Good Saturday Morning January 1
I wish you all a Most Happy and prosperous New Year. Some things old and some things new for today
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A bit of Admin stuff. If you want to get something on the list the best way is to send it to my personal email sleonard001@san.rr.com It comes right to my computer and IPhone. If you just reply to the list then I do not check that site as often. If you ever have any email problems and need to get a hold of me my cell is 619-610-8166. If you change email please let me know beforehand so I can make the updates. Also if I have your phone number I can call you if you start to bounce. As most of you know we do have trouble with AOL and a couple other addresses. Every once in a while AOL bounces all the AOL messages and I get a bounce notification on each one. If you do not get one and want it then send me a note and I will add you to the spl list that I send from my computer. There are about 40 on that list right now. Finally a big Thank you to Cowboy (Tom Koelzer) for keeping the list running with his servers These many years.
Regards,
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History
January. 1
1819—Smith Thompson takes office as the sixth Secretary of the Navy, serving until Aug. 31, 1823.
1943—USS Nautilus (SS 168) evacuated 29 civilians from Teop Island, Solomons. Also on this date, USS Porpoise (SS 172) attacked a Japanese convoy and sank the freighter Renzan Maru off northeastern coast of Honshu, Japan.
1944—PBY aircraft sink Japanese cargo ship Kanaiyama Maru near Lorengau, Admiralities.
1944—USS Ray (SS 271) sinks a Japanese gunboat at the mouth of Ambon Bay, while USS Puffer (SS 268) attacks a Japanese convoy at the western entrance of the Mindanao Sea, sinking an army cargo ship. On the same day USS Herring (SS 233) attacks a Japanese convoy, sinking an aircraft transport ship 220 miles off Tokyo Bay.
1950 - Mary T. Sproul commissioned as first female doctor in Navy
1959—The U.S. Naval Observatory introduces a system of uniform atomic time using cesium beam atomic oscillators. This measurement is adopted as standard by the International Committee on Weights and Measures.
1962—Navy SEAL teams are established with Teams One and Two formed with personnel from Underwater Demolition Teams.
This day in History
January 1
1500 | The Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvares Cabral reaches the coast of Brazil and claims the region for Portugal. | |
1586 | Sir Francis Drake launches a surprise attack on the heavily fortified city of Santo Domingo in Hispanola. | |
1698 | The Abenaki Indians and Massachusetts colonists sign a treaty halting hostilities between the two. | |
1766 | The Old Pretender, son of James III, dies. | |
1788 | The Times, London's oldest running newspaper, publishes its first edition. | |
1808 | A U.S. law banning the import of slaves comes into effect, but is widely ignored. | |
1824 | The Camp Street Theatre opens as the first English-language playhouse in New Orleans. | |
1830 | William Lloyd Garrison publishes the first edition of a journal entitled The Liberator, calling for the complete and immediate emancipation of all slaves in the United States. | |
1863 | Confederate General Braxton Bragg and Union General William Rosecrans readjust their troops as the Battle of Murfreesboro continues. | |
1863 | President Abraham Lincoln issues the Emancipation Proclamation, freeing the slaves in the Confederacy. | |
1891 | Facilities opened on Ellis Island, New York, to cope with the vast flood of immigrants coming into the United States. | |
1907 | The Pure Food and Drug Act becomes law in the United States. | |
1915 | The German submarine U-24 sinks the British battleship Formidable in the English Channel. | |
1918 | The first gasoline pipeline begins operation. Along the 40 miles and three inches of pipe from Salt Creek to Casper, Wyoming. | |
1923 | Sadi Lecointe sets a new aviation speed record flying an average of 208 mph at Istres. | |
1937 | At a party at the Hormel Mansion in Minnesota, a guest wins $100 for naming a new canned meat--Spam. | |
1945 | In Operation Bodenplatte, German planes attack American forward air bases in Europe. This is the last major offensive of the Luftwaffe. | |
1959 | Fidel Castro seizes power in Cuba as General Fulgencio Batista flees. | |
1986 | As the United States builds its strength in the Mediterranean, Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi threatens to retaliate if attacked. |
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear … Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post
… For The List for Saturday, 1 January 2022… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 1 January 1967… The American Historical Association meets to consider the question:"How do we end this war?"…
This following work accounts for every fixed wing loss of the Vietnam War and you can use it to read more about the losses in The Bear's Daily account. Even better it allows you to add your updated information to the work to update for history…skip
Vietnam Air Losses
Access Chris Hobson and Dave Lovelady's work at: https://www.VietnamAirLosses.com.
