1.
Air Mobility Command
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Air Mobility Command is a Major Command of the U. S. Air Force. AMC is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, east of St. Louis, the Commander of AMC is Gen Carlton D. Everhart II, with Lt Gen Wayne Schatz Jr as Vice Commander and CMSgt Shelina Frey as Command Chief Master Sergeant. Air Mobility Command was established on June 1,1992 and it was formed from elements of the inactivated Military Airlift Command and Strategic Air Command. AMC melded a worldwide system with a tanker force that had been freed from its strategic nuclear strike commitments by the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Air Mobility Commands mission is to provide global air mobility, the command also plays a crucial role in providing humanitarian support at home and around the world. Many special duty and operational aircraft and stateside aeromedical evacuation missions are also assigned to AMC. U. S. forces must be able to provide a rapid, tailored response with a capability to intervene against a foe, hit hard. Rapid global mobility lies at the heart of U. S. strategy in this environment, without the capability to project forces, there is no conventional deterrent. As the number of U. S. forces stationed overseas continue to decline, global interests remain, Air Mobility Command also has the mission of establishing bare air bases in contingencies. To accomplish this mission, AMC established two Contingency Response Wings, and operates the Eagle Flag exercise, in addition to its status as a MAJCOM of the Air Force, AMC is also the Air Force component command of the United States Transportation Command. It provides airlift, special missions, aerial refueling, and aeromedical evacuation for the United States armed forces]], AMC also operates VIP flights such as Air Force One, Air Force Two, and other Special Assignment Airlift Missions. Finally, AMC acts as the manager, on behalf of United States Transportation Command. Principal aircraft assets of the include, C-17 Globemaster III, C-5 Galaxy, C-130 Hercules, KC-135 Stratotanker, KC-10 Extender, C-40 Clipper, C-37 Gulfstream V. As of 2015, the command is preparing for the addition of the KC-46 Pegasus. Additional aircraft in support of high-profile VIP airlift include, VC-25, C-32, C-20 and these units train and exercise frequently and routinely provide augmentative operational support to AMCs active duty forces. Instead, they report to AMC via the National Guard Bureau, civil Reserve Air Fleet AMC has undergone considerable change since its establishment. Focusing on the mission of strategic air mobility, the command divested itself of infrastructure. The Air Rescue Service, intratheater aeromedical airlift forces based overseas, as a result of the Global War on Terrorism, on October 1,2003, AMC underwent a major restructuring, bringing a war fighting role to its numbered air force
2.
Spokane, Washington
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Spokane is a city in the state of Washington, in the northwestern United States. It is the seat of Spokane County, and the economic and cultural center of the Spokane Metropolitan Area, the Greater Spokane Area, the city, along with the whole Inland Northwest, is served by Spokane International Airport,5 miles west of downtown Spokane. According to the 2010 Census, Spokane had a population of 208,916, making it the second largest city in Washington and the 102nd largest city in the United States. The first humans to live in the area, the Spokane people, known as the birthplace of Fathers Day, Spokane is officially nicknamed the Lilac City. David Thompson explored the area with the expansion and establishment of the North West Companys Spokane House in 1810. This trading post was the first long-term European settlement in Washington, completion of the Northern Pacific Railway in 1881 brought settlers to the Spokane area, and that same year it was officially incorporated as a city with the name of Spokan Falls. In the late 19th century, gold and silver were discovered in the Inland Northwest, the local economy depended on mining, timber, and agriculture until the 1980s. Spokane hosted the first environmentally themed Worlds Fair at Expo 74, many of the older Romanesque Revival-style buildings in the downtown area were designed by architect Kirtland Kelsey Cutter after the Great Fire of 1889. The city also features Riverfront and Manito parks, the Smithsonian-affiliated Northwest Museum of Arts and Culture, the Davenport Hotel, and the Fox and Bing Crosby theaters. The Cathedral of Our Lady of Lourdes serves as the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Spokane, the Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist represents the Anglican community. Gonzaga University was established in 1887 by the Jesuits, and the private Presbyterian Whitworth University opened three years later in north Spokane, in sports, the Gonzaga Bulldogs collegiate basketball team competes at the Division I level. Professional and semi-professional sports teams include the Spokane Indians in Minor League Baseball, Spokane Empire in arena football, as of 2010, Spokanes only major daily newspaper, The Spokesman-Review, has a daily circulation of over 76,000. The first humans to live in the Spokane area arrived between 13,000 and 8,000 years ago and were hunter-gatherer societies that lived off plentiful game. The Spokane tribe, after which the city is named, are believed to be either their direct descendants, when asked by early white explorers, the Spokanes said their ancestors came from up North. Early in the 19th century, the Northwest Fur Company sent two white fur trappers west of the Rocky Mountains to search for fur. These were the first white men met by the Spokanes, who believed they were sacred, the explorer-geographer David Thompson, working as head of the North West Companys Columbia Department, became the first European to explore the Inland Empire. Crossing what is now the Canada–US border from British Columbia, Thompson wanted to expand the North West Company further south in search of furs, after establishing the Kullyspell House and Saleesh House trading posts in what are now Idaho and Montana, Thompson then attempted to expand further west. He sent out two trappers, Jacques Raphael Finlay and Finan McDonald, to construct a fur trading post on the Spokane River in Washington and trade with the local Indians
3.
Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker
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The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is a military aerial refueling aircraft. It and the Boeing 707 airliner were developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype and it is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transport aircraft. The KC-135 was the US Air Forces first jet-powered refueling tanker, the KC-135 entered service with the United States Air Force in 1957, it is one of six military fixed-wing aircraft with over 50 years of continuous service with its original operator. The KC-135 is supplemented by the larger KC-10, studies have concluded that many of the aircraft could be flown until 2040, although maintenance costs have greatly increased. The aircraft will eventually be replaced by the Boeing KC-46 Pegasus, like its sibling, the commercial Boeing 707 jet airliner, the KC-135 was derived from the Boeing 367-80 jet transport proof of concept demonstrator, which was commonly called the Dash-80. The KC-135 is similar in appearance to the 707, but has a fuselage and is shorter than the 707. The KC-135 predates the 707, and is quite different from the civilian airliner. Boeing gave the future KC-135 tanker the initial designation Model 717, in 1954 USAFs Strategic Air Command held a competition for a jet-powered aerial refueling tanker. Lockheeds tanker version of the proposed Lockheed L-193 airliner with rear fuselage-mounted engines was declared the winner in 1955, in the end, orders for the Lockheed tanker were dropped rather than supporting two tanker designs. Lockheed never produced its jet airliner, while Boeing would eventually dominate the market with a family of airliners based on the 707. In 1954, the Air Force placed an order for 29 KC-135As. The first aircraft flew in August 1956 and the initial production Stratotanker was delivered to Castle Air Force Base, California, the last KC-135 was delivered to the Air Force in 1965. These basic features make it resemble the commercial Boeing 707 and 720 aircraft. The USAF EC-135 Looking Glass was subsequently replaced in its role by the U. S. Navy E-6 Mercury aircraft, the KC-135Q variant was modified to carry JP-7 fuel necessary for the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird, segregating the JP-7 from the KC-135s own fuel supply. The tanker also had special fuel systems for moving the different fuels between different tanks, the only external difference between a KC-135R and a KC-135T is the presence of a clear window on the underside of the empennage of the KC-135T where a remote controlled searchlight is mounted. It also has two ground refueling ports, located in rear wheel well so ground crews can fuel both the body tanks and wing tanks separately. Eight KC-135R aircraft are receiver-capable tankers, commonly referred to as KC-135R, All eight aircraft were with the 22d Air Refueling Wing at McConnell AFB, Kansas, in 1994. They are primarily used for extension and Special Operations missions
4.
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
5.
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
6.
Federal government of the United States
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The Federal Government of the United States is the national government of the United States, a republic in North America, composed of 50 states, one district, Washington, D. C. and several territories. The federal government is composed of three branches, legislative, executive, and judicial, whose powers are vested by the U. S. Constitution in the Congress, the President, and the courts, including the Supreme Court. The powers and duties of these branches are defined by acts of Congress. The full name of the republic is United States of America, no other name appears in the Constitution, and this is the name that appears on money, in treaties, and in legal cases to which it is a party. The terms Government of the United States of America or United States Government are often used in documents to represent the federal government as distinct from the states collectively. In casual conversation or writing, the term Federal Government is often used, the terms Federal and National in government agency or program names generally indicate affiliation with the federal government. Because the seat of government is in Washington, D. C, Washington is commonly used as a metonym for the federal government. The outline of the government of the United States is laid out in the Constitution, the government was formed in 1789, making the United States one of the worlds first, if not the first, modern national constitutional republics. The United States government is based on the principles of federalism and republicanism, some make the case for expansive federal powers while others argue for a more limited role for the central government in relation to individuals, the states or other recognized entities. For example, while the legislative has the power to create law, the President nominates judges to the nations highest judiciary authority, but those nominees must be approved by Congress. The Supreme Court, in its turn, has the power to invalidate as unconstitutional any law passed by the Congress and these and other examples are examined in more detail in the text below. The United States Congress is the branch of the federal government. It is bicameral, comprising the House of Representatives and the Senate, the House currently consists of 435 voting members, each of whom represents a congressional district. The number of each state has in the House is based on each states population as determined in the most recent United States Census. All 435 representatives serve a two-year term, each state receives a minimum of one representative in the House. There is no limit on the number of terms a representative may serve, in addition to the 435 voting members, there are six non-voting members, consisting of five delegates and one resident commissioner. In contrast, the Senate is made up of two senators from each state, regardless of population, there are currently 100 senators, who each serve six-year terms
7.
