To All
Good Friday Morning January 16, 2026. It is another clear and beautiful morning here today . with a high of 80 by 2..Winds are light.
Enjoying our weather and it will last until next |Wednesday.
.Regards
skip
.HAGD
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
.
This day in Naval and Marine Corps History (thanks to NHHC)
Here is a link to the NHHC website: https://www.history.navy.mil/. Go here to see the director's corner for all 94 H-Grams.
January 16
1815—Benjamin Crowninshield takes office as the fifth Secretary of the Navy, serving until Sept. 30, 1818. He implements the Board of Commissioners administrative system and the building of several ships. He also oversees strategy and naval policy for the brief, and very successful war with Algiers in 1815.
1840—During the Exploring Expedition, USS Vincennes, commanded by Lt. Charles Wilkes, becomes the first U.S. Navy ship to reach the Antarctic Continent.
1893—The class protected cruiser Boston lands Marines at Honolulu, HI, to protect American lives and property after the deposition of Queen Liliuokalani and the formation of a provisional government, under the influence of American residents.
1930—USS Lexington (CV 2) completes a 30-day period in which it furnishes electricity to Tacoma, WA, in an emergency arising from a drought that causes a water shortage and hydro-electric power is not available in the Puget Sound area.
1944—TBF aircraft from Composite Squadron Thirteen (VC-13) of carrier Guadalcanal (CVE 60) sink U-544 north-west of the Azores.
1945—USS Otter (DE 210), USS Hubbard (DE 211), USS Hayter (DE 212) and USS Varian (DE 798) sink German submarine U 248 north-northeast of the Azores.
1971—Amphibious command ship USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20) is commissioned.
1991—Operation Desert Storm begins to liberate Kuwait from Iraq. After three months, Iraq requests a cease fire, which is formalized by the United Nations in April.
2010—Littoral combat ship USS Independence (LCS 2), the lead ship of its class, is commissioned at Mobile, AL. I bet someone would like to go back and cancel that idea…Skip
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Today in World History January 16
1547 Ivan IV crowns himself the new Czar of Russia in Assumption Cathedral in Moscow.
1786 The Council of Virginia guarantees religious freedom.
1847 John C. Fremont, the famed "Pathfinder" of Western exploration, is appointed governor of California.
1865 General William T. Sherman begins a march through the Carolinas.
1900 The U.S. Senate recognizes the Anglo-German Treaty of 1899 by which the UK renounced its rights to the Samoan Islands.
1909 One of Ernest Shackleton's polar exploration teams reaches the Magnetic South Pole.
1914 Maxim Gorky is authorized to return to Russia after an eight year exile for political dissidence.
1920 The League of Nations holds its first meeting in Paris.
1920 Allies lift the blockade on trade with Russia.
1939 Franklin D. Roosevelt asks for an extension of the Social Security Act to include more women and children.
1940 Hitler cancels an attack in the West due to bad weather and the capture of German attack plans in Belgium.
1942 Japan's advance into Burma begins.
1944 Eisenhower assumes supreme command of the Allied Expeditionary Force in Europe.
1945 The U.S. First and Third armies link up at Houffalize, effectively ending the Battle of the Bulge.
1956 The Egyptian government makes Islam the state religion.
1965 Eighteen are arrested in Mississippi for the murder of three civil rights workers.
1975 The Irish Republican Army calls an end to a 25-day cease fire in Belfast.
1979 The Shah leaves Iran.
1991 The Persian Gulf War begins. The massive U.S.-led offensive against Iraq -- Operation Desert Storm -- ends on February 28, 1991, when President George Bush declares a cease-fire, and Iraq pledges to honor future coalition and U.N. peace terms.
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to the Bear. We will always have the url for you to search items in Rolling Thunder
OPERATION ROLLING THUNDER …
. rollingthunderremembered.com .
Thanks to Micro
.
From Vietnam Air Losses site for ..January 16
January 16: https://www.vietnamairlosses.com/loss.php?id=1556
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
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
MOAA - Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Servicemembers Killed in the Vietnam War
The site works, find anyone you knew in "search" feature. https://www.vvmf.org/Wall-of-Faces/
Wall of Faces Now Includes Photos of All Service members Killed in the Vietnam War
By: Kipp Hanley
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Micro
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
The real Donald Trump
Behind the scenes, the president-elect treats people with dignity and respect
By Ronald Kessler
In contrast to his blustering persona, the real Donald Trump behind the scenes treats people with dignity and respect.
Norma Foerderer was Mr. Trump's top aide for 26 years. When she joined the Trump Organization in 1981, he had only seven other employees.
