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.
Arkansas
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Arkansas is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. Its name is of Siouan derivation from the language of the Osage denoting their related kin, the states diverse geography ranges from the mountainous regions of the Ozark and the Ouachita Mountains, which make up the U. S. Interior Highlands, to the forested land in the south known as the Arkansas Timberlands, to the eastern lowlands along the Mississippi River. Arkansas is the 29th largest by area and the 33rd most populous of the 50 United States, the capital and most populous city is Little Rock, located in the central portion of the state, a hub for transportation, business, culture, and government. The northwestern corner of the state, such as the Fayetteville–Springdale–Rogers Metropolitan Area and Fort Smith metropolitan area, is a population, education, the largest city in the eastern part of the state is Jonesboro. The largest city in the part of the state is Pine Bluff. The Territory of Arkansas was admitted to the Union as the 25th state on June 15,1836, in 1861 Arkansas withdrew from the United States and joined the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. Upon returning to the Union in 1868, the state would continue to suffer due to its reliance on slavery. White rural interests continued to dominate the politics until the Civil Rights Movement. Arkansas began to diversify its economy following World War II and relies on its service industry, aircraft, poultry, steel, tourism, cotton, and rice. The culture of Arkansas is observable in museums, theaters, novels, television shows, restaurants, wright, and physicist William L. McMillan, who was a pioneer in superconductor research, have all lived in Arkansas. The name Arkansas derives from the root as the name for the state of Kansas. The Kansa tribe of Native Americans are closely associated with the Sioux tribes of the Great Plains, the word Arkansas itself is a French pronunciation of a Quapaw word, akakaze, meaning land of downriver people or the Sioux word akakaze meaning people of the south wind. In 2007, the legislature passed a non-binding resolution declaring the possessive form of the states name to be Arkansass which has been followed increasingly by the state government. Arkansas borders Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, Oklahoma to the west, Missouri to the north, as well as Tennessee, the United States Census Bureau classifies Arkansas as a southern state, sub-categorized among the West South Central States. The state line along the Mississippi River is indeterminate along much of the border with Mississippi due to these changes. Arkansas can generally be split into two halves, the highlands in the northwest half and the lowlands of the southeastern half, the highlands are part of the Southern Interior Highlands, including The Ozarks and the Ouachita Mountains. The southern lowlands include the Gulf Coastal Plain and the Arkansas Delta and this dual split can yield to general regions named northwest, southwest, northeast, southeast, or central Arkansas
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.
Arkansas Air National Guard
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The Arkansas Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Arkansas, United States of America. It is, along with the Arkansas Army National Guard, an element of the Arkansas National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Arkansas Air National Guard are not typically in the normal United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Arkansas through the office of the Arkansas Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Arkansas Air National Guard is headquartered at North Little Rock, under the Total Force concept, Arkansas Air National Guard units are an Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Arkansas 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 unit operates the C-130 Tactical Airlift Instructor School, where instructors are trained to they can return to their units. The Arkansas Air National Guard origins date to 28 August 1917 with the establishment of the 154th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I American Expeditionary Force, the 154th served in France on the Western Front, then after the 1918 Armistice with Germany was demobilized in 1919. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units. The unit was reorganized with the establishment of a permanent air service in 1920 as the 154th Observation Squadron on 24 October 1925 and it is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. The 154th Observation Squadron was activated for one year of training on 16 September 1940, the unit completed its one-year training and returned to state control, but was recalled to active duty on 7 December 1941 as a result of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. 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 modern Arkansas ANG received federal recognition on 27 May 1946 as the 154th Fighter Squadron at Adams Field, Little Rock. It was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of the state, on 2 October 1950, the 154th Fighter Squadron, along with detachment B, 237th Air Services Group and the 154th Utility Flight reported to active duty for service in Korea. The unit went to Langley Air Force Base, VA where it was re-equipped with the F-84E fighter, the 154th flew its first combat sortie 2 May 1951. Initially operating out of Itaeke, Japan the unit moved to Taegu. The 154th returned to Arkansas and was relieved from active duty 1 July 1952, on 22 August 1962, the 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 188th Tactical Reconnaissance Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 184th TRS becoming the flying squadron
5.
Latin
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Latin is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. The Latin alphabet is derived from the Etruscan and Greek alphabets, Latin was originally spoken in Latium, in the Italian Peninsula. Through the power of the Roman Republic, it became the dominant language, Vulgar Latin developed into the Romance languages, such as Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, French, and Romanian. Latin, Italian and French have contributed many words to the English language, Latin and Ancient Greek roots are used in theology, biology, and medicine. By the late Roman Republic, Old Latin had been standardised into Classical Latin, Vulgar Latin was the colloquial form spoken during the same time and attested in inscriptions and the works of comic playwrights like Plautus and Terence. Late Latin is the language from the 3rd century. Later, Early Modern Latin and Modern Latin evolved, Latin was used as the language of international communication, scholarship, and science until well into the 18th century, when it began to be supplanted by vernaculars. Ecclesiastical Latin remains the language of the Holy See and the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church. Today, many students, scholars and members of the Catholic clergy speak Latin fluently and it is taught in primary, secondary and postsecondary educational institutions around the world. The language has been passed down through various forms, some inscriptions have been published in an internationally agreed, monumental, multivolume series, the Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum. Authors and publishers vary, but the format is about the same, volumes detailing inscriptions with a critical apparatus stating the provenance, the reading and interpretation of these inscriptions is the subject matter of the field of epigraphy. The works of several hundred ancient authors who wrote in Latin have survived in whole or in part and they are in part the subject matter of the field of classics. The Cat in the Hat, and a book of fairy tales, additional resources include phrasebooks and resources for rendering everyday phrases and concepts into Latin, such as Meissners Latin Phrasebook. The Latin influence in English has been significant at all stages of its insular development. From the 16th to the 18th centuries, English writers cobbled together huge numbers of new words from Latin and Greek words, dubbed inkhorn terms, as if they had spilled from a pot of ink. Many of these words were used once by the author and then forgotten, many of the most common polysyllabic English words are of Latin origin through the medium of Old French. Romance words make respectively 59%, 20% and 14% of English, German and those figures can rise dramatically when only non-compound and non-derived words are included. Accordingly, Romance words make roughly 35% of the vocabulary of Dutch, Roman engineering had the same effect on scientific terminology as a whole
6.
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
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The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force. It was established in 1954 and was the first independent Air Force decoration created, the Air Force Longevity Service Award would follow in 1957 with most of the standard Air Force awards established in the early to mid 1960s. The Outstanding Unit Award is awarded to any unit of the U. S, multiple awards of the Outstanding Unit Award are denoted by oak leaf clusters on the ribbon. Until 2004, the Outstanding Unit Award was the senior most unit award in the U. S. Air Force and it is awarded to personnel who were assigned or attached to the unit receiving the award during the period it was awarded for. Non-USAF personnel personnel assigned to USAF units awarded the Outstanding Unit Award are also eligible to wear the ribbon on their uniforms, however, the ribbon does not come in the larger size of unit awards common to the U. S. Army
7.
United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
8.
Air Combat Command
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Air Combat Command is one of ten Major Commands in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force at the Pentagon. ACC is headquartered at Langley Field, Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia and its commander is General Herbert Hawk Carlisle, with Major General Jerry D. Harris Jr. as Vice Commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Steve K. McDonald as the Command Chief Master Sergeant, in addition, ACC augments the forces of the United States European Command, United States Pacific Command and United States Central Command when needed. Air Combat Command consists of approximately 98,000 active duty members, in 2015, responsibility for the B-1 Lancer bomber fleet was also transferred from ACC to AFGSC. Air Combat Command was created 1 June 1992 after the inactivation of the Tactical Air Command, Strategic Air Command, furthermore, ACC had some KC-135 and KC-10 aerial refueling tankers and C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in its composite, reconnaissance, and certain other combat wings. In 1993, control of the ICBM force was transferred to the Air Force Space Command until transferred again to Air Force Global Strike Command on 1 Dec 2009. S, Air Force and the U. S. Navy. Historically, combat command was an air unit designation. During 1941 and early 1942, the air units of the War Department, formerly known as the GHQ Air Force. The AFCC was dissolved in the reorganization of the United States Army, effective 9 March 1942, not long after activation, ACC underwent organizational and mission changes. The first such change was the transfer of the combat search. With the realigning of search and rescue units, ACC gained additional resources, the formal transfer took place on 1 February 1993, when the Air Rescue Service was assigned to ACC. On 2 July of the year, the ARS was disestablished. The USAF Combat Rescue School was subsequently assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, one of the most significant changes for Air Combat Command resulted from an overhaul of flying training responsibilities. Following its activation, ACC was responsible for aircrew training, including initial weapon system. On 1 July 1993, the 58th and 325th Fighter Wings—F-16 and F-15 training units transferred from ACC to Air Education and Training Command. Concurrently, Luke AFB, Arizona, and Tyndall AFB, Florida, for which those respective wings were the host units, however, on 1 October 2012, both Tyndall AFB and the 325th Fighter Wing returned to the control of ACC. The next major change resulted from a fine-tuning of aerial refueling. From its activation, Air Combat Command had assumed ownership of some C-130 Hercules theater airlift assets and KC-10 Extender, there was historical precedent for the reassignment of C-130s to Air Combat Command
9.
184th Attack Squadron
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The 184th Attack Squadron is a unit of the Arkansas Air National Guard 188th Fighter Wing located at Fort Smith Air National Guard Station, Fort Smith, Arkansas. The 184th is equipped with the MQ-9 Reaper, in June 2014 the squadron transitioned from A-10C to the MQ-9. Authorized by the National Guard Bureau in 1953 at the 184th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, organized at Fort Smith Regional Airport, Arkansas and extended recognition as a new unit on 15 October 1953. The squadron was assigned to the Tennessee ANG 118th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, Berry Field, Nashville, for administration, the 184th TRS was initially equipped with World War II-era RB-26C Invader night photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The black-painted RB-26s were originally medium bombers that were modified for reconnaissance in the late 1940s. Most of the aircraft received were Korean War veterans, were unarmed and carried cameras, in 1956, the B-26 was reaching the end of its operational USAF service, and the squadron was re-equipped with RF-80A Shooting Star daylight reconnaissance aircraft that were also nearly obsolescent. In January 1957, the 184th retired its worn-out RF-80s and received new RF-84F Thunderstreak reconnaissance aircraft, on 22 August 1962, the 184th was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 188th Tactical Reconnaissance Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 184th TRS becoming the flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 188th Headquarters, 188th Material Squadron, 188th Combat Support Squadron, in 1970 with the winding-down of the Vietnam War, the 184th began receiving McDonnell RF-101C Voodoos, replacing the RF-84Fs the unit had been flying for over a decade. Following their withdrawal from the Vietnam War, numerous USAF F-100D Super Sabres were turned over to the Air National Guard, Tactical Air Command realigned the 151st into a Tactical Fighter Group in 1972, and equipping the unit with Vietnam Veteran F-100D and twin-seat F-100F Trainers. In 1979, the Super Sabre was being retired and the 184th TFS began receiving F-4C Phantom IIs to be used in an air defense role, in 1988, as part of the retirement of the Phantom II, the squadron began receiving Block 15 F-16A Fighting Falcons. The first F-16 delivery to the squadron was on 1 July 1988, on 15 March 1992 the 184th dropped the Tactical name from the squadron as the parent 184th converted to the USAF Objective organization. In early 2001 the 184th FS began to retire its F-16A/B block 15s to AMARC in exchange for F-16C block 32s, because the squadron flew the rarely seen block 32, the squadron became a source for spare F-16s for the USAF Thunderbirds flight demonstration team. In the end the 184th FS never had to give up any of their aircraft as the Thunderbirds took needed aircraft from home based Nellis 57th Fighter Wing, deployed to Prince Sultan AB, Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Southern Watch. In 2005, the 188th deployed nearly 300 Airmen and multiple F-16C Fighting Falcons to Balad Air Base, Iraq, BRAC2005 initially decided to inactivate the 188th Fighter Wing and close Fort Smith ANGB. With a great deal of effort by Arkansas leaders caused the BRAC panel to change its decision on the 184th FS, the squadron would still lose its F-16s but in their place would get a total of eighteen A-10 Thunderbolt II ground attack aircraft. One of the factors was Fort Smiths location near Fort Chaffee. On 18 October 2006 the 184th FS began giving up F-16s when two departed for the 194th Fighter Squadron located at Fresno Air National Guard Base, California
10.