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Thanks to Dutch
A looming catastrophe for the United States?
There is no China strategy
By Maj. Gen. A Bowen Ballard and Richard H. Amberg Jr.
merica's world leadership,
A and maybe its very survival, is threatened by China's determination to become the world's dominant military, political and economic power, subjugating the United States and our allies to its will and upending the world order.
Taiwan, which China claims as its own, is where the issue will come to a head. It could come, and soon, through threats and ultimatums; or satellite jamming, cyber warfare or other asymmetric means; or blockade; or allout attack. The response for the United States to any of these is either a humiliating acquiescence or armed conflict. If the first response is unthinkable, as it would result in dire repercussions for the future peace and freedom of the world, the second choice might end just as badly due to the relative weakness of the U.S. and allied military power in the region vis-a-vis China.
Alarmist? Yes. But we believe it is realistic that acquiescence or military defeat is Hobson's choice unless China's wolf warrior behavior becomes the predominant focus of the administration, Congress, media and public. China can be restrained — the weak almost never attack the strong — but it requires thinking about what no one wants to conjure, especially when easily discernible problems abound. China's desire to swallow Taiwan has become an open, spoken obsession under President Xi Jinping, China's increasingly autocratic ruler.
He has spearheaded such illegal action as appropriating much of the South China Sea despite international court rulings, turning shoals into military airfields and claiming vast ocean areas as Chinese territory. Further aggressions (Hong Kong, Tibet, Uyghur Muslim genocide in its Xinjiang region, other actions at home and abroad) scream out res ipsa loquitur.
China has created the world's largest navy, largest army and most modern Air Force. It has become the military leader in space. Its massed power in the Western Pacific overwhelms the U.S. and its allies. Yes, the United States vastly outspends China in defense (partially due to the global nature of our defense requirements, the high
manpower costs of the volunteer force and high procurement costs vis-a-vis China, whose military costs are not transparent).
But the facts on the ground? The U.S. Navy has an aging, declining fleet; eight types of Air Force aircraft are now 50-plus years old; the Army and Marines are ground down and disoriented from two decades of counterinsurgency warfare; our nuclear triad is in dire need of upgrade while China builds hundreds of new missile silos, and the new Space Force lacks the hypersonic and satellite killing capabilities that the Chinese space force has already demonstrated.
How easy for China to act against Taiwan, 100 miles from its shore — and how difficult for the U.S., thousands of miles away (including most of its overseas bases) to counteract.
The Pentagon has conducted many war games involving Chinese aggression against Taiwan — and the U.S. side has lost every time, more overwhelmingly each year. Taiwan is China's catnip. It is America's kryptonite.
Also, China is engaged in an increasing alliance with Russia to go along with its alliance with North Korea. If one considers any Russian incursion in Ukraine or a North Korean attack on South Korea before any Chinese action, distinct possibilities not even addressed here, the situation becomes an unmitigated nightmare.
What to do? A holistic approach is required. The China threat should be the most significant issue in the upcoming congressional elections and the subject of considerably more media attention than it has received. It will require economic pain and political courage (both in short supply). Opinion polls already show a strong desire to defend Taiwan and its freedom. Still, mobilizing a combined administration-Congress-media-public consensus on treating the China threat with actions, not just words is a circular chicken-and-egg finger-pointing situation unless there is an external educational, structural and contextual push. That push might take the form of a new joint military civilian organization of some kind with real teeth that delineates all the myriad factors involved — from defense needs, cyber security and trade restrictions to home front infrastructure (e.g., U.S. lack of shipbuilding capacity) — and mobilizes national will to act accordingly. The organization
cannot just be an administrative or congressional entity — too non-inclusive — although the executive and legislative branches need to be a part of a larger group that might include think tanks, defense industry representatives, businesses, foreign policy experts, etc. Who decides the group's composition, powers, timetable, staffing and funding? Strategic thinkers abound. Washington think tanks could weigh in. A unified, detailed plan is needed in short order that all Americans can support, offering the best prospect of either keeping China in check or, if that desired outcome fails, could save the U.S. and allies from a capitulation that would result in vassal status and cause the collapse of the world order with horrifying consequences.