During her career with him, Foerderer oversaw almost every aspect of the mogul's business, including public relations, hiring and firing, and negotiating book deals and contracts. No one knew so well both the personal and business side of Mr. Trump.
In the only interview she ever gave, Foerderer, who has since died, told me there are two Donald Trumps: One is the Trump that appears to the public, making often outrageous comments on television to get attention. The other is the real Trump, which only insiders know.
"I mean Donald can be totally outrageous, but outrageous in a wonderful way that gets him coverage," Foerderer told me. "That persona sells his licensed products and his condominiums. You know Donald's never been shy, and justifiably so, in talking about how wonderful his buildings or his golf clubs are."
The private Mr. Trump, on the other hand, is "the dearest, most thoughtful, most loyal, most caring man," Foerderer said. That caring side inspires loyalty and is one of the secrets to his success.
Confirming Foerderer's point, Mr. Trump wrote in "The Art of the Deal" that "if you are a little different or a little outrageous, or if you do things that are bold or controversial, the press is going to write about you."
The president-elect follows his own advice in spades.
For nearly three decades, Anthony P. "Tony" Senecal was Mr. Trump's personal butler at Mar-a-Lago. When Mr. Senecal's home air conditioning system gave out, Mr. Trump had it replaced. When Mr. Senecal needed surgery to implant a stent, Mr. Trump called him and asked, "So when do you go under the knife?"
"Tomorrow," said Mr. Senecal. "Well, if you don't make it, don't worry about it. You've had a good life," Mr. Trump said. And then he said, "Listen, I don't want you going back to your place. You come and recuperate at Mar-a-Lago."
Mr. Trump will hand out $100 bills to janitors or McDonald's cashiers and write checks for tens of thousands of dollars to people he has learned are in distress. But one of the Trump White House media staff's frustrations was that Mr. Trump did not want the public to see this side of him and know what he is like behind the scenes.
"He'll walk into a room with a bunch of workers and gather them up and hand them out each a hundred dollar bill," an aide says. "There's no camera there. Those are the moments people just don't see, like when he's telling us about how an emotional event has impacted him, and he doesn't want them to see it. He likes to display the tough, rough exterior."
Mr. Trump often generously praises employees at all levels when they are doing a good job. He makes a point of complimenting them in front of their bosses. "He keeps a wad of hundred dollar bills in his pants pocket and will distribute them widely to groundskeepers, plumbers, or other low-level employees when he likes the job they are doing," Mr. Senecal told me.
The softer side of Mr. Trump rarely appears in print because he doesn't want it to. Whether in real estate or politics, Mr. Trump sees himself as the Lone Ranger, always fighting for what he believes in against the establishment. To Mr. Trump, admitting mistakes or showing an emotional side is a sign of weakness. In contrast to his sometimes outrageous public comments, one of the secrets to Mr. Trump's success both in business and in politics is that he listens. For my book on Palm Beach, when he was building his Trump International Golf Course in West Palm Beach, he took my wife Pamela Kessler and me to inspect it. Mr. Trump drove to the site of a 35-foot waterfall that was being built for $2.5 million. On the ground were samples of rocks for the waterfall ranging in color from white to red. Mr. Trump asked the construction crew which color they liked. Then he asked his staff, Pam, and me. He seemed genuinely interested in everyone's opinions, and when most said they preferred the reddish samples, he decided to go with them. In contrast to President Biden, who let his German shepherd Commander viciously bite his Secret Service agents for almost a year, Mr. Trump treats his Secret Service agents with respect, soliciting their opinions and ensuring they partake of the sumptuous buffet every Sunday at his golf course. Love him or hate him, the real Donald Trump is very different from his portrayal in the media. Ronald Kessler, a former Washington Post and Wall Street Journal investigative reporter, is the New York Times bestselling author of "The Trump White House: Changing the Rules of the Game" and "The First Family Detail: Secret Service Agents Reveal the Hidden Lives of the Presidents.".
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
From the Archives
Thanks to Dan
Skip,
In the "Rolling Thunder", in "The List #6141, was an article concerning the continued expansion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail, by the NVA. I wasn't there at that moment, but in early 1971, immediately after Lam Son 719 (the invasion of Laos), I was based in Quang Tri, South Vietnam, flying AH-1G Cobra Attack Helicopters, for an Air Cavalry Unit in the 101st Airborne Division (2nd/17th Air Cav).
The U.S., and the South Vietnamese Army (ARVN) had just finished the operation and were pulling all their units and equipment out of Laos. As they did so, they closed down all the bases from which they had staged their operations, in both Laos, and the Western portions of South Vietnam, South of the DMZ, and West of Quang Tri.
