To All,
Good Sunday morning January 22, 2023.
Some humor and Puns to lighten your spirit today
Well it is mating season for the Coyotes here and they are singing each night. Caught a baby bobcat on the Ring camera last night which means they did not catch the mom. The days are clear and cool here for the next week so we can expect some action.
At the end is a recap of Royce Williams Korean War engagement for which he received the Navy Cross Yeaterday
Regards,
skip
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History
January 22
1800—Capt. Thomas Tingey is ordered to duty as the first Superintendent of the Washington Navy Yard.
1862—During the Civil War, the side-wheel steamer Lexington conducts a reconnaissance up the Tennessee River and exchanges long-range fire with Fort Henry in Tennessee.
1870—USS Nipsic, commanded by Cmdr. Thomas O. Selfridge, sails on an expedition to survey the Isthmus of Darien at Panama to determine the best route for a ship canal.
1941—During World War II, USS Louisville (CA 28) arrives at New York with $148,342.212.55 in British gold brought from Simonstown, South Africa, to be deposited in American banks.
1944—Operation Shingle, the Allied landing at Anzio and Nettuno, Italy, begins. While the landings are flawless and meet with little resistance from the Germans, USS Portent sinks during the invasion.
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January 22
This Day in World History
1689 England's "Bloodless Revolution" reaches its climax when parliament invites William and Mary to become joint sovereigns.
1807 President Thomas Jefferson exposes a plot by Aaron Burr to form a new republic in the Southwest.
1813 During the War of 1812, British forces under Henry Proctor defeat a U.S. contingent planning an attack on Fort Detroit.
1824 A British force is wiped out by an Asante army under Osei Bonsu on the African Gold Coast. This is the first defeat for a colonial power.
1863 In an attempt to out flank Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, General Ambrose Burnside leads his army on a march to north Fredericksburg, but foul weather bogs his army down in what will become known as the "Mud March."
1879 Eighty-two British soldiers hold off attacks by 4,000 Zulu warriors at the Battle of Rorke's Drift in South Africa. Note ---There were more Victoria Crosses awarded for this single action than any other single action in the history of the British army. The Movie Zulu was Michael Cain's first movie. A great movie----
1905 Russian troops fire on civilians beginning Bloody Sunday in St. Petersburg.
1912 Second Monte Carlo auto race begins.
1913 Turkey consents to the Balkan peace terms and gives up Adrianople.
1930 Admiral Richard Byrd charts a vast area of Antarctica.
1932 Government troops crush a Communist uprising in Northern Spain.
1939 A Nazi order erases the old officer caste, tying the army directly to the Party.
1943 Axis forces pull out of Tripoli for Tunisia, destroying bases as they leave.
1944 U.S. troops under Major General John P. Lucas make an amphibious landing behind German lines at Anzio, Italy, just south of Rome.
1971 Communist forces shell Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the first time.
1979 Abu Hassan, the alleged planner of the 1972 Munich raid, is killed by a bomb in Beirut.
1982 President Ronald Reagan formally links progress in arms control to Soviet repression in Poland.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Skip … For The List for Sunday, 22 January 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 22 January 1968 The gap between Requirements and Ready-and-Able is called Risk… How much risk is prudent?…
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.
This is a list of all Helicopter Pilots Who Died in the Vietnam War . Listed by last name and has other info https://www.vhpa.org/KIA/KIAINDEX.HTM
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Thanks to Mugs
Interesting video about the NY Times..
https://www.prageru.com/video/can-you-trust-the-ny-times
As with all its videos--it is only 5 mins long.
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Thanks to Newell
An Old Pilot's Wisdom And Reflections
. Here's a few more you might wish to post for our military brethren.
An Old Pilot's Wisdom And Reflections
Pilots are people who drive airplanes for other people who can't fly.
Passengers are people who say they fly, but really just ride.
Death is just nature's way of telling you to watch your airspeed.
As a pilot, only two bad things can happen to you (and one of them will):
a. One day you will walk out to the aircraft, knowing it is your last flight.
b. One day you will walk out to the aircraft, not knowing it is your last flight.
There are rules ... and there are laws:
The rules are made by men who think that they know how to fly your airplane better than you.
The laws (of physics) were ordained by God.
You can, and sometimes should suspend the rules, but you can never suspend the laws.