92d Air Refueling Wing
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The 92d Air Refueling Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, the wing is also the host unit at Fairchild. Its 92d Operations Group is an organization to the World War II 92d Bombardment Group. Active for over 60 years, the 92d Bombardment Wing was a component organization of Strategic Air Commands deterrent force during the Cold War, as a strategic bombardment wing. The 92d Air Refueling Wing is commanded by Colonel Ryan R. Samuelson, Its Vice Commander is Colonel Matthew T. Fritz, the 92d Wing operates 34 KC-135 R/T Stratotanker refueling aircraft valued at $1.6 billion and 58 aircrews to support worldwide military missions. As the host unit to Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash. the wing controls 4,223 acres and 1,248 buildings, the wing employs over 2,200 active-duty military, as well as over 700 civilian employees. It supports Air Mobility Commands mission, providing global reach air power, the 92d ARW capability of aerial refueling enhances the Air Forces ability to accomplish its primary missions of Global Reach and Global Power. The 92d Air Refueling Wing is structured under four groups, Operations, maintenance, mission support and medical, 92d Operations Group Primarily responsible for the 4 flying squadrons - the 92d, 93d, 96th and 97th Air Refueling Squadrons which fly the KC-135 Stratotanker. The 92d OSS is also responsible for managing the airfield, weather station, control tower, the group also provides services for transient contract and military aircraft. 92d Medical Group Serves more than 12,640 military beneficiaries, with a staff of 308, the medical clinic receives over 53,688 outpatient visits and 12,975 dental visits annually. The group currently manages the 92d Aeromedical Dental Squadron, 92d Medical Operations Squadron, Wing staff agencies consist of a variety of functions. The 92d Bombardment Group, flying Boeing B-29 Superfortresses became its operational component and it served as a double-sized B-29 wing until April 1950, and again from May 1950 to April 1951, although one bomb group was generally deployed overseas for training or combat in Korea. It also supervised the 454th Bombardment Group, a Reserve corollary bomb group from June 1949 until February 1951, the wing reequipped with the Convair B-36 Peacemaker. In August and September 1953, the completed the first mass flight of B-36s to the Far East in Operation Big Stick. The 92d visited bases in Japan, Okinawa and Guam, Big Stick followed close on the heels of the end of hostilities in Korea and was intended to show American determination to keep the peace in the Far East. On 15 and 16 October 1954 the wing deployed to Andersen Air Force Base and this was the first deployment of an entire wing of Peacemakers to an overseas base. The wing deployed to Andersen again from 26 April until 6 July 1956, added air refueling operations to bombardment mission in September 1957. From July 1961 to August 1965, controlled an SM-65E Atlas missile squadron, supported SAC activities in Southeast Asia from early 1965 to December 1975 through deployment of bomber and tanker aircraft and crews and Air Weather 9thWS Det3
8.
ICAO airport code
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The ICAO airport code or location indicator is a four-character alphanumeric code designating aerodromes around the world. ICAO codes are used to identify other aviation facilities such as weather stations, International Flight Service Stations or Area Control Centers. Flight information regions are identified by a unique ICAO-code. Code selections in North America were based on existing radio station identifiers, for example, radio stations in Canada were already starting with C, so it seemed logical to begin Canadian airport identifiers with Cxxx. The United States had many pre-existing airports with established mnemonic codes and their ICAO codes were formed simply by prepending a K to the existing codes, as half the radio station identifiers in the US began with K. Most ICAO codes outside the US and Canada have a geographical structure. Most of the rest of the world was classified in a more planned top-down manner, thus Uxxx referred to the Soviet Union with the second letter denoting the specific region within it, and so forth. Europe had too many locations for one starting letter, so it was split into Exxx for northern Europe. The second letter was more specific, EGxx was the United Kingdom, EDxx was West Germany, ETxx was East Germany, LExx was Spain, LAxx was Albania, France was designated LFxx, as the counterpart EFxx was the unambiguously northern Finland. ICAO codes are separate and different from IATA codes, which are used for airline timetables, reservations. For example, the IATA code for Londons Heathrow Airport is LHR, in general IATA codes are usually derived from the name of the airport or the city it serves, while ICAO codes are distributed by region and country. Far more aerodromes have ICAO codes than IATA codes, and to add to the confusion IATA codes are assigned to railway stations. Unlike the IATA codes, the ICAO codes generally have a structure and are comprehensive. In general, the first letter is allocated by continent and represents a country or group of countries within that continent, the second letter generally represents a country within that region, and the remaining two are used to identify each airport. The exception to rule is larger countries that have single-letter country codes. In either case, ICAO codes generally provide geographical context unlike IATA codes, for example, if one knows that the ICAO code for Heathrow is EGLL, then one can deduce that the airport EGGP is somewhere in the UK. On the other hand, knowing that the IATA code for Heathrow is LHR does not enable one to deduce the location of the airport LHV with any greater certainty, there are a few exceptions to the regional structure of the ICAO code made for political or administrative reasons. Similarly Saint Pierre and Miquelon is controlled by France, and airports there are assigned LFxx as though they were in Europe, further, in region L, all available 2-letter prefixes have been exhausted and thus no additional countries can be added
9.
Federal Aviation Administration
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The Federal Aviation Administration of the United States is a national authority with powers to regulate all aspects of civil aviation. The FAAs roles include, Regulating U. S, each LOB has a specific role within the FAA. Airports — plans and develops projects involving airports, overseeing their construction, Air Traffic Organization — primary duty is to safely and efficiently move air traffic within the National Airspace System. ATO employees manage air traffic facilities including Airport Traffic Control Towers, Aviation Safety — Responsible for aeronautical certification of personnel and aircraft, including pilots, airlines, and mechanics. Commercial Space Transportation — ensures protection of U. S. assets during the launch or reentry of commercial space vehicles, the FAA is headquartered in Washington, D. C. as well as the William J. The newly created Aeronautics Branch, operating under the Department of Commerce assumed primary responsibility for aviation oversight, in fulfilling its civil aviation responsibilities, the Department of Commerce initially concentrated on such functions as safety regulations and the certification of pilots and aircraft. It took over the building and operation of the system of lighted airways. The Aeronautics Branch was renamed the Bureau of Air Commerce in 1934 to reflect its status within the Department. As commercial flying increased, the Bureau encouraged a group of airlines to establish the first three centers for providing air traffic control along the airways, in 1936, the Bureau itself took over the centers and began to expand the ATC system. The pioneer air traffic controllers used maps, blackboards, and mental calculations to ensure the separation of aircraft traveling along designated routes between cities. In 1938, the Civil Aeronautics Act transferred the civil aviation responsibilities from the Commerce Department to a new independent agency. The legislation also expanded the role by giving them the authority. President Franklin D. Roosevelt split the authority into two agencies in 1940, the Civil Aeronautics Administration and the Civil Aeronautics Board, CAA was responsible for ATC, airman and aircraft certification, safety enforcement, and airway development. CAB was entrusted with safety regulation, accident investigation, and economic regulation of the airlines, the CAA was part of the Department of Commerce. The CAB was an independent federal agency, on the eve of Americas entry into World War II, CAA began to extend its ATC responsibilities to takeoff and landing operations at airports. This expanded role eventually became permanent after the war, the application of radar to ATC helped controllers in their drive to keep abreast of the postwar boom in commercial air transportation. The approaching era of jet travel, and a series of midair collisions and this legislation gave the CAAs functions to a new independent body, the Federal Aviation Agency. The act transferred air safety regulation from the CAB to the new FAA, the FAAs first administrator, Elwood R. Quesada, was a former Air Force general and adviser to President Eisenhower
10.
Geographic coordinate system
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A geographic coordinate system is a coordinate system used in geography that enables every location on Earth to be specified by a set of numbers, letters or symbols. The coordinates are chosen such that one of the numbers represents a vertical position. A common choice of coordinates is latitude, longitude and elevation, to specify a location on a two-dimensional map requires a map projection. The invention of a coordinate system is generally credited to Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Ptolemy credited him with the adoption of longitude and latitude. Ptolemys 2nd-century Geography used the prime meridian but measured latitude from the equator instead. Mathematical cartography resumed in Europe following Maximus Planudes recovery of Ptolemys text a little before 1300, in 1884, the United States hosted the International Meridian Conference, attended by representatives from twenty-five nations. Twenty-two of them agreed to adopt the longitude of the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, the Dominican Republic voted against the motion, while France and Brazil abstained. France adopted Greenwich Mean Time in place of local determinations by the Paris Observatory in 1911, the latitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle between the equatorial plane and the straight line that passes through that point and through the center of the Earth. Lines joining points of the same latitude trace circles on the surface of Earth called parallels, as they are parallel to the equator, the north pole is 90° N, the south pole is 90° S. The 0° parallel of latitude is designated the equator, the plane of all geographic coordinate systems. The equator divides the globe into Northern and Southern Hemispheres, the longitude of a point on Earths surface is the angle east or west of a reference meridian to another meridian that passes through that point. All meridians are halves of great ellipses, which converge at the north and south poles, the prime meridian determines the proper Eastern and Western Hemispheres, although maps often divide these hemispheres further west in order to keep the Old World on a single side. The antipodal meridian of Greenwich is both 180°W and 180°E, the combination of these two components specifies the position of any location on the surface of Earth, without consideration of altitude or depth. The grid formed by lines of latitude and longitude is known as a graticule, the origin/zero point of this system is located in the Gulf of Guinea about 625 km south of Tema, Ghana. To completely specify a location of a feature on, in, or above Earth. Earth is not a sphere, but a shape approximating a biaxial ellipsoid. It is nearly spherical, but has an equatorial bulge making the radius at the equator about 0. 3% larger than the radius measured through the poles, the shorter axis approximately coincides with the axis of rotation
11.
Runway
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According to the International Civil Aviation Organization, a runway is a defined rectangular area on a land aerodrome prepared for the landing and takeoff of aircraft. Runways may be a surface or a natural surface. Runways are named by a number between 01 and 36, which is generally the magnetic azimuth of the heading in decadegrees. This heading differs from true north by the magnetic declination. A runway numbered 09 points east, runway 18 is south, runway 27 points west, when taking off from or landing on runway 09, a plane would be heading 90°. A runway can normally be used in both directions, and is named for each separately, e. g. runway 33 in one direction is runway 15 when used in the other. The two numbers usually differ by 18, Runway Zero Three Left becomes Runway Two One Right when used in the opposite direction. In some countries, if parallel runways are too close to each other, at large airports with four or more parallel runways some runway identifiers are shifted by 10 degrees to avoid the ambiguity that would result with more than three parallel runways. For example, in Los Angeles, this results in runways 6L, 6R, 7L. At Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport, there are five parallel runways, named 17L, 17C, 17R, 18L, for clarity in radio communications, each digit in the runway name is pronounced individually, runway three six, runway one four, etc. A leading zero, for example in runway zero six or runway zero one left, is included for all ICAO, however, most U. S. civil aviation airports drop the leading zero as required by FAA regulation. This also includes some military airfields such as Cairns Army Airfield and this American anomaly may lead to inconsistencies in conversations between American pilots and controllers in other countries. It is very common in a such as Canada for a controller to clear an incoming American aircraft to, for example, runway 04. In flight simulation programs those of American origin might apply U. S. usage to airports around the world, for example, runway 05 at Halifax will appear on the program as the single digit 5 rather than 05. Runway designations change over time because the magnetic poles slowly drift on the Earths surface, depending on the airport location and how much drift takes place, it may be necessary over time to change the runway designation. As runways are designated with headings rounded to the nearest 10 degrees, for example, if the magnetic heading of a runway is 233 degrees, it would be designated Runway 23. If the magnetic heading changed downwards by 5 degrees to 228, if on the other hand the original magnetic heading was 226, and the heading decreased by only 2 degrees to 224, the runway should become Runway 22. Because the drift itself is slow, runway designation changes are uncommon
12.