What became increasingly evident was that, as fast as we pulled back, the NVA moved forward, right behind us. The mission of my unit was to do daily reconnaissance of that area and attempt to stop the NVA from advancing.
QL9 was the main dirt road which went Westward from Dong Ha, S. Vietnam (just north of Quang Tri), then across Laos. The U.S. had attempted to destroy all the bridges and culverts, in Laos, and Western S. Vietnam, to prohibit movement by the NVA. However, as fast as we retreated, the NVA advanced. Looking at the hundreds of bridges and culverts that were being replaced by the NVA, there had to have been thousands of workers improving the road, no matter how much we bombed the area, or struck it with artillery.
Every day the road improvements advanced visibly, sometimes only a few hundred yards, but always advancing. The improvements included bridges and metal culverts. Very quickly, due to daily bombing and destruction of their bamboo bridges, the NVA began to build fords of the creeks and rivers, lining the river bottom roadway with large boulders, so that wheeled vehicles could pass over.
We were confident that most of the labor was accomplished by hand, but almost daily, it was evident that some of it had to have been done by bulldozer. So our focus was on finding, and destroying, the bulldozers. However, that was not so easily done. It was evident that the final work done by the NVA, every night, was to erase the bulldozer tracks in the dirt, then hide the bulldozer. THAT was driving us crazy....where the heck are the bulldozers? They couldn't have been driven many miles back deeper into Laos, so where were they?
All we could see, every morning, was that the road improvements had gone another few hundred yards into S. Vietnam, and that each day, at the furthest point of improvement, they had piled large boulders, in the middle of the road, for the next days improvements. It didn't matter how much damage was done by airstrikes and artillery to their work, each day. They just continued to inch along deeper into S. Vietnam.
However, finally the puzzle was solved. The NVA had been erasing all treadmarks from the bulldozers, then parking the bulldozers in the middle of the road and covering them with the very boulders they were using to line the fords on the bottom of the streams. Duh! I'm sure the NVA got a lot of laughs out of our weeks of trying to find their bulldozers. But, once we did, their road advancement came to a complete halt in that area, just inside S. Vietnam, just S/O Khe Sanh.
Dan Bresnahan
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
I do remember those days well and I got jets also Because of the war losses 6 months later just about everyone got jets….skip
THANKS TO SHADOW
All this stuff about Saufley brought back some memories... especially my last check ride.
Bruddah,
As I'm sure you'll recall… the period when we were at Saufley; jet seats were as rare as hen's teeth. Most classes were graduating only one or two jet slots for each class... everybody else got multi-engine and helicopters for the Navy guys and all helicopters for the Marines that didn't make the cut. Every flight became critical, especially the check flights. My last check ride (I think it was 18) and the one that would decide my fate, was with an instructor from another Flight. To my horror, I drew the reputed toughest flight instructor in VT-1… a Marine Major... they called him "Bear" Tinsley. Holly chit Batman! I was scheduled the following morning for a 0500 brief. This was bad JuJu! One below average, hell even nothing but averages would be a kiss of death. I was beginning to think I may have pissed off the "Big Guy" somewhere along the line and this was when I'd get my comeuppance! Tinsley had the reputation of being a curmudgeon when it came to giving out above averages.
As I drove out to the base the next morning, I couldn't help but notice there was a low cloud layer… even a little mist. Actually I thought it might be a good sign? If the flight was cancelled for weather, maybe I'd get a different instructor the following day… God willing.
I show up in the other Flights Ready Room, checked in and was told to take a seat. Tinsley walks in, comes over and says, "You Stafford"? I stood and said "YESSIR"! He looks at me and gruffly says… "Sit your ass down, we're on a Weather Hold"… and he turns and walks away. I sit there for about 45 minutes… as the sun starts to come up… I see a little break in the clouds, but diffidently still IFR. I was hoping that if we slipped past our launch time, they'd cancel us and I'd get a different instructor the next day... Please!
Then the "Bear" comes over and says… "Get your shit together… go over and pre-flight the airplane, I'll be there shortly, we're gonna be the Weather Bird"! He went on to say we'd be flying around most of the training area to see if the weather was good enough for the others to launch and if we found enough clearing, we'd get in the check ride during the process. I'm thinking… Shit!
