1.
57th Air Division
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The 57th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Fifteenth Air Force, based at Minot Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 24 June 1991. Established as the 8th Pursuit Wing, it conducted training from 1940 to 1941, as a paper unit, it moved to India and then to Egypt in December 1942. It finally gained personnel and aircraft, and became operational as the 57 Bombardment Wing in March 1944 and it continued to fly close air support and interdiction missions in Italy throughout the war, and supported the invasion of southern France on 15 August 1944. The unit was inactivated at the end of the war, reactivated as an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command in 1951, the 57th Air Division assumed a supervisory role of subordinate bombardment units. Its units trained to conduct long range bombardment, air refueling, between 1965 and 1969, division units supported Operation Arc Light bombing and Operation Young Tiger air refueling operations in Southeast Asia. In 1980 the 57th reorganized to employ Strategic Air Command conventional strategic forces in crisis situations worldwide and it was inactivated in June 1991 due to budget constraints and the reduction of forces after the end of the Cold War. 92d Bombardment Wing,16 April 1951 –16 June 1952,16 June 1952 –4 September 1956,23 January 1987 –15 June 1988 98th Bombardment Wing,16 April 1951 –16 June 1952. List of United States Air Force air divisions This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http, Maurer, Maurer, ed. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History, Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947-1977. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History
2.
United States
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Forty-eight of the fifty states and the federal district are contiguous and located in North America between Canada and Mexico. The state of Alaska is in the northwest corner of North America, bordered by Canada to the east, the state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific Ocean. The U. S. territories are scattered about the Pacific Ocean, the geography, climate and wildlife of the country are extremely diverse. At 3.8 million square miles and with over 324 million people, the United States is the worlds third- or fourth-largest country by area, third-largest by land area. It is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, paleo-Indians migrated from Asia to the North American mainland at least 15,000 years ago. European colonization began in the 16th century, the United States emerged from 13 British colonies along the East Coast. Numerous disputes between Great Britain and the following the Seven Years War led to the American Revolution. On July 4,1776, during the course of the American Revolutionary War, the war ended in 1783 with recognition of the independence of the United States by Great Britain, representing the first successful war of independence against a European power. The current constitution was adopted in 1788, after the Articles of Confederation, the first ten amendments, collectively named the Bill of Rights, were ratified in 1791 and designed to guarantee many fundamental civil liberties. During the second half of the 19th century, the American Civil War led to the end of slavery in the country. By the end of century, the United States extended into the Pacific Ocean. The Spanish–American War and World War I confirmed the status as a global military power. The end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 left the United States as the sole superpower. The U. S. is a member of the United Nations, World Bank, International Monetary Fund, Organization of American States. The United States is a developed country, with the worlds largest economy by nominal GDP. It ranks highly in several measures of performance, including average wage, human development, per capita GDP. While the U. S. economy is considered post-industrial, characterized by the dominance of services and knowledge economy, the United States is a prominent political and cultural force internationally, and a leader in scientific research and technological innovations. In 1507, the German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere America after the Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci
3.
United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
4.
Fighter-bomber
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A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. Although still used, the term fighter-bomber has less significance since the introduction of rockets, modern aircraft with similar duties are now typically called multirole combat aircraft or strike fighters. Prior to World War II, general limitations in available engine, engine power grew dramatically during the early period of the war, roughly doubling between 1939 and 1943. It had two Bristol Mercury XV radial engines of 920 hp each, a crew of three, and its payload was just 1,200 lbs of bombs. The Blenheim suffered disastrous losses over France in 1939 when it encountered Messerschmitt Bf 109s, in contrast, the Vought F4U Corsair fighter — which entered service in December 1942 — had in common with its eventual U. S. With less airframe and crew to lift, the Corsairs ordnance load was either four High Velocity Aircraft Rockets or 2,000 lbs of bombs, increased engine power meant that many existing fighter designs could carry useful bomb loads, and adapt to the fighter-bomber role. Notable examples include the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, Hawker Typhoon and Republic P-47 Thunderbolt, larger twin-engined aircraft were also used in the fighter-bomber role, especially where longer ranges were needed for naval strikes. Examples include the Lockheed P-38 Lightning, the Bristol Beaufighter, the Beaufighter MkV had a Boulton-Paul turret with four 0.303 in machine guns mounted aft of the cockpit but only two were built. Bristols Blenheim was even pushed into service as a fighter during the Battle of Britain, equipped with an early Airborne Interception radar set, however, it proved to be an effective night fighter. The first single seat fighters to drop bombs were on the Western Front, when fighter patrols were issued with bombs and ordered to drop them at random if they met no German fighters. The Sopwith Camel, the most successful Allied aircraft of the First World War with 1,294 enemy aircraft downed, was losing its edge by 1918, the Royal Aircraft Factory S. E.5. was used in the same role. The Royal Flying Corps received the first purpose-built fighter-bomber just as the war was ending and it was not called a fighter bomber at the time, but a Trench Fighter as that was what it was designed to attack. The Sopwith Salamander was based on the Sopwith Snipe fighter but had armour plating in the nose to protect the pilot, originally it was intended to have two machine guns jutting through the cockpit floor so as to spray trenches with bullets as it passed low overhead. But this did not work and it was fitted with four Cooper bombs and it was ordered in very large numbers, but most were cancelled after the Armistice. In February and April 1918 the Royal Flying Corps conducted bombing tests at Orfordness, both WW1 fighter bombers were used with novice and experienced pilots. Best results were achieved with a dive into the wind using the Aldis Sight to align the aircraft. But they were not considered enough to justify the expected casualty rate. When war broke out in Europe, Western Allied Air Forces employed light twin-engined bombers in the role for low level attack
5.
Pacific Air Forces
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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
6.
Kunsan Air Base
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Kunsan K-8 Air Base is a United States Air Force base located at Gunsan Airport, which is on the west coast of the South Korean peninsula bordered by the Yellow Sea. It is at the town of Gunsan about 150 miles south of Seoul, the town can be romanized as both Gunsan and Kunsan. The United States Air Force uses Gunsan to refer to the town, Kunsan Air Base is the home of the 8th Fighter Wing, The Wolf Pack, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces Seventh Air Force and the 38th Fighter Group of the Republic of Korea Air Force. It is one of two major Air Force installations operated by the United States Forces Korea, the other being Osan Air Base, the United States first used the base in 1945, but on a very small scale. From 1945 to 1950, the Army and later the Air Force intermittently operated small detachments from Kunsan, at most these detachments contained a handful of people. When the Korean War broke out on 25 June 1950, Kunsan Air Base had no United States flying units assigned, in their rapid advance, the invading North Koreans captured Kunsan Air Base on 13 July 1950. The 24th Infantry Division retook Kunsan in October 1950, and the Chinese Communist Forces Intervention Campaign that winter failed to push far enough south to put Kunsan in jeopardy, United States forces first operated in significant numbers from the base in 1951. The first Air Force unit to be assigned to the base was the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing, the 27th Fighter Escort Wing was one of the first F-84 units to see combat action in Korea and earned numerous honors and awards for their combat record during the Korean War. Improvements to the base were needed, however, to jet fighters. The 27th FEW was reassigned at the end April and The Armys 808th Engineer Aviation Battalion built a 5,000 feet runway to replace the sod runway constructed by Japanese and this runway is now known as Taxiway Charlie. By August, construction had progressed to the point that heavier units could be based at Kusan, the 3rd Bomb Wing consisting of the 8th, 13th and 90th Bomb Squadrons flew the Douglas B-26 Invader bomber during the war, remaining at Kunsan from August 1951 until October 1954. In April 1953, the 474th Fighter-Bomber Group returned to the United States and was replaced by the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing, under this system, each base in Korea received a K number, simplifying positive identification when referring to the various bases. Kunsan received the number K-8, while Osan Air Base was also known as K-55, after hostilities ceased, the base began to draw down. The F-84 forces of the 49th Fighter-Bomber Wing left in November 1953, and by October 1954 the host unit of the base and this left the base with a much-reduced mission. From 1953 to 1954, the 808th and 841st Engineering Aviation Battalions constructed what is today’s main runway, for the next several years Kunsan merely hosted periodic rotations of fighter and light bomber squadrons, with base facilities maintained and operated by an air base group. During 1957 and 1958 the base hosted squadrons from Japan temporarily, any runway extensions or new billeting were built after 1958. During the period 1957 summer and 1958 summer sad to say, the base remained a radar site as a back up during this time to Osan, until the Radar site was turned over to the ROKAF in mid 1958. During this time the base would also host an occasional RB-57 aircraft doing security overflights in the area, the Osan detachment on the base also maintained a radio relay site from a hill on the base
7.
Korean War
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The Korean War began when North Korea invaded South Korea. The United Nations, with the United States as the principal force, China came to the aid of North Korea, and the Soviet Union gave some assistance. Korea was ruled by Japan from 1910 until the days of World War II. In August 1945, the Soviet Union declared war on Japan, as a result of an agreement with the United States, U. S. forces subsequently moved into the south. By 1948, as a product of the Cold War between the Soviet Union and the United States, Korea was split into two regions, with separate governments, both governments claimed to be the legitimate government of all of Korea, and neither side accepted the border as permanent. The conflict escalated into open warfare when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union, on that day, the United Nations Security Council recognized this North Korean act as invasion and called for an immediate ceasefire. On 27 June, the Security Council adopted S/RES/83, Complaint of aggression upon the Republic of Korea and decided the formation, twenty-one countries of the United Nations eventually contributed to the UN force, with the United States providing 88% of the UNs military personnel. After the first two months of war, South Korean forces were on the point of defeat, forced back to the Pusan Perimeter, in September 1950, an amphibious UN counter-offensive was launched at Inchon, and cut off many North Korean troops. Those who escaped envelopment and capture were rapidly forced back north all the way to the border with China at the Yalu River, at this point, in October 1950, Chinese forces crossed the Yalu and entered the war. Chinese intervention triggered a retreat of UN forces which continued until mid-1951, after these reversals of fortune, which saw Seoul change hands four times, the last two years of fighting became a war of attrition, with the front line close to the 38th parallel. The war in the air, however, was never a stalemate, North Korea was subject to a massive bombing campaign. Jet fighters confronted each other in combat for the first time in history. The fighting ended on 27 July 1953, when an armistice was signed, the agreement created the Korean Demilitarized Zone to separate North and South Korea, and allowed the return of prisoners. However, no treaty has been signed, and the two Koreas are technically still at war. Periodic clashes, many of which are deadly, continue to the present, in the U. S. the war was initially described by President Harry S. Truman as a police action as it was an undeclared military action, conducted under the auspices of the United Nations. In South Korea, the war is referred to as 625 or the 6–2–5 Upheaval. In North Korea, the war is referred to as the Fatherland Liberation War or alternatively the Chosǒn War. In China, the war is called the War to Resist U. S
8.
Presidential Unit Citation (United States)
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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
9.
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
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The Air Force Outstanding Unit Award is one of the unit awards of the United States Air Force. It was established in 1954 and was the first independent Air Force decoration created, the Air Force Longevity Service Award would follow in 1957 with most of the standard Air Force awards established in the early to mid 1960s. The Outstanding Unit Award is awarded to any unit of the U. S, multiple awards of the Outstanding Unit Award are denoted by oak leaf clusters on the ribbon. Until 2004, the Outstanding Unit Award was the senior most unit award in the U. S. Air Force and it is awarded to personnel who were assigned or attached to the unit receiving the award during the period it was awarded for. Non-USAF personnel personnel assigned to USAF units awarded the Outstanding Unit Award are also eligible to wear the ribbon on their uniforms, however, the ribbon does not come in the larger size of unit awards common to the U. S. Army
10.
