To All,
Good Wednesday morning March 15 2023.
Beware the Ides of March
Regards,
Skip
To clear up some confusion and provide the additional information on John "Tiger"Porter's servicss. On April 24……skip
This was on the Bubba List but not all the folks on the List are on that Bubba List.
I received a note in response to my query to the Bubbas which turned out to have the incorrect date on it. Many folks responded and I updated the Date. But to clear away any confusion The following update was received last night from his brother.
To The Bubbas:
Gentlemen,
I have attached a Thank You Note from me and my Family for the love and support that you have shown my Brother - my Hero - Cmdr. John "Tiger" Porter, USN Ret. (April 25, 1945 - November 5, 2022).
With respect and admiration,
Bob "WannaBe" Porter
ROBERT & CHERYL PORTER
March 14th, 2023
To "The Bubbas"
My Family and I have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of responses from my Brother John's shipmates and fellow pilots. Thank you Lew "Jumper" Hoyt for getting this ball rolling. On behalf of me, Kathy Porter, and John's daughters Kirsten and Erin - heartfelt thanks to all of you
It is difficult to put into words what you men mean to me. John was my older brother, by two years, and he was my hero all my life. In short, I idolized him, for almost everything he did, and most particularly for his service as a Naval Aviator. He was always a larger than life, heroic son of a bitch in my eyes.
Going all the way back to the late-Sixties when John was in Flight School at Pensacola, I spent a lot of time visiting with him; as I did later in San Diego and on Oahu at Barber's Point NAS. I always looked up to you guys with a kind of awe. To my great regret, I was unable to serve in the military myself; it remained an unfulfilled aspiration; so I was touched when Jumper recently gave me the honorary call-sign "WannaBe". I carry it with pride.
I'm not sure who all makes up the Bubbas, but I suspect that I have probably met many of you. For years, I was often included in golf outings with John and his pals at Miramar Golf Course; memories that I will cherish. As some of you may know, their golf group called itself the "MIGs". For years, I just assumed that was a reference to a Russian fighter aircraft. I later learned that it stood for "Miramar International Golf Society"!
With the greatest respect for all of you, I look forward to seeing you at John's Memorial Service at Miramar on April 24th.
God bless,
Bob "WannaBe" Porter
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This day in Naval and Marine Corps History March 15
1889—A typhoon strikes Apia, Samoa, where American, German and British ships are protecting their national interests. The typhoon drives USS Trenton, USS Vandalia, and USS Nipsic ashore, killing 51 crew members, and sinks all three German ships with the loss of 150 crew.
1943—U.S. 7th Fleet is established in Brisbane, Australia during WWII, under the command of Adm. Arthur S. "Chips" Carpender.
1944—USS Shamrock Bay (CVE 84) is commissioned. During World War II, she serves in the Atlantic and is sent to the Pacific due the loss of escort carriers and participates in the Okinawa Campaign.
1947—Ensign John W. Lee, Jr., becomes the first African-American with a commission in the regular Navy and serves aboard USS Kearsarge (CV 33).
1953—Marine pilots of VMA 312 destroy eight rail cars, two possible radar towers, a power transformer and numerous other assorted targets in Korea before returning to USS Bataan (CVL 29).
1957—A ZPG-2 airship driven by Cmdr. Jack R. Hunt lands at Naval Air Station Key West, FL, after a flight that began Mar. 4 at South Weymouth, MA, then circled over the Atlantic Ocean toward Portugal, the African coast and back for a new world record in distance and endurance, covering 9,448 statute miles and remaining airborne 264 hours 12 minutes without refueling.
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This day in History 15 March
44 BC Julius Caesar is assassinated by high-ranking Roman Senators.
933 Henry the Fowler routs the raiding Magyars at Merseburg, Germany.
1493 Christopher Columbus returns to Spain after his first voyage to the New World.
1778 In command of two frigates, the Frenchman la Perouse sails east from Botany Bay for the last lap of his voyage around the world.
1820 Maine is admitted as the 23rd state.
1862 General John Hunt Morgan begins four days of raids near the city of Gallatin, Tenn.
1864 The Red River Campaign begins as the Union forces reach Alexandria, La.
1892 New York State unveils the new automatic ballot voting machine.
1895 Bone Mizell, the famed cowboy of Florida, appears before a judge for altering cattle brands.
1903 The British complete the conquest of Nigeria.
1904 Three hundred Russians are killed as the Japanese shell Port Arthur in Korea.
1909 Italy proposes a European conference on the Balkans.
1916 General John Pershing and his 15,000 troops chase Pancho Villa into Mexico.
1934 Henry Ford restores the $5-a-day wage.
1935 Joseph Goebbels, German Minister of Propaganda bans four Berlin newspapers.
1939 Germany occupies Bohemia and Moravia, Czechoslovakia.
1944 Cassino, Italy is destroyed by Allied bombing.
1949 Almost four years after the end of World War II, clothes rationing in Great Britain ends.
1951 French General de Lattre demands that Paris send him more troops for the fight in Indochina.
1955 The U.S. Air Force unveils the first self-guided missile.
1956 The first performance of My Fair Lady, starring Julie Andrews and Rex Harrison, takes place on Broadway.
1960 Ten nations meet in Geneva to discuss disarmament.
1965 Gamal Abdel Nasser is re-elected Egyptian President.
1967 President Lyndon Johnson names Ellsworth Bunker as the new ambassador to Saigon. Bunker replaces Lodge.
1968 The U.S. mint halts the practice of buying and selling gold.
1991 Four Los Angeles police are charged in the beating of Rodney King.
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ROLLING THUNDER REMEMBERED Thanks to the Bear
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)…
Skip… For The List for Wednesday, 15 March 2023… Bear🇺🇸⚓️🐻
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER (1965-1968)
From the archives of rollingthunderremembered.com post for 15 March 1968… The anatomy of a Presidential decision… (to forego 4-more years)…
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 the Bear for forwarding this to me.
Another H-Gram from Admiral Cox and the folks at the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC)
Subject: H-gram 079 Revolt of the Admirals
Subj: H-gram 079
This H-gram discusses the 1949 "Revolt of the Admirals" and provides background information for the renaming decisions for USS CHANCELLORSVILLE (CG-62) to USS ROBERT SMALLS and USNS MAURY (T-AGS 66) to USNS MARIE THARP.
