1.
United States
–
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.
United States Air Force
–
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
3.
Pacific Air Forces
–
Pacific Air Forces is a Major Command of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Pacific Command. The mission of Pacific Air Forces is to provide air and space power to promote U. S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region during peacetime, through crisis. PACAF comprises three numbered Air Forces, nine main bases and nearly 375 aircraft. The commands area of responsibility extends from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of Asia and from the Arctic to the Antarctic, the area is home to nearly two billion people who live in 44 countries. Not to be confused with Far East Air Force, the military organization of the United States Army in the Philippine Islands from 1941 to 1942. The beginnings of PACAF can be traced back to June 1944, Far East Air Forces was activated on 3 August 1944, at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. FEAF had actually created on 15 June 1944, and Fifth Air Force assigned to it. FEAF was subordinate to the U. S. Army Forces Far East, the creation of FEAF consolidated the command and control authority over United States Army Air Forces units widely deployed throughout the southwest Pacific in World War II. A realignment of forces was needed by the USAAF to better organize its forces in the Pacific for peacetime. Shortly afterwards, Eighth Air Force was reassigned to the newly established Strategic Air Command on 7 June 1946, the major mission of PACUSA in the postwar years was occupation duty in Japan and the demilitarization of the Japanese society in conjunction with the United States Army. In addition, PACUSA helped to support atomic bomb testing in the Pacific Proving Grounds beginning with the Operation Crossroads test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946. With the impending establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service later that year, on that same date, Seventh Air Force in Hawaii was inactivated with its organization absorbed by HQ, FEAF. On 25 June 1950, the forces of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea invaded South Korea. On 27 June, the United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion, president Harry Truman authorized General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to commit units to the battle. MacArthur ordered General George E. Stratemeyer, CIC of FEAF, despite the post-World War II demobilization of United States armed forces, the U. S. Air Force still had substantial forces in the Pacific to oppose the North Korean military. Support units were equipped with the Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo aircraft and the Boeing RB-17 Flying Fortress, the 512th and 514th Weather Reconnaissance Squadrons of the 2143d Air Weather Wing were located at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. On 29 June 1950, the unit began flying missions over the Korean Peninsula in their RB-29 Superfortresses to provide FEAF Bomber Command with target. Eventually, these USAF F-86 units would establish a kill ratio of 10,1 versus their KPAF adversaries, during the Korean War FEAFs Fifth Air Force was the main United Nations combat air command until the Korean Armistice Agreement ended the combat 1953
4.
Eielson Air Force Base
–
Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska. It was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field and taken off deployment in 2007 and it has been a Superfund site since 1989. Its host unit is the 354th Fighter Wing assigned to the Eleventh Air Force of the Pacific Air Forces, Eielson AFB was named in honor of polar pilot Carl Ben Eielson. The 354 FW is currently commanded by Colonel David A. Mineau, until 2007, Eielson was a front line base, deploying fighter and bomber units around the world and providing for the defense of Alaska. Because of BRAC2005 the base went off deployment status in 2007 and these exercises are conducted on the Joint Pacific Alaskan Range complex with air operations flown out of the two bases. Alaskas size enables the military to have the largest air-ground training complex in America, Eielson is home to the 354th Fighter Wing which is part of the Eleventh Air Force of Pacific Air Forces. The 354th Fighter Wing mission is To train, deliver, maintain and support combat power across the globe while taking care of our people, their families and our infrastructure. To accomplish that mission, the wing implements flying operations, mission support, maintenance,460, Air Force Technical Applications Center Arctic Survival School, Det. 632, Air Force Office of Special Investigations Det,1, 210th Rescue Squadron On 7 June 1943, the Western Defense Command ordered construction of a new airfield near present-day Fort Wainwright, then an Army airfield named after Major Arthur K. Ladd. The field became known as Mile 26 because of its proximity to a US Army Signal Corps telegraph station, a month later, contractors and civilian crews from Ladd Field started laying out the new airfield. Actual construction began on 25 August 1943, crews built two parallel runways,165 feet across and 6,625 feet long. Other facilities included a building, housing for 108 officer and 330 enlisted personnel. The garrison and airfield totaled about 600 acres, completed on 17 October 1944, the 14-month project cost about eight-million dollars. Operational uses of Mile 26 were few, Ladd Field served as the debarkation point for the Alaska-Siberia Ferry Route of the lend-lease program and was the hub of activity. Lend-lease aircraft would land at Mile 26, but there are no records to indicate any lend-lease aircraft ever used the airfield to take off for Russia. Mile 26 closed when the war ended, the base reopened in September 1946, once again as a satellite of Ladd Field. The first USAAF operational unit assigned to Eielson was the 57th Fighter Group, equipped successively with P-38 Lightnings, P/F-51 Mustangs, F-80 Shooting Stars, the 57th FG was inactivated on 13 April 1953. On 1 December 1947 Strategic Air Command B-29 Superfortress bombers arrived at Mile 26 Field with the deployment of the 97th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, from Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas
5.
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
–
The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is a military award of the United States Armed Forces, which was first created in 1961 by Executive Order of President John Kennedy. The medal is awarded to members of the U. S. Armed Forces who, after July 1,1958, participated in U. S. military operations, U. S. operations in support of the United Nations. The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is issued as a bronze medal, on the reverse side of the medal is the shield from the United States Coat of Arms above two laurel branches separated by a bullet, all within the circumscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Ribbon devices The bronze service star is authorized for participation in subsequent U. S, military operations authorized for award of the AFEM. A silver service star is worn in lieu of five bronze service stars, the arrowhead device is authorized for United States Army personnel who are awarded the medal through participation in an airborne or amphibious assault. The Fleet Marine Force combat operation insignia is authorized for U. S. Navy service members assigned to Marine Corps units that participate in combat during the assignment. The medal shall be awarded only for operations for which no other U. S. campaign medal is approved, since its original conception in 1961, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal has been awarded for United States participation in over forty five designated military campaigns. The first campaign of the AFEM was the Cuban Missile Crisis, during the early years of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was issued for initial operations in South Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. The Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was intended to replace the Marine Corps Expeditionary Medal, in 1965, with the creation of the Vietnam Service Medal, the AFEM was discontinued for Vietnam War service. Because of these awards during the Vietnam war period, some personnel have been awarded both the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal & the Vietnam Service Medal. In 2003, with the creation of the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal, the AFEM was discontinued for Iraq, Saudi Arabia, after 18 March 2003, some personnel became eligible for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, as well as the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Beginning in 1992 an effort was begun to phase out the AFEM in favor of campaign specific medals, the primary difference between the two is that the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal is normally awarded for combat operations and combat support missions. After the close of the Vietnam War, the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal was issued for military operations in Panama, Grenada. The medal is authorized for several United Nations actions, such as peacekeeping efforts in Somalia. The medal is authorized for NATO peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Croatia. The AFEM has been issued for numerous operations in the Persian Gulf, most notably Operation Earnest Will, similar awards of the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, The Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal. Similar in nature to the AFEM, the GWOTEM is awarded for deploying abroad on or after Sept.11,2001, Service stars are also authorized for the Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal effective February 9,2015 retroactive to September,11,2001
6.
1958 Lebanon crisis
–
The 1958 Lebanon crisis was a Lebanese political crisis caused by political and religious tensions in the country that included a U. S. military intervention. The intervention lasted around three months until President Camille Chamoun, who had requested the assistance, completed his term as president of Lebanon, American and Lebanese government forces successfully occupied the port and international airport of Beirut. With the crisis over, the United States withdrew, in July 1958, Lebanon was threatened by a civil war between Maronite Christians and Muslims. These tensions were further increased when Chamoun showed closeness to the Baghdad Pact, Nasser felt that the pro-western Baghdad Pact posed a threat to Arab nationalism. As a response, Egypt and Syria united into the United Arab Republic, Lebanese Sunni Prime Minister Rashid Karami supported Nasser in 1956 and 1958. Karami formed a national government after the 1958 crisis ended. Lebanese Muslims pushed the government to join the newly created United Arab Republic, a Muslim rebellion that was allegedly supplied with arms by the UAR through Syria caused President Chamoun to complain to the United Nations Security Council. The United Nations sent a group of inspectors that reported that it didnt find any evidence of significant intervention from the UAR, the toppling of a pro-Western government in Iraqs 14 July Revolution, along with the internal instability, caused President Chamoun to call for American assistance. U. S. President Eisenhower responded by authorizing Operation Blue Bat on July 15,1958 and this was the first application of the Eisenhower Doctrine under which the U. S. announced that it would intervene to protect regimes it considered threatened by international communism. The goal of the operation was to bolster the pro-Western Lebanese government of President Camille Chamoun against internal opposition and threats from Syria and Egypt. The plan was to occupy and secure the Beirut International Airport, at the end of June Essex and Boston were anchored at Piraeus, Greece, while Des Moines, from which Vice Admiral Charles R. Brown was flying his flag, was at Villefranche-sur-Mer. Land forces included the 2nd Provisional Marine Force and the Army Task Force 201 at the tactical level. On July 16,1958, Admiral James L. Holloway, Jr. CINCNELM and CINCSPECCOMME, flew in from London to Beirut airport and boarded USS Taconic, the U. S. withdrew its forces on October 25,1958. President Eisenhower sent diplomat Robert D. Murphy to Lebanon as his personal representative, multinational Force in Lebanon Lebanese Civil War Mountain War Mohammed Shafi Agwani, The Lebanese Crisis,1958, A Documentary Study,1965. Erika G. Alin, The United States and the 1958 Lebanon Crisis, pierrick el Gammal, Politique intérieure et politique extérieure au Liban de 1958 à1961 de Camille Chamoun à Fouad Chehab, Sorbonne University,1991. Irene L. Gendzier, Notes from the Minefield, United States Intervention in Lebanon, Intervention in Lebanon, 1958–1982, presidential decisionmaking,1991. Nawaf Salam, L’insurrection de 1958 au Liban, Sorbonne University,1979, United States Army Center of Military History. Historical Manuscript Collection 2–3.7 AC. F Tab D. Archived from the original on 12 June 2010, the Lebanese Crisis of 1958, The Risks of Inflated Self-Importance
7.
Berlin Crisis of 1961
–
The Berlin Crisis of 1961 was the last major politico-military European incident of the Cold War about the occupational status of the German capital city, Berlin, and of post–World War II Germany. The 22nd Congress of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union—the last to be attended by the Communist Party of China—was held in Moscow during the crisis. After the Soviet occupation of Eastern Europe at the end of World War II, some of those living in the acquired areas of the Eastern Bloc aspired to independence. Between 1945 and 1950, over 15 million people emigrated from Soviet-occupied Eastern European countries to the West. Taking advantage of this route, the number of Eastern Europeans applying for asylum in West Germany was 197,000 in 1950,165,000 in 1951,182,000 in 1952 and 331,000 in 1953. By the early 1950s, the Soviet approach to controlling national movement, restricting emigration, was emulated by most of the rest of the Eastern Bloc, up until 1953, the lines between East Germany and the western occupied zones could be easily crossed in most places. Consequently, the Inner German border between the two German states was closed, and a fence erected. When large numbers of East Germans then defected under the guise of visits, accordingly, Berlin became the main route by which East Germans left for the West. The Berlin sector border was essentially a loophole through which Eastern Bloc citizens could still escape, the 4.5 million East Germans that had left by 1961 totaled approximately 20% of the entire East German population. The loss was disproportionately heavy among professionals—engineers, technicians, physicians, teachers, lawyers, in November 1958, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev issued the Western powers an ultimatum to withdraw from Berlin within six months and make it a free, demilitarised city. In response, the United States, United Kingdom, and France clearly expressed their determination to remain in. With tensions mounting, the United States, United Kingdom and France formed a group with orders to plan for an eventual response to any aggression on West Berlin. The planning group was named LIVE OAK, and staff from the three countries prepared land and air plans to access to and from West Berlin. The Soviet Union withdrew its deadline in May 1959, and the ministers of the four countries spent three months meeting. Eisenhower and Khrushchev had a few together at the US presidential retreat Camp David. There was nothing more inadvisable in this situation, said Eisenhower, than to talk about ultimatums, Khrushchev responded that he did not understand how a peace treaty could be regarded by the American people as a threat to peace. Eisenhower admitted that the situation in Berlin was abnormal and that human affairs got very badly tangled at times, Khrushchev came away with the impression that a deal was possible over Berlin, and they agreed to continue the dialogue at a summit in Paris in May 1960. However, the Paris Summit that was to resolve the Berlin question was cancelled in the fallout from Gary Powerss failed U-2 spy flight on 1 May 1960
8.
