1.
Pacific Air Forces
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Pacific Air Forces is a Major Command of the United States Air Force and is also the air component command of the United States Pacific Command. The mission of Pacific Air Forces is to provide air and space power to promote U. S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region during peacetime, through crisis. PACAF comprises three numbered Air Forces, nine main bases and nearly 375 aircraft. The commands area of responsibility extends from the west coast of the United States to the east coast of Asia and from the Arctic to the Antarctic, the area is home to nearly two billion people who live in 44 countries. Not to be confused with Far East Air Force, the military organization of the United States Army in the Philippine Islands from 1941 to 1942. The beginnings of PACAF can be traced back to June 1944, Far East Air Forces was activated on 3 August 1944, at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. FEAF had actually created on 15 June 1944, and Fifth Air Force assigned to it. FEAF was subordinate to the U. S. Army Forces Far East, the creation of FEAF consolidated the command and control authority over United States Army Air Forces units widely deployed throughout the southwest Pacific in World War II. A realignment of forces was needed by the USAAF to better organize its forces in the Pacific for peacetime. Shortly afterwards, Eighth Air Force was reassigned to the newly established Strategic Air Command on 7 June 1946, the major mission of PACUSA in the postwar years was occupation duty in Japan and the demilitarization of the Japanese society in conjunction with the United States Army. In addition, PACUSA helped to support atomic bomb testing in the Pacific Proving Grounds beginning with the Operation Crossroads test on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1946. With the impending establishment of the United States Air Force as an independent service later that year, on that same date, Seventh Air Force in Hawaii was inactivated with its organization absorbed by HQ, FEAF. On 25 June 1950, the forces of the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea invaded South Korea. On 27 June, the United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion, president Harry Truman authorized General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to commit units to the battle. MacArthur ordered General George E. Stratemeyer, CIC of FEAF, despite the post-World War II demobilization of United States armed forces, the U. S. Air Force still had substantial forces in the Pacific to oppose the North Korean military. Support units were equipped with the Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo aircraft and the Boeing RB-17 Flying Fortress, the 512th and 514th Weather Reconnaissance Squadrons of the 2143d Air Weather Wing were located at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. On 29 June 1950, the unit began flying missions over the Korean Peninsula in their RB-29 Superfortresses to provide FEAF Bomber Command with target. Eventually, these USAF F-86 units would establish a kill ratio of 10,1 versus their KPAF adversaries, during the Korean War FEAFs Fifth Air Force was the main United Nations combat air command until the Korean Armistice Agreement ended the combat 1953
2.
Gunsan
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Gunsan is a city in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. It is on the bank of the Geum River just upstream from its exit into the Yellow Sea. It has emerged as a high-tech manufacturing industrial city and an international trade seaport that is approximately 200 km southwest of Seoul on the midwest coast of the Korean Peninsula, Kunsan Air Base operated by the United States Air Force is in the city. To encourage investment, a trade zone has been declared in the area. Famous people from Gunsan include actress Lee Eun-ju, comedian Park Myeong-su, Gunsan was a small fishing village on the banks of the Geum River, near where the river spills into the Yellow Sea. It sits on the fertile western Honam plain where rice is harvested. Gunsan became a port in the late 19th century largely due to pressure from the Japanese on the Koreans to ship rice to Japan, in 1899, Gunsan Port officially opened up to international trade. Gunsan City was largely settled by Japanese during the period of Japanese colonization, the old City Hall and the Customs House are of Japanese construction. After liberation from the Japanese in 1945, Gunsan began to grow slowly, the Korean War of the 1950s left the Gunsan area relatively unscathed. The initial drive south by the Communist North Koreans pushed the United Nations, nevertheless, a battalion of Korean Marines, entrenched in the hills above Gunsan Port, withheld overwhelming communist forces. Their bravery created extra time for the evacuation of the town, the action is commemorated with a monument on the ridgeline where the heaviest fighting occurred. The drive north by the United Nations forces occurred so rapidly there was little direct confrontation in the area. After the cessation of hostilities, the United States Air Force occupied nearby Kunsan Air Base, Kunsan Air Base was originally constructed, under Japanese direction, by reclaiming mudflats starting in about 1923. Kunsan Air Base has hosted a variety of USAF combat aircraft, the downtown shopping districts that catered to US troops have transformed into areas that are indistinguishable from surrounding areas that serve Korean shoppers. Only a few remaining stores hint at the areas previous manifestation as an American shopping district, the small Okku-Silver Town caters to US troops. About 5 km from the gate of Kunsan Air Base, America Town hosts bars, dance clubs, restaurants. Today, Gunsans economy thrives on fishing, agriculture and heavy industry west of the city in the area known as the Industrial Zone. GM Korea operates a factory here that assembles the Chevrolet Aveo worldwide and as the Holden Barina in Australia, near the port, the Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle factory produces Daewoo trucks for the domestic and export markets
3.
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
4.
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
5.
8th Fighter Wing
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The United States Air Force 8th Fighter Wing is the host unit at Kunsan Air Base, Republic of Korea and is assigned to Seventh Air Force. Seventh Air Force falls under Pacific Air Forces, the Wings 8th Operations Group is the successor of the 8th Pursuit Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. Established in Japan after World War II in 1948, the wing flew missions throughout the Korean War. Redesignated the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing in 1958, it remained in Japan until 1964, after a year in California, it moved to Southeast Asia, where its F-4 Phantom II crews earned the nicknames MiG killers and bridge busters. In 1974 the wing relocated to Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, for additional history and lineage, see 8th Operations Group Established in August 1948 in Japan, the wing provided air defense to the islands. On 20 January 1951, the wing gained its new designation as the 8th Fighter Bomber Wing, on 25 June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, starting a war that would last three years. As the Korean War began, the 347th Fighter Group was assigned to the 8th to fly combat missions, the wing provided air cover for the evacuation of Americans from Korea on 26 June, the day after the invasion. The first aerial victory of the Korean War went to 1Lt William G. Hudson, of the 68th Fighter Squadron, later the same day, 35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron F-80s scored the Air Forces first confirmed kills from jet aircraft. In August, the wing briefly reverted to the F-51 Mustang, returning to the F-80 in December 1950, the 8th Fighter Wing is known for the heroic actions of its members, including Major Charles J. S. During the next three years, the 8th flew more than 60,000 sorties while operating from bases in both Korea and Japan, the wing participated in 10 campaigns and earned three unit citations. The wing finished the war flying the F-86 Sabre beginning in 1953 and became responsible for air defense over South Korea until relocated to Itazuke Air Base, Japan in October 1954. During the war in Korea, the 8th shot down 18 enemy aircraft, with the end of the Korean War, the wing was assigned to Itazuke AB, Japan for the next ten years. On 1 October 1957, the 8th Fighter-Bomber Group inactivated, with the flying squadrons assigned directly to the wing. Less than a later, on 1 July 1958, the Air Force redesignated the wing as the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing. On 18 June 1964, the wing moved without personnel or equipment to George AFB, California, at Ubon, the 8th TFW carried out its wartime mission as it led the way for other tactical Air Force fighter units during the Vietnam War. The 25th Tactical Fighter Squadron replaced the unit as the fourth F-4D fighter-bomber squadron at Ubon, the wing carried out a number of roles during combat. By the end of 1966, aircrews assigned to the 8th TFW flew nearly 14,000 combat missions into Vietnam, one of the squadrons assigned to wing, the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron, became known as the Ace squadron of the conflict. In May 1968, the wing was the first to use laser-guided bombs in combat, in October 1968, the wing picked up a Fast FAC assignment, under the call sign Wolf
6.
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
7.
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
8.
United States Air Force base
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List of United States Air Force installations. Active-duty USAF bases in the United States are under the jurisdiction of the following Major Commands, the legislation ordered the consolidation of separate military installations into a single joint base as a result of the law. Jurisdiction was designated by the DoD, most of the facilities were geographically adjoining, others were within the same area. USAFE has seven main operating bases along with 114 geographically separated locations, pACAFs primary mission is to provide U. S. Pacific Command integrated expeditionary Air Force capabilities to defend the Homeland, promote stability, dissuade/deter aggression, PACAF traces its roots to the activation of Far East Air Forces,3 Aug 1944, at Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. It consisted of three numbered air forces—5th, 7th and 13th—which were supporting operations in the Pacific Theater of World War II. DoD Joint Bases in Alaska, Hawaii and Guam are not listed, the primary mission of units assigned to United States Air Forces Central, are to support the Global War on Terrorism by providing aerial support for U. S. and Coalition forces on the ground. Air Expeditionary units assigned to USAFCENT are in status and do not carry a permanent history or lineage. The command has Fighter, Air Refueling and Airlift units, and is responsible for all the Air Forces individual mobilization augmentees. Does not include United States Army Air Forces facilities closed before September 1947, see, North Warning System for a list of contractor-operated Distant Early Warning Line radar stations in Greenland, Canada and Alaska. See, Eastern Test Range for Air Force Auxiliary Bases established to support missile and rocket launches from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station during the 1950s and early 1960s. Includes bases in North Africa and the United Kingdom used by Strategic Air Command, non-flying minor Air Stations not included. Only bases publicly disclosed by United States Air Forces Central listed, current status is undetermined unless noted. During Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003, the Iraqi Air Force essentially stood down except in a few cases of self-defence against US and British air strikes. Despite their size – or exactly because of it – most of these airfields were defended in 2003 and with a few exceptions. By autumn 2004 only some 20–25 unserviceable wrecks of Iraqi aircraft, the destruction of the Iraqi Air Force was probably one of the most complete such actions in the history of military aviation. They may form the organization of a new Iraqi Air Force equipped with surplus United States F-16, C-130, kwang Ju Air Base, Suwon Air Base and Taegu Air Base had previously been announced as ending operations, but would instead operate at reduced levels. 15 USAF personnel were assigned to base, and reside in former officer quarters
9.
South Korea
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South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea, is a sovereign state in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula. The earliest Korean pottery dates to 8000 BC, with three kingdoms flourishing in the 1st century BC and its rich and vibrant culture left 19 UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity, the third largest in the world, along with 12 World Heritage Sites. Annexed into Imperial Japan in 1910, Korea was divided after its surrender in 1945, peace has since mostly continued with the two agreeing to work peacefully for reunification and the South solidifying peace as a regional power with the worlds 10th largest defence budget. South Koreas tiger economy soared at an average of 10% for over 30 years in a period of rapid transformation called the Miracle on the Han River. A long legacy of openness and focus on innovation made it successful, today, it is the worlds fifth largest exporter with the G20s largest budget surplus and highest credit rating of any country in East Asia. It has free trade agreements with 75% of the economy and is the only G20 nation trading freely with China, the US. Since 1988, its constitution guarantees a liberal democracy with high government transparency, high personal freedoms led to the rise of a globally influential pop culture such as K-pop and K-drama, a phenomenon called the Korean Wave, known for its distinctive fashionable and trendy style. Home of the UN Green Climate Fund and GGGI, South Korea is a leader in low carbon growth, committed to helping developing countries as a major DAC. It is the third least ignorant country in the Index of Ignorance, ranking eighth highest for peaceful tolerance. It is the worlds largest spender on R&D per GDP, leading the OECD in graduates in science, the name Korea derives from the name Goryeo. The name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After Goryeo was replaced by Joseon in 1392, Joseon became the name for the entire territory. The new official name has its origin in the ancient country of Gojoseon, in 1897, the Joseon dynasty changed the official name of the country from Joseon to Daehan Jeguk. The name Daehan, which means great Han literally, derives from Samhan, however, the name Joseon was still widely used by Koreans to refer to their country, though it was no longer the official name. Under Japanese rule, the two names Han and Joseon coexisted, there were several groups who fought for independence, the most notable being the Provisional Government of the Republic of Korea. Following the surrender of Japan, in 1945, the Republic of Korea was adopted as the name for the new country. Since the government only controlled the part of the Korean Peninsula
10.