The time to mobilize on a holistic basis is long overdue, and even if started today, it would take years to bear fruit. China is very unlikely to wait that long. As American power deteriorates, China's accelerates, and its ambitions expand accordingly. Maj. Gen. A. Bowen Ballard, USAF (Ret.), managed the planning, directing and setting of policies for all Air Force intelligence activities as the assistant chief of staff for Intelligence and worked with the National Security Agency, among his assignments. He now is a consultant in defense matters. Richard H. Amberg Jr. retired as associate publisher and opinion editor of The Washington Times. He is a Captain, USNR (Ret.).
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Thanks to Bill
Subject: The Ungracious—and Their Demonization of the Past
https://amgreatness.com/2021/12/29/the-ungracious-and-their-demonization-of-the-past/
The Ungracious—and Their Demonization of the Past
Victor Davis Hanson December 29, 2021
Never in history has such a mediocre, but self-important and ungracious generation owed so much, and yet expressed so little gratitude to its now dead forebears.
The last two years have seen an unprecedented escalation in a decades-long war on the American past.
But there are lots of logical flaws in attacking prior generations in U.S. history.
Critics assume their own judgmental generation is morally superior to those of the past. So, they use their own standards to condemn the mute dead who supposedly do not measure up to them.
Yet 21st century critics rarely acknowledge their own present affluence and leisure owe much to history's prior generations whose toil helped create their current comfort.
And what may future scolds say of the modern generation that saw over 60 million abortions since Roe v. Wade, even as fetal viability outside the womb continued to progress to ever earlier ages?
What will our grandchildren say of us who dumped on them over $30 trillion in national debt—much of it as borrowing for entitlements for ourselves?
What sort of society snoozes as record numbers of murders continue in 12 of its major cities? What is so civilized about defunding the police, endemic smash-and-grab thefts, and car-jackings?
Was our media more responsible, professional, and learned in 1965 or 2021? Did Hollywood make more sophisticated and enjoyable films in 1954 or 2021? Was there less or more sportsmanship among professional athletes in 1990 or 2021?
Was it actually moral to discard the "content of our character" and "equal opportunity" principles of the prior Civil Rights movement of 60 years ago? Are their replacement fixations on the "color of our skin" and "equality of result" superior?
Would America have won World War II with the current labor participation rate of only six Americans in 10 working? Would our generation have brought all American troops home and quit World War I, in fear of the deadly 1918 Spanish flu pandemic?
Are we proud that most standardized tests of student knowledge and achievement continue to decline, despite record investments in education?
Do we ever pause to consider that we enjoy our modern standard of living, and security because we were once a meritocracy that quit judging our workforce by tribal affinities and ancient prejudices?
Our generation talks of infrastructure nonstop. But when was the last time it built anything comparable to Hoover Dam, the interstate highway system, or the California Water Project—much less sent a man back to the moon or beyond?
If prior generations were so toxic, why do we continue to take for granted the moral and material world they bequeathed to us, from the Constitution and the Bill of Rights to our airports, freeways, and power plants? Did we ever defeat anything comparable to the Axis powers or Soviet communism?
We know the symptoms of the current epidemic of hating the past.
One is Orwellian renaming and statue-toppling. Historical revision often responds to puritanical mob frenzies rather than to democratic discussion and votes of relevant elected officials.
Where is the pantheon of woke heroes who will replace the toppled or defaced Thomas Jefferson and Teddy Roosevelt?
Whose morality and achievement should instead be immortalized? Were the public and private lives of Che Guevara, Angela Davis, Malcolm X, Margaret Sanger, and Franklin D. Roosevelt without sin?
Racial fixations tend predictably in one direction. In good Confederate fashion, we lump all individuals who look alike into inexact collectives of "white," "black," or "brown"—often to stereotype the supposed evils of so-called white supremacy.