I go over… get my chute and went out to the assigned aircraft and start my pre-flight… determined to do the best pre-flight possible, in case the "Bear" was watching (he was). I'm finally over on the starboard side, checking everything when he walks up and says… "Hey numb nuts… You thinking of buying this thing? Get in and let's go"! We mount up and after start he says, "I'll handle the radios". I'm thinking… Well, at least that's one thing I can't screw up. He calls the towner for taxi and announces we are the Weather Bird. I get to the end of the runway and do my run-ups and final checks and announce I'm ready to go. We take the runway and he says… "See that little patch of blue just to the left of the end of the runway… aim for that on takeoff". I did and it was a small hole at about 500 feet and I slipped through it with one wing in a cloud. The tops weren't very high and soon we are on top. He then gives me a heading to fly and we head out towards the Foley area. For a while we're between layers. Not looking good for a check ride.
After a bit he tells me to turn to the southwest.. Incredibly we find a hole and he says… "Listen to me carefully… stay in this hole and climb up to 3,000 feet… then I want you to set up for a loop, followed by a Cuban Eight, followed by an Immelmann and then go into a three turn spin. You got that"? I said, "Yes Sir." I climb up, pushed over and started my loop, then right into the Cuban Eight, back up to the Immelmann and then set up for the spin. Think it was the only time I ever did all of those maneuvers consecutively… but the "Big Guy" was on my shoulder and the whole thing went flawlessly (if I do say so myself). Upon leveling off, he pulls the power back and says, "High Altitude Emergency"… as luck would have it, we were right over one of the outlying fields, I pulled the canopy open and set up for high and low key… and it was the easiest Emergency set up I ever had. Things were really going my way! Just as I was about to touch down, he says, "Waive it off, take it around… that was too easy". I add power, cleaned up and just as I closed the canopy, he pulls the power back again and says… "Low Altitude Emergency"! I throw open the canopy again and see a beautiful pasture off to my right, that looked like the perfect place to land, but we were really close to it. I throw the gear and flaps down and I hear him say, "You'll never make it… you're too high"! As soon as he said that, I cross controlled the airplane and she came down like a rock! I went sailing over the barbed wire fence by about five feet and it was a piece of cake from there! Once again, I waive it off and as we start to climb he says, "I've got the airplane"! I raised my hands and he starts to climb. He finally said, "That was pretty cool… where'd you learn that"? I told him I had some Piper Cub time and was taught that by my civilian instructor. He climbs up and he says… "You Smoke"? I said, "Yes Sir"… He then says, "The smoking Lamp is lit". And for the first time I hesitated. I was confident I had done everything as could as I could do up to this point, but in the back of my mind, I was thinking… "Don't do it… it's a set up"! I was thinking if I did it, he could give me a down for smoking on the airplane! I just said, "Sir, I don't think we're allowed to smoke in the airplane. He says, "Take the airplane"! I jiggle the stick and about 20 seconds later he says, "Take a deep breath… smell anything"? I did and smelled the sweet smell of a fine cigar! He says… "Now light 'em up… I've got the airplane back"! From there, I pulled our my Winston's, lit one up and sat back and enjoyed the ride. We covered just about the whole practice area and the clouds were burning off and we finally headed back to Saufley. He radioed back that they could launch all the non solo training flights and should be able to send out the solos in about an hour.
As we get close to Saufley, for some reason I asked if we could do a carrier break instead of entering the circle. He said, "You got it, use four hundred feet for the break". It was gonna be my first break approach to a landing. Then he called the tower and said we would be doing a break to landing instead of the normal pattern entry. The tower cleared us and everything went perfect… threw the gear and flaps down abeam, made my turn to final and just as I was about to touch down… I hear this voice say… "You numb nuts… forgot to lower the flaps"! Wholly shit! I looked over and by God, the flap handle was down! I screamed out… "Sir, I put the flaps down, the handle is down"! "Yeah, the handle is down, but the flaps ain't". I look over my shoulder and sure enough… the freaking flaps were still up!
OMG… I had just turned in one of the best flights I'd ever had and now I ended it with a disaster on touchdown. I was crushed! I just knew I had committed a mortal sin, my goose was cooked and I was sure to get a down! Fuck me to tears!
We taxi in and head over for the debrief. He sits down and says, "Stafford, that was one of the best and most fun check rides I've ever given… Great hop… and I've decided to ignore that little hiccup at the end. Frankly, I didn't even notice it myself until you were just about on the ground… and I had confirmed the gear switch was down before I said anything". He proceeds to file out my grade sheet and slides it over to me… I was shocked! He gave me 11 above averages for the hop! OMG… "The Bear"… was a Teddy Bear! Hell, maybe even a Santa Claus! He leaned over and said, "Honestly… that was a great hop… pulling off all those maneuvers in a confined place like that was impressive. Hope you get what you want… by the way, what do you want?" "Jets Sir"! "Good man" said he.