"V" device
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The decorations with which a V may be authorized differ between the military services, as well as the manner in which the V is worn and the name by which it is referred to. The Department of Defense, Army, and Air Force refer to the V as the V Device, the Coast Guard refers to it as the Valor Device, while the Navy and Marine Corps refer to it as the Combat Distinguishing Device or Combat V. Until 2 February 2017, the also used different criteria in determining whether a V could be authorized. Soldiers and airmen who were awarded the Bronze Star Medal for heroism in combat, were now authorized to wear a bronze V on the suspension, only one V was allowed to be worn on a ribbon. Most World War II veterans who were entitled to the V probably did not know about or apply for the device, since large scale separations from the services were taking place after the war ended. Stocks of the device also were not available for issue for at least a year since the Army circular, to be worn on a decoration, the V device must have been specifically authorized in the written award citation issued with the medal. In 1996, the V device garnered public attention after the suicide of Admiral Jeremy Boorda, there has not been a living repeat Medal of Honor recipient since the World War I era, so the V device was never actually worn in this fashion. Until 2017, the criteria and conditions under which the V device could be awarded differed between the services, for the Army, the V was worn solely to denote participation in acts of heroism involving conflict with an armed enemy. Prior to 1 January 2014, the device was authorized on Outstanding Unit Awards. The V device is authorized for the Air Medal by all the services where heroism in aerial combat was involved on an individual mission. Two new C and R devices will also be used on relevant awards. On 2 February 2017, a new silver plated and gold plated V device was introduced, sometime after 2 February 2017, the individual services will change their regulations such that the silver and gold V device will be used to denote second and third awards with the V. A fourth, fifth, and sixth awarding with the V is to be issued with a bronze, silver, currently, the following decorations of the United States Armed Forces are eligible to be awarded with a V device. For the Army and the Air Force, the V is positioned to the right of any bronze or silver oak leaf clusters from the wearers perspective, the following examples depict decorations that were awarded with the V Device before 2 February 2017. After 2 February 2017, bronze, silver, and gold V devices will be used to indicate first, second, the Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard continue to award and issue the bronze version. The Marine Corps allows anodized medals and gold anodized Combat Vs to be worn on the blues uniform. Fourth, fifth, and sixth awards with the V would be denoted by a bronze V with wreath, silver V with wreath, the following examples depict decorations that were awarded with the device in at least one instance. After 2 February 2017, bronze, silver, and gold V devices will be used to indicate first, second, and third awards of the device
11.
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
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In recognition of allied military service to South Korea during the Korean War, all United States military departments were authorized the unit award for that period. When the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation is worn on the South Korea military uniform it is as a ribbon 1 3⁄8 inches wide surrounded by a gold frame, the ribbon is white, with a 15⁄64 inch red above blue Taeguk in the center. No ribbon devices are authorized for wear with this award, U. S. Marine Corps for service in South Korea between 9 December 1999 to 24 April 2002. 2nd Infantry Division was recognized in 2011, for their support of South Korea over the preceding 60 years, seventh Air Force was recognized in October 2013, for longstanding achievements in operational readiness and force employment in South Korea. Eighth Army was recognized on October 1,2014, for outstanding performance in defense of the Republic of Korea, first Marine Division, Reinforced for operations from 15 September to 11 October 1950, including the Inchon landing and the battle for Seoul. 58th Engineer Treadway Bridge Company for their bridge building efforts with the X Corps at the Chosin Reservoir, the first was for service at Inchon, the second for service during the period of 1950-1953, and finally for deployment to the Korean Peninsula from 1945-1948 and 1953-1971. One Italian unit, the Ospedale da Campo n°68 of Corpo Militare della Croce Rossa Italiana, was awarded battle honour twelve, October 6,1952. One unit of the U. S. Armys 3rd Infantry Division, the first was for service in the Uijongbu Corridor in June 1951. The second was for service in the Iron Triangle at Hill 717 in July 1951, one South African unit, the 2 Squadron SAAF was also awarded this battle honour. It was presented on November 1,1951 and it reads This unit was dispatched from South Africa in support of the United Nations Forces in Korea. It was equipped with P-51 aircraft and has functioned continually in support of operations of the Eighth Army, through all gallantry and devotion to duty of its personnel it has earned high praise and its losses in pilots have been heavy. It continued to meet cheerfully all tasks allotted to it,16 Field Regiment of the Royal New Zealand Artillery. A Dutch battalion embedded into the US 2nd Infantry Division was awarded the U. S, Presidential Unit Citation in February 1951, for the capture of Hill 325, north of Manjong Station. The under-strength A Company, reinforced by personnel from B and heavy weapons companies, was ordered to recapture Hill 325 on the 15th of February 1951. At 0230 hrs the next morning, the Dutch were beaten back by heavy fire, at 0345 hrs they tried again. Just before dawn the exhausted Dutch, their ammunition almost expended, fixed bayonets and, shouting their battle cry, for these actions the Van Heutsz received its first U. S. This came at a cost, however, as the battalion had suffered over a hundred casualties. watv. org
12.
Gallantry Cross (Vietnam)
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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
13.
Colonel
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Colonel is a senior military officer rank below the general officer ranks. However, in small military forces, such as those of Iceland or the Vatican. It is also used in police forces and paramilitary organizations. Historically, in the seventeenth, eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of a regiment in an army, the rank of colonel is typically above the rank of lieutenant colonel. The rank above colonel is typically called brigadier, brigade general or brigadier general, equivalent naval ranks may be called captain or ship-of-the-line captain. In the Commonwealth air force rank system, the equivalent rank is group captain, the word colonel derives from the same root as the word column and means of a column, and, by implication, commander of a column. The word colonel is therefore linked to the column in a similar way that brigadier is linked to brigade. By the end of the medieval period, a group of companies was referred to as a column of an army. Since the word is believed to derive from sixteenth-century Italian, it was presumably first used by Italian city states in that century. The first use of colonel as a rank in an army was in the French National Legions created by King Francis I by his decree of 1534. Building on the reforms of Louis XIIs decree of 1509. Each colonel commanded a legion with a strength of six thousand men. With the shift from primarily mercenary to primarily national armies in the course of the seventeenth century, the Spanish equivalent rank of coronel was used by the Spanish tercios in the 16th and 17th centuries. Gonzalo Fernández de Córdoba, nicknamed the Great Captain, divided his armies in coronelías or colonelcies, however, the Spanish word probably derives from a different origin, in that it appears to designate an officer of the crown, rather than an officer of the column. This makes the Spanish word coronel probably cognate with the English word coroner and this regiment, or governance, was to some extent embodied in a contract and set of written rules, also referred to as the colonels regiment or standing regulation. By extension, the group of companies subject to a colonels regiment came to be referred to as his regiment as well, the position, however, was primarily contractual and it became progressively more of a functionless sinecure. By the late 19th century, colonel was a military rank though still held typically by an officer in command of a regiment or equivalent unit. As European military influence expanded throughout the world, the rank of colonel became adopted by every nation
14.
William W. Momyer
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William Wallace Momyer was a general officer and fighter pilot in the United States Air Force. Among his notable posts were those commanding the Air Training Command, the Seventh Air Force during the Vietnam War, johnson and Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara. Momyer was acknowledged in the Air Force community as a expert in tactical air warfare. His predecessor as commander of TAC described him as difficult to work for or with because he was smarter than most people. After his retirement in 1973, he spent five years researching and writing Airpower in Three Wars, his treatise on airpower doctrine, strategy, and tactics. The controversy reached the highest levels of the United States Army Air Forces, was reported in the American press. Momyer was born in 1916, the son of a lawyer in Muskogee and his nickname within the service was Spike. Early in 1942, at the age of 25, Momyer replaced Col. Elwood R. Quesada as commanding officer of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk-equipped 33d Fighter Group, in October the group was carried to North Africa aboard the USS Chanango as part of Operation Torch. Launching from the carrier on November 10, the group attempted to land at the Port Lyautey airfield in French Morocco. Several aircraft were disabled in landing accidents and Momyer was awarded the Silver Star for personally extricating a trapped pilot from a P-40 that had flipped onto its back. From Telergma Airfield, Algeria, and Thelepte Airfield, Tunisia, Momyer led the 33rd FG on combat missions in the Tunisia, Sicily and Naples-Foggia campaigns. For his performance during several actions of the North African campaign, he received the Distinguished Service Cross. He accrued more than 200 combat flying hours and became an ace with eight credited aerial victories, thus despite cautions from Generals Jimmy Doolittle and Howard Craig to group commanders to conserve strength, Momyer was compelled to commit his aircraft to battle in small increments. S. Of the situation, Momyer himself said, The German Air Force controlled the air in northern and southern Tunisia, the 33rd returned to combat on 22 February from Youks-les-Bains Airfield, the last forward field for the Twelfth Air Force. NATAF initiated a campaign in mid-March that achieved air superiority soon after. The 33rd FG began fighter-bomber attacks on the island on 29 May, augmented by attachment to the group of the segregated 99th Fighter Squadron, the 99th FS was then sent to another group. It may be expected that we will get less work and less time out of the 99th than any squadron in this group. The 99th Fighter Squadron continued in combat, although with a different group, historian Walter J. Boyne wrote, Momyers illustrious combat record was tarnished by incident of racial intolerance. at a time when such attitudes were still pervasive. Momyers assessment was wrong
15.
Chesley G. Peterson
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Major General Chesley G. Peterson was a career officer in the United States Air Force. He was a pilot in the European theater in World War II who remained in the military after the war. Peterson is best known for his time as the commander of the famous 4th Fighter Group during 1942–1943, Peterson was born in Idaho, but moved to Utah in his childhood. He joined the Utah National Guard in 1937, in 1939, he joined the Army Air Corps and was selected for air cadet training, but was dismissed before graduation from flight school. Peterson arrived in England in late 1940 and was assigned to No.71 Squadron of the Royal Air Force, No.71 Squadron was one of the three Eagle squadrons made of volunteer American pilots. The Americans would fly Hurricanes and Spitfires against the Luftwaffe, in time, he was promoted to Flight Lieutenant, and given command of No.71 Squadron. Lt. Peterson completed 42 missions while flying with the RAF, when he was given command of No.71 Squadron, he was only 21 years old and the youngest squadron commander in the RAF. In 1942, Peterson accepted a transfer to the United States Army Air Forces along with the rest of the Eagle Squadron members and he was assigned to the 4th Fighter Group as the executive officer and as a major. Later he would be promoted to colonel at the age of 23, when Peterson first joined the 4th Fighter Group, they were assigned the P-47 Thunderbolt, which was a radical change from the Spitfires the Eagle Squadron pilots had flown. While flying a P-47 over the English Channel, Peterson was forced to bail out at 500 feet above the water and his parachute failed, but miraculously Peterson survived both the fall and the dangerous Channel waters. During his time overseas, Colonel Peterson flew a total of 130 missions and was credited with nine aerial victories, after attending Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, Peterson was assigned as the commander of Dale Mabry Field, Tallahassee, Florida in March 1945. His next assignment was as chief, Air Attache Branch, Headquarters Army Air Forces, Washington, after the war, Colonel Peterson had a variety of assignments including command and staff assignments. Despite not participating directly in either the Korean or Vietnam wars, he was assigned overseas as the commander of flying units in France, Peterson was promoted to major general in 1965. His last assignment on active duty began on April 1,1967 as the Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence, Staff, Commander in Chief and he died on January 28,1990 in Riverside, California and is buried at Riverside National Cemetery
16.
