Ks for France, assigned to EC 1/13 Artois, EC 2/13 Alpes, serials were 55-4814/4844, 55-4846/4865, 55-4872/4874, 55-4876/4879. Germany German Air Force Acquired 88 U. S. F-86Ks 22 July 1957–23 June 1958, the Ks were assigned to Jagdgeschwader 75/renamed 74. Greece Greek Air Force Acquired some U. S. F-86Ds were received in 1961, honduras Honduran Air Force Acquired Six Venezuelan F-86Ks in 1970. Italy Italian Air Force Fiat produced 121 F-86Ks for Italy, 1955-1958, also,120 U. S. F-86Ks were acquired. F-86s were assigned to the AMI air groups,6 Gruppo COT/1 Stormo,17 Gruppo/1 Stormo,23 Gruppo/1 Stormo,21 Gruppo/51 Aerobrigata,22 Gruppo/51 Aerobrigata and 12 Gruppo/4 Aerobrigata. Japan Japanese Air Self-Defense Force Acquired 122 US F-86Ds, 1958–1961, assigned to four all-weather interceptor Hikōtai, Netherlands Royal Netherlands Air Force Acquired 57 U. S. -built and six Fiat-built F-86K Sabres, 1955–1956, and assigned to three squadrons, No. Norway Royal Norwegian Air Force Acquired 60 U. S. -built F-86K Sabres, 1955–1956, philippines Philippine Air Force Acquired 20 F-86Ds, assigned to 8th Fighter Interceptor Squadron Vampires beginning 1960, part of the U. S. military assistance package
43.
Military Air Transport Service
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The Military Air Transport Service is an inactive Department of Defense Unified Command. Activated on 1 June 1948, MATS was a consolidation of the United States Navy Naval Air Transport Service and it was inactivated and discontinued on 8 January 1966 when the Air Force and Navy set up separate strategic airlift commands. In 1982, the World War II Air Transport Command and the Military Air Transport Service were consolidated with Military Airlift Command, the Military Air Transport Service was activated under United States Air Force Major General Laurence S. Kuter, in order to harness interservice efforts more efficiently. It was an amalgamation of Navy and Army air transport commands, MATS was the first Joint-Service command and Naval aircrews participated in every major MATS airlift operation. During the Berlin Airlift, Naval aviators flew transport aircraft from the United States to European supply depots, in the Korean War, in its original organization, a Rear Admiral commanded the MATS Pacific Division and another rear admiral served as MATS vice-commander. During the 1958 reorganization, senior Naval officers were on the staffs of the commanders of both EASTAF and WESTAF, and at MATS Headquarters. In 1965 conflicting views of the Air Force and Navy triggered by the demands of the Vietnam War led to the returning to separate airlift commands. In turn, MATS was disbanded and superseded in the Air Force by the Military Airlift Command, with the end of World War II, the United States Army Air Forces Air Transport Command found itself in limbo. Senior ATC officers, on the hand, thought that ATC should be developed into a national government operated airline. While the war had firmly established the necessity of a troop carrier mission, when the United States Air Force was established as a separate service in 1947, the Air Transport Command was not established as one of its major commands. The ATC commander and his staff took it upon themselves to convince the new leadership of the newly created Department of Defense that ATC had a mission. Williams had been pressing for the development of a troop carrier airplane when he made his statement. Also, as a measure, MATS would combine the resources of Air Transport Command with those of the Naval Air Transport Service. This way the command would be sanctioned by the Department of Defense, although MATS was under the operational control of the United States Air Force, the United States Navy was a full partner in the command and operational components of the organization. Major naval components of MATS were naval air transport squadrons, vR-3 and VR-6 were assigned to McGuire AFB and VR-22 was assigned to the Naval Air Transport Station at Naval Station Norfolk/Chambers Field, Virginia. Together they constituted MATS EASTAFs Naval Air Transport Wing, Atlantic, on the Pacific Coast, Naval Air Transport Wing, Pacific, consisted of Air Transport Squadron VR-7 and Maintenance Squadron VR-8, both at Naval Air Station Moffett Field, California. A detachment of VR-7 was also stationed at Tachikawa Air Base, Naval aviators flew scheduled MATS routes to Newfoundland, Iceland, Scotland, West Germany, Italy, Puerto Rico and Africa. In the Pacific, MATS naval aviators flew to all MATS stations from Hawaii to Japan to South Vietnam, Bangkok, India, Air Force pilots flew Navy MATS planes, just as naval aviators could be found piloting Air Force MATS transport aircraft
44.