Military air base
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A military air base is an aerodrome used by a military force for the operation of military aircraft. An air base typically has some similar to a civilian airport—for example air traffic control. Some military aerodromes have passenger facilities, for example RAF Brize Norton in England has a used by passengers for the Royal Air Forces flights by TriStar to the Falkland Islands. Some air bases have revetments, hardened aircraft shelters, or even underground hangars, combat aircraft require storage of aircraft ordnance. An air base may be defended by anti-aircraft weapons and force protection troops, road air bases are highways constructed to double as auxiliary air bases in the event of war. Nations known to utilize this strategy are India, Sweden, Finland, Germany, Singapore, Switzerland, South Korea, Turkey, Poland and Pakistan. In the case of Finnish road air bases, the space needed for landing aircraft is reduced by means of an arrestor wire, similar to that used on some aircraft carriers. An aircraft carrier is a type of ship which serves as a seaborne air base. They are now a key part of the military, allowing for military aircraft to be staged much nearer the theatre of conflict, aircraft carriers were vital to the United States during World War II and to the United Kingdom in the 1982 Falklands War. They retain modern roles as well as several acres of territory an nation can move about at will. Aircraft carriers are used in disaster relief. Royal Air Force station List of Royal Canadian Air Force stations List of United States Air Force installations List of Soviet Air Force bases Naming of military air bases
13.
Eighteenth Air Force
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Eighteenth Air Force is the only Numbered Air Force in Air Mobility Command and one of the largest NAFs in the United States Air Force. 18 AF was activated on 28 March 1951, inactivated on 1 January 1958,18 AF presents air mobility forces to combatant commanders through its role as Air Forces Transportation, the air component of United States Transportation Command. The 18 AF commander also acts as the Commander, Air Force Forces, and Joint Force Air Component Commander, the commands mobility aircraft include the C-5 Galaxy, KC-10 Extender, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules, and KC-135 Stratotanker. Operational support aircraft are the VC-25, C-21, C-20B, C-32A, C-37A, C-37B,18 AF has an assigned military and civilian workforce of more than 37,000 people. Units reporting to 18 AF include 11 wings and two stand alone groups, other AMC units assigned to 18th AF are, When the Army Air Forces reorganized in 1946, Tactical Air Command was established as one of its three major commands. The AAF IX Troop Carrier Command was inactivated as part of this reorganization and it was headquartered at Greenville Army Airfield, South Carolina. Third Air Force was inactivated on 1 November 1946 and TACs troop carrier mission was reassigned to Ninth Air Force which moved to Greenville. In 1947, many of TACs Troop Carrier Groups/Wings were assigned directly to Headquarters TAC with the rest to the Air Defense Commands Fourteenth Air Force reserve 302d Troop Carrier Wing, the command added a heavy wing in Fall 1951 and another in early 1953. In the spring of 1952,18 AF C-124 Globemasters were sent to Japan and by July 1952, the arrival of the C-124 introduced the aircraft loadmaster position to the troop carrier mission. As the Korean War wound down, C-119 Flying Boxcar crews from the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing began supporting French operations in Indochina, United States Air Force-supplied C-47 Skytrain and C-119s were placed on-loan to the French Air Force at Tourane Air Base. By early 1953, the wings were replaced by active duty wings organized, administered, equipped, trained. Augmented troop carrier forces in the Far East and Europe provided trained crews, the next year,18 AF C-119s from the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing airdropped supplies to besieged French paratroops at Dien Bien Phu, Indochina. Some 483rd personnel flew missions in a capacity and would play key roles in the troop carrier mission in later years. After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, 374th Troop Carrier Wing,18 AF also provided airlift support to other Air Force major commands and TAC organizations. 18 AF units supplemented Military Air Transport Service airlift when needed and transported U. S. Army and Air Force units for training and deployment. 18 AF also took deliveries of the Fairchild C-123 Provider, a twin-engine transport designed for operations into landing zones that had been only rudimentarily prepared. With these new aircraft,18 AF units rotated troop carrier units to Europe in support of NATO, the command was heavily committed to airlift operations in Arctic areas beginning in the Fall of 1952. Between 1955 and 1957, the command offloaded and airdropped equipment supporting the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line radar system across northern Canada
14.
United States Strategic Command
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United States Strategic Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States Department of Defense. Strategic Command was established in 1992 as a successor to Strategic Air Command and it is headquartered at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha, Nebraska. In October 2002, it merged with the United States Space Command and it employs more than 2,700 people, representing all four services, including DoD civilians and contractors. Strategic Command is one of the three Unified Combatant Commands organized along a functional basis, the other six are organized on a geographical basis. On 1 June 1992, President George H. W. Bush established the U. S. Strategic Command from the Strategic Air Command and other Cold War military bodies, the Command unified planning, targeting and wartime employment of strategic forces under one commander. Day-to-day training, equipment and maintenance responsibilities for its forces remained with the Air Force, as a result of the 2002 Nuclear Posture Review, the Cold War system of relying solely on offensive nuclear response was modified. Shortly after a meeting between President George W, the activation of the new USSTRATCOM took place on 1 October 2002. The merged command was responsible for early warning of and defense against missile attack as well as long-range strategic attacks. This combination of roles, capabilities and authorities under a unified command was unique in the history of unified commands. U. S. Strategic Command officials were expected to deliver a detailed plan on the separation to General Cartwright for approval by September 2006 and this comes after some concern by officials and lawmakers such as U. S. S. Department of Defense and specifically the way space has been organized at U. S. Strategic Command, as result of the separation, the Missile Correlation Center in Cheyenne Mountain AFS was broken into two separate entities. NORAD/NORTHCOM now controls the Missile and Space Domain and JFCC Space controls the Missile Warning Center and they are both still located at Cheyenne Mountain AFS. It was expected that MSD would eventually move to Peterson AFB to join the rest of N2C2 and this combination of authorities, oversight, leadership and management is supposed to enable a more responsive, flattened organizational construct according to the commands leadership. U. S. Cyber Command United States Cyber Command —The CYBERCOM is a unified command under United States Strategic Command. The current commander is Admiral Michael S. Rogers, CYBERCOM was created by United States Defense Secretary Robert Gates on 23 June 2009, and activated in September of that year. The command was first led by the director of the National Security Agency and it combines elements of JTF-GNO and JFCC-NW, which were dissolved in October 2010. In an interview of General Alexander, now retired, he stated that United States Special Operations Command was a model for the future evolution of CYBERCOM. Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike The Commander Eighth Air Force serves as the Joint Functional Component Commander for Global Strike, some of these tasks belonged to a JFCC for Space and Global Strike before being split into two components
15.
Muir S. Fairchild
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General Muir Stephen Fairchild was the second vice chief of staff of the United States Air Force. Born in Bellingham, Washington, Fairchild moved to Olympia in 1905 when his father was appointed by Governor Meade as chairman of Washingtons first Railroad Commission. A year later Fairchild became a cadet at Berkeley, California, getting his wings. Fairchild fought the Germans from the air over the Rhine, including night bombing missions, in December 1918 Fairchild returned home and served at McCook Field, Ohio, Mitchel Field, New York, and Langley Field, Virginia. The flight originated with five aircraft and crews taking off from Kelly Field, Texas on December 21,1926, seeking to land in 23 Central and South American countries. Crew of the New York, Maj. Herbert Dargue, Lt. Ennis Whitehead, Crew of the San Antonio, Capt. Arthur McDaniel, Lt. Charles Robinson, Crew of the San Francisco, Capt. The crew of the New York were able to parachute to safety but Capt. Woolsley, Fairchild and the rest of the surviving Pan American Flight crew, and Charles Lindbergh, were among the first nine aviators to receive the newly created award Distinguished Flying Cross. He later attended the Army Industrial College, and the Army War College and he rose to director of air tactics and strategy in 1939. In 1940, Fairchild went to the Plans Division in Washington, two months later he was advanced two grades to brigadier general and named assistant chief of Air Corps. In 1942 he became director of requirements and was promoted to major general in August. In November he became a member of the Joint Strategic Survey Committee of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, in January 1946, he was named commandant of Air University at Maxwell Field in Alabama, with promotion to lieutenant general. On May 27,1948 he became the vice chief of staff of the U. S. Air Force. General Fairchild died of an attack at his quarters at Fort Myer on March 17,1950. He was survived by his wife, Florence Alice Fairchild, and his daughter, Fairchild Hall, the main academic building at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado, and the library at the Air University in Alabama, Fairchild Memorial Hall, were named for him. In his home state of Washington, Fairchild Air Force Base near Spokane was named for him shortly after his death and he is buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Section 34, Plot 48-A
16.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
17.
Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
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The Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force is the second highest-ranking military officer in the United States Air Force. In the event that the Chief of Staff of the Air Force is absent or is unable to perform his duties, the VCSAF may also perform other duties that the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Air Force or the CSAF assigns to him. The VCSAF is appointed by the President of the United States, by statute, the VCSAF is appointed as a four-star general. The current Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force is General Stephen W. Wilson
18.
Washington Air National Guard
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The Washington Air National Guard is the air force militia of the U. S. State of Washington. It is, along with the Washington Army National Guard, an element of the Washington National Guard, as state militia units, the units in the Washington Air National Guard are not in the normal United States Air Force chain of command. They are under the jurisdiction of the Governor of Washington through the office of the Washington Adjutant General unless they are federalized by order of the President of the United States. The Washington Air National Guard is headquartered at Camp Murray, Tacoma, under the Total Force concept, Washington Air National Guard units are considered to be Air Reserve Components of the United States Air Force. Washington ANG units are trained and equipped by the Air Force and are gained by a Major Command of the USAF if federalized. State missions include disaster relief in times of earthquakes, hurricanes, floods and forest fires, search and rescue, protection of public services. It is under state jurisdiction and its members are employed only within the State of Washington and it is not subject to be called, ordered or assigned as any element of the federal armed forces. Subordinate units within the 141st include, 560th Air National Guard Band, the 242d Combat Communication Squadron, and their mission sets involve both kinetic and non-kinetic operations and include sensitive missions that reside in the cyber domain. The 194ths cutting edge capabilities are well-suited to the threats our nation faces in the 21st Century, today, the Washington ANG Western Air Defense Sector is one of two sectors responsible to NORAD’s aerospace warning and control mission. The Western Air Defense Sector is part of the Continental U. S. NORAD region, there are also Canadian and Alaskan NORAD regions. Officially activated as the 560th AF Band in 1948, the band boasts 60 years of tradition, heritage, the Washington Air National Guard origins date to 28 August 1917 with the establishment of the 116th Aero Squadron as part of the World War I American Expeditionary Force. The 116th served in France on the Western Front, then after the 1918 Armistice with Germany was demobilized in 1919. The Militia Act of 1903 established the present National Guard system, units raised by the states but paid for by the Federal Government, if federalized by Presidential order, they fall under the regular military chain of command. On 1 June 1920, the Militia Bureau issued Circular No.1 on organization of National Guard air units, in 1924, the Adjutant General for the Washington National Guard, who was traveling through Spokane, made a simple proposal to the city fathers. Whichever city, Spokane, Seattle or Tacoma, could raise 10,000 dollars first for building hangars would get an Observation Squadron. As the Generals westward train pulled out of the station and was approaching the city limits, on 6 August 1924 the 116th Observation Squadron, Washington National Guard, received federal recognition. They established their headquarters at the former Parkwater Municipal Golf Course near Spokane. Jack Fancher, a World War I veteran, would act as the units first commander and it is one of the 29 original National Guard Observation Squadrons of the United States Army National Guard formed before World War II
19.