Robin Olds
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Robin Olds was an American fighter pilot and general officer in the U. S. Air Force. He was an ace, with a combined total of 16 victories in World War II. He retired in 1973 as a brigadier general and he remained in the service as it became the United States Air Force, despite often being at odds with its leadership, and was one of its pioneer jet pilots. Olds was promoted to general after returning from Vietnam but did not hold another major command. The remainder of his career was spent in non-operational positions, as Commandant of Cadets at the United States Air Force Academy and his inability to rise higher as a general officer is attributed to both his maverick views and his penchant for drinking. Olds had a highly publicized career and life, including marriage to Hollywood actress Ella Raines, as a young man he was also recognized for his athletic prowess in both high school and college, being named an All-American as a lineman in college football. Olds expressed his philosophy regarding fighter pilots in the quote, There are pilots and there are pilots, with the good ones, if you are a fighter pilot, you have to be willing to take risks. Olds was born Robert Oldys, Jr. in Honolulu into an Army family and spent much of his boyhood in Hampton, Virginia and his mother, Eloise Wichman Nott Olds, died when Robin was four and he was raised by his father. Olds was the eldest of four brothers, followed by Stevan, Sterling, on November 10,1925, his father appeared as a witness on behalf of Billy Mitchell during Mitchells court-martial in Washington, D. C. He brought three-year-old Robin with him to court, dressed in an Air Service uniform, Olds first flew at the age of eight, in an open cockpit biplane operated by his father. At the age of 12, Olds made attending the U. S, Military Academy at West Point an objective to accomplish his goals of becoming an officer, a military aviator, and playing football. His father was commander of the pioneer B-17 Flying Fortress 2nd Bombardment Group at Langley Field on March 1,1937. Olds was aggressive, even mean, as a player, and received offers to attend Virginia Military Institute, when Germany invaded Poland, Olds attempted to join the Royal Canadian Air Force but was thwarted by his fathers refusal to approve his enlistment papers. Olds completed Millard Prep and applied for admission to the United States Military Academy at West Point and he passed the West Point entrance examination and was accepted into the Class of 1944 on June 1,1940. He entered the academy a month later but after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Olds was sent to the Spartan School of Aeronautics in Tulsa, Oklahoma and this training ended a year later by Christmas 1942. Olds returned to West Point, hoping to graduate early and see action in the war, as a plebe, Olds played football on a freshman squad that began the season with three losses but finished 3-4-1 while the varsity won only one game in its second consecutive losing season. As a result, the new superintendent, Maj. Gen. Robert L. Eichelberger, replaced the head coach with Earl Red Blaik, a 1920 graduate and head coach at Dartmouth. Olds played on the varsity football team in both 1941 and 1942
17.
Mark Welsh
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Mark Anthony Welsh III is a retired United States Air Force officer whose last assignment before retiring was as the 20th Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force. He was born in San Antonio, Texas, and entered the United States Air Force in June 1976 as a graduate of the US Air Force Academy. He retired after over 40 years of service on July 1,2016 and he was responsible for Air Force activities, conducted through 3rd Air Force, in an area of operations covering almost one-fifth of the globe. This area includes 51 countries in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, and he also had administrative control of 17th Air Force, providing support, logistics and resources to U. S. Africa Command. In May 2012, Welsh was nominated by President Barack Obama to be the next Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, on July 19,2012, Welsh testified in front of the Senate Armed Services Committee at his confirmation hearing. He was confirmed by the U. S. Senate and was sworn in as the Chief of Staff of the Air Force in August 2012, Welsh believes that the USAF accomplishes the CAS mission better than anyone actually does. 1972 Wentworth Military Academy and College, Lexington, Missouri 1976 Bachelor of Science degree, U. S. McNair, Washington, D. C. June 1993 – June 1995, Chief, Defense and Space Operations Division, Operations Directorate, Joint Staff, June 1995 – April 1997, Commander, 347th Operations Group, Moody AFB, Ga. April 1997 – June 1998, Commander, 8th Fighter Wing, Kunsan Air Base, South Korea June 1998 – June 1999, Commander, College of Aerospace Doctrine, Research and Education, Maxwell AFB, Ala. June 2005 – June 2007, Deputy Commander, Joint Functional Component Command for Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance, U. S. Strategic Command, Bolling AFB, Washington, also in 2016, on April 22, Gen. Welsh was inducted into the Order of the Sword. Speech at the U. S. Air Force Academy, November 1,2011 on YouTube Culbert, enlisted corps bestows highest honor upon Welsh
18.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
19.
Seventh Air Force
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United States Air Forces Korea and USAFK redirect here. The Seventh Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces and it is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The commands mission is to plan and direct air component operations in the Republic of Korea and in the Northwest Pacific. It was assigned units engaging enemy forces in the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, and in the last major battle of the Pacific War, the Battle of Okinawa. Returning to its role in Hawaii after the war,7 AF became the primary USAF command. 7 AF is commanded by Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Bergeson, the Vice Commander is Brig Gen Kyle W. Robinson Command Chief Master Sergeant is Anthony W. Johnson. Since then, both as U. S. Air Forces Korea, under the joint U. S and it develops the total air campaign and reinforcement plans for ROK defense and sustains mission readiness of 117 operational units and 8,300 U. S. Air Force personnel. It operates in conjunction with United States Pacific Command, United Nations Command, U. S. Forces, Korea/Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea. Airplanes assigned to the 6th Aero Squadron consisted of three Curtiss N-9 seaplanes which were single-engine biplanes carrying a crew of two and capable of a top speed of 70 miles an hour. The first inter-island flight occurred in February 1919 and by 1920 inter-island flights were used for training purposes. Early in 1920 the 4th Observation Squadron arrived at Ford Island, known by then as Luke Field, also by this time, Luke Field was used jointly by the aerial forces of the Army and Navy. The year 1920 marked an advance in aviation in the Islands. The first night flight over Oahu took place on 30 June 1920, also air power began to take its place in the Hawaiian Departments military maneuvers. The first detachment of twenty men started clearing land south of Schofield Barracks for Wheeler Field in February 1922 and this Field was named for Major Sheldon H. Wheeler, who had assumed command of Luke Field in 1920 and was killed in an air accident in 1921. By June 1923, Wheeler boasted six 112x200 foot hangars, three used for housing shops and three others for planes, plus four hangars used as warehouses, and oil tanks holding 50,000 gallons. Tents and huts housed the men, the First commander of Wheeler Field was Major George E. Stratemeyer, who by 1941 was a brigadier general and Acting Chief of the Army Air Corps. The first known reforesting by plane was accomplished for the Department of Agriculture by a plane from Wheeler in 1926, the first non-stop Hawaiian flight from Oakland, California to Wheeler Field was made in June 1927 by L. J. Maitland and A. F. Hegenberger. The famous Dole flight also took place in 1927, with Art Goebel and Lt. W. V. Davis, USN, during the period from 1917 to 1931, the military air component in Hawaii grew to seven tactical squadrons and two service squadrons
20.
8th Operations Group
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The 8th Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 8th Fighter Wing. It is stationed at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, and is a part of Pacific Air Forces, the group is a direct successor organization of the 8th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. During World War II, the unit operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as part of Fifth Air Force, when the unit arrived in Brisbane, Australia, in April 1942, three squadrons were assigned, the 35th, 36th and 80th Pursuit Squadrons. Since fighting became the new objective, the took on the new designation of the 8th Fighter Group. During the course of World War II in the Pacific, the 8th participated in battles in Port Moresby, Nadaab, Owi, Zamboanga, the Group participated in nine campaigns and received two Distinguished Unit Citations. The 8th spawned twenty-seven Aces and accounted for destroying 449 enemy aircraft during World War II, the Group added eleven streamers to their flag, two Republic of Korea citations, and another Distinguished Unit Citation. The 8 OG is a fighter group composed of two deployable Lockheed F-16CJ fighter squadrons, and one operational support squadron. These squadrons would later be combined in the 8th Pursuit Group, in 1931, the 8th Pursuit Group was reactivated helped fly the air corps air mail routes across the United States. In addition, the trained, took part in maneuvers and reviews. Initially, the group had two flying squadrons assigned, but both operated from other bases, the 36th Pursuit Squadron flew from Selfridge Field, Michigan, while the 55th Pursuit Squadron operated from Mather Field, California. In June 1932 the group reorganized and it gained the 33rd and 35th Pursuit Squadrons, and activated at Langley Field, Virginia. The 36th moved from Selfridge to Langley to join the rest of the group, at the same time, the 55th Pursuit Squadron transferred to the 20th Fighter Group, leaving the 8th with three squadrons. At Langley the group trained in such aircraft as the Consolidated PB-2, Curtiss P-6, over the next several years, the group transitioned to such newer aircraft as the Seversky P-35, Curtiss P-36 Hawk, Bell P-39 Airacobra, and the Curtiss P-40. Significantly, on 11 October 1940, the 8th Pursuit Group participated in a test designed to compare the take-off runs of standard Navy, on that day,24 P-40s from the 8th Pursuit Group launched from the USS Wasp, an aircraft carrier, and returned to Langley Field. That experiment, the first time that Army planes had flown from a Navy carrier, in December 1940, the group became part of the defense force for the New York metropolitan area, being reassigned to Mitchel Field on Long Island. At Mitchel, the 33rd Pursuit Squadron was transferred to the 342d Composite Group in Iceland in August 1941 to engage in North Atlantic defense and this left the group with two flying squadrons, the 35th and 36th. To replace the 33rd the 58th was activated, but then was transferred to form the 33rd Fighter Group, finally, the 80th Squadron was activated on 10 January 1942. In the spring of 1942, the unit was redesignated as the 8th Fighter Group, the group was assigned to the South West Pacific Theatre and deployed Brisbane, Australia, sailing on the Army Transport Ship Maui
21.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
22.
McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
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It first entered service in 1960 with the U. S. Navy. Proving highly adaptable, it was adopted by the U. S. Marine Corps and the U. S. Air Force. The Phantom is a fighter with a top speed of over Mach 2.2. It can carry more than 18,000 pounds of weapons on nine hardpoints, including air-to-air missiles, air-to-ground missiles. The F-4, like other interceptors of its time, was designed without an internal cannon, later models incorporated an M61 Vulcan rotary cannon. Beginning in 1959, it set 15 world records for performance, including an absolute speed record. The Phantom has the distinction of being the last U. S. fighter flown to attain ace status in the 20th century. The F-4 Phantom II remained in use by the U. S. in the reconnaissance and Wild Weasel roles in the 1991 Gulf War, finally leaving service in 1996. It was also the aircraft used by both U. S. flight demonstration teams, the USAF Thunderbirds and the US Navy Blue Angels. The F-4 was also operated by the forces of 11 other nations. Israeli Phantoms saw extensive combat in several Arab–Israeli conflicts, while Iran used its fleet of Phantoms in the Iran–Iraq War. Phantoms remain in front line service with five countries, Phantom production ran from 1958 to 1981, with a total of 5,195 built, making it the most numerous American supersonic military aircraft. The F-4 is currently used by Greece, Iran, Japan, South Korea and it has been recently used in combat against the Islamic State. In 1952, McDonnells Chief of Aerodynamics, Dave Lewis, was appointed by CEO Jim McDonnell to be the preliminary design manager. With no new aircraft competitions on the horizon, internal studies concluded the Navy had the greatest need for a new and different aircraft type, in 1953, McDonnell Aircraft began work on revising its F3H Demon naval fighter, seeking expanded capabilities and better performance. The company developed several projects including a variant powered by a Wright J67 engine, the J79-powered version promised a top speed of Mach 1.97. On 19 September 1953, McDonnell approached the United States Navy with a proposal for the Super Demon, the Navy was sufficiently interested to order a full-scale mock-up of the F3H-G/H, but felt that the upcoming Grumman XF9F-9 and Vought XF8U-1 already satisfied the need for a supersonic fighter. On 26 May 1955, four Navy officers arrived at the McDonnell offices and, within an hour, because the Navy already had the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk for ground attack and F-8 Crusader for dogfighting, the project now had to fulfill the need for an all-weather fleet defense interceptor
23.
