Letters [email protected]

F2T2EA area, real-time sensors make it easy in the bar. Drinking was a deportation One way to simplify the F2T2EA to quickly and reliably assess the offense. [“Find, Fix, Track, Target, Engage, effectiveness of air operations. Most people arrived with little Assess,” July, p. 24] problem is to put Lt. Col. Price T. Bingham, knowledge of the climate except a more emphasis on managing the tac- USAF (Ret.) vague idea it was “hot.” July and tical employment of surveillance and Melbourne, Fla. August [temperatures] were 109 [de- attack assets from onboard the the- grees]—with 119 the absolute max ater [Command and Control, Intelli- It Was Earlier and 42 the lowest the year I was gence, Surveillance, and Reconnais- The USAAF established a pres- there. The Persian Gulf was only three sance] team of AWACS, Rivet Joint, ence at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, in miles away and provided a shallow and Joint STARS [aircraft], rather than 1946. It was closed out in either 1958 layer of very moist air. During my from an air operations center. or 1959. [See “The Long Deployment,” year, we had an official measure- Thanks to the cross-cuing of their July, p. 30.] ment of an 88 [degrees] F dew point own wide-area, real-time sensors and I was a first lieutenant weather and once zero/zero fog at a [tem- the sensors of other systems like forecaster there from June 1956 to perature] of 85 [degrees] F. Dust was [unmanned aerial vehicles], the the- June 1957. The base organization the worst. High winds are prevalent ater C2ISR team will almost always was the . About 800 March to June. The club had a big have the most current and, therefore, people were there. This unit provided box where you could dump the sand accurate information on mobile tar- various kinds of support to US inter- from your shoes. gets, and it is movement that usually ests in Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Iran, Paki- Considering the supply problems, makes targets time critical. The team stan, and Ethiopia. Three C-54s [and] food was good. Eggs and fresh pro- will also have the most reliable con- three C-47s flew regular missions duce were flown in from Beirut or nectivity with shooters operating deep within Saudi Arabia and to Beirut, Asmara as available. Mail came twice in enemy airspace, and this connec- Baghdad, Tehran, and Asmara (Eri- a week via TWA, which had a great tivity makes a significant contribution trea). Two H-19s provided air res- deal with the APO in New York. Air- to the team’s enhanced situational cue, if needed. One of the H-19s mail was usually only two or three awareness. Still another advantage went down 100+ miles offshore in days old when received; I understand of increased emphasis on airborne late 1956 while on a mission to pro- it was not that good during Desert surveillance and battle management vide assistance to an injured sea- Storm. is that it makes our command and man. We had a 10,000-foot runway and control of aerospace forces more During the first few years the base a 6,000-foot cross runway. The base deployable and survivable. was open, the tour was only six months was built to be a recovery base for A second way to simplify the F2T2EA because the “Dallas” huts used for B-36 missions over the Soviet Union. problem is to recognize that usually billeting had no air-conditioning. When Three “nose docks” had been built to the desired “effect” will be functional I was there, cinder-block [bachelor service the B-36s, but the B-36 was when fighting fielded land forces, e.g., officer quarters] and dormitories had gone for all practical purposes by the effect of stopping an enemy from been built. Two large chilled water 1956, as the B-47s were common being able or willing to operate ma- plants later provided [air-condition- and the B-52 was into full production. chines that are needed to perform ing] for all buildings on base. The tour There were no fences around the militarily significant functions. In this then became 12 months. Base hous- base. Before each aircraft arrival/de- case, attacking and destroying ma- ing was very limited—key people only. parture, the airdrome officer was re- chines that are being operated (mov- The officers club served milk shakes quired to check the runways for wan- ing) and, therefore, occupied