80th Anniversary of WW II
A historic "something to think about;" By the end of October 1942, after 11 months of war, the U.S. Navy had lost four fleet carriers and the Japanese had lost four fleet carriers. Each side had one carrier undergoing extensive battle damage repair, and each side had one fleet carrier operating in significantly degraded mode (ZUIKAKU due to loss of so many aircraft at the Battle of Santa Cruz and USS ENTERPRISE from damage in the same battle.) By the end of 1943, the Japanese had yet to replace any of their carrier losses, while the U.S. had seven ESSEX-class fleet carriers and nine INDEPENDENCE-class light carriers (built on light cruiser hulls.) All of the new carriers had been authorized, funded, and all but one ESSEX and five INDEPENDENCE, were laid down before the attack on Pearl Harbor, in anticipation of war. (In addition all ten new fast battleships plus four heavy cruisers and 20 light cruisers were laid down before the war started.) Had it not been for this foresight of Democratic Congressman Carl Vinson (the "Father of the Two-Ocean Navy") and the Roosevelt Administration it would have been early 1945 before the much greater industrial capacity of the U.S. would have made a difference against the Japanese.
The Revolt of the Admirals
At the recent Navy Flag Officer and Senior Executive Service (NFOSES,) reference was made in one presentation to the "Revolt of the Admirals." I thought I would save you some reading time (although Halberstam's book, "The Coldest Winter" is worth a read.)
1949 was a really bad year for the U.S. Navy. On 22 May, the recently-fired Secretary of Defense (and previous Secretary of the Navy) James V. Forrestal jumped out of a 16th story window at Bethesda Naval Hospital. Two days later, the Secretary of the Navy, John L. Sullivan, resigned in protest over the arbitrary cancellation by the new Secretary of Defense, Louis Johnson, of the supercarrier USS UNITED STATES (CVA-58) after the ship had been laid down (Johnson gave no notice to the Navy or Congress.) The new Secretary of the Navy was Francis P. "Rowboat" Mathews, whose "military" experience consisted of being the 8th Supreme Knight of the Knights of Columbus and by his own admission, once having rowed a boat (hence the pejorative nickname.) Following a series of incredibly contentious Congressional hearings on service roles and missions, in which Navy admirals publicly defied the guidance of Johnson (who was blatantly partisan in favor of the newly independent U.S. Air Force) and Mathews, and lost the public relations battle to the Air Force, the Chief of Naval Operations, Louis Denfeld, was fired; a number of other Navy flag officers and captains had their careers prematurely ended.
The root of evil was, unsurprisingly, the budget, compounded by radical ideas for unification and termination of missions pushed by mostly the Air Force, but also the U.S. Army. By 1949 the entire U.S. Defense establishment, but especially the Navy, was reeling under the effects of draconian post-WW II budget cuts in the Truman Administration. The Navy budget went from $24 billion in 1946, to $4.6 billion in 1947 and $3.7 billion in 1948 and 1949 (equivalent to about $33 billion today.) This resulted in all but one battleship and all but about five aircraft carriers going into mothballs. Roles and missions arguments being vigorously pursued by other services included complete elimination of the Marine Corps and control of all air assets by the Air Force (who saw no need for aircraft carriers or naval aviation, since strategic bombers with atomic weapons would be all that was required.)
As the last Secretary of the Navy to hold cabinet rank, and the first Secretary Defense, James Forrestal was able to keep some of the most radical proposals at bay, but fought a gradually losing battle against the budget cuts sought by President Truman; the fight eventually cost Forrestal his sanity, literally. A muckraking journalist "outed" Forrestal's discussions with the campaign of Republican candidate Thomas E. Dewey (widely expected to win the 1948 Presidential election) to continue as SECDEF in the Dewey Administration. After Truman unexpectedly won re-election, he asked Forrestal to resign.
Forrestal's replacement, Louis Johnson, gained the job of Secretary of Defense by virtue of being Truman's chief campaign fund-raiser. Politically ambitious, Johnson viewed even more drastic cutting of the defense budget as his own ticket to the Presidency. He bought the USAF argument that strategic bombers, by themselves, could win any future wars faster and at far less expense than the other services.
Johnson's attitude can be summed up by this quote, "The Navy is on its way out. There's no reason for having a Navy and a Marine Corps. General Bradley (then Chairman of the JCS) tells me amphibious operations are a thing of the past. We'll never have any more amphibious operations. That does away with the Marine Corps. And the Air Force can do anything the Navy can do, so that does away with the Navy." And he meant it – and showed it by one of his first actions cancelling the carrier UNITED STATES in favor of the USAF B-36 "Peacemaker" strategic bomber program.
Viewing the coming budget battle as existential in nature, an office in OPNAV (OP-23,) headed by then-Captain Arleigh Burke, was tasked with digging up as much information to oppose the B-36 program as well as further service unification efforts. Although not officially part of the OP-23 effort, a Navy officer prepared what become known as the "Anonymous Letter" that, based on rumor, accused Secretary Johnson and the Secretary of the Air Force of corrupt conflicts of interest related to the B-36 program. When it became public, the letter backfired badly on the Navy. The result was a series of hearings, led by Chairman of the House Armed Service Committee Carl Vinson (who was sympathetic to the Navy) that devolved into arguably the most ugly spectacle of inter-service "rivalry" in U.S. history – and the Navy lost.
The American public (and their representatives) were largely swayed by the USAF "PR" campaign for waging strategic nuclear warfare on the cheap – a strategy that the VCNO, Admiral Arthur Radford, called in public testimony "morally reprehensible." The parade of active duty and retired admirals (including King, Nimitz and Halsey) were viewed as recalcitrant, interested only in protecting Navy equities, while defying the concept of civilian control of the military. This was deemed by the press as the "Revolt of the Admirals."
In the end, CNO Denfeld publicly testified in support of the admirals' opposition to the Truman budget, in defiance of Secretary Mathew's direction. As a result, on 27 October 1949, Mathews fired Denfeld, an action that Vinson said was purely vindictive. Mathews replaced Denfeld with Admiral Forrest Sherman, the youngest ever CNO at the time (who died in office of a heart attack in 1951,) who immediately disbanded OP-23. Other senior admirals then retired early.