141st Air Refueling Wing
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The 141st Air Refueling Wing is a unit of the Washington Air National Guard, stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Spokane, Washington. If activated to service, the Wing is gained by the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command. The 116th Air Refueling Squadron assigned to the Wings 141st Operations Group, is a descendant organization of the World War I 116th Aero Squadron, the 141st Air Refueling Wings mission is to provide the core aerial refueling capability for the United States Air Force and the Air Guard. This unique aircraft enhances the Air Forces capability to accomplish its primary missions and it also provides aerial refueling support to Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps and allied nation aircraft. Equipped with the KC-135 Stratotanker, the Wing is capable of transporting litter, the KC-135 has often served as transport for its own units such as the 141 Security Police Squadron, now 141 Security Forces Squadron. The 116th FIS becoming the flying squadron. Other squadrons assigned into the group were the 141st Headquarters, 141st Material Squadron, 141st Combat Support Squadron, the 141st Fighter Group was assigned to the Oregon ANG 142d Air Defense Wing. In 1957, the aircraft were upgraded from the Korean War era F-94A Starfes to the more capable F-89J Scorpion. In 1960, the 141st Fighter Group was reassigned to the Washington Air National Guard headquarters and was re-designated as the 141st Fighter Group on 1 July, two 141st fighters crashed during the winter of 1961/62. On December 28,1962, a Northrop F-89 Scorpion jet interceptor flown by Captain Donald Repp and 1st Lieutenant William Auvill lost power and crashed while on approach to Geiger Field. A second crash occurred a week later when, on January 6,1962, Grosse died in the crash, but Adcock survived after ejecting and was rescued by a Royal Canadian Air Force helicopter crew. Another crash occurred on November 17,1963, when mechanical failure caused an F-89 to crash during a training mission near Windy Peak in Okanogan County. The observer, Major Rolin Deschane, was rescued near the crash site, in 1965, the Washington Air National Guard announced that the 116 FIS would convert from the F-89 to the nuclear-capable Convair F-102 Delta Dagger. 1967 was a year for the 141st Fighter Group and the 116th. In 1969, the unit accumulated a record,37,900 accident-free flying hours. With the transfer, the 141st was changed in status from a Group to a Wing, the 141st Air Refueling Wing also moved from Geiger Field to nearby Fairchild Air Force Base to accommodate the larger KC-135A aircraft. An Air National Guard spokesman at the time characterized the conversion from the McDonnell F-101 Voodoo to the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker as “like giving up an MG for a semi-truck. ”During the 1990 Gulf Crisis, aircrew, maintenance and support personnel responded to the Iraq invasion of Kuwait on 2 August 1990, and deployed to Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Upon federal activation in December 1990, all eight of the unit’s KC-135s deployed to the Middle East, the 116th refueled coalition attack aircraft during Operation Desert Storm
20.
Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape
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Established by the U. S. Air Force at the end of World War II, it was extended and consolidated during the Vietnam War to the U. S. Marine Corps, and U. S. Navy and in the late 1980s to the U. S. Army. Most higher level SERE students are Military Aircrew and Special Operations personnel considered to be at risk of capture. One such club was the Late Returners Club and this club which had a Flying Boot as its identifying symbol, was strictly non-military. The experiences of these Evaders was passed on in lectures, guest appearances, consolidation into a formal program of instruction came in 1943. He was responsible for the establishment of SERE training at several bases/locations, in 1943, the US Army established a small program for Cold Weather Survival at RCAF Station Namao in Alberta, Canada and in 1945 it was moved to Camp Carson, Colorado. In 1948 at Marks Air Base, Nome, Alaska, the first instructors were composed of experienced wilderness civilian volunteers and USAF military personnel with prior instructor experience. This initial cadre also included USAF Rescuemen from around Alaska, Greenland, Colorado, General LeMay attended the first class of instruction as a student. As time wore on, the expense and wisdom of having multiple locations for training was questioned, the hardest part of that consolidation was where to locate the training base that offered the best environmental and logistical support for such a small but convoluted training program. Ultimately, the USAF consolidated at Stead AFB, Nevada, in the mid 60s, the school was moved to Fairchild AFB, WA. The U. S. Air Force SERE School is located at Fairchild AFB, Washington, while SERE Training for the U. S. Army is located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina and at Fort Rucker, Alabama. The curriculum has three key parts, survival and evasion, resistance and escape, and water survival, most SERE training focuses on survival and evasion. Training on how to survive and resist the enemy in the event of capture is largely based on the experiences of past U. S. prisoners of war. How to survive in water is taught at a separate Professional Military Education course, SERE training is intended, above all, to provide students with the skills needed to live up to the U. S. military code of conduct when in uncertain or hostile environments. It is, I am an American, fighting in the forces which guard my country, I am prepared to give my life in their defense. I will never surrender of my own free will, if in command, I will never surrender the members of my command while they still have the means to resist. If I am captured, I will continue to resist by all means available, I will make every effort to escape and to aid others to escape. I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy, if I become a prisoner of war, I will keep faith with my fellow prisoners. I will give no information nor take part in any action which might be harmful to my comrades, if I am senior I will take command
21.
92d Operations Group
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The 92d Operations Group is the flying component of the 92d Air Refueling Wing, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command Eighteenth Air Force. The group is stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, the 92d Bomb Group was the first Bomb group to make a non-stop Atlantic flight to United Kingdom. It tested the secret Disney rocket-assisted-bomb experimental mission early in 1945, in the postwar era, the 92d Bombardment Group was one of the first USAAF units assigned to the Strategic Air Command on 4 August 1946, prior to the establishment of the United States Air Force. The group being activated as a redesignation of the 448th Bombardment Group due to the Air Forces policy of retaining only low-numbered groups on active duty after the war. It was deployed to Far East Air Force in 1950 and its B-29 Superfortress flew combat missions over North Korea early in the Korean War, the group was inactivated in 1952 when the parent wing adopted the Tri-Deputate organization and assigned all of the groups squadrons directly to the wing. Reactivated as the 92d Operations Group in 1991 when the 92d Wing adopted the USAF Objective organization plan, the 92d Bombardment Group was activated on 1 March 1942 at Barksdale Field in Louisiana. After training at Sarasota AB from May–July 1942, the Air Echelon left for Westover Army Airfield, Massachusetts and moved to Dow AB, in August, the squadrons flew to Newfoundland and then direct across the Atlantic to Prestwick, Scotland. They were the first unit to make a non-stop Atlantic crossing from Gander, Newfoundland, the Ground echelon sailed on USS West Point on 6 August 1942, and docked at Liverpool on 18 August 1942. This was the day the first aircraft of the 326th Bomb squadron arrived in Bovingdon. The last squadron - the 407th - arrived on 28 August 1942, the group was assigned to VIII Bomber Command and allocated RAF Bovingdon as its base. The group was assigned to the 40th Combat Bombardment Wing at RAF Thurleigh, the 92d flew a few two combat missions in September and October 1942, then was withdrawn from combat and its B-17F bombers exchanged for the older B-17E bombers being flown by the 97th Bomb Group. The 92d then acted as a training unit supplying combat crews to combat groups in the UK. The 325th squadron was used to provide a cadre for H2S radar training, in January 1943, the 92d was transferred to RAF Alconbury where it was reformed as an operational combat group. At Alconbury the group took the name Fames Favorite Few, the Group resumed operational flying missions on 1 May 1943. At Alconbury, the groups 327th Bombardment Squadron became the squadron to be equipped with the experimental YB-40 Fortress gunship from May through August 1943. The YB-40 was developed to test the escort bomber concept, twelve of the 22 B-17F bombers modified to the YB-40 configuration were dispatched to Alconbury for testing and evaluation. After 14 operational missions, the 11 surviving YB-40s were taken out of combat service, from Podington, the group flew almost 300 operational missions over Nazi-Occupied Europe. Missions were flown to Wilhelmshaven, a plant at Hanover, airfields near Paris, an aircraft factory at Nantes
22.
336th Training Group
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The 336th Training Group is a United States Air Force group with the mission to provide Air Force survival training. The group is located at Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington, with one unit at Naval Air Station Pensacola, FL. The units historical lineage goes back to the 336th Bombardment Group which was a World War II United States Army Air Forces training organization and it served in the United States during World War II. The 336th TG operates the United States Air Force Survival School, the school provides instruction in Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape training primarily to aircrew members. Instruction concentrates on the principles, techniques, and skills necessary to survive in any environment, the 22d Training Squadron conducts combat Survival Training, which all Air Force aircrew members must attend. The 66th Training Squadron conducts the SERE Training Instructor Course and this is a five-and-one-half-month program designed to teach future survival instructors how to instruct aircrew members to survive in any environment. The non-ejection water survival course trains aircrew members of non-parachute-equipped aircraft, the resistance training orientation course covers the theories and principles needed to conduct Level C Code of Conduct resistance training laboratory instruction. The SERE training instructor, 7-level upgrade course and this 19-day course, conducted annually, provides 5-level instructors with advanced survival training in barren Arctic, barren desert, jungle, and open-ocean environments. The unit was established in mid-1942 by III Bomber Command as a replacement training unit for B-26 Marauder crews, graduates from Training Command technical, gunnery and twin-engine flight schools would be trained on B-26s, then after graduation be assigned to combat units overseas. In 1949, Strategic Air Command was concerned about the ability of its aircrews to survive and it established the 3904th Training Squadron at Fort Carson, Colorado on 16 December to provide survival and escape and evasion skills for its crews. Little more than a later, on 21 October 1950, it established the 3904th Composite Wing to include the training squadron, the specialized 8th Air Rescue Squadron. On 1 September 1951, the 3904th moved to Stead Air Force Base, Nevada and this wing changed its name to the 3635th Flying Training Wing on 15 July 1958 when it added helicopter training to its mission. Instead, ATC discontinued it at Stead on 15 June 1966, however, all aspects of SERE training were not unified under the group. Alaskan Air Command had an Arctic Survival School at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska and Tactical Air Command operated a Water Survival School at Homestead Air Force Base, the separate Air Force School at Homestead was discontinued. Students attending SERE training at Fairchild, were sent on duty to Pensacola for this training. However the school was moved to Fairchild in August 2015 and combined with the existing non-ejection water survival course to avoid the associated with student travel. afhra. af. mil/. This article includes content from the Fairchild AFB website, Maurer, Maurer, ed. Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Washington, DC, Office of Air Force History
23.
