Tinker Air Force Base, Okla
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Vol. 75, No. 34 Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. Friday, August 25, 2017 INSIDE AFSC hosts annual Senior Leader Course No technical edge in cyberspace, director says Page 3 72nd Medical Group extends hours Page 3 August 1945: Bldg. 3001 briefly on the brink Pages 6-7 Air Force photo by Kelly White Air Force Sustainment Center hosted the Senior Leader Course Aug. 14-16, welcoming 48 civilian and military personnel from AFSC organizations around the command. The annual course is geared toward wing and group commanders and senior-level directors coming into the AFSC. The course focuses on expectations for AFSC leaders as well as understanding “Art of the Possible” principles. 309th AMARG delivers 23 F/A- 18C Hornets New NG911 center opening this fall ahead of schedule John Parker Page 9 Staff Writer Tinker Air Force Base is geared up to be- Aircraft painter gin Next Generation 911 service this fall in saves life thanks a new Emergency Communications Center to CPR training that will bring state-of-the-art dispatch and incident management capabilities to emer- Page 1a gency and security personnel. The approximately $3 million center will combine the dispatch operations of the 72nd Security Forces Squadron and Tinker AFB Fire and Emergency Services for the first time and comes with a host of new capa- bilities. Visit us online at “It’s going to drastically improve our ca- www.tinker.af.mil pabilities as far as emergency response and incident management, as well as cohesion across the base with all emergency ser- vices,” said Master Sgt. Joe Puga, project coordinator for the 72nd SFS. “With work- Air Force photos by Kelly White ing that closely together, all of the emer- Training specialist Maj. Kevin Smith with the 72nd Air Base Wing/Civil Engineering Fire and gency services on Tinker AFB will be more Like us on Facebook Emergency Services stands in Tinker’s new Emergency Communications Center in Bldg. knowledgeable of each agency’s capabili- 7017, which will be fully functional this fall. The ECC will begin the Next Generation 911 www.facebook.com/ ties and procedures. I think it will elevate tinkerairforcebase service, combining dispatch operations for the 72nd Security Forces Squadron and Tinker us all to a whole new level as incident re- Fire and Emergency Services. sponders.” Dispatching operations for Tinker technology to Enhanced 911 systems other data that are incompatible with E911 Emergency and Fire Services and the 72nd widely used today. Internet-based NG911 capabilities. SFS are currently separated. The ECC is standards, which are continuously evolving Training specialist Maj. Kevin Smith with scheduled to open this fall, but no firm date and improving, are aimed at catching up the 72nd Air Base Wing/Civil Engineering Follow us on Twitter has been set. with communications technologies such @Team_Tinker Next Generation 911 is the successor as texts, emails, social media, videos and See 911 page 5. 2 — www.TinkerTakeOff.com — August 25, 2017 Tinker Air Force Base Commentary: Operation Carpetbagger and the Photo courtesy Tinker Air Force Base History Office A line of J57 engines receive attention on the over- beginning of USAF Special Operations haul line in Bldg. 3001 at what was then called the Howard E. Halvorsen Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area in 1969. Air Force Sustainment Center Historian On January 4, 1944, American Pratt & Whitney and Royal Air Force planes dropped arms and supplies to J57 turbojet French, Belgian and Italian partisans for the first time under the official codename Operation engine profile Carpetbagger. This operation had started Greg L. Davis before, in August 1943, and lasted 72nd Air Base Wing Public Affairs until the end of the war in Europe, mostly using specially modified Pratt & Whitney’s J57 engine is a twin-spool, axial B-24Ds in classified missions. In a flow turbojet engine with standard and afterburning joint venture between the Army Air configuration. The J57 was the first turbojet design Force and the Office of Strategic for the company and represented a technological Services, pilots and crews flew leap in the field of jet engine design which was well Photo courtesy Tinker Air Force Base History Office planes with glossy black anti- received and truly revolutionized air travel when searchlight paint to supply friendly Operation Carpetbagger navigators plot their courses. introduced in the early 1950s. In fact, it was so well underground forces throughout flew C-47s, A-26 Invaders, and because of their special training received it won the prestigious Collier Trophy for the German occupied Europe. British de Havilland Mosquitoes. in low altitude flying and pinpoint greatest achievement in American aviation in 1952. As directed by the Combined The