As all this was going on, China fell to the Communists and the Soviet Union tested its first atomic bomb. And then, in June 1950, North Korea invaded South Korea, launching a war in which aircraft carriers played a key role and the B-36 absolutely none. History showed that Johnson and Mathews (and the USAF) were wrong. Two Navy officers who somewhat amazingly survived the Revolt of the Admirals fallout, were Arthur Radford, who became Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Arleigh Burke, who became CNO, both in the Eisenhower administration.
The Revolt of the Admirals is an extreme case study in tension that exists to this day in civil-military relations. It is viewed by some as disloyalty to the concept of civilian control of the military, in that the admirals publicly voiced opposition to the President's budget and policies (that they truly believed were not in the best interest in the nation.) At the same time, Congress (a co-equal branch of government) demanded forthright and honest testimony from the admirals. So, damned if they did, damned if they didn't, but the admirals chose honesty.
For more on the Revolt of the Admirals, please see the attached paper by ace NHHC Historian, Dr. Peter Leubke, PhD.
USS CHANCELLORSVILLE to USS ROBERT SMALLS
Text of the "5030" signed 10 February by Secretary Del Toro and announced 28 February 2023; USS ROBERT SMALLS "honors Robert Smalls (1839-1915), a skilled Sailor and statesman born into slavery in south Carolina. An expert navigator of southern coasts, Smalls was conscripted in 1862 to serve as a pilot of the Confederate steamer PLANTER at Charleston. On 13 May 1862, he executed a daring escape out of the heavily fortified Charleston harbor with his family, other enslaved people, and valuable military cargo aboard, and successfully surrendered PLANTER to the U.S. Navy. Smalls continued as pilot of the ship, but also piloted ironclad KEOKUK and other vessels. He ultimately became captain of PLANTER. An ardent advocate for African Americans, Smalls led one of the first boycotts of segregated transportation in 1864. This movement led to the city of Philadelphia integrating street cars in 1867. After the Civil War, Smalls was appointed a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia, and from 1868-1874 he served in the South Carolina legislature. In 1874, he was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives and served for five terms, advocating for greater integration. After his time in Congress, Smalls was twice appointed collector of the Port of Beaufort, South Carolina. He died at Beaufort in 1915." For more detail and rationale on the renaming of USS CHANCELORSVILLE please see attachment H079.2.
USNS MAURY to USNS MARIE THARP
Text of the "5030" signed 10 February by Secretary Del Toro and announced 8 March 2023; "Marie Tharp (1920-2006) was a pioneering geologist and oceanographic cartographer who created the first scientific maps of the Atlantic Ocean floor and shaped our understanding of plate tectonics and continental drift. Between 1946 and 1952 Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute's research vessel ATLANTIS used sonar to obtain depth measurements of the North Atlantic Ocean, which Tharp, in collaboration with her colleague, Bruce C. Heezen (namesake of T-AGS 64) used to create highly detailed seafloor profiles and maps. While examining these profiles, Tharp noticed a cleft in the ocean floor that she deduced to be a rift valley that ran along the ridge crest and continued along the length of its axis, evidence of continental drift. At the time, the consensus of the U.S. scientific community held continental drift to be impossible, but later examination bore out Tharp's hypothesis. Her work thus proved instrumental to the development of Plate Tectonic Theory, a revolutionary idea in the field of geology at the time. Owing to this and other innovative mapping efforts (some of which the Navy funded,) the National Geographic Society awarded Tharp and Heezen (posthumously) its highest honor, the Hubbard Medal, placing them among the ranks of other pioneering researchers and explorers such as Sir Ernest Shackleton, Charles Lindbergh, and Rear Admiral Richard E Byrd." For more background and rationale for renaming USNS MAURY please see attachment H079.2
As always you are welcome to share H-grams as desired. Previous H-grams can be found at
H-Grams (navy.mil)
Very respectfully,
Sam
Samuel J. Cox (SES)
RADM, USN (Ret)
Director of Naval History
Curator for the Navy
Director Naval History and Heritage Command
202-433-2210 (work) 571-213-9392 (govt cell)
The Revolt of the Admirals
H079.1
Dr. Peter Luebke, PhD, 14 March 2023
Executive Summary
In 1949, a series of congressional hearings that opened as ones on alleged irregularities in the procurement of the Air Force's B-36 Peacemaker strategic bomber became a referendum on the roles and missions of the Navy. Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Louis Denfeld delivered testimony that diverged from the views of Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Omar Bradley, Secretary of the Navy Francis Matthews, and Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson, particularly on matters of naval aviation and the Navy's role in executing national strategy. Following Denfeld's testimony, Truman removed Denfeld as CNO. The public airing of Navy grievances in the hearings—and ouster of Denfeld—led the press to dub the affair the "Revolt of the Admirals." Although the B-36 served as the proximate cause of the "revolt," the entire matter reflected the contentious and unsettled configuration of national security and defense establishment following World War II.
The Revolt of the Admirals
Contextualizing the Revolt of the Admirals demonstrates the affair to have been a particularly public coda to arguments that had occurred largely out of sight among the services, the President, and the new Department of Defense. Disagreements about the roles and missions of the armed services in an era of austerity following World War II—predicated upon perceived lessons learned about how the U.S. had fought that war—created tension among the armed services.
The United States won a clear victory in World War II. Lessons other than that all the services had played a critical role in securing that victory remained less clear. The role and use of aviation in particular created friction between the services, as the Navy and Army Air Forces (AAF) drew diverging lessons from World War II.
During the interwar years, U.S. Navy leadership grasped that aviation would play a large role in the coming war. Navy leadership explored concepts of how precisely naval air power could be used with fleet problems and at the Naval War College prior to World War II. The campaigns in the Pacific validated the central role of naval aviation to the Navy. Aircraft carriers demonstrated themselves as key platforms for force projection and naval air power that could operate effectively against shore-based opposition and targets. Historian Jeffrey Barlow observed that, by the end of World War II, the Navy believed "its carrier would have to be capable of launching limited offensive strikes against selected land targets in the initial stages of a war." World War II had also shown the Navy the value of controlling its own air assets, so that they could be used with maximum efficiency to support operations.