be- dering Bedouins, loose donkeys, etc. comes a means for changing the TWA and KLM used the base a couple behavior of enemy personnel not yet of times a week each way, and Swissair attacked, making them unwilling to Do you have a comment about a started up in 1957. MATS’ Atlantic risk operating their machines because current article in the magazine? Write Division and Pacific Division both ter- of their perception of the great dan- to “Letters,” Air Force Magazine, 1501 minated at Dhahran and reversed their ger if they do so. Exploiting the Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209- routes. The Pacific Division was op- 1198. (E-mail: [email protected].) Let- enemy’s perception of danger allows ters should be concise and timely. erated by the Navy; the run was called desired effects to be achieved faster We cannot acknowledge receipt of the Embassy Run. I rode it on a Christ- and with less resources than could letters. We reserve the right to con- mas leave to Bangkok with stops in be explained solely by the amount of dense letters. Letters without name Karachi and New Delhi. Those were destruction caused by attacks. And and city/base and state are not ac- the days! when stopping the enemy’s opera- ceptable. Photographs cannot be Lt. Col. W.P. Cramer, tion of his machines is the desired used or returned.—THE EDITORS USAF (Ret.) effect, the theater C2ISR team’s wide- San Antonio

4 AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2000 Letters Understanding that the article was qualified as Boyne would have com- Ross Ice Shelf at McMurdo Sound in about the Gulf War time frame, there mitted such an oversight. Antarctica (Operation Deep Freeze), was an omission. The Air Force has For the record, even though Ol’ Shaky and making the first parachute drop had a military presence in the Gulf as arrived late in the war and, at first, the on the South Pole, making the first early as the late 1970s or early 1980s engineers feared that her great weight intercontinental combat strength and [when] the Air Force was involved in would not be supported by the runway combat ready troop movement en- Elf One. surfaces of Korean airstrips, she dis- tirely by air (Operation Gyroscope), I was stationed in Dhahran for two tinguished herself well, not only ferry- and countless humanitarian missions 60-day cycles in NovemberÐDecem- ing troops and supplies to the battle to South America, Asia, and Africa ber 1981 and the JuneÐAugust 1983 zone but transporting thousands of war- (including Operation New Tape to time frame. weary soldiers and airmen to well-de- the former Belgian Congo). John Mason served R & R in Japan and bringing She was not glamorous, but she Nashua, N.H. back many of the sick and wounded was great. She was perhaps the most POWs during Operation Little Switch. historic cargo carrier of the 20th cen- Loved It, But She also has her image engraved on tury. Let’s not slight her! While I thoroughly enjoyed Walter the wall (the medical panel) of the James L. Seay J. Boyne’s article “Air Force Aircraft national Korean War Veterans Memo- Ex-staff sergeant, USAF of the Korean War” [July, p. 64], I was rial in , D.C. Rantoul, Ill. disappointed and saddened that my After the war, Ol’ Shaky continued old bird, the Douglas C-124 Globe- to distinguish herself by becoming Retired CMSgt. Laddie Ondracek master II (affectionately known as the first heavy aircraft to land on ice from Tulsa, Okla., retired MSgt. Rob- “Ol’ Shaky”) was omitted. She con- (in the Canadian Arctic during the ert B. Walker of Lynden, Wash., and tinues to be the Forgotten Warrior of construction of the [Distant Early retired Lt. Col. Melvin C. Elliott from the Forgotten War. I am genuinely Warning] Line), using the techniques Glendale, Ariz., also wrote to credit amazed that someone as infinitely learned in Canada to land on the Ol’ Shaky.—THE EDITORS Another Shot at “Nine Myths”