National Guard Bureau
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It was created by the Militia Act of 1903. The National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008, elevated the National Guard to a joint function of the Department of Defense. This act also elevated the Chief of the National Guard Bureau from Lieutenant General to General with the appointment of General Craig R. McKinley, the National Guard Bureau holds a unique status as both a staff and operation agency. United States Secretary of War Elihu Root militated for reform of the guard, in annual reports of 1901 of 1903. The Militia Act of 1792 was obsolete, the resulting Militia Act of 1903 became law. It gave federal status to the militia and required the militia of the States to conform to Regular Army organization. It dramatically increased funding of the militia, between 1903 and 1916, the federal government spent $53 million on the Guard, more than the total of the previous hundred years. The 1903 act authorized the creation of a section responsible for National Guard affairs. The Division remained a part of the Office of the Secretary of War until July 25,1910 when the Chief was directed to report directly to the Army Chief of Staff. The Division continued to perform under the jurisdiction of the Chief of Staff until the passage of the National Defense Act of June 3,1916. Then the Division of Militia Affairs became the Militia Bureau of the War Department, the National Defense Act of 1916 is the most important piece of legislation in the history of the National Guard. It transformed the militia from individual state forces into a Reserve Component of the U. S. Army—and made the term National Guard mandatory. The act stated that all units would have to be recognized. It increased the number of training days to 15, increased the number of yearly drills to 48. The 1916 act transformed the Division of Militia Affairs into a separate Militia Bureau, increasing its autonomy, eight new civilian positions were authorized, something which the various Chiefs had been requesting for years, the number of military assigned to the Bureau had grown to 13. The National Defense Act also authorized the President to assign two National Guard officers to duty with the Militia Bureau, the inclusion of National Guard officers in the Militia Bureau was an important step towards creating a centralized planning organization for the National Guard headed by its own officers. The first National Guard officer assigned to the Bureau was Major Louis C. Wilson of Texas in 1916, thus the National Guard Bureau was charged with the responsibility of maintaining high standards in the National Guard. Prior to 1910 the Chief of the Militia Bureau was a Regular Army officer and this situation changed on June 4,1920, when Congress passed an amendment to the National Defense Act of 1916
11.
Republic F-84F Thunderstreak
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The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American-built swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design, the RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version. In 1949, a swept wing version of the F-84 was created with the hope of bringing performance to the level of the F-86. The last production F-84E was fitted with a tail, a new wing with 38.5 degrees of leading edge sweep and 3.5 degrees of anhedral. It flew on 3 June 1950 with Otto P. Haas at the controls, although the airplane was capable of 602 knots, the performance gain over the F-84E was considered minor. Nonetheless, it was ordered into production in July 1950 as the F-84F Thunderstreak, the F-84 designation was retained because the fighter was expected to be a low-cost improvement of the straight-wing Thunderjet with over 55 percent commonality in tooling. Production delays with the F-84F forced the USAF to order a number of straight-wing F-84Gs as an interim measure, although tooling commonality with the Thunderjet was supposed to be 55 percent, in reality only fifteen percent of tools could be reused. To make matters worse, the F-84F utilized press-forged wing spars, at the time, only three presses in the United States could manufacture these, and priority was given to the Boeing B-47 Stratojet bomber over the F-84. The YJ65-W-1 engine was considered obsolete and the improved J65-W-3 did not become available until 1954, when the first production F-84F finally flew on 22 November 1952, it differed from the service test aircraft. It had a different canopy which opened up and back instead of sliding to the rear, the aircraft was considered not ready for operational deployment due to control and stability problems. The first 275 aircraft, equipped with conventional stabilizer-elevator tailplanes, suffered from accelerated stall pitch-up, beginning with Block 25, the problem was ameliorated by the introduction of a hydraulically powered one-piece stabilator. A number of aircraft were retrofitted with spoilers for improved high-speed control. As a result, the F-84F was not declared operational until 12 May 1954, the second YF-84F prototype was completed with wing-root air intakes. These were not adopted for the due to loss of thrust. However, this arrangement permitted placement of cameras in the nose, the first YRF-84F was completed in February 1952. The aircraft retained an armament of four guns and could carry up to fifteen cameras. Being largely identical to the F-84F, the Thunderflash suffered from the production delays and engine problems. The aircraft was retired from duty in 1957, only to be reactivated in 1961
12.
Vietnam War
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It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
13.
RF-101C Voodoo
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The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. An F-101A set a number of speed records for jet powered aircraft, including fastest airspeed. They operated in the role until 1979. Delays in the 1954 interceptor project led to demands for an interceptor aircraft design. The F-101B entered service with Air Defense Command in 1959 and the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1961, US examples were handed off to the Air National Guard where they served until 1982. Canadian examples remained in service until 1984, the Voodoos career as a fighter-bomber was relatively brief, but the reconnaissance versions served for some time. Interceptor versions served with the Air National Guard until 1982, initial design on what would eventually become the Voodoo began just after World War II in response to a USAAF Penetration Fighter Competition in 1946. Several companies responded with designs, and the Air Force provided funds for several of them to produce prototypes, after being awarded a contract on 14 February 1947, McDonnell built two prototypes, designated the XF-88 Voodoo. The first prototype, powered by two 3,000 lbf Westinghouse XJ34-WE-13 turbojets, flew from Muroc on 20 October 1948, preliminary testing revealed that while handling and range was adequate, the top speed was a disappointing 641 mph at sea level. Fuel consumption was increased by use of the afterburners, however. Analysis of Korean war missions, however, revealed that contemporary USAF strategic bombers were vulnerable to fighter interception, in 1951, the USAF issued a new requirement for a bomber escort with all major US manufacturers submitting designs. The McDonnell design was a larger and higher powered version of the XF-88, the F-88 was redesignated the F-101 Voodoo in November 1951. The new design was larger, carrying three times the initial fuel load and designed around larger, more powerful Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojets. The greater dimensions of the J57 engines required modifications to the engine bays, the new intake also was designed to be more efficient at higher Mach numbers. In late 1952, the mission of the F-101 was changed from fighter to strategic fighter. The new Voodoo mock-up with the inlets, tail surfaces, landing gear. F-101A serial number 53-2418 was the first production aircraft, its flight was on 29 September 1954 at Edwards AFB where it reached Mach 0. It was previously on display at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, the end of the war in Korea and the development of the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress negated the need for fighter escort and Strategic Air Command withdrew from the program
14.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
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It first entered service in 1960 with the U. S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was adopted by the U. S. Marine Corps and the U. S. Air Force. The Phantom is a fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds of weapons on nine hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon, later models incorporated an M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for performance, including an absolute speed record. The Phantom has the distinction of being the last U. S. fighter flown to attain ace status in the 20th century. The F-4 Phantom II remained in use by the U. S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. It was also the aircraft used by both U. S. flight demonstration teams, the USAF Thunderbirds and the US Navy Blue Angels. The F-4 was also operated by the forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with five countries, Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft. The F-4 is currently used by Greece, Iran, Japan, South Korea and it has been recently used in combat against the Islamic State. In 1952, McDonnells Chief of Aerodynamics, Dave Lewis, was appointed by CEO Jim McDonnell to be the preliminary design manager. With no new aircraft competitions on the horizon, internal studies concluded the Navy had the greatest need for a new and different aircraft type, in 1953, McDonnell Aircraft began work on revising its F3H Demon naval fighter, seeking expanded capabilities and better performance. The company developed several projects including a variant powered by a Wright J67 engine, the J79-powered version promised a top speed of Mach 1.97. On 19 September 1953, McDonnell approached the United States Navy with a proposal for the Super Demon, the Navy was sufficiently interested to order a full-scale mock-up of the F3H-G/H, but felt that the upcoming Grumman XF9F-9 and Vought XF8U-1 already satisfied the need for a supersonic fighter. On 26 May 1955, four Navy officers arrived at the McDonnell offices and, within an hour, because the Navy already had the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for ground attack and F-8 Crusader for dogfighting, the project now had to fulfill the need for an all-weather fleet defense interceptor
15.
North American F-100 Super Sabre
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The North American F-100 Super Sabre was an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of speed in level flight. The F-100 was designed by North American Aviation as a higher performance follow-on to the F-86 Sabre air superiority fighter, adapted as a fighter bomber, the F-100 was supplanted by the Mach two class F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions over North Vietnam. The F-100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the air forces primary close air support jet until being replaced by the more efficient subsonic LTV A-7 Corsair II, the F-100 also served in other NATO air forces and with other U. S. allies. In its later life, it was referred to as the Hun. In January 1951, North American Aviation delivered an unsolicited proposal for a day fighter to the United States Air Force. Named Sabre 45 because of its 45° wing sweep, it represented an evolution of the F-86 Sabre, the mockup was inspected on 7 July 1951, and after over a hundred modifications, the new aircraft was accepted as the F-100 on 30 November 1951. Extensive use of titanium throughout the aircraft was notable, on 3 January 1952, the USAF ordered two prototypes followed by 23 F-100As in February and an additional 250 F-100As in August. The YF-100A first flew on 25 May 1953, seven ahead of schedule. It reached Mach 1.04 in spite of being fitted with a de-rated XJ57-P-7 engine, the second prototype flew on 14 October 1953, followed by the first production F-100A on 9 October 1953. These findings were confirmed during Project Hot Rod operational suitability tests. Particularly troubling was the yaw instability in certain regimes of flight which produced inertia coupling, the aircraft could develop a sudden yaw and roll which would happen too fast for the pilot to correct and would quickly over-stress the aircraft structure to disintegration. It was under conditions that North Americans chief test pilot. Another control problem stemmed from handling characteristics of the wing at high angles of attack. As the aircraft approached stall speeds, loss of lift on the tips of the caused an violent pitch-up. This particular phenomenon became known as the Sabre dance, nevertheless, delays in the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak program pushed the Tactical Air Command to order the raw F-100A into service. Tactical Air Command also requested that future F-100s be fighter-bombers, with the capability of delivering nuclear bombs, the North American F-107 was a follow-on Mach 2 development of the F-100 with the air intake moved above and behind the cockpit. It was not produced in quantity in favor of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, the F-100A officially entered USAF service on 27 September 1954, with the 479th Fighter Wing at George AFB, California
16.
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
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The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine supersonic multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force. Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it evolved into a successful all-weather multirole aircraft, over 4,500 aircraft have been built since production was approved in 1976. Although no longer being purchased by the U. S. Air Force, in 1993, General Dynamics sold its aircraft manufacturing business to the Lockheed Corporation, which in turn became part of Lockheed Martin after a 1995 merger with Martin Marietta. The F-16 has an internal M61 Vulcan cannon and 11 locations for mounting weapons, the F-16 has also been procured to serve in the air forces of 25 other nations. As of 2015, it is the second most common operational military aircraft in the world. Experiences in the Vietnam War revealed the need for air superiority fighters, boyds work called for a small, lightweight aircraft that could maneuver with the minimum possible energy loss, and which also incorporated an increased thrust-to-weight ratio. Air Force F-X proponents remained hostile to the concept because they perceived it as a threat to the F-15 program, however, the Air Forces leadership understood that its budget would not allow it to purchase enough F-15 aircraft to satisfy all of its missions. The Advanced Day Fighter concept, renamed F-XX, gained political support under the reform-minded Deputy Secretary of Defense David Packard. As a result, in May 1971, the Air Force Prototype Study Group was established, with Boyd a key member and this was the region where USAF studies predicted most future air combat would occur. The anticipated average flyaway cost of a version was $3 million. This production plan, though, was only notional as the USAF had no plans to procure the winner. Five companies responded and in 1972, the Air Staff selected General Dynamics Model 401 and Northrops P-600 for the prototype development. GD and Northrop were awarded contracts worth $37.9 million and $39.8 million to produce the YF-16 and YF-17, respectively, with first flights of both prototypes planned for early 1974. To overcome resistance in the Air Force hierarchy, the Fighter Mafia, the high/low mix would allow the USAF to be able to afford sufficient fighters for its overall fighter force structure requirements. The mix gained broad acceptance by the time of the flyoff, defining the relationship of the LWF. The YF-16 was developed by a team of General Dynamics engineers led by Robert H. Widmer. The first YF-16 was rolled out on 13 December 1973, and its 90-minute maiden flight was made at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, California and its actual first flight occurred accidentally during a high-speed taxi test on 20 January 1974. The test pilot, Phil Oestricher, decided to lift off to avoid a potential crash, the slight damage was quickly repaired and the official first flight occurred on time
17.