That was my last flight at Saufley… The Bear and the Big Guy were looking out for me and I knew I was gonna get jets.
True story….
Shadow
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
.Thanks to Micro
. Thought you would enjoy this: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DTgVyG8E74h/?igsh=anhjeWUyc2F4Y2Jz
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to 1440
Good morning. It's Friday, Jan. 16, and we're covering the latest on Minnesota protests, President Donald Trump's meeting with Venezuela's opposition leader, and much more. .
Need To Know
Minneapolis Unrest Escalates
President Donald Trump threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act to end ongoing protests in Minneapolis against federal immigration enforcement. The 1807 law empowers the president to deploy the military domestically under specific circumstances (details here).
Trump's threat came after hours of clashes between at least 200 protesters and law enforcement on the south side of Minneapolis, where a federal agent shot and injured a man Wednesday evening. The man, reportedly a Venezuelan national who entered the US illegally, allegedly assaulted the agent after fleeing a traffic stop. The city police chief has asked Minnesota's criminal investigations bureau to investigate the shooting; federal authorities excluded the state bureau from an inquiry into the fatal shooting of Minneapolis woman Renee Good by federal agents last week.
Minneapolis has received roughly 3,000 federal agents—about five times its police force—in recent weeks as part of the Trump administration's crackdown on illegal immigration and an alleged fraud scheme involving the local Somali population.
Trump Meets Machado
Venezuelan opposition leader MarÃa Corina Machado presented President Donald Trump with her Nobel Peace Prize award when she met with him at the White House yesterday. The two did not provide a readout of their conversation.
The meeting comes as the US made its first sale of Venezuelan oil since capturing Nicolás Maduro earlier this month. Details of the sale, reportedly valued at $500M, were not available as of this writing. Trump hopes to sell 30 million to 50 million barrels of sanctioned oil within months. However, US oil companies have expressed hesitation about reentering the Venezuela market—especially if it means helping lower oil prices to Trump's goal of $50 per barrel.
Separately, the US seized its sixth sanctioned oil tanker with alleged ties to Venezuela. The ship—known by a variety of names, including the Veronica, the Galileo, and the Pegas—was owned and managed by a company in Russia.
NCAA Betting Scandal
Federal prosecutors have charged 26 people in an alleged multiyear scheme to fix at least 29 basketball games in the US and China, accusing them of manipulating games to generate illegal betting profits.
A 70-page indictment alleges the scheme ran from September 2022 through February 2025, starting with point-shaving in Chinese Basketball Association games before expanding to NCAA Division I men's basketball. Thirty-nine players from 17 teams were linked to the operation, with bribes allegedly ranging from $10K to $30K per game and wagers placed through legal US sportsbooks and offshore platforms. Twenty defendants are current or former NCAA men's basketball players, several of whom played during the 2023-24 or 2024-25 seasons, including some who appeared in games this season. The other five are described as fixers.
The charges include bribery in sporting contests, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud. Each fraud charge carries a potential sentence of up to 20 years. .
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
Thanks to Brett
.FROM A FRIEND
This is a very disturbing and frightening interview with one of Putin's top advisors. They are absolutely ready and capable of destroying Europe, beginning with Germany and the UK, with nuclear weapons. We had better wake up because they think they are saving humanity. One stupid point that made no sense to me is that he thinks he'll destroy Europe's phobia of Russia by destroying them.
This must be stopped, and we don't do it by playing mighty America!
https://tuckercarlson.com/jan-14-live-show?utm_campaign=jan1425livestreamsubs&utm_medium=email&utm_source=iterable
.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
This Day in U S Military History 16 January
1780 – The Battle of Cape St. Vincent took place off the southern coast of Portugal during the American War of Independence. A British fleet under Admiral Sir George Rodney defeated a Spanish squadron under Don Juan de Lángara. The battle is sometimes referred to as the Moonlight Battle because it was unusual for naval battles in the Age of Sail to take place at night. It was also the first major naval victory for the British over their European enemies in the war and proved the value of copper sheathing the hulls of warships. Admiral Rodney was escorting a fleet of supply ships to relieve the Spanish siege of Gibraltar with a fleet of about twenty ships of the line when he encountered Lángara's squadron south of Cape St. Vincent. When Lángara saw the size of the British fleet, he attempted to make for the safety of Cádiz, but the copper-sheathed British ships chased his fleet down. In a running battle that lasted from mid-afternoon until after midnight, the British captured four Spanish ships, including Lángara's flagship. Two other ships were also captured, but their final disposition is unclear; some Spanish sources indicate they were retaken by their Spanish crews, while Rodney's report indicates the ships were grounded and destroyed. After the battle Rodney successfully resupplied Gibraltar and Minorca before continuing on to the West Indies station. Lángara was released on parole, and was promoted to lieutenant general by King Carlos III.