But if we go down that tribalist and simplistic road of caricatured oppressors and oppressed, will future generations tally up each group's merits and demerits, to adjudicate the roles of millions of individuals in making America worse or better?
What standard would they use to judge our ignorant world of racial stereotyping—proportional representation in Nobel Prizes, philanthropy, scientific breakthroughs, or lasting art, music, and literature versus statistics on homicides, assault, divorce, and illegitimacy?
Immigration—when legal, diverse, measured, and often meritocratic—has been the great strength of America, as typified by industrious arrivals who chose to abandon their own homeland to risk new lives in a foreign United States.
But if America is so flawed and so irredeemable, why in fiscal year 2021 are nearly 2 million foreigners now crashing its borders—illegally, en masse, and intent on reaching a supposedly racist nation that is purportedly inferior to those they abandon?
According to the ancient brutal bargain, assimilation and integration grant the immigrant as much claim to America's present and past as the native born. But then shouldn't the antithesis also be true? Shouldn't immigrants at least respect those of the past who created the very country they now so eagerly desire, and died in awful places from Valley Forge to Bastogne to preserve?
Never in history has such a mediocre, but self-important and ungracious generation owed so much, and yet expressed so little gratitude, to its now dead forebears.
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1 January
This Day in U S Military History
1735 – Paul Revere was born in Boston, Massachusetts. He attended North Grammar School. He served for a short time in the French and Indian War. After the war, he married Sarah Orne and entered his father's silversmith business. Paul Revere soon became interested in the issue of American liberty. He received lots of attention from political cartoons he drew. Paul Revere was a member of the "Sons of Liberty." On December 16, 1773, he took part in the Boston Tea Party. On April 18, 1775, Revere and William Dawes were sent to warn Samuel Adams and John Hancock of British plans to march from Boston to seize military stores at Concord. A signal was established to warn if the British were coming by land or by sea. From the steeple of the Old North Church in Boston, two lanterns would mean the British were coming by sea, and one would mean by land. One lantern was lit. The British were coming by land. Revere left Boston around 10 PM. Along the road to Lexington, he warned residents that "the British are coming!" He arrived in Lexington around midnight riding a borrowed horse. At 1 AM, Revere, William Dawes, and Dr. Samuel Prescott left for Concord. Revere was captured. Only Prescott got through to Concord. Revere was released without his horse and returned to Lexington. At Lexington he joined Adams and Hancock and fled into safety in Burlington. Revere returned to rescue valuable papers in Hancock's trunk. When the British arrived on April 19, the minutemen were waiting for them. In 1778 and 1779, Revere commanded a garrison at Castle Williams in Boston Harbor. Revere left the service in disrepute. During and after the war, Revere continued his silversmith trade in Boston. He died on May 10, 1818
1945 – In Operation Bodenplatte, The German Luftwaffe makes a series of heavy attacks on Allied airfields in Belgium, Holland and northern France. They have assembled around 800 planes of all types for this effort by deploying every available machine and pilot. Many of the pilots have had so little training that they must fly special formations with an experienced pilot in the lead providing the navigation for the whole force. The Allies are surprised and lose many aircraft on the ground. Among the German aircraft losses for the day are a considerable number of planes shot down by German anti-aircraft fire. Allied losses amount to 300 planes opposed to about 200 German aircraft shot down. Meanwhile, the land battle in the Ardennes continues with the Allied counterattacks gathering force. The most notable gains are by the US 8th Corps. Farther south in Alsace the forces of German Army Group G begins an offensive in the Sarreguemines area (Operation Nordwind) towards Strasbourg. The US 7th Army retires before this attack on orders from Eisenhower.
1983 – The ARPANET officially changes to using the Internet Protocol, creating the Internet.
1985 – The Internet's Domain Name System (DNS) is created. DNS is a hierarchical distributed naming system for computers, services, or any resource connected to the Internet or a private network. It associates various information with domain names assigned to each of the participating entities. Most prominently, it translates easily memorized domain names to the numerical IP addresses needed for the purpose of locating computer services and devices worldwide. The Domain Name System is an essential component of the functionality of the Internet.
2000 – The arrival of 2000 saw no terrorist attacks, Y2K meltdowns or mass suicides among doomsday cults, but instead saw seven continents stepping joyously and peacefully into the New Year.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
KERR, JOHN B.