United States Air Force Thunderbirds
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The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron is the air demonstration squadron of the United States Air Force. The Thunderbirds are assigned to the 57th Wing, and are based at Nellis Air Force Base, the Thunderbirds Squadron tours the United States and much of the world, performing aerobatic formation and solo flying in specially marked aircraft. The squadrons name is taken from the creature that appears in the mythologies of several indigenous North American cultures. On 1 March 2013, the USAF announced that due to cuts, aerial demonstration team performances would cease indefinitely. On 6 December 2013 the Thunderbirds announced their 2014 schedule and the resumption of their appearances, the Thunderbirds Squadron is a named USAF squadron, meaning it does not carry a numerical designation. It is also one of the oldest squadrons in the Air Force, its origins dating to the organization of the 30th Aero Squadron, formed at Kelly Field, officers serve a two-year assignment with the squadron, while enlisted personnel serve three to four years. As the squadron performs no more than 88 air demonstrations each year, replacements must be trained for half of the team each year. In addition to their air demonstration responsibilities, the Thunderbirds are part of the USAF combat force and if required, since 15 February 1974 the Thunderbirds have been a component of the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB. Since 1953, they have flown in front of more than 300 million people, the Thunderbirds perform aerial demonstrations in the F-16C Fighting Falcon, and they also fly two F-16D twin-seat trainers. The F-16 has been the aircraft for the Thunderbirds since the 1983 season. In January 1982,4 members of the squadron were killed in what known as the Diamond Crash of T-38 Talon aircraft which the squadron had flown since 1974. The F-16, however, had considered for transition prior to the accident. Beginning in June 1982, the F-16 Thunderbirds were led by Major Jim Latham, the team continues to fly the F-16, having switched from the F-16A to the F-16C in 1992. Only a few minor modifications differentiate a Thunderbird from an operational F-16C, all of the modification work is performed at the maintenance depot at Hill AFB near Ogden, Utah. They also operated the two-seat F-16B during this time for training new pilots and for VIP flights, Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon The block 32H/J aircraft currently assigned to the Thunderbirds were built in 1986 and 1987, and operated by the Thunderbirds from 1992 to 2008. At their retirement, they were some of the oldest operational F-16s in the Air Force, Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon In the 2009 show season the Thunderbirds transitioned to an updated version of the F-16 fighter. The Block 52s have an upgraded avionics package that brings the Thunderbird fleet into alignment with the rest of the worldwide F-16 fleet, additionally, the more powerful Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engine adds an additional 3,600 lbf of thrust. This in turn increases the maximum gross weight for ground handling, taxi, takeoff
18.
57th Fighter Wing
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The 57th Wing is an operational unit of the United States Air Force Warfare Center, stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The 57 WGs mission is to provide trained and well equipped combat forces ready to deploy into a combat arena to conduct integrated combat operations. The 57 WG is home to advanced air combat training, the wing provides training for composite strike forces which include every type of aircraft in the Air Force inventory. Training is conducted in conjunction with air and ground units of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps, the crews do not come to learn how to fly, but instead learn how to be combat aviators. The wing was reorganized in 2005 to reflect its current structure. S, Air Force Weapons School teaches graduate-level instructor courses that provide advanced training in weapons and tactics employment to officers of the combat air forces. USAF Air Demonstration Squadron - The Thunderbirds Americas Ambassadors in Blue, provides sortie generation, munitions and on- and off-equipment maintenance for 132 assigned A-10, F-15, F-16, F-35A and F-22A aircraft to support the test, tactics and training missions. The Thunderbirds and the USAF Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Officer School report directly to the 57th Wing commander, see 57th Operations Group for complete lineage and timeline information. See 57th Adversary Tactics Group and USAF Weapons School for the components of the 57th Wing. See USAF Air Demonstration Squadron for the United States Air Force Thunderbirds, established on 15 March 1948, the 57th Fighter Wing replaced 57th Fighter Wing in April 1948. It operated Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and several satellite bases, in addition, the wing provided intra-theater troop carrier and airlift support, 1948–1950, using several attached troop carrier squadrons. In January 1951, it was replaced by 39th Air Depot Wing, the 57th moved to Nevada and replaced the 4525th Fighter Weapons Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, in October 1969. The USAF Air Demonstration Squadron was assigned to the wing in February 1974 and has remained a part of the wing to present. It incorporated intelligence training after March 1980, in 1990 the aggressor mission transferred to 4440th TFTG and later to the 414th CTS. The wing added instruction in hunter/killer counter electronic warfare tactics until 1996 and it added the 66th Rescue Squadron, equipped with HH-60 helicopters, on February 1,1993 while the squadron was deployed in Southwest Asia. With the reactivation of the 432d Wing at Creech Air Force Base on May 1,2007, established as 57th Fighter Wing c. *Note, The 57th Fighter Wing was established on 16 April 1947 at Fort Richardson, the provisional wing was inactivated and replaced by the 57th Fighter Wing in March 1948. 1 Jul 1948 and 20 Sep 1949-31 Dec 1950 64th Fighter Weapons Squadron,15 Oct 1972-5 Oct 1990. USAF Air Demonstration Squadron,15 Feb 1974–Present Schools USAF Fighter Weapons School,30 December 1981–Present USAF Combat Rescue School, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II
19.
Prince Sultan Air Base
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Prince Sultan Air Base is a military air base located in Al Kharj, Saudi Arabia. There was formerly a large United States presence there during Operations Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, the U. S. 3s and a French Air Force fighter squadron with Dassault Mirage 2000s, Mirage F1 CR plus a Boeing C-135RF Stratotanker air refueling aircraft. Following the attack on USAF facilities at Khobar Towers in Dharan in 1996, before 11 September 2001, per agreement with the Saudi Arabian government, all U. S. and Allied aircraft stationed at PSAB were to be of a defensive versus offensive nature. This was due to Arab sensitivities that non-Royal Saudi Air Force aircraft in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia should be perceived as being there for the defense of the Kingdom, the United States Navy, Navy Reserve and United States Marine Corps also employed EA-6B aircraft from PSAB as well. Events of 11 Sep 2001 accelerated this movement, so that subsequent command and control of all Coalition air operations for Operations Enduring Freedom, in mid-2003, all U. S. operations at PSAB began migrating to Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, Qatar. Between 2003 and 2005 Vickers VC10s from No.101 Squadron RAF were based here in support of Operation Telic before moving to RAF Al Udeid,18 Squadron RSAF with the Boeing E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System surveillance aircraft. It has two runways designated 17L/R/35L/R with a surface measuring 4,000 by 45 metres. Prince Sultan Air Base at GlobalSecurity. org Prince Sultan Air Base at CNN
20.
Operation Southern Watch
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Operation Southern Watch was an air-centric military operation conducted by the United States Department of Defense from Summer 1992 to Spring 2003. Nothing in the resolution spelled out the Iraqi no-fly zones or Operation Southern Watch, military forces from Saudi Arabia, the United States, the United Kingdom, and France participated in Operation Southern Watch. An intensification was noted prior to the 2003 invasion of Iraq and it is now known that this increased activity occurred during an operation known as Operation Southern Focus. At first, Iraqi forces did not attack Coalition aircraft, later in the day, several Iraqi fighters dodged back and forth across the 32nd parallel, staying out of missile range of American fighters. However, an Iraqi MiG-25 crossed too far and was trapped inside the 32nd parallel by a flight of USAF F-16 Falcons of the 33rd Fighter Squadron, after intelligence verified the aircraft was hostile, the fighter pilot received clearance to fire. The lead plane piloted by then-Lieutenant Colonel Gary North, USAF and this was the first combat kill by an F-16 in USAF service, and the first combat kill using the AIM-120 AMRAAM missile. On 17 January 1993, a USAF F-16C destroyed an Iraqi MiG-23 Flogger with an AMRAAM missile for the second USAF aerial victory, on 7 January 1993, Iraq agreed to American, British, and French demands to withdraw their surface-to-air missiles from below the 32nd parallel. However, they did not remove all of them, and U. S. President George H. W. Bush ordered U. S. aircraft to bomb the remaining missile sites. On 13 January, more than 100 American, British, and French aircraft attacked Iraqi missile sites near Nasiriyah, Samawah, Najaf, around half the Iraqi sites south of the 32nd parallel were hit. On 29 June, a USAF F-4G Phantom II destroyed an Iraqi radar which had illuminated it, the first nine months of 1994 were quiet, and the USAF began to withdraw forces from the region. Saddam later withdrew the Iraqi Republican Guard out of the Kuwati border due to massive American military buildup and this served to increase Coalition resolve to enforce the no-fly zones and contain Iraqi aggression. On 25 June 1996, terrorists bombed the U. S. base at Khobar Towers in Dhahran, the attack killing 19 American airmen and injured an additional 372 people. In August 1996, Iraqi forces invaded the Kurdish regions of northern Iraq, as a result, the no-fly zone was extended north to the 33rd parallel. This marked renewed conflict with Iraqi air defenses and several more radars were destroyed by F-16 fighters, on 15 December 1998, France suspended participation in the no-fly zones, arguing that they had been maintained for too long and were ineffective. On 16 December, U. S. President Bill Clinton ordered execution of Operation Desert Fox and this resulted in an increased level of combat in the no-fly zones which lasted until 2003. On 30 December 1998, Iraqi SA-6 missile sites fired 6 to 8 surface-to-air missiles at American military aircraft, USAF F-16s responded by bombing the sites. On 5 January 1999, four Iraqi MiG-25s crossed into the southern no-fly zone, the American fighters fired a total of six missiles at the Iraqi aircraft, but they were able to evade them all and escape back to the north. Over the same period, American aircraft had attacked Iraqi targets on 73 occasions
21.
Balad Air Base
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Balad Air Base is an Iraqi Air Force base located near Balad in the Sunni Triangle 40 miles north of Baghdad, Iraq. The base was handed back to the Iraqi Air Force during December 2011 returning to be called Balad Air Base, during the Iraq War it was the second largest U. S. Base in Iraq and today is home to the Iraqi Air Forces General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons, Balad was formerly known as al-Bakr AB, named in honor of Ahmed Hassan al-Bakr, the president of Iraq from 1968 to 1979. It was considered by many in the Iraqi military to be the most important airfield of the Iraqi Air Force, during most of the 1980s, it operated with at least a brigade level force, with two squadrons of Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23 fighters. Al-Bakr AB was especially known for the large number of hardened aircraft shelters built by the Yugoslavs during the Iran–Iraq War in the mid-1980s. It had four hardened areas—one each on either end of the main runways—with approximately 30 individual aircraft shelters, the base was captured during April 2003 as part of the Iraq War The Armys 310th Sustainment Command and the Air Forces 332d Air Expeditionary Wing were headquartered at JBB. It was decided that the facility share one name, even though for reasons and for its many occupants. Until mid-2008 the US Army had been in charge of the base but, Balad was the central logistical hub for forces in Iraq. Camp Anaconda has also been more colloquially-termed Life Support Area Anaconda or the Big Snake and it housed 28,000 military personnel and 8,000 civilian contractors. Carrie Underwood played there in December 2006 and Gary Sinise visited again going out of his way to greet the troops at the Base/Post Exchange, oct 2007 - Dec 2008 602nd Maintenance Co. By mid-2006, this rate had dropped by about 40%, due to these attacks, the soldiers and airmen refer to the base as Mortaritaville, though this name is shared with other bases in Iraq. Joint Base Balad had a burn pit operation as late as the summer of 2008 burning 147 tons of waste per day when the Army Times published a story about it. Respiratory difficulties and headaches were reported, Joint base Balad was also home to the Air Force Theater Hospital, a Level I trauma center which boasts a 98% survival rate for wounded Americans and Iraqis alike. As American forces left Iraq, Joint Base Balad was returned to the Iraqi Air Force in December 2011, the base came under attack by ISIS militants in late June 2014, with the insurgents launching mortar attacks and reportedly surrounding the base on three sides. The base is home to the Iraqi Air Forces General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcons
22.