The AAF, as well, thought that World War II had validated its concept of operations. AAF leadership assessed the strategic bombing campaign against the Axis powers as a great success that proved beyond a doubt the efficacy of strategic airpower. While some studies, such as that of the United States Strategic Bombing Survey, found that the strategic air campaign had not been as effective as claimed, AAF leadership tended to write any shortfalls off to divided efforts. In other words, they thought diversion of AAF resources to provide tactical air support and other support for the Army and the Navy had hurt the strategic bombing campaign, which would have been more successful had it been conducted independently and free from other requirements. The fact that the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki led to Japanese surrender only strengthened AAF conviction that strategic bombardment had proven the centrality of strategic bombardment.
Thus, the Navy and the AAF held different views on lessons learned from World War II. Navy leadership, for its part, saw that the war had shown the importance of aviation for projecting naval power. Reflecting its experience in the Pacific, the Navy also saw the importance of tactical air power for success. The AAF examined the evidence and thought its strategic bombardment campaigns had been the real reason America won the war. These deeply held beliefs, drawn from the experience of World War II, would shape postwar debates over national security policy and defense unification. The Army Air Force believed World War II demonstrated it needed sole control over the air, while the Navy argued that the Pacific campaigns substantiated the need for its own air component.
World War II also made clear the need for some kind of unification of the armed forces. The scope, scale, and complexity of operations suggested that some unifying head—other than the chief executive—would need to synchronize joint efforts. The Navy feared that unification would undermine its independence and result in the lion's share of postwar funding going to the Army or the AAF. The Marine Corps also feared for its existence under a unified structure, in which the Army might make it redundant. Eventually, President Harry S. Truman made clear that he supported unification efforts. Accordingly, in 1946 Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal and Secretary of War Robert Patterson, with input from their service heads, agreed upon the form of a unified defense establishment. Among other changes, the Army and Navy would be placed under a secretary of defense, as would the newly created Air Force.
The passage of the National Security Act of 1947 formally established the JCS as well as created the National Military Establishment (NME) and the position of Secretary of Defense. While unification had occurred on paper, it remained for the new Secretary of Defense and the services to thrash out the division of roles and responsibilities within the new structure. The National Security Act and Executive Order 9877, in which President Truman directed its implementation, assigned broad responsibilities to the services based on domain. Room remained for the services to debate their own primacy and roles, especially as concerned aviation. The Navy's requests for large aircraft carriers—ones that might embark aircraft that could deliver atomic weapons—emerged as a topic of especial sensitivity, as it seemed to overlap with the newly created Air Force's strategic mission. Questions also arose around the apparent overlap of the roles and missions of the Army and the Marine Corps.
Secretary of Defense James Forrestal convened two separate conferences with the JCS to address the issue of air power and atomic weapons. The first of these took place at Key West in March 1948. There, the services agreed that the Navy would maintain its own air assets but the Air Force would bear sole responsibility for the strategic strike mission. Despite the apparent harmony, Air Force Chief of Staff Carl Spaatz indicated he still believed that the Air Force should control all air assets. A meeting at Newport, Rhode Island in July 1948 addressed questions regarding the control and use of nuclear weapons, with the Navy arguing that it required access and use to accomplish its mission. The Air Force, however, saw this position as encroachment upon its strategic role. These debates prompted CNO Denfeld to establish the Organizational Research and Policy Division (OP-23) under the leadership of Captain Arleigh Burke. Scholars have assessed the role of OP-23 as "countering arguments favoring service unification."
Addressing questions of roles, missions, unification, and national defense strategy would have resulted in tension among the services regardless, but a desire to cut overall government spending intensified the sharpness of the debate. In an era of diminishing budgets and looming austerity, debates over roles and missions and the limits of armed services integration could appear as existential crises for leadership. Increasing tensions with the Soviet Union created concerns regarding national security policy, most acutely, whether foreign aid would provide the most prudent way of ensuring the national interest or whether military expenditures would give the best outcome. Priorities far outweighed the means available to address them. And Truman kept cutting the budget. As Melvyn P. Leffler, an eminent scholar of the Cold War, has written, Truman thought that "domestic priorities must not be compromised; that economic reconstruction abroad was more important than rearmament at home; that coopting and reconstructing former enemies abroad were more important than engaging the new adversary." Within the climate of constriction and budgetary pressure, interservice rivalry over big-ticket defense expenditures could quickly intensify, especially given the Navy's resistance to unification and lingering distrust over whether the Air Force intended to abide by the Key West and Newport agreements.
A flashpoint proved to be a dispute over whether or not the JCS had agreed to the Navy's acquisition of United States (CV 58) dated from 1948, following the conference at Key West. In May of 1948, CNO Denfeld told Congress that the JCS had agreed to the carrier. Two weeks later, Carl Spaatz disputed Denfeld's statements and claimed that the Air Force had not agreed to the carrier. Such public divergences of opinion and ongoing argument between the services led the JCS to consider the issue again at 26 May meeting, where the JCS—except the Air Force—agreed to approve construction of the carrier. Congress provided funding and the Navy laid the keel for United States in February 1949.
There matters stood, apparently resolved, until the appointment of Louis Johnson as Secretary of Defense on 28 March 1949. Forrestal had also brokered the agreements at Key West and Newport that apparently settled questions of the Navy's role. Sadly, the stress of the unification fights following his years of earlier service in the Navy Department had taken a toll on Forrestal, who had become increasingly unable to execute the responsibilities of his office. Navy leadership felt no fondness at all for Johnson, who they perceived as an Air Force partisan. Events seemed to prove those fears right, as Johnson soon reopened discussion on whether or not the Navy truly needed United States. The JCS again discussed the carrier in April 1949, but this time the Army joined with the Air Force in opposing its construction. Aware of JCS draft memos, Johnson had already determined his response, so that when he received the final memos from JCS on 23 April, he immediately cancelled the carrier with the tacit approval of President Truman. A press release announced the decision. Johnson's decision and his announcement of it came without consultation with either the Secretary of the Navy or the CNO. "Absolutely infuriated," Secretary of the Navy John Sullivan resigned. Sullivan would be replaced by Francis P. Matthews, "a lawyer-businessman with no previous administrative experience in the federal government or military service." The actions of Johnson also telegraphed to the Navy that under the new configuration, the civilian leadership of the Department of Defense could act arbitrarily, without due consideration of the uniformed service's opinions.