Yellow Sea
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The Yellow Sea is the name given to the northern part of the East China Sea, which is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean. It is located between mainland China and the Korean Peninsula and its name comes from the sand particles from Gobi Desert sand storms that turn the surface of the water golden yellow. The innermost bay of the Yellow Sea is called the Bohai Sea, into it flow both the Yellow River and Hai He. Deposits of sand and silt from those rivers contribute to the sea colour, the northern extension of the Yellow Sea is called the Korea Bay. The Yellow Sea is one of four seas named after common colour terms — the others being the Black Sea, the Red Sea, the International Hydrographic Organization defines the limits of the Yellow Sea as follows, On the South. The parallel of 33°17 North from Saisyu To to the mainland. The Yellow Sea, excluding the Bohai, extends by about 960 km from north to south and about 700 km from east to west, it has an area of about 380,000 km2 and the volume of about 17,000 km3. Its depth is only 44 m on average, with a maximum of 152 m, the sea is a flooded section of continental shelf that formed after the last ice age as sea levels rose 120 m to their current levels. The sea bottom is slowly rising toward China and more rapidly at the Korean Peninsula, the depth gradually increases from north to south. The sea bottom and shores are dominated by sand and silt brought by the rivers through the Bohai Sea and those deposits, together with sand storms are responsible for the yellow water color and the sea name. The area has cold, dry winters with strong northerly monsoons blowing from late November to March, average January temperatures are −10 °C in the north and 3 °C in the south. Summers are wet and warm with frequent typhoons between June and October, air temperatures range between 10 and 28 °C. The average annual precipitation increases from about 500 mm in the north to 1,000 mm in the south, fog is frequent along the coasts, especially in the upwelling cold-water areas. The sea has a warm cyclone current and it is a part of the Kuroshio Current, which diverges near the western part of Japan and flows northward into the Yellow Sea at the speed of below 0.8 km/h. Southward currents prevail near the sea coast, especially in the monsoon period. The water temperature is close to freezing in the part in winter, so drift ice patches and continuous ice fields form. The water temperature and salinity are homogeneous across the depth, the southern waters are warmer at 6–8 °C. In spring and summer, the layer is warmed up by the sun and diluted by the fresh water from rivers, while the deeper water remains cold
11.
Seoul
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The Seoul Capital Area houses up to half of the countrys population of 50.22 million people with 678,102 international residents. Situated on the Han River, Seouls history stretches back more than two years when it was founded in 18 BCE by Baekje, one of the Three Kingdoms of Korea. It continued as the capital of Korea under the Joseon Dynasty, the Seoul Capital Area contains five UNESCO World Heritage Sites, Changdeok Palace, Hwaseong Fortress, Jongmyo Shrine, Namhansanseong and the Royal Tombs of the Joseon Dynasty. Seoul is surrounded by mountains, the tallest being Mt. Bukhan, in 2015, it was rated Asias most livable city with the second highest quality of life globally by Arcadis. In 2014, the citys GDP per capita of $39,786 was comparable to that of France and Finland. Ranked sixth in the Global Power City Index and Global Financial Centres Index, Seoul is the worlds most wired city and ranked first in technology readiness by PwCs Cities of Opportunity report. It is served by the KTX high-speed rail and the Seoul Subway, providing 4G LTE, WiFi, Seoul is connected via AREX to Incheon International Airport, rated the worlds best airport nine years in a row by Airports Council International. Lotte World Tower, a 556-metre supertall skyscraper with 123 floors, has built in Seoul and become the OECDs tallest in 2016. Its Lotte Cinema houses the worlds largest cinema screen, Seouls COEX Mall is the worlds largest underground shopping mall. Seoul hosted the 1986 Asian Games,1988 Summer Olympics,2002 FIFA World Cup, the Miss Universe 1980 pageant, a UNESCO City of Design, Seoul was named the 2010 World Design Capital. The city has known in the past by the names Wirye-seong, Hanju. During Japans annexation in Korea, Hanseong was renamed to Keijō by the Imperial authorities to prevent confusion with the hanja 漢, in reality, the ancient name of Seoul, Hanseong, originally had the meaning of big or vast. Its current name originated from the Korean word meaning city, which is believed to be derived from the word Seorabeol, which originally referred to Gyeongju. Unlike most place names in Korea, Seoul has no corresponding hanja, on January 18,2005, Seoul government officially changed its official Chinese language name to Shouer from the historic Hancheng, of which use is becoming less common. Settlement of the Han River area, where present-day Seoul is located, Seoul is first recorded as Wiryeseong, the capital of Baekje in the northeastern Seoul area. There are several city walls remaining in the area date from this time. Pungnaptoseong, a wall just outside Seoul, is widely believed to have been at the main Wiryeseong site. As the Three Kingdoms competed for this region, control passed from Baekje to Goguryeo in the 5th century
12.
Korean language
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It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture and Changbai Korean Autonomous County of the Peoples Republic of China. Approximately 80 million people worldwide speak Korean and this implies that Korean is not an isolate, but a member of a small family. There is still debate on whether Korean and Japanese are related with each other, the Korean language is agglutinative in its morphology and SOV in its syntax. A relation of Korean with Japonic languages has been proposed by linguists like William George Aston, Chinese characters arrived in Korea together with Buddhism during the pre-Three Kingdoms period. Mainly privileged elites were educated to read and write in hanja, however, today, the hanja are largely unused in everyday life, but in South Korea they experience revivals on artistic works and are important in historic and/or linguistic studies of Korean. Since the Korean War, through 70 years of separation, North–South differences have developed in standard Korean, including variations in pronunciation, verb inflection, the Korean names for the language are based on the names for Korea used in North Korea and South Korea. In South Korea, the Korean language is referred to by names including hanguk-eo Korean language, hanguk-mal, Korean speech and uri-mal. In hanguk-eo and hanguk-mal, the first part of the word, hanguk, refers to the Korean nation while -eo and -mal mean language and speech, Korean is also simply referred to as guk-eo, literally national language. This name is based on the same Chinese characters meaning nation + language that are used in Taiwan and Japan to refer to their respective national languages. In North Korea and China, the language is most often called Chosŏn-mal, or more formally, the English word Korean is derived from Goryeo, which is thought to be the first dynasty known to Western countries. Korean people in the former USSR refer to themselves as Koryo-saram and Goryeo In, the majority of historical and modern linguists classify Korean as a language isolate. Such factors of typological divergence as Middle Mongolians exhibition of gender agreement can be used to argue that a relationship with Altaic is unlikely. Sergei Anatolyevich Starostin found about 25% of potential cognates in the Japanese–Korean 100-word Swadesh list, a good example might be Middle Korean sàm and Japanese asa, meaning hemp. Also, the doublet wo meaning hemp is attested in Western Old Japanese and it is thus plausible to assume a borrowed term. Among ancient languages, various relatives of Korean have been proposed. Some classify the language of Jeju Island as a distinct modern Koreanic language, Other famous theories are the Dravido-Korean languages theory and the mostly unknown southern-theory which suggest an Austronesian relation. Korean is spoken by the Korean people in North Korea and South Korea and by the Korean diaspora in countries including the Peoples Republic of China, the United States, Japan. Korean-speaking minorities exist in these states, but because of cultural assimilation into host countries, Korean is the official language of South Korea and North Korea
13.
Romanization
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Romanization, in linguistics, is the conversion of writing from a different writing system to the Roman script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and transcription, for representing the spoken word, There are many consistent or standardized romanization systems. They can be classified by their characteristics, source, or donor language – A system may be tailored to romanize text from a particular language, or a series of languages, or for any language in a particular writing system. A language-specific system typically preserves language features like pronunciation, while the one may be better for cataloguing international texts. Target, or receiver language – Most systems are intended for an audience that speaks or reads a particular language and this affects the ease of creation, digital storage and transmission, reproduction, and reading of the romanized text. Reversibility – Whether or not the original can be restored from the converted text, some reversible systems allow for an irreversible simplified version. Most romanizations are intended to enable the reader who is unfamiliar with the original script to pronounce the source language reasonably accurately. Such romanizations follow the principle of phonemic transcription and attempt to render the significant sounds of the original as faithfully as possible in the target language, the popular Hepburn romanization of Japanese is an example of a transcriptive romanization designed for English speakers. The International Phonetic Alphabet is the most common system of phonetic transcription, for most language pairs, building a usable romanization involves tradeoffs between the two extremes. In modern times the chain of transcription is usually spoken foreign language, written language, written native language. Reducing the number of processes, i. e. removing one or both steps of writing, usually leads to more accurate oral articulations. In general, outside a limited audience of scholars romanizations tend to lean more towards transcription, Romanization standards include the following, Deutsche Morgenländische Gesellschaft, Adopted by the International Convention of Orientalist Scholars in Rome. It is the basis for the very influential Hans Wehr dictionary, qalam, A system that focuses upon preserving the spelling, rather than the pronunciation, and uses mixed case ISO 233-2, Simplified transliteration. Buckwalter transliteration, Developed at Xerox by Tim Buckwalter, doesnt require unusual diacritics ALA-LC Arabic chat alphabet There are romanization systems for both Modern and Ancient Greek. ALA-LC Beta Code Greeklish ISO843 The Hebrew alphabet is romanized using several standards, ANSI Z39.25 UNGEGN ISO259, ALA-LC The Brahmic family of abugidas is used for languages of the Indian subcontinent and south-east Asia. There is a tradition in the west to study Sanskrit. Various transliteration conventions have been used for Indic scripts since the time of Sir William Jones, ISO15919, A standard transliteration convention was codified in the ISO15919 standard. It uses diacritics to map the much larger set of Brahmic consonants, see also Transliteration of Indic scripts, how to use ISO15919
14.
Seventh Air Force
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United States Air Forces Korea and USAFK redirect here. The Seventh Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces and it is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The commands mission is to plan and direct air component operations in the Republic of Korea and in the Northwest Pacific. It was assigned units engaging enemy forces in the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, and in the last major battle of the Pacific War, the Battle of Okinawa. Returning to its role in Hawaii after the war,7 AF became the primary USAF command. 7 AF is commanded by Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Bergeson, the Vice Commander is Brig Gen Kyle W. Robinson Command Chief Master Sergeant is Anthony W. Johnson. Since then, both as U. S. Air Forces Korea, under the joint U. S and it develops the total air campaign and reinforcement plans for ROK defense and sustains mission readiness of 117 operational units and 8,300 U. S. Air Force personnel. It operates in conjunction with United States Pacific Command, United Nations Command, U. S. Forces, Korea/Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea. Airplanes assigned to the 6th Aero Squadron consisted of three Curtiss N-9 seaplanes which were single-engine biplanes carrying a crew of two and capable of a top speed of 70 miles an hour. The first inter-island flight occurred in February 1919 and by 1920 inter-island flights were used for training purposes. Early in 1920 the 4th Observation Squadron arrived at Ford Island, known by then as Luke Field, also by this time, Luke Field was used jointly by the aerial forces of the Army and Navy. The year 1920 marked an advance in aviation in the Islands. The first night flight over Oahu took place on 30 June 1920, also air power began to take its place in the Hawaiian Departments military maneuvers. The first detachment of twenty men started clearing land south of Schofield Barracks for Wheeler Field in February 1922 and this Field was named for Major Sheldon H. Wheeler, who had assumed command of Luke Field in 1920 and was killed in an air accident in 1921. By June 1923, Wheeler boasted six 112x200 foot hangars, three used for housing shops and three others for planes, plus four hangars used as warehouses, and oil tanks holding 50,000 gallons. Tents and huts housed the men, the First commander of Wheeler Field was Major George E. Stratemeyer, who by 1941 was a brigadier general and Acting Chief of the Army Air Corps. The first known reforesting by plane was accomplished for the Department of Agriculture by a plane from Wheeler in 1926, the first non-stop Hawaiian flight from Oakland, California to Wheeler Field was made in June 1927 by L. J. Maitland and A. F. Hegenberger. The famous Dole flight also took place in 1927, with Art Goebel and Lt. W. V. Davis, USN, during the period from 1917 to 1931, the military air component in Hawaii grew to seven tactical squadrons and two service squadrons
15.
