B-2 Passes Two Milestones
A B-2 stealth bomber assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., in late May carried out the longest B-2 global power mission and a first-of-its-kind precision munitions drop.
The record-setting B-2 flight began at Whiteman on May 23 at 11:00 p.m. and returned May 25 at 4:57 a.m. The nearly 30-hour mission took the bomber over RAF Mildenhall, UK, and then included simulated bomb runs over mid-America.
On May 29, USAF’s new bomber reached a second milestone, when a B-2 dropped a Global Positioning System–Aided Munition-113 over the China Lake Range in California. It was the first pairing of the conventional 4,700-pound GAM-113 with the B-2.
Bombing accuracies during the training mission proved to be equal to those attained by the wing during its successful 2,000-pound GAM drops in October 1996. The bomber can carry up to eight of the GAM-113s.
Air Force Begins QDR Changes
The Air Force has developed plans to meet manpower reduction requirements outlined in May’s Quadrennial Defense Review report, according to senior USAF officials.
The service will work to maintain combat forces while cutting back mission-support and services functions. Top leaders said they hope to do this through gradual voluntary manpower reductions extending over the next six years.
QDR reductions from Fiscal 1998 through 2003 will include 26,900 active-duty military members, 700 Air Force Reserve Command and Air National Guard members, and 18,300 civilians, USAF said. The cuts come on top of reductions already programmed in the Fiscal 1998 budget—15,500 active-duty members, 2,900 Reserve Component personnel, and 13,800 civilians.
USAF Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman said he will publicize the “plan of attack” so all members will see the means by which USAF hopes to make the “smartest possible” resource decisions.
The goal is to continue modernization, sustain readiness, and preserve forces needed to execute missions.
Fogleman emphasized that great care must be taken to avoid “hollowing out” the forces by reducing work-load as manpower is reduced. He added that the Air Force plans “to meet the workload in designated support functions by outsourcing to the private sector where it makes sense and gains efficiencies.”
The Air Force will spread its cuts and adjustments in the number of military members and civilians over the next six years, once Congress enacts legislation based on the QDR, according to the Chief of Staff.
Over the past nine years, the Air Force has reduced its strength by 227,000 military members and 87,000 civilians. Fogleman noted that the use of voluntary attrition programs and incentives has somewhat mitigated the impact of the military strength reduction. Some 95 percent of those personnel losses were voluntary. The Air Force also has had success with voluntary separation programs to minimize forced civilian losses.
The plan is to use incentive programs to encourage voluntary separations for the upcoming reductions, said Fogleman.
The Air Force has already sought Congressional approval to continue all voluntary separation incentives for military members and civilians through the drawdown period. The Chief of Staff said senior leaders would continue to keep the force informed on drawdown actions as the details are available.
AMC Beefs Up En Route System
The Air Force’s Air Mobility Command is beefing up its worldwide en route system.
Gen. Walter Kross, AMC commander, last fall designated 1997 as the Year of the En Route System. Since then, the command has allocated more than $200 million to improvements in the system vital to the command’s day-to-day operations worldwide.
Improved passenger terminals have been funded at seven of the com-mand’s overseas locations, and design work is underway at five others. More than $18 million will be spent on terminals.
More than $2 million in freight terminal improvements are in the works at Osan AB, Korea, and Yokota and Kadena ABs in Japan, while upgrades at Osan, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, An-dersen AFB, Guam, and Eielson AFB, Alaska, are in the design stage.
Also, AMC is spending nearly $1 million to upgrade forward supply locations at Kadena and Andersen. Another $1.3 has been tabbed for control centers at Osan and Ramstein AB, Germany.
Design work is being completed for control center facilities at Yokota and Aviano AB, Italy.
House Preserves B-2 Option
A resumption of B-2 bomber production remained a live possibility well into the summer as Congress began its last round of work on the Fiscal 1998 defense budget. The stealth aircraft was surviving despite Clinton Administration efforts to kill it once and for all.