North Korea
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North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is both the capital as well as its largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok, the country is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed, the communist Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north, an invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, and no peace treaty was ever signed. North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant socialist state and formally holds elections, critics regard it as a totalitarian dictatorship. Various outlets have called it Stalinist, particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung, International organizations have assessed human rights violations in North Korea as belonging to a category of their own, with no parallel in the contemporary world. Over time, North Korea has gradually distanced itself from the world communist movement, Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution as a creative application of Marxism–Leninism in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises, most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-funded. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered from a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 0.24 and 3.5 million people, and the continues to struggle with food production. North Korea follows Songun, or military-first policy and it is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world, after China, North Korea is an atheist state with no official religion and where public religion is discouraged. The name Korea derives from the name Goryeo, the name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a shortened form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After the division of the country into North and South Korea, the two sides used different terms to refer to Korea, Chosun or Joseon in North Korea, in 1948, North Korea adopted Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as its new legal name. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan, Japan tried to suppress Korean traditions and culture and ran the economy primarily for its own benefit. Korean resistance groups known as Dongnipgun operated along the Sino-Korean border, some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of South East Asia. One of the leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung, who later became the leader of North Korea
24.
68th Fighter Squadron
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The 68th Fighter Squadron was one of the longest-serving Fighter Squadrons in U. S. Air Force history, remaining activated almost continually for 60 years. Known as the Lightning Lancers, on the morning of 27 June 1950 pilots of the 68th Fighter Squadron flying the F-82 Twin Mustang made history by achieving the first aerial kill of the Korean War. The 68th FS was most recently part of the 347th Wing at Moody Air Force Base and it operated F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions. The squadron was inactivated in 2001, established in early 1941 as part of the United States defense buildup after the breakout of World War II in Europe. Trained under Third Air Force, then deployed to the Southwest Pacific after the Attack on Pearl Harbor for combat duty with Fifth Air Force, reassigned to Thirteenth Air Force and provided air defense of Tongatabu from, June–October 1942 with a mixture of P-40s and P-39s. Reassigned to Japan as part of the Occupation Forces, December 1945 although most personnel had been demobilized and returned to the United States. From 2 November 1945 to 1 October 1946, the 68th was non-operational and became, in name only, then, in October 1946, the squadron began search and patrol missions and participated in exercises and maneuvers out of various bases in Japan flying the P-51D Mustang. In February 1947 assumed the air defense mission of Northern Japan with P-61 Black Widow night fighters, personnel and it replaced war-weary F-61s in 1949 with new F-82G Twin Mustangs. Hurriedly engaged in operations over Korea, June 1950 as the first USAF squadron operational over war zone. Engaged North Korean Air Force aircraft and scored first aerial victories of the conflict, also engaged in night-interceptor missions over North Korea. Twin Mustangs replaced by jet F-94C Starfire interceptors in 1951 and later to F-86D Sabres in 1954, the squadron upgraded to and F-102A Delta Daggers in 1959. It began rotational deployments to Osan Air Base, South Korea in 1960, in 1963, Headquarters, United States Air Force instituted Project Clearwater. Clearwater was designed to return overseas F-102 squadrons to United States in order to reduce gold flow, the 68ths planes were withdrawn from Japan and dispersed over Air Defense Command squadrons in the United States and the squadron moved on paper to the US in 1964. Reassigned to Tactical Air Command, re-equipped with new F-4C Phantom IIs in 1964, deployed to bases in Thailand in 1964-1965 flying air superiority missions over North and South Vietnam during early stages of the United States involvement in that conflict. Returned to George Air Force Base and became a replacement training unit for F-4 aircrews from February 1966 to October 1968, the unit became nonoperational for a short time. Assigned to Florida in 1968 with TACs control of Homestead Air Force Base, returned again to the United States with TACs activation at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia in 1975. Flew F-4Es and deployed overseas in February 1985 to Panama to take part in exercise Kindle Liberty, the F-4Es were reassigned to the Missouri ANG. It deployed aircraft and personnel to Saudi Arabia between June 26 and December 22,1991, in 1999 the 68th conducted two deployments to Al Jaber Air Base Kuwait in support of Operation SOUTHERN WATCH
25.
No. 77 Squadron RAAF
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No.77 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force squadron headquartered at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales. It is controlled by No.81 Wing, and equipped with McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters. The squadron was formed at RAAF Station Pearce, Western Australia, in March 1942 and saw action in the South West Pacific theatre of World War II, operating Curtis P-40 Kittyhawks. After the war, it re-equipped with North American P-51 Mustangs, the squadron was about to return to Australia when the Korean War broke out in June 1950, after which it joined United Nations forces supporting South Korea. The squadron re-equipped with CAC Sabres at Williamtown in November 1956, two years later it transferred to RAAF Butterworth in Malaya to join the air campaign against communist guerrillas in the last stages of the Emergency. The squadron remained at Butterworth during the 1960s, providing air defence during the Konfrontasi between Indonesia and Malaysia. It returned to Williamtown in early 1969 to re-equip with Dassault Mirage III supersonic jet fighters, No.77 Squadron began converting to Hornets in June 1987. Along with its Hornets, the briefly operated Pilatus PC-9s in the forward air control role in the early 2000s. The RAAF plans to replace its Hornets with Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II fighters commencing in 2018, No.77 Squadron is located at RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales, and controlled by No.81 Wing, which is part of Air Combat Group. No.81 Wing maintains three fighter squadrons for offensive and defensive counter-air operations, as well as air-to-air combat, No.77 Squadron is tasked with land strike, close air support and maritime strike missions. Its staff includes maintenance, supply and other support personnel, the unit motto is Swift to Destroy and the crest features an oriental temple lion, a legacy of No.77 Squadrons role in the Korean War. Nicknamed the grumpy monkey, the lion represents a defender of peace, which, the squadron operates McDonnell Douglas F/A-18 Hornet multi-role fighters, the first of which was delivered in June 1987. The twin-engined Hornet is armed with a 20 mm cannon and can carry short- and medium-range air-to-air missiles and it can be refuelled in flight by the RAAFs Airbus KC-30A Multi Role Tanker Transports. No.77 Squadron primarily operates the single-seat F/A-18A Hornet, each Hornet squadron also operates one or two F/A-18Bs, a model used for pilot conversion. Squadron staff are responsible for servicing and some heavy maintenance tasks. Other heavy maintenance is carried out by an industry coalition contracted through Boeing, No.77 Squadron regularly undertakes exercises with air forces from South-East Asia, New Zealand and the United States. As the Japanese advanced in the South West Pacific during early 1942,75,76 and 77 Squadrons—equipped with Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawks recently delivered from the United States. No.77 Squadron was formed at RAAF Station Pearce, Western Australia, on 16 March, temporarily commanded by Squadron Leader D. F. Forsyth, the unit was initially responsible for the defence of Perth
26.
Royal Australian Air Force
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The Royal Australian Air Force, formed March 1921, is the aerial warfare branch of the Australian Defence Force. It directly continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps, formed on 22 October 1912, the RAAF provides support across a spectrum of operations such as air superiority, precision strikes, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, air mobility, and humanitarian support. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th centurys major conflicts, thousands of Australians also served with other Commonwealth air forces in Europe. By the time the war ended, a total of 216,900 men and women served in the RAAF, later the RAAF served in the Berlin Airlift, Korean War, Malayan Emergency, Indonesia–Malaysia Confrontation and Vietnam War. More recently, the RAAF has participated in operations in East Timor, the Iraq War, the War in Afghanistan, and the intervention against the Islamic State of Iraq. The RAAF has 259 aircraft, of which 110 are combat aircraft, the RAAF traces its history back to the Imperial Conference held in London in 1911, where it was decided aviation should be developed within the armed forces of the British Empire. By 1914 the corps was known as the Australian Flying Corps, soon after the outbreak of war in 1914, the Australian Flying Corps sent aircraft to assist in capturing German colonies in what is now north-east New Guinea. However, these colonies surrendered quickly, before the planes were even unpacked, the first operational flights did not occur until 27 May 1915, when the Mesopotamian Half Flight was called upon to assist the Indian Army in protecting British oil interests in what is now Iraq. The corps later saw action in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front throughout the remainder of the First World War, by the end of the war, four squadrons—Nos. 1,2,3 and 4—had seen operational service, while another four training squadrons—Nos,5,6,7 and 8—had also been established. A total of 460 officers and 2,234 other ranks served in the AFC, casualties included 175 dead,111 wounded,6 gassed and 40 captured. The Australian Flying Corps remained part of the Australian Army until 1919, although the Central Flying School continued to operate at Point Cook, military flying virtually ceased until 1920, when the Australian Air Corps was formed. The Australian Air Force was formed on 31 March 1921, king George V approved the prefix Royal in June 1921 and became effective on 31 August 1921. The RAAF then became the second Royal air arm to be formed in the British Commonwealth, when formed the RAAF had more aircraft than personnel, with 21 officers and 128 other ranks and 153 aircraft. A total of 17 RAAF bomber, fighter, reconnaissance and other squadrons served initially in Britain and with the Desert Air Force located in North Africa, thousands of Australians also served with other Commonwealth air forces in Europe during the Second World War. About nine percent of the personnel who served under British RAF commands in Europe and this statistic is further illustrated by the fact that No.460 Squadron RAAF, mostly flying Avro Lancasters, had an official establishment of about 200 aircrew and yet had 1,018 combat deaths. The squadron was therefore effectively wiped out five times over, total RAAF casualties in Europe were 5,488 killed or missing. The beginning of the Pacific War—and the rapid advance of Japanese forces—threatened the Australian mainland for the first time in its history, the RAAF was quite unprepared for the emergency, and initially had negligible forces available for service in the Pacific
27.
North American F-82 Twin Mustang
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The North American F-82 Twin Mustang was the last American piston-engine fighter ordered into production by the United States Air Force. Based on the P-51 Mustang, the F-82 was originally designed as an escort fighter in World War II. The war ended well before the first production units were operational, in the postwar era, Strategic Air Command used the planes as a long-range escort fighter. Radar-equipped F-82s were used extensively by the Air Defense Command as replacements for the Northrop P-61 Black Widow as all-weather day/night interceptors, during the Korean War, Japan-based F-82s were among the first USAF aircraft to operate over Korea. The first three North Korean aircraft destroyed by U. S. forces were shot down by F-82s, such missions were part of the planned U. S. In October 1943, the North American Aircraft design team began work on a design that could travel over 2,000 mi without refueling. It consisted of a design, somewhat similar to the experimental German Messerschmitt Bf 109Z Zwilling. Although based on the lightweight experimental XP-51F, which would become the P-51H Mustang. These were mounted to a newly designed center wing section containing the same six.50 caliber M3 Browning machine guns as a single-engine Mustang, but with more concentrated fire. The first XP-82 prototype was equipped with a removable centerline gun pod housing eight additional.50 caliber M3 Brownings, an even more powerful centerline gun pod containing a 40 mm cannon was considered, but was never built. The outer wings were reinforced to allow the addition of points for carrying additional fuel or 1,000 pounds of ordnance. The two vertical tails were also from the XP-51F, but incorporated large dorsal fillets for added stability in case of an engine failure, the aircraft had a conventional landing gear with both wheels retracting into bays under each fuselage center section. The XP-82 was to be powered by two Packard-built Rolls-Royce V-1650 Merlin engines, initially, the left engine was a V-1650-23 with a gear reduction box to allow the left propeller to turn opposite to the right propeller, which was driven by the more conventional V-1650-25. In this arrangement both propellers would turn upward as they approached the center wing, which in theory would have allowed better single-engine control and this proved not to be the case when the aircraft refused to become airborne during its first flight attempt. The engines and propellers were exchanged, with their rotation meeting on the downward turn. The first XP-82 prototype was completed on 25 May 1945, although some P-82B airframes were completed before the end of World War II, most remained at the North American factory in California waiting for engines until 1946. As a result, none saw service during the war, in addition, the licensing costs paid to Rolls-Royce for each V-1650 were being increased by Britain after the war. It therefore negotiated in August 1945 with the Allison Division of the General Motors Corporation for a new version of the Allison V-1710-100 engine and this forced North American to switch subsequent production P-82C and later models to the lower-powered engines
28.