Republic of Korea Air Force
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The Republic of Korea Air Force, also known as the ROK Air Force, is the aerial warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense. Shortly after the end of World War II, the South Korean Air Construction Association was founded on August 10,1946 to publicize the importance of air power, on September 13,1949, the United States contributed 10 L-4 Grasshopper observation aircraft to the South Korean air unit. An Army Air Academy was founded on January,1949, the 1950s were a critical time for the ROKAF as it expanded tremendously during the Korean War. The North Korean air force had acquired a number of Yak-9 and La-7 fighters from the Soviet Union, dwarfing the ROKAF in terms of size. However, during the course of the war, the ROKAF acquired 110 aircraft,79 fighter-bombers, three fighter squadrons, and one fighter wing. The first combat aircraft received were North American F-51D Mustangs, along with a contingent of US Air Force instructor pilots under the command of Major Dean Hess, the ROKAF participated in bombing operations and flew independent sorties. After the war, the ROKAF Headquarters was moved to Daebangdong, Air Force University was also founded in 1956. To counter the threat of possible North Korean aggression, the ROKAF underwent a capability enhancement. The ROKAF acquired North American T-28 Trojan trainers, North American F-86D Sabre night- and all-weather interceptors, Northrop F-5 fighters, Air Force Operations Command was established in 1961 to secure efficient command and control facilities. Air Force Logistics Command was established in 1966, and emergency runways were constructed for use during wartime. The ROKAF was posed with a security risk, with an increasingly belligerent North Korea throughout the 1970s, the South Korean government increased its expenditure on the ROKAF, resulting in purchase of Northrop F-5E Tiger II fighters in August 1974 and F-4E fighter bombers. Support aircraft, such as Fairchild C-123 Providers and Grumman S-2 Trackers were also purchased at the time, the ROKAF concentrated on qualitative expansion of aircraft to catch up to the strength of North Korean Air Force. In 1982, Korean variants of the F-5E, the Jegong-ho were first produced, the ROKAF gathered a good deal of information on the North Korean Air Force when Captain Lee Woong-pyeong, a North Korean pilot, defected to South Korea. The Korean Combat Operations Information center was formed and the Air Defence System was automated to attain air superiority against North Korea. When the 1988 Seoul Olympics was held in South Korea, the ROKAF contributed to the success of this event by helping to oversee the security system. The ROKAF also moved its headquarters and the Air Force Education & Training Command to other locations, forty General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon fighters were purchased in 1989. South Korea committed its support for coalition forces during the Persian Gulf War, the ROKAF also provided airlift support for peacekeeping operations in Somalia in 1993. The increased participation in international operations depicted the ROKAFs elevated international position, over 180 KF-16 fighters of F-16 Block 52 specifications were introduced as part of the Peace Bridge II & III program from 1994
16.
United States Forces Korea
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United States Forces Korea is a sub-unified command of United States Pacific Command. Major USFK elements include Eighth U. S. Army, U. S. Air Forces Korea, U. S. Naval Forces Korea, U. S. Marine Forces Korea and it was established on 1 July 1957. USFK has Title 10 authority, which means that USFK is responsible for organizing, training and equipping U. S. forces on the Korean Peninsula so that forces are agile, adaptable and ready. The USFK mission also includes planning non-combatant evacuation operations to ensure that if the need arises, U. S. to this end, USFK conducts routine exercises to ensure that this process is effective, efficient and orderly. As such, USFK continues to support the ROK-US Mutual Defense Treaty, the UNC mission was to assist South Korea to repel the attack and restore international peace and security in Korea. Throughout the war,53 nations provided support to the UNC,16 nations provided combat forces, after three years of hostilities, the commanders of both sides signed the Armistice Agreement on 27 July 1953. Hostilities today are also deterred by this bi-national defense team that evolved from the multi-national UNC, established on 7 November 1978, the ROK-US Combined Forces Command is the warfighting headquarters. Its role is to deter, or defeat if necessary, outside aggression against the ROK, the following is a partial list of border incidents involving North Korea since the Armistice Agreement of 27 July 1953, ended large scale military action of the Korean War. Most of these took place near either the Korean Demilitarized Zone or the Northern Limit Line. This list includes engagements on land, air, and sea, many of the incidents occurring at sea are due to border disputes. The North claims jurisdiction over an area south of the disputed western maritime border. This is a fishing area, particularly for crabs. In addition, the North claims its territorial waters extend for 50 nautical miles from the coast, according to the 5 January 2011 Korea Herald, since July 1953 North Korea has violated the armistice 221 times, including 26 military attacks. May 1962, Private Larry Allen Abshier abandoned his post in South Korea in May 1962 when he away from his base. Larry Abshier was the first to defect, also in May 1962, Corporal Jerry Parrish crossed the DMZ into North Korea. Aug 1962, James Joseph Dresnok was a Private First Class with a U. S. Army unit along the Korean Demilitarized Zone. Soon after his arrival, he found himself facing a court martial for forging signatures on paperwork that gave him permission to leave base, Dresnok was taken by train to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, and interrogated. In South Korea, Jenkins was assigned to night patrols, as a result of fears that he would be transferred to combat duty in Vietnam, he grew depressed and anxious, and started drinking alcohol
17.
Osan Air Base
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Osan Air Base, is a United States Air Force base located near Songtan Station in the county of Pyeongtaek, South Korea,64 km south of Seoul. Despite its name, Osan AB is not within Osan City, the base is the home of the Pacific Air Forces 51st Fighter Wing, and a number of tenant units, including the headquarters for Seventh Air Force. The base is also the headquarters of the ROK Air Force Operations Command, Osan Air Base is one of two major U. S. Air Force installations operated by U. S. Forces Korea, the other being Kunsan Air Base. S, Air Force in the Republic of Korea and the only base on the peninsula entirely planned and built from scratch by Aviation Engineers units attached to the U. S. Air Force during the Korean War. In the spring of 1951, CCF were driven back north of the 38th parallel, Aviation engineers, meanwhile, surveyed locations in the ROK to build an air base capable of supporting jet fighters. They decided upon the area southwest of Osan-Ni, established in November 1951, the base originally was named Osan-Ni AB. The name Osan-Ni was chosen for practical reasons – it was the only village shown on most military maps of the time, the 839th Aviation Engineer Battalion began construction of base support facilities and infrastructure early in 1952. On July 9,1952, the 839th, joined by the 840th and 841st Engineer battalions, started work to lay the airfields runway, taxiway, monsoon rains, though, impeded initial efforts to fill the rice paddies and begin airfield construction. The delay forced engineers to work 24 hours a day, seven days a week beginning in August, three engineer aviation battalions were assigned the task of building Osan, the 839th, 840th, and 841st EABs. They completed laying a 9, 000-foot, 8-inch-thick concrete runway in 2 1⁄2 months, with the taxiway also completed, and parking ramps nearing completion, the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing and one of its F-51 combat squadrons arrived on December 26,1952. With the wings other two squadrons arriving shortly thereafter, the converted to the F-86F. In February 1953, the 18th FBW began flying air superiority missions from Osan-Ni AB which continued through the remainder of the Korean War, with the Armistice Agreement signed on July 27,1953, the 18th FBW remained at Osan-Ni AB for defensive purposes until November 1954. Meanwhile, plans called for HQ Fifth Air Force to move from Seoul National University to Yongsan Garrison in Seoul. This plan was changed, and in January 1954, the relocated to Osan-Ni AB. As the Armistice took hold, the U. S, the 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing moved from Taegu AB to Osan-Ni AB in March 1955, and became the only permanently assigned tactical fighter wing on the peninsula. On September 18,1956, the base was redesignated Osan AB, in July 1958, the U. S. Air Force inactivated the 58th Fighter-Bomber Wing. At this time, the Eisenhower Administration promulgated a nuclear deterrence strategy, although the Matador missiles were relocated in 1962, fighter deployments continued throughout the 1960s. Other than a reconstruction of the runway in 1959, the base still retained its Korean War-vintage facilities
18.
35th Fighter Squadron
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The 35th Fighter Squadron is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 8th Operations Group, stationed at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea. The squadron operates the F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions, the 35th FS is one of two squadrons of Block 40 F-16C/Ds of the 8th Fighter wing at Kunsan, flying the Fighting Falcon since 1981. The 35th is one of the oldest squadrons in the United States Air Force, its dating to 12 June 1917. The 35th Fighter Squadron heritage dates back to 12 June 1917, originally an aircraft maintenance squadron, the unit served in France from September 1917 to February 1919. Upon the units return to the United States after the armistice, recognizing the need for a strong air arm, American defense officials reconstituted the squadron in June 1932 and redesignated it the 35th Pursuit Squadron. For the next few years, the 35th flew P-12, PB-2, A-17, in 1939, the unit was redesignated the 35th Pursuit Squadron and moved to Mitchel Field, New York, to fly the P-40 Warhawk. The squadron has never been stationed in the United States since and they arrived in Brisbane, Queensland on 6 March 1942. They then moved to Woodstock outside of Townsville in Northern Queensland on 26 April 1942 on their way to Port Moresby, there, the squadron operated from a gravel fighter strip constructed by the Australians in the 1930s called Kila Kila Airfield. After two months in combat, the squadron rotated back to Australia, returning to Woodstock on 29 June 1942 for various rest and re-equipment tasks. They relocated to Garbutt airfield in Townsville on 27 July 1942, at Mareeba, the squadron was re-equipped with P-40N Warhawks before leaving Australia for good in May and heading back to Port Moresby. At Cape Gloucester, the P-40s were replaced by P-38F Lightnings that were ferried up from Australia and it was with the P-38 that the 8th Fighter Group became truly effective both against the Japanese Zero in air-to-air battles, as well as providing ground support to MacArthurs ground forces. Its twin engines offered an additional safety factory when operating over long stretches of water, the Lightnings proved to be extremely rugged and could take a lot of battle damage and still keep flying. Moving to a base in Ie Shima in August 1945, the 8th flew several missions against the Japanese island of Kyushu before the war ended. On 14 August 1945, the day of the Japanese surrender, during its involvement in World War II, the 35th participated in nine campaigns. When the Korean War began, the redesignated 35th Fighter Bomber Squadron entered combat, once on the offensive, the 35th moved from base to base in Korea, flying the F-80 Shooting Star and later the F-86 Sabre. At one time, the 35th was stationed at Pyongyang, now the capital of North Korea, when the Korean War ended, the squadron started flying F-100 Super Sabres at its new location at Itazuke Air Base, Japan. In 1963, the squadron received F-105 Thunderchiefs to replace the F-100s and moved to Yokota Air Base, in 1964, the 35th deployed to Korat Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, as one of the first units to fight in Southeast Asia. It later moved to Takhli Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, during this deployment, the squadrons new home became Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea
19.