Iraq War
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The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that toppled the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first 3–4 years of conflict and it became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition, the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion began on 20 March 2003, with the U. S. joined by the United Kingdom and several allies, launching a shock. Iraqi forces were overwhelmed as U. S. forces swept through the country. The invasion led to the collapse of the Baathist government, President Hussein was captured during Operation Red Dawn in December of that same year, the United States responded with a troop surge in 2007. The winding down of U. S. involvement in Iraq accelerated under President Barack Obama, the U. S. formally withdrew all combat troops from Iraq by December 2011. Select U. S. officials accused Saddam of harboring and supporting al-Qaeda, while others cited the desire to end a repressive dictatorship, after the invasion, no substantial evidence was found to verify the initial claims about WMDs. The rationale and misrepresentation of pre-war intelligence faced heavy criticism within the U. S. in the aftermath of the invasion, Iraq held multi-party elections in 2005. Nouri al-Maliki became Prime Minister in 2006 and remained in office until 2014, the al-Maliki government enacted policies that were widely seen as having the effect of alienating the countrys Sunni minority and worsening sectarian tensions. The Iraq War caused hundreds of thousands of civilian, and thousands of military casualties, the majority of casualties occurred as a result of the insurgency and civil conflicts between 2004 and 2007. A1990 Frontline report on The arming of Iraq said, Officially, most Western nations participated in an arms embargo against Iraq during the 1980s. Western companies, primarily in Germany and Great Britain, but also in the United States, sold Iraq the key technology for its chemical, missile, any Western governments seemed remarkably indifferent, if not enthusiastic, about those deals. N Washington, the government consistently followed a policy which allowed and perhaps encouraged the growth of Saddam Husseins arsenal. The Western arming of Iraq took place in the context of the Iran-Iraq War, prior to September 2002, the CIA was the George W. Bush administrations main provider of intelligence on Iraq. The agency was out to disprove linkage between Iraq and terrorism the Pentagon adviser told me, the U. N. had prohibited Iraq from developing or possessing such weapons after the Gulf War and required Iraq to permit inspections confirming compliance. This was confirmed by The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, during 2002, Bush repeatedly warned of military action against Iraq unless inspections were allowed to progress unfettered. In accordance with U. N. Security Council Resolution 1441, Iraq agreed to new inspections under United Nations Monitoring, as part of its weapons inspection obligations, Iraq was required to supply a full declaration of its current weapons capabilities and manufacturing
23.
Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II
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The Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a single-seat, twin turbofan engine, straight wing jet aircraft developed by Fairchild-Republic for the United States Air Force. Commonly referred to by its nicknames Warthog or Hog, its name comes from the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. The A-10 was designed for air support of friendly ground troops, engaging armored vehicles and tanks. It entered service in 1976 and is the only aircraft that has served in the USAF that was designed solely for CAS. Its secondary mission is to forward air controller – airborne support. Aircraft used primarily in this role are designated OA-10, the A-10 was intended to improve on the performance of the A-1 Skyraider and its poor firepower. The A-10 was designed around the 30 mm GAU-8 Avenger rotary cannon and its short takeoff and landing capability permits operation from airstrips close to the front lines, and its simple design enables maintenance with minimal facilities. The A-10 served in the Gulf War, the American intervention against Iraqs invasion of Kuwait, the A-10 also participated in other conflicts such as Operation Urgent Fury in Grenada, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Iraq, and against ISIL in the Middle East. The A-10A single-seat variant was the version produced, though one pre-production airframe was modified into the YA-10B twin-seat prototype to test an all-weather night capable version. In 2005, a program was started to upgrade remaining A-10A aircraft to the A-10C configuration with modern avionics for use of precision weaponry. The U. S. Air Force had stated the F-35 would replace the A-10 as it entered service, but this remains highly contentious within the Air Force and in political circles. With a variety of upgrades and wing replacements, the A-10s service life may be extended to 2040, post-World War II development of conventionally armed attack aircraft in the United States had stagnated. Design efforts for tactical aircraft focused on the delivery of nuclear weapons using high-speed designs like the F-101 Voodoo, designs concentrating on conventional weapons had been largely ignored, leaving their entry into the Vietnam War led by the Korean War-era Douglas A-1 Skyraider. While a capable aircraft for its era, with a large payload and long loiter times. The U. S. Air Force and Marine Corps lost 266 A-1s in action in Vietnam, the A-1 Skyraider also had poor firepower. The lack of conventional attack capability prompted calls for a specialized attack aircraft. The former became the Tactical Fighter Experimental, or TFX, which emerged as the F-111 and it was also expensive to buy and operate, with a flyaway cost of $2 million in FY1965, and operational costs over $900 per hour. After a broad review of its force structure, the U. S. Air Force decided to adopt a low-cost aircraft to supplement the F-4
24.
Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center
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Fort Chaffee Maneuver Training Center is an Army National Guard installation in western Arkansas, adjacent to the city of Fort Smith. Established as Camp Chaffee in 1941, renamed to Fort Chaffee in 1956, Fort Chaffee has served as a United States Army base, training camp, prisoner-of-war camp, the base was closed following the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission round. Since that time, the Arkansas National Guard has been using 66,000 acres as a training facility, the State of Arkansas received 6000 acres, about half of which have been redeveloped as of 2014. The main environmental concern has been asbestos, released during various fires, Fort Chaffee is just outside Fort Smith and Barling on Arkansas Highway 22, one mile southeast of Fort Smith Regional Airport. The Arkansas River flows eastward along its border and Interstate 40 is five miles to the north on the opposite side of the river. Fort Chaffee was originally named Camp Chaffee, the groundbreaking of Camp Chaffee was held on September 20,1941, as part of the Department of Wars preparations to double the size of the U. S. Army in the face of World War II. That month, the U. S. government paid $1.35 million to acquire 15,163 acres from 712 property owners, including families, farms, businesses, churches, schools and it took only sixteen months to build the entire base. The first soldiers arrived on December 7,1941, the day of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the installation was activated on March 27,1942 and from 1942 to 1946, the Sixth, Fourteenth and Sixteenth Armored Divisions trained there. The creation of the camp caused the town of Barling to experience a tremendous boom in housing. Fort Chaffee also served as a prisoner-of-war-camp during World War II, from 1948 to 1957, Chaffee was the home of the Fifth Armored Division. On March 21,1956, the name of Camp Chaffee was officially changed to Fort Chaffee in recognition of the permanent nature of the base. For four days in 1958, Chaffee was home to Elvis Presley, in 1959, the Home of the U. S. Army Training Center, Field Artillery moved from Fort Chaffee to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, where it remains to this day. The facility processed 50,809 refugees of the Vietnam War, giving them medical screenings, matching them with sponsors, and arranging for their resettlement in the United States. Among notable children of refugees born at Fort Chaffee was Dat Nguyen, in 1980, Fort Chaffee became a Cuban refugee resettlement center, holding 19,000 Cubans after the Mariel boatlift and briefly making the camp the 11th largest city in Arkansas. On Sunday, June 1, the detainees rioted, destroying four barracks and fighting with State Police officers, sixty-two refugees were injured and 46 others were arrested. After the riots, the previously unsecured facility was turned into a prison, the riot was a major issue in Frank D. Whites victory over Governor Bill Clinton in the November 1980 gubernatorial election, over two years, Fort Chaffee processed 25,390 Cuban refugees. In 1987, the Joint Readiness Training Center began training soldiers at Chaffee, in 1993 the JRTC was transferred to Fort Polk, Louisiana and in 1995, the Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended the closure of Fort Chaffee
25.
194th Fighter Squadron
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The 194th Fighter Squadron is a unit of the California Air National Guards 144th Fighter Wing at Fresno Air National Guard Base, California. The 194th is equipped with the F-15 Eagle and like its parent wing, is operationally-gained within the active U. S. Air Force by the Air Combat Command, Activated in October 1943 as the 409th Fighter Squadron at Hamilton Field, California. During World War II, the squadron was an Operational Training Unit, equipped with second-line P-39 Airacobras and its mission was to train newly graduated pilots from Training Command in combat tactics and maneuvers before being assigned to their permanent combat unit. Initially assigned to IV Fighter Command, then transferred to III Fighter Command in 1944 and it took part in air-ground maneuvers and demonstrations, participating in the Louisiana Maneuvers in the summer of 1944 and in similar activities in the US until after V-J Day. The wartime 409th Fighter Squadron was re-activated and re-designated as the 194th Fighter Squadron and it was organized at Naval Air Station Alameda, California, and was extended federal recognition on 25 June 1948 by the National Guard Bureau. The 194th Fighter Squadron was bestowed to the history, honors, the squadron was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and was assigned to the CA ANG 144th Fighter Group. During its early years with the F-51D, the unit earned prominence as one of the Air Forces most respected aerial gunnery competitors. With the surprise invasion of South Korea on 25 June 1950, the F-51Ds were exchanged for F-51H Mustangs in 1951, as the D model of the Mustang was needed for close air support missions in Korea. The F-51H was a Very Long Range version of the Mustang, which was developed to escort B-29 Superfortress bombers to Japan, the increased range, however was well-suited for air defense interceptor alert flights. During its years with the P-51H, the unit earned prominence as one of the Air Forces most respected aerial gunnery competitors, in June 1953, while still flying the Mustang, the unit qualified for the first all-jet, worldwide gunnery meet. At the same time, the 194th relocated to Fresno Yosemite International Airport, on 7 July 1955, the 144th was re-designated as the 194th Fighter-Interceptor Wing, a designation kept by the squadron for the next 37 years. With the F-86A, the 144th began standing dusk-to-dawn alerts, joining its Air Defense Command active-duty counterparts, the 194th continued to fly the F-86A until 31 March 1958. On April 1,1958, the transition was made to the F-86L Sabre Interceptor, in addition, the F-86L could be controlled and directed by the SAGE computer-controlled Ground Control Interceptor sites which would vector the aircraft to the unidentified target for interception. The 144th continued to fly the F-86A until 31 March 1958, on April 1,1958, the transition was made to the F-86L, which was flown until 30 June 1964. On July 1,1964, the 144th began flying the F-102, on 25 July 1974, the 144th brought the F-106 into service, and continued to fly this aircraft until 31 December 1983. On 1 October 1978 Aerospace Defense Command was inactivated, its units being reassigned to Air Defense, which was established compatible to a Numbered Air Force under TAC. TAC replaced the aging F-106s on 1 January 1984 with F-4D Phantom IIs, the squadron started receiving their first F-16A Fighting Falcons on 1 October 1989. These were of the block 15 type, replacing the F-4D in the air defense, the block 15 airframes weren’t exactly suited to the dedicated air defense mission the squadron was tasked to
26.
Fresno Yosemite International Airport
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Fresno Yosemite International Airport, formerly Fresno Air Terminal, is a joint civil-military public airport in eastern Fresno, in Fresno County, California. The airport covers 2,150 acres and has two runways and one helipad and it is the air transport center for the San Joaquin Valley, with flights to several airline hubs in the western United States. International flights to Mexico are available through Aeroméxico and Volaris and it is also home to Fresno Air National Guard Base and the 144th Fighter Wing of the California Air National Guard. The airfield opened in June 1942, during World War II the airfield was known as Hammer Field and was used by the United States Army Air Forces Fourth Air Force. Hammer Field was a base and had three sub-bases and two gunnery ranges. Today the California Air National Guard 144th Fighter Wing occupies two parcels of land at the airport—the main base area and the Munitions Storage Area. These areas of the airport are known as the Fresno Air National Guard Base and this military unit currently operates F-15 Eagle jet fighters, and previously operated F-16C Fighting Falcon and F-4D Phantom jet interceptor aircraft. Trans World Airlines and United Airlines flights to San Francisco/Oakland and Los Angeles moved from Chandler Field to Fresno Air Terminal in 1947, in 1988 the FAA designated the airport an International Point of Entry, allowing international flights. In 1996 the airports name was changed to attract out-of-state and international visitors to Yosemite National Park, since its opening, the airport has gone through multiple renovations and expansions. In 2002, a new two-level concourse building designed by DMJM Aviation was completed, Fresno has been the headquarters for at least three airlines. In the mid 1990s Air 21 flew Fokker F28 Fellowship jets to destinations including nonstop to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and San Francisco. Allegiant Air also called Fresno home but then moved its headquarters to Las Vegas, in 2000, Allegiant was operating McDonnell Douglas DC-9 jet service nonstop to Las Vegas and Long Beach. United Airlines was a player at the airport for many years, operating Boeing 727-100, Boeing 727-200, Boeing 737-200, Boeing 737-300. United even flew stretched Douglas Super DC-8 series 61 flights to Denver, San Francisco, with over 200 seats these DC-8-61s were the largest airliners ever scheduled into Fresno. In the 1990s there was a shift to smaller regional jet and turboprop aircraft, however, mainline jet aircraft currently serving Fresno include Boeing 737-800 service nonstop to Dallas/Fort Worth operated by American Airlines. Allegiant Air flies McDonnell Douglas MD80s nonstop to Las Vegas and Phoenix/Mesa and was also operating Boeing 757-200 nonstops to Honolulu before ceasing service to Hawaii from the airport, Aeroméxico flies Boeing 737s while Volaris operates Airbus A319s with both airlines flying nonstop to Guadalajara, Mexico. Delta Air Lines had announced new flights to Fresno from Atlanta, however, the current version of Frontier Airlines was flying nonstop Airbus A319 service to Denver three days a week but has since abandoned this service. Direct international service from Fresno ended when Mexicana ceased operations in August 2010 to Guadalajara International Airport, however, international flights returned when Volaris and Aeroméxico restored service between Fresno and Guadalajara in April 2011
27.