The ascendancy of the Air Force, exemplified by Johnson's cancellation of United States and a particularly active Air Force public affairs campaign, led to drastic, and unofficial, action by Special Assistant to the Undersecretary of the Navy Cedric R. Worth. Assisted by Commander Thomas D. Davies, a naval aviator who served as an assistant to the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air and also wore a hat as a staff officer in OP-23, Worth penned what became known as the "Anonymous document" that attacked the Air Force's B-36 strategic bomber program. One historian has assessed that document as "cobbled together from aeronautical industry gossip and wild suppositions;" that lobbed "highly negative aspersions on the reputations of senior officials in the National Military Establishment." Among other things, it alleged that the Secretary of Defense and Secretary of the Air Force had pushed for the B-36 because of undue influence and corruption. The B-36 had become linked to United States because the two programs competed for the same limited resources and the apparent duplication of the strategic strike role with the large-scale bomber and the carrier capable of embarking aircraft that could carry strategic weapons. In mid-late April, Worth passed copies to Glenn Martin, an aerospace magnate and competitor of B-36 manufacturer Boeing. Martin made several copies and gave them to some influential contacts. Worth passed additional copies to others, including members of Congress. Little happened at first.
Initially, chairman of the House Armed Service Committee Carl A. Vinson (D-GA) attempted to sidestep the issue of the Anonymous document, given its self-evident questionable nature. But, as copies of it circulated and discussion spread, it became impossible to avoid a formal response. Congressman James E. Van Zandt (R-PA) forced the issue. An opponent of the B-36, Van Zandt introduced a resolution calling for an investigation into the B-36 program and delivered a speech on the floor of Congress based on the Anonymous document. Vinson could not ignore the resolution and submitted his own resolution to Congress. Vinson's resolution passed, setting hearings on the B-36 program to start in August. Beyond the B-36, the committee would also consider questions on the roles and responsibilities of the services. Signs of trouble between OPNAV and the civilian leadership of the Navy Department appeared as the service prepared draft position papers; the uniformed officers' position papers evidenced a strong anti-Air Force agenda, which ran afoul of the wishes of Under Secretary of the Navy Dan Kimball.
The first round of hearings on the B-36, which began on 9 August 1949, demonstrated the scurrilous nature of Worth's document. No witnesses nor evidence emerged that could show that either Secretary of Defense Johnson nor Secretary of the Air Force Stuart Symington had received kickbacks for the B-36. Vinson invited Navy representatives to sit in on the testimony of Air Force officials before the HASC so that they understood the gravity of the situation. Captain Arleigh Burke, for one, observed that "this thing is no longer an investigation of the B-36. It may turn, at any time, into an investigation of the Navy." Most damagingly for the Navy, at the end of August, Worth claimed authorship of the Anonymous document. As historian Jeffrey Barlow has noted, "the Worth revelation was a major blow to the Navy's credibility, since many in the press looked upon Worth's action as part of an orchestrated effort by the Navy hierarchy."
After the first rounds of testimony concluded, the Navy began preparation for the next round of questioning October. Uniformed leadership understood how Worth's unmasking had hurt their cause. Secretary of the Navy Matthews also took a deeper interest in the Navy's position and instructed Navy leadership that it should moderate its public criticisms of the Air Force and the B-36. During the interim period, Captain John Crommelin, a prominent naval aviator and an officer with personal association to Burke (and thus privy to the material that OP-23 had developed against the Air Force) gave an unofficial press conference where he spoke out against unification. Other naval officers announced their support of the position, which in turn led Matthews to direct that views would have to be expressed through "official channels." Reverberations of these events continued throughout the summer, as Navy leadership and OP-23 prepared for the hearings. Admiral John Dale Price, for instance, leaked to the Washington Post that Secretary of the Navy Matthews had ordered Navy leadership not to testify against the B-36 and also unduly limited the number of Navy witnesses. This story in the press—an incorrect one, in fact—provoked an investigation into the leak and an inspector general raid on the offices of OP-23. By the end of the summer, Secretary Matthews held the opinion that the Navy should wrap up the hearings as quickly as possible, while uniformed leadership wanted to make its case to Congress. Captain Crommelin once again convened an unauthorized press conference where he criticized defense unification. The hearings would go on, while the Secretary of the Navy ordered Crommelin suspended from duty. As with Worth, the public perceived a coordinated Navy effort to undermine civilian leadership so that it could present its own views to Congress.
HASC hearings resumed on 6 October 1949. Secretary of the Navy Matthews opened with his testimony, sometimes to the outright laughter of Navy officers in the room. Testimony after that came from a number of serving and former officers who spoke against the overall merits of the B-36 and in favor of the Navy's viewpoint that carriers and aviation were essential for sea control. The general tenor of the testimony was such that Time magazine labeled it "the revolt of the admirals." On 13 October, CNO Denfeld testified as the last witness for the Navy, providing a full-throated defense of the Navy's role in national defense. He decried budgetary austerity and the cancellation of United States. His testimony flew in the face of what Secretary of the Navy Matthews and Secretary of Defense Johnson had wanted. Rebuttal witnesses from the Army and the Air Force spoke out against the Navy as did Chairman of the JCS Omar Bradley, who delivered harshly critical testimony that accused Navy leadership of subverting civilian control of the military. Testimony concluded on 21 October 1949. Secretary of the Navy Matthews and Secretary of Defense Louis Johnson obtained from Truman on 27 October the transfer of CNO Denfeld, who went on leave. Admiral Forrest Sherman received appointment as CNO, and he disestablished OP-23 as one of his first actions.
Conclusion
The Revolt had occurred because Navy leadership saw in unification the threat of concentrating decision making in the hands of a few leaders, leaving the services unable to present their own arguments without drawing the ire of the Secretary of Defense. Other than Denfeld's exit as CNO, the outcome of the Revolt of the Admirals remains uncertain. Historians differ on the importance and meaning of the revolt. Some point to the affair as defending the principle of civilian control of the military. Others see the revolt as an affirmation of Air Force's preference for a strategy reliant upon strategic bombing, even though Navy leadership had neither denied that role nor sought it for themselves. Historian Jeffrey Barlow pointed out that even though the Navy lost the revolt, it retained naval aviation, despite the fact that the place of naval aviation had been secured at the Key West Agreement and the Newport Agreement.