80th Fighter Squadron
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The 80th has served in combat operations in World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The Squadron was first activated on 10 January 1942 at Mitchel Field in New York, originally designated as a pursuit squadron, they were redesignated in May 1942 as a fighter squadron. Attached to the 8th Fighter Group, one of the early squadron commanders, Edward Porky Cragg named the Squadron The Headhunters after the local New Guinean Headhunter tribes who hated the Japanese and helped to rescue downed pilots. He also commissioned a crew chief, M/Sgt, yale Saffro, who was once offered a job to work for Walt Disney as a cartoonist but turned it down, to design the 80ths patch. The squadron saw action against the Japanese in the Pacific including deployments in Australia, New Guinea, the Schouten Islands, Morotai, Leyte, Mindoro and it would undergo a number of different attachments over the next few years. From 1947 to 1950, the squadron would operate the P-51, with their conversion to jet engines, the headhunters were redesignated as the 80th Fighter Squadron, Jet, on 1 January 1950. Later that month, they would become the 80th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, the outfit served in the Korean war in June and July 1953 while mostly flying the F-86. In 1956, the Headhunters would begin flying the F-100, following the squadrons engagement in the Korean War, the 80th was tasked with providing air defense in Japan and Korea, in Okinawa, and in Japan and Korea. In 1963, the Headhunters began flying the F-105 Thunderchief, in June 1964, they were attached to the 41st Air Division. They remained with the 41st for less than a year, moving to the 6441st Tactical Fighter Wing of the 2nd Air Division in April 1965, the squadron conducted temporary duty combat operations in Southeast Asia from December 1964 to June 1965. During the conflict, headhunters were charged with attacking targets such as the Hai Nguyen Steel Plant, Haipong storage facilities, rail lines, for their role in the conflict, 80th pilots received 7 Silver Stars,64 Distinguished Flying Crosses, and 426 Air Medals. The 80th earned one battle honor, the Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross, in the winter of 1967-1968, now assigned to the 347th Tactical Fighter Wing, the 80th began transition to the F-4C Phantom II. In January 1968 its few available aircrews and aircraft were sent to Korea in reaction to the North Korean seizure of the USS Pueblo. During the summer of 1968 the 80th TFS became the first PACAF squadron to assign a contingent of experienced F-4 aircraft commanders, the first fully modified F-4C Wild Weasel aircraft arrived in April 1969. It also trained on conventional weapons, in 1970 all PACAF F-4 Wild Weasel crews transferred into the 80th TFS. There it was re-staffed with personnel from the 391st Tactical Fighter Squadron, the 391st TFSs insignia had included the motto Audentes Fortuna Juvat, which subsequently became the Headhunters motto. On the 391st TFS sleeve patch, the scroll displaying the motto was such that when the patch was ripped off, the word Juvat was left in place. The former 391st aircrew did so with the consent of the 80th TFS commander at the time, Lt Col Soloman Harp III, the motto remained unofficial until approved on 9 October 1986
20.
JATO
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JATO, is a type of assisted take-off for helping overloaded aircraft into the air by providing additional thrust in the form of small rockets. The term JATO is used interchangeably with the term RATO, for rocket-assisted take-off, early experiments using rockets to boost gliders into the air were conducted in Germany in the 1920s, and later both the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe introduced such systems in World War II. After firing, the rocket was released from the back of the plane to fall into the water, the task done, the pilot would fly to friendly territory if possible or parachute from the plane, hopefully to be picked up by one of the escort vessels. Over two years the system was only employed nine times to attack German aircraft with eight kills recorded for the loss of a single pilot. The use of reaction-assisted takeoff methods became especially important late in the war when the lengths of usable runways were severely curtailed due to the results of Allied bombing. A parachute pack at the front of the motors exterior housing was used to slow its fall after being released from the plane. Two prototypes of the Heimatschützer versions of the Me 262 were built and test flown, in late 1941 von Kármán and his team attached several 50-pound thrust, solid fuel Aerojet JATOs to a light Ercoupe plane, and Army Captain Homer Boushey took off on test runs. On the last run they removed the propeller, attached six JATO units under the wings, and Boushey was thrust into the air for a short flight, both armed services used solid fuel JATO during the war. As the take-off thrust of jet engines has grown, JATO has fallen from favor and it is still used, however, when heavily-laden aircraft need to take off from short runways or when operating in Hot and high conditions. The US Air Force used a modified Republic F-84, designated EF-84G, the Soviet VVS used a modified MiG-19 fighter, designated SM-30, launched from a special launcher, and using a nearly identical solid-fueled rocket booster design to that of the EF-84G. The F-100 and F-104 were also used for zero-length launch experiments, the JATO Junior was an attempt by Aerojet Engineering to introduce smaller JATO units to small commercial aircraft, but was blocked by the U. S. Navy Bureau of Aeronautics. The Boeing 727 had provision for Aerojet JATO assist for use in hot, the JATO Rocket Car is an urban legend that relates the story of a car equipped with JATO units that is later found smashed into a mountainside. This story is given as an example of a Darwin Award, it appears to be apocryphal. The legend has been examined several times on the Discovery Channel show MythBusters, for the first attempt, in a 2003 pilot episode, the crew replicated the scene and the thrust of the JATO with some commercially available amateur rocket motors. The car did go very fast, outrunning the chase helicopter, but nowhere near the 300 mph reported in the original story, and failed to become airborne. The myth was revisited in 2007, using a different configuration of rockets in an attempt to make the car fly, the myth was again revisited in 2013 in the 1st Episode of Mythbusters Series 12 - as a celebration for the 10th year on air. A JATO-equipped 1958 Dodge Coronet car on the El Mirage dry lake was used for a TV advertisement to demonstrate the power of their total contact brakes and this was broadcast during The Lawrence Welk Show in the late 1950s. Notes Video of the Heinkel He 111 fitted with Walters rocket boosters Birth of JATO, popular Science, July 1946, pp. 74–75
21.
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
22.
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
23.
United States Army
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The United States Armed Forces are the federal armed forces of the United States. They consist of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, from the time of its inception, the military played a decisive role in the history of the United States. A sense of unity and identity was forged as a result of victory in the First Barbary War. Even so, the Founders were suspicious of a permanent military force and it played an important role in the American Civil War, where leading generals on both sides were picked from members of the United States military. Not until the outbreak of World War II did a standing army become officially established. The National Security Act of 1947, adopted following World War II and during the Cold Wars onset, the U. S. military is one of the largest militaries in terms of number of personnel. It draws its personnel from a pool of paid volunteers. As of 2016, the United States spends about $580.3 billion annually to fund its military forces, put together, the United States constitutes roughly 40 percent of the worlds military expenditures. For the period 2010–14, the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute found that the United States was the worlds largest exporter of major arms, the United States was also the worlds eighth largest importer of major weapons for the same period. The history of the U. S. military dates to 1775 and these forces demobilized in 1784 after the Treaty of Paris ended the War for Independence. All three services trace their origins to the founding of the Continental Army, the Continental Navy, the United States President is the U. S. militarys commander-in-chief. Rising tensions at various times with Britain and France and the ensuing Quasi-War and War of 1812 quickened the development of the U. S. Navy, the reserve branches formed a military strategic reserve during the Cold War, to be called into service in case of war. Time magazines Mark Thompson has suggested that with the War on Terror, Command over the armed forces is established in the United States Constitution. The sole power of command is vested in the President by Article II as Commander-in-Chief, the Constitution also allows for the creation of executive Departments headed principal officers whose opinion the President can require. This allowance in the Constitution formed the basis for creation of the Department of Defense in 1947 by the National Security Act, the Defense Department is headed by the Secretary of Defense, who is a civilian and member of the Cabinet. The Defense Secretary is second in the chain of command, just below the President. Together, the President and the Secretary of Defense comprise the National Command Authority, to coordinate military strategy with political affairs, the President has a National Security Council headed by the National Security Advisor. The collective body has only power to the President
24.
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
25.
North Korea
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North Korea, officially the Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea, is a country in East Asia, constituting the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. Pyongyang is both the capital as well as its largest city. To the north and northwest the country is bordered by China and by Russia along the Amnok, the country is bordered to the south by South Korea, with the heavily fortified Korean Demilitarized Zone separating the two. Negotiations on reunification failed, and in 1948 two separate governments were formed, the communist Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea in the north, an invasion initiated by North Korea led to the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement brought about a ceasefire, and no peace treaty was ever signed. North Korea officially describes itself as a self-reliant socialist state and formally holds elections, critics regard it as a totalitarian dictatorship. Various outlets have called it Stalinist, particularly noting the elaborate cult of personality around Kim Il-sung, International organizations have assessed human rights violations in North Korea as belonging to a category of their own, with no parallel in the contemporary world. Over time, North Korea has gradually distanced itself from the world communist movement, Juche, an ideology of national self-reliance, was introduced into the constitution as a creative application of Marxism–Leninism in 1972. The means of production are owned by the state through state-run enterprises, most services such as healthcare, education, housing and food production are subsidized or state-funded. From 1994 to 1998, North Korea suffered from a famine that resulted in the deaths of between 0.24 and 3.5 million people, and the continues to struggle with food production. North Korea follows Songun, or military-first policy and it is the country with the highest number of military and paramilitary personnel, with a total of 9,495,000 active, reserve, and paramilitary personnel. Its active duty army of 1.21 million is the fourth largest in the world, after China, North Korea is an atheist state with no official religion and where public religion is discouraged. The name Korea derives from the name Goryeo, the name Goryeo itself was first used by the ancient kingdom of Goguryeo in the 5th century as a shortened form of its name. The 10th-century kingdom of Goryeo succeeded Goguryeo, and thus inherited its name, the modern spelling of Korea first appeared in the late 17th century in the travel writings of the Dutch East India Companys Hendrick Hamel. After the division of the country into North and South Korea, the two sides used different terms to refer to Korea, Chosun or Joseon in North Korea, in 1948, North Korea adopted Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea as its new legal name. After the First Sino-Japanese War and the Russo-Japanese War, Korea was occupied by Japan, Japan tried to suppress Korean traditions and culture and ran the economy primarily for its own benefit. Korean resistance groups known as Dongnipgun operated along the Sino-Korean border, some of them took part in allied action in China and parts of South East Asia. One of the leaders was the communist Kim Il-sung, who later became the leader of North Korea
26.
24th Infantry Division (United States)
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The 24th Infantry Division was an infantry division of the United States Army. It was inactivated in October 1996, it was based at Fort Stewart, Georgia and later reactivated at Fort Riley, Kansas. Following the end of the war, the participated in occupation duties in Japan. For the first 18 months of the war, the division was engaged on the front lines with North Korean and Chinese forces. It was withdrawn from the front lines to the force for the remainder of the war. A few years after that conflict, it was inactivated as part of the post-Cold War U. S. military drawdown of the 1990s. The division was reactivated in October 1999 as a formation for training and deploying U. S. Army National Guard units before its deactivation in October 2006, the 24th Infantry Division traces its lineage to Army units activated in Hawaii. It was activated under the Square Division Table of Organization and Equipment on 1 March 1921 as the Hawaiian Division at Schofield Barracks, the division insignia is based on the taro leaf, emblematic of Hawaii. The division was assigned the 21st Infantry Regiment and the 22nd Infantry Regiment, the entire Hawaiian Division was concentrated at a single location during the next few years, allowing it to conduct more effective combined arms training. It was also manned at higher levels than other divisions. Between August and September 1941, the Hawaiian Divisions assets were reorganized to two divisions under the new Triangular Division TO&E. Its brigade headquarters were disbanded and the 27th and 35th Infantry regiments were assigned to the new 25th Infantry Division, Hawaiian Division headquarters was redesignated as Headquarters, 24th Infantry Division on 1 October 1941. The 24th Infantry Division also received the Hawaiian Divisions Shoulder Sleeve Insignia, the 24th Infantry Division was among the first US Army divisions to see combat in World War II and among the last to stop fighting. Walter R. French, Pfc. Conrad Kujawa, Pvt, the division was then charged with the defense of northern Oahu, where it built an elaborate system of coastal defenses throughout 1942. In July 1942, the 299th Infantry Regiment was replaced by the 298th Infantry Regiment, one year later, this regiment was replaced by the 34th Infantry Regiment from the Hawaiian Department Reserve. The 34th Infantry remained with the 24th Infantry Division until the end of the war, as an active component unit, the 34th was easier to deploy than the reserve component units, which were less trained. In May 1943, the 24th Infantry Division was alerted for movement to Australia, once deployed, it began intensive combat training. After training, the moved to Goodenough Island on 31 January 1944, to prepare for Operation Reckless
27.
