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.
Arizona
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Arizona is a state in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the Western United States and the Mountain West states and it is the sixth largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix, Arizona is one of the Four Corners states. It has borders with New Mexico, Utah, Nevada, California, and Mexico, Arizonas border with Mexico is 389 miles long, on the northern border of the Mexican states of Sonora and Baja California. Arizona is the 48th state and last of the states to be admitted to the Union. Historically part of the territory of Alta California in New Spain, after being defeated in the Mexican–American War, Mexico ceded much of this territory to the United States in 1848. The southernmost portion of the state was acquired in 1853 through the Gadsden Purchase, Southern Arizona is known for its desert climate, with very hot summers and mild winters. There are ski resorts in the areas of Flagstaff, Alpine, in addition to the Grand Canyon National Park, there are several national forests, national parks, and national monuments. To the European settlers, their pronunciation sounded like Arissona, the area is still known as alĭ ṣonak in the Oodham language. Another possible origin is the Basque phrase haritz ona, as there were numerous Basque sheepherders in the area, There is a misconception that the states name originated from the Spanish term Árida Zona. See also lists of counties, islands, rivers, lakes, state parks, national parks, Arizona is in the Southwestern United States as one of the Four Corners states. Arizona is the sixth largest state by area, ranked after New Mexico, of the states 113,998 square miles, approximately 15% is privately owned. The remaining area is public forest and park land, state trust land, Arizona is well known for its desert Basin and Range region in the states southern portions, which is rich in a landscape of xerophyte plants such as the cactus. This regions topography was shaped by volcanism, followed by the cooling-off. Its climate has hot summers and mild winters. The state is well known for its pine-covered north-central portion of the high country of the Colorado Plateau. Like other states of the Southwest United States, Arizona has an abundance of mountains, despite the states aridity, 27% of Arizona is forest, a percentage comparable to modern-day France or Germany. The worlds largest stand of pine trees is in Arizona
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.
Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport
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Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport is a civil-military public airport 3 miles southeast of downtown Phoenix, in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States. It is Arizonas largest and busiest airport, and among the largest commercial airports in the United States. In 2015, the airport served 44,006,205 passengers and it handles more than 1,200 aircraft operations a day,100,000 passengers and more than 800 tons of cargo. Federal Aviation Administration records show that the airport had 20,169,926 commercial passenger boardings in calendar year 2012 and 20,211,799 in 2011, the airport serves as the sixth-largest hub for American Airlines with 299 daily departures to nearly 86 destinations in 4 countries. American carries nearly 48% of all passengers through PHX as of October 2016 and employs nearly 10,000 colleagues, Sky Harbor also serves as one of the largest focus cities for Southwest Airlines with 179 daily departures to 50 cities. Sky Harbor was the airport built in Phoenix. It was built with one runway in 1928 by Scenic Airways, Acme Investment Company then owned the airport until 1935. During this time, American Airlines began the airports first scheduled passenger, the city of Phoenix purchased the airport from Acme for $100,000 in 1935, and TWA began service to San Francisco in 1938. After the war the airport began work on a new terminal, as well as a new parallel runway. On the February 1953 C&GS diagram runways 8L and 8R are each 6,000 feet long, the $835,000 Terminal 1 which also had the first control tower, opened in October 1952. It was torn down in 1991 and replaced by a cell phone waiting lot, the April 1957 OAG shows 42 scheduled airline departures a day,16 American,11 TWA,10 Bonanza and 5 Frontier. American began a nonstop DC-7 to New York in summer 1959, the airports master plan was redesigned in 1959 to eliminate the cross runway to make room for new terminals. American and TWA began jet service to Phoenix in 1960 and 1961 respectively, Terminal 3 opened in October 1979, when the East and West names were dropped, since they were no longer the only two terminals. Bonanza Airlines moved its headquarters from Las Vegas to Phoenix in 1966, Bonanza merged with two other airlines to form Air West, which became Hughes Airwest after Howard Hughes bought it in 1970. After airline deregulation in 1978 former Hughes Airwest executive Ed Beauvais formed a plan for a new airline based in Phoenix and he founded America West Airlines in 1981, which began service from Phoenix in 1983 and doubled in size during its first year. By the end of the decade America West had a network and was lobbying for transpacific service. In the meantime Southwest Airlines arrived at Phoenix in January 1982 with thirteen daily flights to twelve cities, Southwest opened a maintenance facility at PHX in 1992 which was its largest. In October 1989 ground was broken for Terminal 4, the largest terminal and it opened on November 2,1990 with four concourses, N2 and N3 on the north side and S3 and S4 on the south side
5.