We appreciate Dr. [Rebecca] Grant’s Kosovo cannot be seen as an ex- played no role is further discredited efforts to highlight lessons learned ception because it was character- by the actual presence of allied ground from Operation Allied Force, but we ized by “a morass of close combat units in Kosovo and in theater. The found the description of each “myth” without a traditional front line.” We arrival of Task Force Hawk and other to be more convincing than the rebut- cannot assume, against all evidence, NATO forces in Albania as well as the tals. [See “Nine Myths About Kosovo,” that our future wars will all be like reinforcement of the Allied Rapid Re- June, p. 50.] The article’s two main the Gulf War. It is unrealistic to ex- action Corps in Macedonia lent cred- points are that airpower was effec- pect future conflicts to be free of ibility to the threat of an allied inva- tive against Serb forces in Kosovo political constraints, noncombatants, sion. and that land power did not contrib- refugee flows, paramilitary forces, These “myths,” then, contain more ute to Allied Force. The first argu- bad weather, and restrictive terrain. truth than myth. As Dr. Grant states ment misses the point completely and These are the defining characteris- in the article, “If these myths were to the second argument is simply wrong. tics of the 21st century battlefield. be credited, one would have to con- The discussion of “myths” one “Myths” five through seven discount clude that aerospace power is noth- through four, concerning airpower’s the role of land forces in Milosevic’s ing more than a flashy, unreliable effectiveness against Yugoslav forces eventual capitulation. [Retired] Gen. tool of military force.” This conclu- in Kosovo, essentially degenerated into [Wesley] Clark has stated that allied sion is too harsh; we have the best quibbling over numbers. Regardless ground forces deserve “an awful lot Air Force in the world, and airpower of recent reports that the numbers cited of the credit for the successful out- will always play a vital role in joint in the article are significantly inflated, come of the operation in Kosovo last and combined operations. Any stu- body counts are no more valid mea- year.” That we were “never close to dent of military history knows that sures of effectiveness today than they preparing for a ground invasion” is combined warfare is always more were during the . simply incorrect. In fact, the Los An- effective than the use of a single The obsession with numbers ob- geles Times reported that Strobe element of power. scures the larger question of whether Talbott and two American generals Charles Lathrop and John Kreul airpower alone can be sufficient to do briefed Russian envoy Victor Cher- National Security Analysts anything more than degrade enemy nomyrdin on US invasion plans, which Association of the United States ground forces. This argument glosses a shaken Chernomyrdin then related Army over airpower’s inability to halt Yugo- to Milosevic. National Security Advi- slavia’s operations in Kosovo, espe- sor Sandy Berger had already drafted From Rebecca Grant cially ethnic cleansing. Defending the a memo to the President, recommend- Two guys from AUSA liked the myths Air Force’s halt-phase concept by ar- ing a ground invasion in case Cher- better than the facts? Hardly surpris- guing that the conditions in Kosovo nomyrdin was unable to persuade ing. Myths thrive in spite of facts and were uniquely unfavorable challenges Milosevic to back down. that is why they have to be rebutted the concept’s utility in the real world. The argument that ground forces before they morph into joint doctrine.

6 AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2000 I was surprised to read Boyne’s 123s, AC-119s, O-1Es, O-2As, and copters during the hostilities in Ko- claim that Korea marked the end of A-1Es. And don’t tell me they weren’t rea. The rescue helicopters were pio- the line for prop-driven combat air- combat aircraft. neering chopper rescue activities craft in USAF. This statement is in MSgt. Stephen L. Childers, during that crucial period because it error. Many propeller-driven Air Force USAF (Ret.) was the first time under combat con- combat aircraft served with distinc- Camden-Wyoming, Del. ditions the whirly bird had been given tion during the Vietnam War. Among a chance to prove its worth as a these were the A-1, AC-47, AC-119, Having spent a good portion of two rescue aircraft. B-26K, C-7, C-123, O-1, O-2, T-28, years flying SA-16 aircraft out of K-16 I feel that I am speaking for hun- as well as several helicopters and in the early 1950s with North Korea dreds, perhaps thousands, of dedi- small liaison types. as the destination, I