The House on June 25 passed a defense authorization bill containing $331 million to maintain the B-2’s industrial base and preserve an option to build nine more of the advanced aircraft. The House bill, if enacted, would eliminate current restrictions that have capped the program at 21 aircraft and $44.6 billion.
Without the new money, the B-2 line probably will cease all operations late next year.
The fate of the B-2 program probably will not be settled until fall, when House and Senate defense negotiators work out a compromise in their bills. The B-2 will be a major issue because the Senate, unlike the House, opposes further B-2 production.
The Senate Armed Services Committee not only refused to provide new B-2 money but also added a provision prohibiting the use of new funds to procure any additional B-2s or to maintain any part of the bomber industrial base solely for the purpose of preserving an option to buy more bombers.
According to the B-2 contractor, Northrop Grumman, nine new B-2s would cost about $9 billion. The Congressional Budget Office put the figure at $12 billion for production and $27 billion over two decades if operation and support costs are factored in.
Two DoD bomber studies over the past two years determined that the US could execute the national military strategy without a larger B-2 fleet. The Air Force also has opposed further B-2 production, pleading that it has higher priorities and that the stealth bomber add-on is “unaffordable.”
However, the House Armed Services Committee stated that DoD’s reviews reached wrong conclusions about the bomber, adding that it “rejects this ‘unaffordable’ assertion and strongly believes the United States can afford additional B-2s. . . . Twenty-one B-2s does not constitute an adequate force level to deal with the many likely contingencies and crises over the next 30 to 40 years.”
SOF in Congo Evacuation
An Air Force Special Operations Command MC-130H delivered a US military assessment team and evacuated 56 people from Brazzaville, as fighting raged in the Republic of Congo’s capital June 10.
The aircraft, from the 7th Special Operations Squadron, RAF Milden-hall, UK, inserted a US European Command survey and assessment team and support vehicles. The team, consisting of communications, logistics, security, and other specialists, conducted infrastructure assessments and evaluated the need for further European Command support to the US Embassy in Brazzaville.
The AFSOC aircraft left Brazza-ville’s airport with 30 Americans and 26 third-country nationals. Evacuees were taken to Libreville, Gabon, where US State Department officials met them.
Fighting in Congo began a week before the evacuation when government troops clashed with supporters of former President Denis Sassou-Nguesso.
The deployment marks the second time in two months members of the 352d Special Operations Group have deployed to Africa to help US citizens caught in the middle of civil war. In April, about 200 group members deployed to Libreville to support a possible noncombatant evacuation from Kinshasa, Zaire, but were not called to respond.
B-1B Crew Tests New Weapon
A crew from the US Air Force Weapons School’s B-1B division at Ells-worth AFB, S. D., dropped a new antiarmor cluster bomb at Eglin AFB, Fla., on May 28.
The CBU-97 is the first multiple-kills-per-pass smart antiarmor weap-on in production, said Col. Bill Wise, director of the Area Attack Systems Program Office at Eglin. Wise said it represents a significant capability for combat forces.
Although the CBU-97 was designed to interface with a wide variety of US and NATO aircraft, this was the first time one was dropped from a B-1B.
Berlin Airlift Vets Try C-17
Veterans of the Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles) recently found themselves reliving memories of that time on an orientation flight aboard an AMC C-17 Globemaster III.
From June 1948 until September 1949, more than 2.3 million tons of supplies were transported to beleaguered citizens of Berlin cut off by a Soviet blockade.
Hank Moen observed that he flew C-82s, which were new to airlift back then. Another veteran, retired Lt. Col. Phil Stowell, a C-54 pilot during the airlift, said, “I really admired the German people, the way they stood behind us and cooperated and appreciated what we were doing.” He added, “It was great how they would work to unload those airplanes—10 tons in 10 minutes, just putting it off.”