27th Special Operations Wing
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The 27th Special Operations Wing is a wing of the United States Air Force stationed at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico. It is assigned to the Air Force Special Operations Command, the 27 SOW also is responsible for the Melrose Range, an air training range near the neighboring town of Melrose, New Mexico. The Wings origins date to 1939 as the 27th Bombardment Group, the group fought in the Pacific Ocean and Mediterranean, Middle East and African theatres. Its ground personnel fought as infantry in the 1941–1942 Battle of Bataan with the survivors being forced to march as prisoners in the Bataan Death March and its air echelon went on to be awarded five Distinguished Unit Citations and a Philippine Presidential Unit Citation. The Airmen of the 27th were among the most decorated USAAF units of the war, the 27th Special Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit. The commander of the 27th Special Operations Wing is Colonel Benjamin Maitre, Fighter Squadrons of the 27th were the 522nd, 523rd and 524th. The 27th was initially equipped with the North American P-51D Mustang, in June 1948 the designation P for pursuit was changed to F for fighter. Subsequently, all P-51s were redesignated F-51s, the mission of the 27th Fighter Wing was to fly long-range escort missions for SAC Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers. With the arrival of the F-82s, the older F-51s were sent to Air National Guard units and it was also believed that the 27th would launch an escort mission, presumably to the Soviet Union, if conflict broke out in Europe. From McChord, the group flew its Twin Mustangs on weather reconnaissance missions over the northwest Pacific, but problems were encountered with their fuel tanks. Decommissioned F-61 Black Widow external tanks were found at Hamilton AFB, with a reduction in tensions, the 27th returned to its home base in Nebraska during September where the unit settled down to transition flying with their aircraft. Four F-82s were deployed to Alaska from McChord where the pilots provided transition training to the 449th Fighter Squadron which used Twin Mustangs in the air defense mission. They remained in Alaska for about 45 days, returning to rejoin the rest of the group at the beginning of November 1948, in January 1949, Eighth Air Force planned a large celebration at Carswell AFB. All of its units were to participate in a coordinated flyover. Most of SACs bombers were to participate, along with SACs only Long Range fighter group, the weather in Nebraska in January that year was especially horrible, with most airports in the Midwest weathered in the day of the display. At Kearney AFB, the base was socked-in with a blizzard, nevertheless, the crews had an early morning mission briefing, the aircraft in the hangars were preflighted and prepared for the flyover mission. Paths were cut though the snow for the aircraft to taxi and somehow the F-82s got airborne, in early 1949, the 27th began carrying out long-range escort profile missions. Flights to Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Bahamas and nonstop to Washington D. C were carried out, for President Trumans 1949 inauguration, the 27th FEW launched 48 aircraft to fly in review, along with several other fighter units, in formation down Pennsylvania Avenue
28.
3d Wing
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The 3d Wing is a unit of the United States Air Force, assigned to the Pacific Air Forces Eleventh Air Force. It is stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, the Wing is the largest and principal unit within 11th Air Force. A composite organization, it provides air supremacy, surveillance, worldwide airlift, the wings 3d Operations Group is a direct descendant of the 3d Attack Group, one of the 15 original combat air groups formed by the Army before World War II. The Wing performed reconnaissance and interdiction missions from Iwakuni Air Base, Japan. During the Vietnam War, the wing moved in November 1965 to Bien Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam, an operating base. Missions included close air support, counterinsurgency, forward air control, interdiction, supported numerous ground operations with strike missions against enemy fortifications, supply areas, lines of communication and personnel, in addition to suppressing fire in landing areas. Today, the 3d Wing trains and equips an Air Expeditionary Force lead wing composed of more than 6,000 Airmen and E-3B, C-17, the mission of the 3d Wing is to support and defend U. S. The Wing is composed of four groups each with specific functions, the Operations Group controls all flying and airfield operations. The Maintenance Group performs Aircraft and Aircraft support equipment maintenance, activated on 18 August 1948 at Yokota Air Base, Japan. The 3rd Bombardment Group was assigned to the wing, which received the groups emblem, the wing trained as a bombardment and reconnaissance wing as part of the army of occupation. The 3d Bomb Wing moved to Johnson Air Base, Japan, on 1 April 1950, the training switched to night interdiction in June. On 25 June 1950, the Air Force redesignated the 8th, 13th and 90th as bombardment squadrons and that same day, North Korea invaded South Korea during the early morning hours. President Harry Truman authorized the US Air Force and Navy to support the rapidly retreating South Koreans, when the Korean War broke out in June 1950, the 3d Wing participated from the first bombing sortie to the very last during the Korean War. The 8th Bombardment Squadron, staging from Iwakuni Air Base on the west coast of Japan, the squadron struck North Korean ground forces, destroying several tanks and vehicles. Later that day, the 13th Bombardment Squadron attacked the column again. Bad weather prevented further attacks for the two days. Sergeant Nyle Mickly scored the first aerial victory over North Korea by shooting down a fighter, on 1 July 1950, the 3rd Bombardment Group moved to Iwakuni Air Base, Japan, where it could be closer to its targets. The wing headquarters remained at Yokota until 1 December 1950, when it joined the group, initially, the 3rd Bombardment Group operated under the operational control of Fifth Air Force
29.
Douglas A-26 Invader
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A limited number of highly modified United States Air Force aircraft served in Southeast Asia until 1969. It was a fast aircraft capable of carrying twice its specified bomb load, a range of guns could be fitted to produce a formidable ground-attack aircraft. A re-designation of the type from A-26 to B-26 led to confusion with the Martin B-26 Marauder, which first flew in November 1940, about 16 months before the Douglas designs maiden flight. The A-26 was Douglas Aircrafts successor to the A-20 Havoc, also known as Douglas Boston, one of the most successful and widely operated types flown by Allied air forces in World War II. Designed by Ed Heinemann, Robert Donovan, and Ted R. Smith, the Douglas XA-26 prototype first flew on 10 July 1942 at Mines Field, El Segundo, with test pilot Benny Howard at the controls. Flight tests revealed excellent performance and handling, but problems with engine cooling led to cowling changes, repeated collapses during testing led to strengthening of the nose landing gear. The A-26 was originally built in two different configurations, the A-26B had a gun nose, which originally could be equipped with a combination of armament including.50 caliber machine guns, 20mm or 37mm auto cannon, or even a 75mm pack howitzer. Normally the gun nose version housed six.50 caliber machine guns, officially termed the all-purpose nose, the A-26Cs glass nose, officially termed the Bombardier nose, contained a Norden bombsight for medium altitude precision bombing. The A-26C nose section included two fixed M-2 guns, later replaced by underwing gun packs or internal guns in the wings. An A-26C nose section could be exchanged for an A-26B nose section, or vice versa, in a few man-hours, thus changing the designation. The flat-topped canopy was changed in late 1944 after about 820 production aircraft, alongside the pilot in an A-26B, a crew member typically served as navigator and gun loader for the pilot-operated nose guns. In an A-26C, that crew member served as navigator and bombardier, a small number of A-26Cs were fitted with dual flight controls, some parts of which could be disabled in flight to allow limited access to the nose section. A tractor-style jump seat was located behind the navigators seat, general George Kenney, commander of the Far East Air Forces stated that, We do not want the A-26 under any circumstances as a replacement for anything. Until changes could be made, the 3d Bomb Group requested additional Douglas A-20 Havocs, the 319th Bomb Group worked up on the A-26 in March 1945, joining the initial 3rd BG, with the 319th flying until 12 August 1945. The A-26 operations wound down in mid-August 1945 with only a few dozen missions flown, several of the A-20 and B-25 AAF units in the Pacific received the A-26 for trials, in limited quantities. Douglas needed better results from the Invaders second combat test, so A-26s began arriving in Europe in late September 1944 for assignment to the Ninth Air Force, the initial deployment involved 18 aircraft and crews assigned to the 553d Squadron of the 386th Bomb Group. This unit flew its first mission on 6 September 1944, no aircraft were lost on the eight test missions, and the Ninth Air Force announced that it was happy to replace all of its A-20s and B-26s with the A-26 Invader. Due to a shortage of A-26C variants, the groups flew a combined A-20/A-26 unit until deliveries of the glass-nose version caught up, besides bombing and strafing, tactical reconnaissance and night interdiction missions were undertaken successfully
30.
United States Marine Corps
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The U. S. Marine Corps is one of the four armed service branches in the U. S. Department of Defense and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The current Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the military officer in the U. S. Armed Forces, is a Marine Corps general, the Marine Corps has been a component of the U. S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834, working closely with naval forces for training, transportation, and logistics. The USMC operates posts on land and aboard sea-going amphibious warfare ships around the world, two battalions of Continental Marines were formed on 10 November 1775 in Philadelphia as a service branch of infantry troops capable of fighting for independence both at sea and on shore. The role of the Corps has since grown and evolved, expanding to aerial warfare and earning popular titles such as, Americas third air force, and, second land army. By the mid-20th century, the U. S. Marine Corps had become a major theorist of and its ability to rapidly respond on short notice to expeditionary crises gives it a strong role in the implementation and execution of American foreign policy. As of 2016, the USMC has around 182,000 active duty members and it is the smallest of the U. S. The USMC serves as an expeditionary force-in-readiness and this last clause, while seemingly redundant given the Presidents position as Commander-in-chief, is a codification of the expeditionary responsibilities of the Marine Corps. It derives from similar language in the Congressional acts For the Better Organization of the Marine Corps of 1834, in 1951, the House of Representatives Armed Services Committee called the clause one of the most important statutory – and traditional – functions of the Marine Corps. In addition to its duties, the Marine Corps conducts Visit, Board, Search, and Seizure operations, as well as missions in direct support of the White House. The Marine Band, dubbed the Presidents Own by Thomas Jefferson, Marines from Ceremonial Companies A & B, quartered in Marine Barracks, Washington, D. C. The Executive Flight Detachment also provides transport to Cabinet members. The relationship between the Department of State and the U. S. Marine Corps is nearly as old as the corps itself, for over 200 years, Marines have served at the request of various Secretaries of State. After World War II, an alert, disciplined force was needed to protect American embassies, consulates, in 1947, a proposal was made that the Department of War furnish Marine Corps personnel for Foreign Service guard duty under the provisions of the Foreign Service Act of 1946. A formal Memorandum of Agreement was signed between the Department of State and the Secretary of the Navy on December 15,1948, during the first year of the MSG program,36 detachments were deployed worldwide. Continental Marines manned raiding parties, both at sea and ashore, the Advanced Base Doctrine of the early 20th century codified their combat duties ashore, outlining the use of Marines in the seizure of bases and other duties on land to support naval campaigns. Throughout the late 19th and 20th centuries, Marine detachments served aboard Navy cruisers, battleships, Marine detachments served in their traditional duties as a ships landing force, manning the ships weapons and providing shipboard security. Marines would develop tactics and techniques of amphibious assault on defended coastlines in time for use in World War II, during World War II, Marines continued to serve on capital ships
31.