Rank and organization: Captain, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At White River, S. Dak., 1 January 1891. Entered service at: Hutchison Station, Ky. Birth: Fayette County, Ky. Date of issue: 25 April 1891. Citation: For distinguished bravery while in command of his troop in action against hostile Sioux Indians on the north bank of the White River, near the mouth of Little Grass Creek, S. Dak., where he defeated a force of 300 Brule Sioux warriors, and turned the Sioux tribe, which was endeavoring to enter the Bad Lands, back into the Pine Ridge Agency.
KNIGHT, JOSEPH F.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Troop F, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At White River, S. Dak., 1 January 1891. Entered service at: – – – . Birth: Danville, 111. Date of issue: 1 May 1891. Citation: Led the advance in a spirited movement to the assistance of Troop K, 6th U.S. Cavalry.
MYERS, FRED
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company K, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At White River, S. Dak., 1 January 1891. Entered service at: Washington, D.C. Birth: Germany. Date of issue: 4 February 1891. Citation: With 5 men repelled a superior force of the enemy and held his position against their repeated efforts to recapture it.
SMITH, CORNELIUS C.
Rank and organization: Corporal, Company K, 6th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: Near White River, S. Dak., 1 January 1891. Entered service at: Helena, Mont. Birth: Tucson, Ariz. Date of issue: 4 February 1891. Citation: With 4 men of his troop drove off a superior force of the enemy and held his position against their repeated efforts to recapture it, and subsequently pursued them a great distance.
MacGlLLlVARY, CHARLES A.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company I, 71st Infantry, 44th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Woelfling, France, 1 January 1945. Entered service at: Boston, Mass. Birth: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He led a squad when his unit moved forward in darkness to meet the threat of a breakthrough by elements of the 17th German Panzer Grenadier Division. Assigned to protect the left flank, he discovered hostile troops digging in. As he reported this information, several German machineguns opened fire, stopping the American advance. Knowing the position of the enemy, Sgt. MacGillivary volunteered to knock out 1 of the guns while another company closed in from the right to assault the remaining strong points. He circled from the left through woods and snow, carefully worked his way to the emplacement and shot the 2 camouflaged gunners at a range of 3 feet as other enemy forces withdrew. Early in the afternoon of the same day, Sgt. MacGillivary was dispatched on reconnaissance and found that Company I was being opposed by about 6 machineguns reinforcing a company of fanatically fighting Germans. His unit began an attack but was pinned down by furious automatic and small arms fire. With a clear idea of where the enemy guns were placed, he voluntarily embarked on a lone combat patrol. Skillfully taking advantage of all available cover, he stalked the enemy, reached a hostile machinegun and blasted its crew with a grenade. He picked up a submachine gun from the battlefield and pressed on to within 10 yards of another machinegun, where the enemy crew discovered him and feverishly tried to swing their weapon into line to cut him down. He charged ahead, jumped into the midst of the Germans and killed them with several bursts. Without hesitation, he moved on to still another machinegun, creeping, crawling, and rushing from tree to tree, until close enough to toss a grenade into the emplacement and close with its defenders. He dispatched this crew also, but was himself seriously wounded. Through his indomitable fighting spirit, great initiative, and utter disregard for personal safety in the face of powerful enemy resistance, Sgt. MacGillivary destroyed four hostile machineguns and immeasurably helped his company to continue on its mission with minimum casualties.
*YANO, RODNEY J. T.