Retired Col. Gail Halvorsen was known as the “Candy Bomber” for making airdrops of candy to the children in Berlin. An encounter with some kids at the end of the Tempelhof runway gave Halvorsen the idea.
“They hadn’t had any gum or candy for months,” Halvorsen said. “I only had two sticks [of gum]. It didn’t go very far, and I told them the next time I came in I would drop them some.”
Halvorsen then started getting rations from his flying buddies. When word spread to the US, the American public responded and more than 23 tons of candy poured in.
As for their inaugural ride on the C-17, these former pilots were impressed by the Air Force’s newest airlifter and its capabilities. “We could have done the job with 25 airplanes instead of 225,” said Halvorsen. “I like the air-conditioning in the cockpit—we had to open windows.”
New Trainer Is a “Texan”
The Air Force and Navy announced the official name of the Joint Primary Aircraft Training System aircraft—the T-6A Texan II—on June 2.
Gen. Lloyd “Fig” Newton, commander of Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB, Tex., and Vice Adm. Patricia Tracey, chief of Naval Education and Training, NAS Pensacola, Fla., made the formal introduction at Randolph.
The T-6A Texan II, the military version of the Raytheon Mk. II, replaces the Air Force’s aging T-37 and the Navy’s T-34 as the Joint primary trainer for both services. Initial deliveries to the Air Force are scheduled to begin in spring 1999.
Reserve Dental Plan to Open
Starting October 1, some 889,000 members of the Selected Reserve, including about 72,000 members of Air Force Reserve Command, will have the option of signing up for a voluntary government-sponsored dental program. Family members are not eligible for the dental plan.
The new program will have cost-share premiums, with reservists paying less than $25 per month for services. Unit AFRC Reservists will have premiums deducted from their drill pay.
Services will include basic care and treatment; diagnostic, preventive, and restorative services; and emergency oral examinations. Treatment will have a $1,000 annual cap.
Many reservists were unfit for mobilization during the Persian Gulf War because of poor dental health, which delayed deployment of needed troops. As a result, Congress in the Fiscal 1996 Defense Authorization Act directed the Defense Department to set up a low-cost dental plan for reservists. The department asked for and received authority to delay implementation of the plan until October 1.
The government expects to select by early July a contractor that will provide a network of dentists. Eligible reservists are to hear from the contractor by September 1. Reservists should ensure their addresses are correct in the Defense Enrollment/Eligibility Reporting System be-cause the contractor will use addresses in the DEERS database to notify them.
Under proposed rules, if patients use a dentist within the dental network, the dentist cannot bill them for any charges not paid by the contractor. Patients who use dentists outside the network could see charges in excess of the maximum amount allowed by the contractor.
McChord Gains “Deep Freeze”
Starting this month, McChord AFB, Wash., assumed responsibility for Operation Deep Freeze. The operation is a Presidentially mandated mission to support the National Science Foundation’s experiments at McMur-do Station, Antarctica.
The operation entails three trips a year to haul to the frozen continent everything the science station needs to survive—from personnel, food, and medicine to heaters and scientific equipment. Travis AFB, Calif., had the mission for the past 35 years but surrendered it after losing its C-141 fleet.
Lt. Col. Ray Phillips, head of 7th Airlift Squadron and commander of McChord’s Deep Freeze mission, acknowledged that Deep Freeze is a “demanding mission,” but added, “We have the personnel who can step up to the plate and execute it safely.”
Phillips flew Deep Freeze missions previously. He was also handpicked, along with Capt. Paul Double, 8th Airlift Squadron, for an emergency medical mission to McMurdo Station last May to extract a scientist who was suffering from heart failure.
Regular Deep Freeze missions are scheduled around Antarctica’s climate for times when there is a significant amount of daylight and temperatures are still cold enough to make the ice hard.
