1.
United States Army Air Forces
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Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff. S. Army to control its own installations and support personnel, the peak size of the AAF during the Second World War was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft by 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943. By V-E Day, the Army Air Forces had 1.25 million men stationed overseas, in its expansion and conduct of the war, the AAF became more than just an arm of the greater organization. By the end of World War II, the Army Air Forces had become virtually an independent service and this contrast between theory and fact is. fundamental to an understanding of the AAF. Gen. Billy Mitchell that led to his later court-martial, a strategy stressing precision bombing of industrial targets by heavily armed, long-range bombers emerged, formulated by the men who would become its leaders. Since 1920, control of units had resided with commanders of the corps areas. Both were created in 1933 when a conflict with Cuba seemed possible following a coup détat. Activation of GHQ Air Force represented a compromise between strategic airpower advocates and ground force commanders who demanded that the Air Corps mission remain tied to that of the land forces. GHQ Air Force organized combat groups administratively into a force of three wings deployed to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts but was small in comparison to European air forces. Corps area commanders continued to control over airfields and administration of personnel. The expected activation of Army General Headquarters prompted Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall to request a study from Chief of the Air Corps Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold resulting on 5 October 1940 in a proposal for creation of an air staff, unification of the air arm under one commander, and equality with the ground and supply forces. Marshall implemented a compromise that the Air Corps found entirely inadequate, naming Arnold as acting Deputy Chief of Staff for Air but rejecting all organizational points of his proposal. GHQ Air Force instead was assigned to the control of Army General Headquarters, although the latter was a training and not an operational component, when it was activated in November 1940. A division of the GHQ Air Force into four air defense districts on 19 October 1940 was concurrent with the creation of air forces to defend Hawaii. The air districts were converted in March 1941 into numbered air forces with an organization of 54 groups. Marshall had come to the view that the air forces needed a simpler system, Arnold and Marshall agreed that the AAF would enjoy a general autonomy within the War Department until the end of the war, while its commanders would cease lobbying for independence. Marshall, a proponent of airpower, left understood that the Air Force would likely achieve its independence following the war
2.
National Museum of the United States Air Force
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The National Museum of the United States Air Force is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base,6 miles northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF has one of the worlds largest collections with more than 360 aircraft, the museum draws more than 1 million visitors each year, making it one of the most frequently visited tourist attractions in Ohio. The museum dates to 1923, when the Engineering Division at Daytons McCook Field first collected technical artifacts for preservation, in 1927, it moved to then-Wright Field in a laboratory building. In 1932, the collection was named the Army Aeronautical Museum, in 1948, the collection remained private as the Air Force Technical Museum. In 1954, the Air Force Museum became public and was housed in its first permanent facility, Building 89 of the former Patterson Field in Fairborn, many of its aircraft were parked outside and exposed to the weather. It remained there until 1971, when the current facility opened. Not including its annex on Wright Field proper, the museum has more than tripled in square footage since 1971, with the addition of a hangar in 1988, a third in 2003. The museum announced a new name for the facility in October 2004, the former name, United States Air Force Museum, changed to National Museum of the United States Air Force. The museum is a component of the National Aviation Heritage Area. The museums collection contains many rare aircraft of historical or technological importance, in 2010, the museum launched its 360-degree Virtual Tour, allowing most aircraft and exhibits to be viewed online. The museum has several Presidential aircraft, including those used by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight D. Eisenhower. The centerpiece of the aircraft collection is SAM26000, a modified Boeing 707 known as a VC-137C, used regularly by Presidents John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson. This aircraft took President and Mrs. Kennedy to Dallas on November 22, vice President Johnson was sworn in as president aboard it shortly after the assassination, and the aircraft then carried Kennedys body back to Washington. It became the presidential aircraft after Nixons first term. It was temporarily removed from display on December 5,2009, all presidential aircraft are now displayed in the Presidential Gallery, in the new fourth building. A large section of the museum is dedicated to pioneers of flight, especially the Wright Brothers, a replica of the Wrights 1909 Military Flyer is on display, as well as other Wright brothers artifacts. The building also hosts the National Aviation Hall of Fame, which includes educational exhibits. The museum has many pieces of U. S. Army Air Forces and U. S. Air Force clothing, at any time, more than 50 World War II-vintage A-2 leather flying jackets are on display, many of which belonged to famous figures in Air Force history
3.
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
4.