feel that a great cated and past rescuemen and women In addition, Vietnam also saw wide injustice is being done by not includ- who have literally adhered to and usage of the AC-130 and OV-10. ing the air rescue mission, along with lived by the code “That others may These aircraft, though turbo-engined, the three aircraft that did such a great live.” I also feel it is most important can be technically classified as pro- job during the Forgotten War, namely that the rescue mission never be peller-driven. the Grumman Albatross or SA-16 and given short shrift and that it, along MSgt. James B. Walker, the H-5 helicopter. with the rescue aircraft, truly de- USAF (Ret.) According to some of the pilots serve their hallowed place along- Dayton, who flew them, the H-5 left a lot to be side all the other aircraft of the Ko- desired, but when one remembers rean War. I was a 431 type (reciprocating that the H-5 was in its early stages of Col. Marcus C. West, engine aircraft mechanic) who served development for the air rescue role, it USAF (Ret.) two tours in Vietnam because my [Air comes as no surprise that, initially, it Yankeetown, Fla. Force Specialty Code] was so criti- had lots of bugs. I recall seeing some cal. USAF had hundreds of prop- Bell choppers during that period, but I was most pleased by your men- driven aircraft in Vietnam, including so far as I know, the H-5 and the H-19 tion of the RB-50 on p. 70. I do be- but not limited to C-47s, AC-47s, C- were the workhorses of rescue heli- lieve [yours] was the only publication

Despite the gossip about invasion Pentagon’s rapid-halt strategy of budget battles and during wars in threats, this fact remains: Ground having the go-ahead to attack forces facing enemy capabilities with which forces were not used in combat dur- massed on a border and did not tell we were unprepared to cope,” wrote ing Operation Allied Force. The ma- us much about whether that strat- Gen. Frederick J. Kroesen, USA jor lessons, good and bad, that come egy would succeed. (Ret.), in the January 1999 issue of out of Allied Force centered on the As it happens, I agree with Messrs. AUSA’s Army Magazine. Kroesen is planning and employment of coali- Kreul and Lathrop that the larger ques- a senior fellow of AUSA’s Institute of tion aerospace power. tion is about what aerospace power Land Warfare. He also said that “in That’s why it puzzles me to be can do to an enemy ground force. the Persian Gulf, more than one accused of obsessing over numbers— How much more proof is needed? month’s expenditure of the most pro- especially numbers that were first Aerospace forces are designed to ficient air campaign in history failed briefed by an Army general, Wesley reach and strike much deeper, much to achieve a single objective estab- Clark. The damage assessments for quicker. They have gotten to be pretty lished for that war. ... Even with the fixed and mobile targets contain in- effective at targeting enemy ground wondrous capabilities of today’s tech- triguing lessons for future joint op- forces. But for some reason, advo- nology, airpower is still a part-time erations. Would it really be better to cates of land power still like to criti- participant.” ignore the numbers? cize airmen for doing their job. In the August 1999 issue of Army As for the inability to halt ethnic It’s an old problem. Magazine, retired Lt. Gen. Theodore cleansing, this was an issue way As Billy Mitchell observed in 1917: G. Stroup Jr., AUSA’s vice president beyond operational doctrine. NATO “The ground troops did not yet real- for education, said this about Opera- backed itself into a corner that gave ize that they were perfectly incapable tion Allied Force in the Balkans: “Milo- Milosevic a big tactical advantage by themselves of dealing a blow at sevic’s will was not broken by weeks and allowed him to push out the the heart of the enemy country or its of strategic bombing. Milosevic lost Kosovars. Remember that many Eu- vital centers.” Of course, we know his nerve when ground power, in the ropean allies had put troops on the what the Army did to him. form of the Kosovar offensive and ground to defend safe areas in the capabilities of [the US Army’s] Bosnia and had hundreds at a time Kreul and Lathrop suggest that we Task Force Hawk, ... first unlocked taken hostage. All