Once they land at McMurdo Station, McChord crews will have to use heaters to keep the hydraulics in the C-141 landing gears from freezing and use extreme weather gear to keep themselves warm. After a quick unloading and refueling, the crews will return to New Zealand and then to McChord.
Satellite Gets Solar-Cycle Test
MightySat I, a satellite carrying five Phillips Laboratory experiments, underwent a series of solar-cycle tests June 11 to 13 at Phillips’ Aerospace Engineering Facility at Kirtland AFB, N. M.
The tests, which simulate the satellite as it moves from the shadow of the Earth into the sunlight and back again, are being used to check the power output of the spacecraft’s solar cells.
The satellite is also undergoing a series of mission sequence tests to simulate the spinning of the spacecraft in orbit and see how well its antennas can send and receive information.
The Air Force is conducting integration and testing of the spacecraft at Kirtland with the assistance of several contractors. The prime contractor for MightySat I, CTA Space Systems of McLean, Va., also provided the spacecraft bus. Jackson and Tull of Seabrook, Md., provided payload integration and test support, and the Aerospace Corp. of Los Angeles, Calif., contributed systems engineering assistance.
The Space and Missile Systems Center Test and Evaluation Directorate, also at Kirtland, will provide on-orbit operations after the satellite is launched.
MightySat I was slated to complete a five-day series of functional tests at Kirtland during the second week of July before being shipped to the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. The 135-pound satellite is expected to be launched into orbit aboard the space shuttle on STS-88 in July 1998 for a one-year journey.
Eglin Lab Copies Mother Nature
The Air Force is playing Mother Nature again after a three-year, $75 million series of renovations at the McKinley Climatic Laboratory at Eglin AFB, Fla.
Eglin’s most famous landmark reopened June 3 with a dedication ceremony. Present at the ceremony were a P-51 Mustang, the first aircraft tested in the chamber in 1947, and a C-130J, the first aircraft scheduled to be tested in the renovated chamber.
Originally constructed during the closing stages of World War II, the laboratory is the only one of its kind in the world. During its 50 years, the lab has frozen, fried, and abused more than 350 aircraft, 70 missile support systems, and approximately 2,000 pieces of equipment. It has also tested space-bound systems, such as the Apollo space capsule.
The lab was built with a 20-year life expectancy, which, before the renovations were started, had been exceeded by 27 years. Renovations included refurbishing the two largest chambers, replacing all electrical and fire protection systems, adding an additional air makeup system, and installing new refrigeration units.
USAF Revisits 1994 Accident
The Air Force on June 19 released results of a reinvestigation into the three-year-old midair collision of an F-16D and a C-130E at Pope AFB, N. C.—a multifatality accident.
On March 23, 1994, the two Air Force aircraft collided just above the runway as the F-16 was landing. The F-16 pilot ejected and his fighter crashed into a staging area, killing 23 Army personnel and injuring more than 100 soldiers and civilians. The C-130 landed safely.
The original USAF accident investigation found there were multiple causes for the midair collision, most of which concerned the air traffic control system. Though it noted that the F-16 pilot did not “see and avoid” and stay “well clear” of the C-130, as required by regulation, the fault was mitigated by the pilot’s statement that he could not see the C-130.
The DoD Inspector General reviewed the original report. The IG confirmed that faulty air traffic control was the prime cause of the accident but claimed that the Air Force failed to adequately inquire into the actions of the F-16 pilot. Thereupon, Secretary of the Air Force Sheila Widnall ordered a new look.
A new investigation team confirmed that the flight paths of the F-16 and the C-130 made it impossible for the F-16 pilot to see the other aircraft except during a 12-second period after he initiated a simulated flameout maneuver. During those 12 seconds, the camouflage-painted C-130 was nearly undetectable a-gainst the forested terrain below.
The team found the F-16 pilot received confusing tower transmissions. After he heard the call, “C-130 traffic short final on the go,” he had 17 to 20 seconds (excluding reaction time) to adjust to his flight path; immediately after this transmission, he was cleared to land.