Air Mobility Command
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Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U. S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, the Commander of AMC is Gen Carlton D. Everhart II, with Lt Gen Wayne Schatz Jr as Vice Commander and CMSgt Shelina Frey as Command Chief Master Sergeant. Air Mobility Command was established on June 1,1992 and it was formed from elements of the inactivated Military Airlift Command and Strategic Air Command. AMC melded a worldwide system with a tanker force that had been freed from its strategic nuclear strike commitments by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Air Mobility Commands mission is to provide global air mobility, the command also plays a crucial role in providing humanitarian support at home and around the world. Many special duty and operational aircraft and stateside aeromedical evacuation missions are also assigned to AMC. U. S. forces must be able to provide a rapid, tailored response with a capability to intervene against a foe, hit hard. Rapid global mobility lies at the heart of U. S. strategy in this environment, without the capability to project forces, there is no conventional deterrent. As the number of U. S. forces stationed overseas continue to decline, global interests remain, Air Mobility Command also has the mission of establishing bare air bases in contingencies. To accomplish this mission, AMC established two Contingency Response Wings, and operates the Eagle Flag exercise, in addition to its status as a MAJCOM of the Air Force, AMC is also the Air Force component command of the United States Transportation Command. It provides airlift, special missions, aerial refueling, and aeromedical evacuation for the United States armed forces]], AMC also operates VIP flights such as Air Force One, Air Force Two, and other Special Assignment Airlift Missions. Finally, AMC acts as the manager, on behalf of United States Transportation Command. Principal aircraft assets of the include, C-17 Globemaster III, C-5 Galaxy, C-130 Hercules, KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-10 Extender, C-40 Clipper, C-37 Gulfstream V. As of 2015, the command is preparing for the addition of the KC-46 Pegasus. Additional aircraft in support of high-profile VIP airlift include, VC-25, C-32, C-20 and these units train and exercise frequently and routinely provide augmentative operational support to AMCs active duty forces. Instead, they report to AMC via the National Guard Bureau, civil Reserve Air Fleet AMC has undergone considerable change since its establishment. Focusing on the mission of strategic air mobility, the command divested itself of infrastructure. The Air Rescue Service, intratheater aeromedical airlift forces based overseas, as a result of the Global War on Terrorism, on October 1,2003, AMC underwent a major restructuring, bringing a war fighting role to its numbered air force
6.