accounts tell us are picking an unprovoked argument the full capability of airpower. ... That that NATO could barely agree to in an otherwise jointly serene set- is what brought about the negotiated start airstrikes, much less to con- ting. Recent statements by their se- settlement, not the bombing of water template seizing Kosovo with ground nior colleagues at the Association of supplies, power grids, and Yugo fac- forces. Whatever NATO did would the US Army call that into question. tories.” have to be with aerospace power. “The Army has paid a high price for The reason that we and Dr. Grant My point was, let’s not confuse the the unfulfilled promises of airpower debunk myths is that there are myths issue. This was a long way from the since World War II—between wars in that need debunking.—THE EDITORS

AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2000 7 Letters

that acknowledged the RB-50 contri- 1952, and I never saw an RB-36 in bution. the squadron during that time. We The participating aircraft were RB- operated RB- and EB-29s. 50G. Boeing modified about 29 RB- R.C. Brunson 50s to various reconnaissance ver- Hot Springs Village, Ark. sions as RB-50EÐRB-50G. [There Publisher were] about 12 RB-50Gs assigned to A primary source for the article John A. Shaud the 343rd Strategic Reconnaissance was Air Wars and Aircraft by Victor Squadron (Medium) Electronic. The Flintham, who lists the RB-36A as Editorial [email protected] 343rd was stationed at Ramey AFB, being flown out of Yokota, where it Puerto Rico. The B-50’s bomb bays was hosted by the 91st SRS. An Editor in Chief were modified into [electronic coun- Association of Old Crows history says John T. Correll termeasure] compartments. RB-50Gs an RB-36 was operated from Okinawa Executive Editor were always on [temporary duty]. Two during the Korean War.—THE EDITORS Robert S. Dudney at a time were detached to the 91st Reconnaissance Squadron stationed The article gives only incidental Senior Editor at Yokota AB, Japan. coverage of the RB-26s. There is only John A. Tirpak The RB-50G shot down by the one last sentence under the B-26 write- Russians on July 29, 1953, was an- up. Under Reconnaissance/Observa- Associate Editor Tamar A. Mehuron other 343rd aircraft. I was angry when tion, it is only included with a list of I learned of this incident as it hap- other reconnaissance aircraft. The RB- Managing Editor pened two days after the Korean ar- 26 flew thousands of hours on solo Suzann Chapman mistice went into effect. night missions over Korea, identifying J.M. Slade enemy activity. My flight made the Assistant Managing Editor Memphis, Tenn. first sighting of the massive Chinese Frances McKenney crossing of the Yalu [River] to invade Director of Production In his narrative about the North Korea. Fifth Air Force did not consider Robert T. Shaughness American F-82 Twin Mustang, the my report of this as incidental. first aircraft to operate over Korea, Lt. Col. John D. Crawford Jr., Art Director he said they were powered by two USAF (Ret.) Guy Aceto 1,600-hp Allison engines. Hardly! The Newport, R.I. airplane would have been lucky to Assistant Art Director Cathy Cavanaugh get off the ground with those en- The author could have added that gines. Even the vaunted Rolls Royce the Korean War was also the first Research Librarian Merlin power plant could not satisfy time aircraft were refueled in-flight Pearlie M. Draughn its requirements. during combat conditions. On July 6, These Twin Mustangs were pow- 1951, a KB-29M hose-type tanker of Editorial Associates ered by the huge 2,200-hp Allisons the 43rd Air Refueling Squadron, Chanel Sartor originally intended for the P-51H. DavisÐMonthan AFB, Ariz., flying from Chequita Wood These engines, with their right- and Yokota AB, Japan, refueled four RF- Administrative Assistant & Staff left-handed props, made this airplane 80s flying a reconnaissance mission Editor a dream to fly. Please give this grand over North Korea. Juliette Kelsey lady back her power. Eight days later, the first KB-29P Col. John F. Sharp, flying boom refueling took place over USAF (Ret.) enemy territory when an RB-45C was Advertising [email protected] Sacramento, Calif. refueled over North Korea. On Sept. 28, 1951, two KB-29Ms of the 43rd Advertising Director The engines were two 1,600-hp ARS refueled an RF-80 six times over Patricia Teevan Allisons per numerous sources, in- Korea. This mission established a 1501 Lee Highway cluding Encyclopedia of US Air Force flight-endurance record for jet aircraft Arlington, Va. 22209-1198 Aircraft and Missile Systems, Vol. 1, of 14 hours and 15 minutes. One month Tel: 703/247-5800 published by the Office of Air Force later, on Oct. 29, the first midair refu- Telefax: 703/247-5855 History in 1978.