1847 – A leader in the successful fight to wrest California away from Mexico, the explorer and mapmaker John C. Fremont briefly becomes governor of the newly won American territory. Still only in his early mid-30s at the time, Fremont had already won national acclaim for his leadership of two important explorations of the West with the military's Corps of Topographical Engineers. Shortly after the government published Fremont's meticulously accurate maps of the Far West, they became indispensable guides for the growing numbers of overland emigrants heading for California and Oregon. In 1845, though, the lines between military exploration and military conquest began to blur when President James Polk sent Captain Fremont and his men on a third "scientific" mission to explore the Rockies and Sierra Nevada-with 60 armed men accompanying them. Polk's ambition to take California from Mexico was no secret, and Fremont's expedition was clearly designed to place a military force near the region in case of war. When Mexico and the U.S. declared war in May 1846, Fremont and his men were in Oregon. Upon hearing the news, Fremont immediately headed south, calling his return "the first step in the conquest of California." When the Anglo-American population of California learned of Fremont's arrival, many of them began to rebel against their Mexican leaders. In June, a small band of American settlers seized Sonoma and raised a flag with a bear facing a five-pointed star-with this act, the revolutionaries declared the independent Republic of California. The Bear Flag Republic was short-lived. In August, Fremont and General Robert Stockton occupied Los Angeles. By January 1847, they had put down the small number of Californians determined to maintain a nation independent of the United States. With California now clearly in the U.S. hands, Stockton agreed to appoint Fremont as the territorial governor. However, a dispute broke out within the army over the legitimacy of Fremont's appointment, and the young captain's detractors accused him of mutiny, disobedience, and conduct prejudicial to military discipline. Recalled to Washington for a court martial, Fremont was found guilty of all three charges, and his appointment to take the position of governor was revoked. Though President Polk pardoned him and ordered him back to active duty in the army, Fremont was deeply embittered, and he resigned from the military and returned to California a private citizen. Although he never regained the governorship of California, the turmoil of Fremont's early political career did not harm his future prospects. In 1851, citizens of California elected him a senator, and became the territorial governor of Arizona in 1878. Today, however, Fremont's youthful accomplishments as an explorer and mapmaker are more celebrated than his subsequent political career.
1945 – In the Ardennes the US 1st and 3rd Armies link up at Houffalize. An Allied offensive aimed at eliminating the German bridgehead across the Rhine River, 8 miles north of Strasbourg, begins about 0200 hrs.
1952 – Knowing Korean requirements firsthand, General Earle E. Partridge, former Fifth Air Force Commander, put the full resources of the USAF Air Research and Development Command into searching for ways to increase the performance of the F-86 Sabre during this period. This top-priority effort led to the improved wing design "F" model that entered service with the 51st Wing in August 1952. The aircraft's operating altitude increased to 52,000 feet and its maximum speed went to Mach 1.05. In addition, the F-86F could make tighter turns at high altitudes.
1991 –At midnight in Iraq, the United Nations deadline for the Iraqi withdrawal from Kuwait expires, and the Pentagon prepares to commence offensive operations to forcibly eject Iraq from its five-month occupation of its oil-rich neighbor. At 4:30 p.m. EST, the first fighter aircraft were launched from Saudi Arabia and off U.S. and British aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf on bombing missions over Iraq. All evening, aircraft from the U.S.-led military coalition pounded targets in and around Baghdad as the world watched the events transpire in television footage transmitted live via satellite from Baghdad and elsewhere. At 7:00 p.m., Operation Desert Storm, the code-name for the massive U.S.-led offensive against Iraq, was formally announced at the White House. The operation was conducted by an international coalition under the command of U.S. General Norman Schwarzkopf and featured forces from 32 nations, including Britain, Egypt, France, Saudi Arabia, and Kuwait. During the next six weeks, the allied force engaged in a massive air war against Iraq's military and civil infrastructure, and encountered little effective resistance from the Iraqi air force or air defenses. Iraqi ground forces were helpless during this stage of the war, and Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein's only significant retaliatory measure was the launching of SCUD missile attacks against Israel and Saudi Arabia. Saddam hoped that the missile attacks would provoke Israel to enter the conflict, thus dissolving Arab support of the war. At the request of the United States, however, Israel remained out of the war. On February 24, a massive coalition ground offensive began, and Iraq's outdated and poorly supplied armed forces were rapidly overwhelmed. Kuwait was liberated in less than four days, and a majority of Iraq's armed forces surrendered, retreated into Iraq, or were destroyed. On February 28, President George Bush declared a cease-fire, and Iraq pledged to honor future coalition and U.N. peace terms. One hundred and twenty-five American soldiers were killed in the Persian Gulf War, with another 21 regarded as missing in action.