197th Air Refueling Squadron
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The 197th Air Refueling Squadron is a unit of the Arizona Air National Guard 161st Air Refueling Wing located at Goldwater Air National Guard Base, Phoenix, Arizona. The 197th is equipped with the KC-135R Stratotanker, see, 373d Fighter Group for expanded World War II history Formed at Westover Field, Massachusetts, in August 1943. During World War II the 412th Fighter Squadron was assigned to the European Theater of Operations and it was equipped with P-47 Thunderbolts. The 412th flew its first combat mission on 8 May 1944 and it then took part in preinvasion activities, e. g. escorting B-26 Marauders to attack airdromes, bridges and railroads in Occupied France. The squadron bombed such targets as troops in the Falaise-Argentan area in August 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, December 1944 - January 1945, the 412th concentrated on the destruction of bridges, marshalling yards and highways. It flew reconnaissance missions to ground operations in the Rhine Valley in March 1945, hitting airfields, motor transports. The squadron continued tactical air operations until 4 May 1945, returned to the United States and prepared for transfer to the Pacific Theater during the Summer of 1945, the Japanese Capitulation in August led to the squadrons inactivation in November 1945. The wartime 412th Fighter Squadron was reactivated and re-designated as the 197th Fighter Squadron and it was organized at Luke AFB, Arizona and was extended federal recognition on 12 December 1946. The 197th Fighter Squadron was entitled to the history, honors, the squadron was equipped with F-47D Thunderbolts and was allocated to the Fourth Air Force, Continental Air Command by the National Guard Bureau. During the Korean War, the 197th was federalized on 1 February 1951, ATC equipped the squadron with F-84B Thunderjet aircraft and used it as a training organization. Some fighter pilots went to Korea to fly combat missions, other squadron personnel, because of their experience, were sent to bases in the U. S. and Japan to train new people entering the Air Force. The squadron was released from duty and returned to Arizona state control,1 November 1952. With the release from service, The federal government authorized the construction of a new base at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix for the Arizona Air National Guard. The 197th returned to flying the F-51 Mustangs as part of Tactical Air Command, in 1954, the unit was reassigned to Air Defense Command, with a new mission of Air Defense of the Phoenix area. The prop-driven Mustangs were replaced by F-86A Sabre day fighters, on 2 October 1957, the Arizona Air National Guard 197th FIS was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 161st Fighter-Interceptor Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 197th FIS becoming the flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 161st Headquarters, 161st Material Squadron, 161st Combat Support Squadron, and the 161st USAF Dispensary. The Copperheads, as a result of the recognition as one of the best air defense units in the nation, were chosen to fly the new high performance jet fighter
7.
34th Air Division
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The 34th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command at Custer Air Force Station and it was inactivated on 31 December 1969. Initially, its area of responsibility included Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Nevada, Utah, Colorado and it was inactivated and its mission, personnel and equipment were transferred to the Albuquerque Air Defense Sector on 1 January 1960. The division participated in live and simulated exercises such as Fainting Echo, Apache Arrow. 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
8.
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter
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The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft which later became widely used as an attack aircraft. It was originally developed by Lockheed for the United States Air Force, but became used by US Allies around the world. One of the Century Series of fighter aircraft, it was operated by the air forces of more than a dozen nations from 1958 to 2004. Its design team was led by Kelly Johnson, who went on to lead or contribute to the development of the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, the F-104 set numerous world records, including both airspeed and altitude records. The poor safety record of the Starfighter also brought the aircraft into the public eye, Fighter ace Erich Hartmann was forced to retire from the Luftwaffe due to his outspoken opposition to selection of the F-104. The ultimate production version of the model was the F-104S, an all-weather interceptor designed by Aeritalia for the Italian Air Force. An advanced F-104 with a wing, known as the CL-1200 Lancer, was considered. In 2018 a privately owned Starfighter is scheduled to launch a group of small cubesat satellites into low orbit by carrying the rocket aloft. Clarence Kelly Johnson, the engineer at Lockheeds Skunk Works, visited Korea in December 1951. At the time, the U. S. pilots were confronting the MiG-15 with North American F-86 Sabres, the pilots requested a small and simple aircraft with excellent performance. Armed with this information, Johnson immediately started the design of such an aircraft on his return to the United States. In March, his team was assembled, they studied several designs, ranging from small designs at 8,000 lb. The engine chosen was the new General Electric J79, an engine of dramatically improved performance in comparison with contemporary designs, the small L-246 design powered by a single J79 remained essentially identical to the L-083 Starfighter as eventually delivered. The design was presented to the Air Force in November 1952, although all were interesting, Lockheed had an insurmountable lead, and was granted a development contract in March 1953 for two prototypes, these were given the designation XF-104. Work progressed quickly, with a ready for inspection at the end of April. Meanwhile, the J79 engine was not ready, both prototypes were designed to use the Wright J65 engine, a licensed-built version of the Armstrong Siddeley Sapphire. The first prototype was completed by early 1954 and first flew on 4 March at Edwards AFB, the total time from contract to first flight was less than a year. When the USAF revealed the existence of the XF-104, they gave a vague description of it
9.