—THE EDITORS eling of F-84s during combat condi- tions occurred when three KB-29Ms, Industry Relations Manager Nicola C. Whitlock ¥ 703/247-5800 I was amazed by what I had read: temporarily deployed to Taegu, [South] RB-36s flew recon missions during Korea, refueled eight Thunderjets. US and European Sales Manager the Korean War! I was an RB-36 crew The tankers also helped rescue a William Farrell ¥ 847/295-2305 member flying out of Ellsworth AFB, downed pilot in the water near Wonsan Lake Forest, Ill. S.D., from 1952 to 1956 and never Harbor on Nov. 3, 1951. The Strate- e-mail: [email protected] [was] aware that RB-36s were en- gic Air Command KB-29Ms were sup- gaged in the Korean War. porting F-84s on a bombing mission. Al Hains By providing additional refuelings, the Marina del Rey, Calif. tankers kept the F-84s airborne long enough to provide air cover until the Circulation audited by I was assigned to the 23rd [Strate- pilot was rescued. Business Publication Audit gic Reconnaissance Squadron] on Lt. Col. David W. Harvey Okinawa and to the 91st SRS at USAF (Ret.) Yokota from August 1949 to August Naperville, Ill.

10 AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2000 Under Thunderjet, it states the RF- 84s were used for reconnaissance. I question this statement, as there were production problems with the J65 engine used in the F-84F and Air Force Association RF-84F, and my Form 5 shows my 1501 Lee Highway ¥ Arlington, VA 22209-1198 first flight in an F-84F was in Febru- ary 1954 after the Korean War was Telephone: (703) 247-5800 over. When the 71st Strategic Re- Toll-free: (800) 727-3337 connaissance was formed at Larson AFB, Wash., in 1955 many of Press 1 if you know your party’s extension. the new pilots were returnees from Press 3 for customer service. Korea, and I believe they were still (For questions about membership, flying RF-80s. insurance, change of address or other Donald D. Watt Sr. data changes, magazine delivery Hampton, Va. problems, or member benefit programs, select the “Customer Service” option.) We erred. F-84 fighterÐbombers, Or stay on the line for an operator to not RF-84s, were used for day and, direct your call. later, night reconnaissance missions, in addition to their primary role. The Fax: (703) 247-5853 RF-84F never made it to Korea, per To select documents and receive them several sources.—THE EDITORS by fax: (800) 232-3563 The first F-51 was not a Mustang; it Internet: http://www.afa.org/ was an Apache made for the RAF with four 20 mm cannons wing-mounted. E-Mail Addresses A-36 was the Apache frame with dive Member Services ...... [email protected] brakes, bomb system, and six .50- caliber machine guns. I flew this air- Field Services ...... [email protected] craft, fired at the enemy, and dropped Government Relations ...... [email protected] bombs. Then came the B and C [mod- els] with six wing-mounted 50s, then Industry Relations ...... [email protected] the D model with a bubble canopy. I Information ...... [email protected] flew these in Korea—58 missions in- cluding the last Mustang combat mis- At the beginning of 1951 the num- Policy & Communications (news media) .... sion of my squadron, 12th FighterÐ ber of the 31st became the 91st. The ...... [email protected] Bomber Squadron, 18th Wing. 31st while at Johnson, flew at least Magazine What is seldom recalled is that the one RB-29 every day over North Ko- first Medal of Honor [in the Korean rea, averaging at least six hours per Advertising ...... [email protected] War] went to [F-51 pilot] Maj. Louis mission, doing recon and surveillance AFA/AEF Report ...... [email protected] Sebille, 67th FBS, posthumously. The missions. On two occasions, photo- 18th, plus the assigned and controlled mapping the Inchon area prior to Gen. Bulletin Board ...... [email protected] South African “Cheetah” Squadron, [Douglas] MacArthur’s