VMA-513
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Marine Attack Squadron 513 was a United States Marine Corps attack squadron consisting of AV-8B Harrier jets. Known as the Flying Nightmares, the squadron was last based at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Arizona and fell under the command of Marine Aircraft Group 13, VMA-513 was decommissioned on 12 July 2013. Marine Attack Squadron 513 was first commissioned as VMF-513 on February 15,1944 at Marine Corps Auxiliary Field Oak Grove, North Carolina, the squadron was transferred to Marine Corps Air Facility Walnut Ridge, Arkansas in September 1944. In December of the year, the squadron moved to Marine Corps Air Station Mojave. On June 15,1945, VMF-513 departed San Diego, California, aboard the USS Vella Gulf and participated in operations in the Pacific, making stops in Ewa, Enewetak, Saipan. In addition, they provided air support for the 3rd Marine Division during the Battle of Okinawa. Between World War II and the Korean War, VMF-513 operated from Marine Corps Air Station El Toro, transitioning to the F4U-5N, the squadron was re-designated VMF-513. In August 1950, the deployed to Japan under operational control of the U. S. 5th Air Force. The squadron nickname Flying Nightmares was coined by then Commanding Officer, LtCol James R. Anderson, USMC, in this month alone, the squadron flew 2,086 hours in 604 night combat sorties, inflicting severe damage on the Chinese Forces tactical and logistical units. During the summer of 1952, VMF-513 received the F3D Skyknight, due to losses being incurred by B-29 Superfortresses on nighttime raids over North Korea, 1st MAW was asked to assign their night fighter squadron to escort the aircraft. The squadron was credited with 10 confirmed night kills during the Korean War, following the war, the squadron operated out of NAS Atsugi, Japan. On 26 July 1958, VMF-513 received the F4D Skyray aircraft, in October 1962, VMF-513 was relocated from NAS Atsugi Japan to MCAS El Toro, California. This occurred in early 1963 and most of the Nightmare pilots did their training at nearby NAS Miramar. On August 1,1963, the squadron was re-designated VMFA-513 and by the end of the year, the Nightmares were exclusively flying F-4s and they trained in the F-4B at MCAS El Toro through October 1964, when they deployed once again to NAS Atsugi, Japan. In June 1965, the Nightmares replaced VMFA-531 at Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam for five months of combat and, in August 1965, VMFA-513 supported the 7th Marine Regiment in Operation Starlite—the first major American operation of the war. This one-year overseas deployment ended in October 1965 and the squadron executed another wholesale personnel rotation, this time reforming at MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina. The squadron flew the F-4B Phantom until June 30,1970, during November 1976, VMA-513 returned to the United States and was assigned to Marine Combat Crew Readiness Training Group 10 at MCAS Yuma, Arizona. In October 1987, the received the improved AV-8B Harrier II
32.
49th Wing
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The 49th Wing is a United States Air Force unit, assigned to Twelfth Air Force, Air Combat Command. It is stationed at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, the 49th Wing supports national security objectives by deploying worldwide in support of peacetime and wartime contingencies. The wing provides combat-ready Airmen training MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper pilots, the wing has a proud history of service in Korea, Southeast Asia, Southwest Asia and NATO-led Operation Allied Force. 49th Operations Group The 49th Operations Group supports training of MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper pilots, the group also directs all maintenance, qualification, on-the-job and ancillary training for over 1,200 people. The groups 431 authorized personnel encompass 42 Air Force specialties and are responsible for bare base assets worth over $234 million dollars. 49th Medical Group The 49th Medical Groups mission is to sustain and enhance a culture of safety, maximize combat readiness, enhance access to quality patient care, and develop our Airmen and staff. For additional history and lineage, see 49th Operations Group The history of the 49th Wing begins with its activation at Misawa Air Base, in January 1946, the 49th Fighter Group became the first United States Army Air Forces unit assigned to the rebuilt base. In 1948, with the adoption of the Hobson Plan, the United States Air Force 49th Fighter Wing was activated, the initial mission of the 49th Fighter Wing was the air defense of Northern Honshu and Hokkaido. Its 7th Fighter Squadron, 8th Fighter Squadron and 9th Fighter Squadrons were initially equipped with P-51D Mustangs, initially under its parent wing, the 49th was reassigned to the 8th Fighter-Bomber Wing during July through September, and finally the 6149th Tactical Support Wing during October and November 1950. Korean War squadrons of the 49th were the 7th, 8th and 9th Fighter-Bomber Squadrons, the 49ths first task in South Korea was to cover the evacuation of civilians from Kimpo and Suwon. Next, it flew air support missions to help slow the advancing North Korean armies. Later, it turned to the interdiction of troops, supplies. Phasing out its F-51s for Lockheed F-80C Shooting Stars jets, the 49th FBW moved to Taegu AB on 1 October 1950 and it received a Distinguished Unit Citation for its combat operations during the first five months of the war. When the Chinese Communist Forces Intervention Campaign gained momentum in 1950–1951 and it converted to Republic F-84G Thunderjets, June–September 1951, one squadron at a time, while the others continued combat operations. The 49th FBG earned another DUC for its contribution to the success of the 1st UN Counteroffensive Campaign, afterwards, it engaged primarily in air interdiction operations against the main enemy channel of transportation, the roads and railroads between Pyongyang and Sinuiju. On 27 July 1953, the 49th FBG joined the 58th FBG to bomb Sunan Airfield for the action of F-84 fighter-bombers during the Korean War. The unit was one of the most decorated Air Force units in the war, such accomplishments earned the wing a niche in United States Air Force history. The wing remained in Korea for a time after the armistice and it was reassigned to Misawa AB, Japan on 2 November 1953 and provided air defense for Japan through 1957
33.
USS Pueblo (AGER-2)
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The seizure of the U. S. Navy ship and its 83 crew members, one of whom was killed in the attack, came less than a week after President Lyndon B. North Korea stated that Pueblo deliberately entered their territorial waters 7.6 nautical miles away from Ryo Island, Pueblo, still held by North Korea today, officially remains a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy. Since early 2013, the ship has been moored along the Potong River in Pyongyang, Pueblo is the only ship of the U. S. Navy still on the commissioned roster currently being held captive. The ship was launched at the Kewaunee Shipbuilding and Engineering Company in Kewaunee, Wisconsin, on 16 April 1944, as the United States Army Freight, the Army later redesignated the FP vessels as Freight and Supply changing the designation to FS-344. The ship, commissioned at New Orleans on 7 April 1945 and her first commanding officer was Lt. J. R. Choate, USCGR, succeeded by Lt. J. G. Barker, USCGR, on 12 September 1945, FS-344 was placed out of service in 1954. FS-344 was transferred to the United States Navy on 12 April 1966 and was renamed USS Pueblo after Pueblo and Pueblo County, Colorado on 18 June of the same year. She left with orders to intercept and conduct surveillance of Soviet Union Red Navy activity in the Tsushima Strait and to gather signal. The declassified SIGAD for the National Security Agency Direct Support Unit from the Naval Security Group on Pueblo during the patrol involved in the incident was USN-467Y, AGER denoted a joint Naval and National Security Agency program. In the afternoon of 22 January 1968, the two North Korean fishing trawlers Rice Paddy 1 and Rice Paddy 2 passed within 30 yards of Pueblo. That day, a North Korean unit made an attempt in the Blue House executive mansion against the South Korean President Park Chung-hee. According to the American account, the day,23 January, Pueblo was approached by a sub chaser and her nationality was challenged. The North Korean vessel then ordered it to stand down or be fired upon, Pueblo attempted to maneuver away, but was considerably slower than the sub chaser. Additionally, three torpedo boats appeared on the horizon and then joined in the chase and subsequent attack, the attackers were soon joined by two MiG-21 fighters. A fourth torpedo boat and a sub chaser appeared on the horizon a short time later. The ammunition on Pueblo was stored belowdecks, and her guns were wrapped in cold weather tarpaulins. The machine guns were unmanned, and no attempt was made to man them, an NSA report quotes the sailing order, Defensive armament should be stowed or covered in such manner so that it does not cause unusual interest by surveyed units. U. S. Navy authorities and the crew of Pueblo insist that before the capture, North Korea says the vessel was well within North Korean territory
34.
Eglin Air Force Base
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Eglin Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately 3 miles southwest of Valparaiso, Florida in Okaloosa County. The host unit at Eglin is the 96th Test Wing, the 96 TW is the test and evaluation center for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, and Air Force Special Operations Command systems. Eglin AFB was established in 1935 as the Valparaiso Bombing and Gunnery Base and it is named in honor of Lieutenant Colonel Frederick I. Eglin, who was killed in a crash of his Northrop A-17 pursuit aircraft on a flight from Langley to Maxwell Field, Eglin is an Air Force Materiel Command base serving as the focal point for all Air Force armaments. Eglin is responsible for the development, acquisition, testing, deployment and sustainment of all air-delivered non-nuclear weapons, the base plans, directs and conducts test and evaluation of U. S. and allied air armament, navigation and guidance systems, and command and control systems. Severe weather testing of aircraft and other equipment is carried out here at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory, the residential portion of the base is a census-designated place, its population was 8,082 at the 2000 census. Eglin Air Force Base has 2,359 military family housing units, unmarried junior enlisted members generally live in one of Eglin’s seven dormitories located near the dining hall, chapel, base gym, Enlisted Club and bus lines on base. Each individual unit generally handles dormitory assignments, bachelor Officer Quarters are not available. Several units and one dormitory are currently being renovated in 2011, Eglin is also one of the few military air bases in the U. S. to have scheduled passenger airline service as the Destin–Fort Walton Beach Airport is co-located on the base property. The 96 TW is the test and evaluation wing for Air Force air-delivered weapons, navigation and guidance systems, Command and Control systems, the Eglin Gulf Test Range provides approximately 130,000 square miles of over water airspace. The 96 TW reports to the Air Force Test Center at Edwards AFB, the 33d FW Nomads is the largest tenant unit at Eglin. The 33 FW is a joint graduate flying and maintenance training wing for the F-35 Lightning II, organized under Air Education and Training Commands 19th Air Force. Reactivated at Eglin on 1 April 1965 with F-4C Phantom IIs, as of 1 October 2009, the 33d FW transitioned to a training wing for the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. The final F-15s assigned to the 33d departed the base in September 2009, as the first of its kind in the Department of Defense, the joint wing is responsible for F-35 JSF pilot and maintainer training for the Air Force, Marine Corps and the Navy. The first of 59 F-35s arrived from Fort Worth, Texas on 14 July 2011, the F-35A made its first flight on 15 December 2006. The VFA-101 Grim Reapers are authorized operate 15 assigned F-35C aircraft, the F-35C is a carrier-capable low-observable multi-role fighter aircraft, designed to provide unmatched airborne power projection from the sea. The F-35C bears structural modifications from the other variants, necessitated by the increased resiliency required for carrier operations, the wing tests every fighter, bomber, unmanned aerial vehicle, and associated weapon system in the Air Force inventory. The wing reports to the USAF Air Warfare Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada and these weapons include air-launched cruise missiles, standoff missiles, and gravity bombs
35.