Medal of Honor
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The medal is normally awarded by the President of the United States in the name of the U. S. Congress. There are three versions of the medal, one for the Army, one for the Navy, personnel of the Marine Corps and Coast Guard receive the Navy version. U. S. awards including the Medal of Honor do not have titles and while there is no official abbreviation. The Medal of Honor is the oldest continuously issued combat decoration of the United States armed forces, because the medal is presented in the name of Congress, it is often referred to as the Congressional Medal of Honor. However, the name is Medal of Honor, which began with the U. S. Armys version. Within United States Code the medal is referred to as the Medal of Honor, in 1990, Congress designated March 25 annually as National Medal of Honor Day. The capture saved the fort of West Point from the British Army, although the Badge of Military Merit fell into disuse after the American Revolutionary War, the concept of a military award for individual gallantry by members of the U. S. 539 Certificates were approved for this period and this medal was later replaced by the Army Distinguished Service Medal which was established on January 2,1918. Those Army members who held the Distinguished Service Medal in place of the Certificate of Merit could apply for the Army Distinguished Service Cross effective March 5,1934. There were no awards or medals at the beginning of the Civil War except for the Certificate of Merit which was awarded for the Mexican-American War. Scott however, was strictly against medals being awarded which was the European tradition, after Scott retired in October 1861, the Secretary of the Navy, Gideon Welles, adopted the idea of a decoration to recognize and honor distinguished naval service. Senator James W. Secretary Wells directed the Philadelphia Mint to design the new military decoration, on May 15,1862, the United States Navy Department ordered 175 medals with the words Personal Valor on the back from the U. S. Mint in Philadelphia. Senator Henry Wilson, the chairman of the Senate Committee on Military Affairs, the resolution was approved by Congress and signed into law on July 12,1862. During the war, Townsend would have some medals delivered to recipients with a letter requesting acknowledgement of the Medal of Honor. By mid-November the War Department contracted with Philadelphia silversmith William Wilson and Son, the Army version had The Congress to written on the back of the medal. Both versions were made of copper and coated with bronze, which gave them a reddish tint,1863, Congress made the Medal of Honor a permanent decoration. On March 3, Medals of Honor were authorized for officers of the Army, the Secretary of War first presented the Medal of Honor to six Union Army volunteers on March 25,1863 in his office. 1890, On April 23, the Medal of Honor Legion is established in Washington,1896, The ribbon of the Army version Medal of Honor was redesigned with all stripes being vertical
29.
Fukuoka Airport
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Fukuoka Airport, formerly known as Itazuke Air Base, is an international and domestic airport located 1.6 NM east of Hakata Station in Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Japan. Fukuoka Airport is the airport on the island of Kyushu and is the fourth busiest passenger airport in Japan. It is also the third busiest single-runway airport in the world by passenger traffic, the airport is surrounded by residential areas, flights stop at 10 p. m. at the request of local residents and resume operation at 7 a. m. The domestic terminal is connected to the city by the Fukuoka City Subway, the international terminal is only accessible by road, although there is scheduled bus service to Hakata Station and the Tenjin area. Alternatives to access the Fukuoka area include Saga Airport and Kitakyushu Airport, the airport was built in 1944 by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force as Mushiroda Airfield. After the war, the United States Air Force used the airfield as Itazuke Air Base from 1945 to 1972, Itazuke actually comprised three installations, Itazuke AB, Itazuke Administration Annex and Brady Air Base. Itazuke and the Kasuga Annex were on the mainland while Brady was in Saitozaki, part of the confusion with the names stem from the days when the annex and Brady AB were Army installations before the USAF took command in 1956. At its height, Itazuke AB was the largest USAF base on Kyūshū, but was closed in 1972 due to budget reductions, Mushiroda was built on farmland that once grew bumper rice crops during 1943. The base was first used by trainer aircraft, the airfield soon proved unserviceable for the fledgling flyers because of the high water level of the former rice lands. Frequent rain showers flooded the runway making it unsafe for the novice aviators, the Japanese Air Forces 6th Fighter Wing replaced the trainers and Mushiroda became an air defense base. The 6th Wing had 30 single engine fighters and several aircraft to patrol the Okinawa-Kyūshū aerial invasion corridor. In April 1945 the Tachiarai Airfield at Kurume was destroyed by American B-29s, the first American units moved into the facility in November 1945, when the 38th Bombardment Group stationed B-25 Mitchells on the airfield. Along with the 38th, the 8th Fighter Group was assigned to the airfield on 1 April 1946 which performed occupation duties until April 1947. Due to the destruction of the facility during the War. Designated Base Two, the aircraft company was converted to barracks, dining halls, a post exchange. Additional facilities and billets were housed in a tent city at the airfield, the 38th Bomb Group remained at Itazuke until October 1946 also during with time several reconstruction units worked on the former IJAAF base rebuilding and constructing new facilities. Headquarters, 315th Bombardment Wing moved into the base during May 1946, when the 38th Bomb Group moved to Itami Airfield, it was replaced by the P-61 Black Widow-equipped 347th Fighter Group that moved from Nagoya Airfield. The 347ths mission was to air defense of Japanese airspace with the long range former night fighter
30.
Distinguished Unit Citation
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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
31.
North American F-86 Sabre
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The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war and its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956, in the United States, Japan and Italy. Variants were built in Canada and Australia, the Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 airframes, and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre, had a production run of 112. The Sabre was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with production of all variants at 9,860 units. North American Aviation had produced the propeller-powered P-51 Mustang in World War II, by late 1944, North American proposed its first jet fighter to the U. S. Navy, which became the FJ-1 Fury. It was an unexceptional transitional jet fighter that had a wing derived from the P-51. Initial proposals to meet a United States Army Air Forces requirement for a medium-range, single-seat, in early 1945, North American Aviation submitted four designs. The USAAF selected one design over the others, and granted North American a contract to build three examples of the XP-86, despite the gain in speed, early studies revealed the XP-86 would have the same performance as its rivals, the XP-80 and XP-84. It was also feared that, because these designs were advanced in their development stages. Crucially, the XP-86 would not be able to meet the top speed of 600 mph. The North American F-86 Sabre was the first American aircraft to take advantage of research data seized from the German aerodynamicists at the end of World War II. By 1944, German engineers and designers had established the benefits of swept wings based on designs dating back to 1940. Study of the data showed that a wing would solve their speed problem. Because development of the XP-86 had reached a stage, the idea of changing the sweep of the wing was met with resistance from some senior North American staff. Despite stiff opposition, after results were obtained in wind tunnel tests. Many Sabres had the 6–3 wing retrofitted after combat experience was gained in Korea and this modification changed the wing airfoils to the NACA 0009-64 mod at the root and the NACA0008. 1–64 mod at the tip. Delays caused by the major redesign meant that manufacturing did not begin until after World War II, the XP-86 prototype, which would lead to the F-86 Sabre, was rolled out on 8 August 1947. The maiden flight occurred on 1 October 1947 with George Welch at the controls, flying from Muroc Dry Lake, the United States Air Forces Strategic Air Command had F-86 Sabres in service from 1949 through 1950
32.
North American F-100 Super Sabre
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The North American F-100 Super Sabre was an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of speed in level flight. The F-100 was designed by North American Aviation as a higher performance follow-on to the F-86 Sabre air superiority fighter, adapted as a fighter bomber, the F-100 was supplanted by the Mach two class F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions over North Vietnam. The F-100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the air forces primary close air support jet until being replaced by the more efficient subsonic LTV A-7 Corsair II, the F-100 also served in other NATO air forces and with other U. S. allies. In its later life, it was referred to as the Hun. In January 1951, North American Aviation delivered an unsolicited proposal for a day fighter to the United States Air Force. Named Sabre 45 because of its 45° wing sweep, it represented an evolution of the F-86 Sabre, the mockup was inspected on 7 July 1951, and after over a hundred modifications, the new aircraft was accepted as the F-100 on 30 November 1951. Extensive use of titanium throughout the aircraft was notable, on 3 January 1952, the USAF ordered two prototypes followed by 23 F-100As in February and an additional 250 F-100As in August. The YF-100A first flew on 25 May 1953, seven ahead of schedule. It reached Mach 1.04 in spite of being fitted with a de-rated XJ57-P-7 engine, the second prototype flew on 14 October 1953, followed by the first production F-100A on 9 October 1953. These findings were confirmed during Project Hot Rod operational suitability tests. Particularly troubling was the yaw instability in certain regimes of flight which produced inertia coupling, the aircraft could develop a sudden yaw and roll which would happen too fast for the pilot to correct and would quickly over-stress the aircraft structure to disintegration. It was under conditions that North Americans chief test pilot. Another control problem stemmed from handling characteristics of the wing at high angles of attack. As the aircraft approached stall speeds, loss of lift on the tips of the caused an violent pitch-up. This particular phenomenon became known as the Sabre dance, nevertheless, delays in the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak program pushed the Tactical Air Command to order the raw F-100A into service. Tactical Air Command also requested that future F-100s be fighter-bombers, with the capability of delivering nuclear bombs, the North American F-107 was a follow-on Mach 2 development of the F-100 with the air intake moved above and behind the cockpit. It was not produced in quantity in favor of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, the F-100A officially entered USAF service on 27 September 1954, with the 479th Fighter Wing at George AFB, California
33.
