History

CLOSE CALL: Instead of calling it quits on the aircraft, the pilot alerted the tanker of his malfunction, and the crew escorted the jet to its base "while refueling every 15 minutes to avoid an emergency."
Posted by Air Force Times on Thursday, February 11, 2016

Back to the future: Tankers saving fighter pilots has happened before

By Oriana Pawlyk on February 12, 2016 Air Force, History

History is making a comeback when it comes to tankers lending a helping hand to some stranded Air Force pilots out there. Air Force Times’ readers applauded the news that an Air Force tanker crew from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, helped save a struggling F-16 pilot. He was flying over Islamic State group-held territory last year when a technical problem affected his fuel supply. He might have ejected over enemy territory, but the KC-135 essentially towed him back to base. “Now THAT is a wingman,” reader Sam Axe wrote on the Air Force Times Facebook page. “Teamwork at its…

Doolittle Raider meets ‘Flying Tiger’

By militaryonline on May 26, 2015 China, History

Two legends met for the first time last week, when one of the two surviving Doolittle Raiders was introduced to a former Chinese general officer, who flew with the 14th Air Force, heir to the famous Flying Tigers. Lyushun Shen, Taiwan’s top diplomat in the U.S., held a May 19 luncheon with retired Air Force Lt. Col. Richard Cole, the co-pilot for then Army Lt. Col. James “Jimmy” Doolittle, and former Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Republic of China Air Force Patrick Chen. In 1940, Chen was selected by retired Army Maj. Gen. Claire Chennault to go through flight training in…

CSAF unveils 2015 reading list

By Kristin Davis on February 16, 2015 Afghanistan, Air Force, History, Leadership, Uncategorized

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has unveiled his annual reading list — 12 titles mostly recommended by you. More than 1,700 airmen wrote in over 10 days recommending favorite books and movies, enough, Welsh wrote in his opening message, to “fill a library … with amazing fictional, historical, and biographical works, along with fascinating ideas about personal and organizational values, growth, and success.” Topping this year’s book list is the 2012 “Air Commanders” by John Andreas Olsen. Part-military biography and part-operational analysis, the book tells the stories of 12 airmen who “shaped the central air campaigns in American history,”…

WWII airplanes to fly over Arlington Cemetery Friday

By Stephen Losey on October 10, 2014 History

If you’re near the Pentagon or Arlington National Cemetery today, you might want to watch the skies around lunchtime. About 30 T-6 Texan aircraft — a two-seater used for advanced pilot training during World War II — are going to take off from Culpeper Regional Airport in Virginia around noon, and fly over Northern Virginia in formation. The Potomac Flight is scheduled to swing by Andrews Air Force Base, before flying over Arlington National Cemetery and the Pentagon in formation around 12:30. The T-6s will then return to Culpeper. The ceremonial flight is part of this weekend’s Culpeper Air Fest,…

First airman to receive Air Force-designed Medal of Honor dies

By Oriana Pawlyk on August 18, 2014 Air Force, Award, History

Colonel Bernard Fisher, awarded the Medal of Honor in 1967, died over the weekend in Idaho, KBOI 2News reports. He was 87. Fisher was first to receive the Air Force designed Medal of Honor, which was established on April 14, 1965 (The first Medal of Honor received by an airman was awarded to Capt. Edward V. Rickenbacker for aerial combat in 1918). President Lyndon B. Johnson presented the award to then-Maj. Fisher for risking his life to save a fellow pilot shot down during action in the A Shau Valley of Vietnam in 1966. Fisher, who volunteered to go to Vietnam, “landed his Douglas…

This week in history

By Oriana Pawlyk on June 24, 2014 Air Force, History, Pentagon, Photos, Space

Reviewing history in the military, the Air Force and triumphs and misadventures in airpower. On June 24, 1997, the Air Force released “The Roswell Report, Case Closed,” stating there was no evidence that any kind of life form was found in the Roswell, New Mexico, area in connection with the reported UFO sightings that occurred decades prior. When Americans began to focus on the skies in the 1940s, Roswell became a hot topic in the UFO department. It started when rancher “Mac” Brazel found debris scattered over some of his land in July 1947. According to History.com, he “turned the material…

Air Force museum expansion breaks ground

By Stephen Losey on June 4, 2014 History

By 2016, some of the Air Force’s most historic aircraft could have a new home. The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio on Tuesday broke ground on its fourth building, the Air Force said this morning. The expansion, which is expected to cost $35.4 million and is scheduled to open to the public in 2016, will be the new home for aircraft from the Presidential, Research and Development and Global Reach collection, and will have a new and expanded Space Gallery. The museum’s new 224,000-square foot building will include some really cool aircraft, including: SAM 26000, the…

President Obama to sign bill honoring the Doolittle Raiders

By Oriana Pawlyk on May 23, 2014 Air Force, History, Uncategorized

A two-year effort to honor members of the famed Doolittle Raiders with the nation’s highest award for distinguished achievements will come full circle today, when President Obama signs the measure into law alongside retired Lt. Col. Richard E. Cole, one of the four surviving members. The Congressional Gold Medal recognizes members of the Doolittle Raiders for their “outstanding heroism, valor, skill and service to the United States in conducting the bombings of Tokyo” during World War II. “I wish all of the Raiders were here to take part in the bill passing in the House and Senate,” Cole said in…

Missing U.S. service member from Vietnam to be laid to rest

By Oriana Pawlyk on March 19, 2014 Air Force, Defense Department, History

A U.S. service member who fought in Vietnam will move to his final resting place at Arlington National Cemetery this week. The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced March 18 that the remains of Army Staff Sgt. Lawrence Woods of Clarksville, Tenn., will be buried as part of group on March 21 at Arlington in a ceremony honoring the servicemen who were lost in an aircraft crash on Oct. 24, 1964. Woods and seven other service members were aboard a C-123 Provider aircraft that crashed when it was struck by enemy fire while resupplying the U.S. Special Forces camp…

Hear JFK rant about ‘silly bastard’ in the Air Force

By Stephen Losey on March 12, 2014 History

We’ve all been chewed out by our bosses at one time or another, but I’d wager none of us have ever been on the receiving end of a profane tirade from the President of the United States over pricey maternity furniture. That’s exactly what Air Force Gen. Godfrey McHugh got from President Kennedy on July 25, 1963. The Washington Post had just reported that Otis Air Force Base spent $5,000 — or $40,000 in today’s dollars — to refurbish a room into a maternity suite for the very pregnant Jackie Kennedy. President Kennedy was not happy, as you can hear…

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