Eastern Transport Air Force
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The 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force was one of two EMTFs assigned to the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command. It was headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, the 21 EMTF was a redesignation of Twenty-First Air Force, effective 1 October 2003. The 21st EMTF reported to Headquarters, Eighteenth Air Force at Scott Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 19 March 2012. The 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force provided a rapid, tailored, worldwide, reporting through Eighteenth Air Force, the EMTF extended existing AMC infrastructure, through both en route employment and rapid forward deployment capabilities. Its mission was to command and assess the readiness of assigned air mobility forces over the Atlantic half of the globe in support of Global Reach. These forces were at more than 55 locations in eight countries,21 EMTFs major units included six active duty wings, two operational flying groups, and two mobility operations/support groups. Additionally, the 21 EMTF was liaison to 40 Air Reserve Component Wings,21 EMTFs strategic airlift force included the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III and the C-130 Hercules, aircraft, used to move cargo and passengers worldwide. The tanker force included KC-10 Extenders and KC-135 Stratotankers used for inflight refueling to provide increased global mobility, created as a wing of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, it gradually evolved into the 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force. Initially, it ferried aircraft, but by 1942, its mission had changed to airlifting personnel, 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force units provided airlift in support of national policy under the most difficult circumstances. When MATS became Military Airlift Command, EASTAF was redesignated Twenty-First Air Force, in addition to Dover AFB, other major 21st AF bases were Charleston AFB, South Carolina and McGuire AFB, NJ. Operating as Twenty-First Air Force, in Operation Just Cause, Twenty-first Air Force units conducted the largest night airdrop since World War II, Twenty-first Air Force controlled the largest airlift in history during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, ensuring the success of our response to Iraqi aggression. Twenty-First Air Force was involved in operations in Bosnia and Southwest Asia, the command also supported peaceful, humanitarian missions. Twenty-first Air Force units flew relief missions after Hurricane Hugo and Andrew, earthquakes in Armenia and San Francisco, the command could operate in remote, often austere locations throughout Europe, Africa, and South America. This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/
45.
McGuire Air Force Base
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McGuire is under the jurisdiction of the Air Mobility Command. It was consolidated with two adjoining US Army and Navy facilities to become part of Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst on 1 October 2009, the McGuire Air Force Base census-designated place is located in portions of both New Hanover Township and North Hanover Township. As of the 2010 United States Census, the McGuire Air Force Base CDP had a population of 3,710. The host unit at McGuire AFB is the 87th Air Base Wing, United States Air Force Expeditionary Center, the 87 ABW provides installation management to all of JB MDL. The wing also provides mission-ready, expeditionary Airmen to support Unified Combatant Commanders in ongoing military operations, the wing consists of more than 3,100 officers, enlisted, and civilian personnel from the Air Force, Army and Navy. The 87th Air Base Wing is commanded by Colonel James Hodges and its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Phillip K. Robinson. McGuire originated in 1941 as Fort Dix Army Air Force Base, closed briefly after World War II, it reopened in 1948 as McGuire Air Force Base. The base was named after Major Thomas B, McGuire, Jr. Medal of Honor recipient, and the second leading ace in American history. S. Air Force hosting three AMC-gained flying wings of the Regular Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, Air Force and civilian AMC-contracted aircraft use McGuires two runways to facilitate this mission. Many hundreds of thousands of Air Force, Army, Navy, airplanes from McGuire have provided the flyovers for Philadelphia Eagles games and Major League Baseball All-Star and World Series games played in Philadelphia at the end of the National Anthem. These same planes were also responsible for the Super Bowl XLVIII flyover, McGuire Air Force Base was