354th Fighter Wing
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The 354th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force wing that is part of Pacific Air Forces. It is the host wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, the wing replaced the 343d Fighter Wing on 20 August 1993 as part of a service-wide effort to preserve the lineage of the Air Force’s most honored wings. Prior to its inactivation, the 343d was the oldest surviving air combat unit in Alaska, the 18th Fighter Squadron, whose history also dated back to World War II, remained active, but the 355th Fighter Squadron replaced the 11 TASS. Also changing names were the 3d Fighter Training Squadron, which became the 353d Fighter Squadron, the 353 FS and 355 FS had long associations with the new host unit. All 354th Fighter Wing Aircraft carry the tail code AK, the 355 FS was inactivated in August 2007 as a result of Base Realignment and Closure 2005 action and all A-10 aircraft were reassigned to other USAF units. The 18 FS was redesignated as the 18th Aggressor Squadron and remains at Eielson, prior to its move to Alaska, the 354 FW was based for more than 35 years at the former Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina. Provides training and support for combat employment of wing assigned aircraft across a full spectrum of aerospace operations. Functions as primary liaison between the Federal Aviation Administration, Army, and Air Force on all airpower applications, 354th Operations Support Squadron Trains for and supports worldwide expeditionary combat employment for wing assigned F-16CG. Support includes airspace and flying hour programming, life support, operations training, weapons and tactics, intelligence, operations plans, responsible for local air traffic control, weather service, and airfield management. 18th Aggressor Squadron The 354th Operations Group provides air-bridge support and realistic combat flying training in support of 354th Fighter Wing, Air Force, Red Flag - Alaska The Groups major mission is RED FLAG-Alaska, 10-day air combat training exercise held up to four times a year. Each exercise is a multi-service, multi-platform coordinated, combat operations exercise and corresponds to the designed operational capability of participating units. In other words, exercises often involve several units whose military mission may differ significantly from that of other participating units. ”The 354th Maintenance Group staff includes command, quality assurance, information management, engineering technical services and weapons training functions. In addition, three squadrons are assigned under the group, The 354th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron provides aircraft sortie production, in addition to a command staff, the Aircraft Maintenance Squadron has two Aircraft Maintenance Units aligned with each of the Wing’s Fighter Squadrons. The 18th Aircraft Maintenance Unit supports the 18th Fighter Squadrons F-16 aircraft, the 354th Maintenance Squadron provides heavy aircraft maintenance and munitions support for the Wing. In addition, the squadron aircraft maintenance and munitions support to Red Flag - Alaska, transient. The 354th Maintenance Operations Squadron is responsible for all of the groups maintenance training, aircraft engine management, maintenance operations as well as maintenance plans. The squadron also provides support for the group staff functions and is also tasked to deploy and support aerospace power anytime. The group also provides a home for Eielsons associate units
36.
54th Tactical Fighter Wing
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The 54th Tactical Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Pacific Air Forces Fifth Air Force, being stationed at Kunsan Air Base and it was inactivated on 31 October 1970. In the early years, the 54th Fighter Wing commanded 56 units of the Air National Guard throughout the Southeastern United States. The 54th Troop Carrier Wing commenced air transport and medical air evacuation operations in support of Fifth Air Force on 26 May 1943, the wing employed C-47s almost exclusively, but during late 1943 and much of 1944 also used 13 converted B-17Es for armed transport missions in enemy-held territory. The 54th supported every major advance made by the allies in the Southwest Pacific Theater, operating from primitive airstrips carved from jungles, in July 1944, the wing dropped 1,418 paratroopers on Noemfoor Island to aid the allied invasion forces. Some C-46s began operating within the wing in late 1944, by late 1944 and during the early months of 1945, most wing missions were flown to the Philippines. In February 1945, the wing flew three more operations, all in the Philippines, to help encircle Japanese concentrations. Wing C-47s dropped napalm on Carabao Island, in Manila Bay, when hostilities ended, the wing moved the entire 11th Airborne Division from the Philippines to Okinawa on short notice, and then began transporting occupation forces into Japan. During September 1945, the wing also evacuated over 17,000 former prisoners of war from Japan to the Philippines. The wing served as part of the forces in Japan from 25 September 1945 to about 26 January 1946, while continuing routine air transport operations. Moving to the Philippines, the wing gained new components and flew scheduled routes between Japan, the Philippines, Australia, and the Hawaiian Islands, replaced by the 403d Troop Carrier Group on 31 May 1946 and was inactivated. Allocated to the Georgia Air National Guard for command and control origination for units in the Southeastern region of the United States, extended federal recognition and activated on 2 October 1946. At the end of October 1950, the Air National Guard converted to the wing-base organization, as a result, the wing was withdrawn from the Georgia ANG and was inactivated on 31 October 1950. In June 1970, as the 54th Tactical Fighter Wing, was activated and replaced the 354th TFW at Kunsan AB, South Korea, assuming control of personnel and attached F-4C Phantom II squadrons. Was inactivated on 31 October 1970 when the deployed F-4 squadrons returned to the United States, Base operations personnel were absorbed by the 6175th Air Base Group. afhra. af. mil/
37.
36th Fighter Squadron
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The 36th Fighter Squadron is part of the US Air Forces 51st Operations Group at Osan Air Base, South Korea. It operates the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft conducting air superiority missions, the squadron was first activated in 1917 as the 36th Aero Squadron and served in France during World War I, although the war ended before the unit saw combat. It has been active since 1930 as a fighter squadron. The squadron mission is to conduct air interdiction, close air support and it participates in the defense of South Korea and promotes regional stability. During its 90-year history, the 36th Fighter Squadron has flown 21 different types of aircraft, received 22 unit citations and accumulated 24 service and campaign streamers. The unit came into existence shortly after the United States entered World War I as the 36th Aero Squadron at Kelly Field, later that year, First Lieutenant Quentin Roosevelt, the son of President Theodore Roosevelt, briefly commanded the squadron. After a brief training period, the squadron moved overseas to France on the RMS Baltic, several of the squadrons former members saw combat with other squadrons. Following the armistice, the returned to the United States on the USS Manchuria and was demobilized in the spring of 1919 at Garden City. The squadron was reconstituted in 1923 as the 36th Pursuit Squadron, although inactive, it was originally allotted to the Sixth Corps Area. In 1929 the squadron was designated as a Regular Army Inactive unit, although remaining inactive as a regular unit, officers of the Organized Reserves were assigned to the unit and performed summer training with the squadron at Kelly Field for the next few years. By 1932, the primary aircraft became the Boeing P-12. As part of its mission to develop tactics, the squadron continued to fly a variety of other aircraft, notably including the Berliner-Joyce P-16. Training of fighter pilots and testing of tactics continued after 1932 when the squadron moved to Langley Field, Virginia, the squadron began flying its P-12s on air mail routes, but they proved unsuitable for the work, lacking instruments to fly at night or in adverse weather. Moreover, they could carry about 50 lbs of mail, and with the mail load. The P-12s were withdrawn from the project within a week, although the observation aircraft continued to fly mail until May. The P-30, along with the arrival of Curtiss YP-37s in 1938 marked a significant change in the squadrons equipment, by 1939, the squadron was flying Curtiss P-36 Hawks, which were quickly replaced by the more powerful Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. As the Air Corps expanded in 1950, the moved to Mitchel Field, New York. During World War II, the squadron flew P-40 Warhawk, P-39 Airacobra, P-47 Thunderbolt and these included the defense of New Guinea and the battle for the Philippines
38.
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base
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Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base is a Royal Thai Air Force facility, the home of Wing 21 of the RTAF 2nd Air Division. The RTAF 211sq Eagles fly the Northrop F-5E/F Tiger II fighter aircraft from Ubon and it is in east-central Thailand, near the city of Ubon Ratchathani, in Ubon Ratchathani Province. It is approximately 488 km northeast of Bangkok, the Laotian border is about 60 kilometers directly east. The facility is used as a civil airport. Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base was established in the 1950s as a RTAF base, under Thailands gentlemans agreement with the United States, Royal Thai Air Force Bases used by the USAF were considered Royal Thai Air Force bases and were commanded by Thai officers. Thai air police controlled access to the bases, along with USAF Security Police, who assisted them in base defense using sentry dogs, observation towers, and machine gun bunkers. Numbers of other USAF personnel were assigned as security police augmentees, one such attack occurred in early 1970 when North Vietnamese sappers penetrated the base perimeter. Six of them were killed, with no friendly casualties, other than security police, augmentees, and combat aircrew members, base personnel were normally unarmed. Also, under the US-Thailand operations agreement, USAF military guarding Ubon were prohibited from chambering ammunition in their weapons unless fired upon by an enemy, the USAF forces at Ubon were under the command of the United States Pacific Air Forces. Ubon was the location of TACAN station Channel 51 and was referenced by that identifier in voice communications during air missions, the Army Post Office code for Ubon was APO San Francisco 96304. On 31 May 1962 the Royal Australian Air Force sent a detachment of eight CAC-27 Sabre fighters to Ubon RTAFB and this detachment was designated No.79 Squadron. The Australian facilities were known as RAAF Ubon, and were designed and constructed by No.5 Airfield Construction Squadron, the mission of No.79 Squadron was to assist the Thai and Laotian governments in actions against communist insurgents during the early years of the Vietnam War. With the deployment of United States Air Force fighters to Ubon, No.79 Squadron did not, however, fly any operations over nearby Cambodia, South Vietnam, or Laos. The units strength during the period was about 150–200 men. Sir Edmund Hillary visited the base on 25 January 1967, the squadron lost a Sabre A94-986 aircraft due to engine failure at 10,43 on 3 January 1968. The aircraft crashed into farms on approach outside the town, the pilot, Pilot Officer Mark McGrath, was killed. A three-year-old Thai girl named Prataisre Sangdang later died from burns sustained in the accident, the homes of Mr Nuan, Mr Krasam, Mr Thongkam, and Mr Tue were totally destroyed. That of Mr Sok was partly destroyed, ten pigs belonging to Mr Sok were killed as were 15 belonging to Mr Oh
39.
Thailand
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Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand, formerly known as Siam, is a country at the centre of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia. With a total area of approximately 513,000 km2, Thailand is the worlds 51st-largest country and it is the 20th-most-populous country in the world, with around 66 million people. The capital and largest city is Bangkok, Thailand is a constitutional monarchy and has switched between parliamentary democracy and military junta for decades, the latest coup being in May 2014 by the National Council for Peace and Order. Its capital and most populous city is Bangkok and its maritime boundaries include Vietnam in the Gulf of Thailand to the southeast, and Indonesia and India on the Andaman Sea to the southwest. The Thai economy is the worlds 20th largest by GDP at PPP and it became a newly industrialised country and a major exporter in the 1990s. Manufacturing, agriculture, and tourism are leading sectors of the economy and it is considered a middle power in the region and around the world. The country has always been called Mueang Thai by its citizens, by outsiders prior to 1949, it was usually known by the exonym Siam. The word Siam has been identified with the Sanskrit Śyāma, the names Shan and A-hom seem to be variants of the same word. The word Śyâma is possibly not its origin, but a learned, another theory is the name derives from Chinese, Ayutthaya emerged as a dominant centre in the late fourteenth century. The Chinese called this region Xian, which the Portuguese converted into Siam, the signature of King Mongkut reads SPPM Mongkut King of the Siamese, giving the name Siam official status until 24 June 1939 when it was changed to Thailand. Thailand was renamed Siam from 1945 to 11 May 1949, after which it reverted to Thailand. According to George Cœdès, the word Thai means free man in the Thai language, ratcha Anachak Thai means kingdom of Thailand or kingdom of Thai. Etymologically, its components are, ratcha, -ana- -chak, the Thai National Anthem, written by Luang Saranupraphan during the extremely patriotic 1930s, refers to the Thai nation as, prathet Thai. The first line of the anthem is, prathet thai ruam lueat nuea chat chuea thai, Thailand is the unity of Thai flesh. There is evidence of habitation in Thailand that has been dated at 40,000 years before the present. Similar to other regions in Southeast Asia, Thailand was heavily influenced by the culture and religions of India, Thailand in its earliest days was under the rule of the Khmer Empire, which had strong Hindu roots, and the influence among Thais remains even today. Voretzsch believes that Buddhism must have been flowing into Siam from India in the time of the Indian Emperor Ashoka of the Maurya Empire, later Thailand was influenced by the south Indian Pallava dynasty and north Indian Gupta Empire. The Menam Basin was originally populated by the Mons, and the location of Dvaravati in the 7th century, the History of the Yuan mentions an embassy from the kingdom of Sukhothai in 1282
40.
