Total Force Tankers

Home , 28th Bomb Squadron, 69th Bomb Squadron, 95th Air Base Wing, Benjamin Foulois, Have Doughnut, Missile launch facility

June 2010/$4

Total Force Tankers

ISR Revolution Strike Command Steps Up Fiorello’s Foggiani Eyes in the sky for boots on the ground.

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Joint STARS The U.S. Air Force’s E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (Joint STARS) gives our warfighters the edge they need. The wide area surveillance (50,000 square km) and communication interfaces give our troops access to imagery and information on the battlefield, chat capability, and other support when and where it is needed. The Dismount Moving Target Indicator (DMTI) capability can track non-vehicular, slow moving entities — even individuals. Joint STARS aircraft are eyes in the sky protecting our boots on the ground. ©2010 Northrop Grumman Corporation June 2010, Vol. 93, No. 6

4 Editorial: Warfare v. Lawfare 68 Fiorello’s Foggiani By Robert S. Dudney By John T. Correll Who will stand in judgment of US The indomitable La Guardia led troops and leaders? American airmen on the Italian Front in World War I. 26 Strike Command Steps Up By Adam J. Hebert The legendary SAC is the benchmark for the Air Force’s new nuclear deterrent force.

32 The Thirty-Year Drought By John A. Tirpak For US military aircraft producers, the 34 lone and level sands stretch far away. 52 34 ISR Revolution By Michael C. Sirak Intelligence and operations are no longer viewed as separate entities; that has brought huge changes.

44 Wildcats Meet the Ugly Babies Photography by Ted Carlson The New Hampshire ANG boosts its 64 power through a new association with active duty airmen. 64 52 The SOF Makeover By Marc V. Schanz www.airforce-magazine.com 52 Air Force special operators are in heavy demand, but there can be no letup in force transformation. 6 Letters 10 Washington Watch 56 Penny Packets, Then and Now By Rebecca Grant 12 Air Force World Breaking up airpower into smaller, 15 Index to Advertisers ground-controlled units was a bad idea in World War II. It hasn’t gotten 18 Senior Staff Changes better with age. 22 Chart Page 60 The Question of What to Target 24 Issue Brief By Phillip S. Meilinger In the quandaries of World War II, 43 Verbatim one ﬁnds the origins of Operations 71 Books Research. 72 Flashback 64 Have Doughnut About the cover: A KC-135 refuels By John Lowery 75 AFA National Report an F-16. See “Wildcats Meet the Ugly In 1966, Israel got its hands on a 78 Unit Reunions Babies,” p. 44. Photo by Ted Carlson. MiG-21, with major beneﬁts for itself and the US Air Force. 80 Airpower Classics

AIR FORCE Magazine (ISSN 0730-6784) June 2010 (Vol. 93, No. 6) is published monthly by the Air Force Association, 1501 Lee Highway, Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Phone (703) 247-5800. Second-class postage paid at Arlington, Va., and additional mailing ofﬁces. Membership Rate: $36 per year; $90 for three-year membership. Life Membership (nonrefundable): $500 single payment, $525 extended payments. Subscription Rate: $36 per year; $29 per year additional for postage to foreign addresses (except Canada and Mexico, which are $10 per year additional). Regular issues $4 each. USAF Almanac issue $6 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 2010 by Air Force Association.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 1 11.375" Bleed 11" Trim 10" Live Scale: 1.0" = 1" = 1.0" Scale: UnitedStatesTanker.com YEL MAGCYAN BLK 90˚ 45˚105˚75˚ Date: 04.30.10 SCREEN ANGLES Color Incorporated [email protected] 818-240-1350 91201 Glendale, California 1600 FlowerStreet IIA RO SPECS. PROOF DIGITAL YEL BOEG_BDS_TNK_1958M DOT SHAPE MAG Elliptical 65137QX01r2_Base.qxd IESRE DMAX SCREEN LINE CYN 133 BLK IIA IE SPECS. FILES DIGITAL 280 Graphic :300 Line :2400 RESOLUTION X-1A PDF 55 5CM 75 50 25 0 25 3C 4C 50 55 5CY 75 50 25 5100 75 41M 50C 41Y 50K Output printed at: printed Output Production Artist: Space/Color: Frontline Communications Partners Communications Frontline Fle Name: Fle 55 5MY 75 50 25 Gutter: Media: Bleed: Fonts: Date: If it is deficient or does not comply with your requirements, please contact: please requirements, your with comply not does or deficient is it If Trim: Live: Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica 65 Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica S. Bowman S. in. 1/4 11.375x in. in. 17.375 11in.x in. 17 in. 10 x in. 16 Spread–4-color–Bleed Journal National 100% BOEG_BDS_TNK_1958M 4/29/10 Gutter = 1/4" = Gutter Client: PUBLICATIONNOTE: 17.375" Bleed 17.375" Boeing 55 75 50 25 Material for this insertion is to be examined carefully upon receipt. upon carefully examined be to is insertion this for Material Job Number: Job

17" Trim17"

Guideline for general identification only. Do not use as insertion order.insertion as use only.not identification Do general for Guideline Y 55 75 50 25 16" Live 16" BOEG_BDS_TNK_1958M Product: 80CnuyPr at ut 01 o nee,C 90067 1011,CA Los Suite Angeles, East, Park Century 1880 M Account Executive: Account Creative Director: Creative Boeing Defense, Space & Security & Space Defense, Boeing 55 75 50 25 TrafﬁcManager: Print Producer: Print Proof Reader: Proof Digital Artist: Copy Writer: Copy Art Director: Art Art Buyer: Art Vendor: Print Production at 310-601-1485. at Production Print Client: Legal: GCD: C Color Inc. Color TraciBrown Boeing McAuliffe D. P.Serchuk P.Koninck de P.Serchuk P.Serchuk 55 75 50 25 K Date/Initials Approved 51m7 04m0 75c63m63y 50c40m40y 25c17m17y 11.375" Bleed 11" Trim 10" Live Scale: 1.0" = 1" = 1.0" Scale: UnitedStatesTanker.com YEL MAGCYAN BLK 90˚ 45˚105˚75˚ Date: 04.30.10 SCREEN ANGLES Color Incorporated [email protected] 818-240-1350 91201 Glendale, California 1600 FlowerStreet IIA RO SPECS. PROOF DIGITAL YEL BOEG_BDS_TNK_1958M DOT SHAPE MAG Elliptical 65137QX01r2_Base.qxd IESRE DMAX SCREEN LINE CYN 133 BLK IIA IE SPECS. FILES DIGITAL 280 Graphic :300 Line :2400 RESOLUTION X-1A PDF 55 5CM 75 50 25 0 25 3C 4C 50 55 5CY 75 50 25 5100 75 41M 50C 41Y 50K Output printed at: printed Output Production Artist: Space/Color: Frontline Communications Partners Communications Frontline Fle Name: Fle 55 5MY 75 50 25 Gutter: Media: Bleed: Fonts: Date: If it is deficient or does not comply with your requirements, please contact: please requirements, your with comply not does or deficient is it If Trim: Live: Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica 65 Helvetica (Plain), Helvetica (Bold), Helvetica S. Bowman S. in. 1/4 11.375x in. in. 17.375 11in.x in. 17 in. 10 x in. 16 Spread–4-color–Bleed Journal National 100% BOEG_BDS_TNK_1958M 4/29/10 Gutter = 1/4" = Gutter Client: PUBLICATIONNOTE: 17.375" Bleed 17.375" Boeing 55 75 50 25 Material for this insertion is to be examined carefully upon receipt. upon carefully examined be to is insertion this for Material Job Number: Job 17" Trim17" Guideline for general identification only. Do not use as insertion order.insertion as use only.not identification Do general for Guideline Y 55 75 50 25 16" Live 16" BOEG_BDS_TNK_1958M Product: 80CnuyPr at ut 01 o nee,C 90067 1011,CA Los Suite Angeles, East, Park Century 1880 M Account Executive: Account Creative Director: Creative Boeing Defense, Space & Security & Space Defense, Boeing 55 75 50 25 TrafﬁcManager: Print Producer: Print Proof Reader: Proof Digital Artist: Copy Writer: Copy Art Director: Art Art Buyer: Art Vendor: Print Production at 310-601-1485. at Production Print Client: Legal: GCD: C Color Inc. Color TraciBrown Boeing McAuliffe D. P.Serchuk P.Koninck de P.Serchuk P.Serchuk 55 75 50 25 K Date/Initials Approved 51m7 04m0 75c63m63y 50c40m40y 25c17m17y Editorial By Robert S. Dudney, Editor in Chief

Warfare v. Lawfare WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 19, 2010

N DECEMBER 1999, the chief pros- cized prosecution is why the US, China, Whatever the outcome of the aggres- Iecutor of a UN war crimes tribunal Russia, India, and Israel for years sion issue, US problems with the court revealed she was sifting evidence that have refused to join the ICC. Refusal, are sure to continue. NATO’s pilots and commanders—many however, wouldn’t matter to this court. Last September, ICC chief prosecu- of them American—may have broken Military action by nonmembers could tor Luis Moreno-Ocampo reported he international law by bombing Serbia. still be characterized as “aggression,” was collecting information about pos- The claim was a shocker. Amid sharp if it happened on the soil of one of the sible war crimes committed by NATO US criticism, the prosecutor backed ICC’s 111 member states. forces in Afghanistan. Drawing scru- down. Airpower has long provoked sharp tiny, he said, were “massive attacks, That, however, was before the In- debate about legalities. Some argue collateral damage exceeding what is ternational Criminal Court came into bombing is inherently inhumane and considered proper.” force in mid-2002. Such legal ideas are uncivilized because many victims are He has said that inadvertent killing no longer so rare or easily dismissed. of civilians in a military strike could in Indeed, military and political leaders Who will stand in some cases be deemed a war crime. could soon face a dramatically denser Moreno-Ocampo specifically men- tangle of legal dangers. judgment of US troops tioned unmanned aerial vehicle strikes In June, ICC member states meet- and leaders? against terrorist leaders in Afghanistan ing in Kampala, Uganda, will decide and Pakistan. whether to add a “crime of aggression” civilians. This allegation has cropped Such actions have begun to affect to offenses it will investigate. Member up in every war and will again. Western military norms. The Wall nations would be obliged to arrest The Clinton Administration helped Street Journal, in a Nov. 26 critique, officials accused of the crime for trial negotiate the Rome Statute but couldn’t has Moreno-Ocampo recounting a in The Hague. It could happen to US persuade others to address US military conversation with a NATO legal advi- leaders and service members, despite concerns about politicized prosecu- sor; the advisor said troops are trained the fact Washington has refused to join tions. Though President Clinton signed to realize they could be arrested and the court. the Rome Statute, he slammed its “sig- brought to the ICC on war crimes The UN-sponsored Rome Statute of nificant flaws” and never sought Senate charges with the help of evidence 1998 authorized creation of an inde- ratification, which was implausible in provided by NATO itself. This is hardly pendent and permanent court to end the extreme. a recipe for trust and confidence. impunity for perpetrators of genocide, President George W. Bush took a Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr., a crimes against humanity, war crimes, more hostile stance. His Administration former USAF deputy judge advocate and the vague crime of “aggression.” objected to a lack of external checks general, has warned about “lawfare,” Signatories could not explain the latter on the powers of the court and dilution defined as “the use of law as a weapon term, though, and left it undefined and of Security Council authority. Bush not of war” by foes who exploit “real, per- unprosecutable. only suspended Clinton’s signature but ceived, or even orchestrated incidents Now, members are weighing a draft also negotiated agreements with some of law of war violations” to undermine definition. It holds that a crime of ag- 100 countries to prevent surrender of superior military power. gression occurs when someone directs US personnel to the ICC. This worked, Obama has pledged to consult use of force in a way that is a “mani- and little changed until recently. closely with military leaders about the fest violation” of the UN charter. The President Obama took office ready court. It is hard to believe the White charter prohibits nondefensive use of to re-engage to some extent with the House will get positive feedback with- force and provides for Security Council ICC. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton out major changes in ICC governance. authorization. last summer declared, “This is a great Without military support, there is vir- US officials say that, by the ICC’s regret that we are not a signatory.” The tually no chance that the required 67 draft definition, NATO leaders prob- Administration began participating as Senators will vote to ratify the Rome ably would have been judged criminal observer and pledged to assist some Statute. for the 1999 war to stave off Serbian of its investigations. At bottom, the major question is not attacks in Kosovo. The Iraq War, which However, even ICC-friendly Obama whether international law will be ob- also lacked Security Council approval, officials have argued against the ag- served, but who will stand in judgment would be unlawful, too. gression prosecutions. They recognize of US troops and leaders. Worse, there exists no impartial body that the US is unique in the world for Clearly, that should be the United to decide which side is an aggressor. its peacekeeping and humanitarian States itself. No nation has done more to Precisely who initiates and directs a operations, having forces deployed in promote human rights, democracy, and war is murky, so literally hundreds of scores of nations. the rule of law. It certainly doesn’t need officials would potentially be subject to The developing US position seems a world court of unaccountable jurists indictment, arrest, and prosecution, say to be that the court should obtain a to tell it how to stay within international legal experts. It is a standing invitation Security Council finding of aggression law or deal with those few Americans to abuse. In fact, concern about politi- before acting. who might violate those laws. I

4 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 AFMAG_5_11_T100.ai 5/11/2010 2:27:26 PM