Taylorcraft Aircraft
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Taylorcraft Aviation is an airplane manufacturer that has been producing aircraft for more than seventy years in several locations. The company builds small single-engined airplanes, the Taylorcraft design is a conventional layout, high-wing, fabric-covered, two-seat aircraft. The basic design has remained unchanged since 1936, and this design is sold as a sport aircraft today. One of the investors was William Thomas Piper, who had made his money from oil wells, meanwhile, a disastrous factory fire brought production of the Cub J-2 to a halt, and Piper bought the company out. It was placed back in production as the Piper J-3 Cub, Piper operated out of a new facility in nearby Lock Haven, Pennsylvania. Taylor vowed to build a personal aircraft superior to the Cub. Taylor formed his own company in 1935 as Taylor Aircraft Company, in 1936 Taylor rented facilities at Pittsburgh-Butler Airport and first manufactured the Taylorcraft plane. That summer, the moved to Alliance, Ohio when the city offered the use of the former the Hess-Argo biplane factory rent free for a period of six months with an option to buy for $48,000. During World War II, light aircraft were used for training, liaison, taylorcrafts DCO-65 model was called the L-2 by the United States Army Air Forces and served alongside the military version of the Piper Cub in World War II. Taylorcraft Aeroplanes Ltd. a subsidiary based in Thurmaston, Leicestershire, England, developed the Taylorcraft Model D and the Auster Mk. V, which became the aircraft of the British AOP and the three Canadian AOP squadrons, No.664 Squadron RCAF, No.665 Squadron RCAF. In the fall of 1946 production was halted following a fire in the Taylorcraft factory at Alliance, Ohio, in 1949 C. G. Taylor bought the assets from the former company, and started a new company Taylorcraft, Inc. at Conway, Pennsylvania. The company restarted production of the BC-12D Traveller and the BC-12-85D Sportsman, the company produced few aircraft and the type certificates were sold to Univair and production was halted. In 1971 the Taylorcraft Aviation Corporation, owned by Charles Feris put the Model 19 back into production as the F-19 Sportsman, Feris died in 1976 and the production continued at a low rate until 1985. The West Virginia-based company was set up to put one new model in certification, the assets were sold to key investor East Kent Capitol. On February 21,2008 the company was repossessed by its former owner, the previous owners had taken orders for new struts for existing aircraft to alleviate a repetitive inspection Airworthiness Directive and is delivering struts to customers. The designs type certificates, drawings, jigs, templates and parts have been put up for sale. G
5.
World War II
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World War II, also known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945, although related conflicts began earlier. It involved the vast majority of the worlds countries—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing alliances, the Allies and the Axis. It was the most widespread war in history, and directly involved more than 100 million people from over 30 countries. Marked by mass deaths of civilians, including the Holocaust and the bombing of industrial and population centres. These made World War II the deadliest conflict in human history, from late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, and formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Poland, Finland, Romania and the Baltic states. In December 1941, Japan attacked the United States and European colonies in the Pacific Ocean, and quickly conquered much of the Western Pacific. The Axis advance halted in 1942 when Japan lost the critical Battle of Midway, near Hawaii, in 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained all of its territorial losses and invaded Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in South Central China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy, thus ended the war in Asia, cementing the total victory of the Allies. World War II altered the political alignment and social structure of the world, the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The victorious great powers—the United States, the Soviet Union, China, the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 46 years. Meanwhile, the influence of European great powers waned, while the decolonisation of Asia, most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic recovery. Political integration, especially in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities, the start of the war in Europe is generally held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland, Britain and France declared war on Germany two days later. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or even the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred simultaneously and this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935. The British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the forces of Mongolia and the Soviet Union from May to September 1939, the exact date of the wars end is also not universally agreed upon. It was generally accepted at the time that the war ended with the armistice of 14 August 1945, rather than the formal surrender of Japan
6.
Louisiana
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Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States and its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the state in the U. S. with political subdivisions termed parishes. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana is bordered by Arkansas to the north, Mississippi to the east, Texas to the west, and the Gulf of Mexico to the south. Much of the lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh. These contain a rich southern biota, typical examples include birds such as ibis, there are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a process in the landscape. These support a large number of plant species, including many species of orchids. Louisiana has more Native American tribes than any other state, including four that are federally recognized, ten that are state recognized. Before the American purchase of the territory in 1803, the current Louisiana State had been both a French colony and for a period, a Spanish one. In addition, colonists imported numerous African people as slaves in the 18th century, many came from peoples of the same region of West Africa, thus concentrating their culture. Louisiana was named after Louis XIV, King of France from 1643 to 1715, when René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle claimed the territory drained by the Mississippi River for France, he named it La Louisiane. The suffix -ana is a Latin suffix that can refer to information relating to an individual, subject. Thus, roughly, Louis + ana carries the idea of related to Louis, the Gulf of Mexico did not exist 250 million years ago when there was but one supercontinent, Pangea. As Pangea split apart, the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf of Mexico opened, Louisiana slowly developed, over millions of years, from water into land, and from north to south. The oldest rocks are exposed in the north, in such as the Kisatchie National Forest. The oldest rocks date back to the early Tertiary Era, some 60 million years ago, the history of the formation of these rocks can be found in D. Spearings Roadside Geology of Louisiana. The sediments were carried north to south by the Mississippi River
7.