Convair F-102 Delta Dagger
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The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft that was built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Forces air defenses in the late 1950s. Entering service in 1956, its purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets during the Cold War. Designed and manufactured by Convair,1,000 F-102s were built, a member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the USAFs first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter. It used an internal weapons bay to carry guided missiles and rockets. As originally designed, it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling, the F-102 replaced subsonic fighter types such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, and by the 1960s, it saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground-attack roles. It was supplemented by McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and, later, by McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, the follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart, which was an extensive redesign of the F-102. On 8 October 1948, the board of officers of the U. S. Four months later, on 4 February 1949, the USAF approved the recommendation, in November 1949, the Air Force decided that the new aircraft would be built around a fire-control system. The FCS was to be designed before the airframe to ensure compatibility, the airframe and FCS together were called the weapon system. In January 1950, the USAF Air Materiel Command issued request for proposals to 50 companies for the FCS, by May, the list was revised downward to 10. Following recommendations by the committee to the Saville Board, the proposals were further reduced to two competitors, Hughes Aircraft and North American Aviation. Although the Valley Committee thought it was best to award the contract to companies, Hughes was chosen by Saville and his team on 2 October 1950. Proposals for the airframe were issued on 18 June 1950, on 2 July 1954, three companies, Convair, Republic and Lockheed won the right to build a mockup. Until then, Convair had done research into delta-winged aircraft, experimenting with different designs, of the three, the best design was to win the production contract under the name Project MX-1554. In the end, Convair emerged as the victor with its design, designated XF-102, after Lockheed dropped out, the development of three different designs was too expensive and in November, only Convair was allowed to continue with its Model 8-80. To speed development, it was proposed to equip the prototypes, continued delays to the J67 and MA-1 FCS led to the decision to place an interim aircraft with the J40 and a simpler fire control system into production as the F-102A. The failure of the J40 led to the Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet with afterburner, rated with 10,000 pounds-force of thrust being substituted for the prototypes, the F-102B would later evolve to become the F-106A, dubbed the Ultimate Interceptor. The prototype YF-102 made its first flight on 23 October 1953, at Edwards AFB, the second aircraft flew on 11 January 1954, confirming a dismal performance
34.
Republic F-105 Thunderchief
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The Republic F-105 Thunderchief was a supersonic fighter-bomber used by the United States Air Force. The F-105 was commonly known as the Thud by its crews, first flown in 1955, the Thunderchief entered service in 1958. The F-105 could deliver a bomb load than some American heavy bombers of World War II such as the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress. The F-105 was one of the attack aircraft of the Vietnam War, over 20,000 Thunderchief sorties were flown. Although less agile than smaller MiG fighters, USAF F-105s were credited with 27.5 kills, during the war, the single-seat F-105D was the primary aircraft delivering the heavy bomb loads against the various military targets. Two Wild Weasel pilots were awarded the Medal of Honor for attacking North Vietnamese surface-to-air missile sites, the dangerous missions often required them to be the first in, last out, suppressing enemy air defenses while strike aircraft accomplished their missions and then left the area. When the Thunderchief entered service it was the largest single-seat, single-engine combat aircraft in history and it could exceed the speed of sound at sea level and reach Mach 2 at high altitude, the F-105 could carry up to 14,000 lb of bombs and missiles. The Thunderchief was later replaced as an aircraft over North Vietnam by both the McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II and the swing-wing General Dynamics F-111 Aardvark. However, the Wild Weasel variants of the F-105 remained in service until 1984 after being replaced by the specialized F-4G Wild Weasel V. Republic Aviation started the Thunderchief as a project to replace the RF-84F Thunderflash. The design team led by Alexander Kartveli examined some 108 configurations before settling on a large, single-engine AP-63FBX, the new aircraft was intended primarily for supersonic, low altitude penetration to deliver a single, internally carried nuclear bomb. The emphasis was placed on speed and flight characteristics, range. The aircraft would be fitted with an engine, and a relatively small wing with a high wing loading for a stable ride at low altitudes. Traditional fighter attributes such as maneuverability were a secondary consideration, enthusiastic at first, the United States Air Force awarded Republic with a contract for 199 aircraft in September 1952. However, by March 1953, the USAF had reduced the order to 37 fighter-bombers and nine tactical reconnaissance aircraft, anticipating a protracted development of the engine, it was expected that the first aircraft would use the smaller Pratt & Whitney J57. Near the end of 1953, the program was canceled by the USAF due to a number of delays. However, on 28 June 1954, the USAF officially ordered 15 F-105s under the Weapon System designation WS-306A, the YF-105A prototype first flew on 22 October 1955, with the second YF-105A following on 28 January 1956. In spite of being powered by a less potent J57-P-25 engine with 15,000 pounds-force of afterburning thrust, in March 1956, the USAF placed a further order for 65 F-105Bs and 17 RF-105Bs
35.
Martin B-57 Canberra
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The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twinjet tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force in 1953. The B-57 is a version of the British English Electric Canberra manufactured by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The B-57 Canberra holds the distinction of being the first jet bomber in U. S. service to drop bombs during combat. The B-57 Canberra was also sold to customers abroad, further combat use was seen by the Pakistani Air Force during the Second Kashmir War. At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the USAF found itself in dire need of an all-weather interdiction aircraft, in response to these needs, the USAF requested the British government to provide a private demonstration of the English Electric Canberra, a newly developed jet-powered bomber. On 16 September 1950, the USAF formally issued a request for a bomber, the sought aircraft had to possess a top speed of 630 mph, ceiling of 40,000 feet. Full all-weather capability and a reconnaissance role also had to be included in the design. The American contenders included the Martin XB-51, the North American B-45 Tornado, to expedite the process, only projects based on existing aircraft were considered and, unusually, the service considered foreign aircraft. These included the Canadian Avro Canada CF-100 and the British English Electric Canberra, as part of the USAF evaluations process, all five aircraft were submitted to a series of fly-offs to determine their performance. On 21 February 1951, a British Canberra B, according to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Canberra proved to be significantly superior to any of the competing aircraft, and that its selection was beyond doubt by the end of the competition. Martin Company, under which it was proposed that Martin would receive a license to build the Canberra in the United States. According to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Americanization of the Canberra program proved effective at dismissing many of the opponents that had opposed the project. On 23 March 1951, the USAF issued a contract to Martin, requesting the manufacturing of a quantity of 250 Canberras. On 3 April 1951, English Electric and Martin both signed a licensing agreement to cover the Canberras production. The crash did lead to design changes in the face of political pressure. As such, more than 30 changes that had been requested by the Wright Air Development Center were rejected on program schedule or cost grounds, in early July 1953, the first US-built production aircraft rolled out, it conducted its maiden flight on 20 July 1953. One month later, this initial production aircraft was accepted by the USAF, in place of the curtailed B-57A, a more refined bomber variant, the B-57B, was developed. The B-57B introduced several major changes.50 cal Browning machine guns installed within the wings
36.
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base
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Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force facility, the home of Wing 21 of the RTAF 2nd Air Division. The RTAF 211sq Eagles fly the Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fighter aircraft from Ubon and it is in east-central Thailand, near the city of Ubon Ratchathani, in Ubon Ratchathani Province. It is approximately 488 km northeast of Bangkok, the Laotian border is about 60 kilometers directly east. The facility is used as a civil airport. Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base was established in the 1950s as a RTAF base, under Thailands gentlemans agreement with the United States, Royal Thai Air Force Bases used by the USAF were considered Royal Thai Air Force bases and were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun bunkers. Numbers of other USAF personnel were assigned as security police augmentees, one such attack occurred in early 1970 when North Vietnamese sappers penetrated the base perimeter. Six of them were killed, with no friendly casualties, other than security police, augmentees, and combat aircrew members, base personnel were normally unarmed. Also, under the US-Thailand operations agreement, USAF military guarding Ubon were prohibited from chambering ammunition in their weapons unless fired upon by an enemy, the USAF forces at Ubon were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces. Ubon was the location of TACAN station Channel 51 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions, the Army Post Office code for Ubon was APO San Francisco 96304. On 31 May 1962 the Royal Australian Air Force sent a detachment of eight CAC-27 Sabre fighters to Ubon RTAFB and this detachment was designated No.79 Squadron. The Australian facilities were known as RAAF Ubon, and were designed and constructed by No.5 Airfield Construction Squadron, the mission of No.79 Squadron was to assist the Thai and Laotian governments in actions against communist insurgents during the early years of the Vietnam War. With the deployment of United States Air Force fighters to Ubon, No.79 Squadron did not, however, fly any operations over nearby Cambodia, South Vietnam, or Laos. The units strength during the period was about 150–200 men. Sir Edmund Hillary visited the base on 25 January 1967, the squadron lost a Sabre A94-986 aircraft due to engine failure at 10,43 on 3 January 1968. The aircraft crashed into farms on approach outside the town, the pilot, Pilot Officer Mark McGrath, was killed. A three-year-old Thai girl named Prataisre Sangdang later died from burns sustained in the accident, the homes of Mr Nuan, Mr Krasam, Mr Thongkam, and Mr Tue were totally destroyed. That of Mr Sok was partly destroyed, ten pigs belonging to Mr Sok were killed as were 15 belonging to Mr Oh
37.
George Air Force Base
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George Air Force Base is a former United States Air Force base located within city limits,8 miles northwest of central Victorville, California, about 75 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California. The facility was closed by the Base Realignment and Closure 1992 commission at the end of the Cold War and it is now the site of Southern California Logistics Airport. Established by the United States Army Air Corps as an Advanced Flying School in June 1941 and it was again activated as a training base by the United States Air Force with the outbreak of the Korean War in November 1950. It remained a training base throughout the Cold War, primarily for Tactical Air Command training pilots in front-line USAF fighters until being closed in 1993. Since 2009, the California Air National Guards 196th Reconnaissance Squadron has operated an MQ-1 Predator Remotely Piloted Aircraft training facility at the Southern California Logistics Airport, George Air Force Base was named in honor of Brigadier General Harold Huston George. He was a World War I fighter ace, serving with the 185th and 139th Aero Squadrons, at the beginning of World War II he was assigned to the V Interceptor Command, Far East Air Force in the Philippines. There, he directed air operations in defense of the islands in Manila Bay. Withdrawn to Australia, he died on 29 April 1942 in an accident near Darwin. A Curtiss P-40 of the 49th Fighter Group, piloted by Lt. George, Time-Life war correspondent Melvin Jacoby, and base personnel 2nd Lt. Robert D. Jasper, a number of others received injuries, but the P-40 pilot survived. George Air Force Base was named for the general in June 1950. In April 1940, civic leaders from Victorville, California approached the United States Army with a proposal to develop an airfield in the High Mojave Desert. They promoted the areas 360-days per year of sunny weather, abundance of wide-open spaces, runway construction consisted of a four runway configuration along with seven hangars. To conserve critical materials, most facilities were constructed of wood, concrete, brick, gypsum board, the station was designed to be nearly self-sufficient, with not only hangars, but barracks, warehouses, hospitals, dental clinics, dining halls, and maintenance shops were needed. There were libraries, social clubs for officers, and enlisted men, over 250 buildings, together with complete water, sewer, electric and gas utilities, the airfield served over 4,000 military personnel. Training began in February 1942 on Curtiss AT-9s, T-6 Texans, and AT-17s for pilots, the Army operated an advanced twin-engine pilot training school at the field, its graduated generally flying C-47 Skytrain transports, B-25 Michell or B-26 Marauder medium bombers. The school also trained replacement crew members in the B-25 and B-26, the first class of flying cadets graduated on April 24,1942. In addition to the training, a USAAF Bombardier training school was operated. The 516th, 517th and 518th Twin-Engine Flying Training Squadrons being the flying squadrons, Bombardier training was conducted by the 519th, 520th, 521st and 522d Bombardier Training Squadrons
38.