CMY

K Letters [email protected] www.airforce-magazine.com

Publisher Michael M. Dunn

Editor in Chief Robert S. Dudney

Editorial [email protected] Editor Suzann Chapman Executive Editors Adam J. Hebert, John A. Tirpak At Razor’s Edge who were on exchange assignments Senior Editor I’ve been a member of the Air Force in the States at the time, particularly Michael C. Sirak Association since 1968, and I have with such units as the 4th and 51st never been more concerned about our FIWs. Two of them were KIA, whilst Associate Editor ability to retain future air superiority [“A another was MIA. Although none were Marc V. Schanz Force at Razor’s Edge,” April, p. 24]. No to achieve ace status, they did account doubt that investments in Global Hawk, for six MiGs destroyed. Predators, and Reapers provide im- Dennis W. Pritchard Contributing Editors portant intelligence and air-to-ground Caernarfon, UK Walter J. Boyne, Bruce D. Callander, joint force enhancements. I wonder, John T. Correll, Rebecca Grant, however, if our wargame scenarios USAF’s Worrying Future Peter Grier, Tom Philpott ever address the possibility that all of Your March issue was, as usual, our UAVs get shot out of the sky. Air informative and insightful—but also Production [email protected] superiority needs to be priority one, very disturbing. Managing Editor despite budget constraints. Without it, First, members learn from the edito- Juliette Kelsey Chagnon everything else is at stake. rial that the QDR projects reductions Col. David R. Haulman, in Air Force fighter wing equivalents Assistant Managing Editor USAF (Ret.) [“Wars of the QDR,” p. 2]. Then, the Frances McKenney Vicksburg, Miss. “Washington Watch” column informs us that, according to the Chief of Editorial Associate Enlisted Heroes Staff, our future Air Force aims to be June Lee Great article and a thanks for telling “sufficient” [p. 8]. In less than a de- more of the story by Col. Leo Thorsness cade, the Air Force is moving from a Senior Designer and the brave men who survived the position of overwhelming dominance Heather Lewis cruel and torturous years of captivity (never a fair fight) to “calibrated ambi- Designer by the communist Vietnamese [“Com- tion”—guessing how much power is Darcy N. Harris missioned in Hanoi,” April, p. 56]. We probably sufficient to win. This will be did have a primer mission over Hanoi done with a multirole fighter yet to be Photo Editor and Haiphong and three other North produced that is falling further behind Zaur Eylanbekov Vietnamese target areas by B-52s schedule as we speak. And what will operating out of U Tapao, Thailand, this fighter compete against? Well, turn Production Manager some six months earlier. These mis- a few more pages. Eric Chang Lee sions proved the B-52s could hit North The “Issue Brief” reveals the Rus- Vietnam targets and return home safely. sian PAK FA stealth fighter, an F-22 Media Research Editor That was Linebacker I, directed by equivalent [p. 22]. Notably, it will likely Chequita Wood President Nixon, which was the predecessor to Linebacker II, the operation Advertising [email protected] spoken of in “Commissioned in Hanoi.” Director of Advertising I hope that we see more of the stories Do you have a comment about a by such heroes as Colonel Thorsness William Turner current article in the magazine? 1501 Lee Highway in Air Force Magazine. Thank you. Write to “Letters,” Air Force Mag- Arlington, Va. 22209-1198 Lt. Col. Sid Howard, a zine, 1501 Lee Highway, Ar- Tel: 703/247-5820 USAF (Ret.) lington, VA 22209-1198. (E-mail: Midwest City, Okla. [email protected].) Letters should Telefax: 703/247-5855 be concise and timely. We cannot MiG Alley acknowledge receipt of letters. With reference to the excellent article We reserve the right to condense entitled “MiG Alley” by John T. Correll letters. Letters without name and [April, p. 61], your readers might be city/base and state are not accept- interested to know that 27 RAF pilots able. Photographs can not be used Circulation audited by or returned.—THE EDITORS were also to see combat with the Business Publication Audit Sabre in Korea. These were officers

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outperform the F-35 in many areas. that he be replaced. Maj. Gen. Richard Even more frightening to learn is the H. Ellis, Air Force director of plans, Air Force Association PAK FA and its Chinese equivalent recommended to Harold Brown, Sec- 1501 Lee Highway • Arlington, VA 22209-1198 will likely be produced and exported in retary of the Air Force, that he reject Telephone: (703) 247-5800 great quantities, while the F-22 will never the OSD request. number more than 187. In the midst of this joint effort, war Toll-free: (800) 727-3337 But the US Air Force will always have broke out between Israel and her Arab Press 1 if you know your party’s extension. its pool of superior trained airmen and neighbors. Secretary Brown directed Press 2 for Membership. maintainers. Not so fast. The first main that the OSD analysis be applied to that Press 3 for Insurance and other Member article is titled “Guard and Reserve in conflict to determine real-world validity. Benefit programs. a Time of Trouble” [p. 24]. Will we be The results overwhelmingly disproved Or stay on the line for an operator to direct losing our bench? the OSD analysis. Brown sent a memo your call. Regardless of the type of fight the describing the application of the analy- nation will face in the future, from sis and the results to the Secretary of Fax: (703) 247-5853 peer-to-peer confrontations to counter- Defense and to Gen. Earle G. Wheeler, Internet: http://www.afa.org/ insurgencies, some aspects to victory Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will not change. We will have to clear a who sent it to all the services and joint way to the heart of the enemy, we will commands. The joint study effort was need to destroy their centers of gravity, disbanded. E-Mail Addresses and we will have to sustain forces on Lt. Gen. Howard M. Fish, the battlefield. Technical superiority USAF (Ret.) Field Services ...... fl[email protected] best projected by the US Air Force Shreveport, La. Government Relations ...... [email protected] leverages national strengths while minimizing casualties to accomplish Smart Bombs Industry Relations ...... [email protected] these tasks. The other alternative is The story “Emergence of Smart Events ...... [email protected] to sacrifice the blood of thousands of Bombs” by John Correll was excellent, our soldiers and marines in unneces- and I read it with much interest [March, Membership ...... [email protected] sary land battles that even the odds p. 60]. Actually the idea of using a Insurance/Member [email protected] for the enemy. laser for target marking and weapons Every indication from the March issue delivery was first proposed by the late Policy & Communications (news media) ...... is that the nation is approaching a period David Salonimer of the Army Missile ...... [email protected] where the air superiority and dominance Command, Huntsville. He sponsored we have come to take for granted may two small R & D feasibility investigation not be there for the next fight. For the contracts in 1964. One was awarded Magazine first time since World War II, the United to North American, Autonetics division Advertising ...... [email protected] States may enter a conflict and find it (the company noted in the article for does not have and cannot guarantee their later work in this field on Paveway AFA National Report ...... [email protected] complete mastery of the skies. guidance), and one to RCA Aerospace Editorial Offices ...... [email protected] The Army uses “hooah” as rallying Systems, Burlington, Mass. cry. The Air Force tried “airpower,” but At RCA, principal investigator Mi- Letters to Editor Column...... [email protected] it didn’t catch on. How about a rousing chael Cantella was the first to demon- “sufficiency” to motivate the troops? strate feasibility, first in the laboratory Maj. Gen. Roger P. Lempke and later in an airborne implementation. USAF (Ret.) The demonstrations involved use of a Lincoln, Neb. gated image system (image orthicon Air Force Memorial Foundation [email protected] TV camera) for a receiver with a ruby Mismatches laser target marker. The use of an IR For individual staff members Gen. John Michael Loh’s article was laser that came as a successful later first initial, last name, @afa.org right on target [“The Simulation-Reality development was not possible in this (example: [email protected]) Mismatch,” March, p. 30]. There was an pioneer work since TV camera tubes interesting earlier example of such a have poor sensitivity outside of the mismatch. During the early months of visible spectrum. The RCA/Cantella 1967, System Analysis in the Office of airborne system was flown in a Piper the Secretary of Defense analyzed the Apache aircraft in early 1965 and AFA’s Mission projected effectiveness of tactical air demonstrated for a few days at each in Europe against Warsaw Pact forces. of several Army research centers and The overall conclusion was that while at Wright Field to Air Force personnel. To educate the public about the critical role of suffering very high attrition, tactical air I know this to be accurate information, aerospace power in the defense of our nation. would kill very few ground forces. The having been involved directly with both Air Force challenged the analysis, and Mr. Salonimer and Mr. Cantella in this To advocate aerospace power and a strong national defense. it was agreed to conduct a joint OSD/ technology achievement. Air Force analysis to agree on inputs Fortunately, as frequently the case To support the United States Air Force and the so there would be no disagreement on in technology breakthroughs, creative Air Force family and aerospace education. the output. Agreement was very difficult. follow-on workers grasp, adapt, and The Air Force team was headed by carry new concepts to great distances, the assistant for analysis from Air Force as was the case with Col. Joseph Plans. At one point, OSD requested Davis Jr. and those who came later.

8 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 (Mr. Cantella has remained active to article, with a Navy slant. In January TA-4s and handheld laser designators this day in IR military technology—a of 1972, I deployed on USS Hancock similar to the “Zots” described in your renowned consultant for many years in VA-212 flying A-4F Skyhawks. There article. I vividly remember being glad at MIT Lincoln Laboratories.) were three A-4 squadrons on board, with that I was not flying or in the backseat Paul Seeley VA-55 and VA-164 joining the VA-212 of a VA-164 TA-4F over a target in North Wellesley, Mass. Rampant Raiders. Each of the squadrons Vietnam in a 30 degree angle of bank at had a designated area of expertise with 250 knots trying to designate a target. The article by Mr. Correll on smart respect to the new “smart weapons” of While crude by today’s standards, I’m bombs in the March issue certainly the time. VA-55 had the required sensors not sure many folks know that tactical covered most aspects of this history. and concentrated on Shrike missions “smart weapons” actually got their start However, since laser guided bombs and SA-2 suppression; VA-212 had a in Vietnam. (LGB) received the bulk of this sum- small TV mounted in the instrument Cmdr. Greg Marshall, mary, I would like to entertain a few panel and was the Walleye squadron; USN (Ret.) comments about the electro-optical and VA-164 brought along a couple of Penn Valley, Calif. (TV) systems that were first deployed to Ubon Air Base,Thailand. In 1969/70 I was a field representative for Rock- well International/USAF for the (TV) Homing Bomb System (Hobos) and was assigned to Ubon. The original Paveway Project at Eglin AFB, Fla., in the late 1960s had three divisions. Paveway I was the LGBs, Paveway II was (TV) electro-optical (Homing Bomb System-Hobos), and Paveway III was infrared guidance (which was never deployed). As previously addressed [in the article], the LGBs deployed to Ubon Air Base in May 1968. In January 1969, the Hobos arrived and made an immediate impact by destroying an enemy storage munitions area, which in this case was housed in a mountain. With only a small cave entrance area for the target, the Hobos flew into the opening and exploded the tunnels of munitions. The mountain burned for two days. Previously, other sorties with various bombs could not damage this target. This demonstra- tion utilized the low flight angle and the three-to-one L/D that was an inherent capability of the Hobos design in this mission. Other major targets that were later destroyed were a five-span bridge brought down by four systems (three on the same abutment) and major mountain roads closed, with systems being launched 12 miles away from the target. Thus, high-value targets that required precise impact angles with standoff capability became the major tasking for Hobos in the Vietnam War. While LGBs were the majority of weapons launched in Vietnam, approximately 500 Hobos,out of approximately 4,000 built, were launched, and according to USAF records resulted in a CEP of 7.1 feet. In later years, the GBU-15 would even improve on the CEP and was approaching an all-weather capability. Pete Petersen Winder, Ga.

I just ﬁnished reading your interesting “Emergence of Smart Bombs” article in the March edition of the Air Force Maga- zine. It brought back many memories, and I thought your readers might be interested in a short addendum to the

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 9 Washington Watch By John A. Tirpak, Executive Editor

QDR mission impossible; No-die zone; IW isn’t cheap ....

The QDR’s Budget Obsession what has become known as the QDR. Such reviews have been Strategies outlined in the Pentagon’s 2010 Quadrennial De- released in 1993, 1997, 2001, 2006, and 2010. fense Review were drawn to match budget decisions, and not Perry said, “You want a full-blown strategy, looking ahead 20 the other way around, according to a panel of experts. years, informed by, but not constrained by, budget planning. ... “Was the QDR a budget-constrained exercise? My tenta- The QDR is a very useful document, but it does not do that. In tive assessment is, yes,” said Stephen J. Hadley, co-chair of fact, it’s probably not possible.” the 20-member independent commission to assess the QDR. While the QDR did an adequate job of examining near-term Hadley, national security advisor to President George W. threats and “rightly” placing priority on winning today’s wars, it Bush, and co-chair William J. Perry, former Secretary of De- ignored or failed to provide necessary detail on a host of vexing fense, testified in April to the House Armed Services Committee. defense problems, Perry said. They were asked to provide a preliminary report on their There were no options presented to “control ... spiraling panel’s activities. Congress directed creation of the panel last health care costs,” which are devouring an ever-larger share year, when members questioned why defense programs were of defense budgets, Perry said. Moreover, “we need options for being cut back or eliminated while the strategy underlying them how to decrease the cost and the time involved in acquisition was still being crafted. programs,” and how to involve other parts of government in the Hadley said that the managers of any QDR must walk a fine business of nation-building. line between planning to cope with each and every potential “The QDR clearly spells out the need for doing that, but it threat and laying out a realistic defense posture. Without some does not spell out the details,” Perry said. consideration of anticipated spending levels, the QDR would “We are wearing out and, in some cases, destroying our have become a useless “pipe dream, unsupported by real equipment at a very fast rate, and that is building up a due financial resources,” he said. bill, which is going to affect future budgets in a very important On the other hand, he and others implied, the QDR process way,” Perry warned, and the QDR doesn’t map out how to loses relevance if its managers allow budget considerations recover from the “wear and tear” of ongoing operations in Iraq to dominate and dictate what should be strategic decisions. and Afghanistan. This was the view expressed by Rep. Duncan Hunter Jr. Those issues probably need their own separate study, and (R-Calif.), who voiced his opinion that the QDR should not at- possibly a bipartisan commission—modeled along the lines tempt to reconcile itself with likely funding levels. Rather, the of the base closure process—to tackle them, Perry asserted. Pentagon should lay out security needs and let Congress worry “Acquisition reform and health care and retirement costs about how to pay for them. are recurring themes of QDRs,” Hadley said, and a special “We don’t need DOD telling us what we ought to spend,” commission might “actually make some progress solving these Hunter said. “They’re there to give us their projection for what things” so that in four years’ time, critics are not “saying the we ought to spend, but ... when it comes to ... how much we same things ... we said in this QDR.” should spend, ... that’s what we’re here for.” HASC ranking Republican Howard P. McKeon (Calif.) said that Perry said that the force structure outlined in the QDR— perhaps the QDR is “a step too far, given a new Administration equipment both in hand today and being developed or built—is [and] a new budgeting, and maybe we need to step back a little “quite capable of dealing with any future military threats which bit” and divide the task into smaller, more digestible chunks. I can envision right now, ... in the next 10 years.” However, Perry said, he couldn’t guarantee whether the force structure Airpower, McChrystal Style will hold for 20 years. In the months since Army Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal im- Perry and Hadley said that their group—12 chosen by the posed new restrictions on air-to-ground attacks in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense and eight by Congress—have divided the Air Force has been applying more airpower, not less. up the QDR evaluation into five subgroups, which will look at: That was the word from a top in-theater USAF commander, The nature of 21st century conflict. Brig. Gen. Steven L. Kwast. Kwast, the head of USAF’s 455th “Whole of government” capabilities. Air Expeditionary Wing at Bagram Airfield, told reporters, “Not Force structure and personnel. only are we doing more [since McChrystal’s tactical directive], Acquisition and contracting. but what we are doing is more profoundly bringing us to victory The QDR process and beyond. here, because it is more focused on protecting the people.” The panel’s final report is due to be delivered to Congress The avoidance of civilian casualties has risen to the top of on July 15. the Afghanistan debate in Washington, D.C. In the wake of a series of civilian Afghan deaths from air Is It Impotent and Obsolete? attacks, McChrystal in July 2009 ordered field commanders In the view of the Hadley-Perry wise man panel, the entire to limit the use of close air support, “air-to-ground munitions, QDR process itself may be fatally hampered by its poor timing and indirect fires” when the target was in a residential area. He and incompatible purposes. argued that civilian casualties, “in the long run, make mission Former Pentagon chief Perry noted that, today, Congress success more difficult and turn the Afghan people against us.” is asking for “a much more ambitious study than we did in the Kwast said that, since the order, the number of sorties has Bottom-Up Review” of 1993, which was the first iteration of actually increased. However, the purpose of the sorties has