He who demands everything that his aircraft can give him is a pilot.
He who demands one iota more is a fool.
There are certain aircraft sounds that can only be heard at night and over the ocean.
Most of them are scary.
The aircraft limits are only there in case there is another flight by that particular aircraft.
If subsequent flights do not appear likely, there are no limits.
In the Alaskan bush, I'd rather have a two-hour bladder and three hours of gas than vice versa.
An old pilot is one who can remember when flying was dangerous and sex was safe.
Airlines have really changed.
Now a flight attendant can get a pilot pregnant.
I've flown in both pilot seats.
Can someone tell me why the other seat is always occupied by an idiot?
Fighter Pilots are steely-eyed, weapons systems managers who kill bad people and break things.
However, they can also be very charming and personable.
The average fighter pilot, despite sometimes having a swaggering exterior, is very much capable of such feelings as love, affection, intimacy and caring.
However, these feelings don't involve anyone else.
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Thanks to Carl
Why us Southerners do NOT suffer from stress
Studies have demonstrated that rednecks have the lowest stress rates because they do not understand the seriousness of most medical terminology. For example:
Medical Term Redneck Definition
Artery The study of paintings
Bacteria Back door to cafeteria
Barium What doctors do when patients die
Benign What you be, after you be eight
Caesarean Section A neighborhood in Rome
Cat scan Searching for Kitty
Cauterize Made eye contact with her
Colic A sheep dog
Coma A punctuation mark
Dilate To live long
Enema Not a friend
Fester Quicker than someone else
Fibula A small lie
Impotent Distinguished, well known
Labor Pain Getting hurt at work
Medical Staff A Doctor's cane
Morbid A higher offer
Nitrates Rates of Pay for Working at Night,
Normally more money than Days
Node I knew it
Outpatient A person who has fainted
Pelvis Second cousin to Elvis
Post Operative A letter carrier
Recovery Room Place to do upholstery
Rectum Nearly killed him
Secretion Hiding something
Seizure Roman Emperor
Tablet A small table
Terminal Illness Getting sick at the airport
Tumor One plus one more
Urine Opposite of you're out
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Thanks to Brett
THE WEEKLY RUNDOWN
RISKS AND OPPORTUNITIES THAT WILL SHAPE THE COMING WEEK
MOST READ ANALYSIS FROM THE WEEK
As Elections Near, Turkey Will Still Block Sweden and Finland's NATO Aspirations
A breakthrough in NATO accession negotiations between Turkey and Sweden and Finland is unlikely before Turkey's national elections later this year, hampering the U.S. sale of F-16s to Ankara and reinforcing those in the West questioning Turkey's place in the military alliance.
What to Expect as U.S. States Begin Enforcing Data Privacy Laws
Five U.S. states will begin enforcing new EU-styled data privacy laws in 2023, which will create more stringent data requirements for companies operating in these states, posing financial and reputational risks for companies that fail to comply. California, Colorado, Connecticut, Utah and Virginia are all slated to enact changes to their data privacy legislation later in the year and two of these states have already made the changes effective as of Jan. 1. These new laws integrate a number of modifications based on the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a legal framework that pursues a ''rights-based approach'' to data protection and is arguably the most stringent data privacy legal framework in the world. These newly enacted and proposed state laws incorporate broader definitions for personally identifiable information (PII), stricter requirements regarding data collection and processing and certain oversight assessments to ensure improved data security practices.
Brazil's Economic Outlook Under Lula
While Brazil is not at risk of an economic crisis, largely thanks to a solid external financial position, growth will remain slow in 2023 due to its large public debt, high social welfare spending, and state intervention in sectors including agriculture and oil and gas. When Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was inaugurated on Jan. 1 for his third term as Brazil's president, he inherited an economy whose real gross domestic product growth averaged only 1.2% over the past decade, with per capita incomes virtually unchanged following a number of domestic and external shocks. But the recent past was not completely negative, as the Brazilian Central Bank is now fully independent, which has enabled the country to react swiftly to increasing inflation. Brazil also managed to avoid broader financial instability despite the global COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war due to a solid external financial position and in spite of high government debt.
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Punny …
Sue – these are for Lar ………………….Groan! thanks to Doctor Rich
Thanks to Todd S. ...