Texas
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Texas is the second largest state in the United States by both area and population. Other major cities include Austin, the second most populous state capital in the U. S. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify its former status as an independent republic, and as a reminder of the states struggle for independence from Mexico. The Lone Star can be found on the Texan state flag, the origin of Texass name is from the word Tejas, which means friends in the Caddo language. Due to its size and geologic features such as the Balcones Fault, although Texas is popularly associated with the U. S. southwestern deserts, less than 10 percent of Texas land area is desert. Most of the centers are located in areas of former prairies, grasslands, forests. Traveling from east to west, one can observe terrain that ranges from coastal swamps and piney woods, to rolling plains and rugged hills, the term six flags over Texas refers to several nations that have ruled over the territory. Spain was the first European country to claim the area of Texas, Mexico controlled the territory until 1836 when Texas won its independence, becoming an independent Republic. In 1845, Texas joined the United States as the 28th state, the states annexation set off a chain of events that caused the Mexican–American War in 1846. A slave state before the American Civil War, Texas declared its secession from the U. S. in early 1861, after the Civil War and the restoration of its representation in the federal government, Texas entered a long period of economic stagnation. One Texan industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle, due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy. The states economic fortunes changed in the early 20th century, when oil discoveries initiated a boom in the state. With strong investments in universities, Texas developed a diversified economy, as of 2010 it shares the top of the list of the most Fortune 500 companies with California at 57. With a growing base of industry, the leads in many industries, including agriculture, petrochemicals, energy, computers and electronics, aerospace. Texas has led the nation in export revenue since 2002 and has the second-highest gross state product. The name Texas, based on the Caddo word tejas meaning friends or allies, was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves, during Spanish colonial rule, the area was officially known as the Nuevo Reino de Filipinas, La Provincia de Texas. Texas is the second largest U. S. state, behind Alaska, though 10 percent larger than France and almost twice as large as Germany or Japan, it ranks only 27th worldwide amongst country subdivisions by size. If it were an independent country, Texas would be the 40th largest behind Chile, Texas is in the south central part of the United States of America. Three of its borders are defined by rivers, the Rio Grande forms a natural border with the Mexican states of Chihuahua, Coahuila, Nuevo León, and Tamaulipas to the south
8.
Innis P. Swift
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Innis Palmer Swift was a Major General in the United States Army. He was the grandson and namesake of Civil War Major General Innis Newton Palmer and his four decades of military service culminated in his commanding a unit during the liberation of the Philippines in World War II. Swift was born at Fort Laramie, Wyoming, the son of Major General Eben Swift and he graduated from West Point in 1904 and was commissioned in the cavalry. He served as aide-de-camp to General John J. Pershing in the Philippines, while a First Lieutenant commanding C Troop, 13th Cavalry, he accompanied First Lieutenant George S. Patton on the hunt for Julio Cardenas, commander of Pancho Villas personal bodyguard. During World War I he served as Assistant Chief of Staff for the 86th Division, Swift attended the Army Command and General Staff School, graduating in 1923, and remained at the school as faculty until 1929. He participated in the Louisiana Maneuvers, where he coined the nickname used by light observation aircraft when he told a pilot after a bumpy landing. He transitioned the division from horse cavalry to essentially an infantry division and he took his division to Australia in July 1942 and remained in command through the Admiralty Islands campaign after which he was reassigned to command I Corps. Corps commander to serve in World War II, after the war he remained a close personal friend of Douglas MacArthur. Swift married the former Lucille G. Paddock and the couple had four daughters, after retiring in 1946 he lived in San Antonio. He retained interest in his old command, staying active in the 1st Cavalry Division Association and he died at Brooke Army Hospital after a heart attack and was buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. Shot to Hell, The Stories and Photos of Ravaged WWII Warbirds, st. Paul, MN, MBI Publishing Co
9.