Events of 1950 rendered the Revolt moot. Approved in April 1950, NSC 68 laid out a strategy of containment and provided broad policy guidance. In June 1950, the outbreak of the Korean War demonstrated the importance of a robust defense establishment. The war itself showed the validity of the Navy's arguments for aircraft carriers, as in the early days of the war, naval aviation provided most of the ground support. Later in the war, the mobility of aircraft carrier proved its value. Finally, and perhaps not the least, both of these developments led to increasing budgets. The size of the armed forces doubled while their budgets tripled, thereby easing somewhat the underservice competition over scarce funds. There was both room and money for the Air Force and the Navy.
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STRATFOR Thanks to Brett
ASSESSMENTS
The Weekly Rundown: The U.S. Hosts an AUKUS Discussion, China's Two Sessions End
The Royal Australian Navy submarine HMAS Rankin during AUSINDEX 21, a biennial maritime exercise between the Royal Australian Navy and the Indian Navy, on Sept. 5, 2021, in Darwin, Australia.
(POIS Yuri Ramsey/Australian Defence Force via Getty Images)
What We're Tracking
The U.S. hosts an AUKUS discussion. U.S. President Joe Biden will meet March 13 in California with his counterparts from Australia and the United Kingdom to discuss details of the implementation of the AUKUS trilateral security pact, particularly the timeline of Australia's acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines and related technologies. Australian and British officials are eager to deepen engagement via the pact in other areas, such as technology sharing in hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence, but have complained of bureaucratic barriers. China views the pact as a thinly veiled military containment effort that will destabilize the Indo-Pacific, and will certainly denounce any statements emerging from the meeting. By contrast, AUKUS signatories note that China's threats to the security of Taiwan and the South China Sea warrant greater Western military cooperation to preserve regional peace.
China's Two Sessions end. China will close its annual Two Sessions legislative meetings March 13 after releasing a Party and State Institutional Reform Plan. The plan is expected to reconfigure government institutions to better achieve Chinese leader Xi Jinping's vision for China's economic, technological and security development over the next five years. It is also likely to further empower the Party over the state, particularly on matters of financial stability, data oversight and handling unrest. Over the weekend, Beijing will reveal the officials selected for key government roles, including the premier, vice premiers and various heads of government ministries. Though the premiership is widely expected to go to Xi acolyte and former Shanghai party chief Li Qiang, just who will assume the other roles is less certain — but will indicate Beijing's governing priorities and Xi's influence network in the state apparatus.
Putin meets with oligarchs. Russian President Vladimir Putin will meet March 16 with the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, a group of Russia's most powerful business leaders with whom he last met Feb. 24, 2022, the day he announced the invasion of Ukraine. At that meeting, Putin struck a conciliatory tone, acknowledging the difficulties that new Western sanctions would pose to their operations, but insisting the invasion was necessary because Russia "had no other choice." This time around, Putin will likely attempt to show foreign and domestic audiences that Russia's business elite remain fully behind the war, congratulating them on overcoming sanctions-related difficulties and painting an overly optimistic picture of the Russian economy. For their part, the group reportedly will propose a 10-point package of legal changes to reduce criminal and administrative pressure on Russian business.
New European Commission proposals. The European Commission on March 14 is set to unveil two initiatives, the Critical Raw Materials and Net-Zero Industry acts, critical to the future of the EU net-zero transition. The former aims to ensure the bloc has access to key materials, such as lithium and rare earths, needed to meet its carbon-neutrality target by 2050. It will set a goal of having the European Union domestically produce at least 10% and process at least 40% of its demand by 2030, and will establish a European Critical Raw Materials Board to coordinate action. The latter act aims to boost the bloc's manufacturing capacity for green technologies and products in response to U.S. green subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act. It will include a 40% industrial output target for green technologies in the European Union by 2030 as well as other measures to streamline regulatory requirements, shorten permitting processes and improve labor skills. Both will be subject to intense negotiations between EU member states and may take months to win approval, particularly the Net-Zero Industry Act.
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Thanks to Carl
great commercial
https://video.twimg.com/ext_tw_video/1563131480179720192/pu/vid/1280x720/HSIllI2lU2Lofecu.mp4?tag=12
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Thanks to YP
On Mar 14, 2023, at 9:34 AM, Rick Morgan wrote:
Bitter Birds of VF-884, Olathe Kansas Reserves called up for the Korean event.
I wrote an article years ago in Hook on CVG-101, the first Reserve group to deploy to Korea.
They were flying F8F-1s when called up; were flown in transports to North Island to organize and prepare for deployment.
At some point they flew most of the squadron to the storage facility at Litchfield Park and were told to pick out about 20 F4U-4s, fix them and fly them to NORIS.
According to their squadron history the maintenance guys had not been told to bring tools and Litchfield didn't want to lend them any.
They ended up with a trail of sick aircraft on fields from Phoenix to San Diego.
Must've been a hell of an evolution.
Their insignia was based on the Kansas Jayhawk, "Bitter" about having been called up for combat.
They did well in combat, as did the other reserve squadrons in the Group.
Rick
"Must have been a hell of an Evolution!"
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Another Hell of an Evolution was the VF-703 Pueblo Crisis call-up (VF-703 segued to VF-202, aka "The Flying Urine Samples" down the hall from us in the BigREDFighter Squadron, VF-201). I had orders to VF-701, the other Dallas F-8 Squadron at the time. Fang Liberato led his bunch of moth eaten F-8A's out to FIGHTERTOWN, and, on signal taxiing in, all the birds extended their refueling probes with Texas Flags attached. Depending on point of view, it went down hill from there. Regular Crusader squadrons got robbed blind to modernize them, and they had gotten to the point of night carqualing when the stand down order came. A certain number of the reservistas said frabb this and instantly fled; I know that at least one, former USAF dude, John Tapley, actually got night traps.