However, the new investigation team also found that, after the confusing communications, the pilot did not ask the tower about the position of the other aircraft and did not stop flying the simulated flameout maneuver in order to look for the traffic.
The commander of 9th Air Force at Shaw AFB, S. C., will review the accident investigation report to determine whether any disciplinary, administrative, or other actions are appropriate.
EF-111s End Northern Watch Stint
Air Force EF-111As at Incirlik AB, Turkey, departed the base for a final time June 24 after 2,091 days supporting Operation Northern Watch.
The 429th Electronic Combat Squadron from Cannon AFB, N. M., which has been involved with Operations Provide Comfort and Northern Watch since 1991, returned to Cannon where the Ravens will remain until March, when they will be formally retired from the inventory.
The first operational F-111 aircraft was delivered in October 1967 to Nellis AFB, Nev. The Air Force began the conversion to EF-111As in 1972.
During Desert Storm, all available Ravens were deployed to Middle East bases to support US and allied combat operations. More than 1,300 sorties were flown.
USAF: Case Closed on Roswell
The Air Force on June 24 released its second report on a 1947 event that has become famous to UFO buffs as the “Roswell Incident.”
The new report is entitled, “The Roswell Report: Case Closed.” The other, “The Roswell Report: Fact vs. Fiction in the New Mexico Desert,” was issued in September 1994.
Taken together, the two reports go far to explain and demystify events that occurred in New Mexico 50 years ago. The key disclosure was that, during the 1940s and 1950s, the Air Force engaged in extensive high-altitude balloon experimentation, some of which involved using the balloons to carry and eject anthropomorphic dummies equipped with parachutes. This was done in order to determine the best way to return pilots or astronauts to Earth if they had to eject from high altitudes.
These experiments, as well as others described and explained in the report, including the 1947 crash of a balloon, correspond to many of the occurrences observed by local residents and later characterized as the Roswell Incident.
This latest report is noteworthy for the extensive background it provides on the scope of Air Force activities in the vicinity of Roswell, beginning in the mid-1940s and extending through the early 1960s.
“This is singularly the most exhaustive release of information on this subject,” said Secretary Widnall. In 1994 the Air Force made all records on this subject publicly available, she said. Widnall added that the additional information will enlighten people about pioneer research and the “challenging and often heroic work of Air Force personnel during those early years.”
The 230-page report can be obtained through the Government Printing Office World Wide Web site (http://www.access.gpo.gov/index.html) or by calling (202) 512-1800.
News Notes
One of the Air Force’s 14 female fighter pilots died on May 27 when her A-10 fighter crashed during a training mission in Arizona. Capt. Amy Lynn Svoboda, 354th Fighter Squadron at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., was participating in a two-aircraft mission in southwest Arizona when the crash occurred. The Air Force was still investigating the cause of the accident at press time.
The Air Force said it recently completed two successful unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile launches from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Randomly selected from F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo., and Malm-strom AFB, Mont., each ICBM covered 4,200 miles in 30 minutes, hitting predetermined targets at the Kwajalein Missile Range in the western Marshall Islands in the Pacific.
The California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing earned the Spaatz Trophy for a third time and has been named the 1996 Air National Guard Outstanding Flying Unit. Named after the first Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Carl A. “Tooey” Spaatz, the Spaatz Trophy is awarded annually to the best ANG unit by the National Guard Association of the US. The outstanding flying unit honors were awarded by the Air Force Association.
The Air Force has earned four of 14 White House Closing the Circle Awards for 1997. The awards recognize people and groups for leadership in pollution prevention. USAF winners were Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif.; Air Combat Command, Langley AFB, Va.; Ogden Air Logistics Center, Hill AFB, Utah; and 375th Civil Engineering Squadron, Scott AFB, Ill.