32nd Air Expeditionary Group
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The 32d Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional unit of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe to activate or inactivate at any time and it was last active as the 32d Air And Space Operations Center in December 2006 at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. The group was first activated in 1940 at Rio Hato Army Air Base and it continued in this mission until 1943, when the perceived threat of an attack on the Panama Canal decreased and the group, by then the 32d Fighter Group, was disbanded. The 32d Composite Wing was activated at Kadena Air Base, Okinawa in August 1948 as part of the Air Forces wing base reorganization, the wing conducted reconnaissance missions in the Far East with squadrons attached from other units. It continued its mission for only eight months, then it was inactivated, the 32d Wing was redesignated the 32d Fighter Wing and replaced the group in February 1961 as the host organization at Minot Air Force Base. However, it became apparent that Minots support for the increasing SAC presence there called for the transfer of host responsibility to SAC. In 1984, the group and wing were consolidated into a single unit, as the 32d Tactical Fighter Group, the consolidated unit was activated at Soesterberg Air Base, Netherlands, where its 32d Tactical Fighter Squadron had been active since 1955. It served as a group at Soesterberg until 1994, when USAFE reduced its fighter forces at the end of the Cold War. It moved to Ramstein Air Base, Germany and became the air and it served in this role until 2006, when its personnel and equipment were transferred to the new 603d Air and Space Operations Center. The group was converted to provisional status in early 2011 as the 32d Air Expeditionary Group, when activated by the Commander, United States Air Forces Europe, the group mission is to command expeditionary units as directed. The United States Army constituted the 32nd Pursuit Group in late 1940, shortly afterwards, on 1 January 1941, the Panama Canal Air Force activated the group at Rio Hato Army Air Base, Panama. For the most part, however, the group consisted only of cadres provided by units in the Canal Zone. The group and its three assigned flying squadrons, the 51st, 52d, and 53d Pursuit Squadrons, had the mission of protecting the Panama Canal using obsolete Boeing P-26 Peashooters. On 9 December 1941, just after Pearl Harbor, the newly redesignated Caribbean Air Force moved the unit to France Field in the Canal Zone, the Air Corps soon equipped the 32nd Pursuit Group with Curtiss P-36 Hawks to strengthen the defenses of the region. On 15 May 1942, the unit was redesignated as the 32nd Fighter Group, however, the group soon swapped these fighters for Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. From 1941 to 1943 the group trained in flying intercept and fighter sweeps over the surrounding the Canal Zone. However, as the threat to the Canal Zone diminished. In October, the wing replaced the 71st Tactical Reconnaissance Wing
39.
431st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
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The 431st Test and Evaluation Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Tactical Air Command 57th Fighter Wing stationed at Nellis AFB and it was inactivated on 30 June 1992. Established by Fifth Air Force in Australia in May 1943 specifically to accommodate very long range Lockheed P-38J Lightnings at Amberley Airfield in Queensland, Australia. The 431st was specifically trained to provide escort for bombers during daylight raids on Japanese airfields and strongholds in the Netherlands East Indies. On 14 August 1943, the 431st transferred from Amberley airfield to Port Moresby, also intercepted and destroyed many Japanese aircraft which were sent against American shipping in Oro Bay on 15 and 17 October 1943. Covered landings in New Guinea, New Britain, and the Schouten Islands, after moving to Biak in July 1944, the squadron flew escort missions and fighter sweeps to the southern Philippines, Celebes, Halmahera, and Borneo. The squadron flew missions to support ground forces on Luzon during the first part of 1945. Also flew escort missions to Southeast China and attacked railways on Formosa, began moving to Ie Shima near Okinawa in August 1945 but the war ended before the movement was completed. The unit moved to Kimpo Airfield, on 7 January 1946 where the it converted to the very long-range P-51H Mustang, the squadron was reassigned to Nagoya Airfield, Japan in March 1947 and later moved to Itazuke Airfield, Japan in August 1948. It became a unit of 475th Fighter Wing on 10 August. The squadron was inactivated on 1 April 1949 at Ashiya Airfield, reactivated as part of Air Defense Command in November 1952, replacing the federalized 172d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron of the Michigan Air National Guard. Relieved from duty with ADC and reassigned to USAFE under Seventeenth Air Force, flying from Wheelus AB, Libya to provide air defense over the large North African base and expansive training ranges. Replaced its Korean War vintage F-86Fs with new F-86D Sabre Interceptors in January 1955, moved to Zaragoza AB, Spain in September 1958 and was reassigned to the Strategic Air Command Sixteenth Air Force. Inactivated in 1964 with withdrawal of B-47 Stratojet from inventory and SAC turning jurisdiction of its Spanish refueling bases to USAFE, was reassigned to Tactical Air Command, being stationed at George AFB, California, assigned to 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. Equipped with F-4C Phantom II tactical fighter-bomber, engaged in training, participated in exercises, operational readiness inspections. Re-equipped with new F-4D Phantom II in 1965 and reassigned to 479th Tactical Training Wing at George AFB, the F-4D was an improved version of the F-4C, which the 8th TFW had been deployed with to Southeast Asia. In February 1966, the squadron began F-4D replacement pilot training for personnel to be deployed to Southeast Asia, along with the USAF fighter pilot training, the squadron began training foreign personnel in F-4 operations and maintenance in March 1969. Pilots were trained from Israel, Iran, Japan, and West Germany, inactivated on 30 October 1970 due to budget reductions
40.
497th Combat Training Flight
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The 497th Combat Training Flight is a United States Air Force unit. The 497th comprises the functional elements of a small-scale USAF fighter wing - fighter operations, flightline logistics, community and mission support. With a permanently assigned staff of 37 personnel, the 497th CTS represents the entire USAF presence in Singapore, when so configured, the 497th presence is transformed into an operational role, to conduct an intense schedule of air-to-air combat training with the RSAF. The 497th also supports USAF fighter rotations to Southwest Asia and several other exercises such as COPE TAUFAN, COPE TIGER. An example of the 497th CTSs expanding capability occurred in May 1998 during COMMANDO SLING 98-4 when they supported the ordered departure of U. S. personnel from Indonesia. Paya Lebar Air Base ramp at that time had 28 USAF F-15s, four USAF C-130s, four USAF KC-135s, one C-141, one C-17, all were supported by squadron and RSAF personnel. Additionally, COMMANDO SLING 98-4 was the first time the normally bilateral exercise was expanded to include the Royal Australian Air Force F/A-18 Hornets, the commander is also the Designated Commanding Officer for legal jurisdiction over U. S. military personnel in nine Southeast Asian countries. It is a tenant command under Naval Region Singapore and shares space at the Sembawang Terminal with Task Force 73/Commander, Logistics Group Western Pacific, operational training unit, June 1942 – October 1943, replacement training, October 1943 – April 1944. Air defense of West coast, 1953–1955, Air Defense of Southwest Europe, 1958–1964. In the early 1960s Headquarters, United States Air Force implemented Project Clearwater, Clearwater was designed to return overseas Convair F-102 squadrons stationed overseas to the United States to reduce gold flow. This resulted in the 497th being reduced to a paper unit, although had originally intended to inactivate the unit, it was instead transferred to Tactical Air Command as a paper unit. Combat in Southeast Asia, 1965–1974, Defense of South Korea, cornett, Lloyd H. Johnson, Mildred W. A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980, peterson AFB, CO, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Maurer, Maurer, ed. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, washington, DC, Office of Air Force History. The Fighter Interceptor Force 1962-1964 ADC Historical Study No,27, Air Defense Command, Ent Air Force Base, CO ADCOMs Fighter Interceptor Squadrons. The Interceptor Aerospace Defense Command, 497th Combat Training Squadron on the NRCS website 497th Combat Training Squadron on the US Embassy in Singapore website
41.
Vietnam War
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It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vietnam and the government of South Vietnam. The war is considered a Cold War-era proxy war. As the war continued, the actions of the Viet Cong decreased as the role. U. S. and South Vietnamese forces relied on air superiority and overwhelming firepower to conduct search and destroy operations, involving ground forces, artillery, in the course of the war, the U. S. conducted a large-scale strategic bombing campaign against North Vietnam. The North Vietnamese government and the Viet Cong were fighting to reunify Vietnam and they viewed the conflict as a colonial war and a continuation of the First Indochina War against forces from France and later on the United States. The U. S. government viewed its involvement in the war as a way to prevent a communist takeover of South Vietnam and this was part the domino theory of a wider containment policy, with the stated aim of stopping the spread of communism. Beginning in 1950, American military advisors arrived in what was then French Indochina, U. S. involvement escalated in the early 1960s, with troop levels tripling in 1961 and again in 1962. Regular U. S. combat units were deployed beginning in 1965, despite the Paris Peace Accord, which was signed by all parties in January 1973, the fighting continued. In the U. S. and the Western world, a large anti-Vietnam War movement developed as part of a larger counterculture, the war changed the dynamics between the Eastern and Western Blocs, and altered North–South relations. Direct U. S. military involvement ended on 15 August 1973, the capture of Saigon by the North Vietnamese Army in April 1975 marked the end of the war, and North and South Vietnam were reunified the following year. The war exacted a huge human cost in terms of fatalities, estimates of the number of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed vary from 966,000 to 3.8 million. Some 240, 000–300,000 Cambodians,20, 000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 U. S. service members died in the conflict. Various names have applied to the conflict. Vietnam War is the most commonly used name in English and it has also been called the Second Indochina War and the Vietnam Conflict. As there have been several conflicts in Indochina, this conflict is known by the names of its primary protagonists to distinguish it from others. In Vietnamese, the war is known as Kháng chiến chống Mỹ. It is also called Chiến tranh Việt Nam, France began its conquest of Indochina in the late 1850s, and completed pacification by 1893. The 1884 Treaty of Huế formed the basis for French colonial rule in Vietnam for the seven decades
42.
433d Weapons Squadron
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The 433d Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the USAF Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nevada. The unit was first activated in May 1943 and flew the P-38 Lightning in the Pacific Theater of Operations, the 433d distinguished themselves in air combat against Japan over New Guinea, Rabaul, and the Philippines, achieving over 200 aerial victories. Reactivated in 1964 for the war in Southeast Asia, the 433d was assigned to the 8th Fighter Wing at Ubon, Thailand, the 433d was credited with 12 MiG kills over North Vietnam. Established by Fifth Air Force in Australia in May 1943 specifically to accommodate very long range Lockheed P-38J Lightnings at Amberley Airfield in Queensland, Australia. The 433rd was specifically trained to provide escort for bombers during daylight raids on Japanese airfields and strongholds in the Netherlands East Indies. On 14 August 1943, the 431st transferred from Amberley airfield to Port Moresby, also intercepted and destroyed many Japanese aircraft which were sent against American shipping in Oro Bay on 15 and 17 October 1943. Covered landings in New Guinea, New Britain, and the Schouten Islands, after moving to Biak in July 1944, the squadron flew escort missions and fighter sweeps to the southern Philippines, Celebes, Halmahera, and Borneo. The squadron flew missions to support ground forces on Luzon during the first part of 1945. Also flew escort missions to Southeast China and attacked railways on Formosa, began moving to Ie Shima near Okinawa in August 1945 but the war ended before the movement was completed. The unit moved to Kimpo Airfield, on 7 January 1946 where the it converted to the very long-range P-51H Mustang, the squadron was reassigned to Nagoya Airfield, Japan in March 1947 and later moved to Itazuke Airfield, Japan in August 1948. It became a unit of 475th Fighter Wing on 10 August. Deployed to Eleventh Air Force at Ladd AFB, Alaska,1954 performing air defense of central and Northern Alaska, returned to the Continental United States, being assigned to Minot AFB, North Dakota in 1957. However, no aircraft were assigned to the unit, and January 1958 the 433d FIS was inactivated due to budget restraints, was reassigned to Tactical Air Command, being stationed at George AFB, California, assigned to 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. Equipped with F-4C Phantom II tactical fighter-bomber, engaged in training, participated in exercises, operational readiness inspections. Was deployed to Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base in December 1965, beginning in May 1967, was re-equipped with new F-4D aircraft. This gave the unit the distinction of being the first in Southeast Asia to be equipped with improved Phantom II. In May 1968, employed laser-guided bombs in combat for the first time, during its final years of combat, used F-4Ds for fast-forward air control, interdiction, escort, armed reconnaissance, and other special missions. Continued combat in Vietnam until mid-January 1973, in Laos until 22 February 1973, remained in Thailand until July 1974 when the squadron was inactivated
43.