1. The fattest knight at King Arthur's round table was Sir Cumference. He acquired his size from too much pi.
2. I thought I saw an eye-doctor on an Alaskan island, but it turned out to be an optical Aleutian.
3. She was only a whisky-maker, but he loved her still.
4. A rubber-band pistol was confiscated from an algebra class, because it was a weapon of math disruption.
5. No matter how much you push the envelope, it'll still be stationery.
6. A dog gave birth to puppies near the road and was cited for littering.
7. A grenade thrown into a kitchen in France would result in Linoleum Blownapart.
8. Two silk worms had a race. They ended up in a tie.
9. A hole has been found in the nudist-camp wall. The police are looking into it.
10. Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
11. Atheism is a non-prophet organization.
12. Two hats were hanging on a hat rack in the hallway. One hat said to the other: 'You stay here; I'll go on a head.'
13. I wondered why the baseball kept getting bigger. Then it hit me.
14. A sign on the lawn at a drug rehab center said: 'Keep off the Grass.'
15. The midget fortune-teller who escaped from prison was a small medium at large.
16. The soldier who survived mustard gas and pepper spray is now a seasoned veteran.
17. A backward poet writes inverse.
18. In a democracy it's your vote that counts. In feudalism it's your count that votes.
19. When cannibals ate a missionary, they got a taste of religion.
20. If you jumped off the bridge in Paris, you'd be in Seine.
21. A vulture carrying two dead raccoons boards an airplane. The stewardess looks at him and says, 'I'm sorry, sir, only one carrion allowed per passenger.'
22. Two fish swim into a concrete wall. One turns to the other and says, 'Dam!'
23. Two Eskimos sitting in a kayak were chilly, so they lit a fire in the craft. Unsurprisingly it sank, proving once again that you can't have your kayak and heat it too.
24. Two hydrogen atoms meet. One says, 'I've lost my electron.' The other says, 'Are you sure?' The first replies, 'Yes, I'm positive.'
25. Did you hear about the Buddhist who refused Novocain during a root- canal? His goal: transcend dental medication.
26. There was the person who sent ten puns to friends, with the hope that at least one of the puns would make them laugh. No
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Thanks to Jerry ...
My doctor asked if anyone in my family suffered from mental illness. I said, "No, we all seem to enjoy it".
My bucket list: Keep Breathing.
Camping: where you spend a small fortune to live like a homeless person.
Just once, I want a username and password prompt to say, "Close enough."
Being an adult is the dumbest thing I have ever done.
I'm a multi-tasker. I can listen, ignore and forget all at the same time!
Retirement to do list: Wake up. Nailed it!
Went to an antique auction and people were bidding on me.
People who wonder if the glass is half empty or half full, miss the point. The glass is refillable.
I don't have grey hair; I have wisdom highlights.
Sometimes it takes me all day to get nothing done.
I don't trip, I do random gravity checks.
My heart says chocolate and wine, but my jeans say, please, please, please eat a salad!
Never laugh at your spouse's choices. You are one of them.
One minute you're young and fun. The next, you're turning down the car stereo to see better.
I'd grow my own food if only I could find bacon seeds.
Losing weight doesn't seem to be working for me, so from now I'm going to concentrate on getting taller.
My body is a temple; ancient and crumbling.
Common sense is not a gift. It's a punishment because you have to deal with everyone else who doesn't have it.
I came. I saw. I forgot what I was doing. Retraced my steps. Got lost on the way back. Now I have no idea what's going on. But, I remembered to send this to you.
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32 years ago, day one is presented in a well done animated video. Certainly a proud day for Coalition Air Power.
