Company pilots Fred Rowley and Carl Alber make the first flight of the Grumman XJR2F- 1, the prototype of the SA-16 (redesignated HU-16 in 1962) Albatross rescue amphibian, at Bethpage, Long Island, N.Y. Air Force and Navy Albatross crews will rescue nearly 1,100 downed airmen from hostile waters during the Korean and Vietnam Wars.
Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich assumed command of U.S. European Command on July 1, taking over the key assignment as the U.S. and its allies contend with a resurgent Russia and a grinding war in Ukraine.