10 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 shifted from dropping ordnance and toward the collection of potentially 10 years or more—as it builds up those countries’ intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance (ISR) data. air forces. “Airpower can be applied in so many ways,” Kwast said. In a monograph, “Courses of Action for Enhancing US Air “We can be there to shut down the enemy’s communications Force ‘Irregular Warfare’ Capabilities,” RAND authors put for- so they can’t fight. We can be ... the eye in the sky so we can ward four steps USAF could take to give IW the emphasis it see the enemy, ... understand what they’re doing, and we can needs. The report is the first public estimate of the dollar cost wait and have tactical patience ... until the enemy is in a place of making the Air Force more IW-oriented. where there are no civilians.” “Course of Action Zero,” so named because it involves The idea that airpower has been muzzled is “one of those fundamentals such as climate and leadership, calls for setting misconceptions in the American media,” Kwast asserted. up high-level USAF organizations to integrate IW as a prime “The more this fight is a counterinsurgency, the more pow- mission, give personnel promotion credit for building IW skills erful airpower is, the more useful it is,” he said. “We fly more and experience, and create thinking and strategy centers to now than we ever have, because we need to be there for the develop IW operational concepts. This most basic action will ground force commander [and] the troops on the ground. And require 180 people and a $7 million investment, with annual we are there to support them directly.” costs of $30 million. Kwast acknowledged that “we have dropped fewer bombs Course of Action One (the second recommendation) since the tactical directive, because the ground commanders places priority on success in Iraq and Afghanistan, where are becoming more and more focused on protecting the people rugged terrain and poor roads highlight the value of airlift instead of chasing the enemy.” and combat airpower. USAF will have to help build both the Iraqi and Afghan air forces, requiring it to own, share, and provide both light close air support and intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft, and stay “perhaps for five to 10 years.” It will need to train more joint terminal attack controllers, generally strengthen the training pipeline for advisors, and set up air academies for both countries. This second thrust would require 3,600 personnel

USAF photo by TSgt. Efren Lopez Efren TSgt. by photo USAF and 200 aircraft “including additional intelligence- gathering MC-12s, the conceptual OA-X light attack platform, and a family of light cargo aircraft.” The initial bill would be $1.9 billion, with annual operating costs of $423 million. In Course of Action Two, the authors aim at setting up global IW capabilities, mainly building worldwide partnerships with other countries to fight terrorism and insurgencies. The Air Force would create IW advisory wings, embed USAF IW specialists on combatant commander staffs, create regional air academies, build its own human intelligence capabilities, and provide more “transferable” aircraft to COCOMs. The bill would be 3,000 personnel, startup costs of $2.3 billion for The Reaper is one eye in the sky over Afghanistan. people and 255 aircraft, and recurring costs of $374 million annually. He continued, “You have to still chase the enemy, ... but the Course of Action Three looks out long term, and focuses emphasis has been placed on ... the governance and the de- on building USAF’s nonpartner capabilities to prosecute IW velopment and the security of the Afghan people. And so that on its own. The authors called for USAF to develop stealthy, focus has had the effect of fewer bombs dropped.” long-range gunships and a stealthy special operations forces Asked if the change in focus has meant that USAF aircraft “mobility platform” to get SOF troops in and out of denied air- now do more “show of force” missions—flying low and loudly space covertly. The idea would be to enable USAF to handle over enemy forces to scare them away—Kwast said yes, in “surge IW operations” in the widest range of scenarios. some places. However, “every village needs a different solution,” For the big IW missions, RAND anticipates a need for 93 and while a show of force might be welcomed in one valley, it manned ISR aircraft and 300 COIN-type aircraft, with a bill might be counterproductive elsewhere. of 4,400 people and an initial investment of $4.7 billion, with The MC-12 Project Liberty aircraft—a small, manned ISR recurring costs of $600 million annually for the 393 organic platform that combines the full-motion video capabilities of a aircraft. remotely piloted aircraft with human eyes on targets and com- For the stealthy, high-tech capabilities, RAND pegged the munications capacity—has been “a godsend” in Afghanistan, cost at 1,320 people and $20.5 billion to develop, buy, and Kwast said. operate 48 highly specialized aircraft. “It brings something we have not had before, in the way it “Most of the resources would be needed beyond 2020,” the lashes so many capabilities together. ... It’s saving lives, every authors noted of their fourth course. time it flies. ... I cannot tell you how happy the ground force The authors said that Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates commanders are to have that capability here.” has given clear direction in ordering the services to adapt to “the long war.” Irregular Airpower—the Requirement However, “the specifics present numerous challenges, not Giving the Air Force long-term and comprehensive irregular the least of which is the need to begin to change the USAF warfare capabilities will require a complement of 12,000 airmen, culture from one focused on the challenges of major combat some 800 to 900 newly acquired aircraft, and up to $62 billion operations (challenges that are not going away) to one equally over 20 years, according to a RAND report issued in April. accomplished in irregular warfare.” They note that fighting ter- The service should also anticipate that it will probably be rorism and insurgencies and supporting the “internal defense” in Iraq and Afghanistan long after the other services leave— of partners “could not be done without the Air Force.” I

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 11 Air Force World By Michael Sirak, Senior Editor, with Marc Schanz, Associate Editor

CV-22 Crash Kills Two Airmen out—flights were temporarily suspended Maj. Randell D. Voas, 43, of Lakeville, at places such as Mildenhall. Aircraft, Minn., and SMSgt. James B. Lackey, 45, aircrews, and maintenance personnel screenshot of Green Clove Springs, Fla., perished in were shifted to locations farther south the April 9 crash of an Air Force Special such as Rota, Spain, so that they could Operations Command CV-22 Osprey tilt- continue to operate. Jim Haseltine Photo by rotor aircraft during a mission in southern Other military flights normally travers- Afghanistan. ing the northern European air routes were Both were members of the 8th Special diverted south, and aeromedical flights Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, normally taking wounded personnel from Fla., which had deployed to Afghanistan Afghanistan to Ramstein were rerouted in March. Voas was a CV-22 evaluator to JB Balad, Iraq. pilot and a former MH-53 Pave Low helicopter pilot. Lackey was a CV-22 First AESA Radar for ANG F-15C evaluator flight engineer and 14-year Officials on April 12 celebrated in veteran MH-53 flight engineer. Jacksonville, Fla., the rollout of the first The CV-22 went down about seven Raytheon-built APG-63(V)3 active elec- miles west of Qalat City in Zabul prov- tronically scanned array radar system ince. The crash’s cause was still under destined for an Air National Guard F-15C investigation in late April. Cpl. Michael fighter. D. Jankiewicz, 23, an Army Ranger as- The Florida Air Guard’s 125th Fighter signed to Ft. Benning, Ga., also died in Wing at Jacksonville is the first unit to the mishap as did an unidentified civilian receive the new radar, which Air Force employee. Others aboard were injured. and industry officials say “will greatly improve” F-15 pilots’ situational awareness, Dyess Gets First C-130J beyond-visual-range targeting, weapon Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton accuracy, and ability to find and track A. Schwartz on April 16 flew Pride of small targets at low altitude. Abilene, the first new C-130J Super The AESA is considered 50 times more Hercules transport assigned to the 317th reliable than the mechanically scanned Airlift Group at Dyess AFB, Tex., to the antenna it replaces. The Air Force intends air mobility base. to install AESA radars on the 176 F-15C/ By 2013, Dyess will receive a total of Ds that it plans to maintain until at least 28 C-130Js, and the 317th AG will con- 2025. Air Force F-15E Strike Eagles are stitute the largest Super Hercules force getting AESA radars under a separate in the world, according to Dyess officials. initiative. The C-130Js are replacing the base’s C-130H aircraft. F-15E Aircrew Honored At the arrival ceremony, Schwartz Capt. Aaron Dove and Capt. Mike said, “Our people who permit us to use Polidor, F-15E Strike Eagle weapon these machines to best effect are our systems officer and pilot, respectively, No. 1 asset.” The group’s airmen have on April 9 received Distinguished Flying been continuously deployed for more Crosses for their actions in Afghanistan than 2,200 days, in support of opera- on Oct. 2, 2009. tions worldwide. On that day, they responded to an urgent call for close air support at Combat Volcano Disrupts Military Air Traffic Observation Post Keating, where about Ash spewing from Iceland’s Eyjafjal- 250 Taliban fighters had surrounded and lajokull volcano in mid-April disrupted pinned down some 80 coalition troops, civilian and military air traffic over north- destroying most of the post. Polidor and ern Europe, impacting flight operations Dove were on station for about seven for a time at RAF Lakenheath and RAF hours, as Dove coordinated the CAS Mildenhall in Britain and at Ramstein strikes. and Spangdahlem air bases in Germany. They were not the first strike aircraft Because of the danger that the volca- on scene, but they took tactical airborne nic ash poses to aircraft engines—when control, “something [F-15E crews] don’t absorbed, it can cause an engine to flame often train for, but they executed it per-

12 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 fectly,” commented Capt. Gordon Olde, He said this operational unit would deploy them until 2014. The Navy’s first another WSO engaged in Keating action. have between 12 and 24 F-35s equipped combat-ready squadron of 10 F-35Cs is with Block 3 software and would be able slated for summer 2016, said officials More Details on F-35 Given to penetrate defended airspace, go after from those services at the hearing. The Air Force’s “best estimate” is that enemy fighters, and attack enemy air it will have its first squadron of F-35A defenses. However, it is ultimately Air WGS Breaches Cost Limits strike fighters combat-ready in the first Combat Command’s call when these Costs of the Air Force’s Wideband quarter of 2016, Maj. Gen. Johnny A. aircraft will be cleared to conduct real- Global SATCOM program have in- Weida, assistant deputy chief of staff world operations, he noted. creased by 27.2 percent, thereby breach- for operations, plans, and requirements, The Marine Corps expects to have ing Congressional cost-reporting thresh- told Senate lawmakers April 13 during its first operational unit of 10 F-35Bs olds and necessitating a review and an oversight hearing. ready in December 2012, but won’t certification that the project warrants

Two F-22 ﬁghters of the 49th Fighter Wing maneuver through the airspace of an empty military operating area near Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico. Holloman lies in the Tularosa Basin, a vast expanse of painted desert bounded by the Sacramento 05.13.2010 Mountains and San Andres Mountains. These Raptors wear markings of not only the 49th Operations Group but also the 44th Fighter Group, an Air Force Reserve Command outﬁt formed to support the active duty units at Holloman.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 13 Air Force World

continuation, the Department of Defense aircraft at each proposed location. Once a key logistical hub for US and allied announced April 1. that is complete, the service expects operations in Afghanistan, according Pentagon officials attributed the dis- to announce the list of preferred loca- to press reports in mid-April. The lease crepancy to “a significant downturn” in tions in the late summer, followed by was set to expire this summer. the commercial satellite market that the final basing determination around This news came in the aftermath of wiped out some commercial components the spring of 2011. the political turmoil and violence that meant to keep the price down and the engulfed the Central Asian nation earlier fact there was a three-year production New Bomber OK in New START that month, leading to the overthrow of break between the first group of satellites The New Strategic Arms Reduction President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. already on orbit and the next bunch of Treaty with Russia will not affect the This instability had temporarily af- three on order. design of the Air Force’s next genera- fected Manas operations. While Manas- The Air Force has lauded the Boeing- tion long-range strike platform since the based tankers were able to continue built WGS satellites and is procuring at treaty is expected to expire before the aerial refueling operations, the transit least two more of them. The Air Force new aircraft would enter the inventory, of US troops was halted for several in early March took control of the third Maj. Gen. Johnny A. Weida, the assis- days. But by April 12, the US Embassy WGS spacecraft from Boeing after its tant deputy chief of staff for operations, in Kyrgyzstan’s capital city Bishkek December 2009 launch. The program plans, and requirements, said April 13. announced that Manas had “resumed certification is due by June 1. “The treaty is only a 10-year treaty normal operations,” including troop with a five-year extension,” Weida told transits. Possible MC-12W Bases Revealed Senate lawmakers during an oversight Air Force officials on April 23 released hearing. “And so,” he continued, “the new B-2 Radar Development Done the list of six candidate basing locations bomber will be outside that treaty, so [it] Northrop Grumman announced April for the MC-12W Liberty Project Aircraft. will probably be covered by a different 13 that its industry team has completed The prospective beddown locations are set of circumstances.” the system development and demonstra- Altus AFB, Okla.; Beale AFB, Calif.; Key Air Force officials have said they don’t tion phase of the program to modernize Field, Miss.; JB Langley, Va.; Robins AFB, expect the bomber to join the inventory the AN/APQ-181 radar on the Air Force’s Ga.; and Whiteman AFB, Mo. until at least the mid-2020s. Upon its fleet of 20 B-2A stealth bombers. The Air Force is building a fleet of entry into force, New START, signed on The SDD phase included installing 37 MC-12s. These twin turboprop in- April 8, would limit the US and Russia the new Raytheon-supplied radar gear, telligence-surveillance-reconnaissance each to 1,550 deployed strategic nuclear which includes active electronically aircraft have been operating in Iraq since warheads and 700 deployed launch- scanned array antennas and new radar June 2009 and in Afghanistan since last ers (i.e., bombers, ICBMs, submarine- avionics, on the B-2 test aircraft and December, but there are no Stateside launched ballistic missiles). first group of operational B-2s, as well bases for them, other than at Key Field, Fireworks: Two B-1Bs assigned to the which has been a temporary site for MC- Manas Lease Extended 28th Bomb Squadron at Dyess AFB, 12 mission qualification training. The interim Kyrgyzstan government Tex., release chaff and flares over the The Air Force’s next step is to analyze agreed to extend for one year the US mountains of New Mexico during a the environmental impact of basing the lease of the Transit Center at Manas, training mission. USAF photo by MSgt. Kevin J. Gruenwald J. Kevin MSgt. USAF photo by