Desert Storm - The Air War, Day 1 - Animated - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zxRgfBXn6Mg
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This Day in U S Military History January 22
1813 – During the War of 1812, British forces under Henry Proctor defeat a U.S. contingent planning an attack on Fort Detroit. The task of taking back Fort Detroit, which had been lost to the British, fell to General William Henry Harrison. His plan was to gather an army near the rapids of the Maumee River, and from there, to move against Detroit. While building an armed encampment, his subordinate, Brigadier General James Winchester, learned that a small garrison of British and Indians guarded provisions for the Fort Malden near the village of Raison River. There were also reports that the British planned to destroy the pro-American village.Winchester had orders from General Harrison to stay at his camp until the full army was assembled and ready to move on Detroit, but he felt he had to act immediately. On 21 January he sent seven hundred men toward the Raison River under Colonel William Lewis, who defeated the British and Indians there and then sent back to Winchester asking for reinforcements to hold the place. Winchester sent three hundred regulars under Colonel Samuel Wells, and also proceeded by carriage himself. Upon arrival, Wells, pointed out to Winchester that the troops were in a highly exposed position, and recommended that scouts be sent out to learn what the British were doing. Winchester decided that the next day would be time enough to take care of these things, and went off to stay in the comfortable home of one of the community leaders, more than a mile away from his soldiers. That night, Colonel Henry Proctor, who had succeeded General Brock as the British commander at Detroit, led six hundered soldiers and six hundred Indians against the Americans, attacking before dawn. Well's regulars formed behind a picket fence were able to kill or wound 185 of the attackers. The American militia, however, was taken by surprise in the open and quickly overcome. Winchester was captured By Chief Roundhead, and taken before Colonel Proctor. The British commander persuaded Winchester to order his regulars to surrender, supposedly to avoid a massacre by the Indians. The fighting over, Proctor withdrew to Fort Malden, taking his prisoners with him, except for sixty four wounded Americans he left at Raison River, intending to send sleds to get them the next day. That night the Indians returned and massacred thirty of the wounded men.
1953 – The 18th FBW withdrew its remaining F-51 Mustangs from combat and prepared to transition to Sabres, thus ending the use of USAF single engine, propeller-driven aircraft in offensive combat in the Korean War. Peking radio announced the capture of Colonel Arnold and his surviving crewmembers, three having perished when the B-29 went down on January 13. The communists did not release Colonel Arnold until 1956.
1957 – The New York City "Mad Bomber", George P. Metesky, WWI Marine Corps veteran, is arrested in Waterbury, Connecticut and is charged with planting more than 30 bombs.
1964 – U.S. Joint Chiefs foresee larger U.S. commitment: The U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff inform Defense Secretary Robert McNamara that they "are wholly in favor of executing the covert actions against North Vietnam." President Johnson had recently approved Oplan 34A, provocative operations to be conducted by South Vietnamese forces (supported by the United States) to gather intelligence and conduct sabotage to destabilize the North Vietnamese regime. Actual operations would begin in February and involve raids by South Vietnamese commandos operating under American orders against North Vietnamese coastal and island installations. Although American forces were not directly involved in the actual raids, U.S. Navy ships were on station to conduct electronic surveillance and monitor North Vietnamese defense responses under another program called Operation De Soto. Although the Joint Chiefs agreed with the president's decision on these operations, they further advocated even stronger measures, advising McNamara: "… We believe, however, that it would be idle to conclude that these efforts will have a decisive effect on the communist determination to support the insurgency, and it is our view that we must therefore be prepared fully to undertake a much higher level of activity." Among their recommendations were "aerial bombing of key North Vietnamese targets," and "commit[ment of] additional U.S. forces, as necessary, in support of the combat actions within South Vietnam." President Johnson at first resisted this advice, but in less than a year, U.S. airplanes were bombing North Vietnam, and shortly thereafter the first U.S. combat troops began arriving in South Vietnam.
1969 – Operation Dewey Canyon, perhaps the most successful high-mobility regimental-size action of the Vietnam War, began in the A Shau/Da Krong Valleys when the 9th Marines, commanded by Colonel Robert H. Barrow, and supporting artillery were lifted from Quang Tri. By 18 March the enemy's base area had been cleared out, 1617 enemy dead had been counted, and more than 500 tons of weapons and ammunition unearthed.
2003 – Bill Maudlin (b.1921), WW-II era cartoonist, died in Newport Beach, Ca. In 1945 he won a Pulitzer Prize for his war cartoons and later authored "Up Front," a collection of cartoons and an essay on war.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
ANGLING, JOHN
Rank and organization: Cabin Boy, U.S. Navy. Born: 1850, Portland, Maine. Accredited to: Maine. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Pontoosuc during the capture of Fort Fisher and Wilmington, 24 December 1864 to 22 January 1865. Carrying out his duties faithfully during this period, C.B. Angling was recommended for gallantry and skill and for his cool courage while under the fire of the enemy throughout these various actions.
BLAIR, ROBERT M.