established as Fort Dix Airport in 1937 and first opened to military aircraft on 9 January 1941. On 13 January 1948 the United States Air Force renamed the facility McGuire Air Force Base in honor of Major Thomas Buchanan McGuire, flight operations to support Camp Dix at an adjacent airfield took place as early as 1926. Facilities and runways to support an air mission began in 1937 as a Civilian Conservation Corps project and this was on newly acquired land for the great Army Air Forces expansion approved by the Roosevelt Administration. This nascent airfield and wooden structures was named Rudd Field, to meet the requirements for a possible world war, Rudd Field was renamed Fort Dix Army Air Base in 1939, and underwent massive expansion from 1940–1941. Runways constructed consisted of three concrete surfaced, 7100x150, 7100x150, 5400x150, and one macadam surfaced, 8100x150, the base had its first permanent Army Air Force occupant in November 1941 when the 59th Observation Group took up station on 14 November. Initially during 1941–42 the Group operated a range of aircraft, including the BC-1A, L-59, O-46, O-47, O-49 Vigilant. After the United States entry into World War II, Fort Dix Army Air Base was used as a training, the service group also had its own mess section. The service group had approximately 30 officers and 300 to 400 enlisted men, in late 1942, Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command took up tenant status at Fort Dix AAB
46.
Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar
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The first C-119 made its initial flight in November 1947, and by the time production ceased in 1955, more than 1,100 C-119s had been built. Its cargo-hauling ability and unusual twin-boom design earned it the nickname Flying Boxcar, the Air Force C-119 and Navy R4Q was initially a redesign of the earlier C-82 Packet, built between 1945 and 1948. The Packet provided service to the Air Forces Tactical Air Command, all of these were addressed in the C-119. In contrast to the C-82, the cockpit was moved forward to fit flush with the rather than its previous location over the cargo compartment. This resulted in more usable space and larger loads than the C-82 could accommodate. The C-119 also featured more powerful engines, and a wider and stronger airframe, the first C-119 prototype first flew in November 1947, with deliveries of C-119Bs from Fairchilds Hagerstown, Maryland factory beginning in December 1949. In 1951, Henry J. Kaiser was awarded a contract to assemble additional C-119s at the Kaiser-Frazer automotive factory located in the former B-24 plant at Willow Run Airport in Belleville, Michigan. Kaiser built 71 C-119s at Willow Run in 1952 and 1953 before converting the factory for a production of the Chase C-123 that never eventuated. The Kaiser sub-contract was frowned upon by Fairchild, and efforts were made through political channels to stop Kaisers production, following Kaisers termination of C-119 production the contract for the C-123 was instead awarded to Fairchild. Most Kaiser-built aircraft were issued to the U. S. Marine Corps as R4Qs, the AC-119G Shadow gunship variant was fitted with four six-barrel 7. 62×51mm NATO miniguns, armor plating, flare launchers, and night-capable infrared equipment. Like the AC-130 that succeeded it, the AC-119 proved to be a potent weapon, other major variants included the EC-119J, used for satellite tracking, and the YC-119H Skyvan prototype, with larger wings and tail. In civilian use, many C-119s feature the Jet-Pack modification, which incorporates a 3,400 lbf Westinghouse J34 turbojet engine in a nacelle above the fuselage, in July 1950, four C-119s were sent to FEAF for service tests. Two months later, the C-119 deployed with the 314th Troop Carrier Group, the bridge, consisting of eight separate sixteen-foot long,2, 900-pound sections, was dropped one section at a time, using two parachutes on each section. N. From 1951 to 1962, C-119C, F and G models served with U. S, a similar number of aircraft served in the Pacific and the Far East. The USAF Strategic Air Command had C-119 Flying Boxcars in service from 1955 to 1973, the C-119s saw service with the 456th Troop Carrier Wing which was attached to the Strategic Air Command from 25 April 1955 –26 May 1956. The C-119s performed aerial recovery of high-altitude balloon-borne instrument packages, C-119s from the 6593rd Test Squadron based at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii performed several aerial recoveries of film-return capsules during the early years of the Corona spy satellite program. The C-119 went on to see service in French Indochina. These aircraft were flown in French markings by American CIA pilots often accompanied by French officers
47.