As a result of the massive clusterfrabb of this call-up, the RESFORON concept pumped lots of money and successively better equipment to the Reserves. It went from a dangerous flying club to a way more serious operation. VF-201 and 202 ended up with big engined F-8H's, which were a joy to fly, and LOTS of money for DACM with folks wanting to fight Crusaders.
It was a LOT OF FUN.
YP
FUBIJAR
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This Day in U S Military History
15 March
The Ides of March. In the ancient Roman calendar the 15th day of March, May, July and Oct. or the 13th day of the other months.
1521 – Ferdinand Magellan discovered the Philippine Islands, where he was killed by natives the following month.
1697 – A band of Abnaki Indians made a raid on Haverhill, Massachusetts. Twenty-seven women and children were killed in the raid. Less than a week from childbed, Hannah Duston was captured along with her infant daughter and a nurse, Mary Neff. Hannah's husband managed to escape with their seven other children. The baby was brutally killed, and Hannah and Mary were taken northward by their captors. After a march of 100 miles, the party paused at an island (afterward known as Penacook, or Dustin, Island) in the confluence of the Merrimack and Contoocook rivers above the site of present-day Concord, New Hampshire. There the two women were held and told that after a short journey to a further village they would be stripped and scourged. On the island they met Samuel Lennardson (or Leonardson), an English boy who had been captured more than a year earlier. During the night of March 30, Hannah and the boy secured hatchets and attacked their captors; 10 were killed, 9 of them by Hannah. The three captives then stole a canoe and escaped, but Hannah turned back and scalped the 10 corpses so as to have proof of the exploit. They reached Haverhill safely and on April 21 presented their story to the General Court in Boston, which awarded the sum of 25 pounds to Hannah Duston and half that to each of her companions.
1945 – On Iwo Jima, US 5th Amphibious Corps continues to engage the Japanese forces which are now confined a small area in the northwest of the island.
2010 – The passing of the United States generation that fought in World War I is marked by the funeral of Frank Buckles, who died on 27 February 2011, aged 110, and was buried with full military honors at Arlington National Cemetery. Frank Woodruff Buckles (born Wood Buckles, February 1, 1901 – February 27, 2011) was a United States Army soldier and the last surviving American veteran of World War I. He enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1917 and served with a detachment from Fort Riley, driving ambulances and motorcycles near the front lines in Europe. During World War II, he was captured by Japanese forces while working in the shipping business, and spent three years in the Philippines as a civilian prisoner. After the war, Buckles married in San Francisco and moved to Gap View Farm near Charles Town, West Virginia. A widower at age 98, he worked on his farm until the age of 105. In his last years, he was Honorary Chairman of the World War I Memorial Foundation. As chairman, he advocated the establishment of a World War I memorial similar to other war memorials in Washington, D.C.. Toward this end, Buckles campaigned for the District of Columbia War Memorial to be renamed the National World War I Memorial. He testified before Congress in support of this cause, and met with President George W. Bush at the White House. Buckles was awarded the World War I Victory Medal at the conclusion of that conflict, and the Army of Occupation of Germany Medal retroactively following the medal's creation in 1941, as well as the French Legion of Honor in 1999.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
SMITH, HENRY I.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, Company B, 7th lowa Infantry. Place and date: At Black River, N.C., 15 March 1865. Entered service at: Shell Rock Fall, Cerro Gordo County, lowa. Born: 4 May 1840, England. Date of issue: 7 September 1894. Citation: Voluntarily and under fire rescued a comrade from death by drowning.
HERRERA, SILVESTRE S.
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company E, 142d Infantry, 36th Infantry Division. Place and date: Near Mertzwiller, France, 15 March 1945. Entered service at: Phoenix, Ariz. Birth: El Paso, Tex. G.O. No.: 75, 5 September 1945. Citation: He advanced with a platoon along a wooded road until stopped by heavy enemy machinegun fire. As the rest of the unit took cover, he made a 1-man frontal assault on a strongpoint and captured 8 enemy soldiers. When the platoon resumed its advance and was subjected to fire from a second emplacement beyond an extensive minefield, Pvt. Herrera again moved forward, disregarding the danger of exploding mines, to attack the position. He stepped on a mine and had both feet severed but, despite intense pain and unchecked loss of blood, he pinned down the enemy with accurate rifle fire while a friendly squad captured the enemy gun by skirting the minefield and rushing in from the flank. The magnificent courage, extraordinary heroism, and willing self-sacrifice displayed by Pvt. Herrera resulted in the capture of 2 enemy strongpoints and the taking of 8 prisoners.
PIERCE, FRANCIS JUNIOR
Rank and organization: Pharmacist's Mate First Class, U.S. Navy serving with 2d Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division. Place and date: Iwo Jima, 15 and 16 March 1945. Entered service at lowa Born: 7 December 1924, Earlville, lowa. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while attached to the 2d Battalion, 24th Marines, 4th Marine Division, during the Iwo Jima campaign, 15 and 16 March 1945. Almost continuously under fire while carrying out the most dangerous volunteer assignments, Pierce gained valuable knowledge of the terrain and disposition of troops. Caught in heavy enemy rifle and machinegun fire which wounded a corpsman and 2 of the 8 stretcher bearers who were carrying 2 wounded marines to a forward aid station on 15 March, Pierce quickly took charge of the party, carried the newly wounded men to a sheltered position, and rendered first aid. After directing the evacuation of 3 of the casualties, he stood in the open to draw the enemy's fire and, with his weapon blasting, enabled the litter bearers to reach cover. Turning his attention to the other 2 casualties he was attempting to stop the profuse bleeding of 1 man when a Japanese fired from a cave less than 20 yards away and wounded his patient again. Risking his own life to save his patient, Pierce deliberately exposed himself to draw the attacker from the cave and destroyed him with the last of his ammunition Then lifting the wounded man to his back, he advanced unarmed through deadly rifle fire across 200 feet of open terrain. Despite exhaustion and in the face of warnings against such a suicidal mission, he again traversed the same fire-swept path to rescue the remaining marine. On the following morning, he led a combat patrol to the sniper nest and, while aiding a stricken marine, was seriously wounded. Refusing aid for himself, he directed treatment for the casualty, at the same time maintaining protective fire for his comrades. Completely fearless, completely devoted to the care of his patients, Pierce inspired the entire battalion. His valor in the face of extreme peril sustains and enhances the finest traditions of the U.S. Naval Service.