104th Fighter Wing
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The 104th Fighter Wing is a unit of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, stationed at Westfield-Barnes Regional Airport, Westfield, Massachusetts. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. As commonwealth militia units, the units in the 104th Fighter Wing are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command and they are under the jurisdiction of the Massachusetts National Guard unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. Specifically, the Wing is tasked to provide operationally ready combat units, combat support units and its goal is to organize, train and equip assigned personnel to provide an operationally ready squadron to the Air Combat Command that flies and fights successfully. As a result, the 131st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron at Barnes Municipal Airport was authorized to expand to a level. The 131st FIS becoming the flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 104th Headquarters, 104th Material Squadron, 104th Combat Support Squadron, the mission of the 104th Fighter Group was the air defense of Massachusetts. The 104th, along with the new 102d Fighter Group at Logan Airport, the air defense mission ended on 10 November 1958 when the Massachusetts Air Guard and its units were reassigned to Tactical Air Command and converted to F-86H Sabre fighter-bombers. During the 1950s and early 1960s, better training and equipment, during the summer of 1961, as the 1961 Berlin Crisis unfolded, the 131st TFS was notified on 16 August of its pending federalization and recall to active duty. On 1 October the 131st was federalized and assigned to the 102d Tactical Fighter Wing, the mission of the 102d TFW was to reinforce the United States Air Forces in Europe and deploy to Phalsbourg-Bourscheid Air Base, France. In France, the unit was to close air support to NATO ground forces. This involved keeping its aircraft on 24/7 alert, between 28 and 30 October, the 102d TFW departed Otis AFB for Phalsbourg. The wing deployed 82 F-86H Sabres, in addition 2 C-47 and 6 T-33 aircraft were assigned to the wing for support and training purposes. Starting on 5 December, the 102d began deploying to Wheelus Air Base Libya for gunnery training, during its time in Europe, the 102d participated in several USAF and NATO exercises, including a deployment to Leck Air Base, West Germany near the Danish border. At Leck, ground and support crews from both countries exchanged duties, learning how to perform maintenance and operational support tasks. On 7 May 1962, USAFE Seventeenth Air Force directed that the 102d TFW would deploy back to the United States during the summer, and the unit returned to the United States in July 1962. Regular USAF personnel, along with a group of ANG personnel who volunteered to remain on duty formed the 480th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the newly activated 366th Tactical Fighter Wing. The last of the ANG aircraft departing on 20 July, operational readiness inspections also honed the edges of the wing
28.
Operation Enduring Freedom
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Operation Enduring Freedom comprises several subordinate operations, Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, lasted from October 2001 to 31 December 2014. Government used the term Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan to officially describe the War in Afghanistan, continued operations in Afghanistan by the United States military forces, both non-combat and combat, now occur under the name Operation Freedoms Sentinel. In September 2001, U. S. President George W, the term OEF-A typically refers to the phase of the War in Afghanistan from 2001 to 2014. Other operations, such as the Georgia Train and Equip Program, are loosely or nominally connected. All the operations, however, have a focus on counterterrorism activities, Operation Enduring Freedom – Afghanistan, which was a joint U. S. U. K. and Afghan operation, was separate from the International Security Assistance Force, which was an operation of North Atlantic Treaty Organization nations including the U. S. and the U. K. The two operations ran in parallel, although it had suggested that they merge. S. and British ships. The initial military objectives of OEF-A, as articulated by President George W, of those groups included are Abu Sayyaf Group, al-Qaeda and Jemaah Islamiyah. The operation consisted of training the AFP in counter-terrorist operations as well as supporting the people with humanitarian aid in Operation Smiles. In October 2002, the Combined Task Force 150 and United States military Special Forces established themselves in Djibouti at Camp Lemonnier, the stated goals of the operation were to provide humanitarian aid and patrol the Horn of Africa to reduce the abilities of terrorist organizations in the region. The military aspect involves coalition forces searching and boarding ships entering the region for illegal cargo as well as providing training, the humanitarian aspect involves building schools, clinics and water wells to enforce the confidence of the local people. Since 2001, the expenditure by the U. S. government on Operation Enduring Freedom has exceeded $150 billion. The operation continues, with military direction mostly coming from United States Central Command, seizing upon a power vacuum after the Soviets withdrew from Afghanistan after their invasion, the Taliban assumed the role of government from 1996–2001. Their extreme interpretation of Islamic law prompted them to ban music, television, sports, and dancing, amputation was an accepted form of punishment for stealing, and public executions could often be seen at the Kabul football stadium. Womens rights groups around the world were frequently critical as the Taliban banned women from appearing in public or holding many jobs outside the home and they drew further criticism when they destroyed the Buddhas of Bamyan, historical statues nearly 1500 years old, because the Buddhas were considered idols. In 1996, Saudi dissident Osama bin Laden moved to Afghanistan upon the invitation of the Northern Alliance leader Abdur Rabb ur Rasool Sayyaf, when the Taliban came to power, bin Laden was able to forge an alliance between the Taliban and his al-Qaeda organization. It is understood that al-Qaeda-trained fighters known as the 055 Brigade were integrated with the Taliban army between 1997 and 2001 and it has been suggested that the Taliban and bin Laden had very close connections. On 20 September 2001, the U. S. stated that Osama bin Laden was behind the 11 September attacks in 2001, the US made a five-point ultimatum to the Taliban, Deliver to the U. S
29.
455th Air Expeditionary Wing
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The 455th Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force USAFCENT unit located to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. It is one of two wings in Afghanistan. Most of the personnel are located at the Air Force Village known as Camp Cunningham. The wings primary mission is to support the Global War on Terrorism by providing support for U. S. Activated in 2001, the 455th has members deployed throughout the country supporting Operation Enduring Freedom, the wing commander reports to the United States Air Forces Central Commander in Southwest Asia. The commander is supported by a staff and oversees five Air Force groups located at Bagram. It also oversees the 451st Air Expeditionary Group at Kandahar Airfield, during the Cold War, the Strategic Air Command 455th Strategic Missile Wing was an LGM-30 Minuteman ICBM wing. During World War II, the predecessor unit, the 455th Bombardment Group was a B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment organization. 301st Fighter Wing = 457th EFS between April and October 2016, 482nd Fighter Wing = 93d EFS between April and October 2016. 20th Fighter Wing = 79th EFS between October 2016 and April 2017, the group is responsible for all expeditionary flying and aeromedical evacuation operations for the wing. Along with the U. S. Army, the 455 EMDG staffs Craig Joint Theater Hospital at Bagram, 451st Air Expeditionary Group, The group operates the E-11, MQ-1B Predator, and MQ-9 Reaper at Kandahar and Jalalabad airfields. A-10A EA-6B EC-130H Compass Call F-15E F-16C HH-60 C-130J-30 C-130H MQ-1A MC-12W Constituted as the 455th Bombardment Group on 14 May 1943, activated as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment unit, assigned to II Bomber Command for training. Primarily trained in New Mexico and Utah received deployment orders for the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in November 1943, moved to Langley Field, Virginia where the group flew long-range convoy escort missions over the Mid-Atlantic, October–November 1943 while station in Italy was being constructed. They departed Langley in December 1943 and flew to Tunisia by way of Florida, Trinidad, British Guiana, Brazil and Morocco and they remained in Tunisia until completion of their airfield at San Giovanni, Italy, about five miles west of Cerignola and 20 miles southeast of Foggia. The group moved to San Giovanni in February 1944 and flew its first combat mission on 16 February 1944 as part of the 304th Bombardment Wing, Fifteenth Air Force. Received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a mission on 2 April 1944 when the group contributed to Fifteenth AF’s campaign against enemy industry by attacking a ball-bearing plant at Steyr and they lost 4 of 40 aircraft—40 comrades, including a bomber that crashed near Sveta Trojica. In addition to target damage, they were credited with 27 enemy aircraft destroyed and 17 probables. It was their first heavy loss in two months of combat, thirty-six planes took off with only 26 returning
30.
Bagram Airfield
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Bagram Airfield, also known as Bagram Air Base, is the largest U. S. military base in Afghanistan. It is located next to the ancient city of Bagram,11 kilometres southeast of Charikar in the Parwan Province of Afghanistan, the airfield features a dual runway capable of handling any size military aircraft, including Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy and Antonov An-225. The base is occupied by Government contractors, the International Security Assistance Force. Bagram Airfield is currently maintained by the Combined Joint Task Force 1st Cavalry Division, in addition, the U. S. government regional platform for the east is at the base, staffed by civilians. The ICAO ID is OAIX and it is specifically at 34. 944N,69. 259E at 1,492 metres above sea level. One of Bagrams runways is 3,003 metres long and the other is 3,500 metres long, there are a number of large hangars, a control tower, numerous support buildings, and various housing areas. There are also more than 32 acres of space and five aircraft dispersal areas. Many support buildings and base housing built by the Soviet Armed Forces during their occupation were destroyed by years of fighting between various warring Afghan factions after the Soviets left, New barracks and office buildings are being constructed at the present time, and the base is slowly expanding. The Kabul International Airport is about 25 miles south of Bagram, also, the Parwan Detention Facility is located somewhere around the base at Bagram. It has been criticized in the past for its treatment of prisoners. The airport at Bagram was originally built in the 1950s, during the Cold War, at a time when the United States, while the United States was focusing on Afghanistan, the Soviets were busy with the Island of Cuba and Fidel Castro. The present runway,10,000 foot long, was built in 1976, the airport at Bagram was maintained by the Afghan Air Force with some support from the U. S. During the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan, it played a key role, serving as a base of operations for troops and supplies. Bagram was also the staging point for the invading Soviet forces at the beginning of the conflict. Aircraft based at Bagram, including the 368th Assault Aviation Regiment flying Su-25s, provided air support for Soviet. The 368th Assault Aviation Regiment was stationed at Bagram from October 1986 to November 1987, some of the Soviet land forces based at Bagram included the 108th Motor Rifle Division and the 345th Independent Guards Airborne Regiment of the 105th Guards Airborne Division. Following the withdrawal of the Soviet forces and the rise of the Western-funded and Pakistani-trained mujahideen rebels, control of the base was contested from 1999 onward between the Northern Alliance and Taliban, often with each controlling territory on opposing ends of the base. Taliban forces were consistently within artillery and mortar range of the field, press reports indicated that at times a Northern Alliance general was using the bombed-out control tower as an observation post and as a location to brief journalists, with his headquarters nearby
31.
