Hangar Digest the AIR MOBILITY COMMAND MUSEUM Page 1 Hangar Digest VOLUME 19, NO
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Hangar Digest THE AIR MOBILITY COMMAND MUSEUM Page 1 Hangar digest VOLUME 19, NO. 3 JUL — SEPT 2019 THE AMCM HANGAR DIGEST IS A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE AMC MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC. Page 2 Volume 19, Issue 3 Air Mobility Command Museum Mission Statement The mission of the Air Mobility Command Museum is twofold: ● To present the history and development of military airlift and tanker operations. ● In a goal closely aligned with the first, to portray the rich history of Dover Air Force Base and its predecessor, Dover Army Airfield. AMC Museum Staff AMC Museum Foundation The AMC Museum Hangar Director Board of Directors Digest is published quar- John Taylor President terly and is dedicated to Deputy Director Col. Don Sloan, USAFR (Ret.) the preservation of our Eric Czerwinski Vice President airlift and tanker herit- Senior Archivist Lt. Col. Paul Gillis, USAFR (Ret.) age. All articles, unless Lt. Col. Harry E. Heist, USAF (Ret.) Secretary otherwise noted, are writ- Photo Archivist MSgt. Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) ten by the editor. SMSgt. Larry Koewing, USAF (Ret.) Treasurer Viewpoints in this publica- Collections Manager Col. Jim Schultz, USAF (Ret.) tion are those of the contrib- Hal Sellars Members uting authors and do not nec- Volunteer Coordinator/Scheduler Mr. Robert Berglund essarily reflect the opinions of Paul George Mr. Carleton E. Carey Sr. The AMC Museum Founda- Librarian Lt. Gen. Bob Dierker, USAF (Ret.) tion or of the Museum’s staff. MSgt. Bob Wikso, USAF (Ret.) CW4 Jim Fazekas, USA (Ret.) Subscriptions are free and Mr. Skip Ford are mailed via nonprofit AMCM Foundation Staff Mrs. Chris Godek standard mail to paid-up Membership Manager CMSgt. George Roof, USAF (Ret.) members of The AMC Muse- MSgt. Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) CMSgt. Paul Roy, USAF (Ret.) Museum Store Manager MSgt. Phyllis Scully, USAFR (Ret.) um Foundation Inc. Kelly Hurlburt Mr. Kevin Taha Contributions. Reader com- Restoration Chief ments, articles and ideas are Les Polley Chaplain solicited for future issues. Mail Website (www.amcmuseum.org) Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Groth, USAFR (Ret.) to The Hangar Digest, AMCM Hal Sellars Foundation, PO Box 2024, Do- ver AFB DE 19902-9998; fax 302-677-5940; or email piff- brown1898@ gmail.com. What is the Air Mobility Command Museum? Contact Editor Master Sgt. Jeff Located in Hangar 1301 on Dover Air Force Base, Kent County, Delaware, the AMC Museum is part of the National Museum of the United States Air Force’s field museum Brown, USAF (Ret.) via email at system. [email protected]. One of the reasons your AMC Museum continues to provide a great educational expe- Photos are by Jeff Brown, rience is that we stick very closely to our reason for being. unless otherwise noted. So exactly what is our mission? Broken down by numbers our mission is 70 percent airlift and air-refueling, 20 percent Dover AFB history and 10 percent Air Force general history. Our aircraft and artifact collection sticks very closely to that breakdown. But we Cover: Looking like he just work hard to be much more than numbers. We tell the stories of the people who have stepped out of a time warp, served in our nation’s Air Force, and we offer the only opportunity for many visitors to Blake Hermance of Dover, Del., see the actual aircraft and meet the people who have served our country. was one of a dozen World War II Hangar 1301 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. re-enactors on site during the Although located on Dover AFB proper, entrance to the Museum must be made from May 4, 2019, D-Day observance Delaware Route 9, south of the base. Admission to and parking at the Museum is free at the AMC Museum. and military identification is not required. The Air Mobility Command Museum is open Cover photo and centerfold pho- from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed on Mondays and all federal to courtesy of Chris Hermance, holidays except Veterans Day. For more information, call 302-677-5938 or 302-677-5991. and used with permission. We like to say we are a window to your Air Force. Let us know how we can continue to improve our outreach and family-friendly experience. The Hangar Digest is printed and mailed by Delmarva Printing, Salisbury, Md.. Hangar Digest Page 3 Commemoration AMCM’s D-Day observance a major success Nothing done in the military is a one- when the plane was man effort; it takes teamwork to accom- on static display, plish