C-121 Constellation
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The Lockheed C-121 Constellation was a military transport version of the Lockheed Constellation. A total of 332 aircraft were constructed for both the United States Air Force and United States Navy for various purposes, numerous AWACS versions were also constructed. The C-121 later saw service with smaller civilian operators until 1993, Lockheeds first attempt at a military version of the Constellation airliner had been unsuccessful. This was largely due to the problems encountered by the Wright R-3350 engines that powered the aircraft, after the war, the few military Constellations built were retrofitted by Lockheed for use in the post-war airline industry as the L-049. In 1947, Lockheed unveiled a more economical Constellation, the L-749 as it was known, had extra fuel capacity and a more economical version of the R-3350. However, Lockheed had lost 1200 workers that same year, by 1948, production of the L-749 was at a near halt. It was then that the United States Air Force signed a contract with Lockheed for ten L-749A aircraft designated the C-121A, the United States Navy had also placed an order for two AWACS versions of the L-749A designated the PO-1W. The first L-749A variants off the line were for the US military. The C-121A versions differed from the L-749 only through having a floor to handle cargo. Although originally intended for transport duties, they were usually fitted out with 44-seat passenger transport interiors. The aircraft also consisted of a crew with four relief crew members on standby. All C-121As were assigned to the Atlantic division of the Military Air Transport Service, the aircraft would later see service in the Berlin Airlift. Dwight Eisenhower and General Douglas MacArthur both used the C-121A as their personal VIP transports, in 1950, six of the C-121A Constellations were modified as VIP transports and redesignated VC-121A. The last C-121As were retired in 1968, in August 1950, the USN ordered eleven passenger/cargo convertible versions of Lockheeds stretched L-1049B Super Constellation. These aircraft, originally designated R7O, were delivered before the WV-2 aircraft due to the R7O being more simple to produce, the R7O first flew in 1952. The R7V-1 was able to be converted between a passenger transport for 97-107 individuals or a cargo carrying transport in two hours. The Navy reduced the number of seats to fit room for life rafts on overseas flights. 73 stretchers could also be used for medical evacuation flights, the R7V-1s saw service over the Atlantic and Pacific in squadrons VR-1, VR-7 and VR-8
48.
Military Airlift Command
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The Military Airlift Command is an inactive United States Air Force major command that was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. In 1982, the heritage of the World War II Air Transport Command, mACs emblem reflected its predecessors history by incorporating the emblem of MATS into its shield. Under the USAF lineage system, they did not possess a permanent lineage or history and were discontinued upon inactivation, AFCON units were activated under MAC, to which USAF personnel and equipment formerly assigned to MATS MAJCOM units were reassigned effective 8 January 1966. No formal lineage or history between former MATS MAJCOM units and MAC AFCON units was ever made, with the establishment of MAC by the USAF, plans were also made to discontinue the role of the United States Navy within the new command. At first, MAC transports to Vietnam landed regularly only at Tan Son Nhut AB, New air bases opened at Da Nang AB and Cam Ranh AB in January 1966, and later at Pleiku, Bien Hoa and Phu Cat Air Bases, reducing the need for redistribution. Major unit movements by MAC aircraft from the United States usually required further airlifts to operating areas by in-country transports, eventually, however, C-5s could unload at Tan Son Nhut and elsewhere. Primarily, MAC transports carried high-value cargo such as aircraft and equipment parts, while MAC civilian-contract flights transported passengers to and from the combat zone. In the winter of 1965-66, MAC conducted Operation Blue Light, generally, patients requiring hospitalization for thirty days or more were moved to offshore hospitals, others were sometimes evacuated to keep an empty-bed reserve of fifty percent in Vietnam. Military Airlift Command transports carried the more serious cases from Clark AB to the United States, on 30 March 1972, North Vietnam launched an all-out invasion of South Vietnam, which came to be known as the Easter Offensive. The Vietnamization policy of the United States had resulted in the vast majority of US ground combat forces been withdrawn from South Vietnam with