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
10.
Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter
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The Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter is a long-range heavy military cargo aircraft developed from the B-29 and B-50 bombers. Design work began in 1942, with the prototypes first flight being on 9 November 1944, between 1947 and 1958,888 C-97s in several versions were built,811 being KC-97 tankers. C-97s served in the Berlin Airlift, the Korean War, some aircraft served as flying command posts for the Strategic Air Command, while others were modified for use in Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadrons. It was built before the death of Boeing president Philip G. Johnson and it can be easily distinguished from the 377 Stratocruiser by the beak radome beneath the nose and by the flying boom and jet engines on later tanker models. The prototype XC-97 was powered by the 2,200 hp Wright R-3350 engine, the XC-97 took off for its first flight on November 9,1944. The tenth and all subsequent aircraft were fitted with the taller fin, the C-97 had clamshell doors under its tail, so that a retractable ramp could be used to drive in cargo. However, unlike the later Lockheed C-130 Hercules, it was not designed as a transport which could deliver directly to primitive forward bases using relatively short takeoffs. The rear ramp could not be used in flight for air drops, production models featured the 3,500 hp Pratt & Whitney Wasp Major engine, the same engine as for the B-50. The C-97 had a payload of 35,000 lb. The C-97 was also the first mass-produced air transport to feature cabin pressurization, the civilian derivative of the C-97 was the Boeing 377 Stratocruiser, a very luxurious transoceanic airliner which featured a lower deck lounge and could be fitted with sleeper cabins. The first Stratocruiser flew on July 8,1947, One YC-97A was used in the Berlin Airlift during April 1949 operating for the 1st Strategic Support Squadron. It suffered a landing accident at Rhein Main Air Base and by the time it was repaired. C-97s evacuated casualties during the Korean War, C-97s also participated in the Biafran airlift, delivering relief materials to Uli airstrip in Biafra during the Nigerian Civil War. Flying under the cover of darkness and at treetop level to evade radar, the USAF Strategic Air Command operated C-97 Stratofreighters from 1949–1978. Early in its life, it served as an airborne alternative SAC command post. While only 77 C-97 transports were built,811 were built as KC-97 Stratofreighters for inflight refueling, many KC-97s were later refitted as C-97G transports and equipped several squadrons of the US Air National Guard. Two C-97s are still airworthy at the present day, one operated as a privately owned warbird, the Israelis turned to Stratocruisers and KC-97s when they could not buy the highly regarded C-130. They adapted Boeing 377 Stratocruiser airliners into transports, including many using C-97 tail sections including the loading ramp, others were adapted with swiveling tails and refueling pods
11.