Rank and organization: Boatswain's Mate, U.S. Navy. Born: 1836, Peacham, Vt. Accredited to: Vermont. G.O. No.: 59, 22 June 1865. Citation: Served on board the U.S.S. Pontoosuc during the capture of Fort Fisher and Wilmington, 24 December 1864 to 22 January 1865. Carrying out his duties faithfully throughout this period, Blair was recommended for gallantry and skill and for his cool courage while under the fire of the enemy throughout these actions.
*HOOKER, GEORGE
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 5th U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Tonto Creek, Ariz., 22 January 1873. Entered service at ——. Birth: Frederick, Md. Date of issue: 12 August 1875. Citation. Gallantry in action in which he was killed.
LEWIS, WILLIAM B.
Rank and organization: Sergeant, Company B, 3d U.S. Cavalry. Place and date: At Bluff Station, Wyo., 20-22 January 1877. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Boston, Mass. Date of issue: 28 March 1879. Citation: Bravery in skirmish.
DAVIS, JOSEPH H.
Rank and organization: Landsman, U.S. Navy. Entered service at: Philadelphia, Pa. Born: 22 July 1860, Philadelphia, Pa. (Letter, Mate J. W. Baxter, U.S. Navy, No. 8985, 25 January 1886.) Citation: On board the U.S. Receiving Ship Dale off the Wharf at Norfolk, Va., 22 January 1886. Jumping overboard from the ferryboat, Davis rescued from drowning John Norman, ordinary seaman.
McCALL, THOMAS E.
Rank and organization: Staff Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company F, 143d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near San Angelo, Italy, 22 January 1944. Entered service at: Veedersburg, Ind. Birth: Burton, Kans. G.O. No.: 31, 17 April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at risk of life above and beyond the call of duty. On 22 January 1944, Company F had the mission of crossing the Rapido River in the vicinity of San Angelo, Italy, and attacking the well-prepared German positions to the west. For the defense of these positions the enemy had prepared a network of machinegun positions covering the terrain to the front with a pattern of withering machinegun fire, and mortar and artillery positions zeroed in on the defilade areas. S/Sgt. McCall commanded a machinegun section that was to provide added fire support for the riflemen. Under cover of darkness, Company F advanced to the river crossing site and under intense enemy mortar, artillery, and machinegun fire crossed an ice-covered bridge which was continually the target for enemy fire. Many casualties occurred on reaching the west side of the river and reorganization was imperative. Exposing himself to the deadly enemy machinegun and small arms fire that swept over the flat terrain, S/Sgt. McCall, with unusual calmness, encouraged and welded his men into an effective fighting unit. He then led them forward across the muddy, exposed terrain. Skillfully he guided his men through a barbed-wire entanglement to reach a road where he personally placed the weapons of his two squads into positions of vantage, covering the battalion's front. A shell landed near one of the positions, wounding the gunner, killing the assistant gunner, and destroying the weapon. Even though enemy shells were falling dangerously near, S/Sgt. McCall crawled across the treacherous terrain and rendered first aid to the wounded man, dragging him into a position of cover with the help of another man. The gunners of the second machinegun had been wounded from the fragments of an enemy shell, leaving S/Sgt. McCall the only remaining member of his machinegun section. Displaying outstanding aggressiveness, he ran forward with the weapon on his hip, reaching a point 30 yards from the enemy, where he fired 2 bursts of fire into the nest, killing or wounding all of the crew and putting the gun out of action. A second machinegun now opened fire upon him and he rushed its position, firing his weapon from the hip, killing 4 of the guncrew. A third machinegun, 50 yards in rear of the first two, was delivering a tremendous volume of fire upon our troops. S/Sgt. McCall spotted its position and valiantly went toward it in the face of overwhelming enemy fire. He was last seen courageously moving forward on the enemy position, firing his machinegun from his hip. S/Sgt. McCall's intrepidity and unhesitating willingness to sacrifice his life exemplify the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 22 FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
22 January
1909: The Aeronautical Society of New York gave a $5,000 contract to Glenn Curtiss. His airplane, the Gold Bug, was the first one built for sale by Curtiss. (24)
1925: The first squadron trained to operate from a carrier, VF Squadron 2, began practice landings on the USS Langley off San Diego, Calif. (24)