invasion there Editorial Offices ...... [email protected] pounded the North Koreans all over and then on Oct. 2, 1950, I and my the peninsula, not just [providing] aircrew photomapped the entire North Letters to Editor...... [email protected] frontline support. Korean country, so that our UN forces Reunion Notices ...... [email protected] Ask any frontline soldier what he could have accurate maps as they most liked to see—and most likely drove north to the Yalu River. Aerospace Education he’ll say, “Four Mustangs with bombs, The 31st SRS was beefed-up by Foundation ...... [email protected] rockets, and napalm.” You just can’t four additional aircrews, including say we only did frontline support—it mine, from the 23rd SRS, FairfieldÐ Eaker Institute ...... [email protected] ain’t so. These are the aircraft that Suisun AFB, Calif., along with our Air Force Memorial Foundation ... [email protected] bore the burden: F-51, F-80, F-84, B- aircraft (August 1950ÐFebruary 1951). 26, F-82, AT-6, B-29, and C-47. The It was for a not-less-than-90-day For individual staff members rest were all right, but those actually TDY, which quickly turned into a first initial, last name, @afa.org fighting were those noted above. six-month effort. Each [of the] four Capt. John A. Hutchison, aircrews flew approximately 20 re- (example: [email protected]) USAF (Ret.) con-type missions during our TDY Dublin, Ohio in Japan. I and my aircrew flew 19 AFA’s Mission combat missions. I also want to [There is a] lack of any information mention [that] we flew for six hours To promote aerospace power and a given [about] the 31st Strategic Re- over North Korea—each sortie with- strong national defense. connaissance Squadron in your story out any friendly fighter cover. Our about aircraft used in the Korean War. sortie averaged 10 hours in length, To support the needs of the Air Force and Air Force people. Yes, you did mention the 91st SRS, counting the two hours flying time but the true history is the fact it was over and back. To explain these needs to the American the 31st there at Johnson AB, Japan, Col. William H. Cox, people. for approximately six months, from USAF (Ret.) July 1950 until January 1951. Vacaville, Calif.

AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2000 11 Letters

What a thrill it was to see “Air who are going to reduce the number When Powers appeared before Force Aircraft of the Korean War.” I of members on food stamps by count- the Senate Committee on Armed was an air traffic controller at Lang- ing housing allowance as income, I Services in open session on March ley AFB, Va., from June 1949 until have only one thing to say—it’s dis- 6, 1962, he stated he was still an October 1952. posable income, stupid! Unless things employee of the CIA. Having par- The and 334th, have changed dramatically, I never ticipated in the CIA review, includ- 335th, and 336th squadrons were had a housing allowance that came ing personally interviewing Powers based there. The Texas and Arkan- close to covering my housing ex- upon his return, I believe the hon- sas ANG arrived with about 90 P-51s. penses. ors bestowed on him are richly de- The Combat Crew Training Squad- On-base living was always cheaper; served. ron was flying the B-26. We also had therefore there was more money for John S. Warner a few P(F)-80 and the F-84s. Some- basics. It’s time Congress kept its Former general counsel time around the spring of 1951, the part of the all-volunteer force bar- Central Intelligence Agency 84th and 85th Bomb Group arrived gain. We should never ask young Tucson, Ariz. with their B-45s. men and women to volunteer to serve Needless to say, Langley was a their country, only to then find them- Mr. Warner is right. Powers was very busy facility about this time. selves relying on food stamps to get told he had to resign his commission Archie G. Fincher by. but, upon completing his CIA assign- Monroe, N.C. Bill Gorton ment, he could return to the Air Force Park City, Utah with no lost time and at a rank corre- I put in two years fighting the Chi- sponding to his contemporaries. That nese from June 1950 to April 1952 as WASPs didn’t happen.