14 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 as delivering the spare parts for them. The program is now in its full-rate pro- New Force Management Initiatives Announced duction phase. Air Force acquisition officials told The Air Force leadership on March 25 instituted a new wave of force- House lawmakers March 24 that the management measures—some voluntary, some not—to thin the ranks of new radar equipment is expected to active duty officer and enlisted members by several thousand between now be fully operational on all 20 B-2s in and the end of Fiscal 2011. Fiscal 2013. The goal is to meet USAF’s authorized and funded end strength threshold of 332,800 airmen in Fiscal 2012. As of Feb. 28, there were 335,500 active Hypersonic Glide Vehicle Launched duty airmen. An Air Force-industry team on April The Air Force projects that it will be about 4,800 airmen over the Fiscal 22 launched the Defense Advanced 2010 end strength ceiling of 331,800 airmen come October. If nothing more Research Projects Agency’s Hypersonic were done, it would not meet the Fiscal 2012 level, Brig. Gen. Sharon K. G. Technology Vehicle-2 aboard a Minotaur Dunbar, director of force management policy on the Air Staff, told reporters IV Lite suborbital rocket from Vandenberg on the eve of the announcement. AFB, Calif. Exacerbating the situation is a sluggish economy that has contributed DARPA is testing the Lockheed Martin- to USAF’s retention rates being at a 15-year high despite an incredibly built HTV-2 under the Falcon program to robust operations tempo, she said. An initial wave of mostly voluntary force- demonstrate hypersonic technologies management initiatives taken in November 2009 has not resulted in the applicable to future prompt global strike hoped-for drawdown. systems. The HTV-2 was to glide in the “It is imperative for us to take action now,” said Dunbar. upper atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean These steps are projected to affect two percent of the service’s officers at about 13,000 mph for approximately (1,373) and 1.6 percent of the enlisted corps (4,376) through Fiscal 2011. 30 minutes and crash-land near the Additionally, they will reduce officer accessions by 737 and enlisted acces- Kwajalein Atoll. sions by 2,681 over that period, said Dunbar. DARPA said April 23 its preliminary These measure also aim to correct overages in certain career areas and review of technical data indicated that shortages in currently stressed fields and emerging sectors by reshaping the Minotaur successfully released the the force within that ceiling, she said. test vehicle. The voluntary separation measures allow personnel to leave the service Approximately nine minutes into the immediately, while the nonvoluntary ones will commence this summer with mission, however, telemetry assets lost departures targeted for no later than April 2011, according to service officials. the signal from the HTV-2—indicating a Dunlap said most of the officer reductions would come in Fiscal 2011. flight anomaly. This mission was the first The emphasis of the new measures is on minimizing the impact on airmen launch of the Minotaur IV. currently serving and to help those who are separating with their transition, she said. C-17 Basing List Released Air Force officials on April 23 released the list of three Air National Guard loca- Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton nicians at Warner Robins Air Logistics tions under consideration to host some A. Schwartz said in March USAF would Center on the grounds of Robins AFB, of the remaining C-17 Globemaster III like to retire 17 C-5As in Fiscal 2011. Ga., converted to the new MC-130W transport aircraft that will enter the inven- Under the plan, one ANG base and one Combat Spear configuration for use as tory over the next several years to bring Air Force Reserve Command site would covert infiltration and helicopter refuel- the C-17 fleet size to 223. shed their C-5As for C-17s. The 445th ing platforms. They are Eastern West Virginia Air- Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, The ALC delivered the first MC-130W port in Martinsburg, W.Va.; Memphis Ohio, has already been identified as in June 2006, completing the entire modi- Arpt., Tenn.; and Stewart ANGB, N.Y. the AFRC unit to get C-17s. fication initiative under budget and ahead Each is currently home to C-5A Galaxy of schedule, according to Air Force and transports. After environmental studies Combat Spear Deliveries Complete industry officials. are done, plans call for announcing the Air Force Special Operations Com- The MC-130Ws are meant to re- preferred locations in November, with fi- mand on March 30 took delivery of the place combat losses of AFSOC MC-130 nal basing decisions made in June 2011. 12th and final C-130H2 aircraft that tech- Combat Talon special-mission aircraft. Some of the MC-130Ws have been fitted with weapons to give them a gunship- Index to Advertisers like attack capability to quickly bolster AFSOC’s in-high-demand AC-130 Gun- Alenia...... 5, 23 Bell...... 21 ship fleet. Boeing...... 2-3 CEC ...... 9 B61 Schedule Deemed Crucial EADS...... 40-41 Maintaining the schedule of the Pen- FLIR...... 25 tagon’s life extension program for the Hawker Beechcraft ...... 7 B61 nuclear bomb is just as important Lockheed Martin ...... Cover IV for the B-2A stealth bomber and future Martin Baker ...... Cover III strategic deterrence as it is for giving the Northrop Grumman...... Cover II F-35 strike fighter a nuclear capability AFA Corporate Membership ...... 77 for tactical roles, Air Force Gen. Kevin AFA Dental Plan ...... 79 P. Chilton, US Strategic Command com- AFA Industry Guide...... 73 mander, said April 14. AFA Insurance...... 74 The Pentagon’s current timetable calls AFA Resume Service ...... 76 for churning out the first modified B61s AFA Spotlight On...... 77 in 2017. “A lot of folks are linking 2017

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 15 Air Force World

to F-35,” Chilton told the House Armed Wyatt Says Mobility Study Off on Tactical Airlift Needs Services Committee. He continued, “We need the B61 in first production in Lt. Gen. Harry M. Wyatt III, Air National Guard director, said April 14 the 2017 regardless of the F-35 because Pentagon’s new Mobility Capabilities and Requirements Study 2016 has the B61 also is a weapon that is used already been essentially overtaken by events when it comes to tactical airlift. by the B-2, by our strategic deterrent.” “There’s probably a greater need for tactical airlift than the MCRS has Chilton also said the B61 LEP is identified,” he told House defense appropriators during an oversight hearing. important for the nation because it The reason, said Wyatt, is that the MCRS did not consider the Air Force’s represents the first opportunity “for add- newly acquired mission for direct support of Army troops when it concluded ing increased security and safety and that the Air Force only needs about 335 of its total 401 C-130 transports. reliability” to the nuclear stockpile. The Further, he noted, there is still a requirement for 78 C-27J transports, but Obama Administration’s 2010 Nuclear plans on the books to purchase only 38, with the gap to be filled by C-130s. Posture Review calls for “a full-scope” However, the Air Force leadership, using MCRS findings as an underlying B61 LEP to enable F-35 integration and driver, has proposed restructuring the C-130 fleet as part of the service’s increased confidence in the bomb. Fiscal 2011 budget proposal, with the goal of reducing its size. This originally included the permanent shift of ANG and Air Force Re- First HC-130J Rolled Out serve Command C-130Hs to the active duty formal training unit at Little Lockheed Martin on April 19 rolled Rock AFB, Ark. out the Air Force’s first HC-130J combat When this proposed transfer came to light in late March, it unleashed rescue tanker during a ceremony at the a fury of bipartisan Congressional resistance, with complaints that the Air company’s assembly facility in Marietta, Force leadership had not properly consulted with the Air Guard and Reserve Ga. Congress has authorized the Air management. Force to procure 11 HC-130Js so far to The Air Force, ANG, and AFRC leadership then reached a compromise start replacing Air Combat Command’s deal announced May 11 as part of the service’s proposed force structure aging HC-130s that began flying in the realignments for Fiscal 2011. 1960s. Under it, the service would temporarily transfer a total of 18 C-130Hs from ANG and AFRC units across the nation to Little Rock to establish an Air Reserve Component association for C-130 training there by 2012. Dropping In: An HH-60 Pave Hawk de- As new C-130Js continue to enter the fleet and legacy C-130 training livers pararescuemen to the desert floor requirements ebb, those C-130Hs would return to their home states. near Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., during Angel Thunder, a two-week combat “I’m glad this partnership will better assist the Air Force in training quali- search and rescue and medical evacua- fied Total Force C-130 crews,” said Wyatt. tion exercise. The exercise provides an opportunity for 1,200 service members to practice personnel recovery. USAF photo by SSgt. Joshua DeMotts SSgt. USAF photo by

16 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 The War on Terrorism under CCIP, the largest F-16 modernization initiative to date. The new avionics increase aircraft Operation Enduring Freedom—Afghanistan lethality and harmonize the configuration of the two blocks to one standard. Work in Korea to upgrade Pacific Air Casualties Forces F-16s is expected to conclude By May 13, a total of 1,056 Americans had died in Operation Enduring Freedom. in June, thereby completing all CCIP The total includes 1,054 troops and two Department of Defense civilians. Of these installations, said Mogck. deaths, 772 were killed in action with the enemy while 284 died in noncombat incidents. There have been 5,831 troops wounded in action during OEF. This number includes 2,590 who were wounded and returned to duty within 72 hours and 3,241 JET Taskings Will Go On who were unable to return to duty quickly. The increase in Army and Marine Corps end strength “won’t substantially MC-12 Begins Operations at Kandahar reduce” the number of airmen performing The first intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance MC-12W Liberty Project joint expeditionary taskings right away, aircraft to operate from Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, as part of the new 361st an Air Force spokesman said. Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron flew a combat sortie April 1 after arriving The growth of land forces, he said, at the base three days earlier. is focused on combat units, while most The twin turboprop MC-12 provides live streaming video imagery and signals JET assignments—comprising work not intelligence to ground troops—capabilities that Lt. Col. Darren Halford, 361st ERS traditionally done by airmen—fall into commander, described as “unparalleled”—to give ground forces vital information such areas as training, combat support, on the enemy. or combat service support. The number “The MC-12 will protect US and coalition lives and will be a vital tool helping of JETs will decrease as US forces Afghanistan defeat the insurgency,” he said. withdraw from Iraq, but since support The squadron, part of Kandahar’s 451st Air Expeditionary Wing, is the second units will facilitate the drawdown, JETs MC-12 expeditionary unit in Afghanistan, joining the 4th ERS at Bagram Airfield “will lag behind the withdrawal of combat that began operations in December 2009. units,” he said. Overall, the Air Force intends to operate a total of 24 MC-12s in Afghanistan by the Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton end of 2010. It already operates six MC-12s under the 362nd ERS at JB Balad, Iraq. A. Schwartz told Congress in February he hoped that the use of JETs wouldn’t become a “habit,” since USAF has its Operation Iraqi Freedom—Iraq own critical needs that these airmen could fill. So far in Fiscal 2010, JET Casualties requirements have remained steady. By May 13, a total of 4,401 Americans had died in Operation Iraqi Freedom. The Any reductions in Iraq have been offset total includes 4,388 troops and 13 Department of Defense civilians. Of these deaths, by increases in Afghanistan. 3,484 were killed in action with the enemy while 917 died in noncombat incidents. There have been 31,810 troops wounded in action during Operation Iraqi Free- Global Hawk Traverses Canada dom. This number includes 17,865 who were wounded and returned to duty within The Air Force on April 8 conducted 72 hours and 13,945 who were unable to return to duty quickly. the first operational mission of an RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft Balad Becomes Temporary Medical Hub through Canadian airspace, paving the Air Forces Central in mid-April temporarily named JB Balad, Iraq, the new hub way for a new northern route that will for aeromedical evacuations of wounded troops from Afghanistan after ash spewing enable the more rapid ferrying of RQ- from Iceland’s Eyjafjallajokull volcano disrupted the normal air routes to Ramstein 4s in and out of Beale AFB, Calif., and AB, Germany. forward operating locations worldwide. The 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group at the Air Force Theater Hospital at Previously Global Hawks have flown Balad received its first four medical evacuation patients on April 17. over Canada only during training sorties. Normally, medically ill and wounded US military personnel requiring urgent care Pilots and sensor operators from the are routed through Ramstein to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center. 12th Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale Air Force officials said the rerouting to Balad would not result in any degradation controlled the RQ-4 during this flight. of care. This northern route follows the curva- ture of the Earth, thereby significantly reducing the amount of time it takes to get from the US West Coast to East “The HC-130J will enable us to meet Ogden Finishes F-16 Upgrade Coast and beyond. Capt. Kyle Blaikie of the expanding operational tasks that we Air Force and Lockheed Martin officials the 12th RS said the worldwide ferrying face today,” said Maj. Gen. Thomas K. on March 26 completed the installation of process has now been streamlined “into Andersen, ACC’s director of requirements, new avionics gear on the 306th and final a single 26-hour flight.” at the ceremony. He added, “We are F-16 Block 40/42 fighter aircraft to be grateful to those [employees] of Lockheed upgraded at Ogden Air Logistics Center, New F-22 Reserve Unit Activated Martin assembled here that have given Utah, under the Common Configuration Air Force Reserve Command’s 44th us a world-class aircraft.” Implementation Program. Fighter Group was activated April 9 dur- The HC-130J is a modified version of With this, the depot finished its portion ing a ceremony at Holloman AFB, N.M. the Marine Corps KC-130J tanker model. of the CCIP work, having modernized This group is Holloman’s first Reserve The new rescue tanker fleet is expected 560 F-16s since 2001, including 254 unit and AFRC’s second sharing in the to commence operations in mid-2012. The F-16 Block 50/52s, said Troy Mogck, a operations of the F-22 fighter, following Air Force is also buying new MC-130J Lockheed Martin systems engineer for the 477th FG at JB Elmendorf, Alaska. special-mission transports for Air Force CCIP. Overall, the Air Force is upgrading The 44th FG, which includes the Special Operations Command. 651 F-16 Block 40/42s and Block 50/52s 301st Fighter Squadron and the 44th