1st Cavalry Division (United States)
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The 1st Cavalry Division is a combined arms division and is one of the most decorated combat divisions of the United States Army, as well as the other four branches of the U. S. military. It is based at Fort Hood, Texas, as of 2013, the 1st Cavalry Division is subordinate to III Corps and is commanded by Major General John C. Thomson III. The history of the 1st Cavalry Division began in 1921 after the established a permanent cavalry division table of organization. Since 1st Cavalry Division was to assemble from existing units, it was able to go active in September 1921, even though the subordinate units did not arrive completely until as late as 1922. 1st Cavalry Division was assigned to the VIII Corps Area, with its headquarters and 2d Brigade located at Fort Bliss, Texas. The 1st Cavalry Division’s assembled at Douglas, Arizona, the 1st, 7th, and 8th Cavalry Regiments had previously been assigned to the wartime 15th Cavalry Division until they were returned to the VIII Corps Area troop list on 12 May 1918. 1st Cavalry Regiment remained assigned until it was transferred to 1st Cavalry Division on 20 August 1921 and this controversy continued until 18 December 1922, when the 5th Cavalry Regiment, then on the VIII Corps Area Troop List, swapped places with the 10th Cavalry Regiment. In 1923 the 1st Cavalry Division held division maneuvers for the first time, however, financial constraints made that impossible. Only in 1927, through the generosity of a few ranchers who provided land, was the division able to conduct such exercises again. In 1928 Major General Herbert B, crosby, Chief of Cavalry, faced with personnel cuts, reorganized the cavalry regiments, which in turn reduced the size of the 1st Cavalry Division. Crosbys goal was to decrease overhead while maintaining or increasing firepower in the regiment, the cavalry brigades machine gun squadrons were inactivated, while the responsibility for training and employing machine guns fell to the regimental commanders, as in the infantry. The new structure increased the size of the troop, expanded the medical unit to a squadron. A divisional aviation section, an armored car squadron, and tank company were added, the artillery battalion was expanded to a regiment. With the arrival of the 1930s, serious work started on the testing and refining of new equipment, to facilitate this, 1st Cavalry Division traded 1st Cavalry Regiment for 12th Cavalry Regiment on 3 January 1933. Like the 1937 infantry division test, the maneuvers concentrated on the cavalry regiments around which all other units were to be organized. The latter configuration allowed the division to deploy easily in two columns, which was accepted standard cavalry tactics, one headquarters would assume responsibility for the administration and disciplinary control for these forces. The special troops remained as structured in 1928, and no observation squadron or chemical detachment found a place in the division, with the paper changes in the cavalry divisions and other minor adjustments, the strength of a wartime divisional rose to 10,680. In order to prepare for war service, 1st Cavalry Division participated in the maneuvers, Toyahvale
10.
World War I
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World War I, also known as the First World War, the Great War, or the War to End All Wars, was a global war originating in Europe that lasted from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918. More than 70 million military personnel, including 60 million Europeans, were mobilised in one of the largest wars in history and it was one of the deadliest conflicts in history, and paved the way for major political changes, including revolutions in many of the nations involved. The war drew in all the worlds great powers, assembled in two opposing alliances, the Allies versus the Central Powers of Germany and Austria-Hungary. These alliances were reorganised and expanded as more nations entered the war, Italy, Japan, the trigger for the war was the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary, by Yugoslav nationalist Gavrilo Princip in Sarajevo on 28 June 1914. This set off a crisis when Austria-Hungary delivered an ultimatum to the Kingdom of Serbia. Within weeks, the powers were at war and the conflict soon spread around the world. On 25 July Russia began mobilisation and on 28 July, the Austro-Hungarians declared war on Serbia, Germany presented an ultimatum to Russia to demobilise, and when this was refused, declared war on Russia on 1 August. Germany then invaded neutral Belgium and Luxembourg before moving towards France, after the German march on Paris was halted, what became known as the Western Front settled into a battle of attrition, with a trench line that changed little until 1917. On the Eastern Front, the Russian army was successful against the Austro-Hungarians, in November 1914, the Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers, opening fronts in the Caucasus, Mesopotamia and the Sinai. In 1915, Italy joined the Allies and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, Romania joined the Allies in 1916, after a stunning German offensive along the Western Front in the spring of 1918, the Allies rallied and drove back the Germans in a series of successful offensives. By the end of the war or soon after, the German Empire, Russian Empire, Austro-Hungarian Empire, national borders were redrawn, with several independent nations restored or created, and Germanys colonies were parceled out among the victors. During the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, the Big Four imposed their terms in a series of treaties, the League of Nations was formed with the aim of preventing any repetition of such a conflict. This effort failed, and economic depression, renewed nationalism, weakened successor states, and feelings of humiliation eventually contributed to World War II. From the time of its start until the approach of World War II, at the time, it was also sometimes called the war to end war or the war to end all wars due to its then-unparalleled scale and devastation. In Canada, Macleans magazine in October 1914 wrote, Some wars name themselves, during the interwar period, the war was most often called the World War and the Great War in English-speaking countries. Will become the first world war in the sense of the word. These began in 1815, with the Holy Alliance between Prussia, Russia, and Austria, when Germany was united in 1871, Prussia became part of the new German nation. Soon after, in October 1873, German Chancellor Otto von Bismarck negotiated the League of the Three Emperors between the monarchs of Austria-Hungary, Russia and Germany
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