Cuban Missile Crisis
–
The confrontation is often considered the closest the Cold War came to escalating into a full-scale nuclear war. An agreement was reached during a meeting between Khrushchev and Fidel Castro in July 1962 and construction of a number of missile launch facilities started later that summer. The 1962 midterm elections were under way in the United States and these missile preparations were confirmed when an Air Force U-2 spy plane produced clear photographic evidence of medium-range and intermediate-range ballistic missile facilities. The United States established a blockade to prevent further missiles from reaching Cuba. It announced that they would not permit offensive weapons to be delivered to Cuba, after a long period of tense negotiations, an agreement was reached between U. S. President John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev. Secretly, the United States also agreed that it would dismantle all U. S. -built Jupiter MRBMs, when all offensive missiles and Ilyushin Il-28 light bombers had been withdrawn from Cuba, the blockade was formally ended on November 20,1962. The negotiations between the United States and the Soviet Union pointed out the necessity of a quick, clear, as a result, the Moscow–Washington hotline was established. A series of sharply reduced U. S. –Soviet tensions during the following years. The United States had been embarrassed publicly by the failed Bay of Pigs Invasion in April 1961, afterward, former President Eisenhower told Kennedy that the failure of the Bay of Pigs will embolden the Soviets to do something that they would otherwise not do. U. S. covert operations against Cuba continued in 1961 with the similarly unsuccessful Operation Mongoose, in addition, Khrushchevs impression of Kennedys weakness was confirmed by the Presidents response during the Berlin Crisis of 1961, particularly to the building of the Berlin Wall. He also told his son Sergei that on Cuba, Kennedy would make a fuss, make more of a fuss, CIA agents or pathfinders from the Special Activities Division were to be infiltrated into Cuba to carry out sabotage and organization, including radio broadcasts. When Kennedy ran for president in 1960, one of his key election issues was a missile gap with the Soviets leading. In fact, the U. S. led the Soviets by a margin that would only increase. In 1961, the Soviets had only four intercontinental ballistic missiles, by October 1962, they may have had a few dozen, with some intelligence estimates as high as 75. The U. S. on the hand, had 170 ICBMs and was quickly building more. It also had eight George Washington– and Ethan Allen–class ballistic missile submarines with the capability to launch 16 Polaris missiles each, the Soviet Union did have medium-range ballistic missiles in quantity, about 700 of them, however, these were very unreliable and inaccurate. The U. S. had an advantage in total number of nuclear warheads at the time. The U. S. also led in missile defensive capabilities, naval and air power, Khrushchev faced a strategic situation where the U. S. was perceived to have a splendid first strike capability that put the Soviet Union at a huge disadvantage
9.
Dominican Civil War
–
The Dominican Civil War took place between April 24,1965, and September 3,1965, in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. It started when civilian and military supporters of constitutionally elected former President Juan Bosch overthrew acting President Donald Reid Cabral, allegations of foreign support for the rebels led to a US military intervention in the conflict, which later transformed into an Organization of American States occupation of the country. Elections were held in 1966, in the aftermath of which Joaquín Balaguer was elected into the presidential seat, later in the same year international troops departed from the country. On 19 November 1911, General Luis Tejera led a group of conspirators in an ambush on the carriage of Dominican President Ramón Cáceres. During the shootout, Cáceres was killed and Tejera wounded in the leg, in the ensuing power vacuum, General Alfredo Victoria, commander of the army, seized control and forced the Congress to elect his uncle, Eladio Victoria, as the new president. The general was widely suspected of bribing the Congress, and his uncle, the former president Horacio Vásquez soon returned from exile to lead his followers, the horacistas, in a popular uprising against the new government. The result was several years of political instability and civil war. U. S. mediation by the William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson administrations achieved only a short respite each time, a political deadlock in 1914 was broken after an ultimatum by Wilson telling Dominicans to choose a president or see the U. S. impose one. A provisional president was chosen, and later the same year relatively free elections put former president Juan Isidro Jimenes Pereyra back in power, to achieve a more broadly supported government, Jimenes named opposition individuals to his Cabinet. But this brought no peace and, with his former Secretary of War Desiderio Arias maneuvering to depose him and despite a U. S. offer of military aid against Arias, Wilson thus ordered the U. S. occupation of the Dominican Republic. Marines landed on May 16,1916, and had control of the two months later. The occupation regime kept most Dominican laws and institutions and largely pacified the general population, vigorous opposition to the occupation continued, nevertheless, and after World War I it increased in the U. S. as well. There, President Warren G. Harding, Wilsons successor, worked to put an end to the occupation, the U. S. governments rule ended in October 1922, and elections were held in March 1924. The victor was former president Horacio Vásquez Lajara, who had cooperated with the U. S and he was inaugurated on July 13, and the last U. S. forces left in September. Vásquez gave the six years of stable governance, in which political and civil rights were respected. A rebellion against President Horacio Vásquez broke out in February 1930 in Santiago, Rafael Trujillo secretly cut a deal with rebel leader Rafael Estrella Ureña, in return for Trujillo letting Estrella take power, Estrella would allow Trujillo to run for president in new elections. As the rebels marched toward Santo Domingo, Vásquez ordered Trujillo to suppress them, however, feigning neutrality, Trujillo kept his men in barracks, allowing Estrellas rebels to take the capital virtually unopposed. On March 3, Estrella was proclaimed acting president, with Trujillo confirmed as head of the police, as per their agreement, Trujillo became the presidential nominee of the newly formed Patriotic Coalition of Citizens, with Estrella as his running mate
10.
Vietnam War
–
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
11.
Gulf War
–
The Iraqi Armys occupation of Kuwait that began 2 August 1990 was met with international condemnation, and brought immediate economic sanctions against Iraq by members of the UN Security Council. US President George H. W. Bush deployed US forces into Saudi Arabia, an array of nations joined the coalition, the largest military alliance since World War II. The great majority of the military forces were from the US, with Saudi Arabia, the United Kingdom. Kuwait and Saudi Arabia paid around US$32 billion of the US$60 billion cost, the war was marked by the introduction of live news broadcasts from the front lines of the battle, principally by the US network CNN. The war has also earned the nickname Video Game War after the daily broadcast of images from cameras on board US bombers during Operation Desert Storm. The initial conflict to expel Iraqi troops from Kuwait began with an aerial and naval bombardment on 17 January 1991 and this was followed by a ground assault on 24 February. This was a victory for the coalition forces, who liberated Kuwait. The coalition ceased its advance, and declared a ceasefire 100 hours after the campaign started. Aerial and ground combat was confined to Iraq, Kuwait, Iraq launched Scud missiles against coalition military targets in Saudi Arabia and against Israel. The following names have been used to describe the conflict itself, Gulf War, a problem with these terms is that the usage is ambiguous, having now been applied to at least three conflicts, see Gulf War. The use of the term Persian Gulf is also disputed, see Persian Gulf naming dispute, with no consensus of naming, various publications have attempted to refine the name. Other language terms include French, la Guerre du Golfe and German, Golfkrieg, German, Zweiter Golfkrieg, French, most of the coalition states used various names for their operations and the wars operational phases. Operation Desert Storm was the US name of the conflict from 17 January 1991. Operation Desert Sabre was the US name for the offensive against the Iraqi Army in the Kuwaiti Theater of Operations from 24–28 February 1991, in itself. Operation Desert Farewell was the given to the return of US units and equipment to the US in 1991 after Kuwaits liberation. Operation Granby was the British name for British military activities during the operations, Opération Daguet was the French name for French military activities in the conflict. Operation Friction was the name of the Canadian operations Operazione Locusta was the Italian name for the operations, in addition, various phases of each operation may have a unique operational name. The US divided the conflict into three campaigns, Defense of Saudi Arabian country for the period 2 August 1990, through 16 January 1991
12.
Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
–
The unit with the most Presidential Unit Citations is the USS Parche with 9 citations. The Army citation was established by Executive Order 9075 on 26 February 1942, superseded by Executive Order 9396 on Dec.2,1943, as with other Army unit citations, the PUC is in a larger frame than other ribbons, and is worn above the right pocket. All members of the unit may wear the decoration, whether or not they participated in the acts for which the unit was cited. Only those assigned to the unit at the time of the action cited may wear the decoration as a permanent award, for both the Army and Air Force, the emblem is a solid blue ribbon enclosed in a gold frame. The Air Force PUC was adopted from the Army Distinguished Unit Citation after the Air Force became a military branch in 1947. By Executive Order 10694, dated Jan,10,1957 the Air Force redesignated the Distinguished Unit Citation as the Presidential Unit Citation. The Air Force PUC is the color and design as the Army PUC but slightly smaller. The Citation is carried on the units colors in the form of a blue streamer,4 ft long and 2.75 in wide. For the Army, only on rare occasions will a larger than battalion qualify for award of this decoration. The Navy citation was established by Executive Order 9050 on 6 February 1942, the Navy version has blue, yellow, and red horizontal stripes, and is the only Navy ribbon having horizontal stripes. These are only worn by persons who meet the criteria at the time it is awarded to the unit, unlike the Army, those who later join the unit do not wear it on a temporary basis. The current decoration is known as the Department of Homeland Security Presidential Unit Citation. A Coast Guard version of the award was awarded to all U. S. Coast Guard and Coast Guard Auxiliary personnel responding to Hurricane Katrina by President George W. Bush for rescue, the United States Public Health Service Presidential Citation was established in 2015. The design was finalized by the Army Institute of Heraldry on 17 August 2015, two units of the Free French Forces were awarded Presidential Unit Citations during World War II. On April 22,1986, the 1st Fighter Group Força Aérea Brasileira was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for its actions in the Po Valley region of Italy in World War II. The Brazilians, operating in Italy in support of Allied forces, destroyed in one day over 45 vehicles, strafed pontoon bridges on the River Po, eleven missions of 44 sorties were flown destroying nine motor transports and damaging 17. One Belgian-Luxembourgian battalion of the Belgian United Nations Command was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation once for actions during the Battle of the Imjin River, the Colombia Battalion received the citation while attached to the American 21st Infantry Regiment in 1951. One Dutch unit, the Netherlands Detachment United Nations, part of the Regiment Van Heutsz, was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation twice for actions during the Korean War, the first citation was awarded after the battle near Wonju and Hoengson in February 1951
13.
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
–
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
14.
Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)
–
The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross also known as the Vietnam Gallantry Cross or Vietnam Cross of Gallantry is a military decoration of the former Government of South Vietnam. Individuals who received the medal, ribbon, and a citation were personally cited at the Armed Forces, Corps, Division, the Republic of Vietnam authorized members of units and organizations that were cited, to wear the Gallantry Cross Unit Citation Emblem with Palm and Frame. The medal is gold in color,35 mm wide and it consists of a Celtic cross with two crossed swords between the arms. The cross is superimposed over a wreath, the center of the cross contains a disc with the outline of the country of Vietnam between two palm branches joined at the bottom. A scroll is on top of the map and is inscribed QUOC-GIA LAO-TUONG, the suspension ribbon of the medal is 35 mm wide and is made up of the following stripes,9 mm of Old Glory Red,17 mm center stripe in Golden Yellow. The center stripe has sixteen strands of Old Glory Red, and 9 mm of Old Glory Red, degrees The Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross was awarded in four degrees, with a basic medal followed by higher degrees which were the equivalent of personal citations on an organizational level. U. S. Marine Corps uniform regulations in 2003, state the recipient should wear only one Gallantry Cross award regardless of the number received, for multiple awards, wear as many authorized devices as will fit on one medal suspension ribbon or ribbon bar. Wear the devices for subsequent awards in order of seniority from the wearers right, the first palm is 1 7⁄16 inches on the suspension ribbon or 6⁄8 inch on the service ribbon. Subsequent palms are 6⁄8 inch on the ribbon or 3⁄8 inch on the service ribbon. Service versions The Gallantry Cross was awarded to members of all branches, as well as service members of foreign. The similarly named decorations were the Air Gallantry Cross and Navy Gallantry Cross and these decorations were awarded under a different authority, with different criteria, and were considered separate decorations. The former Republic of Vietnam Armed Forces awarded the Gallantry Cross to specific units that distinguished themselves to the same level as would be required for the individual award. Regulations for the issuance of the Vietnam Gallantry Cross permit the wearing of both the individual and unit award simultaneously since both are considered separate awards, the Gallantry Cross was awarded to every Allied nation which provided support to South Vietnam. The Gallantry Cross became the most commonly awarded Vietnamese decoration to foreigners, Fourragere The South Vietnamese military Fourragere in the colors of the Gallantry Cross represented a military unit cited two times. It was a brilliant golden-yellow, with red intermixed, Department of the Army message 111030Z from April 1974, established the policy that only one emblem for a unit award was authorized to be worn at a time. This change resulted in the fourragere being no longer authorized for wear, U. S. authorization Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation, U. S. Department of Defense, U. S. The United States military began authorizing the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross in March 1968 with retroactive presentation of the decoration to 1961, the full medal and or unit citation award are both considered foreign military awards and are not issued to Vietnam veterans by the NPRC. John Beal, film and television composer, was awarded the RVN Gallantry Cross with palm, george R. Christmas, USMC Lieutenant General who was awarded the RVN Gallantry Cross with palm
15.
Brigadier general
–
Brigadier general is a senior rank in the armed forces. It is the lowest ranking general officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of colonel and major general, when appointed to a field command, a brigadier general is typically in command of a brigade consisting of around 4,000 troops. In some countries a brigadier general is designated as a one-star general. The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a general, or simply a brigadier. An alternative rank of general was first used in the French revolutionary armies. Some countries, such as Brazil, Taiwan, and Japan, some of these countries then use the rank of colonel general to make four general-officer ranks. The naval equivalent is usually commodore and this gallery displays Air Force brigadier general insignia if they are different from the Army brigadier general insignia. Note that in many Commonwealth countries, the equivalent air force rank is Air Commodore, the rank of brigadier general is used in the Argentine Air Force. Unlike other armed forces of the World, the rank of general is actually the highest rank in the Air Force. This is due to the use of the rank of brigadier and its derivatives to designate all general officers in the Air Force, brigadier, brigadier-major, and brigadier-general. The rank of general is reserved for the Chief General Staff of the Air Force. The Argentine Army does not use the rank of brigadier-general, instead using brigade general which in turn is the lowest general officer before Divisional General, see also Argentine Army officer rank insignia. When posted elsewhere, the rank would be relinquished and the former rank resumed and this policy prevented an accumulation of high-ranking general officers brought about by the relatively high turnover of brigade commanders. Brigadier general was used as an honorary rank on retirement. The rank insignia was like that of the current major general, as in the United Kingdom, the rank was later replaced by brigadier. Prior to 2001, the Bangladesh Army rank was known as brigadier, in 2001 the Bangladesh Army introduced the rank of brigadier general, however the grade stayed equivalent to brigadier. It is the lowest ranking general officer, between the ranks of Colonel and Major General, Brigadier General is equivalent to commodore of the Bangladesh Navy and air commodore of the Bangladesh Air Force. It is still popularly called brigadier
16.
Ronald Keys
–
General Ronald Ellis Keys was Commander, Air Combat Command, with headquarters at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, and Air Component Commander for U. S. At the time, ACC operated more than 1,100 aircraft,25 wings,15 bases and more than 200 operating locations worldwide with 105,000 active-duty and civilian personnel. When mobilized, the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve contributed more than 800 aircraft and 75,000 people to Air Combat Command, as the Combat Air Forces lead agent, ACC develops strategy, doctrine, concepts, tactics and procedures for air and space power employment. The command provides conventional, nuclear and information warfare forces to all unified commands to ensure air, space and information superiority for warfighters, ACC can also be called upon to assist national agencies with intelligence, surveillance and crisis response capabilities. General Keys, a graduate of Kansas State Universitys ROTC program, was commissioned in 1967 and was an outstanding graduate of undergraduate pilot training. Prior to his current assignment, he was Deputy Chief of Staff for Air and Space Operations, Headquarters U. S. Air Force, Washington, in 2002, Keys was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Richard B. Myers choice to succeed Lieutenant General Gregory S. Newbold as director of operations for the Joint Staff, rumsfeld vetoed Keys appointment after two interviews, forcing Myers to select Lieutenant General Norton A. Schwartz instead. The failure of Keys nomination was subsequently recounted by senior officers as an illustration of strained civilian-military relations at the Pentagon under Rumsfelds leadership. General Keys is a pilot with more than 4,000 flying hours. General Keys retired November 1,2007,1988 Air War College, Maxwell AFB, Ala
17.
William D. Curry
–
Curry Jr was a retired United States Air Force officer. He was a pilot with over 6,500 flying hours, serving in World War II. General Curry was born in Minneapolis in 1926 and he entered the United States Army Air Forces from Marshalltown, Iowa, during World War II and served as a B-24 Liberator crew chief until entering the United States Military Academy. Upon graduation in 1950, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and he began his career during the Korean War flying in a combat tour in F-51 Mustangs. The years following Korea were spent as a pilot and in various operational assignments while serving with Tactical Air Command units until 1958. From 1959 to 1966, he served in the Strategic Air Command as a B-47 Stratojet aircraft commander, in 1966 General Curry returned to the fighter business and joined the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing at Da Nang Air Base, Republic of Vietnam, in 1968. While there he flew a combat tour as an F-4 Phantom II squadron commander, a second Southeast Asia combat tour was completed in 1973. During this tour he served as commander of the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing and he was promoted to the grade of brigadier general July 1,1975, with date of rank June 27,1975. His last command was as Commander, Defense General Supply Center, Defense Logistics Agency, in Richmond and he retired from active duty on 1 August 1980. General Curry lived in the Richmond, Virginia area after his retirement and he continued to serve his community after his retirement as a charter member and president of the Brandermill Rotary Club in Richmond, VA, and a Board member of the Richmond United Way. He valued his associations working in roles with the Rotary Club, the Air Force Association. He was the Chairman for the Disaster Services to the Red Cross of Virginia and was a Consultant to the American Red Cross in Washington, DC, providing disaster services and logistical support. He was able to use his skills and knowledge as well as his gifts and talents to support families devastated by natural disasters, General Curry died in April 2013 in Williamsburg, Virginia, and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery, Virginia. He was a pilot with 6,500 flying hours. USAF Biography Page at Archive. is This article incorporates public domain material from the United States Air Force website http, //www. af. mil
18.
Gabby Gabreski
–
Francis Stanley Gabby Gabreski was a career officer and pilot in the United States Air Force, retiring as a colonel with 26 years of military service. He was the top American and U. S. Army Air Forces fighter ace over Europe in World War II, after two and a half years, he resigned under pressure and went into full retirement. Gabreskis official Air Force biography states, Gabreskis parents had emigrated from Poland to Oil City, Pennsylvania and his father owned and operated a market, putting in 12-hour days. As in many other immigrant-owned businesses in those days, the family worked at the market. But Gabreskis parents had dreams for him, including attending the Notre Dame University and he did so in 1938, but, unprepared for real academic work, almost failed during his freshman year. During his first year at Notre Dame, Gabreski developed an interest in flying and he took lessons in a Taylor Cub and accumulated six hours of flight time. However, his autobiography indicates, he struggled to fly smoothly and did not solo, at the start of his second year at Notre Dame, Gabreski enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps, volunteering as an aviation cadet. After his induction into the U. S. Army at Pittsburgh, he undertook primary flight training at Parks Air College, near East St. Louis, Illinois, Gabreski was a mediocre trainee and was forced to pass an elimination check ride during primary to continue training. He advanced to flight training at Gunter Army Air Base, Alabama, in the Vultee BT-13 and completed advanced training at Maxwell Field, Alabama. Gabreski earned his wings and his commission as a lieutenant in the Air Corps in March 1941. He met his wife, Catherine Kay Cochran, in Hawaii. During that action, Gabreski joined several members of his squadron in flying P-36 fighters in an attempt to intercept the attackers, but the Japanese had withdrawn. During the spring and summer of 1942, Gabreski remained with the 45th, training in newer model P-40s and he closely followed reports on the Battle of Britain and the role played in it by Polish RAF squadrons, especially by the legendary No.303 Polish Fighter Squadron. He became concerned that the US did not have many experienced fighter pilots, the idea was approved, and he left Hawaii for Washington, D. C. in September 1942, where he was promoted to captain. In October, Gabreski reported to the Eighth Air Forces VIII Fighter Command in England, after a lengthy period of inactivity, he tried to arrange duty with 303 Squadron, but that unit had been taken out of action for a period of rest. Instead, he was posted to No.315 Squadron at RAF Northolt in January 1943, Gabreski flew the new Supermarine Spitfire Mark IX, flying patrol sweeps over the Channel. He first encountered Luftwaffe opposition on February 3, when a group of Focke-Wulf Fw 190s jumped his squadron, too excited to make a kill, Gabreski learned that he had to keep calm during a mission, a lesson that served him well later in the war. He later spoke with great esteem about the Polish pilots and the lessons they taught him, in all, Gabreski flew 20 missions with the Poles, engaging in combat once
19.
Eleventh Air Force
–
The Eleventh Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. It is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska, established on 28 December 1941 as the Alaskan Air Force at Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory. Re-designated as Alaskan Air Command in late 1945, the organization responsible for the atmospheric defense of Alaska during the Cold War. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the organization was realigned under PACAF in 1990 and this mission is accomplished largely through the 611th Air and Space Operations Center, the 611th Air Support Group, and units of the Alaska Air National Guard. Together, they provide a network of air surveillance and command, control and communications functions necessary to perform tactical warning. 3d Wing The 3d Wing is a United States Air Force unit stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson and its mission is to support and defend U. S. 354th Fighter Wing The 354th Fighter Wing is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The wings mission is to train and provide F-16C and Expeditionary Combat Support forces to combatant commanders anytime, anyplace, as the United States Air Force’s most northern operational wing, the 354th Fighter Wing also hosts Air Education and Training Command’s Arctic Survival School. The 11th Air Force has two units that are gained upon their activation. These units are part of the Alaska Air National Guard, 168th Air Refueling Wing The 168th Air Refueling Wing is an Air National Guard stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and flies the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker. The 168th also has taken over the defense mission at Clear Air Force Station with their 213th Space Warning Squadron. 176th Wing The 176th Wing is an Air National Guard unit operating out of Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, military aircraft began flying in Alaska in 1920 when the Black Wolf Squadron were flown from Mitchel Field, New York arrived at Nome on 24 August. The DeHavilland DH-4s had a profile of a Wolfs head painted on their sides. The aircraft flew up though British Columbia and stopped at Fairbanks on the way to Nome, in 1924, the around the world flight by the Army using Douglas World Cruisers also transited though Alaska. To coordinate air activities there, the Alaskan Defense Command established the Air Field Forces, thus was begun the construction of Elmendorf Field, primary fourth-echelon base for all future Eleventh Air Force operations. Construction of the airfield began on 8 June when 25 locally hired men began clearing brush, the first troops of the Alaskan Air Force advance echelon to arrive in Alaska included a six-year-old Martin B-10 on 12 August 1940. On 12 December the Army designated the base Fort Richardson and flying field Elmendorf Field, the first Air Corps unit to be assigned to Alaska was the 18th Pursuit Squadron, which transferred to Elmendorf from Hamilton Army Airfield, California on 21 February 1941 with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. The 23d Air Base Group was assigned shortly afterwards to provide base support, the 36th Bombardment Squadron arrived less than a month later from Lowry Field, Colorado, equipped with Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers. A major problem was the training of personnel and the preparing of equipment for operation in the cold Alaskan climate, mechanical things showed unusual behavior at 40 degrees below zero
20.