Joint Personnel Recovery Agency
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The Joint Personnel Recovery Agency is a Chairmans Controlled Activity and is designated as DoDs office of primary responsibility for DoD-wide personnel recovery matters, less policy. JPRA is headquartered in Fort Belvoir, Virginia with schools located in Fredericksburg, VA and Spokane, JPRA currently provides for commanders, forces, and individuals on joint PR activities through development and conduct of education and training courses, and specialized individual training. The agency assesses, advises, and evaluates PR curriculum and establishes Joint PR standards in collaboration with the DoD Components for formal Joint PR training, including Code of Conduct and SERE. JPRA also provides DoD Components with analytical support, technology research and integration, maintenance of databases and archives, JPRA encourages partnerships by assisting with non-DoD agencies, multinational partners, and others, with PR-related education and training programs. The blue background, symbolizing sky and space, exemplifies the limitless boundaries of DOD recovery operations worldwide, the eagle and wreath are adapted from the seal of the Department of Defense and symbolize the commitment of Department of Defense forces to protect isolated personnel and the swiftness of response. The laurel represents honors received in combat and the branch represents defending peace. The broken chain depicts the mental and physical oppressions that the Code of Conduct, personnel recovery training, the JPRA has its roots in World War II and the Korean War. In 1942, an intelligence service was formed to aid US forces to evade. In 1952, the United States Department of Defense designated the United States Air Force as executive agent for escape, training was mostly for pilots and aircrew as they were considered the most likely to be isolated. After the Korean War, DoD implemented a Code of Conduct for all of the Services, in 1994, the Joint Staff appointed the JSSA as the focal point for PR. The Department of Defense appointed the US Air Force as the Executive Agent for Joint Combat Search, in 1999, JPRA was created as an agency under the Commander in Chief, US Joint Forces Command and was named the Office of Primary Responsibility for DoD-wide PR matters. After the disestablishment of USJFCOM, JPRA was designated a Chairman’s Controlled Activity in August 2011
24.
509th Weapons Squadron
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The 509th Weapons Squadron is a United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the USAF Weapons School, stationed at Fairchild Air Force Base, the 509th Weapons Squadron is a Geographically Separated Unit of the 57th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada. The mission of the squadron is to provide Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker instructional flying, the squadron was first activated as the 609th Bombardment Squadron, one of the four original squadrons of the 400th Bombardment Group, at Pyote Army Air Base, Texas, in March 1943. The OTU program involved the use of a parent unit to provide cadres to satellite groups. The unit moved to Charleston Army Air Field, South Carolina in late December, RTUs units were likewise oversize units, but their mission was to train aircrews prior to their deployment to combat theaters. However, the Army Air Forces found that military units. Accordingly, it adopted a functional system in which each base was organized into a separate numbered unit. While the groups and squadrons acting as RTUs were disbanded or inactivated, the 509th Air Refueling Squadron was activated at Roswell Air Force Base, New Mexico and assigned to the 509th Bombardment Group. The squadron was the air refueling unit in the United States Air Force. The squadron initially equipped with Boeing KB-29M Superfortress tankers and these aircraft carried a system of hoses, reels, winches and fuel pumps to transfer fuel to the receiver aircraft. A power-driven reel for the hose was installed in the rear fuselage at the position where the lower aft turret had been located prior to its removal. The KB-29M also had a cable and associated winch that was used to assist in the setup of the connection between the two aircraft. Although the hose refueling system proved to be feasible, in practice the system had the disadvantage in taking a time to make the contact. Once contact was made, the rate of transfer was slow. Consequently, the system was used for only a few years before it was replaced by the Boeing-developed flying boom system installed on the KB-29L. While flying the KB-29 the squadron deployed to RAF Upper Heyford, in 1954, the squadron converted to the Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker, deploying once again to the United Kingdom with the KC-97 for most of the first four months of 1956, this time to RAF Lakenheath. The squadron moved to Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire in January 1958, the squadron was inactivated in 1965 as the 509th phased down in preparation for inactivation. It continued to fly the KC-135 until inactivated in 1994 at Griffis AFB and its first student class began in June 2000
25.
Army and Air Force Exchange Service
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The Army & Air Force Exchange Service or “AAFES, ” is the retailer on U. S. Army and Air Force installations worldwide. The Exchange is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, and its Director/Chief Executive Officer is Tom Shull, the Exchange ensures soldiers and airmen have access to U. S. goods and services, wherever they serve. The first exchanges were established on July 25,1895, when the War Department issued General Orders Number 46 directing post commanders to establish an exchange at every post. Before the formation of the Exchange Service, U. S. military forces purchased provisions from bands of peddlers known as sutlers who followed the army. The Army Exchange Service was formally established in 1941, and became the Army & Air Force Exchange Service in 1948 following the formation of the Air Force. Since its establishment, the Exchange has been involved in 14 major military operations as well as several dozen humanitarian and disaster relief contingencies. Part of the Department of Defense, the Exchange is directed by a Board of Directors responsible to the secretaries of the Army, as a non-appropriated fund activity, the Exchange self-funds 97 percent of its operations, with revenue coming from the sale of goods and services. The majority of the 3 percent in appropriated funds is used to fund overseas operations, in 2012, Tom Shull became the Exchange’s first civilian Director/CEO, having previously served as an executive with Wise Foods, Inc. Hanover Direct, Inc. Barneys New York and Meridian Ventures, a West Point graduate, Shull served as an infantry company commander and held assignments at the White House and National Security Council. Maj. Daniel A. Dailey and Air Force Chief Master Sgt, one hundred percent of Exchange earnings are invested back into the military community. In fiscal 2015, the Exchange had revenue of $8.5 billion, of those earnings, $237 million were paid to Army Morale, Welfare and Recreation, Air Force Services, and Navy and Marine Corps quality-of-life programs. In the past 10 years, the Exchange has distributed more than $2.4 billion for MWR to fund quality-of-life improvements. The Exchange operates more than 2,500 facilities, including stores, convenience stores, military clothing stores and theaters. Additionally, the Exchange has nearly 1,500 quick-serve restaurants such as Taco Bell, Burger King, Popeyes, Subway, authorized patrons of the Exchange include Active Duty, Reserves, National Guard, retired members of the U. S. S. Uniformed Services Privilege and Identification Card, modern base and post exchanges provide tax-free goods - including name brands such as Michael Kors, Coach, and Ralph Lauren - to authorized shoppers. In addition, some Exchanges host concession malls with a variety of vendors, the mall is the first of its kind on a United States armed services base. The Exchange employs nearly 35,000 associates worldwide in the United States, Europe, the Pacific, of these, about 27 percent are military spouses or dependents,10 percent are veterans and 2 percent are active duty, reserves and the national guard. The Exchange has been named a Military Friendly Employer by Victory Media, jobs and Military Spouse magazine, for five consecutive years, most recently receiving the publishers Silver Award
26.
Defense Commissary Agency
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The Defense Commissary Agency, headquartered at Fort Lee, is an agency of the United States Department of Defense that operates more than 245 commissaries worldwide. The commissary benefit is not a recent innovation, no geographic restrictions were placed upon these sales, the commissary warehouse at every Army post could become a sales location, whether they were located on the frontier or near a large city. From the start, commissaries were meant to take on-post retail functions out of the hands of civilian vendors and post traders, the stores provided wholesome food beyond what was supplied in the official rations, and the savings they provided supplemented military pay. The modern concept of commissary sales stores, which were established to benefit military personnel of all ranks by providing healthful foods at cost, the commissary retail function developed and grew, roughly parallel to the development of the retail grocery industry. The commissaries’ 82-item stock list of 1868 was comparable to the assortment in a typical civilian dry goods grocery store at that time. Commissaries kept pace with developments in civilian supermarkets, and the average commissary today has more than 12,000 line items, the list of eligible shoppers has also grown. Originally, only active-duty Army personnel could shop, today, personnel in all services, including the Coast Guard and National Guard and Reserves, may shop in the commissary on any U. S. military installation, around the world. Military retirees – those who have served in uniform 20 years or more – were first allowed to make purchases in 1878. As the role of the American military grew larger, commissaries began to spread around the world, the first overseas stores opened in Cuba, the Philippines and in China between 1898 and 1904. They were soon followed by commissaries in Panama and Puerto Rico, eventually, all the services adopted the Armys concept of commissary sales stores and tailored the concept to their own needs. The Navy and Marine Corps opened their first commissaries in 1909 and 1910, in 1989, Congress directed DoD to conduct a study of the separate military commissary systems. The ensuing report by the Jones Commission recommended consolidating the service systems into one agency to improve service, DoD appointed Army Maj. Gen. John P. Dreska as the agencys first director in June 1990. 1,1991 at its headquarters in Fort Lee, Va, after leading DeCA through its initial year of operation, Dreska retired in 1992, and Army Maj. Gen. Richard E. Beale Jr. became the new director. Beale retired from the military Sept.30,1996, and he was succeeded by Air Force Maj. Gen. Robert J. Courter Jr. and Air Force Maj. Gen. Michael P. Wiedemer. Following Nixons retirement, Richard S. Page served as acting director until the arrival of director and CEO, thomas E. Milks was acting director and CEO, from Sakowitzs June 2010 retirement until Joseph H. Jeu succeeded Sakowitz 3 June 2011. Authority to shop at Commissaries is normally determined by presentation of the U. S, uniformed Services Privilege and Identification Card or a Common Access Card. At some military bases authorized patrons are allowed to bring guest into the commissaries, guest are not authorized to make commissary purchases, and patrons are not permitted to make commissary purchases for guest. Base commanders can order the restriction of guest to the commissaries, Commissary privileges overseas are covered under Status of Forces Agreements, Visiting Forces agreements, treaties, etc
27.