2014 – NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter finds the Beagle 2 spacecraft that disappeared in 2003 intact on the surface of Mars. An error had stopped the spacecraft's solar panels from working and communicating back to Earth.
Medal of Honor Citations for Actions Taken This Day
NEAHR, ZACHARIAH C.
Rank and organization: Private, Company K, 142d New York Infantry. Place and date: At Fort Fisher, N.C., 16 January 1865. Entered service at: ——. Birth: Canajoharie, N.Y. Date of issue: 11 September 1890. Citation: Voluntarily advanced with the head of the column and cut down the palisading.
CALUGAS, JOSE
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Battery B, 88th Field Artillery, Philippine Scouts. Place and date: At Culis, Bataan Province, Philippine Islands, 16 January 1942. Entered service at: Fort Stotsenburg, Philippine Islands. Born: 29 December 1907, Barrio Tagsing, Leon, Ploilo, Philippine Islands. G.O. No.: 10, 24 February 1942. Citation: The action for which the award was made took place near Culis, Bataan Province, Philippine Islands, on 16 January 1942. A battery gun position was bombed and shelled by the enemy until 1 gun was put out of commission and all the cannoneers were killed or wounded. Sgt. Calugas, a mess sergeant of another battery, voluntarily and without orders ran 1,000 yards across the shell-swept area to the gun position. There he organized a volunteer squad which placed the gun back in commission and fired effectively against the enemy, although the position remained under constant and heavy Japanese artillery fire.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
AMERICAN AEROSPACE EVENTS for January 16, FIRSTS, LASTS, AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOMPLISHMENTS. THANKS TO HAROLD "PHIL" MYERS CHIEF HISTORIAN AIR FORCE INTELLIGENCE, SURVEILLANCE, AND RECONNAISSANCE AGENCY
16 January
1911: EARLY PHOTO RECONNAISSANCE. Walter Brookins flew a Wright plane at 2,000 feet through the San Bruno Hills, Calif., with Lt George E. M. Kelly (Infantry) as his passenger, in the first attempt to locate troops with photo reconnaissance. They were not successful because the troops hid in small groups in a wooded area. (24)
1913: Dr. Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, the Civil War balloonist, died at Pasadena, Calif. (24)
1929: The Navy established a requirement for all heavier-than-air naval aviators and Navy and Marine Corps aviation pilots to receive training in night flying. (24)
1946: The U.S. Upper Atmospheric Research Panel is initiated. A panel of experts is selected to conduct tests on more than 60 captured German V-2 rockets. As a result of this project, other rocket programs spring up at Johns Hopkins University and the Naval Research Laboratory.
1951: Six Convair B-36s from the 7th Bombardment Wing at Carswell AFB, Tex., made their first appearance in Europe at Lakenheath, England, after a 7,000-mile flight. (1) The USAF directed the Air Materiel Command to set up a study with Consolidated Vultee Aircraft Corporation (Convair) for an intercontinental rocket with a minimum range of 5,500 miles, minimum speed of Mach 6 over target, a circular error probable of 1,500 feet, and a nuclear warhead. This study led to the Atlas project (see 23 January 1951). (6)
1960: The National Air and Space Administration launched a 100-foot diameter balloon that inflated 250 miles above Wallops Island, Va. (24)
1965: Capt Joe H. Engle honored by the US Junior Chamber of Commerce as one of America's Top Ten Young Men of 1964 for his X-15 flights. (3)
1968: Crews from United States Air Forces in Europe and the Military Airlift Command delivered food and equipment to Sicilian earthquake victims over a six-day period. (16) (26)
1970: LAST B-58 HUSTLERS. The Strategic Air Command retired its last B-58 Hustlers. Two bombers from the 43rd Bombardment Wing at Little Rock AFB, Ark., and two from the 305th Bombardment Wing at Grissom AFB, Ind., flew to the aircraft storage facility at Davis Monthan AFB, Ariz. (1)
1971: Pacific Air Forces terminated all fixed-wing herbicide operations in Southeast Asia. (17)
1974: Through 19 January, the 48th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron evacuated 93 people from flooded areas near Pinehurst, Idaho. (16) (26)
1975: MACKAY TROPHY. Through 1 February, Majors Roger J. Smith, David W. Peterson, and William R. MacFarlane flew the F-15A Streak Eagle set eight time-to-climb records at Grand Forks AFB, N. Dak. On 1 February, Major Smith set a world record for time-to-climb by reaching 98,425 feet in 3 minutes 27.8 seconds. For these flights, the men earned the trophy. (21)