*SARGENT, RUPPERT L.
Rank and organization: First Lieutenant, U.S. Army, Company B, 4th Battalion, 9th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division. Place and date: Hau Nghia Province, Republic of Vietnam, 15 March 1967. Entered service at: Richmond, Va. Born: 6 January 1938, Hampton, Va. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity in action at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. While leading a platoon of Company B, 1st Lt. Sargent was investigating a reported Viet Cong meeting house and weapons cache. A tunnel entrance which 1st Lt. Sargent observed was booby trapped. He tried to destroy the booby trap and blow the cover from the tunnel using hand grenades, but this attempt was not successful. He and his demolition man moved in to destroy the booby trap and cover which flushed a Viet Cong soldier from the tunnel, who was immediately killed by the nearby platoon sergeant. 1st Lt. Sargent, the platoon sergeant, and a forward observer moved toward the tunnel entrance. As they approached, another Viet Cong emerged and threw 2 hand grenades that landed in the midst of the group. 1st Lt. Sargent fired 3 shots at the enemy then turned and unhesitatingly threw himself over the 2 grenades. He was mortally wounded, and his 2 companions were lightly wounded when the grenades exploded. By his courageous and selfless act of exceptional heroism, he saved the lives of the platoon sergeant and forward observer and prevented the injury or death of several other nearby comrades. 1st Lt. Sargent's actions were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military services and reflect great credit upon himself and the U.S. Army.
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AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for March 15, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
15 March
1916: Capt Benjamin D. Foulois, and his 1st Aero Squadron, arrived at Columbus, N. Mex., for duty with General Pershing's punitive expedition against Mexican raiders. (11) (21)
1944: Ninth Air Force P-51 fighters are released from direct commitment to Eighth Air Force bombers unless required for specific missions.
1945: Fifteenth Air Force flew heavy bombers from bases in Italy on their longest mission of the war to attack the synthetic oil plant at Ruhland, Germany. (24)
1950: The JCS gave the USAF formal and exclusive responsibility for strategic guided missiles in a basic decision on the role and mission of guided missiles (See 21 March). (24) The only jet-powered and last remaining USAF Flying Wing, the YRB-49, crashed at Edwards AFB when its nose gear collapsed during a taxi test. (See 5 June 1948) (5)
1951: Using a KC-97A Stratofreighter, Boeing refueled a B-47 bomber for the first time. (12) (26)
1956: The USAF issued a requirement for an air-to-surface missile for the B-52. This missile became the Hound Dog. (6)
1957: HARMON TROPHY FLIGHT. The Navy's ZPG-2 airship landed after setting new world records for distance and endurance, covering 9,448 miles and remaining airborne 264 hours 12 minutes without refueling. The ship's commander, Cmdr J.R. Hunt received the Harmon Trophy for Aeronauts. (5)
1964: USAFE accepted five 412L air weapon control system sites, the first in this new air defense system. (4)
1967: The Sikorsky HH-53B, the largest and fastest helicopter in the USAF inventory, made its first flight. (16) (26)
1968: Major Jerauld R. Gentry flew the modified HL-10 Lifting Body on its first flight. (3)
1969: Exercise FOCUS RETINA. Through 20 March, Focus Retina deployed a brigade of the 82d Airborne Division from Fort Bragg in the largest tactical airlift attempted to date to move 2,500 assault troops and supporting equipment to Korea. The brigade staged through Okinawa and dropped into the Korean exercise area on 17 March. MAC, TAC, the US Strike Command, and Air Force Communications Service (AFCS) units supported the airlift. (16) (17)
1975: From Vandenberg AFB, Production Verification Missile (PVM-13) completed the last flight in the Wing VI Hybrid Explicit Flight Program. It supported the Wing VI configuration upgrade for the Minuteman at Grand Forks AFB. (5)
1977: Responding to a request from Zaire, MAC began a commercial airlift to move 642 tons of medical supplies, clothing, food, and equipment from Dover AFB in Delaware, Hill AFB, Barksdale AFB, and Pisa AB, Italy, to Kinshasa, Zaire. Fourteen DC-8s and one B-747 airlifted the supplies between March and June. (2)
1983: Through 28 March, SAC successfully demonstrated its new sea interdiction capability with three AGM-84 Harpoon missile launches from a B-52 at the Pacific Missile Test Range on Kwajelein Atoll. (16) (26)
1985: A MAC C-5 Galaxy delivered 1,000 rolls of plastic sheeting used to create protective shelters for victims of a 3 February earthquake that ravaged the coastal and interior regions of central Chile. (16)
1992: Through 18 April, C-5 Galaxies and C-130 Hercules aircraft moved 165 tons of food, medical supplies, clothing, blankets, and other relief items to eastern Turkey following a major earthquake. (16)
1999: An electric arcjet rocket engine, developed at the Air Force Research Laboratory's Propulsion Directorate as part of the Electric Propulsion Space Experiment (ESEX), fired for the first time in space aboard an ARGOS spacecraft. The arcjet engine consumed less than one-fourth the amount of fuel of an equivalent chemical engine. (3)
2003: Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. AFFTC deployed its NKC-135E Big Crow electronic combat aircraft from Kirtland AFB, New Mexico, to Souda Bay, Crete, where it carried out 37 communications jamming missions to support the operation. (3)
2005: An AFFTC team completed the first Avionics Modernization Program (AMP) risk-reduction flight on an MC-130E Combat Talon 1. The project tested improved terrain-following radar and algorithms for Air Force Special Operations Command pilots who would fly low level sorties. The upgrade included a new radome and a "glass cockpit" with a heads-up display. (3)
2007: The YAL-1A Airborne Laser successfully fired its target illuminator laser during a five-hour flight from Edwards AFB, Calif. The mission and test firing represented the Airborne Laser's first in-flight external laser firing and used the "Big Crow" NC-135E to verify the YAL-1A's ability to track an airborne target and measure atmospheric turbulence. (AFNEWS, Airborne Laser Fires Tracking Laser, Hits Target," 21 Mar 2007.)
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