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 17 Air Force World

Senior Staff Changes The two services “are completely in agreement with the way forward” for RETIREMENTS: Maj. Gen. Charles J. Dunlap Jr., Maj. Gen. Erwin F. Lessel III, delivery of materiel and personnel to the Brig. Gen. Dana A. Simmons. last tactical mile, he said, adding that Air Force aircrews are “prepared and trained NOMINATIONS: To be Lieutenant General: Eric E. Fiel. To be Major General: Mark to do direct support whenever the Army A. Barrett, Michael R. Boera, Edward L. Bolton Jr., Joseph D. Brown IV, Norman J. requires it.” Brozenick Jr., Sharon K. G. Dunbar, David S. Fadok, Jonathan D. George, Walter The Air Force is expected to release D. Givhan, Mark W. Graper, James W. Hyatt, John E. Hyten, Richard C. Johnston, by June the list of candidate Air National James J. Jones, Bruce A. Litchfield, Charles W. Lyon, Wendy M. Masiello, Ken- Guard beddown locations for the last neth D. Merchant, Harry D. Polumbo Jr., John D. Posner, Lori J. Robinson, Mark 14 C-27Js procured under the current O. Schissler, Margaret H. Woodward. 38-aircraft program of record. Schwartz said three locations would each get four CHANGES: Maj. Gen. C. Donald Alston, from Asst. C/S, Strat. Deterrence & Nuclear airplanes; the remaining two aircraft would Integration, USAF, Pentagon, to Cmdr., 20th AF, AFGSC, F. E. Warren AFB, Wyo. be used for training. ... Lt. Gen. (sel.) Eric E. Fiel, from C/S, Center for Command Spt., SOCOM, Mac- Dill AFB, Fla., to Vice Cmdr., SOCOM, Pentagon ... Maj. Gen. (sel.) Jonathan D. ANG Wing To Fix A-10 Engines George, from Dir., Strat. Capabilities Policy, Natl. Security Council, Exec. Office of Members of the Connecticut Air Na- the President, Washington, D.C., to Asst. C/S, Strat. Deterrence & Nuclear Integra- tional Guard’s 103rd Airlift Wing at Bradley tion, USAF, Pentagon ... Brig. Gen. James K. McLaughlin, from Vice Cmdr., USAF Airport in East Granby on March 6 broke Warfare Ctr., ACC, Nellis AFB, Nev., to Dir., Combat & Info. Ops., STRATCOM, ground at the site where the unit’s new Offutt AFB, Neb. ... Brig. Gen. (sel.) David D. Thompson, from Dir., Space Forces., centralized intermediate repair facility Air Forces Central, ACC, Al Udeid, Qatar, to Vice Cmdr., USAF Warfare Ctr., ACC, will be erected under an $8.3 million Nellis AFB, Nev. construction project. This work will add 17,000 square feet SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE CHANGES: Scott M. Anderson, to Dep. Dir., Log., of work space—giving the wing roughly CENTCOM, MacDill AFB, Fla. ... David Beecroft, to Dir., Global Combat Spt., DCS, 30,000 square feet of room overall—to Log., Instl., & Mission Spt., USAF, Pentagon ... Erin C. Conaton, to Undersecretary repair and overhaul TF34 engines used of the Air Force, OSAF, Pentagon ... Charles D. Ebersole, to Dir., Engineering, JSF on the A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack Prgm. Office, AFMC, Arlington, Va. ... Gordon M. Ettenson, to Dir., Irregular Warfare, aircraft. DCS, Ops., P&R, USAF, Pentagon ... Russell J. Frasz, to Dep. Dir., Operational The CIRF will employ about 80 techni- Planning, Policy, & Strategy, USAF, Pentagon ... Richard A. Genaille Jr., to Dep. cians who will be responsible for the T34s Dir., Defense Security Cooperation Agency, Office of the USD, Policy, Pentagon ... on 78 Air Guard A-10s and additional Jorge F. Gonzalez, to Dir., Engineering & Tech. Mgmt., Warner Robins ALC, AFMC, engines for A-10s in active duty units. Robins AFB, Ga. ... Kerry E. Kelley, to Dir., C4 Sys., STRATCOM, Offutt AFB, The CIRF will be the last remaining part Neb. ... Lawrence S. Kingsley, to Dep. Dir., Log., AMC, Scott AFB, Ill. ... Gilbert J. of the wing’s A-10 legacy. Under BRAC Montoya, to Dir., 448th Supply Chain Mgmt. Wg., AF Global Log. Spt. Ctr., AFMC, 2005, the unit relinquished its A-10s and Tinker AFB, Okla. ... Judith B. Oliva, to Dir., Budget Mgmt. & Execution, Office of took on C-21 VIP transport operations. the Dep. Asst. SECAF, Budget, Pentagon ... Lynda T. O’Sullivan, to Dep. General Counsel, Office of the AF General Counsel, Pentagon ... Richard D. Pino, to Dep. Laser Demo Eyed for B-1B Dir., Comm. & Networks Programs, Office of the Dep. Asst. SECDEF (C3, Space & The Air Force, together with Defense Spectrum), Arlington, Va. ... Scott Reynolds, to Dep. Asst. SECAF, Log.,Office of the Advanced Research Projects Agency, is Asst. SECAF, Instl., Environment, & Log., USAF, Pentagon ... David K. Robertson, working to demonstrate a high-energy to Dir., Engineering & Tech. Mgmt., Oklahoma City ALC, AFMC, Tinker AFB, Okla. laser weapon system for aircraft self- ... Debra K. Tune, to Principal Dep. Asst. SECAF, Instl., Environment, & Log., Of- protection, Steven H. Walker, deputy fice of the Asst. SECAF, Instl., Environment, & Log., Pentagon ... Steven D. Wert, assistant secretary of the Air Force for to PEO, C2, ISR, ESC, AFMC, Hanscom AFB, Mass. ... Terry A. Yonkers, to Asst. science, technology and engineering, SECAF, Instl., Environment, & Log., Pentagon. I told House lawmakers March 23.

Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, will work with Holloman’s active duty 49th Fighter Wing, which is standing up two F-22 active duty squadrons. However, the ultimate number of F-22s based at Holloman will depend on USAF’s bed- MartinLockheed photo down decisions on the F-35 strike fighter. The 44th FG traces its lineage to the 44th Bomb Group that ﬂew B-24s during World War II. The 301st FS formerly operated F-16s at Luke AFB, Ariz.

USAF, Army Agree on C-27J The Air Force and Army have reached an agreement on employment and dis- position of the new C-27J Joint Cargo Lucky Seven: The seventh F-35 flight test aircraft takes off on its first flight from Aircraft, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, USAF NAS Fort Worth JRB, Tex. The aircraft, known as AF-2, is configured to test multiple Chief of Staff, told House lawmakers in weapons loads and will be used to test the F-35’s ability to carry both internal and mid-March. external weapons.

18 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 mander of Edwards’ 95th Air Base Wing, at the ceremony.

USAF photo The ribbon cutting came about one week after Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, told House lawmakers that the service has roughly 13,000 inadequate single family homes out of a total of 53,000 houses. USAF expects to reduce the inadequate inventory to zero by 2016, he said.

World War II Airman Identified The Department of Defense announced April 22 that the remains of TSgt. Walter A. McClellan, a 19-year-old B-17 gunner missing in action since his bomber was lost over Germany in April 1945, had been identified and returned to his family. On the next day, he was buried with full military honors at Barrancas National Cemetery at Pensacola NAS, Fla. McClellan’s B-17 was struck by enemy fighters during an April 17, 1945 mission to bomb a rail depot in Dresden. After the war, US search teams could no longer search the Soviet-controlled area, so the US deemed the B-17 crew remains nonrecoverable. Reports from German citizens in 1956 and 2007 led to the 2008 exhumation of a grave in Burkhardswalde, where a recovery team found human remains and artifacts determined to be those of Mc- Clellan. Church records revealed he had parachuted over Biensdorf, but German SS forces captured and killed him near Burkhardswalde.

Obituaries Herman S. Wolk, author and historian of airpower and the Air Force, died May 6 at the age of 78. Wolk researched and wrote more than a dozen books on the history of the Air Force and numerous articles for Air Force Magazine, often working from personal interviews with the principals of his stories. He was recognized as an authority on the founding of the Air The Shuttle’s Mini Me: The X-37B Orbital Test vehicle was launched for the first Force as a separate and independent time on April 22 from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., aboard an Atlas V expendable service and the events leading up to booster. The autonomous and reusable vehicle, which resembles the space shuttle, its creation in 1947. can carry new technologies into orbit in its internal payload bay and then bring them From 1959 to 1966, Wolk served as back to Earth after assessment. headquarters historian for Strategic Air Command, and then served in the Office of Air Force History from 1966 Under the Electric Laser on a Large demonstrations followed by integration until his retirement in 2005. In his final Aircraft, or ELLA, initiative, the ser- on the aircraft, said Walker. position there, he was senior historian. vice aims to integrate a laser system Wolk’s crtically acclaimed last book, module into the forward bomb bay of Housing Project Completed Cataclysm: Hap Arnold and the Defeat the B-1B bomber “to demonstrate the Officials at Edwards AFB, Calif., held of Japan, was published just weeks aircraft self-defense capabilities of a a ribbon-cutting ceremony on March 26 before his death. John T. Correll, former high-energy electric laser in a practical to celebrate the completion of a five-year, editor-in-chief at Air Force Magazine, platform,” he said. $100 million construction project that said, “Herm inspired, coached, moti- ELLA will be based on DARPA’s brought 291 new energy-saving homes vated, assisted and supported a whole High-Energy Liquid Laser Area Defense to the desert base. generation of historians.” System laser device. Upon completion “The houses we deliver today will, Retired Maj. Gen. Fred J. Ascani, of HELLADS development, the Air for decades and decades, support the who flew the F-86E to a new world Force will couple the device to a beam families who deliver excellence for our airspeed record in 1951, died March control system for a series of ground nation,” said Col. Jerry Gandy, com- 28 at age 92. He suffered from lung

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 19 Air Force World USAF photo by SSgt. Chrisotpher Boitz SSgt. USAF photo by

North! To Alaska: A B-52 takes off at Edwards AFB, Calif. He flew some work helped pave the way for manned while a C-130 waits on the flight line at 50 different research aircraft, including spaceflight. Simons sat in a small cap- Eielson AFB, Alaska, during a Red Flag- the X-1 and XF-92. In 1951, he became sule attached to a balloon for more than Alaska exercise in April. Red Flag Alaska vice commander of the Air Force Flight 32 hours during the record 101,516 feet is a multiservice combat operations Test Center at Edwards. He then served flight on Aug. 19-20, 1957, for which exercise held up to four times a year. in various senior command and staff he was featured on the cover of Life cancer, reported the Washington Post. assignments. He retired from the Air magazine. Simons received his medical Ascani graduated from the US Military Force in 1973. degree in 1946. Shortly after entering the Academy in 1941 and flying training in Retired Lt. Col. David G. Simons, a Air Force in 1947, he served as project 1942. He flew 52 combat missions as physician and researcher who reached officer for animal studies on V-2 rocket commander of the 816th Bomb Squad- nearly 102,000 feet during 1957 balloon flights. He retired from the Air Force in ron during World War II. Thereafter, he flight on Project Manhigh II to study the June 1965. He was inducted into the served in flight-test assignments, first at effects of high-altitude flight on human New Mexico International Space Hall Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and then physiology, died April 5 at age 87. His of Fame in 1987. I News Notes

The Air Force announced March 24 the Massachusetts Institute of Technol- an important milestone as this weapon its two Air Force Week celebrations in ogy, on April 5 received the 2009 Air Force system nears its in-service date. 2010: New York City from Aug. 25 to 29 Cadet of the Year Award. He graduates Members of the California Air Na- and Cocoa Beach, Fla., from Oct. 27 to in June and intends to become a combat tional Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at 31. The Thunderbirds aerial demonstra- rescue officer. Moffett Field in early April helped rescue tion squadron will perform during these The National Museum of the US an injured man aboard a sailboat 1,400 festivities. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, held the 68th miles out to sea from the southern Cali- The 19th Fighter Squadron at JB Doolittle Tokyo Raiders Reunion April 16- fornia coast. Elmendorf, Alaska, was announced 18. Four of the eight remaining Raiders The Air Force on March 26 activated April 2 as Raytheon Trophy winner for participated in the events, which included the 422nd Joint Tactics Squadron under 2009 as USAF’s best air-to-air fighter a fly-in of 17 replica B-25s. the Air Force Expeditionary Center at squadron. The F-15 unit will be decom- Robert L. Giles, a B-17 navigator JB McGuire, N.J, to serve as a central missioned later this year under the Air who saved a crewmate’s life as their repository for expeditionary combat Force’s fighter drawdown. shot-up B-17 was going down over support lessons learned and tactics, Air Force Reserve Command on Germany in April 1944, received the Air techniques, and procedures. March 30 announced the standup of the Medal for his actions—at long last—on The Air Force on March 31 began 414th Fighter Group at Seymour Johnson April 6. Administrative errors were to to implement a phased plan to open AFB, N.C., to work with the active duty blame for the 66-year oversight. access on the Air Force network to 4th Fighter Wing in operating the wing’s Raytheon announced March 31 that Internet-based social-networking sites, F-15E fighters. it had delivered “an operationally signifi- based on revised policy. Five Pacific Air Cadet Col. Ryan W. Castonia, an Air cant quantity” of ADM-160B Miniature Forces bases were granted access on a Force ROTC cadet wing commander at Air Launched Decoys to the Air Force, test basis during the initial stage. I

20 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 UNLIKE ANYTHING. READY FOR EVERYTHING. The CV-22 revolutionizes the art of insertion and extraction. It supplies an unmatched combination of speed, range, altitude and payload in a vertical lift aircraft. Giving you the ﬂ exibility to deliver forces anywhere. Even the middle of nowhere.