1981: From Corpus Christi, Tex., and Little Rock AFB, Ark., Military Airlift Command C-130s moved 500 tons of arms, ammunition, helicopters, and other material to San Salvador to support the Salvadoran government in its struggle against leftist guerrillas. This operation lasted through June. (2)
1987: A B-1B Lancer, flying with the combined test force at Edwards AFB, Calif., launched its first Short-Range Attack Missile over the Tonopah Test Range, Nev. (16) (26)
1991: Operation DESERT STORM. The 2d Bomb Wing launched B-52Gs at 0636 hours local time from Barksdale AFB, La., to the Iraqi combat zone, where they launched 35 cruise missiles on 17 January against targets in Iraq and returned to Barksdale. This flight, the longest bombing mission in history to date, started the war against Iraq. (20)
1997: An Air Force Reserve C-141 aircrew from the 446th Airlift Wing at McChord AFB, Wash., left Beijing with the remains of five Americans, who died on 13 August 1944 in a B-24J Liberator crash after bombing Japanese ships near Taiwan. Villagers searching the mountainous area for herbs discovered the crash in an extremely remote location of China's Guangxi Province. (22)
1998: After a devastating earthquake hit China's Northern Hebei Province, a C-17 left Kadena AB, Okinawa, for Beijing with 40 tons of relief supplies, consisting of blankets, sleeping bags, medical supplies, rations, and cold-weather clothing. (22)
2002: At the request of the Philippine government, the Department of Defense deployed US forces to train, advise, and assist Filipino troops in combating the indigenous Abu Sayyaf terrorist group. Through 30 September, the Air Mobility Command flew 78 missions to transport nearly 1,600 troops and more than 3,000 short tons of cargo to the Philippines. (22)
2003: The National Air and Space Administration launched the Space Shuttle Columbia on its multidisciplinary microgravity and Earth science research mission, STS-107. The seven-member crew died on 1 February, when the shuttle disintegrated while re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. Investigators later determined that a piece of foam broke off in launch and damaged the orbiter's thermal protection system on its left wing. The damage led to an extensive heat buildup and the shuttle's disintegration. The shuttle crew members were: Col Rick D. Husband, Commander; Lt CommanderWilliam C. McCool, Pilot; Capt David M. Brown (U. S. Navy), Mission Specialist; Kalpana Chawla, Mission Specialist; Lt Col Michael P. Anderson, Payload Commander; Commander Laurel B. Clark (U. S. Navy), Mission Specialist; and Ilan Ramon, Payload Specialist and a Reserve colonel in the Israeli Air Force. (3)
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
1950
USAF LEGENDS:
On this day in Air Force History
January 16:
1950
USAF LEGENDS:
General of the Air Force Henry Harley "Hap" Arnold and the Origins of USAF Technology, Pt. II
During America's involvement in WW I, Arnold served on the Army General Staff in Washington, DC, as assistant chief of the aeronautical division. In that capacity he oversaw the building up of the infant American aircraft industry as well as the creation of a system for training both pilots and aircraft mechanics for war. He never saw combat but was involved with secret weapons projects like the "Flying Bomb," an unmanned, biplane-like missile, which he revitalized during WW II. Arnold was also directly involved in overseeing the massive demobilization of the army following WW I.
Arnold had only assumed the nickname "Hap" in 1931 following the death of his mother who had always called him "Sunny." He assumed command of the 1st Wing that was based at March Field, California, in 1931 where he honed his skills as a large unit commander. While there, he made friends with Theodore von Kármán, head of the Caltech wind tunnel laboratory. From that time forward, Arnold had access to the most gifted aeronautical scientist in America. Their relationship continued until Arnold retired from service in 1946.
During 1934, Hap Arnold commanded the Western Division during the Air Corps assignment to carry the U.S. Mail in the face of civil contract disputes. Seen as a failed exercise by most, Arnold realized that the airmen had performed with distinction considering their outdated equipment and inadequate instrument flight training. Once Congress realized the same, military aviation funding began to improve allowing progress in aviation technology once again.
…to be continued.
NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNN
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "SkipsList" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to skipslist+unsubscribe@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/skipslist/CACTjsm30XufttSEdBhyu8HS264FCJK-xFxGabCnmYb5kDFg%2BLA%40mail.gmail.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.