PACAFs tactical air units also being reduced. Military Airlift Commands C-141 force, accustomed to operating in and out of Vietnam from offshore were utilized for movement of large amounts of men and materiel to oppose the invasion. Beginning on 21 April, MAC C-141s began shuttling passengers and cargo between Tan Son Nhut AB and the other main bases, principally Da Nang AB, Bien Hoa AB. Planes and crews were based for one or more nights at Tan Son Nhut and this C-141 effort permitted the VNAF and PACAF C-130s to concentrate on drops, unit hauls, and deliveries to forward locations. The rapid American response to the invasion allowed the South Vietnamese forces to defeat the invaders for the moment, by the terms of the 1973 Paris Peace Accords, the cease-fire was to become effective in Vietnam the morning of 28 January 1973, Saigon time. American prisoners in North Vietnam were to be released and the last 23,700 American troops withdrawn from Vietnam within sixty days, planning for Operation Homecoming, the return of the Americans held by North Vietnam, was given to the Military Airlift Command. C-141s of the 63d Military Airlift Wing, stationed at Norton AFB, a second C-130 left Tan Son Nhut AB carrying members of the international commission to Hanoi oversee the repatriations. This C-130 arrived at Gia Lam Airport about one hour before the C-130 from CCK arrived, on the ground at Gia Lam the C-130 crew met the airport manager, and went indoors for tea offered by the North Vietnamese. The first of three C-141s flown in from Clark landed soon after and repatriation began, as the first returnee moved from the release desk, one of the C-130 flight engineers quickly moved to clear the way, leading the former prisoner by the arm
49.
21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force
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The 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force was one of two EMTFs assigned to the Air Force’s Air Mobility Command. It was headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey, the 21 EMTF was a redesignation of Twenty-First Air Force, effective 1 October 2003. The 21st EMTF reported to Headquarters, Eighteenth Air Force at Scott Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 19 March 2012. The 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force provided a rapid, tailored, worldwide, reporting through Eighteenth Air Force, the EMTF extended existing AMC infrastructure, through both en route employment and rapid forward deployment capabilities. Its mission was to command and assess the readiness of assigned air mobility forces over the Atlantic half of the globe in support of Global Reach. These forces were at more than 55 locations in eight countries,21 EMTFs major units included six active duty wings, two operational flying groups, and two mobility operations/support groups. Additionally, the 21 EMTF was liaison to 40 Air Reserve Component Wings,21 EMTFs strategic airlift force included the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III and the C-130 Hercules, aircraft, used to move cargo and passengers worldwide. The tanker force included KC-10 Extenders and KC-135 Stratotankers used for inflight refueling to provide increased global mobility, created as a wing of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II, it gradually evolved into the 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force. Initially, it ferried aircraft, but by 1942, its mission had changed to airlifting personnel, 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force units provided airlift in support of national policy under the most difficult circumstances. When MATS became Military Airlift Command, EASTAF was redesignated Twenty-First Air Force, in addition to Dover AFB, other major 21st AF bases were Charleston AFB, South Carolina and McGuire AFB, NJ. Operating as Twenty-First Air Force, in Operation Just Cause, Twenty-first Air Force units conducted the largest night airdrop since World War II, Twenty-first Air Force controlled the largest airlift in history during Operations Desert Shield and Desert Storm, ensuring the success of our response to Iraqi aggression. Twenty-First Air Force was involved in operations in Bosnia and Southwest Asia, the command also supported peaceful, humanitarian missions. Twenty-first Air Force units flew relief missions after Hurricane Hugo and Andrew, earthquakes in Armenia and San Francisco, the command could operate in remote, often austere locations throughout Europe, Africa, and South America. This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/
50.
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
United States
North Carolina
Air National Guard
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