1944: Operation SHINGLE. To support the amphibious landings at Anzio, the Mediterranean Allied Air Force flew 1,200 sorties. (24)
1945: Navy task forces completed three weeks of action against Luzon, Formosa, the Ryukyus, Pescadores, Okinawa, and Hong Kong. They destroyed over 600 enemy aircraft and 325,000 tons of enemy shipping. (24)
1948: The Navy announced that it could launch V-2s from its carriers. (24)
1950: Paul Mantz set a new Federation Aeronautique Internationale record for a single-engine transcontinental flight. In 4 hours 52 minutes 58 seconds, he flew a P-51 Mustang from Burbank, Calif., to La Guardia, N.Y. (9)
1953: EXERCISE SKY TRY. Through 20 February, the Strategic Air Command extensively tested the combat capabilities of its first B-47 unit, the 306th Bombardment Wing at MacDill AFB, Fla. This exercise led to a 90-day rotational mission to England later in June. (1)
1959: Capt William B. White flew an F-105 Thunderchief from Eielson AFB, Alaska, to Eglin AFB, Fla. He flew 3,850 miles in 5 hours 27 minutes on the longest nonstop flight between points in the U. S. (24) The USAF issued a requirement for an air-to-surface strategic ballistic missile for the B-52. It became the Skybolt. (6)
1962: EXERCISE LONG THRUST II. A 7-day transatlantic airlift maneuver from the U. S. concluded when the last of 5,273 soldiers landed in Germany. (24)
1963: Italian crews launched the last of six Jupiter intermediate-range ballistic missiles successfully from Cape Canaveral, Fla. (6)
1964: The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird first flew. (5)
1968: OPERATION NIAGARA. Through 31 March, USAF, U. S. Navy, and U. S. Marine Corps aircraft flew 24,016 sorties (21,449 tactical and 2,567 strategic) to support of Khe Sanh outpost. As mentioned in the Siege of Khe Sanh entry (21 January 1968), USAF tactical transports made 447 landings and 576 airdrops, delivering 12,430 tons of supplies. To this date, only the Berlin Airlift surpassed the airlift effort to Khe Sanh. (17) Apollo V, an unmanned earth orbital mission, launched from Kennedy Space Center in the fourth Saturn IB flight. This mission also included the first flight of the 31,700-pound lunar module (LM-1). (5)
1971: Cmdr Donald H. Lilienthal set a world distance record for heavy-weight turboprops in a P-3C Orion antisubmarine aircraft. He flew 11,036.47 kilometers (7,010 miles) in nonstop flight from Atsugi NAS, Japan, to Patuxent Naval Air Station, Md., in 15 hours 21 minutes. (5)
1980: Under the Integrated Improvement Program, teams upgraded the 351st Strategic Missile Wing's Minuteman silos and installed the Command Data Buffer System at Whiteman AFB, Mo. (6)
1981: Aeronautical Systems Division requested a proposal for initial full-scale engineering development of a long-range combat aircraft. (12)
1991: DESERT STORM: F-111F Aardvarks initiated "smart bomb" attacks against hardened aircraft shelters at Al Asad Air Base, Iraq. The attacks were so successful, Iraqi fighters started flying to Iran to escape destruction. (16) (21)
1997: An improved F-117A Nighthawk stealth fighter touched down at Holloman AFB, N. Mex., as Lockheed Martin delivered the first "RNIP-Plus" aircraft to the 49th Fighter Wing. The F-117's new Ring Laser Gyro/GPS Navigation Improvement Program reduced navigational drift during flight. Plans called for the entire F-117 fleet to be modified by October 1999. (AFNEWS Article 970158, 12 Feb 97)
1999: Lockheed Martin received a $450 million contract to install advanced flight control systems, improved communications, and navigation gear aboard the USAF's C-5s under an Avionics Modernization Program. (22) For the first time, the Global Hawk relayed information from its radar and sensors to the ground by using a commercial Ku-band satellite during its tenth test flight at Edwards AFB, Calif. (3)
2000: The Air Mobility Command performed its first regularly scheduled C-130 aeromedical evacuation mission. The 911th Airlift Wing from Pittsburgh International Airport/Air Reserve Station, Pa., began flying a weekly mission to the Caribbean to support U. S. Southern Command. Normally, the Air Mobility Command used C-9s and C-141 for its peacetime aeromedical mission, but the phased C-141 retirement created the C-130 requirement. Two Air Mobility Command-gained C-130 units volunteered to fly regular aeromedical missions, the 911th Airlift Wing and the Air National Guard's 187th Airlift Wing from Francis E. Warren AFB, Wy., to Peterson AFB, Col., on 1 February 2000. (22) The Boeing Aircraft Company took a new 747-400F freighter from its production line and sent it to its Wichita, Kans., facility for modification into a YAL-1 Airborne Laser test bed aircraft. (3)
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I usually do not read or listen to anything posted by CNN, but this looked interesting. Glad I did.