Brig. Gen. Robert C. Hinson, director of operations at Air Force Space Command, and his wife, Karen, were selected for the 1997 Gen. and Mrs. Jerome F. O’Malley Award. The award is presented annually by the USAF Chief of Staff to recognize the best wing-commander-and-spouse team in the service. Hinson was 45th Space Wing commander at the time.
Retired Navy Adm. William A. Owens was named winner of the 1997 AFCEA David Sarnoff Award. Owens is the president, chief operating officer, and vice chairman of the board of Science Applications International Corp. and was formerly vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. The award, granted each year to an individual of international renown who has made lasting and significant contributions to world peace and security, lauded Owens for his JCS work.
Government life insurance coverage for reservists has changed, allowing them to keep coverage if they separate before a 20-year retirement or become eligible to draw retirement pay. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, Reservists and Guard members can now generally apply for Veterans Group Life Insurance if they decide to separate before reaching a 20-year retirement. This expansion is among several insurance changes under the Veterans Benefits Improvement Act, signed into law October 9.
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CMSAF Harlow Dies Donald L. Harlow, the second Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, died in Arlington, Va., on June 18. He was 76. Harlow served as the Air Force’s top enlisted person from August 1, 1969, until his retirement on September 30, 1971. A veteran of World War II and the Korean and Vietnam Wars, he was the only enlisted person to receive the Order of the Sword. Born in Waterville, Me., Harlow enlisted in the Army Air Corps in August 1942 and served as an armament and gunnery instructor at Eagle Pass, Tex. He cross-trained into personnel in 1945 then left active duty in February 1946. He was recalled to Air Force active duty in 1950 during the Korean War and remained on active duty until his retirement. “The Air Force has lost one of its great leaders—a pioneer in Air Force history who made significant contributions to our service and our country,” said CMSAF Eric W. Benken. “Don Harlow was a sergeant major in the Air Force vice chief of staff’s office when the first CMSAF was selected. He began supporting this office from day one and never stopped. When he left active duty in 1971, he continued supporting the Air Force in every way.” During the Vietnam War, Harlow focused his attention where he thought it was most needed—on the young troops and their problems. He listened to them all—assignment concerns, promotion problems—took good notes, and reported his findings to the Chief of Staff. Retiring in 1971, Harlow headed to Capitol Hill with his knowledge of the Air Force system. As the senior lobbyist for the Air Force Sergeants Association, he took his messages to the House of Representatives and the Senate and, as he had been in the Air Force, became well-known for getting results. As a lobbyist, his cause was to sell Congress on the idea that pay and benefits of enlisted men and women must be improved. |
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Congressional News Base Closures Opposed Both the House and Senate defense committees rejected calls for another round of base closures in their versions of the $268 billion defense authorization bill for Fiscal 1998. Defense Secretary William S. Cohen, who is banking on base closures to produce funds for modernization, said DoD can reduce infrastructure. According to a Pentagon spokesman, defense infrastructure has been reduced by only 21 percent compared to a reduction in force structure of 36 percent. Some $1.4 billion can be saved in every Base Realignment and Closure round, the Pentagon said. That’s money needed to ensure the services have the kind of modern, capable force projected in the Quadrennial Defense Review for 2005 and beyond. The QDR proposed two additional BRAC rounds. Key members of Congress, however, have refused to cooperate unless and until the Clinton Administration changes a controversial stance on two Air Logistics Centers—at Kelly AFB, Tex., and McClel-lan AFB, Calif.