555th Fighter Squadron
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The 555th Fighter Squadron is part of the 31st Operations Group at Aviano Air Base, Italy. It operates General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting an air superiority mission, the 555th Fighter Squadron provides combat airpower on demand to U. S. and NATO Combatant Commanders as well as the National Command Authority in order to meet National Security objectives. During World War II, the 555th led offensive actions against Axis forces from bases in England, France, for gallantry in action, the squadron was awarded the first of its four Presidential Unit Citations. The squadron was inactivated shortly after the war ended, on 8 January 1964, the 555th re-emerged at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, operating the McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom II. At Naha AB the squadrons were part of the 51st Fighter Interceptor Wingand performed as Air Defense Interceptor Squadrons for the Ryukyu Islands, the 555th had flown its planes to Naha AB in December 1964 on the first three-month rotation. Later, the 555th was chosen to return to Naha AB, the 555th relieved the 559th at Naha and its assets. The 12th TFW was slated to open Cam Ranh Bay AB, the air defense mission in Okinawa could not be abandoned and a decision was made to keep the 555th there until a replacement unit could be identified. The remainder of the 12th TFW deployed to Cam Ranh Bay beginning in November 1965, an F-102 squadron at Hamilton AFB, CA, was picked to replace the 555th at Naha. The F-102s arrived at Naha in late February 1966, a decision was made to send the 555th to Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base in Northern Thailand, near Vientiane, Laos, and not to join the other three 12th TFW squadrons at Cam Ranh Bay. Cam Ranh could hold only four F-4C squadrons,391 TFS had arrived at Cam Ranh awaiting runway construction at Phan Rang. Until the 391st rejoined 366th TFW, the 12th could not accommodate the 555th, the decision to assign 555th at Udorn was validated in April 1966 when the 555th downed five Migs. A sixth Mig was downed by an F-4C from DaNang AB, Udorn RTAFB was small and when a squadron of F-104As was brought there, it was decided to send two Flights, half the 555th squadron, to Ubon RTAFB. There was not enough billeting for the entire 555th and what was available was not adequate for daytime rest, the 8th TFW was the resident unit at Ubon and were flying only night missions into North Vietnam. The first two weeks at Ubon, the 555th planes flew day strikes into North Vietnam, the new building was not air-conditioned and so the 555th flew the sunset to about 2300 hours. The two squadrons of the 8th TFW flew the missions from 2300 to sunrise, later in 1966 the 555th was transferred from the 12thTFW into the 8th TFW. The 8thTFW later became known as the Wolfpack, the 555th led the first strike against MiG airfields in North Vietnam. The 555 TFS launched night bombing attacks against North Vietnam on 29 September 1967, while at Ubon, the 555th downed additional Migs, including four Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21s on 2 January 1967. The unit thus became the only Quad Ace Fighter Squadron to that point, in 1968, the Nickel participated in the campaign against the Ho Chi Minh Trail and the Linebacker campaigns against the North Vietnam heartland in 1972
44.
Okinawa Prefecture
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The larger are mostly high islands and the smaller ones are mostly coral islands. The largest of the islands is Okinawa, the climate of the islands ranges from humid subtropical climate in the north to tropical rainforest climate in the south. Precipitation is very high, and is affected by the rainy season, the islands beyond the Tokara Strait are characterized by their coral reefs. The Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, and Yaeyama Islands have a native population collectively called the Ryukyuan people, the varied Ryukyuan languages are traditionally spoken on these islands, and the major islands have their own distinct languages. In modern times, the Japanese language is the language of the islands. The northern islands are called the Satsunan Islands, while the southern part of the chain are called the Ryukyu Islands in Japanese. Following are the grouping and names used by the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Department of the Japan Coast Guard, the islands are listed from north to south where possible. Nansei Islands Satsunan Islands Ōsumi Islands with, Tanegashima, Yaku, Kuchinoerabu, Mageshima in the North-Eastern Group and they agreed on February 15,2010, to use Amami-guntō for the Amami Islands, prior to that, Amami-shotō had also been used. The English and Japanese uses of the term Ryukyu differ, in English, the term Ryukyu may apply to the entire chain of islands, while in Japanese Ryukyu usually refers only to the islands that were previously part of the Ryūkyū Kingdom after 1624. Nansei-shotō is the name for the whole island chain in Japanese. Japan has used the name on nautical charts since 1907, based on the Japanese charts, the international chart series uses Nansei Shoto. Nansei literally means southwest, the direction of the chain from mainland Japan. Some humanities scholars prefer the uncommon term Ryūkyū-ko for the island chain. In geology, however, the Ryukyu Arc includes subsurface structures such as the Okinawa Trough, the name of Ryūkyū is strongly associated with the Ryūkyū Kingdom, a kingdom that originated from the Okinawa Islands and subjected the Sakishima and Amami Islands. The name is considered outdated in Japanese although some entities of Okinawa still bear the name. In Japanese, the Ryukyu Islands cover only the Okinawa, Miyako, the northern half of the island chain is referred to as the Satsunan Islands in Japanese, as opposed to Northern Ryukyu Islands in English. Humanities scholars generally agree that the Amami, Okinawa, Miyako, there is, however, no good name for the group. The native population do not have their own name, since they do not recognize themselves as a group this size, Ryukyu is the principal candidate because it roughly corresponds to the maximum extent of the Ryūkyū Kingdom
45.
25th Fighter Squadron
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The 25th Fighter Squadron is part of the US Air Forces 51st Operations Group, 51st Fighter Wing, at Osan Air Base, South Korea. It operates the A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft conducting close air support missions, the 25th Fighter Squadron was originally created as the 25th Pursuit Squadron and activated at Hamilton Field, California, on 15 January 1941. By March it was assigned to the 51st Pursuit Group at March Field, in July the squadron received P-40 Warhawk aircraft. The 25th sailed to combat operations in the Pacific Theater aboard the SS President Coolidge on 11 January 1942, the squadron was part of the first deployment of U. S. forces leaving the mainland after the declaration of war. The journey to Melbourne, Australia, took 20 days, by late March the 25th Pursuit Squadron had arrived in Karachi, India, and set up wartime operations. The 25th flew its first aerial combat mission over The Hump on 25 September 1942, after the squadron moved to Dinjan in Assam, India, combat activity increased. Due to the terrain, the pilots would usually drag in on their passes and it was there that the 25th picked up the name Assam Draggins. Operations from Dinjan were concentrated against the Japanese in northern Burma along the upper Chindwin, in February 1943 the 25th Fighter Squadron was tasked to defend Fort Hertz near Myitkyina. Fort Hertz was a cog in air operations near The Hump. The 25th bombed and strafed enemy troops, concentrations, supply dumps, bridges, and enemy lines for twelve consecutive days. B-25 heavy bombers were needed to halt the Japans drive, Lieutenant Colonel John E. Barr, the executive officer for the 51st Fighter Group, modified a P-40 to carry 1,000 pound bombs, and by May 1943, the Japanese offensive had been halted. The 25th Fighter Squadron encountered more combat activity than any unit within the 51st Fighter Group during the war. The squadron returned to the United States and was inactivated on 12 December 1945, on 15 October 1945, the 25th was re-activated at Naha Air Base, Okinawa, where the squadron was assigned P-47 Thunderbolt and P-80 Shooting Star aircraft. As part of the force, the 25th provided defense for the Ryukyu Islands. The 25th was placed on alert when hostilities erupted in Korea in June 1950, the unit was reassigned to Itazuke Air Base, Japan, in September, and to Kimpo Air Base, Korea, by October. The Chinese Peoples Volunteer Army intervention in December 1950 forced a retreat of U. N. forces from North Korea into the South. The 25th flew more than 21 sorties each day that month to save the 2nd Infantry Division, Air cover was officially credited with preventing disastrous losses to the division. On 20 November 1951, squadron pilots received their new F-86 Sabre aircraft and went to face the Chinese, North Korean, major William T. Whisner Jr. got his fifth MiG kill on 23 February 1952, becoming an Ace
46.
Eglin Air Force Base
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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
47.
476th Tactical Fighter Squadron
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The 476th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last was assigned to the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing, stationed at Seymour Johnson AFB and it was inactivated on 18 March 1969. Activated in October 1957 at George AFB, California, initially equipped with F-100 Super Sabres, however was programmed to receive the new F-104C tactical strike version of the Lockheed Starfighter. Delays in development caused the squadron not to receive the F-104 until September 1958 and it was primarily intended for nuclear strike, but it could also carry out ground attack missions with conventional weapons. After obtaining operational readiness with the Starfigher, was deployed to Spain for air defense missions over the SAC B-47 Reflex base at Moron AB, also used by the USAF/Lockheed for demonstrations for NATO military sales to replace Republic F-84F Thunderstreak combat aircraft. Also deployed in this role to Hahn AB, West Germany in 1962, was deployed to Taiwan in 1968 to reinforce the ROC Air Force air defense mission. In April 1968 was forward deployed with regular rotations to Da Nang Air Base and their job was to fly MiG combat air patrol missions to protect American fighter bombers against attack by North Vietnamese fighters. They flew these missions armed with their single M61A1 20-mm cannon, the effect of F-104 deployment upon NVN and PRC MiG operations was immediate and dramatic, NVN MiGs soon learned to avoid contact with USAF strikes being covered by F-104s. During the entire deployment of the 476th only two fleeting encounters between F-104Cs and enemy fighters occurred, returned to the United States without aircraft in July 1968, the F-104Cs remaining in Taiwan and sold to the ROC Air Force. Was reassigned to 4th TFW at Seymour Johnson AFB, but remained non-operational, Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History
48.
435th Fighter Training Squadron
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The 435th Fighter Training Squadron is part of the 12th Flying Training Wing based at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. It operates Northrop AT-38 Talon aircraft conducting flight training, the 435 FTS conducts initial instructor and student flying training for over 130 U. S. Air Force and international pilots and Weapon System Operators annually in Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals. The squadron develops students proficiency, confidence, discipline, judgment, additionally, the squadron deploys to support fighter syllabus/operational training requirements for Dissimilar Air Combat Training. The 435th flew air defense prior to overseas duty then flew combat in the European Theater of Operations from,26 May 1944-25 April 1945 and it conducted air defense in Southeast Asia from,12 October-20 December 1965 and combat sorties from, July 1966-15 August 1973. The squadron trained pilots and weapon systems officers between January 1977 and February 1991. It conducted training for Taiwan Air Force pilots from, May 1993-c,31 Dec 1995 and Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals training for international students from, 1998-2004
49.
Udon Thani International Airport
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It is approximately 450 km northeast of Bangkok. It currently has flights to Bangkok, Chiang Mai. In 2006 the airport had 677,411 passengers movements and 1,558 MT cargo movements, in 2013, the airport handled 1,325,305 passengers. In 2015, it handled 2,213,689 passengers and 3,678 tonnes of freight. During the Vietnam War the facility was known as Udorn Royal Thai Air Force Base, on 8 February 2006, an international group of skydivers from 31 countries called the World Team set a world record for the largest freefall formation, a 400-way, over the Udon Thani airport. As well as being a facility, Udon Thani International Airport is also an active Royal Thai Air Force base. The 231 Squadron flies 17 Dassault-Breguet-Dornier Alpha Jet A airplanes acquired second-hand from the German Air Force, the squadron previously flew F-5A/RF-5A/F-5B Freedom Fighter airplanes. Data current as of October 2006
United States
United States Air Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