Caribbean
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The Caribbean is a region that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands and the surrounding coasts. The region is southeast of the Gulf of Mexico and the North American mainland, east of Central America, situated largely on the Caribbean Plate, the region comprises more than 700 islands, islets, reefs and cays. These islands generally form island arcs that delineate the eastern and northern edges of the Caribbean Sea, in a wider sense, the mainland countries of Belize, Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana are often included due to their political and cultural ties with the region. Geopolitically, the Caribbean islands are usually regarded as a subregion of North America and are organized into 30 territories including sovereign states, overseas departments, and dependencies. From December 15,1954, to October 10,2010, there was a known as the Netherlands Antilles composed of five states. The West Indies cricket team continues to represent many of those nations, the region takes its name from that of the Caribs, an ethnic group present in the Lesser Antilles and parts of adjacent South America at the time of the Spanish conquest. The two most prevalent pronunciations of Caribbean are KARR-ə-BEE-ən, with the accent on the third syllable. The former pronunciation is the older of the two, although the variant has been established for over 75 years. It has been suggested that speakers of British English prefer KARR-ə-BEE-ən while North American speakers more typically use kə-RIB-ee-ən, usage is split within Caribbean English itself. The word Caribbean has multiple uses and its principal ones are geographical and political. The Caribbean can also be expanded to include territories with strong cultural and historical connections to slavery, European colonisation, the United Nations geoscheme for the Americas accords the Caribbean as a distinct region within the Americas. Physiographically, the Caribbean region is mainly a chain of islands surrounding the Caribbean Sea, to the north, the region is bordered by the Gulf of Mexico, the Straits of Florida and the Northern Atlantic Ocean, which lies to the east and northeast. To the south lies the coastline of the continent of South America, politically, the Caribbean may be centred on socio-economic groupings found in the region. For example, the known as the Caribbean Community contains the Co-operative Republic of Guyana. Bermuda and the Turks and Caicos Islands, which are in the Atlantic Ocean, are members of the Caribbean Community. The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is also in the Atlantic and is a member of the Caribbean Community. According to the ACS, the population of its member states is 227 million people. The geography and climate in the Caribbean region varies, Some islands in the region have relatively flat terrain of non-volcanic origin and these islands include Aruba, Barbados, Bonaire, the Cayman Islands, Saint Croix, the Bahamas, and Antigua
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Europe
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Europe is a continent that comprises the westernmost part of Eurasia. Europe is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, yet the non-oceanic borders of Europe—a concept dating back to classical antiquity—are arbitrary. Europe covers about 10,180,000 square kilometres, or 2% of the Earths surface, politically, Europe is divided into about fifty sovereign states of which the Russian Federation is the largest and most populous, spanning 39% of the continent and comprising 15% of its population. Europe had a population of about 740 million as of 2015. Further from the sea, seasonal differences are more noticeable than close to the coast, Europe, in particular ancient Greece, was the birthplace of Western civilization. The fall of the Western Roman Empire, during the period, marked the end of ancient history. Renaissance humanism, exploration, art, and science led to the modern era, from the Age of Discovery onwards, Europe played a predominant role in global affairs. Between the 16th and 20th centuries, European powers controlled at times the Americas, most of Africa, Oceania. The Industrial Revolution, which began in Great Britain at the end of the 18th century, gave rise to economic, cultural, and social change in Western Europe. During the Cold War, Europe was divided along the Iron Curtain between NATO in the west and the Warsaw Pact in the east, until the revolutions of 1989 and fall of the Berlin Wall. In 1955, the Council of Europe was formed following a speech by Sir Winston Churchill and it includes all states except for Belarus, Kazakhstan and Vatican City. Further European integration by some states led to the formation of the European Union, the EU originated in Western Europe but has been expanding eastward since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. The European Anthem is Ode to Joy and states celebrate peace, in classical Greek mythology, Europa is the name of either a Phoenician princess or of a queen of Crete. The name contains the elements εὐρύς, wide, broad and ὤψ eye, broad has been an epithet of Earth herself in the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European religion and the poetry devoted to it. For the second part also the divine attributes of grey-eyed Athena or ox-eyed Hera. The same naming motive according to cartographic convention appears in Greek Ανατολή, Martin Litchfield West stated that phonologically, the match between Europas name and any form of the Semitic word is very poor. Next to these there is also a Proto-Indo-European root *h1regʷos, meaning darkness. Most major world languages use words derived from Eurṓpē or Europa to refer to the continent, in some Turkic languages the originally Persian name Frangistan is used casually in referring to much of Europe, besides official names such as Avrupa or Evropa
United States
Arizona
Air National Guard
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