—which were targeted for closure in the 1995 BRAC round. Clinton, in an election-year ploy, essentially permitted workers at these bases to continue their defense work rather than see the work shift to other Air Force depots in Utah, Oklahoma, and Georgia. Mixed-Gender Training In response to Congressional pressure, Defense Secretary Cohen has appointed a panel to review gender-integrated training and related issues in the services. The panel is one of three initiatives announced by Cohen on June 7 to maintain the effectiveness and readiness of US military forces and to ensure that policies governing good order and discipline are clear and fair. Cohen’s announcement comes on the heels of several highly publicized sexual misconduct cases. “We must address these issues in a thorough, well-informed way that has credibility with the military, the Congress, and the public,” said Cohen. He cited recent perceptions that the Defense Department’s system is inconsistent and damages troop morale as the driving force behind his actions. The goal is to assure training remains “superb” and that the rules are well understood at all levels of command. An independent panel of private citizens, headed by former Sen. Nancy Kassebaum Baker, will report its findings in six months. Along the same lines is a provision in the authorization bill that would create a panel of outside experts to review how well the services’ basic-training programs prepare recruits. One focus would be whether each service’s basic training should be gender-segregated. Following Cohen’s announce- ment of his plans to review gender- integrated training, Army, Navy, and Air Force officials recently told Congressional leaders that service members must train as they would fight—together. The Marine Corps training is already segregated. Cohen has the full support of the Joint Chiefs of Staff for these initiatives. |
| USAF Celebrates 50
The first Air Force Marathon in celebration of USAF’s fiftieth anniversary is scheduled for September 20 at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. All levels of marathoners, including those in wheelchairs, are invited to participate. Registration forms and other information on the 26.2-mile race are available through Marathon Central at (937) 656-0470/1 or on the Air Force Marathon web site (http://www.afmarathon.wpafb.af.mil). The registration fee for the run is $30 before September 1 and $35 thereafter. Completed forms, with payment and runner’s signature, should be mailed to USAF Marathon, Building 70, 5215 Thurlow, Suite 2, Wright-Patterson AFB, OH 45433-5542. The eighth annual FINA Dallas Air Show, celebrating the Air Force’s golden anniversary, is set for September 6 and 7 at Dallas Love Field Airport and features more than 100 aircraft in the air and on the ground. Activities include wing walking, air acrobatics, the Air Force Academy’s Wings of Blue parachute jumper cadets, and a host of hot air balloons. For more information call (214) 559-7136. |
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Senior Staff Changes RETIREMENTS: L/G Albert J. Edmonds, B/G Curtis H. Emery II, B/G Thomas O. Fleming, Jr., M/G James L. Hobson, Jr., B/G James D. Latham, Gen. John G. Lorber, M/G John M. McBroom, Jr., Gen. Thomas S. Moorman, Jr., L/G Everett H. Pratt, Jr., B/G Berwyn A. Reiter, M/G David A. Sawyer, L/G Edwin E. Tenoso, M/G Arthur S. Thomas.