343d Wing
–
The 343d Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with Pacific Air Forces at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, the unit was formed at Eielson as the 343d Composite Wing and activated in October 1981 to replace the 5010th Combat Support Group. It operated both fighter and forward air control aircraft and it added a fourth squadron the following month and participated in the Aleutian Islands Campaign through the fall of 1943. After combat ceased in Alaska, the continued to fly patrols. The 343d inactivated in August 1946, when its personnel and equipment were transferred to the 57th Fighter Group, in 1957, a group pilot earned the Bendix Trophy, flying a Convair F-102 Delta Dagger. During the Cuban Missile Crisis the group dispersed its interceptor aircraft, the 343d continued to provide air defense of the north central United States until it was inactivated in August 1970. In 1981, the air defense units were transferred to Alaskan Air Command. The 343d Fighter Group was activated at Elmendorf Field, Alaska on 3 September 1942, all three squadrons had been assigned directly to XI Fighter Command. As soon as it was organized the 343d moved forward to Umnak Island in the Aleutians, in October 1942, a third P-40 squadron, the 344th Fighter Squadron, was activated at Elmendorf Field and assigned to the group. The two squadrons stationed on the mainland soon moved to the Aleutians, the 18th Squadron joined the 54th at Adak in November, although all its squadrons were operating in the Aleutians, group headquarters returned to Elmendorf in December 1942. This relocation was brief, however, and headquarters returned to the Aleutians the following March, the group provided air defense for the Aleutian Islands. It bombed and strafed Japanese camps, antiaircraft emplacements, hangars, the group escorted bombers that struck enemy airfields, harbor facilities, and shipping. It flew its last combat mission in October 1943, but carried out patrol, the 343d later trained, carried mail, and served as part of the defense force for Alaska. In 1943, the 11th and 18th Fighter Squadrons began flying P-38s in addition to their P-40s and it was not until 1945 that all four squadrons lost their last P-40s and the group became an all-Lightning unit. In 1945, the group and three of its squadrons were united at Shemya Army Air Base, at the end of the Aleutian chain. Early in 1945 the 54th Squadron began to fly special high-altitude missions designed to intercept Japanese fire balloons drifting toward the United States on the jet stream. These weapons were launched from the Japanese home islands into the atmosphere to carry incendiary charges which would be released onto the United States. The balloons flight path crossed the Aleutians, where American planes had the first chance to shoot them down, the airfield at Alexai Point was directly in the flight path of the balloons, which passed overhead at between 30,000 to 37,000 feet
21.
Aleutian Islands Campaign
–
The islands strategic value was their ability to control Pacific transportation routes, which is why U. S. General Billy Mitchell stated to the U. S. Congress in 1935, I believe that in the future, I think it is the most important strategic place in the world. The Japanese reasoned that control of the Aleutians would prevent a possible U. S. attack across the Northern Pacific, similarly, the U. S. feared that the islands would be used as bases from which to launch aerial assaults against the West Coast. A battle to reclaim Attu was launched on May 11,1943, on 15 August 1943, an invasion force landed on Kiska in the wake of a sustained three-week barrage, only to discover that the Japanese had withdrawn from the island on July 29. The campaign is known as the Forgotten Battle, due to its being overshadowed by the simultaneous Guadalcanal Campaign, in the past, many Western military historians believed it was a diversionary or feint attack during the Battle of Midway, meant to draw out the U. S. Pacific Fleet from Midway Atoll, as it was launched simultaneously under the same commander, before Japan entered World War II, its Navy had gathered extensive information about the Aleutians, but it had no up-to-date information regarding military developments on the islands. With that force, Hosogaya was first to launch an air attack against Dutch Harbor, Hosogaya was instructed to destroy whatever American forces and facilities were found on Adak—the Japanese did not know the island was undefended. The naval commander was Rear Admiral Robert A. Theobald, commanding Task Force 8 afloat, Task Force 8 consisted of five cruisers, thirteen destroyers, three tankers, six submarines, as well as naval aviation elements of Fleet Air Wing Four. Once the enemy planes were removed, Naval Task Force 8 would engage the enemy fleet, on the afternoon of 2 June, a naval patrol plane spotted the approaching Japanese fleet, reporting its location as 800 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor. Eleventh Air Force was placed on full alert, shortly thereafter bad weather set in, and no further sightings of the fleet were made that day. Making use of cover, the Japanese first raided the naval base at Dutch Harbor on June 3,1942. The striking force was composed of Nakajima B5N2 Kate torpedo bombers from the carriers Junyō, however, only half of the striking force reached their objective. The rest either became lost in the fog and darkness and crashed into the sea or returned to their carriers, seventeen Japanese planes found the naval base, the first arriving at 05,45. Startled by the American response, the Japanese quickly released their bombs, made a strafing run. As a result, they did damage to the base. On June 4, the Japanese returned to Dutch Harbor and this time the Japanese pilots were better organized and prepared. When the attack ended that afternoon Dutch Harbor oil storage tanks were burning, the partly demolished. However, the weather in turn caused the Japanese to cancel plans to invade Adak with 1,200 men
22.
18th Aggressor Squadron
–
The 18th Aggressor Squadron is a subordinate unit of the 354th Fighter Wing based at Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska, and flies the Block 30 General Dynamics F-16C/D aircraft. The 18th Aggressor Squadron prepares combat Air Force, joint and allied aircrews through challenging, realistic threat replication, training, test support, academics, activated in 1940 as a Southwest Air District pursuit squadron, equipped with a variety of 1930s-era pursuit aircraft. Re-equipped with P-38 Lightning fighters and deployed to Alaska, engaged in combat during the Aleutian Campaign, remained in Alaska as part of the air defense forces until inactivated in August 1946. Re-equipped in 1954 with F-89D Scorpions and moved to Ladd AFB, returned to the CONUS in 1957 and upgraded to F-102 Delta Dagger interceptors at the new Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan. Reassigned to Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota in 1960 and received the new McDonnell F-101B Voodoo supersonic interceptor, the two-seat trainer version was equipped with dual controls, but carried the same armament as the F-101B and were fully combat-capable. Inactivated in April 1971 as part of the drawdown of ADC interceptor bases, in 1997, elements of the 18th FS deployed to Singapore and Malaysia to take part in dissimilar air combat tactic training as part of Exercises Commando Sling and Cope Taufan, respectively. The Cope Taufan deployment marked the first time Pacific Air Forces F-16s had flown against MiG-29s, the unit deployed to Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base, Kuwait, October–December 1998 to support Operation Southern Watch. Later, the deployed to Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, September–December 2000. For this deployment, the squadron employed 5 F-16 aircraft and 110 personnel, conducting the first ever Combat Search and Rescue support tasking for an F-16 squadron. After the 11 September 2001 attacks, the 18th FS was called to provide eight aircraft for Alaska NORAD air defense during Operation NOBLE EAGLE, though the aircraft were not launched. The squadrons next deployment was to Ahmed Al Jaber Air Base from December 2001 to March 2002 to support combat operations for Operations Southern Watch. They flew more than 3,200 hours in only 3 months, a number of Blue Foxes responded, dropping bombs with pinpoint accuracy on the opposing forces. Capt Jim Sears and Capt Andy Lipina,18 FS pilots, lt. Col. Burt Bartley, the 18 FS commander at the time, received the Silver Star for strafing and dropping 500 lbs Laser-guided bombs on what would later be known as The Battle for Roberts Ridge. The squadron deployed to Andersen Air Force Base, Guam in support of Operation Noble Eagle during March 2003, the unit also participated in Exercise Commando Sling in October 2003. As part of the change from COPE THUNDER to Red Flag-Alaska, aircraft changes entail sending all 18 of its Block 40 F-16 Fighting Falcons to Kunsan Air Base, Korea, and receiving 18 Block 30 F-16s from Kunsan. In 2013, the Air Force, responding to the Department of Defense strategy guidance of December 2012 and this would involve the move of the 18th from Eielson Air Force Base to Elmendorf. While the move was pending, in response to the sequestration of defense funds, the squadron move was strongly opposed by civic leaders from both Fairbanks and Anchorage, Alaska. The widespread opposition in Alaska to the move caused the Department of Defense to withdraw its recommendation
23.
355th Fighter Squadron
–
The 355th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit stationed at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas. It is an active-duty associate unit assigned to the 495th Fighter Group. The squadron was inactivated on 15 August 2007 as a result of Base Realignment, activated on 15 November 1942 at Hamilton Field, California, initially equipped with P-39 Airacobras and assigned to IV Fighter Command for training. Moved to several bases in California and Nevada then to Portland Army Air Base, Oregon in June 1943, transitioned to the Mustang throughout the summer of 1943 the deployed to the European Theater of Operations, being assigned to IX Fighter Command in England. The P-51 had the range to perform the duties and the units operational control was transferred to Headquarters. Was relieved from duty and was re-equipped with P-47D Thunderbolts. Mission was redefined to provide air support for the forthcoming invasion of France, to support the Third. Later, in 1944, the squadron involved in dive-bombing and strafing missions, striking railroad yards, bridges, troop concentrations. Participated in attacks on German forces in Belgium in the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge, the squadron flew its last mission of the war on 7 May 1945 from the captured Luftwaffe airfield at Ansbach. Remained in Occupied Germany as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe XII Tactical Air Command occupying force after the German Capitulation, was inactivated on 31 March 1946. Reactivated by Tactical Air Command, United States Air Force on 19 November 1956, being assigned to the reactivated 354th Fighter-Day Group at the new Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, the unit frequently deployed to Aviano Air Base, Italy and Wheelus Air Base, Libya. Was deployed to Europe during the 1958 Lebanon crisis and was moved to McCoy AFB, on 3 February 1968 the 355th Tactical Fighter Squadron was deployed to support the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phù Cát Air Base, South Vietnam for five months Temporary Duty. On 15 May 1969 with the reassignment of the 612th and 174 TFS, during its time in Vietnam, the 355th flew more than 17,000 combat sorties flying close air support, interdiction, search and rescue, and helicopter support missions. The squadron was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award, and the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Palm for its service. On 1 November 1970, the 355 TFS was reactivated at Myrtle Beach AFB, upon its return, the unit transitioned to the new A-7D Corsair II aircraft before redeploying to Southeast Asia in the fall of 1972 as the first A-7 unit to fight there. In 10 weeks of combat before the end of conflict, the squadron participated in the Linebacker II campaign, generated more than 4,000 sorties. The unit returned to Myrtle Beach in April 1974, in February 1978, the 355 FS transitioned to the new A-10 Thunderbolt II, a close air support aircraft, becoming the second operational squadron in the nations first A-10 wing. Duty called again in August 1990 when the deployed to King Fahd International Airport, Saudi Arabia in support of Operations DESERT SHIELD
24.