It's just too bad that he didn't get to enjoy getting credit for this until recently.
Eat your heart out Tom Cruise.
CNN
US pilot shot down four Soviet MiGs in 30 minutes -- and kept it a secret for 50 years
Story by Brad Lendon • 2h ago
Royce Williams was a real-life "Top Gun" 10 years before Tom Cruise was even born.
On a cold November day in 1952, Williams shot down four Soviet fighter jets – and became a legend no one would hear about for more than 50 years.
The now 97-year-old former naval aviator was presented with the Navy Cross, the service's second-highest military honor at a ceremony Friday in California.
Navy Secretary Carlos Del Toro said on Friday that among the many proposals he has reviewed to upgrade sailors' awards, Williams' case "stood out above all others. It was very clear to me that his actions were truly extraordinary and more closely aligned with the criteria describing a higher medal."
"Freedom does not come cheap," Del Toro said. "It comes through the sacrifice of all those who have and continue to serve in today's military. Your actions that day kept you free. They kept your shipmates free in Task Force 77. Indeed, they kept all of us free."
Here's what Williams did to earn that honor.
Outnumbered and outgunned
On November 18, 1952, Williams was flying the F9F Panther – the US Navy's first jet fighter – on a mission during the Korean War.
He took off from the aircraft carrier USS Oriskany, which was operating with three other carriers in a task force in the Sea of Japan, also known as the East Sea, 100 miles off the coast of North Korea.
Williams, then age 27, and three other fighter pilots were ordered on a combat air patrol over the most northern part of the Korean Peninsula, near the Yalu River, which separates North Korea from China. To the northeast is Russia, then part of the Soviet Union, which supported North Korea in the conflict.
As the four US Navy jets flew their patrol, the group's leader suffered mechanical problems and with his wingman, headed back to the task force off the coast.
That left Williams and his wingman alone on the mission.
Then, to their surprise, seven Soviet MiG-15 fighter jets were identified heading toward the US task force.
US pilot shot down four Soviet MiGs in 30 minutes -- and kept it a secret for 50 years© Provided by CNN
A Grumman F9F Panther fighter jet fires its guns during an attack on the North Korean port of Hungnam in 1951. - Corbis/Getty Images
"They just didn't come out of Russia and engage us in any way before," Williams said in a 2021 interview with the American Veterans Center.
Wary commanders in the task force ordered the two US Navy jets to put themselves between the MiGs and the US warships.
While doing this, four of the Soviet MiGs turned toward Williams and opened fire, he recalled.
He said he fired on the tail MiG, which then dropped out of the four-plane Soviet formation, with Williams' wingman following the Soviet jet down.
At that point, US commanders on the carrier ordered him not to engage the Soviets, he said.
"I said, 'I am engaged,'" Williams recalled in the interview.
No choice but to fight
Williams said he also knew that because the Soviet jets were faster than his, if he tried to break off they'd catch and kill him.
"At that time the MiG-15 was the best fighter airplane in the world," faster and able to climb and dive quicker than the American jets, he said in the interview.
His plane was suited to air-to-ground combat, not aerial dogfights, he said.
But now he was in one, with not just one, but six Soviet jets as the other three MiGs that broke off earlier returned.
Related video: Top Gun: Maverick with Tom Cruise is Now Streaming on Paramount+ (Dailymotion)
What ensued was more than a half-hour of aerial combat, with Williams constantly turning and weaving – the one area where the F9F could compete with the Soviet aircraft – to not let the superior MiGs get their guns fixed on him.
"I was on automatic, I was doing as trained," he said.
So were the Soviets.
"But on some occasions … they made mistakes," Williams said.
One flew at him, but then stopped firing and dipped under him. Williams figured its pilot was killed by his gunfire.