PROMOTION: CHANGES: M/G (L/G selectee) William J. Begert, Col. (B/G selectee) James A. Hawkins, from C/S, White House Mil. Office, Washington, D. C., to Cmdr., 319th ARW, AMC, Grand Forks AFB, N. D., replacing B/G Kenneth W. Hess . . . M/G Michael V. Hayden, from Dir., Jt. Command and Control Warfare Ctr., and Cmdr., AIA, Kelly AFB, Tex., to DC/S, Hq. UN Command Korea, and DC/S, US Forces Korea, US Army Garrison, Yongsan, South Korea, replacing retiring M/G George W. Norwood . . . B/G Kenneth W. Hess, from Cmdr., 319th ARW, AMC, Grand Forks AFB, N. D., to Dep. Dir., Plans and Policy, Hq. PACOM, Camp Smith, Hawaii, replacing retired B/G Thomas O. Fleming, Jr. . . . B/G Leslie F. Kenne, from Dep. Dir., Jt. Strike Fighter Technology Prgm., Ass’t Sec’y of the Air Force for Acquisition, Arlington, Va., to Dir., Jt. Strike Fighter Technology Prgm., Ass’t Sec’y of the Air Force for Acquisition, Arlington, Va. M/G Richard C. Marr, from Cmdr., Air Mobility Warfare Ctr., Ft. Dix, N. J., to Dir., Ops., Hq. AETC, Randolph AFB, Tex., replacing M/G Charles H. Coolidge, Jr. . . . Col. (B/G selectee) Teddie M. McFarland, from Dep. for Aeronautical Sys., Dep. Directorate for Air Warfare, Directorate for Strategic and Tactical Sys., Under Sec’y of Defense for Acquisition, Washington D. C., to Vice Cmdr., ESC, AFMC, Hanscom AFB, Mass., replacing B/G Wilbert D. Pearson, Jr. . . . Col. (B/G selectee) Duncan J. McNabb, from Cmdr., 62d Airlift Wing, AMC, McChord AFB, Wash., to Cmdr., Tanker Airlift Control Ctr., AMC, Scott AFB., Ill., replacing B/G William Welser III . . . B/G James E. Miller, Jr., from Dir., Intel., Hq. USEUCOM, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany, to Dir., Jt. Command and Control Warfare Ctr., and Cmdr., AIA, Kelly AFB, Tex., replacing M/G Michael V. Hayden. Col. (B/G selectee) Gary L. Salisbury, from Dir., Jt. Transportation Corporate Information Mgmt. Ctr., USTRANSCOM, Scott AFB, Ill., to Dep. Dir., Engineering and Interoperability, DISA, Arlington, Va. . . . B/G Glen D. Shaffer, from Ass’t Dep. Dir., Ops., NSA, Ft. Meade, Md., to Dir. Intel., Hq., USEUCOM, Stuttgart-Vaihingen, Germany, replacing B/G James E. Miller, Jr. . . . B/G Paul A. Weaver, Jr., from Dep. Dir., ANG, National Guard Bureau, Washington, D. C., to Dir., ANG, National Guard Bureau, Washington, D. C., replacing retiring M/G Donald W. Shepperd . . . B/G William Welser III, from Cmdr., Tanker Airlift Control Ctr., AMC, Scott AFB, Ill., to Cmdr., Air Mobility Warfare Ctr., AMC, Ft. Dix, N. J., replacing M/G Richard C. Marr. SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE (SES) CHANGES: Daniel E. Hastings, to Chief Scientist, Hq. USAF, Washington, D. C., replacing Edward A. Feigenbaum . . . James R. Speer, to Ass’t Auditor General (Field Activities), Air Force Audit Agency, Washington, D. C. |
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50 Years Ago in Air Force Magazine August 1947
On the cover: ¦ AFA President Jimmy Doolittle announced that, effective this issue, the Association would take over the publishing of Air Force Magazine, which had previously been produced under contract. The wartime editor, James H. Straubel (later to become Executive Director), had been “called back” to head the magazine. Among the aeronautical news items reported: ¦ At Muroc, Calif., Col. Albert Boyd of Air Materiel Command, flying the Lockheed P-80R Shooting Star, set a new world’s speed record at 623 mph. ¦ The new “flying White House” is the Douglas DC-6 Independence, taking over from the famed DC-4 Sacred Cow. The aircraft was said to carry “all known airborne navigational equipment.” ¦ The first Boeing B-50, successor to the B-29, rolls off the production line at Seattle, Wash. ¦ Ft. F. E. Warren, which had been a military post for 78 years, becomes an AAF base on June 1. ¦ Total registered civil aircraft in the US and its territories now number more than 81,000. California leads the list with 8,456, followed by Texas with 7,789. The low number was from Vermont, with just 144 civil aircraft registered. ¦ The National Air Races, to be held in Cleveland August 30–September 1, announced “125,000 (Minimum) cash prizes” and a program that would include “everything from supersonic jet speed dashes to quiet yet daring parachute jumps and helicopter demonstrations.” AFA news: Advertised daily room rates in Columbus, Ohio, during the AFA National Convention upcoming in September, range from $3.50 for a single at the Seneca Hotel to $16.50 for a room for six at the Neil House. |