353d Combat Training Squadron
–
The 353d Combat Training Squadron is a United States Air Force training squadron responsible for Exercise RED FLAG – ALASKA held annually in Alaska. The three tactical ranges supervised by the squadron’s range division are Blair Lakes, Yukon and Oklahoma, the Blair Lakes Conventional Range is located about 26 miles southwest of Eielson AFB. Isolated in a sub-Arctic tundra environment, this range is manned continuously and is accessible only by helicopter. The Yukon Tactical and Electronic Warfare Range is 15 miles east of Eielson, accessible most of the year, this mountainous complex is only manned as necessary to provide electronic warfare training. Cope Thunder exercises take place over Alaskan and Canadian airspace, the airspace –17 permanent military operations areas and high-altitude training areas, plus two restricted areas – total more than 68,000 square miles. Cope Thunder’s economic impact on the communities surrounding Eielson and Elmendorf AFBs have been large, in 2001 alone, military members taking part in the exercises poured more than $2 million into the local economies. Additionally, the number of threat emitters on Cope Thunder ranges was doubled from 14 to 28, activated on 15 November 1942 at Hamilton Field, California, initially equipped with P-39 Airacobras and assigned to IV Fighter Command for training. Moved to several bases in California and Nevada then to Portland Army Air Base, Oregon in June 1943, transitioned to the Mustang throughout the summer of 1943 the deployed to the European Theater of Operations, being assigned to IX Fighter Command in England. The P-51 had the range to perform the duties and the units operational control was transferred to Headquarters. Was relieved from duty and was re-equipped with P-47D Thunderbolts. Mission was redefined to provide air support for the forthcoming invasion of France, to support the Third. Later, in 1944, the squadron involved in dive-bombing and strafing missions, striking railroad yards, bridges, troop concentrations. Participated in attacks on German forces in Belgium in the aftermath of the Battle of the Bulge, the squadron flew its last mission of the war on 7 May 1945 from the captured Luftwaffe airfield at Ansbach. Remained in Occupied Germany as part of the United States Air Forces in Europe XII Tactical Air Command occupying force after the German Capitulation, was inactivated on 31 March 1946. Reactivated by Tactical Air Command, United States Air Force on 19 November 1956, being assigned to the reactivated 354th Fighter-Day Group at the new Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, the unit frequently deployed to Aviano Air Base, Italy and Wheelus Air Base, Libya. Was deployed to Europe during the 1958 Lebanon crisis and was moved to McCoy AFB, the 353d, along with the 307th TFS from Homestead and 613th from England to provide the 401st a full complement of aircraft. At Torrejon, the continued to fly the F-100D “Super Sabre. The 353ds F-4s were tail-coded TK, and from Torrejon, the squadron made periodic deployments to Wheelus AB, Libya and Incirlik AB, Turkey
25.
General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon
–
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
26.
Myrtle Beach Air Force Base
–
Myrtle Beach Air Force Base was a United States Air Force base located near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. On October 16,1939, Myrtle Beach Town Council resolved that the community is in dire need of a municipal airport. The town agreed to purchase 135 acres for $35 per acre from Myrtle Beach Farms, Inc. Harrelson, a supporter of the project. The Army Air Corps took over the airport in June 1940, for a short time it was used by 3d Observation Sq. 105th Observation Sq and 112th Observation Sq used the site during the next year. In September 1941 it was Distribution Point 1, Morris Field, on 8 November 1943, the 5000-acre base became Myrtle Beach Army Air Field. Units included 351st AAF, 136th AAF, and 317th AAF Air Base Unit, after the war, uses of the base included recruiting and support activities. The site was deactivated and returned to the city and became Myrtle Beach Municipal Airport 1 November 1947, the city leased part of the base, and Aerovox, Piedmont Airlines and a turkey farm also used land on the base. The city donated its airport and the United States Air Force took over 1 June 1954, many of the older buildings were torn down as the base modernized. The first unit in 1955 was the 727th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, other units were the 4434th Air Base Squadron, the 455th Fighter Day Group, and the 113th Tactical Fighter Wing, Det 1, 728th Tactical Control Squadron. From 1958 to 1993 the base was home to the 354th Fighter Day Wing/Tactical Fighter Wing, an agreement to use the base jointly for civilian and military operation began 19 July 1975, with Horry County Jetport using the northeast part of the base. The city of Myrtle Beach annexed the base 20 April 1977, in 1991, the announcement came that Myrtle Beach Air Force Base would close. The Air Force chose to phase out the A-10, which led to the closing, but the Army wanted the A-10 to continue flying. The base closed 31 March 1993, mcCullough believed the earlier closing gave the base the best opportunity for reuse than would have been possible had the closing occurred later, during a recession. Retired Air Force colonel Buddy Styers headed the Myrtle Beach Air Force Base Redevelopment Authority starting in August 1995, for the first several years, the Myrtle Beach area received little help from the economic development conveyance program intended to help communities struggling after bases closed. Myrtle Beach was viewed as a prosperous tourist area, a Wall Street Journal article and a new vision for tourism-related development from Burroughs & Chapin helped the area replace the jobs lost. With the state providing revenue from taxes, and later a portion of taxes paid by federal employees at bases in the state. Later, the government changed the rules for helping communities affected by base closings. The state legislature made it possible to issue $41 million in bonds using the base land as a tax increment financing district
27.
South Carolina
–
South Carolina /ˌsaʊθ kærəˈlaɪnə/ is a state in the southeastern region of the United States. The state is bordered to the north by North Carolina, to the south and west by Georgia across the Savannah River, South Carolina became the eighth state to ratify the U. S. Constitution, doing so on May 23,1788. South Carolina became the first state to vote to secede from the Union on December 20,1860, after the American Civil War, it was readmitted into the United States on June 25,1868. South Carolina is the 40th most extensive and the 23rd most populous U. S. state and its GDP as of 2013 was $183.6 billion, with an annual growth rate of 3. 13%. The capital and largest city is Columbia with a 2013 population of 133,358, South Carolina is named in honor of King Charles I of England, under whose reign the English colony was first formed, with Carolus being Latin for Charles. There is evidence of activity in the area about 12000 years ago. Along the Savannah River were the Apalachee, Yuchi, and the Yamasee, further west were the Cherokee, and along the Catawba River, the Catawba. These tribes were village-dwellers, relying on agriculture as their food source. The Cherokee lived in wattle and daub houses made with wood and clay, about a dozen separate small tribes summered on the coast harvesting oysters and fish, and cultivating corn, peas and beans. Travelling inland as much as 50 miles mostly by canoe, they wintered on the plain, hunting deer and gathering nuts. The names of these survive in place names like Edisto Island, Kiawah Island. The Spanish were the first Europeans in the area, in 1521, founding San Miguel de Gualdape, established with 500 settlers, it was abandoned within a year by 150 survivors. In 1562 French settlers established a settlement at what is now the Charlesfort-Santa Elena archaeological site on Parris Island, three years later the Spanish built a fort on the same site, but withdrew following hostilities with the English navy. In 1629, King Charles I of England established the Province of Carolina an area covering what is now South and North Carolina, Georgia, in the 1670s, English planters from the Barbados established themselves near what is now Charleston. Settlers built rice plantations in the South Carolina Lowcountry, east of the Atlantic Seaboard fall line, settlers came from all over Europe. Plantation labor was done by African slaves who formed the majority of the population by 1720, another cash crop was the Indigo plant, a plant source of blue dye, developed by Eliza Lucas. Meanwhile, in Upstate South Carolina, west of the Fall Line, was settled by farmers and traders. Colonists overthrew the rule, seeing more direct representation
28.
354th Operations Group
–
The 354th Operations Group is a component of the 354th Fighter Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. The group is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, the 354th Operations Group provides air-bridge support and realistic combat flying training in support of 354th Fighter Wing, Air Force and national objectives. The Groups major mission is RED FLAG-Alaska, 10-day air combat training exercise held up to four times a year, each exercise is a multi-service, multi-platform coordinated, combat operations exercise and corresponds to the designed operational capability of participating units. In other words, exercises often involve several units whose military mission may differ significantly from that of other participating units, the 354 OG is the flying component of the 354th Fighter Wing. Its component units are, 18th Aggressor Squadron Aircraft are painted in a grey, black, about three or four aircraft wear a unique Arctic aggressor scheme which uses black, white and grey. They trained on the Bell P-39 Airacobra and served as part of the Western Air Defense Force, the three operational squadrons of the group were the 353rd FS, the 355th FS and the 356th FS Fighter Squadrons. On 4 November 1943, the group was moved to Portland AAF, the 354th FG was then transferred to RAF Greenham Common in England, but only remained at that base for a few days, next being transferred to RAF Boxted in Essex on 13 November 1943. As a result, priority for the Mustang was shifted from the Ninth to the Eighth Air Force, the 354th also gained the distinction of destroying more enemy aircraft in aerial combat than any other USAAF fighter group. During that same period, Colonel James H, Colonel Howard single-handedly attacked a formation of thirty German aircraft. In mid-April 1944, the 354th flew south to RAF Lashenden in Kent prior to moving to the continent after the invasion of Normandy and it was on these occasions that the group displayed its expertise in air fighting. On 25 April on an escort to Mannheim, the group returned to RAF Lashenden with claims of 18 destroyed, five probably destroyed and 31 damaged. All for the loss of two Mustangs, on 11 May, claims of 11 Luftwaffe aircraft destroyed on another long-range escort included the 354ths 100th victory. Yet another high score resulted from an air battle near Magdeburg on 28 May when 19½ enemy aircraft were credited as shot down, following the invasion, the groups Mustangs found their primary tasks were patrols over the battlefield areas. These were often uneventful as far as contact with aircraft was concerned. The main party moved on 17 June, although the groups P-51s continued to return to RAF Lashenden throughout the following week, during its stay at RAF Lashenden, the 354th FG lost 23 aircraft, but was credited with destroying 68 of the enemy. The groups operations from France assisted the Allied drive across France by flying close-support, armed-reconnaissance, fighter-sweep, dive-bombing, strafing, and escort missions. The 354th Fighter Group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for a series of sweeps in which the group destroyed a large number of enemy aircraft in the air. The group participated in the Battle of the Bulge by supporting ground forces and by conducting armed reconnaissance operations to destroy troops, tank artillery
29.
Federal Aviation Administration
–
The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States is a national authority with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation. The FAAs roles include, Regulating U. S, each LOB has a specific role within the FAA. Airports — plans and develops projects involving airports, overseeing their construction, Air Traffic Organization — primary duty is to safely and efficiently move air traffic within the National Airspace System. ATO employees manage air traffic facilities including Airport Traffic Control Towers, Aviation Safety — Responsible for aeronautical certification of personnel and aircraft, including pilots, airlines, and mechanics. Commercial Space Transportation — ensures protection of U. S. assets during the launch or reentry of commercial space vehicles, the FAA is headquartered in Washington, D. C. as well as the William J. The newly created Aeronautics Branch, operating under the Department of Commerce assumed primary responsibility for aviation oversight, in fulfilling its civil aviation responsibilities, the Department of Commerce initially concentrated on such functions as safety regulations and the certification of pilots and aircraft. It took over the building and operation of the system of lighted airways. The Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce in 1934 to reflect its status within the Department. As commercial flying increased, the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers for providing air traffic control along the airways, in 1936, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the ATC system. The pioneer air traffic controllers used maps, blackboards, and mental calculations to ensure the separation of aircraft traveling along designated routes between cities. In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred the civil aviation responsibilities from the Commerce Department to a new independent agency. The legislation also expanded the role by giving them the authority. President Franklin D. Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies in 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board, CAA was responsible for ATC, airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development. CAB was entrusted with safety regulation, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines, the CAA was part of the Department of Commerce. The CAB was an independent federal agency, on the eve of Americas entry into World War II, CAA began to extend its ATC responsibilities to takeoff and landing operations at airports. This expanded role eventually became permanent after the war, the application of radar to ATC helped controllers in their drive to keep abreast of the postwar boom in commercial air transportation. The approaching era of jet travel, and a series of midair collisions and this legislation gave the CAAs functions to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency. The act transferred air safety regulation from the CAB to the new FAA, the FAAs first administrator, Elwood R. Quesada, was a former Air Force general and adviser to President Eisenhower
30.
United States Army
–
The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
31.