Fighter Fade-out

The force takes heavy losses

45004500 In 1991—the year of the Gulf War—the Air Force possessed a force of 4,242 fighter and attack aircraft. Over 20 years, that force, so critical to the defeat of Saddam Hussein, has been cut in half. The impact of post-Cold War retirements, 40004000 heavy operational wear and tear, and slack modernization has hit the active force, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve alike, as shown by the chart. Partially offsetting the numerical decline has been an infusion of precision weapons and 35003500 limited numbers of stealth aircraft. USAF plans to retire another 250 fighters this year, leaving 2,000 at the end of 2010.

30003000

25002500

20002000 AFRC

Total AircraftTotal Inventory ANG 15001500 Active

10001000

500500

0 0 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 Year

9Source:9 Data9 for years9 19919 to9 20099 from9 the “USAF9 Almanac”0 0 for0 years0 19920 to 2010,0 pub-0 0 0 0 1 1lished2 by Air3 Force4 Magazine,5 6Arlington,7 Va.8 Data9 for year0 20101 derived2 from3 Air Force4 sources.5 6 7 8 9 0

22 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 THE RIGHT TOOL FOR THE JOB

The U.S. Air Force already boasts one of the most impressive aircraft fleets on Earth. Adding the C-27J takes this to a new level. The C-27J was designed from the ground up for quick, efficient and flexible transport of personnel, equipment and supplies into remote austere environments. It provides today’s aircrews with the capabilities they need to satisfy time-sensitive, mission-critical requirements and safely get the job done. It is the perfect complement to the U.S. Air Force’s current fleet and will continue to help the U.S. Air Force effectively support our warfighters abroad and emergency response forces at home.

WWW.C-27J.COM C-27J JCA TEAM

L-3 | Alenia North America | GMAS | Honeywell | Rolls-Royce Issue Brief By Adam J. Hebert, Executive Editor

The Rise and Semi-Fall of MIRV

n its Nuclear Posture Review, DOD unveiled its decision Arms negotiator Paul C. Warnke memorably, and mistak- Ito convert all Minuteman IIIs into single-warhead ICBMs. enly, compared the superpowers to “apes on a treadmill,” with Today, USAF has 450 of them. Many have one warhead, but both “jogging in tandem on a treadmill to nowhere.” There some are “MIRVed,” meaning their nosecones have multiple was only one ape, though. Former Defense Secretary Harold independently targetable re-entry vehicles. These have up Brown had it right when he said, “When we build, they build; to three warheads. when we stop building, they build.” Not for long, though, as plans call for USAF to “de-MIRV” According to Natural Resources Defense Council esti- them all. “This step,” claimed the NPR, “will enhance the mates, the US and Soviet Union in 1975 each had roughly stability of the nuclear balance by reducing the incentives 2,200 warheads atop their ICBMs. for either side to strike first.” Over the next five years, the US total didn’t change, but How will “downloading” US silo-based Moscow more than doubled its MIRV missiles substantially reduce the nuclear force, winding up with 5,630 warheads threat? In weighing the answer, it is useful fitted to its 1,400 or so land-based mis- to review some history. siles. A huge number of these—more Writing in 1953 about the two nuclear su- than 3,000 warheads—were found on perpowers, J. Robert Oppenheimer, former the monster, 10-warhead SS-18 mis- scientific director for the Manhattan Project siles. The Soviets had 308 of them. (turned harsh nuclear critic), observed, “We In Western strategic circles, it was may be likened to two scorpions in a bottle, thought that the SS-18 force was power- each capable of killing the other, but only ful enough to destroy 65 to 80 percent at risk of his own life.” of US ICBM silos, using two nuclear In the 1950s and 1960s, though, weapons warheads against each, with more than were inaccurate. Because one had to com- 1,000 SS-18 warheads left over for fur- mit several weapons to be sure to cover a ther counterforce strikes. single target, the attacker would run out of Over time, as the arsenals grew, of- weapons before he wiped out the enemy’s ficials began to see the drawbacks of nukes. The foe’s second strike was assured, MIRVing, while it became clear single- so neither side wanted to go first. warhead ICBMs were actually stabiliz- MIRVing upset that stability. The US ing. Such weapons reversed the push- flight-tested a MIRVed system in 1968 and pull dynamic set in motion by MIRVing. began deploying the triple-warhead Minute- “The principal cause of instability man III in 1970. The USSR soon followed, MIRVs: Too much of a good thing. with current weapons systems is the catching and up with and then far surpassing the US by the disproportion between warheads and launchers,” wrote Henry early 1980s. On both sides, accuracies sharpened, too. A. Kissinger in 1983. “There is no effective or intellectually As MIRVed ICBMs proliferated, Oppenheimer’s scorpions- adequate solution to this problem except to seek to eliminate in-a-bottle metaphor moved closer to reality, for two reasons: multiple warheads.” Capability. Stacking multiple warheads on each mis- Still, backing away from MIRV has been difficult. Washing- sile dramatically increased each ICBM’s firepower and its ton took the first step in the 1980s, limiting deployment of its usefulness in mounting a disarming counterforce strike. An premier 10-warhead Peacekeeper to only 50 weapons. After attacker could fire off a portion of his own ICBM force while the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, the US still keeping some in reserve. moved to retire that big ICBM. The last was withdrawn in 2005. Incentive. Missiles with many warheads instantly became Moscow has also reduced its reliance on MIRVed missiles. lucrative targets. A single enemy silo might now hold three, Some reports claim it retains in service only about 60 out of six, or more warheads. Even if an attacker had to expend two the 308 SS-18 missiles, and plans to go down to about 40. warheads per silo, the offense would still enjoy the benefits According to the White House, USAF’s Minuteman III force of a favorable exchange ratio. has 550 warheads. Administration plans would cap the fleet It was this push-pull combination that made the late Cold at 420 deployed ICBMs, all with a single warhead. War nuclear balance precarious. In a crisis, either side— In Russia, however, the situation is different. It has 331 though still very fearful—might be tempted to go first in hopes functioning ICBMs, with about 1,100 warheads, an excess of gaining a war-winning advantage. of 750 warheads. That is to say nothing about the US and One of the great ironies of the times was the central role Russian strategic submarine fleets, which are also equipped played by arms control in promoting this upward spiral of with high-performance MIRVed missiles. nuclear danger. While the superpowers probably would It makes sense to end MIRVing and go to a single-warhead have gone MIRV at some point, that day was hastened by Minuteman force. Clearly, though, the golden age of single- SALT talks in the late 1960s. The push was to limit launch- warhead peace won’t arrive unless Russia follows suit. I ers—bombers and missiles—not warheads. The logical More information: http://www.time.com/time/printout/ response was to make the fullest use of each launcher by 0,8816,923356,00.html piling on warheads.

24 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 When a rouutine air pata rol beb comes an uncn ommon challenge, the extraordinaryr vision of FLIL R SSysttems’ EO/IRR systemsm proves invaluable. Our advanced sensors deliver greater clarity, range and misssion ﬂexibili ity foor civilian-suppportedd search-and-rer scue, homeland security, and did saaster relieef opperations. FLIR. GiG viing your Ciivvil Air Patrt ol team the crritical vision for missssiono succcess. www w.FLIR.ccomo /GS. © 2010 FLIR Systems. Inc. Photo by Sagar Pathak Strike Command Steps Up The legendary SAC is the benchmark for the Air Force’s new nuclear deterrent force.

By Adam J. Hebert, Executive Editor That didn’t carry on in the post- SAC years, and, as a result, the service committed a number of serious arms-related blunders. “The focus on existing standards had atrophied over the years,” said Brig. Gen. Everett H. Thomas, commander of the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M. Beginning in 1992, the nuclear mission was divided between Air Combat Command and Air Force Space Com- mand. In many ways, it became secondary in competitions for attention, Cold War, however, USAF’s nuclear resources, and prestige. element slowly drifted away from that Now, the SAC outlook is coming exacting standard. back—because that’s the way things It was a mistake, as everyone now will need to be when dealing with the readily, almost compulsively, concede. most powerful weapons on Earth. The That certainly goes for Lt. Gen. Frank creation of Global Strike Command, G. Klotz, the ofﬁcer chosen to head with a singular focus on the nuclear or nearly 50 years, Strategic Air USAF’s new Global Strike Command. enterprise, is designed to underline Command maintained an unspar- “If there is one unchanging, immu- that. “It became clear” that nuclear ing, no-nonsense operational cul- table truth” about the nuclear arsenal, and conventional missions were “out Fture. After the Air Force disestablished said Klotz, “it is that it demands constant of balance,” Klotz said. Strike Com- the legendary SAC at the end of the and undivided attention.” mand is to put them back into balance.

26 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 Photo by Ted Carlson

Left, a B-2 stealth bomber on a train- tenance—all said they see the new focus the real world. Stoss noted that being mission. Above, a B-52 on a Red most clearly in the new intensity of the cause of overlapping modernization Flag sortie over Nevada. Both bomber exercises and inspections. They are train- and upgrade schedules, the operating types are ready to perform nuclear or conventional missions. ing and being judged more frequently, tempo for Minuteman III operators and and more harshly, than at any point in maintenance personnel is at an all-time most of their careers. high. While on alert, “you never know Col. Ferdinand B. Stoss III, com- In some cases, the training must when something’s going to come up,” mander of the 91st Missile Wing at be intensiﬁed just to keep pace with said 2nd Lt. John Farnell, a deputy Minot AFB, N.D., noted that the loss of focus was a change in culture that “took time, and it will take time to build it back.” Part of the problem, USAF photo he explained, was that over time the space side of the 13S career field that space and missile officers share became more prestigious than the missile side. When missileers finished their initial tours, most of the best and brightest were switching to space operations for their follow-on tours.

Best and Brightest Priorities have already changed. Stoss reports that space ops will still inherit the majority of graduating missileers because that field requires greater numbers of midcareer officers. But the “best and brightest” missileers are now progress- ing into both career tracks—and there are more volunteers for career follow- on nuclear assignments than there are spaces available. Veteran airmen in the nuclear fields— Missile maintenance technicians work on a Minuteman III ICBM in its launch silo missiles, bombers, munitions, and main- during a nuclear surety inspection at Malmstrom AFB, Mont. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 27 Photo by Sagar Pathak Photo by