451st Air Expeditionary Group
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The 451st Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force USAFCENT unit. It is assigned to Kandahar Airfield and is also the host unit at Kandahar and it reports to the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing at Bagram Air Base. The group provides an airpower presence in the Afghanistan area of operations and its airmen provide intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, command and control, remotely piloted aircraft operations, and airborne data link capabilities. During the Cold War, the Strategic Air Command 451st Strategic Missile Wing was the first fully operational HGM-25A Titan I ICBM wing in 1962. During World War II, the predecessor unit, the 451st Bombardment Group was a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment organization. Activated as a B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment unit, assigned to II Bomber Command for training, received deployment orders for the Mediterranean Theater of Operations in November 1943. Deployed to Southern Italy in January 1944, entered combat in January 1944, Air echelon training in Algeria for several weeks before joining the remainder of the group in Italy. Engaged in very long range bombing missions to enemy military, industrial and transportation targets in Italy, France, Germany, Austria, Hungary, Romania. Infamously responsible for the bombing of a school in Milans neighborhood of Gorla on 20 October 1944 which caused the death of 184 children. At times the group flew support and interdictory missions. Helped to prepare the way for and participated in the invasion of Southern France in August 1944, transported supplies to troops in Italy during September 1944. Supported the final advances of Allied armies in northern Italy in April 1945, returned to the US in June 1945, forming at Dow Field, Maine. Unit personnel were demobilized throughout the summer of 1945, established as the 451st Strategic Missile Wing at Lowry Air Force Base, Colorado and organized on 1 July 1961. The wing assumed the missiles, personnel and equipment of the inactivating 703d Strategic Missile Wing, the 451st SMW was the first operational HGM-25A Titan I missile wing. Construction on all 18 silos at the six launch complexes was completed by 4 August 1961, on 18 April 1962, Headquarters SAC declared the 724th SMS operational, and 2 days later the first Titan Is went on alert status. On 19 November 1964, Defense Secretary McNamara announced the phase-out of remaining first-generation SM-65 Atlas, all wing missiles went off alert status on 26 March 1965 and the wing phased down for inactivation. On 25 June 1965, the 724th SMS and 725th SMS were inactivated, SAC removed the last missile from Lowry on 14 April 1965. The 451st Air Expeditionary Group was activated in 2002 as part of the Global War on Terrorism, conducting operations from Kandahar Airfield, included in the group are safety, logistics, communications, civil engineer
32.
Kandahar International Airport
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Kandahar International Airport is located 10 miles south-east of Kandahar City in Afghanistan. It serves as the second main international airport and as one of the largest military bases. The airport was designed and built by the United States in the late 1950s and it was occupied by the Soviets during the 1980s Soviet war in Afghanistan. Following their withdrawal the airport remained in control of Najibullahs government until he stepped down in 1992, thereafter, local warlords and the Taliban took control of the airport until the U. S. -led invasion in late 2001. Since 2007, the airport has been repaired and expanded and it is used for both military and civilian flights. The airport is maintained by the Resolute Support Mission and the Afghan National Security Forces, the 2nd Wing of the Afghan Air Force has a separate base within the airport ground. The Afghan National Police provides security inside the passenger terminal, the airfield itself was built between 1954 and 1962 by American consultants, for a cost of USD15 million. However, with the advent of jet aircraft, such stops were no longer necessary, and the airport saw little use. Since the airport was designed as a base, it is likely that the United States intended to use it in case there was a show-down of war between the United States and former USSR. While the United States was busy building Kandahar International Airport, the USSR was busy in the north, fighting in the Kandahar area was particularly intense. However, Kandahar airport was relatively untouched and its main building was largely intact at the end of the war. The airstrip did suffer extensive damage that was repaired by the United Nations in the mid-1990s to support humanitarian flights. Ariana Afghan Airlines also flew infrequent flights out of Kandahar to Pakistan, during Operation Enduring Freedom in late 2001, Kandahar Airport was one of the first coalition bases established in Afghanistan. The airport was captured by an air insertion coinciding with a rapid overland push from troops based at Camp Rhino, a perimeter was quickly secured around the terminal building and airstrip, and initially all troops worked and lived in and around the main terminal building itself. The first spartan ablutions were established in the middle of a rose garden out front. The accommodation area began to enlarge down along the airfield to where the current military base is located, the 159th Combat Aviation Brigade became the main U. S. Army Aviation unit at the airport while the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing became the main USAF unit. After June 2009 under Operation Herrick they were replaced by a squadron of Panavia Tornado GR4 aircraft, carrying out air support. 904 Expeditionary Air Wing, the home was RAF Lyneham, Wiltshire until the end of 2011 when the squadrons home station was changed to RAF Brize Norton
33.
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
34.
Fort Smith Regional Airport
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FSM is governed by the Fort Smith Airport Commission as established by the City of Fort Smith, Arkansas. It serves the needs of residents and businesses of Western Arkansas. FSM is served by the regional affiliates of Delta Air Lines. It has a population of corporate and general aviation aircraft. A full-service fixed-base operator, TAC Air, provides service to aviation, airline. The airport is included in the National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015, in 2013, the airport had 82,742 passenger boardings. Since 1953, FSM has also been the home to Fort Smith Air National Guard Station, Air Traffic services are provided by the Federal Aviation Administration from an Air Traffic Control Tower and TRACON. The Fort Smith Air Museum is located within the airline terminal, Fort Smith Regional Airport covers an area of 1,359 acres at an elevation of 469 feet above mean sea level. For the 12-month period ending July 31,2011, the airport had 41,990 aircraft operations, an average of 115 per day, 51% general aviation, 34% military, 11% air taxi, and 4% scheduled commercial. At that time there were 102 aircraft based at airport, 53% single-engine, 21% military, 16% multi-engine, 10% jet. Historically, Fort Smith was served by Braniff International Airways and Mid-Continent Airlines with both airlines commencing service to the airport during the 1940s, paul, New Orleans, Omaha and other destinations. Braniff would later operate Boeing 727-200 jetliners into Fort Smith with direct, no change of service to Chicago. Worth, Kansas City, Memphis, Nashville, New Orleans, New York City and Oklahoma City as well as nonstop 727 flights to Little Rock, Shreveport, Mid-Continent was acquired by and merged into Braniff International in 1952. During the mid 1970s, the original Frontier Airlines was operating Boeing 737-200 jetliners, during the early 1980s, Frontier was flying nonstop Boeing 737-200 jet service to Atlanta and Wichita. The 737 flights to Wichita also provided one direct service to Denver. At this same time, Frontier was continuing to operate flights to Dallas/Ft. Frontier began serving Fort Smith in 1967 when it acquired Central Airlines which had operated flights from the airport since the mid 1950s, at the time of the merger with Frontier in 1967, Central was providing service from Fort Smith to Dallas/Ft. Worth, Kansas City, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, St. Louis, Tulsa and other destinations with Convair 600 turboprops, Frontier then continued to serve these destinations from Fort Smith
35.
RF-101C Voodo
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The McDonnell F-101 Voodoo was a supersonic jet fighter which served the United States Air Force and the Royal Canadian Air Force. An F-101A set a number of speed records for jet powered aircraft, including fastest airspeed. They operated in the role until 1979. Delays in the 1954 interceptor project led to demands for an interceptor aircraft design. The F-101B entered service with Air Defense Command in 1959 and the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1961, US examples were handed off to the Air National Guard where they served until 1982. Canadian examples remained in service until 1984, the Voodoos career as a fighter-bomber was relatively brief, but the reconnaissance versions served for some time. Interceptor versions served with the Air National Guard until 1982, initial design on what would eventually become the Voodoo began just after World War II in response to a USAAF Penetration Fighter Competition in 1946. Several companies responded with designs, and the Air Force provided funds for several of them to produce prototypes, after being awarded a contract on 14 February 1947, McDonnell built two prototypes, designated the XF-88 Voodoo. The first prototype, powered by two 3,000 lbf Westinghouse XJ34-WE-13 turbojets, flew from Muroc on 20 October 1948, preliminary testing revealed that while handling and range was adequate, the top speed was a disappointing 641 mph at sea level. Fuel consumption was increased by use of the afterburners, however. Analysis of Korean war missions, however, revealed that contemporary USAF strategic bombers were vulnerable to fighter interception, in 1951, the USAF issued a new requirement for a bomber escort with all major US manufacturers submitting designs. The McDonnell design was a larger and higher powered version of the XF-88, the F-88 was redesignated the F-101 Voodoo in November 1951. The new design was larger, carrying three times the initial fuel load and designed around larger, more powerful Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojets. The greater dimensions of the J57 engines required modifications to the engine bays, the new intake also was designed to be more efficient at higher Mach numbers. In late 1952, the mission of the F-101 was changed from fighter to strategic fighter. The new Voodoo mock-up with the inlets, tail surfaces, landing gear. F-101A serial number 53-2418 was the first production aircraft, its flight was on 29 September 1954 at Edwards AFB where it reached Mach 0. It was previously on display at the Pueblo Weisbrod Aircraft Museum, the end of the war in Korea and the development of the jet-powered Boeing B-52 Stratofortress negated the need for fighter escort and Strategic Air Command withdrew from the program
36.
General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper
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The MQ-9 and other UAVs are referred to as Remotely Piloted Vehicles/Aircraft by the USAF to indicate their human ground controllers. The MQ-9 is the first hunter-killer UAV designed for long-endurance, high-altitude surveillance, the MQ-9 is a larger, heavier, and more capable aircraft than the earlier General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, it can be controlled by the same ground systems used to control MQ-1s. The Reaper has a 950-shaft-horsepower turboprop engine, the greater power allows the Reaper to carry 15 times more ordnance payload and cruise at about three times the speed of the MQ-1. The aircraft is monitored and controlled by aircrew in the Ground Control Station, in March 2011, the U. S. Air Force was training more pilots for advanced unmanned aerial vehicles than for any other single weapons system. The Reaper is also used by the United States Navy, the CIA, U. S. Customs and Border Protection, NASA, the USAF plans to keep the MQ-9 in service into the 2030s. General Atomics began development with the Predator B-001, a proof-of-concept aircraft, abraham Karem is the designer of the Predator. The B-001 was powered by an AlliedSignal Garrett TPE331-10T turboprop engine with 950 shaft horsepower and it had an airframe that was based on the standard Predator airframe, except with an enlarged fuselage and wings lengthened from 48 feet to 66 feet. The B-001 had a speed of 220 knots and could carry a payload of 750 pounds to an altitude of 50,000 feet with an endurance of 30 hours, the company refined the design, taking it in two separate directions. The first was a version, Predator B-002 was fitted with a Williams FJ44-2A turbofan engine with 10.2 kilonewtons thrust. It had payload capacity of 475 pounds, a ceiling of 60,000 feet, the USAF ordered two airframes for evaluation, delivered in 2007. The first two airframes delivered with prototypes B-001 and B-002, B-002 was originally equipped with the FJ-44 engine but it was removed and a TPE-331-10T was installed so that the USAF could take delivery of two aircraft in the same configuration. The second direction the design took was the Predator B-003, referred to by GA as the Altair, which has a new airframe with an 84-foot wingspan, like the Predator B-001, it is powered by a TPE-331-10YGD turboprop. This variant has a capacity of 3,000 pounds, a maximum ceiling of 52,000 feet. In October 2001, the USAF signed a contract for a pair of Predator Bs for evaluation. Designated YMQ-9s due to their role, they were delivered in 2002. The USAF referred to it as Predator B until it was renamed Reaper, operators, stationed at bases such as Creech Air Force Base, near Las Vegas, can hunt for targets and observe terrain using multiple sensors, including a thermographic camera. One claim was that the camera is able to read a license plate from two miles away. An operators command takes 1.2 seconds to reach the drone via a satellite link, the MQ-9 is fitted with six stores pylons, the inner stores pylons can carry a maximum of 1,500 pounds each and allow carriage of external fuel tanks
37.