Tricare
–
Tricare, formerly known as the Civilian Health and Medical Program of the Uniformed Services, was a health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System. Tricare provided civilian health benefits for U. S Armed Forces military personnel, military retirees, the Tricare program was managed by Tricare Management Activity under the authority of the Assistant Secretary of Defense. Tricare was the civilian component of the Military Health System. On 1 October 2013 TMA disestablished and Tricare responsibility was transferred to the Defense Health Agency which was established on the same day, Active duty military personnel always have priority for care in military medical facilities. After World War II and the Korean War, especially with the growth in the forces of the U. S. It was at time that the concept of space-available basis for military retirees. To address this problem, Congress passed the Dependents Medical Care Act of 1956 and these acts allowed the Secretary of Defense to contract with civilian health care providers. This civilian health care program became known as the Civilian Health, in the late 1980s, because of escalating costs, paperwork demands, and general beneficiary dissatisfaction, DoD initiated a series of demonstration projects. Under a program known as the CHAMPUS Reform Initiative, a contractor provided both health care and administrative-related services, including claims processing, the CRI project was one of the first to introduce managed care features to the CHAMPUS program. Foundation delivered services under contract between August 1988 and January 1994. Under this program, known as Tricare, the United States was divided into 12 health care regions, an administrative organization, the lead agent, was designated for each region and coordinated the health care needs of all military treatment facilities in the region. Under Tricare, seven managed care support contracts were awarded covering DOD’s 12 health care regions, Tricare Standard is also available to Reservist and their family under the Tricare Reserve Select Component. Under Tricare Standard, beneficiaries can use any civilian health care provider that is payable under Tricare regulations, the beneficiary is responsible for payment of an annual deductible and coinsurance, and may be responsible for certain other out-of-pocket expenses. There is no enrollment fee for Tricare Standard, Tricare Standard beneficiaries can elect to use the Tricare Extra option by using a civilian health care provider from within the regional contractors provider network. In this way, Tricare Extra represents a preferred provider organization, when using Tricare Extra, the beneficiarys coinsurance amount is reduced by at least five percentage points. There is no fee for use of the Tricare Extra benefit other than the coinsurance, under Tricare Prime, beneficiaries must choose a primary care physician and obtain referrals and authorizations for specialty care. In return for these restrictions, beneficiaries are only for small copayments for each visit. There is an enrollment fee for Tricare Prime for military retirees
32.
Eielson AFB
–
Eielson Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 26 miles southeast of Fairbanks, Alaska and just southeast of Moose Creek, Alaska. It was established in 1943 as Mile 26 Satellite Field and taken off deployment in 2007 and it has been a Superfund site since 1989. Its host unit is the 354th Fighter Wing assigned to the Eleventh Air Force of the Pacific Air Forces, Eielson AFB was named in honor of polar pilot Carl Ben Eielson. The 354 FW is currently commanded by Colonel David A. Mineau, until 2007, Eielson was a front line base, deploying fighter and bomber units around the world and providing for the defense of Alaska. Because of BRAC2005 the base went off deployment status in 2007 and these exercises are conducted on the Joint Pacific Alaskan Range complex with air operations flown out of the two bases. Alaskas size enables the military to have the largest air-ground training complex in America, Eielson is home to the 354th Fighter Wing which is part of the Eleventh Air Force of Pacific Air Forces. The 354th Fighter Wing mission is To train, deliver, maintain and support combat power across the globe while taking care of our people, their families and our infrastructure. To accomplish that mission, the wing implements flying operations, mission support, maintenance,460, Air Force Technical Applications Center Arctic Survival School, Det. 632, Air Force Office of Special Investigations Det,1, 210th Rescue Squadron On 7 June 1943, the Western Defense Command ordered construction of a new airfield near present-day Fort Wainwright, then an Army airfield named after Major Arthur K. Ladd. The field became known as Mile 26 because of its proximity to a US Army Signal Corps telegraph station, a month later, contractors and civilian crews from Ladd Field started laying out the new airfield. Actual construction began on 25 August 1943, crews built two parallel runways,165 feet across and 6,625 feet long. Other facilities included a building, housing for 108 officer and 330 enlisted personnel. The garrison and airfield totaled about 600 acres, completed on 17 October 1944, the 14-month project cost about eight-million dollars. Operational uses of Mile 26 were few, Ladd Field served as the debarkation point for the Alaska-Siberia Ferry Route of the lend-lease program and was the hub of activity. Lend-lease aircraft would land at Mile 26, but there are no records to indicate any lend-lease aircraft ever used the airfield to take off for Russia. Mile 26 closed when the war ended, the base reopened in September 1946, once again as a satellite of Ladd Field. The first USAAF operational unit assigned to Eielson was the 57th Fighter Group, equipped successively with P-38 Lightnings, P/F-51 Mustangs, F-80 Shooting Stars, the 57th FG was inactivated on 13 April 1953. On 1 December 1947 Strategic Air Command B-29 Superfortress bombers arrived at Mile 26 Field with the deployment of the 97th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy, from Smoky Hill AFB, Kansas
33.
Fort Wainwright
–
Fort Wainwright is a United States Army post adjacent to Fairbanks in the U. S. state of Alaska. It is part of the Fairbanks, Alaska Metropolitan Statistical Area and it was first established in 1939 as U. S. Army Air Corps as Ladd Field. In 1947 it was transferred to the newly established U. S. Air Force and renamed Ladd AFB, in 1961 it was transferred to the Army and redesignated Fort Wainwright in honor of World War II general Jonathan Wainwright. From 1963 to 1972 it was home to the 171st Infantry Brigade, mechanized until 1969, during that time, the 172nd Infantry Brigade was at Fort Richardson, in Anchorage. From 1986 to 1998 Fort Wainwright was the home of the 6th Infantry Division, and served as the divisions headquarters from 1990 to 1994. From 1998 to 2006, it was home to the 172nd Infantry Brigade, in 2006, the 172nd was re-flagged as the 1st brigade of the 25th Infantry Division. Fort Wainwright was also the home of Task Force 49, a brigade that provides logistical air support for U. S. Since 1978 Fort Wainwright has been participating in the Department of Defense Installation Restoration Program to investigate, about 15,000 people live and work at the fort and obtain drinking water from wells in close proximity to contaminated source areas. The Chena River also runs through the area of Fort Wainwright. In August 1990 Fort Wainwright was registered on the national priorities list as a Superfund, in most source areas, groundwater is contaminated with solvents and petroleum products, in a few source areas, with pesticides and/or fuel additives. Soil contains some solvents, waste oil, waste products, pesticides, paint residues, fuel tank sludge. Sediments contain PAHs and low level pesticides, contaminants on the site also include mercury. To meet the needs of new personnel and their families construction of 128 homes on a 54-acre housing project known as Taku Gardens began in 2005 on the communications site. Construction was suspended August–September 2005 and continued until end of 2006, from 2007 to 2010 drums and debris were excavated, PCB contaminated soil was removed and backfilled, but some fuel and volatile organic compound-contaminated soil and groundwater remains on site. Construction of the project resumed during the summer of 2011. In the intervening years, many housing units between Taku Gardens and the gate were reconstructed or renovated, with new housing built as well. Immediately northeast of Taku Gardens, Bear Paw was built on a part of the site of Bassett Army Hospital. Immediately northeast of Bear Paw, Denali Village, a larger development, was constructed between Glass Park and the former billeting
34.
Elmendorf Air Force Base
–
Elmendorf Air Force Base is a United States military facility in Anchorage, the largest city in Alaska. Originally known as Elmendorf Field, it became Elmendorf Air Force Base after World War II, the adjacent facilities were officially combined by the 2005 Base Closure and Realignment Commission. Its mission is to support and defend U. S and it is the home of the Headquarters, Alaskan Command, Alaskan NORAD Region, Joint Task Force-Alaska, Eleventh Air Force, the 673d Air Base Wing, the 3rd Wing, the 176th Wing and other Tenant Units. The installation hosts the headquarters for the United States Alaskan Command, 11th Air Force, U. S. Army Alaska, and the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region. Major units assigned are, 673d Air Base Wing Activated on 30 July 2010 as the host wing combining installation management functions of Elmendorf AFBs 3rd Wing, the 673d ABW comprises over 5,500 joint military and civilian personnel, supporting Americas Arctic Warriors and their families. The wing supports and enables three AF total-force wings, two Army Brigades and 55 other tenant units, in addition, the wing provides medical care to over 35,000 joint service members, dependents, VA patients and retirees throughout Alaska. The 673d ABW maintains an $11. 4B infrastructure encompassing 84,000 acres, Army Alaska executes continuous training and readiness oversight responsibilities for Army Force Generation in Alaska. Pacific Command Theater Security Cooperation Program, on order, executes Joint Force Land Component Command functions in support of Homeland Defense and Security in Alaska. 176th Wing Composite wing of the Alaska Air National Guard flying the C-17 Globemaster, C-130 Hercules, HC-130 Hercules, previously located at the former Kulis Air National Guard Base until relocated to Elmendorf per BRAC action. 477th Fighter Group Air Force Reserve Command Associate unit to the active duty 3d Wing, operates, Alaskan Norad Region The Alaskan NORAD Region conducts aerospace control within its area of operations and contributes to NORADs aerospace warning mission. The first Air Corps personnel arrived on 12 August 1940, on 12 November 1940, the War Department formally designated what had been popularly referred to as Elmendorf Field as Fort Richardson. After World War II, the Army moved its operations to the new Fort Richardson, the first Air Force unit to be assigned to Alaska, the 18th Pursuit Squadron, arrived in February 1941. The 23d Air Base Group was assigned shortly afterward to provide base support, other Air Force units poured into Alaska as the Japanese threat developed into World War II. The Eleventh Air Force was formed at Elmendorf AFB in early 1942, the field played a vital role as the main air logistics center and staging area during the Aleutian Campaign and later air operations against the Kurile Islands. The Eleventh Air Force was redesignated as the Alaskan Air Command on 18 December 1945, the uncertain world situation in late 1940s and early 1950s caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska. The propeller-driven F-51s were replaced with F-80 jets, which in turn were replaced in succession by F-94s, F-89s, the Air Force built an extensive aircraft control and warning radar system with sites located throughout Alaskas interior and coastal regions. Additionally, the Air Force of necessity built the White Alice Communications System to provide communications to these far-flung, isolated. The Alaskan NORAD Regional Operations Control Center at Elmendorf served as the center for all air defense operations in Alaska
35.
Anchorage, Alaska
–
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the U. S. state of Alaska. All together, the Anchorage metropolitan area, which combines Anchorage with the neighboring Matanuska-Susitna Borough, had a population of 401,635 in 2016. Anchorage is located in the portion of Alaska at the terminus of the Cook Inlet on a peninsula formed by the Knik Arm to the north. The city limits span 1,961.1 square miles encompass the urban core. Due to its location on the globe, being almost equidistant from New York City, Tokyo, Anchorage has been named an All-America City four times, in 1956,1965, 1984–85, and 2002, by the National Civic League. It has also named by Kiplinger as the most tax-friendly city in the United States. Russian presence in south central Alaska was well established in the 19th century, in 1867, U. S. Secretary of State William H. Seward brokered a deal to purchase Alaska from Imperial Russia for $7.2 million. His political rivals lampooned the deal as Sewards folly, Sewards icebox, by 1888, gold was discovered along Turnagain Arm. Alaska became a United States territory in 1912, Anchorage, unlike every other large town in Alaska south of the Brooks Range, was neither a fishing nor mining camp. The area surrounding Anchorage lacks significant economic metal minerals, a number of Denaina settlements existed along Knik Arm for years. By 1911 the families of J. D. Bud Whitney, jack Brown, and his bride, Nellie, in 1912 to have lived in the Ship Creek valley in the 1910s prior to the large influx of settlers. The city grew from its choice as the site, in 1914, under the direction of Frederick Mears. The area near the mouth of Ship Creek, where the headquarters was located. A town site was mapped out on higher ground to the south of the tent city, greatly noted in the years since for its order and rigidity compared with other Alaska town sites. In 1915, territorial governor John Franklin Alexander Strong encouraged residents to change the name to one that had more significance. In the summer of year, residents held a vote to change the citys name. However, the government ultimately declined to change the citys name. Anchorage was incorporated on November 23,1920, construction of the Alaska Railroad continued until its completion in 1923
36.