SSgt. Dustin Martin (l), SrA. Monicha Pugh (on ladder), and A1C Cody Mc- Setting Up for Nuclear Success Connell perform maintenance on a B-2 bomb bay simulator at Whiteman AFB, During the Cold War, Strategic Air Command had responsibility for nearly Mo. all things nuclear. In recent years, however, the nuclear mission has been split between Air Combat Command for bombers, Air Force Space Com- crew commander in the 740th Missile mand for ICBMs, and Air Force Materiel Command for sustainment. Nuclear Squadron. “It’s feast or famine.” issues were often not the top priority. This affects training as well. To restore the nuclear enterprise to its rightful place at the top of the Air “In the mid-to-late [1990s], many Force’s domestic priority list, USAF made many changes that have just recently been realized. Air Force Global Strike Command was created to alerts were the same,” said Lt. Col. oversee nuclear operations. It is the first all-new major command since Space Todd Schollars, who oversees missile Command was established in 1982. procedure training. Alerts have become Strike Command encompasses 23,000 airmen at five bases, and just as- “incredibly complex,” he said, because sumed control of the B-2 and B-52 bomber fleets in February. several missiles could be undergoing An additional B-52 squadron, the 69th Bomb Squadron, was activated at maintenance at the same time. Officials Minot so that both BUFF bases would have two operational squadrons and have had to increase the intensity of the ability to support the new Global Deterrence Force. GDF calls for one the training “just to replicate the field.” B-52 unit to spend a year at a time dedicated to nuclear missions. In other cases, the training has been The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center at Kirtland AFB, N.M., now has intensified to meet the most stressing Air Force-wide responsibility for sustainment. The NWC was created in 2006, but it is being expanded from less than 10 personnel to more than scenarios. Capt. Tom Meagher, a B-52 200. Brig. Gen. Everett H. Thomas is the first general officer commander of aircraft commander with the 69th Bomb the weapons center. Squadron, noted that the focus for one After several years with no senior officer on the Air Staff having an ex- week at the end of March was on strategic clusively nuclear focus, USAF established the A10 assistant chief of staff attack and dealing with fighter intercepts. position. Maj. Gen. C. Donald Alston is the first A10. In recognition of the From 2007 through 2009, Minot was fact that (short of the Chief of Staff) there was no four-star general directly on the front lines of the Air Force’s responsible for nuclear sustainment, AFMC’s Gen. Donald J. Hoffman was nuclear struggles. The commander of placed in charge of oversight. the 5th Bomb Wing was among those Finally, the Air Force established a new program executive office position fired in 2007 after nuclear cruise missiles for strategic systems, collocated with the NWC at Kirtland. Brig. Gen. John F. Thompson became the first PEO for strategic systems in March. were accidentally flown from Minot to Barksdale AFB, La. 28 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 The commander of Minot’s missile test at any university, Klotz said, but performance, and a unit can expect wing was later relieved from command, 95 out of 100 could cause a base to to be inspected about twice per year. in October 2009, after a pair of high fail an NSI—if the errors are in the For the younger troops, today’s inten- profile nuclear-related incidents at the wrong places. sity is just a way of life. First Lt. Jannel base. Just two weeks after that, the Still, “Airmen will do what they Emery, an instructor and evaluator in 5th Bomb Wing’s replacement com- are asked to do,” said Smith, and with the 91st Operations Support Squadron mander was removed after units failed time and repetition, they “may think that tests missileers, put it succinctly: several inspections. (The three Minot this is normal.” “This is our job.” Airmen have “adapted wing commanders were all removed to intense ops,” she said. before their units joined Global Strike A Way of Life For bombers, conventional missions Command.) The goal is to identify potential were the priority for many years, but “Airmen didn’t fail the Air Force problems early, before they become it is no longer appropriate to even say when we had these breakdowns,” Maj. major issues, not to “pass” or “fail” the nuclear-capable bomb crews have Gen. C. Donald Alston, later said. “The a given number of units. Inspections divided attention, said Cox. Today’s Air Force failed our airmen. ... We had that are impossible to pass serve little focus is on nuclear responsibilities not given the enterprise the attention purpose—but so do NSIs that are not “first and foremost” with conventional that nuclear missions demand.” tough enough. operations an additional duty. With the Morale was down at Minot after the These inspections are important, nuclear mission serving as the “foun- mistakes and failed inspections last but just “one indicator of how a unit is dation” for everything the wing does, year, said CMSgt. Martin K. Smith, performing,” said Col. Sandra E. Finan, Cox said, other responsibilities such command chief for the 5th Bomb Wing, GSC inspector general at Barksdale. as the Pacific presence mission can be but the confidence has returned. “In our business, perfection is our methodically worked in. When the current bomb wing com- output,” but this must be achieved Bomber crews go beyond being mander, Col. Douglas A. Cox, was first by humans who are imperfect, Finan “dual-hatted” by offering both nuclear reassigned from Guam to Minot last noted. Built-in operational redun- and conventional capabilities. “We’re October, he acknowledged that he was dancies can mask some problems if dual-wardrobed,” said Capt. Matthew concerned about what he would find. inspectors don’t dig deeply enough, so Guasco, a pilot with the 23rd Bomb What he found was “commitment and finding the correct level of inspection Squadron. Crews must “keep both ends dedication to get [things done] right,” difficulty is a constant balancing act. of the spear sharp.” he said. This January, the fledgling Global Strike Command today takes Things must be carefully balanced, 69th Bomb Squadron passed its initial larger sample sizes and brings more but Klotz notes USAF has performed nuclear surety inspection and the 5th inspectors, typically about 100 for an Bomb Wing simultaneously passed a NSI. This allows for a deeper drilling A mockup of a B61 bomb used for nuclear weapons load training at Minot no-notice NSI. down into procedures. AFB, N.D. AFGSC’s B-52s can deliver Getting 95 percent of the questions Finan said the no-notice NSIs are a a wide variety of cruise missiles and correct will earn someone an “A” on a valuable way to evaluate day-to-day gravity bombs. Staff photo by Adam HebertStaff photo by

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 29 Staff photo by Adam HebertStaff photo by

this balancing act many times before. facilities, and there are plans for a Minot is adding operational B-52s to fill out a new bomb squadron. This SAC bombers performed conventional brand-new control tower and air traffic B-52 in a base hangar is being used missions as far back as the Korean War, control complex. for weapons load training. Both Minot and B-2s and B-52s today deploy to sup- Klotz said the other nuclear bases and Barksdale AFB, La., home of Strike port US Pacific Command’s continuous are also benefiting from infrastructure Command, will have two bomb squad- forward presence mission on Guam. improvements. Barksdale is adding rons and will require infrastructure improvements. Activating the 69th Bomb Squadron 1,100 airmen through various nuclear gives Minot and Barksdale two opera- personnel additions and the stand-up tional B-52 squadrons each, so that one of Global Strike Command. These three commands. Today, the remaining squadron can be assigned to the Global airmen should pose less of an integra- five “CONUS WSAs” belong to the Deterrence Force rotation. That job is tion strain than at Minot, however, Nuclear Weapons Center—not the local 100 percent nuclear for a full year. because Barksdale is surrounded by wing. Their profile has also been raised. The new squadron is bringing 800 air- the large communities of Shreveport “Previously, we had a young captain ... men to Minot—13 percent of the base’s and Bossier City. responsible for the inner workings inside population—but it will take time to build The base does, however, need new of the weapons storage area,” Thomas to full capability. Many of the aircrew buildings to replace some obsolete testified. “We moved that to a lieutenant members and crew chiefs are coming in structures, along with road and weapons colonel’s position.” from other weapons systems, and need storage area (WSA) upgrades. In addition to the construction at to ramp up their skills with the B-52. The Air Force has decided to re- the base, Minot airmen have noticed a The shortage of midcareer airmen with certify Barksdale’s WSA, which was marked increase in high-level visitors. nuclear skills is a problem here as well. closed to nuclear weapons years ago, In the past, “I think we were a little Lt. Col. Patrick Ballard, deputy com- so that B-52 crews have easier access forgotten about,” said Capt. Lauren mander of the 5th Maintenance Group, to strategic weapons for training and Eiffes, a B-52 standards and evaluation said sortie rates should stabilize by the exercises. Klotz told Congress that it officer. That is certainly not the case fall, but because of the spin-up times for will take about $150 million to reopen anymore, she said, citing visits from airmen new to B-52s, life may not fully the WSA, but the Air Force was going Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates “normalize” until the spring of 2011. to wait until the Nuclear Posture Review and Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, USAF Infrastructure improvements are pro- was completed before moving forward. Chief of Staff. gressing to absorb Minot’s new person- The weapons storage areas are of Indeed, Gates cited the erosion in nel. Large numbers of new dorms and particular interest, because the Minot nuclear standards as the reason he forced other base housing are under construc- incident began in the WSA. In the then-Air Force Secretary Michael W. tion. The new bomb squadron needs “mid-1990s,” Thomas said, 10 domestic Wynne and Gen. T. Michael Moseley, additional hangars and maintenance weapons storage areas were operated by Schwartz’s predecessor, to resign in June 30 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 2008. Renewed attention brings with it six or seven fully mission-capable at until 2020, with a “guarded option” more personnel, higher standards, and most times. of preserving them to 2030. additional funding. After years of delay, the Air Force The Air Force has a “good handle” The nuclear enterprise needs all of included funding in the 2011 budget on which components will not last the this, because much of its resources are request to begin a helicopter replace- life of the weapon, he said. The key is ancient, beginning with 40-year-old ment program, with a target in-service long-term planning. Minuteman IIIs. “Much of the infrastruc- date of 2015. Tewksbury said security ICBMs are in a similar situation. The ture—for example, missile silos, launch forces would benefit from helicopters 2007 defense authorization act directed control centers, missile alert facilities, with greater speed, all-weather capabil- USAF to sustain the Minuteman III underground cables—were fielded even ity, and the ability to transport a TRF through 2030. The service recently put earlier, with previous generations of the in two aircraft instead of three. together its first ICBM roadmap in a Minuteman,” Klotz told lawmakers in decade to help meet this requirement. March. No “Showstoppers” The roadmap calls for “smaller but The last B-52, meanwhile, “left the Nuclear test and support equipment is steady investments ... to sustain the factory in 1962.” There are only 77 B- a particular concern. For years, Thomas weapon system until a replacement 52s and 20 B-2s, and no new bomber explained, there were questions about system is fielded. Block upgrades in has been produced since 1997. Global who was responsible for nuclear sustain- flight, ground, and support equipment Strike Command will advocate for a ment. At one point the Air Force tried subsystems are the best approach.” next generation long-range strike air- to launch a Mk 21 fuze refurbishment This echoes the approach the Air Force craft, one that will in all likelihood be program, but it had no general officer has used on the Minuteman in the past. nuclear-capable. involvement, and ultimately went no- The service is now wrapping up $7 bil- Another aircraft of concern is the where. The Air Force was forced to lion worth of multiyear propulsion and UH-1 used to help defend the nation’s start over. guidance replacement programs. Klotz missile fields. These Hueys date to The Mk 12 and Mk 21 fuzes that arm last year said these have modernized 1970, and have severe range, size, and ICBM warheads both need refurbish- “practically every inch” of the missile. performance limitations. Lt. Col. Jay ment, and the NWC considers these Some Minutemen are even getting Tewksbury, commander of Minot’s fuzes a top sustainment concern. Col. replacement re-entry vehicles from 54th Helicopter Squadron, notes that James D. Fisher, commander of the decommissioned Peacekeeper missiles. the Hueys are highly reliable and easy 526th ICBM Systems Group, notes that The roadmap notes that 2030 is still a to maintain, but their performance limi- the Mk 21 fuze was never designed to long way off, however, and “additional tations are too great to look past. For be refurbished—part of the reason the work” will be needed to identify what example, they lack a deicing capability, service is interested in developing with parts will need refurbishment to meet which can be a major problem at the the Navy a joint/common fuze that the new life requirement. Northern Tier missile bases. could be used for both the Minuteman Fisher said he sees no “showstoppers” The helicopter units work with spe- III and SLBMs. on the ICBM sustainment horizon, but cially trained, 17-man tactical response Nuclear gravity bombs are also on the the Air Force will “have to refresh some forces trained for counterterrorism op- agenda. The Air Force supports a life items of concern once again.” erations. Why 17 men? “Too many extension program for the B61 bomb It will take time to rebuild the nuclear people get in the way,” said MSgt. Duke carried by USAF’s heavy bombers systems, equipment, expertise, and McDuffie, superintendent of the 791st and many dual-role fighters. The goal culture that declined since SAC’s dis- Missile Security Forces Squadron’s is to improve the safety, security, and solution in 1992. Officials have not TRF unit. The team—ready to assault reliability of a weapon that still carries necessarily become accustomed to the a missile launch facility (silo) in “any vacuum tubes. new requirements, but all seem to feel configuration”—includes a command As the Nuclear Weapons Center works they are now operating at a higher level and control airman, an eight-man assault “on a comprehensive life extension of of proficiency. team, a four-man heavy weapons team, the versatile B61, [it is] also studying the The no-notice inspections clearly keep two snipers, and two spotters. need for weapons to meet future delivery airmen on their toes. Technically, they are All are security forces veterans serv- platform requirements,” Thomas said. “very little” notice inspections because ing three-year controlled tours, drawn Officials have already identified the teams might get shot if they showed up from volunteers among the security need for a next generation cruise missile. at nuclear weapons facilities completely forces airmen at the nuclear weapons USAF began developing the require- unannounced. Still, Kirtland’s Stuckey bases. ments for the new weapon this spring, noted, the last three inspections he was Team member SSgt. Augustin Tor- and is expected to soon begin a formal privy to offered five hours’ notice, then res said the team “specializes in close analysis of alternatives. four hours, then 24 hours. This serves to quarter combat,” for example within an The service is continuing to de- keep airmen at a “higher and consistent occupied missile silo. But despite the commission its stealthy Advanced level of readiness,” he said. popular reputations of assault teams like Cruise Missiles and cut its inventory Last November, when Thomas spoke this, Torres added, the TRF’s job is “not of Air Launched Cruise Missiles, but to Air Force Magazine at Kirtland, to kill everybody; ... [it] is to save lives.” dozens of ALCMs will continue to there were about a hundred inspectors The TRF concept originated in 2002 provide standoff punch for the B-52 performing a nuclear surety inspection to meet the greater security require- fleet. The plan, says Col. Richard M. at the base. Despite this and the other ments since 9/11, but Tewksbury notes Stuckey, commander of the 498th difficulties that inevitably lie ahead, that it takes three Hueys to transport a Nuclear Systems Wing at Kirtland, Thomas said, “I smile a lot more than TRF. Minot only has eight UH-1s, with is to sustain the remaining ALCMs I did when I got here.” n AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 31 istrations and uncertainties about major programs such as the F-22 fighter, KC-X tanker, and new bomber.