Rank and organization: Sergeant First Class, U.S. Army, Air Cavalry Troop, 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. Place and date: Near Bien Hao, Republic of Vietnam, 1 January 1969. Entered service at: Honolulu, Hawaii. Born: 13 December 1943, Kealakekua Kona, Hawaii. Citation: Sfc. Yano distinguished himself while serving with the Air Cavalry Troop. Sfc. Yano was performing the duties of crew chief aboard the troop's command and control helicopter during action against enemy forces entrenched in dense jungle. From an exposed position in the face of intense small arms and antiaircraft fire he delivered suppressive fire upon the enemy forces and marked their positions with smoke and white phosphorous grenades, thus enabling his troop commander to direct accurate and effective artillery fire against the hostile emplacements. A grenade, exploding prematurely, covered him with burning phosphorous, and left him severely wounded. Flaming fragments within the helicopter caused supplies and ammunition to detonate. Dense white smoke filled the aircraft, obscuring the pilot's vision and causing him to lose control. Although having the use of only 1 arm and being partially blinded by the initial explosion, Sfc. Yano completely disregarded his welfare and began hurling blazing ammunition from the helicopter. In so doing he inflicted additional wounds upon himself, yet he persisted until the danger was past. Sfc. Yano's indomitable courage and profound concern for his comrades averted loss of life and additional injury to the rest of the crew. By his conspicuous gallantry at the cost of his life, in the highest traditions of the military service, Sfc. Yano has reflected great credit on himself, his unit, and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for 1 January, 2022 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
1 January
1914: Tony Jannus, flying a Benoist Flying Boat, started America's first regularly scheduled airline service with a flight between Tampa and St. Petersburg, Fla. This service lasted three months with two round trips a day. (5) (21)
1929: KEY EVENT--THE QUESTION MARK. Through 7 January, to test inflight refueling and crew and aircraft endurance, Maj Carl A. Spaatz flew the Question Mark, a modified Fokker C2-3 with a Wright 220 HP engine, to a world duration record of 150 hours and 40 minutes. The Question Mark-named for its unknown capacity to remain airborne-was an US Army Air Corps high-wing, trimotor monoplane with a large capacity fuel tank in the cabin, a large hopper in the cabin for receiving fuel, and lines and hand-operated pumps to transfer fuel to the wing tanks. The two modified Douglas C1 biplane tankers each had two 150-gallon cabin tanks and a 40-foot fueling hose. Flying between Santa Monica and San Diego in California, the tankers refueled the Question Mark 43 times, which allowed it to remain aloft until engine problems forced a landing. During the refueling, the tankers also passed 5,700 gallons of fuel plus oil, food, water, and other items (roughly 40 tons) to the Question Mark. All officers on the mission--Carl Spaatz, Ira Eaker, Harry Halverson, and Pete Quesada--became generals, as did two officers on the refueling aircraft: Ross G. Hoyt and Joseph G. Hopkins. MSgt Roy Hooe, the fifth crewman on the Question Mark, earned a reputation as the best crew chief in the Air Corps. The crewmembers of the Question Mark were each awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC) for the mission, while the refuelers received letters of commendation. (18)
1943: Ground Controlled Approach (GCA) equipment used in an emergency for the first time, when a snowstorm closed down Naval Air Station (NAS) Quonset Point Airfield, R. I., 30 minutes before a flight of PBY's were to arrive. The GCA crew used search radar and the control tower as a relay to talk one PBY into position for a contact landing. Nine days earlier, the GCA had completed its first experimental demonstration. (5)
1944: Project ORDCIT. Cal Tech's Guggenheim Aeronautical Laboratory began work on long range missiles. This project later produced the Army's Private A and Corporal missiles. (6)
1945: Operation HERMANN. 700-800 German fighters surprised Ninth Air Force and 2d Tactical Air Force (RAF) airfields in Belgium and northern France. They destroyed 30 American and 120 RAF planes, but lost 200 planes in the attack. (4) BOMBING IWO JIMA. Through 19 February, Seventh Air Force bombers continued its attacks on Iwo Jima in preparation for amphibious landings. The aircraft destroyed buildings and planes and blasted holes in the runways of the island's airfields, but did not affect the 22,000 deeply entrenched troops of Maj Gen Tadamichi Kuribayashi. (17)
1951: KOREAN WAR. When nearly 500,000 Chinese Communist and N. Korean troops launched a new ground offensive, Fifth Air Force responded with an air raid on enemy columns. (28)
1954: At Jacksonville, Fla., the U. S. Navy set up the Air Weapon Systems School. (24)