United States Army Corps of Engineers
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The United States Army Corps of Engineers, also sometimes shortened to CoE is a U. S. Although generally associated with dams, canals and flood protection in the United States, the Corps of Engineers provides outdoor recreation opportunities to the public, and provides 24% of U. S. hydropower capacity. The corps mission is to Deliver vital public and military engineering services, partnering in peace and war to strengthen our Nations security, energize the economy and their most visible missions include, Planning, designing, building, and operating locks and dams. Other civil engineering projects include flood control, beach nourishment, design and construction of flood protection systems through various federal mandates. Design and construction management of military facilities for the Army, Air Force, Army Reserve and Air Force Reserve and other Defense and Federal agencies. The history of United States Army Corps of Engineers can be traced back to 16 June 1775, colonel Richard Gridley became General George Washingtons first chief engineer, however, it was not until 1779 that Congress created a separate Corps of Engineers. One of its first tasks was to build fortifications near Boston at Bunker Hill, the first Corps of Engineers was mostly composed of French subjects who had been hired by General Washington from the service of Louis XVI. that the said Corps. Shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York, until 1866, the superintendent of the United States Military Academy was always an officer of engineer. During the first half of the 19th century, West Point was the major and, for a while, the General Survey Act of 1824 authorized the use of Army engineers to survey road and canal routes. Separately authorized on 4 July 1838, the U. S and it was merged with the Corps of Engineers on 31 March 1863, at which point the Corps of Engineers also assumed the Lakes Survey District mission for the Great Lakes. In 1841, Congress created the Lake Survey, the survey, based in Detroit, Mich. was charged with conducting a hydrographical survey of the Northern and Northwestern Lakes and preparing and publishing nautical charts and other navigation aids. The Lake Survey published its first charts in 1852, in the mid-19th century, Corps of Engineers officers ran Lighthouse Districts in tandem with U. S. Naval officers. The Army Corps of Engineers played a significant role in the American Civil War, many of the men who would serve in the top leadership in this institution were West Point graduates who rose to military fame and power during the Civil War. Some of these men were Union Generals George McClellan, Henry Halleck, George Meade, and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee, Joseph Johnston, the versatility of officers in the Army Corps of Engineers contributed to the success of numerous missions throughout the Civil War. They were responsible for building pontoon and railroad bridges, forts and batteries, the destruction of supply lines. The Army Corps of Engineers served as a function in making the war effort logistically feasible. This method of building trenches was known as the zigzag pattern, from the beginning, many politicians wanted the Corps of Engineers to contribute to both military construction and works of a civil nature. During World War II the mission grew to more than 27,000 military, included were aircraft, tank assembly, and ammunition plants, camps for 5.3 million soldiers, depots, ports, and hospitals, as well as the Manhattan Project, and the Pentagon
28.
Defense Security Service
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The Defense Security Service is a federal security agency of the United States Department of Defense. Within areas of DoD responsibility, DSS is tasked with facilitating personnel security investigations, supervising industrial security, DSS is an authorized Federal Security Agency. Industrial Security Representatives and Information System Security Professionals are credentialed government agents, originally known as the Defense Investigative Service, DIS was established in 1972. DSS changed from DIS in 1999, for fiscal year 2016 DSS authorized 800 civilian employees. Of those, about 400 are field personnel directly responsible for security oversight of approximately 13,000 cleared defense contractor facilities, DSS Industrial Security Representatives and Information System Security Professionals are credentialed Special Agents. Stanley Sims, the Director of DSS, retired in 2016 and he is now the Director of Security of the foreign owned defense contractor, CGI. In November 2004, investigators from DSS were transferred to the Office of Personnel Management and this move consolidated the vast majority of Federal government personnel background investigations within OPM. DSS still processes industrial clearance requests for the DoD, and acts as the liaison to the OPM for the DoD, the Defense Security Service is not to be confused with the U. S. Diplomatic Security Service of the State Department, the special agents of the Diplomatic Security Service are sworn federal law enforcement agents. Direction de la Protection et de la Sécurité de la Défense Media related to Defense Security Service at Wikimedia Commons Official website
29.
Bellingham, Washington
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Bellingham is the largest city in and the county seat of Whatcom County in the U. S. state of Washington. The boundaries of the city encompass the towns of Fairhaven, Whatcom, Sehome. Bellingham is the northernmost city in the contiguous United States with a population of more than 50,000 residents and it is acclaimed for its easy access to outdoor opportunities in the San Juan Islands and North Cascades as well as proximity to the cities of Vancouver and Seattle. It is also famous for the quantities of Canadian tourists and shoppers who visit daily to take advantage of relatively cheap gasoline, airfare. The name of Bellingham is derived from the bay on which the city is situated, George Vancouver, who visited the area in June 1792, named the bay for Sir William Bellingham, the controller of the storekeepers account of the Royal Navy. Prior to Euro-American settlement, Bellingham was in the homeland of Coast Salish peoples of the Lummi, the first Caucasian settlers reached the area in 1854. In 1858, the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush caused thousands of miners, storekeepers, Coal was mined in the Bellingham area from the mid-19th to the mid-20th centuries. It was Henry Roeder who had discovered coal off the shore of Bellingham Bay. The mine extended to hundreds of miles of tunnels as deep as 1200 feet and it ran southwest to Bellingham Bay, on both sides of Squalicum Creek, an area of about one square mile. At its peak in the 1920s, the mine employed some 250 miners digging over 200,000 tons of coal annually, Whatcom is todays Old Town area and was founded in 1852. Sehome was an area of downtown founded in 1854, Bellingham was further south near Boulevard Park, founded in 1853, while Fairhaven was a large commercial district with its own harbor, also founded in 1853. In 1890, Fairhaven developers bought Bellingham, Whatcom and Sehome had adjacent borders and both towns wanted to merge, thus they formed New Whatcom. Later, on October 27,1903, the word New was dropped from the name, because the Washington State Legislature outlawed the use of the new in city. At first, attempts to combine Fairhaven and Whatcom failed, Whatcom citizens wouldnt support a city named Fairhaven, and Fairhaven residents would not support a city named Whatcom. They eventually settled on the name Bellingham, which remains today, voting a second time for a final merger of the four towns into a single city, the resolution passed by 2163 votes for and 596 against. In the early 1890s, three railroad lines arrived, connecting the bay cities to a market of builders. The foothills around Bellingham were clearcut after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake to provide the lumber for the rebuilding of San Francisco. In time, lumber and shingle mills sprang up all over the county to accommodate the byproduct of their work, in 1889, Pierre Cornwall and an association of investors formed the Bellingham Bay Improvement Company
30.
University of Washington
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The University of Washington, commonly referred to as simply Washington, UW, or informally U-Dub, is a public flagship research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast, the university has three campuses, the oldest and largest in the University District of Seattle and two others in Tacoma and Bothell. Washington is a member of the Association of American Universities and is ranked among the top 15 universities in the world by a variety of international publications. In athletics, the university competes in the NCAA Division I Pac-12 Conference and its athletic teams are called the Huskies. Seattle was one of several settlements in the mid to late 19th century vying for primacy in the new Washington Territory, in 1854, territorial governor Isaac Stevens recommended the establishment of a university in Washington. Several prominent Seattle-area residents, chief among them Methodist preacher Daniel Bagley and they convinced early founder of Seattle and member of the territorial legislature Arthur A. Denny of the importance of Seattle winning the school. When no site emerged, the legislature, encouraged by Denny, in 1861, scouting began for an appropriate 10 acres site in Seattle to serve as the campus for a new university. Arthur and Mary Denny donated eight acres, and fellow pioneers Edward Lander and Charlie and this tract was bounded by 4th and 6th Avenues on the west and east and Union and Seneca Streets on the north and south. UW opened on November 4,1861, as the Territorial University of Washington, the following year, the legislature passed articles incorporating the University and establishing a Board of Regents. The school struggled initially, closing three times, in 1863 for lack of students, and again in 1867 and 1876 due to shortage of funds. However, Clara Antoinette McCarty Wilt became the first graduate of UW in 1876 when she graduated from UW with a degree in science. By the time Washington entered the Union in 1889, both Seattle and the University had grown substantially, enrollment increased from 30 students to nearly 300, and the relative isolation of the campus had given way to encroaching development. A special legislative committee headed by UW graduate Edmond Meany was created to find a new campus able to serve the growing student population. The committee selected a site on Union Bay northeast of downtown, the university relocated from downtown to the new campus in 1895, moving into the newly built Denny Hall. The regents tried and failed to sell the old campus, the University still owns what is now called the Metropolitan Tract. In the heart of the city, it is among the most valuable pieces of estate in Seattle. The original Territorial University building was torn down in 1908 and its former site houses the Fairmont Olympic Hotel. The sole surviving remnants of UWs first building are four 24-foot, white, hand-fluted cedar and they were salvaged by Edmond S. Meany—one of the Universitys first graduates and the former head of the history department
31.
Seattle
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Seattle is a seaport city on the west coast of the United States and the seat of King County, Washington. With an estimated 684,451 residents as of 2015, Seattle is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest region of North America. In July 2013, it was the major city in the United States. The city is situated on an isthmus between Puget Sound and Lake Washington, about 100 miles south of the Canada–United States border, a major gateway for trade with Asia, Seattle is the fourth-largest port in North America in terms of container handling as of 2015. The Seattle area was inhabited by Native Americans for at least 4,000 years before the first permanent European settlers. Arthur A. Denny and his group of travelers, subsequently known as the Denny Party, arrived from Illinois via Portland, the settlement was moved to the eastern shore of Elliott Bay and named Seattle in 1852, after Chief Siahl of the local Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. Logging was Seattles first major industry, but by the late-19th century, growth after World War II was partially due to the local Boeing company, which established Seattle as a center for aircraft manufacturing. The Seattle area developed as a technology center beginning in the 1980s, in 1994, Internet retailer Amazon was founded in Seattle. The stream of new software, biotechnology, and Internet companies led to an economic revival, Seattle has a noteworthy musical history. From 1918 to 1951, nearly two dozen jazz nightclubs existed along Jackson Street, from the current Chinatown/International District, to the Central District, the jazz scene developed the early careers of Ray Charles, Quincy Jones, Ernestine Anderson, and others. Seattle is also the birthplace of rock musician Jimi Hendrix and the alternative rock subgenre grunge, archaeological excavations suggest that Native Americans have inhabited the Seattle area for at least 4,000 years. By the time the first European settlers arrived, the people occupied at least seventeen villages in the areas around Elliott Bay, the first European to visit the Seattle area was George Vancouver, in May 1792 during his 1791–95 expedition to chart the Pacific Northwest. In 1851, a party led by Luther Collins made a location on land at the mouth of the Duwamish River. Thirteen days later, members of the Collins Party on the way to their claim passed three scouts of the Denny Party, members of the Denny Party claimed land on Alki Point on September 28,1851. The rest of the Denny Party set sail from Portland, Oregon, after a difficult winter, most of the Denny Party relocated across Elliott Bay and claimed land a second time at the site of present-day Pioneer Square, naming this new settlement Duwamps. For the next few years, New York Alki and Duwamps competed for dominance, david Swinson Doc Maynard, one of the founders of Duwamps, was the primary advocate to name the settlement after Chief Sealth of the Duwamish and Suquamish tribes. The name Seattle appears on official Washington Territory papers dated May 23,1853, in 1855, nominal land settlements were established. On January 14,1865, the Legislature of Territorial Washington incorporated the Town of Seattle with a board of managing the city
32.