Madigan Army Medical Center
–
The hospital was named in honor of Colonel Patrick S. Madigan, an assistant to the U. S. Army Surgeon General from 1940 to 1943 who was also known as The Father of Army Neuropsychiatry. On September 22,1944, Madigan General Hospital was named in his honor, the hospital today is a 205-bed Joint Commission-accredited facility, expandable to 318 beds in the event of a disaster. Madigan Army Medical Center received designation as a level 2 trauma center by the Washington State Department of Health in 1995, Madigan Army Medical Center is one of three designated trauma centers in United States Army Medical Department. In 1999, Madigan became the military hospital to ever receive a perfect score of “100” from Joint Commission. Construction of the current facility was completed in the early 1990s, prior to the opening of the building, the hospital consisted of a network of connected single-story buildings that are still utilized by the Madigan Healthcare System. Madigan Army Medical Center and other Madigan Healthcare System facilities provide medical support to the Army and Air Force units of Joint Base Lewis-McChord at home, PROFIS is only for medical Soldiers, and mostly affects doctors and commissioned nurses. The system designates qualified active Army AMEDD personnel working in non-deployable units like Madigan, the tour length is different for every PROFIS Soldier, with most doctors and nurses going overseas for six months to a year. After criticism from PETA, Madigan Army Medical Center announced in 2013 that it would no longer use ferrets in intubation exercises. Graduate Medical Education training programs at Madigan Army Medical Center are offered only to officers in the Armed Forces. This institution does not participate in the National Resident Matching Program and this article incorporates public domain material from the United States Government document Madigan Army Medical Center. The alleged perpetrator of the Kandahar massacre was based at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, before and after the massacre questions were raised about the quality of medical treatment and psychological diagnostics at Madigan. The center was under investigation because of allegations that the centers staff downgraded diagnoses of post-traumatic stress disorder for 300 service members to lesser conditions, the centers chief, Colonel Dallas Homas, and mental health chief, William Keppler, were placed on administrative leave during the inquiry. In her resignation letter, Dr. Billingsley stated, I find that I can no longer work in a system that requires me to sacrifice my professional and moral principles to political expediency. The report also concludes that Homas never influenced PTSD diagnoses, military support groups around the base have alleged that base commanders did not give returning troops sufficient time to recover before sending them on more deployments. The groups have alleged that the bases medical staff is understaffed and overwhelmed by the numbers of returning veterans with deployment-related medical and psychological trauma. Since 2003,68 servicemembers stationed at the base have committed suicide, other US Army bases, however, such as Fort Hood, Fort Campbell and Fort Bragg, have experienced higher rates of suicide and similar crime rates. Soldiers from the base have been linked to other atrocities and crimes, the 2010 Maywand District murders involved JBLM-based soldiers. Also in 2010, a recently discharged AWOL soldier from JBLM shot an officer in Salt Lake City
37.
Fort Lewis
–
Fort Lewis is a United States military facility located 9.1 miles south-southwest of Tacoma, Washington, under the jurisdiction of the United States Army Joint Base Garrison, Joint Base Lewis–McChord. It was merged with the United States Air Forces McChord Air Force Base on February 1,2010 into a Joint Base as a result of Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommendations of 2005. Joint Base Lewis-McChord is a training and mobilization center for all services and is the only Army power-projection base west of the Rocky Mountains and its geographic location provides rapid access to the deep water ports of Tacoma, Olympia and Seattle for deploying equipment. Units can be deployed from McChord Field, and individuals and small groups can use nearby Sea-Tac Airport. The strategic location of the base provides Air Force units with the ability to conduct combat, the Joint Base Garrison operates the installation on behalf of the warfighting units, families and extended military community who depend on JBLM for support. 627th Air Base Group Provides command and control and administrative oversight to the Airmen who perform installation support duties on behalf of the garrison, JBLM Soldiers receive medical care through on-base Madigan Healthcare System facilities such as Madigan Army Medical Center, the Okubo Clinic, and the Nisqually Clinic. JBLM Airmen receive medical care at the McChord Clinic as well as Madigan Army Medical Center, JBLM has more than 25,000 soldiers and civilian workers. The post supports over 120,000 military retirees and more than 29,000 family members living both on and off post, Fort Lewis proper contains 86,000 acres, the Yakima Training Center covers 324,000 acres. JBLM Main & North have abundant high-quality, close-in training areas, additional training space is available at the Yakima Training Center in eastern Washington, including maneuver areas and additional live fire ranges. In 2009, the former Fort Lewis Regional Correction Facility was remodeled and renamed the Northwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility, the facility houses minimum and medium security prisoners from all branches of the U. S. Also adjacent to the post is Camp Murray, Fort Lewis, named after Meriwether Lewis of the Lewis and Clark expedition, is one of the largest and most modern military reservations in the United States. Consisting of 87,000 acres of land cut from the glacier-flattened Nisqually Plain. A portion of the land was taken from the Nisqually tribes reservation. In 1927, Pierce County passed another bond measure to establish an airfield just north of Fort Lewis. The airfield, called Tacoma Field, opened in 1930 and was renamed McChord Field in 1940, McChord Field separated from Fort Lewis when the U. S. Air Force was created in 1947 and was subsequently renamed McChord Air Force Base. The two bases operated independently of one another for more than 60 years before merging in 2010. Fort Lewis began as Camp Lewis in 1917 when the citizens of Pierce County voted by an eight to one margin to bond themselves for $2 million to buy 68,721 acres of land and they donated the land to the federal government for military use. The only stipulation was that the tract be used as a permanent army post, Captain David L. Stone and his staff arrived at the camp site 26 May 1917, and a few days later the initial construction began
38.
Aviano
–
Aviano, is an Italian village, comune, of 9,270 inhabitants in the province of Pordenone at the foot of the Dolomites mountain range in Friuli-Venezia Giulia, northern Italy. Aviano is home to the C. R. O, a cancer research centre, one of the few in Italy and reference point for north-east Italy. Near the town there is also the Piancavallo ski resort, although Aviano has been inhabited only since the 10th century AD, evidence of a human presence dates to before the Romans entered the area in 186 BC. Most historians believe that Aviano developed with a center located where present day Aviano is situated. Aviano was a possession of the Patriarchal State of Friuli until 1420, Aviano became a part of the Italian State in 1866. Although the village is located at the foot of the Carnic Prealpi, the Cathedral of San Zenone, built between 1775 and 1832. It has paintings from the 16th and 17th centuries, one of which attributed to Paolo Veroneses school, the church of St. Gregory, in the frazione of Castello, with a precious fresco cycle of the Passion of Christ. Sanctuary of the Madonna del Monte, built in 1615 on the site of a Marian apparition, was remodeled in the Baroque style, Church of Santa Caterina, in the frazione of Marsure, built in the fifteenth century and richly frescoed with scenes from the life of Santa. Parish Church of Giais, retains a baroque altarpiece of O. Gortanutti, guards inside a canvas of Pomponio Amalteo and some wooden works of the seventeenth century. Church of San Floriano of the fifteenth century, the remains of the Castle, on a hill nearby the city, including two towers, the mastio and the walls. The latter include the Renaissance-style church of Santa Maria e Giuliana, the village has a total of 7 Venetian villas protected by the Regional Institute Venetian Villas. The following villas can be visited upon request, Villa Policreti-Fabris with the adjoining frescoed chapel, Villa Bonassi and you must then remember the imposing presence of Villa Menegozzi Brazzoduro dating from the mid-eighteenth century. The ski resort of Piancavallo, elevation 1,267 metres above sea level, on one of the peaks of Monte Cavallo there is a bronze statue of the Virgin Mary by the sculptor Pierino Sam Pordenone. Pre-dating the U. S. Air Force, Aviano Air Base was established by Italy in 1911, the base is considered the birthplace of Italian aviation. There has been an American presence at Aviano Air Base since the end of World War II, in 1954 the Italian and American governments signed a joint use agreement and by 1955, HQ United States Air Forces in Europe had moved its Italian operations from Udine to Aviano. The base went through a period of hosting rotational fighter squadrons, with the declining use of the Italian live fire range, the rotational squadrons became a thing of the past. Aviano became a war reserve material storage base and played a big part in Desert Storm, in 1992, HQ 16th Air Force and the 401st Fighter Wing moved from Torrejon Air Base, Spain to Aviano. The Wing became home to two F-16 fighter squadrons, the 510th FS and the 555th FS, both squadrons relocated from Ramstein AB in 1994 and redesignated
39.
Eglin Air Force Base
–
Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing, the 96 TW is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command systems. Eglin AFB was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base and it is named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick I. Eglin, who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Eglin is an Air Force Materiel Command base serving as the focal point for all Air Force armaments. Eglin is responsible for the development, acquisition, testing, deployment and sustainment of all air-delivered non-nuclear weapons, the base plans, directs and conducts test and evaluation of U. S. and allied air armament, navigation and guidance systems, and command and control systems. Severe weather testing of aircraft and other equipment is carried out here at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory, the residential portion of the base is a census-designated place, its population was 8,082 at the 2000 census. Eglin Air Force Base has 2,359 military family housing units, unmarried junior enlisted members generally live in one of Eglin’s seven dormitories located near the dining hall, chapel, base gym, Enlisted Club and bus lines on base. Each individual unit generally handles dormitory assignments, bachelor Officer Quarters are not available. Several units and one dormitory are currently being renovated in 2011, Eglin is also one of the few military air bases in the U. S. to have scheduled passenger airline service as the Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport is co-located on the base property. The 96 TW is the test and evaluation wing for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, the Eglin Gulf Test Range provides approximately 130,000 square miles of over water airspace. The 96 TW reports to the Air Force Test Center at Edwards AFB, the 33d FW Nomads is the largest tenant unit at Eglin. The 33 FW is a joint graduate flying and maintenance training wing for the F-35 Lightning II, organized under Air Education and Training Commands 19th Air Force. Reactivated at Eglin on 1 April 1965 with F-4C Phantom IIs, as of 1 October 2009, the 33d FW transitioned to a training wing for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The final F-15s assigned to the 33d departed the base in September 2009, as the first of its kind in the Department of Defense, the joint wing is responsible for F-35 JSF pilot and maintainer training for the Air Force, Marine Corps and the Navy. The first of 59 F-35s arrived from Fort Worth, Texas on 14 July 2011, the F-35A made its first flight on 15 December 2006. The VFA-101 Grim Reapers are authorized operate 15 assigned F-35C aircraft, the F-35C is a carrier-capable low-observable multi-role fighter aircraft, designed to provide unmatched airborne power projection from the sea. The F-35C bears structural modifications from the other variants, necessitated by the increased resiliency required for carrier operations, the wing tests every fighter, bomber, unmanned aerial vehicle, and associated weapon system in the Air Force inventory. The wing reports to the USAF Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and these weapons include air-launched cruise missiles, standoff missiles, and gravity bombs
40.
342nd Fighter-Day Wing
–
The 342nd Fighter Day Wing is an inactive United States Air Force wing. Its last duty assignment was at Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina, on 25 July 1956, the 342nd Fighter Day Wing was established and activated at Myrtle Beach AFB, South Carolina. The Wings subordinate components were the 342nd Fighter-Day Group, the 342nd Air Base Group, the Wing Commander was Colonel Robert G. Emmens. On 10 September 1956, the 342nd FDW received a new commander, Colonel Emmens assumed the role of Deputy Base Commander at that time. The 342 FDWs mission was officially that of a fully functional fighter-day wing, close liaison was maintained between units at Shaw AFB, SC for many activities. There were regularly scheduled truck convoys between Shaw and Myrtle Beach during the Wings development, the 342 FDW lasted 117 days until 18 November 1956. On 19 November, the Air Force redesignated the unit as the 354th Fighter-Day Wing, absorbing all personnel, the 342nd FDW and 342nd FDG was inactivated along with the 455th Fighter-Day Group. afhra. af. mil/. Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977, maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History. History of the 342nd Fighter Day Wing, 354th TFW Office of History, Myrtle Beach Air Force Base,1956
41.
Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star
–
The Lockheed P-80 Shooting Star was the first jet fighter used operationally by the United States Army Air Forces. Designed and built by Lockheed in 1943 and delivered just 143 days from the start of the process, production models were flying. Designed with straight wings, the type saw combat in Korea with the United States Air Force as the F-80. The F-94 Starfire, an all-weather interceptor on the same airframe, the closely related T-33 Shooting Star trainer would remain in service with the U. S. Air Force and Navy well into the 1980s, with the last NT-33 variant not retired until April 1997. Many still serve in a role in foreign air arms or are in private hands. The XP-80 had a conventional airframe, with a slim low wing. Other early jets generally had two engines because of their power, these being mounted in external nacelles for easier maintenance. With the advent of more powerful British jet engines, fuselage mounting was more effective, Lockheeds team, consisting of 28 engineers, was led by the legendary Clarence L. Kelly Johnson. This teaming was a product of Lockheeds Skunk Works, which surfaced again in the next decade to produce a line of high-performance aircraft beginning with the F-104. With the Germans and British clearly far ahead in development, Lockheed was pressed to develop a jet in as short a time as possible. Kelly Johnson submitted a proposal in mid-June and promised that the prototype would be ready for testing in 180 days. The Skunk Works team, beginning 26 June 1943, produced the airframe in 143 days, the first prototype was nicknamed Lulu-Belle. Powered by the replacement Halford H1 taken from the prototype de Havilland Vampire jet fighter, it first flew on 8 January 1944, the donated British jet program data had no doubt proved invaluable. The second prototype, designated XP-80A, was designed for the larger General Electric I-40 engine, 44-83021 was nicknamed the Gray Ghost after its pearl gray paint scheme, while 83022, left unpainted for comparison of flight characteristics, became known as the Silver Ghost. The XP-80As first test flight was unimpressive, but most of the problems with the design were soon addressed and corrected in the test program. Initial opinions of the XP-80A were not positive, with Lockheed Chief Engineering Test Pilot Milo Burcham commenting that an aircraft he very much enjoyed had now become a dog. The XP-80As were primarily testbeds for larger, more engines and air intake design. The P-80 testing program proved very dangerous, Burcham was killed on 20 October 1944 while flying the third YP-80A produced, 44-83025
42.
Douglas A-26 Invader
–
A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Southeast Asia until 1969. It was a fast aircraft capable of carrying twice its specified bomb load, a range of guns could be fitted to produce a formidable ground-attack aircraft. A re-designation of the type from A-26 to B-26 led to confusion with the Martin B-26 Marauder, which first flew in November 1940, about 16 months before the Douglas designs maiden flight. The A-26 was Douglas Aircrafts successor to the A-20 Havoc, also known as Douglas Boston, one of the most successful and widely operated types flown by Allied air forces in World War II. Designed by Ed Heinemann, Robert Donovan, and Ted R. Smith, the Douglas XA-26 prototype first flew on 10 July 1942 at Mines Field, El Segundo, with test pilot Benny Howard at the controls. Flight tests revealed excellent performance and handling, but problems with engine cooling led to cowling changes, repeated collapses during testing led to strengthening of the nose landing gear. The A-26 was originally built in two different configurations, the A-26B had a gun nose, which originally could be equipped with a combination of armament including.50 caliber machine guns, 20mm or 37mm auto cannon, or even a 75mm pack howitzer. Normally the gun nose version housed six.50 caliber machine guns, officially termed the all-purpose nose, the A-26Cs glass nose, officially termed the Bombardier nose, contained a Norden bombsight for medium altitude precision bombing. The A-26C nose section included two fixed M-2 guns, later replaced by underwing gun packs or internal guns in the wings. An A-26C nose section could be exchanged for an A-26B nose section, or vice versa, in a few man-hours, thus changing the designation. The flat-topped canopy was changed in late 1944 after about 820 production aircraft, alongside the pilot in an A-26B, a crew member typically served as navigator and gun loader for the pilot-operated nose guns. In an A-26C, that crew member served as navigator and bombardier, a small number of A-26Cs were fitted with dual flight controls, some parts of which could be disabled in flight to allow limited access to the nose section. A tractor-style jump seat was located behind the navigators seat, general George Kenney, commander of the Far East Air Forces stated that, We do not want the A-26 under any circumstances as a replacement for anything. Until changes could be made, the 3d Bomb Group requested additional Douglas A-20 Havocs, the 319th Bomb Group worked up on the A-26 in March 1945, joining the initial 3rd BG, with the 319th flying until 12 August 1945. The A-26 operations wound down in mid-August 1945 with only a few dozen missions flown, several of the A-20 and B-25 AAF units in the Pacific received the A-26 for trials, in limited quantities. Douglas needed better results from the Invaders second combat test, so A-26s began arriving in Europe in late September 1944 for assignment to the Ninth Air Force, the initial deployment involved 18 aircraft and crews assigned to the 553d Squadron of the 386th Bomb Group. This unit flew its first mission on 6 September 1944, no aircraft were lost on the eight test missions, and the Ninth Air Force announced that it was happy to replace all of its A-20s and B-26s with the A-26 Invader. Due to a shortage of A-26C variants, the groups flew a combined A-20/A-26 unit until deliveries of the glass-nose version caught up, besides bombing and strafing, tactical reconnaissance and night interdiction missions were undertaken successfully
43.
North American F-100 Super Sabre
–
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
44.
Naval Air Station Albany
–
Naval Air Station Albany is a former United States Navy station whose site is located within the current city limits of Albany, Georgia. From 1940 to 1967, it was operated by the United States Army and USAF, following its closure it was transferred to the U. S. Navy and renamed NAS Albany. It continued to serve as an active USN installation until its closure in July 1974, most of the site was taken over as a brewery from 1978. Anticipating the economic benefit to the area, the government accepted the proposal. The Air Corps looked at sites including the existing Albany Municipal Airport. The municipal airport eventually became the site of a primary Contract Pilot School, the Air Corps finally settled on a site four miles northeast of town in Dougherty County. The Chamber of Commerce raised $95,000 to purchase over 4,700 acres for the main base, when the Army indicated it desired an additional 200 acres for the main base, the City purchased the property outright. All of the land was leased to the Air Corps for $1 a year with a 99-year option. Construction got under way on 25 March 1941 for the new training airfield, the immediate construction involved runways and airplane hangars, with three concrete runways, several taxiways and a large parking apron and a control tower. Several large hangars were also constructed, buildings were ultimately utilitarian and quickly assembled. Most base buildings, not meant for use, were constructed of temporary or semi-permanent materials. It was activated on 12 August, although the base was far from complete, in addition to the main base, Turner AAF had the following satellite airfields, Turner AAF Aux No.1 –, Leesburg, Georgia 31°47′00″N 84°03′00″W Turner AAF Aux No. Turner was initially operated as a school for navigators, the initial core of navigators, slated to become instructors, received the training at Barksdale Field, Louisiana. In July 1941, fifteen navigator instructors arrived at Turner Field with the rank of cadet, for the next two months, the nav instructors oversaw the construction of the navigation school while organizing a training syllabus. When navigation training began in September, the instructors were commissioned as 2nd Lieutenants, the aircraft used exclusively for navigation training at Turner was the Beech AT-7, a modification of the C-45 Expeditor. The AT-7 carried three navigation students, each with a table and instruments, an instructor, and a pilot. Navigators received approximately 100 hours of training in the AT-7. In September 1942, the school moved to Selman Field in Monroe
45.
352d Tactical Fighter Squadron
–
The 352d Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force fighter squadron. Its last assignment was with the 35th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phan Rang Air Base, South Vietnam, the first predecessor of the squadron was activated in 1943 as the 372d Fighter Squadron, which served as a Lockheed P-38 Lightning Replacement Training Unit until it was disbanded in 1944. The second predecessor of the squadron was the 652d Bombardment Squadron, the 352d Fighter-Day Squadron was formed during the Cold War, the squadron was attached to NATO, and stood on alert during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Deployed to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War, the squadron fought with distinction, the squadron was inactivated in 1971. It operated as a Lockheed P-38 replacement training unit, Replacement training units were oversized units which trained aircrews prior to their deployment to combat theaters. In January 1944 the squadron moved away from its parent group and established a separate RTU at Santa Maria Army Air Field, however, the Army Air Forces found that standard military units, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization were proving less well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, a functional system was adopted in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. This resulted in the 372d, along with units at Santa Maria, being disbanded in the spring of 1944. The second predecessor of the squadron was the 652d Bombardment Squadron, on 25 October 1943 this provisional unit was formalized as Detachment A of the Combat Weather Detachment, 1st Combat Crew Replacement Center at RAF Bovingdon. On 23 November 1943 the detachment joined its parent at Bovingdon, on 28 March 1944 Eighth Air Force replaced the detachment with the 8th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron. The squadron was one of the three squadrons of the 8th Reconnaissance Group (later the 802d Reconnaissance Group, Special, in August 1944 Eighth Air Force replaced its provisional weather reconnaissance units with permanent ones and the 652d was activated. The 652d primarily flew B-17Gs, although at first it also had B-24Ds and its missions were long-range weather flights code named Epicure In which the aircraft flew a box pattern 700 miles out over the Atlantic. Weather readings were taken every 50 miles at heights varying from 50 to 30,000 feet, the average flight time for these flights was over 12 hours. When its parent 25th Bombardment Group returned to the United States after the German surrender in May 1945, the squadron returned to the United States in December and was inactivated when it reached the Port of Embarkation. On 25 September 1957 Tactical Air Command activated the 352d Fighter-Day Squadron and assigned it to the 354th Fighter-Day Wing at Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, the squadron was equipped with the North American F-100 Super Sabre. The 354th wing was committed to NATO support, and the squadron deployed to Europe. The 352d, along with the 354th wings other squadrons periodically supported these rotations, once tensions eased, the squadron returned in March 1962. The squadron deployed a third time in response to a Cold War crisis, during the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, the 352 TFS deployed to McCoy AFB, Florida in October where it became part of the forces attached to the Air Division, Provisional, 2d
46.
NATO
–
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The organization constitutes a system of collective defence whereby its member states agree to mutual defence in response to an attack by any external party, three NATO members are permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and are officially nuclear-weapon states. NATOs headquarters are located in Haren, Brussels, Belgium, while the headquarters of Allied Command Operations is near Mons. NATO is an Alliance that consists of 28 independent member countries across North America and Europe, an additional 22 countries participate in NATOs Partnership for Peace program, with 15 other countries involved in institutionalized dialogue programmes. The combined military spending of all NATO members constitutes over 70% of the global total, Members defence spending is supposed to amount to 2% of GDP. The course of the Cold War led to a rivalry with nations of the Warsaw Pact, politically, the organization sought better relations with former Warsaw Pact countries, several of which joined the alliance in 1999 and 2004. N. The Treaty of Brussels, signed on 17 March 1948 by Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, France, the treaty and the Soviet Berlin Blockade led to the creation of the Western European Unions Defence Organization in September 1948. However, participation of the United States was thought necessary both to counter the power of the USSR and to prevent the revival of nationalist militarism. He got a hearing, especially considering American anxiety over Italy. In 1948 European leaders met with U. S. defense, military and diplomatic officials at the Pentagon, marshalls orders, exploring a framework for a new and unprecedented association. Talks for a new military alliance resulted in the North Atlantic Treaty and it included the five Treaty of Brussels states plus the United States, Canada, Portugal, Italy, Norway, Denmark and Iceland. The first NATO Secretary General, Lord Ismay, stated in 1949 that the goal was to keep the Russians out, the Americans in. Popular support for the Treaty was not unanimous, and some Icelanders participated in a pro-neutrality, the creation of NATO can be seen as the primary institutional consequence of a school of thought called Atlanticism which stressed the importance of trans-Atlantic cooperation. The members agreed that an attack against any one of them in Europe or North America would be considered an attack against them all. The treaty does not require members to respond with military action against an aggressor, although obliged to respond, they maintain the freedom to choose the method by which they do so. This differs from Article IV of the Treaty of Brussels, which states that the response will be military in nature. It is nonetheless assumed that NATO members will aid the attacked member militarily, the treaty was later clarified to include both the members territory and their vessels, forces or aircraft above the Tropic of Cancer, including some Overseas departments of France. The creation of NATO brought about some standardization of allied military terminology, procedures, and technology, the roughly 1300 Standardization Agreements codified many of the common practices that NATO has achieved
47.
Tactical Air Command
–
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
United States
United States Air Force
Pacific Air Forces
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