1958: The USAF moved the 1st Missile Division and the 704th Strategic Missile Wing to Cooke AFB (Vandenberg), Calif. The 704th was the Strategic Air Command's first ballistic missile wing. The 672d Strategic Missile Squadron also activated there with Thor intermediate range ballistic missiles. (6)
1962: First Titan II units, the 390th Strategic Missile Wing and 570th Strategic Missile Squadron, were activated at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. (6) (12) The Strategic Air Command activated the first model "B" Minuteman I wing, the 44th Strategic Missile Wing, at Ellsworth AFB, S. Dak. (6)
1965: Operation of Synchronus Communications Satellite (SYNCOM) II and SYNCOM III transferred from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration to the Department of Defense. The Department of Defense furnished the communications ground stations used to relay transmissions via the two SYNCOMS for the past two years. SYNCOM III later proved useful in providing communications for Vietnam. (5) The USAF activated the 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale AFB, Calif., to fly the SR-71. (16) (26)
1966: Air National Guard airlift units started flying about 75 cargo flights a month to Southeast Asia. Additionally, the guard flew about 100-plus flights a month to augment the Military Airlift Command's global airlift mission. (16) (26) At Tullahoma, Tenn., the Arnold Engineering Development Center established a large rocket facility to operate high-altitude test cells. (16) (26)
1967: The USAF received 140 CV-2 Caribou aircraft from the US Army. This event marked the first time that an entire inventory of an aircraft transferred from one service to another. The aircraft went to Seventh Air Force, which gave the NAF operational control over all fixed wing cargo aircraft in Vietnam. (5) (16) (17)
1969: The 71st Special Operations Squadron, Air Force Reserves, flew the first AC-119 gunship combat mission in Vietnam. (16)
1973: At Pease AFB, N. H., the 509th Bombardment Wing became the first FB-111 unit to use operational Short-Range Attack Missiles. (6)
1983: The US Mission Control Center, International Search and Rescue Satellite System, collocated with the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Scott AFB, Ill., began 24-hour test operations. Thereafter, mission control recorded worldwide satellite data from emergency electronic transmissions. (2)
1984: The Military Airlift Command assigned its 375th Aeromedical Airlift Wing to the Twenty-Third Air Force along with the aeromedical evacuation mission, C-9 aircraft, and the operation of Scott AFB, Ill. (2) Space Command assumed resource management responsibilities for the Global Positioning System. (26)
1988: The Strategic Air Command its crew assignment policy to permit mixed male/female crews in Minuteman and Peacekeeper launch facilities. The male and females were segregated before. (16) (26)
1995: The Air Force Reserve activated its first KC-135 Stratotanker unit, the 931st Air Refueling Group. (16)
1997: After a seven-year retirement from active service, the SR-71 Blackbird returned to mission ready status. The aircraft and its personnel operated from Edwards AFB, Calif., as a detachment of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing from Beale AFB. (3)
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Thanks to Ed
For the Christmas season - The Missmus Bismus Series (7)
Missmus Bismus, Feliz Navidad, Merry Christmas, Happy New Year
Well, here it is New Years Eve and I'm just now getting out some Remembered Sky Christmas presents.
In my defense as explained in the Epilogue, the "presents" are based on an extended time frame context that ran until Spring 1973. While certain events trigger memories from my Naval Aviation career and particularly from Christmas 1972, the center of gravity of these four posts is on people not war stories and mainly on humor and laughter. Much of this comes unbidden by me at Christmas time. There are quite a few pictures. And Missmus Bismus is explained but be warned its complete phraseology is shall we say, aviator language.
I hope these posts will bring back some old and good memories.
I'll repeat one quote used from Dickens' Christmas Carol:
"It is required of every man," the Ghost returned, "that the spirit within him should walk abroad among his fellowmen, and travel far and wide; and if that spirit goes not forth in life, it is condemned to do so after death. It is doomed to wander through the world—oh, woe is me!—and witness what it cannot share, but might have shared on earth, and turned to happiness!" Jacob Marley (A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens)
It would most certainly be an unforced error in ignoring ole Marley's words, no?
Missmus Bismus #1: The Ghosts of Christmas Past (http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4398)
Missmus Bismus #2: The Ornaments (http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4426)
Missmus Bismus #3: Shangri-La…found (http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4437)
Missmus Bismus #4: Epilogue (http://rememberedsky.com/?p=4444)
Stay safe
Ed, Boris, and Remembered Sky
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