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
33.
General (United States)
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In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force, General is equivalent to the rank of admiral in the other uniformed services. The United States Code explicitly limits the number of general officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 231 for the Army,61 for the Marine Corps,198 for the Air Force, and 162 for the Navy. No more than about 25% of an active duty general or flag officers may have more than two stars, and statute sets the total number of four-star officers allowed in each service. This is set at 7 four-star Army generals,9 four-star Air Force generals,2 four-star Marine Generals, several of these slots are reserved by statute. For example, the two highest-ranking members of service are designated as four-star generals. In addition, for the National Guard, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau is a general under active duty in the Army or Air Force. Officers serving in certain intelligence positions e. g. the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency, the President may add four-star slots to one service if they are offset by removing an equivalent number from other services. Finally, all statutory limits may be waived at the Presidents discretion during time of war or national emergency and their active rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, which is usually set by statute. For some positions, statute allows the President to waive those requirements for a nominee deemed to serve national interests, the nominee must be confirmed by the United States Senate before the appointee can take office and assume the rank. Four-star ranks may also be given by act of Congress but this is extremely rare, service vice chiefs serve for a nominal four years, but are commonly reassigned after one or two years. The Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps serves for two years, the Chief of the National Guard Bureau serves a nominal four years. Some statutory limits can be waived in times of emergency or war. Other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement, a four-star general must retire after 40 years of service unless he or she is reappointed to serve longer. Otherwise all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday, however, the Secretary of Defense can defer a four-star officers retirement until the officers 66th birthday and the President can defer it until the officers 68th birthday. General officers typically retire well in advance of the age and service limits. Since only a number of four-star slots are available to each service
34.
Everett, Washington
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Everett is the county seat of and the largest city in Snohomish County, Washington, United States. Named for Everett Colby, son of founder Charles L. Colby, the city had a total population of 103,019 at the 2010 census, making it the 7th largest in the state and fifth-largest in the Puget Sound area. It received an All-America City Award in 2002, Everett is home to the largest public marina on the west coast of the United States and is the western terminus of the western segment of U. S. Route 2. It is also home to Boeings assembly plant for the 747,767,777, Boeings Everett facility is known for being the largest building in the world by volume at 116.5 million cubic feet. In 1984, Everett was selected as the site of a U. S. Navy Homeport, the Naval Station formally opened in 1992 and on January 8,1997 welcomed the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln. The Lincoln is no longer homeported in Everett as of Winter 2011, the aircraft carrier, USS Nimitz has replaced the Lincoln as Everetts homeported ship, as of March 9,2012. Everett is also home to the Port of Everett, a shipping port that brings trade, commerce, jobs. In 2003, Xfinity Arena opened Everett to tourism, the $83 million arena continues to host events, once exclusive to Seattles KeyArena, to the present day. The arenas Twin Masts are a signature of the Everett skyline and it hosts events such as concerts, trade shows, hockey, and high school graduations. The land on which Everett was founded was surrendered to the United States by its inhabitants under the 1855 Treaty of Point Elliott. Permanent settlement in the area by European descendants started in 1861 when Dennis Brigham built a cabin on a 160-acre claim on the shore of Port Gardner Bay. Over the next years a handful of settlers moved to the area. On July 17,1890, The steamship Queen of the Pacific left Tacoma for an Alaskan cruise with Henry Hewitt, Jr. during this Fateful voyage initial plans for an industrial city on the peninsula along the banks of the Snohomish river were formulated. On August 22,1890, The Rucker Brothers filed their plat at Port Gardner and this plat was later withdrawn to accommodate the plans of the Hewitt-Colby group. Everett Colby in turn was named for orator Edward Everett, on November 19,1890, the Articles of Incorporation for the Everett Land Company were filed, with Henry Hewitt Jr. as president. On November 26,1890, the Rucker Brothers transferred 434.15 acres of property on the Everett peninsula to Hewitt, the Company bought much of the Ruckers land, taking them in as junior partners. Everett was officially incorporated on May 4,1893, the year the Great Northern Railway came to the town, both Hewitt and the Ruckers had speculated that James J. Hill would make the town the terminus of his railroad. However Hill continued the railroad along the shore of Puget Sound to Seattle, although it succeeded in building the city, the Everett Land Company was a failure for its investors
35.
Great Northern Railway (U.S.)
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The Great Northern Railway was an American Class I railroad. Running from Saint Paul, Minnesota, to Seattle, Washington, the Great Northerns route was the northernmost transcontinental railroad route in the U. S. The Great Northern was the privately funded – and successfully built – transcontinental railroad in U. S. history. No federal land grants were used during its construction, unlike all other transcontinental railroads, the Great Northern was built in stages, slowly to create profitable lines, before extending the road further into the undeveloped Western territories. In a series of the earliest public relations campaigns, contests were held to promote interest in the railroad, fred J. Adams used promotional incentives such as feed and seed donations to farmers getting started along the line. Contests were all-inclusive, from largest farm animals to largest freight carload capacity and were promoted heavily to immigrants & newcomers from the East. The earliest predecessor railroad to the GN was the St. Paul & Pacific Railroad, James Jerome Hill convinced John S. Kennedy, Norman Kittson, Donald Smith, George Stephen, and others to invest $5.5 million in purchasing the railroad. On March 13,1878, the roads creditors formally signed an agreement transferring their bonds, on September 18,1889, Hill changed the name of the Minneapolis and St. Cloud Railway to the Great Northern Railway. On February 1,1890, he transferred ownership of the StPM&M, Montana Central Railway, the Great Northern had branches that ran north to the Canada–US border in Minnesota, North Dakota, and Montana. It also had branches that ran to Superior, Wisconsin, and Butte, Montana, connecting with the mining fields of Minnesota. In 1898 Hill purchased control of parts of the Messabe Range iron mining district in Minnesota. The Great Northern began large-scale shipment of ore to the mills of the Midwest. At its height, Great Northern operated over 8,000 miles, the railroad’s best known engineer,1889 to 1903, was John Frank Stevens. Stevens earned wide acclaim in 1889 when he explored Marias Pass, Montana, Stevens was an efficient administrator with remarkable technical skills and imagination. He discovered Stevens Pass through the Cascade Mountains, set railroad construction standards in the Mesabi Range of northern Minnesota and he then became the chief engineer in charge of building the Panama Canal. The logo of the railroad, a Rocky Mountain goat, was based on a goat William Kenney, the mainline began at Saint Paul, Minnesota, heading west and topping the bluffs of the Mississippi River, crossing the river to Minneapolis on a massive multi-piered stone bridge. The Stone Arch Bridge stands in Minneapolis, near the Saint Anthony Falls, the mainline headed northwest from the Twin Cities, across North Dakota and eastern Montana. The line then crossed the Rocky Mountains at Marias Pass, and then followed the Flathead River and then Kootenai River to Athol, Idaho and Spokane, the main line west of Marias Pass has been relocated twice
36.
Strategic Air Command
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At a lower echelon, headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communications. In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of the U. S. Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U. S. Air Force had begun by the fall of 1945, with the Simpson Board tasked to plan. the reorganization of the Army, SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel. S. Air Force as an independent service, kenney, initial units reporting to the Strategic Air Command headquarters on 21 March 1946 included the Second Air Force, the IX Troop Carrier Command and the 73d Air Division. In addition to the bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance. An F-13 squadron, the F-13 later re-designated as the RB-29 Superfortress, was also established, SAC conducted routine aerial reconnaissance missions near the Soviet borders or near the 12-mile international waters limit, although some missions actually penetrated into Soviet airspace. The flight profiles of these missions—above 30,000 feet and in excess of 300 knots—made interception by Soviet air forces difficult until the Soviets 1948 introduction of the MiG-15 jet fighter. Project Nanook, the Cold War’s first Top Secret reconnaissance effort, used the first RB-29 missions for mapping and visual reconnaissance in the Arctic, later missions were Project LEOPARD along the Chukchi Peninsula, followed by Projects RICKRACK, STONEWORK, and COVERALLS. In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven B-29s capable at any one time of delivering them, unfortunately, postwar budget and personnel cuts had had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions. This continued to wear down SAC as a command and morale plummeted, as a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SACs eleven groups were combat ready. In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire a share of USAF infrastructure. In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on Limestone AAF, Maine, fort Dix AAF, New Jersey, Spokane AAF, Washington, and Wendover Field, Utah were also transferred to SAC between 30 April and 1 September 1947. Following establishment of the USAF as a service, SAC bases in the United States consisted of
37.
15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force
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The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force was one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command and was headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California. The 15 EMTF was inactivated on 20 March 2012 and its functions,15 EMTF provided strategic and theater airlift for all United States Department of Defense agencies as well as air refueling for the Air Force in both peace and wartime. Primary aircraft assigned to its units were the C-5 Galaxy, C-9 Nightingale, C-17 Globemaster III, C-21, C-130 Hercules, KC-10 Extender,15 EMTF was a redesignation of Fifteenth Air Force, effective 1 October 2003. During the Cold War,15 AF was one of three Numbered Air Forces of the United States Air Force Strategic Air Command, commanding USAF strategic bombers and missiles on a global scale. Elements of 15th Air Force engaged in operations during the Korean War, Vietnam War. The first commander was General Jimmy Doolittle, 15th AF resulted from a reorganization of Doolittles Twelfth Air Force into the 15th with Doolittle in command, and the Ninth Air Force with Lewis H. Brereton in command. The new air force was activated with a strength of ninety B-24 Liberators and 210 B-17 Flying Fortresses, inherited from the Twelfth Air Force, in December, new groups, most of which were equipped with B-24s soon started arriving from the United States. It was hoped that the 15th AF stationed in the Mediterranean would be able to operate when the Eighth Air Force in England was socked in by bad English weather. The 9th AF would later move to England to serve as a unit to take part in the invasion of Europe. Assigned to the 15th Special Group in January 1945, on 1 December 1943, the Headquarters was moved to Bari Airfield, Italy. On 4 January 1944, Fifteenth, along with Twelfth Air Force were organized into Mediterranean Allied Air Forces, MAAF was the southern component of U. S. Strategic Air Forces, Europe, the overall USAAF command and control organization in Europe. The first major operation carried out by Fifteenth Air Force was bombing missions in support of the Anzio Landings in Italy, strikes on German and fascist Italian targets were carried out and caused widespread damage to Axis forces. Big Week was the name of an intense Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces series of attacks on Germany in a series of co-ordinated raids on the German aircraft industry, on 22 February 1944, Fifteenth Air Force made its first attack on Germany, with an attack on Regensburg. The Fifteenth dispatched a force of 183 bombers to the Oberstraubing Messerschmidt assembly plant, some 118 bombed with good results but fourteen were shot down. The next day the 15th sent 102 bombers to the Steyr ball-bearing works in Austria where they destroyed twenty percent of the plant, on 24 February, over 180 Liberators inflicted considerable damage to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 assembly plant at Gotha, losing 28 aircraft. On 25 February 114 B-17s and B-24s were dispatched to Steyr again, but the force became separated, despite these losses, it was believed that the USSTAF had dealt the German aircraft industry a severe blow. In April, General Eisenhower ordered the USSTAF to attack German fuel production centers by striking both the oil refineries and the factories producing synthetic fuels. The 15th started the offensive on 5 April when it dispatched 235 B-17s, the refineries were attacked again on 15 and 24 April, inflicting additional damage
38.