Wayback Machine
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The Internet Archive launched the Wayback Machine in October 2001. It was set up by Brewster Kahle and Bruce Gilliat, and is maintained with content from Alexa Internet, the service enables users to see archived versions of web pages across time, which the archive calls a three dimensional index. Since 1996, the Wayback Machine has been archiving cached pages of websites onto its large cluster of Linux nodes and it revisits sites every few weeks or months and archives a new version. Sites can also be captured on the fly by visitors who enter the sites URL into a search box, the intent is to capture and archive content that otherwise would be lost whenever a site is changed or closed down. The overall vision of the machines creators is to archive the entire Internet, the name Wayback Machine was chosen as a reference to the WABAC machine, a time-traveling device used by the characters Mr. Peabody and Sherman in The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show, an animated cartoon. These crawlers also respect the robots exclusion standard for websites whose owners opt for them not to appear in search results or be cached, to overcome inconsistencies in partially cached websites, Archive-It. Information had been kept on digital tape for five years, with Kahle occasionally allowing researchers, when the archive reached its fifth anniversary, it was unveiled and opened to the public in a ceremony at the University of California, Berkeley. Snapshots usually become more than six months after they are archived or, in some cases, even later. The frequency of snapshots is variable, so not all tracked website updates are recorded, Sometimes there are intervals of several weeks or years between snapshots. After August 2008 sites had to be listed on the Open Directory in order to be included. As of 2009, the Wayback Machine contained approximately three petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of 100 terabytes each month, the growth rate reported in 2003 was 12 terabytes/month, the data is stored on PetaBox rack systems manufactured by Capricorn Technologies. In 2009, the Internet Archive migrated its customized storage architecture to Sun Open Storage, in 2011 a new, improved version of the Wayback Machine, with an updated interface and fresher index of archived content, was made available for public testing. The index driving the classic Wayback Machine only has a bit of material past 2008. In January 2013, the company announced a ground-breaking milestone of 240 billion URLs, in October 2013, the company announced the Save a Page feature which allows any Internet user to archive the contents of a URL. This became a threat of abuse by the service for hosting malicious binaries, as of December 2014, the Wayback Machine contained almost nine petabytes of data and was growing at a rate of about 20 terabytes each week. Between October 2013 and March 2015 the websites global Alexa rank changed from 162 to 208, in a 2009 case, Netbula, LLC v. Chordiant Software Inc. defendant Chordiant filed a motion to compel Netbula to disable the robots. Netbula objected to the motion on the ground that defendants were asking to alter Netbulas website, in an October 2004 case, Telewizja Polska USA, Inc. v. Echostar Satellite, No.02 C3293,65 Fed. 673, a litigant attempted to use the Wayback Machine archives as a source of admissible evidence, Telewizja Polska is the provider of TVP Polonia and EchoStar operates the Dish Network
38.
Alabama Air National Guard
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The Alabama Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Alabama, United States of America. It is, along with the Alabama Army National Guard, an element of the Alabama National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Alabama Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Alabama though the office of the Alabama Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States, the Alabama Air National Guard is headquartered in Montgomery, and its commander is Major General Perry Smith. Under the Total Force concept, Alabama Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force, Alabama ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. Its mission is to train and equip combat ready aircrews and support personnel to perform aerial refueling. The Alabama Air National Guard origins date to 27 August 1917 with the establishment of the 106th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I American Expeditionary Force, the 106th served in France on the Western Front, then after the 1918 Armistice with Germany was demobilized in 1919. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units, the squadron was reformed on 21 January 1922 as the 125th Squadron, Alabama National Guard, received federal recognition as a Corps Aviation unit. Maj. James A. Meissner, a World War I ace who had flown with Capt, eddie Rickenbacker, led the effort to form the unit and served as its first commander. It is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. The 106th Observation Squadron was ordered into service on 125 November 1940 as part of the buildup of the Army Air Corps prior to the United States entry into World War II. 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 modern Alabama ANG received federal recognition on 25 November 1946 as the 106th Bombardment Squadron at Birmingham MAP. It was equipped with B-26B/C Invaders and was assigned to Tactical Air Command, on 1 October 1947 the 117th Fighter Group allotted by the National Guard Bureau, extended federal recognition and activated at Birmingham, with the 106th Bomb Squadron being assigned to the unit. The 160th Fighter Squadron at Montgomery was authorized by the National Guard Bureau, the 160th was equipped with the F-51D Mustang and its mission was the air defense of the state. On 15 October 1962, the 160th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron was authorized to expand to a level. The 160th TRS becoming the flying squadron. This was obtained from the Air Force and on 12 September 2009, the designation was transferred to the National Guard Bureau by the Air Force and it was allotted to the Alabama ANG
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Alaska Air National Guard
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The Alaska Air National Guard is the air militia of the State of Alaska, United States of America. It is, along with the Alaska Army National Guard, an element of the Alaska National Guard, as state military units, the units in the Alaska Air National Guard are not typically in the normal United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Alaska though the office of the Alaska Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Alaska Air National Guard is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Anchorage, under the Total Force concept, Alaska Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Alaska 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 unit transfers more fuel than any other Air National Guard tanker wing, because nearly all receivers are active duty aircraft and it is a composite wing with multiple missions, including global airlift, air-sea rescue, tactical airlift, and NORAD air defense. Support Unit Functions and Capabilities, 213th Space Warning Squadron, Geographically Separated Unit located at Clear Air Force Station, Anderson, located 40 miles north of Mount McKinley and 80 miles south of Fairbanks. The 213th SWS is responsible for providing tactical warning and attack assessment of a missile attack against the continental United States. Warning data from the unit is forwarded to the North American Aerospace Defense Command inside Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, the only condition, that enough people could be recruited to man the unit. The Alaska Air National Guard was organized 15 September 1952 as the 8144th Air Base Squadron, at its creation, the 8144th included 11 enlisted men and five officers. Its headquarters were located in an office above what was then the bus depot on Fourth Avenue in Anchorage. Because the office was so small, the men convened for their first training assembly in a nearby Quonset hut, the units first aircraft, a 1941 AT-6D Texan trainer, arrived in February 1953. Soon five more trainers arrived, operating out of Elmendorf AFB Hangar #3, in keeping with the Air Guards mission to provide national air defense, the pilots began training in earnest for their planned transition to jet fighters. The unit was re-designated as the 144th Fighter-Bomber Squadron on 1 July 1953, in 1969, the 144th Tactical Airlift Squadron was authorized to expand to a group level, and the 176th Tactical Airlift Group was established by the National Guard Bureau. The 176th TAG received federal recognition and was activated on 1 April 1969, the 144th TAS was assigned as the new units operational squadron. In 1986 the 168th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron designation was transferred from the Illinois ANG to the Alaska Air National Guard and it was re-designated as the 168th Air Refueling Squadron, extended federal recognition and reactivated on 1 October 1986. The 168th would operate as a geographically separated unit, at Eielson Air Force Base and it was equipped with KC-135E Stratotankers and assume an air refueling mission, supporting military aircraft over Alaska and the northern Pacific Region
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Arizona Air National Guard
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The Arizona Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Arizona, United States of America. It is, along with the Arizona Army National Guard, an element of the Arizona National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Arizona Air National Guard are not typically in the normal United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Arizona through the office of the Arizona Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Arizona Air National Guard is headquartered at the Joint Force Headquarters in Phoenix, under the Total Force concept, Arizona Air National Guard units are an Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Arizona 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 wing consists of three squadrons and more than 70 F-16 aircraft, the 162d conducts international pilot training in support of foreign military sales program. It operates and maintains extensive radar and communications to train student Weapons Directors for postings throughout the Air Force 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 Arizona ANG was founded by Barry Goldwater, and its origins date to the formation of the 197th Fighter Squadron at Luke Army Airfield, Glendale and it was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of the state. Today, the Arizona ANG performs an air refueling mission. Its 111th Space Operations Squadron is the first space communications unit in the United States military, after the September 11th,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, elements of every Air National Guard unit in Arizona has been activated in support of the Global War on Terrorism. Also, Arizona ANG units have deployed overseas as part of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan. Arizona Wing Civil Air Patrol This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, Arizona Air National Guard 161st Air Refueling Wing 162nd Fighter Wing
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California Air National Guard
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The California Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U. S. State of California. It is, along with the California Army National Guard, an element of the California National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the California Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of California through the office of the California Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The California Air National Guard is headquartered in Sacramento, and its commander is currently Major General Jon K. Kelk, under the Total Force concept, California Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. California 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. It is under state jurisdiction and its members are employed only within the State of California and it is not subject to be called, ordered or assigned as any element of the federal armed forces. Currently in transition from a KC-135 Stratotanker air refueling mission to an MQ-1 Predator ISR wing, executing global unmanned aerial systems, combat support, and humanitarian missions. The California Air National Guard origins date to 28 August 1917 with the establishment of the 115th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I United States Army Air Service. The 115th served in France on the Western Front, constructed facilities and engaged in supply, the Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, liable for immediate state service. If federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units, initially the Unit held its meetings at Clover Field, Santa Monica, using Reserve Equipment planes for flying. Later on, the Squadron met at the National Guard Armory, in 1925, several months after its organization, the Squadron moved to permanent quarters at Griffith Park Aerodrome in Los Angeles. 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 modern California ANG received federal recognition on 1 July 1946 as the 62d Fighter Wing at Van Nuys Airport, Van Nuys. Its 115th Bombardment Squadron was equipped with A-26 Invader light bombers, on 16 September 1946, its 146th Fighter Group was also formed at Van Nuys, with several fighter squadrons equipped with F-51 Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of the state. The 61sts mission was the air defense of Northern California, the 62d, today, units of the CA ANG perform a homeland defense mission, worldwide airlift missions, aireal firefighting, combat search and rescue, and Unmanned Aireal Reconnaissance missions. After the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, in December 2007, after the grounding of F-15 fighters due to potential structural problems, the California Air National Guard assumed responsibility for defense of the western United States. This was the first time that a single states fighter wing took responsibility of defense for an entire coast, also, California 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
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Colorado Air National Guard
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The Colorado Air National Guard is the aerial militia of the U. S. State of Colorado. It is, along with the Colorado Army National Guard, an element of the Colorado National Guard, the units of the Colorado Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Colorado through the office of the Colorado Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Colorado Air National Guard is headquartered in Centennial, and its commander is currently Major General H. Michael Edwards. The Colorado Air National Guard 120th Fighter Squadron was the first federally recognized Air National Guard unit after the Second World War, under the Total Force concept, Colorado Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Colorado 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. They are able to survive and operate through all phases of trans/post nuclear attack, the Colorado Air National Guard origins date to 28 August 1917 with the establishment of the 120th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I American Expeditionary Force. The 120th served in France on the Western Front, then after the 1918 Armistice with Germany was demobilized in 1919. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units, on 27 June 1923 the 120th Observation Squadron, 45th Division, Aviation was mustered into service as part of the Colorado Army National Guard. It is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. Initially composed of eight officers and 50 enlisted members, the unit flew Curtis JN-4Es - an aircraft which proved to be unsuitable for flying at Denver elevations, one year later, the 120th began flying out of Lowry Field. The brand new airfield was named in honor of 2nd Lt. Francis B, Lowry who was shot down and killed near Crepion, France in 1918 while on a photographic mission. Mobilization for World War II took place on January 6,1941,11 months prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the unit, then 19 officers and 116 enlisted members, moved to Biggs Field, Texas. 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 modern Colorado ANG received federal recognition on 3 July 1946 as the 86th Fighter Wing at Buckley Field, Denver. Its 140th Fighter Group was also formed at Buckley Field, with the 120th Fighter Squadron equipped with F-51 Mustangs, the 200th Airlift Squadron flies C-21A Learjets with a Special Air Mission for VIP personnel, along with aeromedical evacuation. The 137th Space Warning Squadron at Greeley Employs the Air Forces only strategic survivable, mobile ground system to receive early warning data
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Connecticut Air National Guard