—THE EDITORS an air [evacuation] technician with I was pleased to see the [Women the 1453rd Medical Air Evac Squad- Airforce Service Pilot], in uniform, by What’s the Real Need, Part 2 ron stationed at Hickam AFB, Ha- the P-47 in your “Pieces of History” Phil Weissburg decries AFA’s “ir- waii, with a TDY squadron at Haneda photo [July, p. 88]. Maybe, after 55 relevant comparison between mili- AB, Japan. I was a staff sergeant and years, more people will learn of our tary spending as a share of Gross [noncommissioned officer in charge], part in World War II military aviation Domestic Product” and then con- flying the wounded from Korea to history. cludes, “Until American children are San Francisco in two days. The C-54 I served as a WASP (Class 43-7) no longer going to school in trailer was used primarily to transport the with 2nd Air Force, 207th Air-to- classrooms ... let’s cap military wounded back to the US for hospital- Ground Tow Target Squadron, Biggs spending.” [See “Letters: What’s the ization and ultimately release from AAF, Tex. I flew 13 different types of Real Need?” August, p. 12, and the service. airplanes during my service time. My June, p. 4.] The C-54 was the Air Force work- two favorites were the B-25 Billy Speaking of irrelevant compari- horse and did a fantastic job in all Mitchell twin-engine bomber and the sons, public education infrastructure kinds of weather. We put the C-54 P-47 Thunderbolt. in the US is primarily funded at the through every kind of work imagin- There are still over 600 living local level and suffers or thrives based able, and she was without a doubt WASPs. We have a very active or- upon the individual community’s abil- fantastic. I do not understand why air ganization, meeting several times ity and willingness to pay. (Drive over evac does not receive the write-ups it each year in various locations around to Salinas, Calif., and view their mod- deserves for the job it did in the Ko- the country. Our biannual reunion est public schools, then cruise back rean War. will be held in October 2000 at through Carmel and note the striking James M. Rochelle Sweetwater, Tex., where Avenger differences.) Tamarac, Fla. Field is located. This was the only In other words, the US could drive all-woman Army Air Corps pilot train- defense spending down to zero with- Food Stamps ing field in the US during World War out materially affecting the quality of Maybe I’m missing something in II. It will be a nostalgic return to our the schools in [a] neighborhood. the food stamp debate. [See “Aero- beginning for those of us who are The right way to size the defense space World: Cohen Seeks Food now in our upper 70s to mid-80s. budget is to base it upon known and Stamp Equity,” July, p. 11.] Seems And still going strong! anticipated mission requirements. that DoD is trying to figure out who Kaddy Landry Steele If the American people want the should be eligible for food stamps Gainesville, Fla. military establishment to keep an when the fact is no one in the military eye on Russia and China, keep a lid should be eligible—period! Not Still Air Force on North Korea and Iraq, keep the As I recall, when Congress ended Two statements caught my eye as peace in Bosnia and Kosovo, keep the draft in 1973 a major component being inaccurate in the item “Gary the narcotics traffickers and terror- of the all-volunteer force was compa- Powers Honored” [“AFA/AEF National ists in Latin America in check, keep rable pay. That was the deal: reason- Report,” July, p. 82]. [You state] productively engaging countries from able pay and benefits for those [who] “Francis Gary Powers, the Air Force Thailand to Tanzania (and a hun- volunteered. The political hot potato— pilot downed May 1, 1960, ... (At the dred places in between), and keep the draft—was off the table; all Con- time, Powers was assigned to the their fighting skills sharp enough to gress had to do was pass reasonable Central Intelligence Agency.)” fight and win a couple major theater pay raises for the military. Prior to his service with the CIA, wars at the same time, it’s going to That obviously didn’t happen if Powers had resigned his commis- be expensive. some members of the all-volunteer sion. Powers was not assigned (or Very expensive. force are now eligible for food stamps. detailed) to the CIA but, in fact, was Tim Kregel As for the Pentagon bean counters a civilian employee of the CIA. Ramstein AB, Germany

AIR FORCE Magazine / September 2000 13