a mission, be it small or large. Taylor said. And while the AMC Museum’s D-Day “Long story made anniversary observances may not have short, that developed been as complex as the operation it com- into a relationship memorated, it nonetheless was a massive and talks to try to operation for the Museum’s staff. get this most historic 436th Airlift Wing commander Col. aircraft here at Do- Joel W. Safranek called the two-day ver on its trip over to event, held May 3 and May 4 on the Mu- Normandy to do a seum grounds, a “world-class, knock commemoration of them out of the park event,” Museum D-Day here at the Director John Taylor said. AMC Museum in Dover,” he said. Bringing them together “What better way Marking the 75th anniversary of the to bring TAB and June 4, 1944, Operation Overlord, which Turf and Sport to- eventually freed Europe from Nazi con- gether after 75 trol was crucial, Taylor said. years?” The idea stemmed from contacts Taylor That’s All Brother World War II veteran Joe Morettini listens in and fellow vet was one of several George Shenkle shares a laugh during a briefing on Operation had with members of the Commemorative Overlord, presented by Museum volunteer Bob Leicht. Moretti Air Force about flame dampeners. The dozen surviving C- and Shenkle were aboard the AMCM’s C-47, Turf and Sport CAF is a Texas-based nonprofit group 47 and DC-3 aircraft Special, when they parachuted into Normandy on June 6, 1944. that flies and displays historic aircraft. that eventually took The CAF owns and operates the C-47 part in a formation flight over Normandy dubbed That’s All Brother, TAB, the aircraft during the weeklong anniversary celebra- that led the air armada into France that morn- tions in France. ing; one of the other aircraft was the AMCM’s own Turf and Sport Special. Small window The CAF needed flame dampeners for The idea of a more involved ob- TAB, and the Turf and Sport Special’s servance of D-Day itself grew as the idea restoration crew, led by retired Col. Bob of a Dover stopover by TAB morphed Leicht, had plans to fabricate a set for the from possibility into reality. Museum’s C-47, Taylor said. Taylor began coordinating the idea The devices help shroud the blue flame with the staff at the 436th Airlift Wing, emitted by radial engines used on the C-47, which expressed a desire to turn the ob- making the aircraft harder to see from the servance into a grander event. ground at night. That led to plans for having other air- The CAF inquired if Leicht and his craft do a flyover during the Museum staff could engineer a set of replica flame event as well as the opportunity for a dampeners for That’s All Brother to use demonstration parachute jump by mem- bers of the 82nd Airborne Division, the same unit whose soldiers jumped from C-47s on D-Day. Christina Collins tries her hand on the Mu- Real-life events seum’s flight simulator as Brian Kiser at Dover AFB as watches her attempted landing. The couple well as the sched- had come to Dover from Roanoke, Va., to uling of TAB’s watch the May 4 NASCAR race, but came flight across the to the AMCM when the contest was rained Atlantic meant the out. D-Day observance adding there would be competition from would be held a NASCAR races held in Dover as well as month earlier than the city’s own annual founding festivi- the actual 75th ties. anniversary. Unfortunately, those events eventually “We had a small meant the planned jumps by the 82nd couldn’t take place because there wasn’t That’s All Brother pilot Doug Rozendaal points out some fea- window of dates tures on his C-47 Skytrain to 436th Airlift Wing commander Col. that we could pick (See D-Day on Page 4) Joel W. Safranek. from,” Taylor said, Page 4 Volume 19, Issue 3 neering Squadron, which provided fencing D-Day and electrical connections. (Continued from Page 3) The AMC Foundation supplied funding for the evening’s 1940s swing band perfor- enough emergency medical support avail- mance while the AMCM Educational Out- able, Taylor said. reach Club paid for the dance floor . That disappointment, however, was “That was a tremendous hit,” Taylor only a small bump in the planning, he said, estimating at least 200 people turned said. The show would go on, and natural- out for the music, provided by the Smooth ly, that involved a lot of meetings be- Sounds Dance Band, a division of the near- tween Taylor, Deputy Director Eric Czer- by Milford Community Band. winski and Operations Director Mike One major surprise was seeing teenagers Hurlburt. from the Dover High School out on the dance floor, Tay- lor said. Mike Bassett conducts a pre-flight check “They were out inside That’s All Brother. there, swing danc- ing,” he said.