And he described how another MiG got right in front of him, he hit it with his gunfire, and it disintegrated, causing Williams to maneuver sharply to avoid the wreckage and its pilot as the plane came apart.
Over the course of the fight, Williams fired all 760 rounds of 20mm cannon shells the F9F carried, according to an account of the engagement from the US Navy Memorial's website.
But the Soviets scored hits on Williams, too, disabling his rudder and wing control surfaces, leaving only the elevators in the rear of the plane viable for him to move the jet up and down.
Luckily, he said, at this point he was heading in the direction of the US task force off the coast. But one of the remaining Soviet jets was still on his tail.
He said he flew in an up-and-down roller coaster pattern, with bullets flying above and below him as he moved, the Soviet pilot trying to get a clear shot.
Williams' wingman rejoined the fight at this point, getting on the Soviet's tail and scaring him off, according to the Navy Memorial account.
But Williams still had some difficult flying to do to get the damaged jet back on board the carrier.
US pilot shot down four Soviet MiGs in 30 minutes -- and kept it a secret for 50 years© Provided by CNN
The USS Oriskany is pictured off New York City, in December 1950, while en route to conduct carrier qualifications. - US Navy
First, with the task force wary of Soviet warplanes possibly attacking it, its heightened air defenses initially thought Williams' F9F was a MiG, and destroyers guarding the American carriers opened fire on him.
Williams said his commander quickly put a stop to that, eliminating one danger.
Still, Williams had to get his jet on the deck on the carrier, something he'd usually do at an airspeed of 105 knots (120 mph). But he already knew if he went lower than 170 knots (195 mph), his aircraft would stall and plunge into the icy sea.
And he couldn't turn to line up with the carrier. So the ship's captain decided to take the extraordinary step of turning the carrier to line up with Williams.
It worked. He slammed onto the deck and caught the third and final arresting wire.
On the deck on the carrier, Navy crew counted 263 holes in Williams' plane. It was in such poor shape, it was pushed off the ship into the sea, according to the Navy Memorial account.
But as the plane disappeared below the waves, something else had to also – the fact that the US-Soviet aerial combat happened at all.
Fear of another world war
News of Williams' heroics went all the way to the top, with then-President Dwight Eisenhower among the senior US officials eager to speak to the pilot, according to the Navy Memorial's website.
"Following the battle, Williams was personally interviewed by several high-ranking Navy admirals, the Secretary of Defense, and also the President, after which he was instructed to not talk about his engagement as officials feared the incident might cause a devastating increase of tensions between the US and Soviet Union, and possibly ignite World War Three," the website says.
A US Defense Department account of the incident also notes that US forces were trying out new communications intercept equipment that day. It was feared that revealing the Soviet role in the combat would have compromised that US' advantage.
The records of Williams' dogfight were promptly classified by US officials and he was sworn to secrecy, meaning it would take more than five decades before his victories could be fully recognized.
In 1953, Williams was awarded a Silver Star, but the citation made no reference to Soviet aircraft, just "enemy" ones. And it only mentioned three kills. The fourth was not known until Russian records were released in the 1990s, the website says.
So it was not until 2002, when the records were declassified, that Williams could even tell those closest to him.
"For the rest of his accomplished Navy career, and for decades after retirement, the details of Williams' dogfight with Soviet MiGs over North Korea remained a secret," according to the US Defense Department.
"When he was finally contacted by the government and told his mission was declassified, the first person Williams said he told was his wife."
In the following years, veterans groups who learned what he did said the Silver Star was insufficient reward for Williams, with some saying he should get the military's highest award – the Medal of Honor.
In December last year, more than 70 years after the Korean War aerial battle, Del Toro said Williams' Silver Star should be upgraded to the Navy Cross.
California Rep. Darrell Issa, who pushed for Williams to get the upgraded medal, called him "a Top Gun pilot like no other, and an American hero for all time."
"It is to this day the most unique US-Soviet aerial combat dogfight in the history of the Cold War," Issa said in a statement.
"The heroism and valor he demonstrated for 35 harrowing minutes 70 years ago in the skies over the North Pacific and the coast of North Korea saved the lives of his fellow pilots, shipmates, and crew. His story is one for the ages, but is now being fully told."
CNN's Haley Britzky contributed reporting.
The real story is that most had pushed for the Medal of Honor…….skip
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