Carpetbaggers flew into navigation skills. Tinker has a long history with the J57 engine Chiefs of Staff in September Europe spies called “Joes” and It was the alterations to the since it is has powered or continues to power major 1943, the 8th Air Force formed commando groups prior to the airplane, along with the bravery aircraft systems maintained here, including the KC- the 801st Bombardment Group Allied invasion of Europe on D-Day and skill of the pilots and crews, 135 Stratotanker and B-52 Stratofortress. This long (Heavy) (Provisional) at and afterward, and retrieved more which made this all work. Most association was formalized when on July 1, 1963, the Harrington Field, England, from than 5,000 officers and enlisted Carpetbagger flights were made Oklahoma City Air Materiel Area became the single elements of the inactivated AAF men who had escaped capture after by glossy black B-24 bombers overhaul site for J57 engines within the Air Force, Antisubmarine Command. being shot down. The low-altitude, flying on moonlit nights at low according to official Tinker history documents. Redesignated the 492nd night-time operation was extremely level to avoid enemy gunfire and In 1967 KC-135s and B-52s are put on contract at Bombardment Group in August dangerous and took its toll on these to improve visual navigation. Tinker’s OC-AMA which resulted in an entirely new 1944, this special unit became best airmen. The first aircrews chosen The nose guns were removed to production line in Bldg. 3001, and more overhaul known as the Carpetbaggers. In for this operation came from the work of J57s. addition to the B-24Ds, they also anti-submarine bomb groups See Carpetbagger page 10. On June 30, 1969, OC-AMA began to manage the entire item line for J57. Work on J57 powered KC-135s came to an end on Sept. 29, 1995, when the last J57-59W engine was pulled from a KC-135Q. This week in Tinker history The majority of the C/KC-135 fleet were upgraded to CFM56 high-bypass engines. However, the story Aug. 25, 1941 - State Aug. 20, 1961 - The Ground Attack Missile/ for the J57 engine continues at Tinker with ongoing and federal government GAM-77 “Hound Dog” missile modification and work for the B-52 Stratofortress and special mission officials agree to pave four maintenance program begins. aircraft such as the OC-135 “Open Skies” jet. miles of Midwest Boulevard Aug. 25, 1961 - An F-100 jet fighter crashes According to a Pratt & Whitney fact sheet on the and reconstruct SE 29th as a in the Glenwood Addition, 300 block of Ferguson J57, the engine was the preferred powerplant for four-lane thoroughfare. Street, Midwest City. The crash kills two children almost every aircraft manufacturer building high- Aug. 21, 1942 - The Chamber and destroys several homes. performance aircraft in the 1950s. This included not of Commerce suggests the War Department name Aug. 25, 1967 - A major change to the Oklahoma just jet fighters like the Century Series jets for the Air the depot installation Tinker Field in memory of City Air Materiel Area’s maintenance workload Oklahoma native, Maj Gen Clarence L. Tinker, takes place: KC-135s are put on contract; more See J57 page 10. whose aircraft was lost in the Pacific theater in complex KC-135 aircraft and B-52s are modified June. at the depot; plans are made to overhaul more Aug. 24, 1960 - Maj. Gen. Lewis L. Mundell J57 engines in Building 3001. As a result, the Manufacturer: Pratt & Whitney succeeds Gen. Thomas P. Gerrity as Oklahoma old aircraft maintenance line in Building 3001 Engine type: J57 turbojet City Air Materiel Area commander. disappears. Maximum thrust: 19,600 pounds of thrust (with afterburner) In-service dates: 1951-present Number produced: 21,186 2017 Key events: Sept. 16: Air Force Ball Oct. 13: Capstone Event Tinker connection: Program management, maintenance, repair and overhaul August 25, 2017 — www.TinkerTakeOff.com — 3 No technical edge in cyberspace, director says John Parker said. “Our way of life is really being Staff Writer threatened by things that are happening in the cyber world, and if we don’t either Unlike the competition for the stop that technology or make a leap, lit- world’s best fighter jets and other erally our way of life can be affected.” weapon systems, the United States has Stamey was the keynote speaker Aug. no technical edge when it comes to de- 18 at the 13th annual Technology Day Air Force photo by Kelly White fending the nation in cyberspace, the sponsored by the Armed Forces Commu- Air Force Sustainment Center’s direc- nications and Electronics Association’s Tim Henke, center left, with the Air Force Association’s Gerrity Chapter, speaks tor of engineering said recently. with Todd Prouty, Brian Rinehart and Abbie Obermiller, representatives for Crys- Oklahoma City chapter. He spoke at the tal Group Inc., during the 13th Annual Technology Day at the Tinker Club Aug.