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Readiness at Risk

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Readiness at Risk February 2013/$5 Readiness at Risk Living Boneyard Air Dominance Lessons From WWII, Korea, and Vietnam Unconventional. Undetectable. Undeniable. The F-35A Lightning II delivers the 21st century capabilities U.S. and thE F-35 lightning ii tEAM allied forces need. An innovative combination of stealth, speed, NORTHROP GRUMMAN f-35 and cutting-edge sensors allows it to fly through or slip past BAE SYSTEMS lightning ii advanced air defenses, virtually undetected. Superior battlespace PRATT & WHITNEY awareness leaves the enemy nowhere to hide. And that gives lOCKhEED MARtin pilots unprecedented power to engage the target and return home. The F-35A Lightning II. Rising to the challenges of the 21st century. See it in action – F35.com. 301-64993_F35_Unconventional_AFM.indd 1 10/4/12 5:04 PM February 2013, Vol. 96, No. 2 Publisher Craig R. McKinley Editor in Chief Adam J. Hebert Editorial [email protected] Editor Suzann Chapman Executive Editors Michael Sirak John A. Tirpak Senior Editors Amy McCullough 26 Marc V. Schanz FEATURES Associate Editor Aaron M. U. Church 4 Editorial: The Perils of Air Parity By Adam J. Hebert Contributors USAF must preserve readiness, keep Walter J. Boyne, Jack Broughton, John modernization on track, and retain top- T. Correll, Robert S. Dudney, Rebecca notch airmen as funds decline. Grant, Peter Grier, Richard P. Hallion, Marina Malenic 26 Sharpening the Nuclear Sword By Aaron M. U. Church Production [email protected] Air Force Global Strike Command’s Managing Editor bombers and missile forces are at an Juliette Kelsey Chagnon increasing level of readiness. Assistant Managing Editor 32 Living Boneyard Frances McKenney By John A. Tirpak 32 The Aerospace Maintenance and Editorial Associate Regeneration Group runs a warehouse, June Lee not a graveyard. Senior Designer 40 The Readiness Question Heather Lewis By Marc V. Schanz Money will come from somewhere, but Designer Air Force leaders hope budget cutters Darcy N. Lewis don’t create a hollow force. Photo Editor Zaur Eylanbekov 45 NATO’s Wobble By Peter Grier Production Manager The Atlantic alliance is as important Eric Chang Lee as ever, but the US will face new chal- lenges in getting its partners to pull Media Research Editor their weight. Chequita Wood 58 Emergency Care by Air By Marina Malenic Advertising [email protected] Military aircrews are mastering the art Director of Advertising of treating injured troops on the move. William Turner 1501 Lee Highway 66 Blue Skies for the B-1 Arlington, Va. 22209-1198 Photography by Jim Haseltine Tel: 703/247-5820 About the cover: Troops board a C-17 Text by Juliette Kelsey Chagnon Telefax: 703/247-5855 at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan. See “The Airmen at Dyess AFB, Tex., keep their 47 Readiness Question,” p. 40. USAF photo by B-1s ready for action worldwide. www.airforce-magazine.com SrA. Chris Willis. AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 1 Air Force Association 1501 Lee Highway • Arlington, VA 22209-1198 Telephone: (703) 247-5800 74 The Crucible of Vietnam Toll-free: (800) 727-3337 By Rebecca Grant Press 1 if you know your party’s extension. From 1964 to 1973, the Air Force paid Press 2 for Membership. a terrible price in lives and aircraft. Press 3 for Insurance and other Member Benefit programs. 79 The B-47’s Deadly Dominance Or stay on the line for an operator to direct your By Walter J. Boyne call. The crash reports were a sobering Fax: (703) 247-5853 litany of human error and design prob- lems that are unthinkable by today’s Internet: http://www.afa.org/ standards. E-Mail Addresses 84 The Condor Legion Field Services [email protected] By John T. Correll In the Spanish Civil War, the Luftwaffe Government Relations .................. [email protected] practiced for World War II. Industry Relations .......................... [email protected] 89 The Blooding of America’s Jet Events .................................... [email protected] Fighters Membership ................. [email protected] By Jack Broughton The first US pilots in Korea had to learn Insurance/Member Benefits............................... [email protected] 74 on the job, in the toughest possible way. Policy & Communications (news media) ......... 94 Air Dominance From Normandy to [email protected] the Bulge By Richard P. Hallion CyberPatriot [email protected] With control of the skies, the Army Air Forces relentlessly pounded the Germans. Magazine Advertising ............................ [email protected] AFA National Report ............... [email protected] DEPARTMENTS Editorial Offices [email protected] 6 Letters Letters to Editor [email protected] 10 Washington Watch New Pentagon boss; Fiscal follies; Leon’s legacy .... Air Force Memorial Foundation [email protected] 14 Air Force World For individual staff members 18 Index to Advertisers first initial, last name, @afa.org (example: [email protected]) 79 22 Senior Staff Changes 49 Chart Page: Up, Down, Up, Down, AFA’s Mission and ... Up? Our mission is to promote a dominant United 56 Flashback: Brain Buckets, Hanoi Style States Air Force and a strong national defense 63 Verbatim and to honor airmen and our Air Force heri- tage. To accomplish this, we: 64 Keeper File: What Wilbur Thought of Educate the public on the critical need for Gas Bags unmatched aerospace power and a techni- 100 AFA National Report cally superior workforce to ensure US national security. 101 Reunions Advocate for aerospace power and STEM 94 104 Airpower Classics: C-47 Skytrain education. Support the Total Air Force family and pro- Air Force Magazine (ISSN 0730-6784) February 2013 (Vol. 96, No. 2) is published monthly by the Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, mote aerospace education. Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Phone (703) 247-5800. Perodical postage paid at Arlington, Va., and additional mailing offices. Membership Rate: $45 per year; $110 for three-year membership. Life Membership (nonrefundable): $600 single payment, $630 extended payments. Subscription Rate: $45 per year; $29 per year additional for postage to foreign addresses (except Canada and Mexico, which are $10 per year additional). Regular issues $5 each. USAF Almanac issue $8 each. Change of address requires four weeks’ notice. Please include mailing label. POSTMASTER: Send changes of address to Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Publisher assumes no responsibility for unsolicited material. Trademark registered by Air Force Association. Copyright 2013 by Air Force Association. 2 AIR FORCE Magazine / February 2013 Extended Range Predator B EXTREME PERSISTENCE • 42-hour ISR-only endurance • 2,900 nmi mission radius • Field retrofitable to standard MQ-9 Reaper/Predator B • High-capacity landing gear • Proven multi-role platform for long endurance Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions ©2013 General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. www.ga-asi.com Leading The Situational Awareness Revolution Air Force Magazine_0113_r1.indd 1 1/7/13 5:04 PM Editorial By Adam J. Hebert, Editor in Chief The Perils of Air Parity HE Air Force faces daunting long- Jack Broughton recounts the early, dif- Coalition air forces quickly gained Tterm financial challenges. More ficult days of the Korean air war in this control over Iraq in 1991. The Air Force’s than a decade of rising budgets dur- issue in “The Blooding of America’s Jet dominance was so clear that some of ing the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan Fighters.” USAF’s “young jet fleet was Saddam Hussein’s jet fighters were were largely consumed by operational thrust into a trial by fire. Air Force P-80 flown to Iran for sanctuary. expenses and growth in a handful of pilots on a comfortable tour in Japan In 1999, Serbian defenses were me- mission areas. Overall, the so-called quickly became combat F-80 pilots,” thodically ground down by USAF-led boom times have left the Air Force Broughton writes. “Most of the limited NATO airpower during Operation Allied with fewer airmen and an aircraft fleet US Air Force units establishing posi- Force. older and smaller than before the 9/11 tions in Korea were overrun,” as the Taliban air defenses were eliminated terror attacks. invading North Korean forces swept without much ado in late 2001, and Af- Budgets are expected to decline go- F-51s and F-80s aside on their drive ghanistan has offered a benign operat- ing forward, and in many ways the Air ing environment ever since. Force is already in a tougher position USAF must preserve readi- In the 2003 Iraq war, Iraq literally than it was back in 2001. Because of ness, keep modernization on buried aircraft in the sand in an attempt the high cost of manpower, USAF has track, and retain top-notch to save them. shed thousands of uniformed person- The professional, all-volunteer mili- nel. The service has reduced end airmen as funds decline. tary force, high levels of readiness since strength by more than 40,000 airmen the 1980s, state-of-the-art combat air- since 2004 and is now approximately south. Then, for a short time, the MiG- craft, and advanced training programs the same size it was in 1947. 15 outclassed anything USAF had on like Red Flag and the USAF Weapons Most Air Force aircraft inventories are the peninsula. School create an Air Force without peer. geriatric. Some new purchases—such Experience, training, and new The Air Force has made air domi- as the Block 30 Global Hawk unmanned equipment such as the F-86 Sabre nance look so easy that many now take reconnaissance aircraft and the C-27 allowed USAF to battle back in the it for granted. A perception that the Air small airlifter—may no longer be worth skies over Korea, but the early days Force is already good enough works to their operating costs as strategic needs were deadly and grim. By June 1951 USAF’s detriment because security in change.
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