98th Operations Group
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The 98th Operations Group is a component unit of the Nevada Test and Training Range, assigned to the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. The group is stationed at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, during World War II, the groups predecessor unit, the 98th Bombardment Group was a Consolidated B-24 Liberator heavy bomb group that fought in North Africa and Italy. Two of its members, Colonel John R. Kane and First Lieutenant Donald Pucket were awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions in combat, the group flew a total of 417 missions, earning a total of 15 battle streamers as well as two Presidential Unit Citations. In the postwar era, the 98th Bombardment Group was one of the first United States Army Air Forces units assigned to the Strategic Air Command on 1 July 1947, prior to the establishment of the USAF. Equipped with low-hour Boeing B-29 Superfortress World War II aircraft, it was deployed to Far East Air Force in 1950, the group was inactivated in 1952 when the parent wing adopted the Tri-Deputate organization and assigned all of the groups squadrons directly to the wing. It was reactivated in 1987 as the 98th Air Refueling Group, Heavy, the 98th OG is a non-flying unit that commands two squadrons with 55 military and civil service personnel and has functional responsibility for approximately 300 contract personnel. It also assists test customers by coordinating activities, and coordinates airspace issues with military. 98th Operations Support Squadron The 98th OSS is the scheduling, command and control, the Weapons and Tactics Flight provides qualified ground control intercept and Link 16 operations for more than 5,000 test and training sorties per year on the NTTR. The Current Operations Flight is responsible for scheduling, range monitoring and advisory control. The Operations Plans Flight coordinates all exercise, test and experimentation customer assistance, 98th Range Squadron The 98th RANS is responsible for technical support of Air Force, joint and multinational aircrew training on the NTTR. The Communications Flight provides small computer hardware and software support and all communications, the Engineering Flight conducts research, engineers, develops and manages hardware and software projects. See 98th Range Wing for related history and lineage The 98th trained for bombardment missions with B-24 Liberators during the first half of 1942, the group was alerted and departed for the Middle East on 15 July 1942, arriving in Palestine in late July 1942. The 98th was initially assigned to the USMEAF, however, the USMEAF was dissolved on 12 November 1942. At that time, the 98th came under the 9th Air Force and it flew its first mission to Mersa Matruh, Libya on 1 August 1942, with the aircraft being serviced by Royal Air Force personnel until 98th maintenance personnel arrived in mid-August 1942. It supported the British Eighth Army in its advance from Egypt into Libya. It bombed shipping and harbor installations in North Africa, Sicily, Italy, Crete, the 98th earned a Distinguished Unit Citation for action against the enemy in the Middle East, North Africa, and Sicily from August 1942 to August 1943. It received a second DUC for participation in a bombing raid on enemy-held oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. On this raid, of 47 B-24s launched, only 21 returned safely, one crashed on takeoff with the loss of all crewmembers except two
39.
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
40.
Japan
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Japan is a sovereign island nation in Eastern Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asia Mainland and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea, the kanji that make up Japans name mean sun origin. 日 can be read as ni and means sun while 本 can be read as hon, or pon, Japan is often referred to by the famous epithet Land of the Rising Sun in reference to its Japanese name. Japan is an archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands. The four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido, Kyushu and Shikoku, the country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions. Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one, the population of 127 million is the worlds tenth largest. Japanese people make up 98. 5% of Japans total population, approximately 9.1 million people live in the city of Tokyo, the capital of Japan. Archaeological research indicates that Japan was inhabited as early as the Upper Paleolithic period, the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD. Influence from other regions, mainly China, followed by periods of isolation, from the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shoguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a period of isolation in the early 17th century. The Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japan is a member of the UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the country has the worlds third-largest economy by nominal GDP and the worlds fourth-largest economy by purchasing power parity. It is also the worlds fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer, although Japan has officially renounced its right to declare war, it maintains a modern military with the worlds eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a country with a very high standard of living. Its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and the third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, in ancient China, Japan was called Wo 倭. It was mentioned in the third century Chinese historical text Records of the Three Kingdoms in the section for the Wei kingdom, Wa became disliked because it has the connotation of the character 矮, meaning dwarf. The 倭 kanji has been replaced with the homophone Wa, meaning harmony, the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, which is pronounced Nippon or Nihon and literally means the origin of the sun. The earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, at the start of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan introduced their country as Nihon
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Guam
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Guam is an unincorporated and organized territory of the United States. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, Guam is one of five American territories with a civilian government. The capital city is Hagåtña and the most populous city is Dededo, in 2015,161,785 people resided on Guam. Guamanians are American citizens by birth, Guam has an area of 210 sq mi and a population density of 770/sq mi. It is the largest and southernmost of the Mariana Islands and the largest island in Micronesia, among its municipalities, Mongmong-Toto-Maite has the highest density at 3, 691/sq mi, whereas Inarajan and Umatac have the lowest density at 119/sq mi. The highest point is Mount Lamlam at 406 meters above sea level, the Chamorros, Guams indigenous people, settled the island approximately 4,000 years ago. Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan was the first European to visit the island on March 6,1521, Guam was colonized in 1668 with settlers, like Diego Luis de San Vitores, a Catholic missionary. Between the 16th century and the 18th century, Guam was an important stopover for the Spanish Manila Galleons, during the Spanish–American War, the United States captured Guam on June 21,1898. Under the Treaty of Paris, Spain ceded Guam to the United States on December 10,1898, Guam is among the seventeen Non-Self-Governing Territories of the United Nations. Before World War II, Guam and three other territories – American Samoa, Hawaii, and the Philippines – were the only American jurisdictions in the Pacific Ocean. On December 7,1941, hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor, Guam was captured by the Japanese, during the occupation, Guamanians were subjected to beheadings, forced labor, rape, and torture. Guam endured hostilities when American forces recaptured the island on July 21,1944, since the 1960s, the economy is supported by two industries, tourism and the United States Armed Forces. The original inhabitants of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are believed to be descendants of Austronesian people originating from Southeast Asia as early as 2000 BC and they evolved into the Chamorro people. The ancient-Chamorro society had four classes, chamorri, matua, achaot, the matua were located in the coastal villages, which meant they had the best access to fishing grounds, whereas the manachang were located in the interior of the island. Matua and manachang rarely communicated with other, and matua often used achaot as intermediaries. There were also makåhna, skilled in healing and medicine, belief in spirits of ancient Chamorros called Taotao mona still persists as a remnant of pre-European culture. Their society was organized along matrilineal clans, Latte stones are stone pillars that are found only in the Mariana Islands, and, they are a recent development in Pre-Contact Chamorro society. The latte-stone was used as a foundation on which thatched huts were built, Latte stones consist of a base shaped from limestone called the haligi and with a capstone, or tåsa, made either from a large brain coral or limestone, placed on top
42.
Washington National Guard
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The Washington National Guard is one of the four elements of the State of Washingtons Washington Military Department and a component of the National Guard of the United States. It is headquartered at Camp Murray, Washington and is defined by its state, the Washington National Guard is also subject to the call of the President of the United States to serve as part of the total U. S. The Washington National Guard is made up of the Washington Army National Guard, the WAARNG is a reserve component of the U. S Army and the WA ANG is a reserve component of the U. S. Air Force. There are approximately 8,400 citizen-soldiers and airmen serving in the Washington National Guard, the Territorial Militia organized in 1855 and supported the Territorial Government, provided defense against Indian uprisings and sent a unit to fight for the Union in the Civil War. The Washington National Guard trained as completely uniformed and equipped force for the first time in 1890 on the shores of American Lake near Tacoma, units of the Washington National Guard served in the Philippine Insurrection, both World Wars, the Berlin Airlift and the first Gulf War. Since the September 11 attacks in 2001, the Washington National Guard units have served in support of Operation Noble Eagle, Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Approximately 700 members of the Washington National Guard served in support of the Hurricane Katrina Relief Mission in the gulf coast, and more than 300 served in support of Operation Jump Start. The citizen soldiers and airmen of The Washington National Guard are dedicated to the mission of safeguarding lives and property in Washington State in serving in the USA, members come from a wide diversity of communities, professions and backgrounds from around the State of Washington. President Fillmore signed the Organic Act creating the Washington Territory and Maj. Issac Stevens was appointed first governor, Washington Territorial Militia members informally mustered in support of the Territorial government involving local Indian uprisings. Washington Territorial Militia members formed into the “1st Washington Territory Infantry”, Washington Territory Militia “officially” formed and recognized as the Washington National Guard in the Legislative Assembly of Washington Territory. On November 11,1889 Washington became a state, State Legislature met and appropriated $20,319.33 for a “Brigade Encampment” to be held that summer. Completely uniformed and equipped for the first time, the Washington State National Guard trained on the shores of American Lake near Tacoma, Washington National Guard members involved in additional Indian conflicts, civil unrest, riots and fire fighting. Washington National Guard members called into Federal Service during the Philippine Insurrection, Washington National Guard members involved in Mexican Border dispute. Washington National Guard members Federalized for in World War I, Washington National Guard members involved in civil disturbance, labor conflicts, flooding assistance and fire fighting. Nearly 12,000 Washington National Guard members were inducted into Federal Service at the beginning of World War II, Washington National Guard members involved in civil disturbance, labor conflicts, flooding assistance, fire fighting. Washington National Guard members activated for the Berlin Crisis and the Berlin Airlift, Washington National Guard members involved in flooding assistance, fire fighting. More than 2,000 members of the Washington National Guard are called to active duty when Mt. St. Helens erupted. Washington National Guard members involved in assistance to law enforcement, search and rescue, emergency recovery, flood assistance, Washington National Guard members activated in support of Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm
United States Air Force
92d Air Refueling Wing
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This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
This article incorporates 