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The Connecticut Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Connecticut, United States of America. It is, along with the Connecticut Army National Guard, an element of the Connecticut National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Connecticut Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Connecticut though the office of the Connecticut Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Connecticut Air National Guard is headquartered at Bradley Air National Guard Base, under the Total Force concept, Connecticut Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Connecticut 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. They currently fly the C-130H, a four engine aircraft and its mission is providing cargo. Support Unit Functions and Capabilities, 103d Air Control Squadron Stationed at Orange and is known as Yankee Watch, the mission of the 103d Air Control Squadron is real-time detection, identification and surveillance of air traffic for combat operations and homeland defense. The 103d ACS is the oldest unit of its kind in the United States military, the 118th Airlift Squadrons origins date to August 1917, when the unit was activated as the 118th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, Texas. After little more than individual and unit training at Kelly. After a brief stopover at Garden City, Long Island, New York, they sailed for Europe on 13 January 1918, arriving at St. Maixent, the Fleur-de-lis on the post World War II squadron insignia reflects that service in France. The war ended in November, but the 639th remained in France until May 1919 when it returned to the United States and was demobilized at Mitchell Field, New York, on 6 June 1919. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units, the National Defense Act of 1921 provided for a number of National Guard Aviation Squadrons and the 43d Aero Squadron was re-designated as the 43d Division Air Service Squadron. As a National Guard unit the squadron became a part of the 43d Division, at that time made up of National Guard Troops from Connecticut, Rhode Island and Vermont. Since there were no airfields in Connecticut capable of handling military type aircraft, however, after the opening of Brainard Field in Hartford in October 1922, efforts were immediately launched to secure the Air Service unit of the 43d Division for the State of Connecticut. Rhode Island, apparently without a deal of argument, soon relinquished its claim. When the squadron was organized on 1 November 1923, there were some 66 officers
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Delaware Air National Guard
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The Delaware Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Delaware, United States of America. It is, along with the Delaware Army National Guard, an element of the Delaware National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Delaware Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Delaware through the office of the Delaware Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Delaware Air National Guard is headquartered at New Castle Air National Guard Base, under the Total Force concept, Delaware Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Delaware 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 actual strength on founding day was 15 officers, one warrant officer and 36 enlisted men, the Air Guard carried 60% of the cargo it would be expected to carry if it were an active unit in Federal service. Brig. Gen. William “Bill” Spruance, a member of the Delaware Air Guard. In 1961, after a fatal plane crash as passenger in a T-33, Brig. Gen. Spruance selflessly devoted his time, knowledge and experience in an effort to improve flying. In 1968 during one of his three trips to Vietnam he gave over 100 presentations to over 10,000 people, at 58 bases, shortly thereafter, members of the 166th Tactical Clinic were also called upon, bringing the total Air Guard involvement to over 350. All eight C-130 Hercules aircraft were deployed with the Air Guard to the Persian Gulf, the Air Guard merged with the 1670th Tactical Airlift Provisional, part of the largest composite U. S. Air Force Wing in the entire Persian Gulf area. The unit flew missions carrying personnel and fuel bladders critical to destroying the Iraqi Republican Guard and they were also one of the first crews that flew into Kuwait International Airport to begin rebuilding. In May, they moved a significant portion of the Shiite Muslim refugees to a camp in Saudi Arabia السعودية, in January and February personnel from the 166th Civil Engineering Squadron were also tasked with the 100% enlargement of the mortuary facility at Dover Air Force Base. Brig. Gen. Ernest Talbert served in combat zones in Southwest Asia as a C-130 pilot in support of Operation Desert Storm, on 11 Nov 2005 he became the first African-American general in the history of the Delaware National Guard. Upon his retirement as Chief of Staff, Headquarters, Delaware Air National Guard on 11 Jan 2009, General Talbert has upheld his oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States and the Constitution of the State of Delaware against all enemies, foreign and domestic. The Delaware Air National Guard units returned on 31 May 1991, the Delaware Air National Guard was called upon again during the Afghanistan War. Its units have deployed to the Afghan region several times since 2001, col. Patrick Houtman received the Distinguished Flying Cross for taking evasive action at low altitude after a surface-to-air missile was launched against his C-130 aircraft. Col. Houtman was the first Delaware Air National Guard member to receive this decoration, col. Gregory Carr and Master Sgt
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District of Columbia Air National Guard
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The District of Columbia Air National Guard is a militia and Air Force reserve organization of the District of Columbia, United States of America. It is, along with the District of Columbia Army National Guard, as militia units, the units in the District of Columbia Air National Guard are not in United States Air Force chain of command unless federalized by the president. The District of Columbia Air National Guard is headquartered in Washington D. C. the District of Columbia Air National Guard is unique among the United States Air National Guard. Because Washington, D. C. lacks an Air Force installation with a runway, under the Total Force concept, District of Columbia Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. District of Columbia 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. It is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. The 121st Observation Squadron was ordered into service on 1 September 1941 as part of the buildup of the Army Air Corps prior to the United States entry into World War II. 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 modern DC ANG received federal recognition on 26 October 1946 as the 121st Fighter Squadron at Andrews Army Airfield, Maryland. It was equipped with F-51D Mustangs and its mission was the air defense of Washington, on 2 November 1946 the 113th Fighter Group was allotted by the National Guard Bureau, extended federal recognition and activated. The 121st was assigned to the 113th as its operational squadron, on February 1,1952, the 8205th Air Base Squadron was activated as part of the DC ANG. The units mission was to receive, maintain, and store equipment as well as provide trained personnel for the soon-to-be formed 231st Airways, however, the unit was discontinued on August 26,1952, when it merged with the 231st AACS. Under a variety of names, since 1986 the 231st Combat Communications Squadron, today, the District of Columbia Air National Guard primary mission is training of air combat and operational airlift crews for national defense. The 113th also provides a response force of fighters for the defense of the District of Columbia area 24/7. Members of the 113th also assist local and federal law enforcement agencies in combating trafficking in the District of Columbia on a case by case basis. After the September 11th,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, on 11 September 2001, the wing was given authorization for its pilots to shoot down threatening aircraft over Washington DC. During one of missions, on 11 May 2005 the squadron scrambled to intercept an aircraft that wandered into the no-fly zone around the White House. Customs officials had also scrambled a Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter, the Customs aircraft gave way when the F-16s arrived flew on the wing tips of the little plane
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Florida Air National Guard
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The Florida Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Florida and, as part of the air force militia of the United States, is part of the Air National Guard. On a state level, along with the Florida Army National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Florida Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. FL ANG units remain under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Florida though the office of the Florida Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. This jurisdictional model of answering to state, commonwealth or territorial governors applies to all Air National Guard units in all fifty states, Puerto Rico, Guam and the U. S. The Florida Air National Guard is headquartered at St. Francis Barracks, in St. Augustine, Florida ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. The 101 AOG is operationally-gained by Air Combat Command, the 114 SPCS is operationally gained by Air Force Space Command. The 202 RHS is operationally gained by Air Combat Command. S, armed services, other Department of Defense activities and combat support agencies, other U. S. Government agencies, and the state of Florida. The 290 JCSS is associated with the U. S, transportation Commands Joint Enabling Capabilities Command and the Joint Communications Support Element. As a USAF organization, the squadron is operationally gained by the Air Mobility Command, the 131 TF is operationally gained by the Air Force Weather Agency. The 159 WF is operationally gained by the Air Force Weather Agency 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. A National Guard Bureau document dated 16 March 1946, gave permission to request an Army Air Forces unit allotment. Months later, Florida accepted the 159th Fighter Squadron with a strength of 50 officers and 303 enlisted men. The unit was established at Imeson Airport in Jacksonville and Governor Millard F, caldwell formally accepted the unit on 30 August 1946. Full federal recognition of the unit was granted on 9 February 1947, in 1954, the 159th relinquished their F-51s for F-80 Shooting Stars and in 1956 upgraded again to F-86 Sabres. Both organizations remained operationally gained by the Air Defense Command and in 1960 transitioned to the F-102 Delta Dagger, in 1968, ADC was renamed Aerospace Defense Command and remained the 125 FIGs gaining command. That same year, the 125 FIG and its F-102 aircraft relocated from the soon-to-be closing Imeson Airport to a newly constructed military installation at the new Jacksonville International Airport and this was followed by another aircraft transition in 1974 to the F-106 Delta Dart. With the disestablishment of ADC in October 1979, operational claimancy of the 125 FIG was shifted to Tactical Air Command, the same year, the 125th also transitioned from the F-16 to the F-15 Eagle, the aircraft that it continues to fly today. The units initial mission was to train active duty and Air National Guard pilots to fly the F-15 Eagle in its F-15A/B and F-15C/D variants in the air dominance role
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Georgia Air National Guard
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The Georgia Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U. S. state of Georgia. It is, along with the Georgia Army National Guard, an element of the Georgia National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Georgia Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Georgia though the office of the Georgia Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States, the Georgia Air National Guard is headquartered in Atlanta, and its commander is Brigadier General Jesse Simmons. Under the Total Force concept, Georgia Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force, Georgia ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are operationally gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. The Georgia Air National Guard has 3,000 airmen and officers assigned to two flying wings and six geographically separated units throughout Georgia, Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center, Savannah IAP, Savannah Provide the most realistic training environment possible for today’s war fighter. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units, the Georgia Air National Guard origins date to 1 May 1948 with the establishment of the 128th Observation Squadron and is oldest unit of the Georgia Air National Guard. The squadron is a descendant organization of the World War I 840th Aero Squadron, the 840th was a non-flying Air Service support unit, formed in Texas. Deployed to England in May 1918, then serving in the area behind the Western Front in France as an aircraft repair squadron beginning in August. Remained in France after the November 1918 Armistice, returning to Langley Field, the 128th Observation Squadron was one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II. The 128th Observation Squadron was ordered into service on 15 September 1941 as part of the buildup of the Army Air Corps prior to the United States entry into World War II. 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 modern Georgia ANG received federal recognition on 20 August 1946 as the 128th Fighter Squadron at Marietta Army Airfield. The 128th was equipped with F-47N Thunderbolts, and its mission was the air defense of the state, also on 20 August, the 158th Fighter Squadron was activated at Chatam Army Airfield, Pooler, also equipped with F-47Hs. Also, on 20 August 1946, the 54th Fighter Wing at Marietta Army Airfield, the 54th Fighter Wing was a command and control organization for units in the Southeastern region of the United States. The 54th controlled Air National Guard units in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, on 9 September 1946, the 116th Fighter Group, also at Marietta AAF was activated, becoming an intermediate Command and Control organization for the 54th FW. The 1166th assumed control of both the 128th and 158th Fighter Squadrons, at the end of October 1950, the Air National Guard converted to the wing-base Hobson Plan organization. As a result, the wing was withdrawn from the Georgia ANG and was inactivated on 31 October 1950, the 116th Fighter Wing was federalized on 10 October 1950 due to the Korean War
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Guam Air National Guard
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The Guam Air National Guard is the air force militia of Guam, an Unincorporated Territory of the United States of America. It is, along with the Guam Army National Guard, an element of the Guam National Guard, as territorial militia units, the units in the Guam Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Guam though the office of the Guam Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Guam Air National Guard is headquartered at Andersen Air Force Base, under the Total Force concept, Guam Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Guam ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. Territorial missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. The Guam Air National Guard has a strength of about 450 women and men and this article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, //www. afhra. af. mil/
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Hawaii Air National Guard
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The Hawaii Air National Guard is the air force militia of the State of Hawaii, United States of America. It is, along with the Hawaii Army National Guard, an element of the Hawaii National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Hawaii Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Hawaii through the office of the Hawaii Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Hawaii Air National Guard is headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Honolulu, under the Total Force concept, Hawaii Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Hawaii 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. It is a unit with the USAF Pacific Air Forces 15th Wing. The 154th is a wing, consisting of Air Supremacy, Airlift, Radar. 109th Air Operations Group Co-located with the 613th AOC at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii Region Air Operations Center Located at Wheeler Army Airfield. Air defense of the Hawaiian island chain, 169th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron Stationed at Joint Surveillance System station H-01, ARSR-4 Radar, Joint-use site between HI ANG and FAA. 21°30′27″N 158°08′31″W 150th Aircraft Control and Warning Flight 169 ACWS OL-AA Located atop Mount Kokee, designated as Joint Surveillance System station H-02, AN/FPS-117v4 Radar, Joint-use site between HI ANG and FAA. 22°08′52″N 159°38′42″W The Hawaii Territory Air National Guard was formed as the 199th Fighter Squadron, the territory had been allocated the World War II 463d Fighter Squadron on 24 April, the 469th having served in China as part of Fourteenth Air Force during World War II. The 198th Fighter Squadron was bestowed the lineage, history, honors, the squadron was equipped with F-47N Thunderbolts and was operationally gained by Seventh Air Force. Its mission was the air defense of Hawaii, Bellows Field, which was attacked during the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Oahu, was excess after World War II ended, and it served as home for the Hawaii Air National Guard. In 1947, the costs to operate Bellows as an active Air National Guard station led the Territorial government to negotiate with the Army about its future. The Army indicated that it wanted to retain the field in a commissioned status, the Army offered the Aviation Unit of the Hawaiian National Guard joint use of the field provided all maintenance was assumed by the Guard. A settlement was reached to move the 199th to Hickam Field, other HI ANG units perform air defense radar, combat communications and air operations missions. After the September 11th,2001 terrorist attacks on the United States, also, Hawaii 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
United States
Arkansas
Air National Guard