General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle
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The General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle is a medium-altitude, long-endurance unmanned aircraft system. It was developed by General Atomics Aeronautical Systems for the United States Army as an upgrade of the General Atomics MQ-1 Predator, the U. S. Army initiated the Extended-Range Multi-Purpose UAV competition in 2002, with the winning aircraft due to replace the RQ-5 Hunter. Two aircraft were entered, the IAI/Northrop Grumman Hunter II, in August 2005, the Army announced the Warrior to be the winner and awarded a $214 million contract for system development and demonstration. The Army intends to procure eleven Warrior systems, each of units has twelve UAVs. With an expected total program cost of $1 billion, the aircraft was to service in 2009. The Army sought to have the Warrior designated MQ-12, but the United States Department of Defense allocated the designation MQ-1C instead and it is planned to be operated by Task Force ODIN in Iraq and/or Afghanistan. In August 2010, the US Army announced that the MQ-1C had officially been assigned the name Gray Eagle. The Army announced on 3 September 2010 that the integration of the AGM-114 Hellfire missile on the UAV had been so successful that 4 weaponized MQ-1Cs would be deployed to Afghanistan in late 2010, in March 2011, Gray Eagles started showing poor reliability across all major subsystems. During that month, one Gray Eagle crashed in California when a faulty chip blocked commands to part of the flight control surfaces. The ground control stations time between failures is 27 hours, while the time required is 150 hours. Sensors fail at 134 hours, compared to 250 hours required, in October 2011, a report concluded the Gray Eagle was meeting only four out of seven key performance parameters, and its reliability fell short of predicted growth. 11 unplanned software revisions had generally improved reliability, reliability problems were attributed mostly to software issues from newly installed sensors, which did not reappear once fixed. Initial focus was on expanding capability and achieving an availability rate of 80 percent, on 27 July 2013, General Atomics announced the successful first flight of the Improved Gray Eagle. The IGE is designed for increased endurance, with 23 additional hours compared to its Block I predecessor and it has 50 percent greater fuel capacity through its deep belly fuselage and features 50 percent or more payload capacity. The upgraded centerline hardpoint supports integration of a 500-pound optional external fuel tank or 360 degree sensor payload, on 11 October 2013, the Improved Gray Eagle took off from GA-ASIs El Mirage Flight Operations Facility and flew for 45.3 continuous hours until 13 October. The flight was the first of two endurance demonstrations of the IGE for the U. S. Army, from 17–19 January 2014, the IGE performed its second endurance flight demonstration for the Army, flying 36.7 continuous hours. Unlike the previous test where no payload was carried, this test had the flying with a SIGINT pod on one wing. At that point, the only IGE demonstrator was lost in a training incident in early 2015
41.
Republic F-84 Thunderjet
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The Republic F-84 Thunderjet was an American turbojet fighter-bomber aircraft. Originating as a 1944 United States Army Air Forces proposal for a day fighter, the aircraft was not considered fully operational until the 1949 F-84D model and the design matured only with the definitive F-84G introduced in 1951. In 1954, the straight-wing Thunderjet was joined by the swept-wing F-84F Thunderstreak fighter, the Thunderjet became the USAFs primary strike aircraft during the Korean War, flying 86,408 sorties and destroying 60% of all ground targets in the war as well as eight Soviet-built MiG fighters. Over half of the 7,524 F-84s produced served with NATO nations, the USAF Strategic Air Command had F-84 Thunderjets in service from 1948 through 1957. The F-84 was the first production aircraft to utilize inflight refueling and the first fighter capable of carrying a nuclear weapon. The F-84 nomenclature can be somewhat confusing, the straight-wing F-84A to F-84E and F-84G models were called the Thunderjet. The F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash were different airplanes with swept wings, the XF-84H Thunderscreech was an experimental turboprop version of the F-84F. The F-84F swept wing version was intended to be a variation of the normal Thunderjet with only a few different parts. Production delays on the F-84F resulted in order of the straight-wing version. In 1944, Republic Aviations chief designer, Alexander Kartveli, began working on a replacement for the P-47 Thunderbolt piston-engined fighter. The initial attempts to redesign the P-47 to accommodate a jet engine proved futile due to the large cross-section of the centrifugal compressor turbojets. Instead, Kartveli and his team designed a new aircraft with a streamlined fuselage largely occupied by an axial compressor turbojet engine, in addition, the new aircraft had to use the General Electric TG-180 axial turbojet which entered production as the Allison J35. On 11 November 1944, Republic received an order for three prototypes of the new XP-84—Model AP-23, the name Thunderjet was chosen to continue the Republic Aviation tradition started with the P-47 Thunderbolt while emphasizing the new method of propulsion. On 4 January 1945, even before the aircraft took to the air, meanwhile, wind tunnel testing by the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics revealed longitudinal instability and stabilizer skin buckling at high speeds. The weight of the aircraft, a concern given the low thrust of early turbojets, was growing so quickly that the USAAF had to set a gross weight limit of 13,400 lb. The results of preliminary testing were incorporated into the third prototype, designated XP-84A. The first prototype XP-84 was transferred to Muroc Army Air Field where it flew for the first time on 28 February 1946 with Major Wallace A and it was joined by the second prototype in August, both aircraft flying with J35-GE-7 engines producing 3,745 lbf. In particular, the impact of wingtip tanks on aircraft handling was not thoroughly studied, after the creation of the United States Air Force by the National Security Act of 1947, the Pursuit designation was replaced with Fighter, and the P-84 became the F-84
42.
North American F-86 Sabre
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The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Considered one of the best and most important fighter aircraft in that war and its success led to an extended production run of more than 7,800 aircraft between 1949 and 1956, in the United States, Japan and Italy. Variants were built in Canada and Australia, the Canadair Sabre added another 1,815 airframes, and the significantly redesigned CAC Sabre, had a production run of 112. The Sabre was by far the most-produced Western jet fighter, with production of all variants at 9,860 units. North American Aviation had produced the propeller-powered P-51 Mustang in World War II, by late 1944, North American proposed its first jet fighter to the U. S. Navy, which became the FJ-1 Fury. It was an unexceptional transitional jet fighter that had a wing derived from the P-51. Initial proposals to meet a United States Army Air Forces requirement for a medium-range, single-seat, in early 1945, North American Aviation submitted four designs. The USAAF selected one design over the others, and granted North American a contract to build three examples of the XP-86, despite the gain in speed, early studies revealed the XP-86 would have the same performance as its rivals, the XP-80 and XP-84. It was also feared that, because these designs were advanced in their development stages. Crucially, the XP-86 would not be able to meet the top speed of 600 mph. The North American F-86 Sabre was the first American aircraft to take advantage of research data seized from the German aerodynamicists at the end of World War II. By 1944, German engineers and designers had established the benefits of swept wings based on designs dating back to 1940. Study of the data showed that a wing would solve their speed problem. Because development of the XP-86 had reached a stage, the idea of changing the sweep of the wing was met with resistance from some senior North American staff. Despite stiff opposition, after results were obtained in wind tunnel tests. Many Sabres had the 6–3 wing retrofitted after combat experience was gained in Korea and this modification changed the wing airfoils to the NACA 0009-64 mod at the root and the NACA0008. 1–64 mod at the tip. Delays caused by the major redesign meant that manufacturing did not begin until after World War II, the XP-86 prototype, which would lead to the F-86 Sabre, was rolled out on 8 August 1947. The maiden flight occurred on 1 October 1947 with George Welch at the controls, flying from Muroc Dry Lake, the United States Air Forces Strategic Air Command had F-86 Sabres in service from 1949 through 1950
43.
North American F-100 Super Sabre
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The North American F-100 Super Sabre was an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard until 1979. The first of the Century Series of USAF jet fighters, it was the first USAF fighter capable of speed in level flight. The F-100 was designed by North American Aviation as a higher performance follow-on to the F-86 Sabre air superiority fighter, adapted as a fighter bomber, the F-100 was supplanted by the Mach two class F-105 Thunderchief for strike missions over North Vietnam. The F-100 flew extensively over South Vietnam as the air forces primary close air support jet until being replaced by the more efficient subsonic LTV A-7 Corsair II, the F-100 also served in other NATO air forces and with other U. S. allies. In its later life, it was referred to as the Hun. In January 1951, North American Aviation delivered an unsolicited proposal for a day fighter to the United States Air Force. Named Sabre 45 because of its 45° wing sweep, it represented an evolution of the F-86 Sabre, the mockup was inspected on 7 July 1951, and after over a hundred modifications, the new aircraft was accepted as the F-100 on 30 November 1951. Extensive use of titanium throughout the aircraft was notable, on 3 January 1952, the USAF ordered two prototypes followed by 23 F-100As in February and an additional 250 F-100As in August. The YF-100A first flew on 25 May 1953, seven ahead of schedule. It reached Mach 1.04 in spite of being fitted with a de-rated XJ57-P-7 engine, the second prototype flew on 14 October 1953, followed by the first production F-100A on 9 October 1953. These findings were confirmed during Project Hot Rod operational suitability tests. Particularly troubling was the yaw instability in certain regimes of flight which produced inertia coupling, the aircraft could develop a sudden yaw and roll which would happen too fast for the pilot to correct and would quickly over-stress the aircraft structure to disintegration. It was under conditions that North Americans chief test pilot. Another control problem stemmed from handling characteristics of the wing at high angles of attack. As the aircraft approached stall speeds, loss of lift on the tips of the caused an violent pitch-up. This particular phenomenon became known as the Sabre dance, nevertheless, delays in the Republic F-84F Thunderstreak program pushed the Tactical Air Command to order the raw F-100A into service. Tactical Air Command also requested that future F-100s be fighter-bombers, with the capability of delivering nuclear bombs, the North American F-107 was a follow-on Mach 2 development of the F-100 with the air intake moved above and behind the cockpit. It was not produced in quantity in favor of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief, the F-100A officially entered USAF service on 27 September 1954, with the 479th Fighter Wing at George AFB, California
44.
Martin B-57 Canberra
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The Martin B-57 Canberra is an American-built, twinjet tactical bomber and reconnaissance aircraft that entered service with the United States Air Force in 1953. The B-57 is a version of the British English Electric Canberra manufactured by the Glenn L. Martin Company. The B-57 Canberra holds the distinction of being the first jet bomber in U. S. service to drop bombs during combat. The B-57 Canberra was also sold to customers abroad, further combat use was seen by the Pakistani Air Force during the Second Kashmir War. At the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, the USAF found itself in dire need of an all-weather interdiction aircraft, in response to these needs, the USAF requested the British government to provide a private demonstration of the English Electric Canberra, a newly developed jet-powered bomber. On 16 September 1950, the USAF formally issued a request for a bomber, the sought aircraft had to possess a top speed of 630 mph, ceiling of 40,000 feet. Full all-weather capability and a reconnaissance role also had to be included in the design. The American contenders included the Martin XB-51, the North American B-45 Tornado, to expedite the process, only projects based on existing aircraft were considered and, unusually, the service considered foreign aircraft. These included the Canadian Avro Canada CF-100 and the British English Electric Canberra, as part of the USAF evaluations process, all five aircraft were submitted to a series of fly-offs to determine their performance. On 21 February 1951, a British Canberra B, according to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Canberra proved to be significantly superior to any of the competing aircraft, and that its selection was beyond doubt by the end of the competition. Martin Company, under which it was proposed that Martin would receive a license to build the Canberra in the United States. According to Gunston and Gilchrist, the Americanization of the Canberra program proved effective at dismissing many of the opponents that had opposed the project. On 23 March 1951, the USAF issued a contract to Martin, requesting the manufacturing of a quantity of 250 Canberras. On 3 April 1951, English Electric and Martin both signed a licensing agreement to cover the Canberras production. The crash did lead to design changes in the face of political pressure. As such, more than 30 changes that had been requested by the Wright Air Development Center were rejected on program schedule or cost grounds, in early July 1953, the first US-built production aircraft rolled out, it conducted its maiden flight on 20 July 1953. One month later, this initial production aircraft was accepted by the USAF, in place of the curtailed B-57A, a more refined bomber variant, the B-57B, was developed. The B-57B introduced several major changes.50 cal Browning machine guns installed within the wings
United States Air Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
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