Boeing illustration In this first AIP, the Air Force and Navy merely compared notes on their respective aircraft purchase plans; they did not compete for missions or eliminate much overlap. That will begin in earnest with the next version of the plan, which Congress directed be revised and resub- mitted annually. “We needed to start this with sort of a confidence-building approach,” explained Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, the USAF Chief of Staff. Schwartz believes the first run of the AIP was a success, but, asked if future versions will be more competitive and seek elimination of overlap, Schwartz said, “I’m certain that’s the case.” The plan bears the signature of Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates. In it, he said the AIP had four main objectives: “Meet the demand for persistent ... intelligence, surveillance, and recon- For US military aircraft producers, the lone naissance (ISR) capabilities,” provided mainly by unmanned or remotely piloted and level sands stretch far away. aircraft such as Global Hawk, Predator, and Reaper. “Provide sufficient enabler capability and capacity,” such as a new aerial tanker, early warning aircraft, and tactical jammers such as the EA-18G Growler for the Navy. “Acquire fifth generation fighter- The Thirty- attack aircraft” in the form of the F-35 fighter. “Modernize long-range strike capabilities” by identifying “a replacement aircraft for the aging aircraft in the legacy Year Drought bomber fleet.” Answering Congress’ original ques- By John A. Tirpak, Executive Editor tion, Gates said, “This first aviation plan does not foresee major industrial base he Pentagon’s new 30-year aircraft The “Aircraft Investment Plan, Fiscal issues” in the near term. At a minimum, investment blueprint delivers to the Years 2011-2040” is DOD’s first-ever stab he went on, “there are no immediate con- Air Force this unmistakable mes- at mapping the armed services’ entire fixed cerns” about the strength of the American Tsage: The pace of USAF modernization wing airplane buys over a long period. aviation industrial base, which he said will range from slow to extremely slow It was submitted to Congress along with would be sound for years to come. The for many years. the Fiscal 2011 budget request. Pentagon chief acknowledged, though, The plan calls for a hiatus of at least Will the work pace suffice to preserve that “there are impacts to specific corpo- 10 years in production of new strategic the aircraft industrial base? Pentagon of- rate interests in certain sectors.” airlifters and long-range bombers. It ficials say yes. However, the plan is certain The early portion of the blueprint—the envisions acquisition of fewer than a to become leaner in future years, as the part covering years out to Fiscal 2015— dozen tactical transports per year, on services horse-trade over aviation roles mainly comprises the various “programs average. It calls for buys of F-35 fight- and missions and planned procurement of record” already under way for the Fis- ers to build slowly and then level off at numbers come down. (It does not count cal 2011 budget, and in the Pentagon’s a rate that won’t meet required force rotary wing aircraft or upgrades to fixed quarterly selected acquisition reports, levels until 2035. wing aircraft.) which state costs and buying objectives The KC-X tanker will be the only Congress, prompted by concerns that for all major weapons procurement. So large airplane purchase through 2025. reductions in defense aviation orders said Brig. Gen. Richard C. Johnston, Simple, unmanned aircraft will be increas- could starve the aviation industrial base, USAF’s director of strategic planning, ingly prominent. For half of this decade, called for the plan in 2008. The Defense who led the Air Force’s AIP team. USAF’s airplane budget will be smaller Department failed to produce the plan Beyond 2015, the builders of the AIP than the Navy’s. in 2009, blaming the change in Admin- relied on a notional three percent real 32 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 assessing a replacement for the F-22 and eventually the F-35, the Pentagon will consider “both manned and unmanned options,” according to the report. Air Combat Command is in the midst

Illustration by Erik Simonsen by Illustration of an analysis of alternatives defining the general capabilities of an F-22 replacement, but it will not be done for a year. If it followed the pattern of the F-22, which took 20 years to develop and field, the F-22’s replacement might not be in service until 2030. Intratheater lift—in the form of the C-130J and C-27—peaks at 16 airframes in Fiscal 2011 and declines from there, and drops to just two per year in Fiscal 2013 and Fiscal 2014. The US will purchase aircraft up to the economical build rate; foreign orders will claim a larger share of tactical transports produced in some years. The Air Force has said that it already has more than the 300 strategic airlifters it needs, and all of the fleet—relatively new C-17s and heavily upgraded C- 5Ms—will be sound well into the 2040s, so no new big airlifters are planned for Far left: A Boeing concept for a new bomber. Above: An artist’s conception of the new more than a decade. Development of a long-range bomber. new strategic airlifter, to replace the C-5, would get started with modest funding growth in defense spending, as instructed considered still brand-new. For example, beginning in 2016. Although the plan by Gates. the AIP says that, although this decade does not delve into modifications, Air “In the immediate future, I think will see a large investment in “follow- Force officials speculated that the C-17 our major programs are set,” Air Force on capabilities for the F-22 Raptor,” a fleet would likely undergo a significant Secretary Michael B. Donley said of successor aircraft, called F-X, “would service life extension program starting the aviation plan at AFA’s Air Warfare be needed about 2025.” in the late 2010s. Symposium in Orlando, Fla., earlier this The overall size of the aircraft fleet year. New starts will “have to await an SLEP for the C-17 operated by the Defense Department economic recovery” and will be based on Johnston said “economic realities” (including aircraft already in service) “what level of resources will be provided mean that the F-X would not wholly will bottom out at 5,300 in Fiscal 2017. to defense” in the next four to six years. replace the F-22 in 2025, but “maybe Three years later, it will peak at 5,500 Donley said the order for a 30-year that’s the first airplane on the ramp.” In airframes, if aggressive production of plan from Congress was “a very ambitious request,” given that in a span of three decades, “we could see the defense budget go up and down three times, and we could see the strategic environment change once, twice, three times in Jim Haseltine Photo by significant ways affecting our security requirements. So, it is very hard putting together a 30-year aviation plan that one would actually build to.” He said that the AIP was a useful exercise in confronting “what parts of our fleet may reach a certain age” beyond which they may not be relevant or sustainable, and to “think about how we will need to sequence our work ... to accommodate different mission areas and platform requirements and capabilities.” Given the long-term nature of the study, the Defense Department acknowledged that, within the 30 years, it will be nec- An MQ-9 Reaper armed with laser guided bombs and missiles. The Reaper can essary to recapitalize some aircraft now carry a payload roughly equivalent to an F-16 fighter. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 33 Navy’s favor, driven largely by continued production of the F/A-18E/F Super Hor- net and its variant, the electronic attack

Boeing illustration EA-18G Growler. By 2020, about half the Navy’s aircraft money will go toward development and production of a stealthy, long endurance unmanned aircraft in the same size class as the F-35. The Marine Corps will also seek an RPA in the Reaper class during the same period. By 2020, the Navy will be spending about $7 billion a year on unmanned aircraft, compared to the Air Force’s investment of less than $1 billion in that year. The Air Force plans no replacements for its E-3 AWACS, RC-135 Rivet Joint, or E-8 Joint STARS aircraft until the 2040s. In the meantime, most of its purchases of ISR aircraft will focus on the the F-35 and remotely piloted aircraft is sustained.

During the 2020s, the fighter inventory EADS photo “will decline slightly (a roughly 10 percent decrease) ... while aircraft in the multirole unmanned aerial system category will more than quadruple,” the AIP states. Of course, these levels are subject to change “in response to operational needs, industrial base considerations, and fiscal constraints.” The Air Force-Navy-Marine Corps fighter inventory will decline steadily from 3,264 airframes in Fiscal 2011 to 2,883 machines in Fiscal 2018, at which point the fleet begins a slow increase. Over the same period, multirole remotely piloted aircraft in the MQ-9 Reaper class will increase from 72 aircraft in Fiscal 2011 to 476 airframes in Fiscal 2020. Top: Boeing’s entry in the tanker competition, the NewGen tanker. Above: The The Air Force would buy approximately tanker offering from EADS, the A330 Multirole Tanker Transport. 260 of these, and production across all services for Reaper-class aircraft would nel) of expanding unmanned capacity unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk. The Air remain steady at about 48 per year for and capability is not insignificant.” The Force expects to buy about 77 Global most of the 2010s. Without explanation, Pentagon has tried to balance unmanned Hawks, and the Navy about 60 almost the Reaper-class category zooms to 60 vs. manned “with a view toward pro- identical aircraft under the Broad Area produced in 2018, followed by a drop viding the resources necessary to meet Maritime Surveillance program. to 16 in ’19 and 24 in ’20. the demand for persistent, unmanned The Air Force will consider unmanned The Air Force will not purchase any ISR/strike assets”—read, in the current replacements for its large ISR aircraft if more MQ-1 Predator vehicles, as the fight—but “will continue to adapt the the technology will permit. In the 2010s, Reaper offers more endurance and a larger mix of unmanned and manned systems however, the Navy will buy the P-8A payload—about equivalent to the F-16 as security needs evolve.” Poseidon manned surveillance aircraft fighter—and can carry a wider variety (based on the Boeing 737) and newly of weapons. Not an Overarching Roadmap built versions of the E-2D Hawkeye The Air Force will explore a “potential In today’s dollars, “total aviation in- carrier-capable AWACS aircraft. follow-on” to the Reaper in the next de- vestments will amount to $268 billion” Johnston said that the airframe selected cade even as it backfits previously built over the decade 2010 to 2020, according to be the KC-X tanker might conceivably aircraft with electronic attack capabilities. to the AIP. be the platform for a replacement of the The MQ-9 will be complemented by the The Navy will enjoy the larger share E-3 AWACS, RC-135 Rivet Joint, and E-8 MC-12W manned ISR platform. of aircraft dollars from Fiscal 2011 until Joint STARS, but because replacement The AIP notes that, although some see Fiscal 2016, when the Air Force catches of those airplanes will occur in, as the remotely piloted or unmanned aircraft as up and both services are spending roughly AIP says, “the far term,” specifics about a cheap replacement for manned aircraft, $15 billion a year on airplanes. In Fiscal successors for those airframes aren’t “the cost (both in dollars and person- 2011, the disparity is $4 billion in the known yet. 34 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 “We wanted to make sure that section was in there because we recognize that those platforms will start to reach the end of their service lives. ... But as far as what platform and exactly when, that’s something we ... don’t have the knowledge Northrop Grumman photo on,” Johnston said. The AIP was not run through operational combat simulations or models, per se, according to Col. Stephen Walters, chief of USAF’s long-range planning division. However, “that’s something that we are constantly doing as we change assumptions,” Walters said. “We’ve done those kinds of studies in the past, and that information that we have influences very heavily what exists in the President’s budget.” He noted that the AIP was intended to inform Congress about new USAF’s Global Hawk performs a mission high over a mountain range. The intelli- aircraft construction; it is not meant to gence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft can operate above 60,000 feet. be an overarching roadmap of aviation because it doesn’t include upgraded older come into service. From 551 aircraft in decided it doesn’t need to operate re- aircraft or munitions. Fiscal 2012, the tanker fleet will slip to motely piloted aircraft in the class of the Walters noted that the AIP was based 531 aircraft by Fiscal 2018. It begins to Predator and Reaper, and will “migrate on three percent real growth in the budget rebound in 2020, with 534 airplanes. The that equipment to us because they don’t in the years following Fiscal 2015—the tanker inventory counts Air Force strategic want to operate in that space.” year the current Future Years Defense tankers and special operations tankers as In future years, Schwartz said he and Program expires—and did not attempt to well as Marine Corps KC-130s. Roughead will seek more ways to econo- predict any “significant dips” or boosts mize by sharing aircraft types, training, in defense spending. Capability Redundancies? and support facilities where it makes According to the AIP, the Air Force Brig. Gen. Derek P. Rydholm, John- sense to do so. won’t start spending upward of $1 bil- ston’s deputy, said the Air Force was Although the Navy has had a ship- lion a year on a new long-range strike satisfied that all participants in the AIP building plan for many years, and aircraft until 2015, and only reaches “had a good chance to look at this before “they’ve been reasonably successful $3 billion a year by Fiscal 2020. That it became a final product,” and that the [with] that,” there has never been an was the midline of a level as high as $4 Pentagon’s Cost Assessment and Program aircraft plan before, and Rydholm said billion that year or as low as $2 billion, Evaluation shop (previously known as the AIP may evolve into something since the outcomes of ongoing studies Program Analysis and Evaluation) “did like the Navy’s shipbuilding scheme. regarding long-range strike are not yet a good job of ensuring that they incorpo- That plan gets regular attention from known. Gates and his many lieutenants rated, to the maximum extent possible, Congress, which has shown consistent have said they are seeking a portfolio of everything that we gave them.” concern that shipbuilding capabilities long-range strike capabilities to include Schwartz said that although there was not atrophy in the US. manned and unmanned, penetrating, and no head-to-head competition for aviation “I think it will evolve to the point standoff capabilities. budget share in the first round of the AIP, where we’re ... looking holistically at In long-range strike, the “exact invest- the two services did recognize that they where we might want to go” across ment profile for FY 2016-2020 will be were developing redundant capabilities the services with aircraft production, informed by study results,” according to regarding the RQ-4 Global Hawk un- Rydholm said, “but I don’t think we’re the AIP. If spending is required above a manned reconnaissance and surveillance there yet.” notional three percent real growth above aircraft. As a result, they will make efforts The AIP will undoubtedly be in con- inflation, that “would entail making com- to consolidate RQ-4 production, training, stant revision, Gates said in his summary. mensurate reductions in other programs.” and support facilities, sharing where pos- “A changing strategic environment The KC-X tanker program, the Air sible to reduce costs. Unique capabilities will likely require continuous adjust- Force’s highest priority, will produce developed for one can be used by the ments in aviation investments. National 109 new airplanes by 2020, at an invest- other. The Air Force, for example, will security requirements could arise in the ment of roughly $3.7 billion a year from benefit from anti-icing features developed 2020s and 2030s that cannot be foreseen Fiscal 2014 through 2020. The program for the Navy’s version of the airplane. today, just as the heavy reliance on un- is to produce 179 aircraft before the Air Referring to Chief of Naval Operations manned vehicles could not have been Force seeks a KC-Y and KC-Z, which Adm. Gary Roughead, Schwartz said, anticipated 10 years ago.” Neverthe- would replace the KC-10 fleet. “Gary and I are committed to not having less, the AIP has “immense complexity Even with new airplanes coming on, more differences between these platforms relative to the more mature shipbuilding though, the tanker inventory would slide than is truly necessary.” plan,” because it covers three services as through most of this decade, as KC- He also pointed out that, partly as a well as technology with “a much shorter 135s are retired faster than KC-Xs will result of the discussions, the Navy has technological half-life” than ships. I AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 35 Intelligence and operations are no longer viewed as separate entities; that has brought huge changes. ISR Revolution By Michael C. Sirak, Senior Editor

n one August day last year, Then came the unplanned items. The Air Force today doesn’t often some US ground troops Morales learned about expanded needs disclose the details of its intelligence- were preparing to move of the troops on this convoy mission. surveillance-reconnaissance (ISR) Oout down a certain dangerous road in He continued to offer support. Over activities in Afghanistan and Iraq or Afghanistan. SrA. Andres Morales of the course of seven hours, he kept elsewhere around the globe. Yet service the Air Force had a related mission. As these soldiers supplied with updated officials say this declassified account of it happened, his mission grew and grew. intelligence. All the while, he stayed Morales’ mission is by no means unique At first, Morales was tasked to sup- in close contact with them, using a in its scope and outcome. ply intelligence information about three secure chat room on the US military’s “We literally have thousands of airmen specific points of interest along that classified network. now who operate this weapon system Afghan road route. Morales, an analyst Morales’ analysis identified eight [DCGS] and are in direct contact with in DGS-2, USAF’s Distributed Common areas of suspicious activity along the the forces forward,” said Maj. Gen. Ground System (DCGS) node at Beale route, one of which turned out to be an Bradley A. Heithold, commander of AFB, Calif., provided the information improvised explosive device that might the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance, within minutes. It was based on a blend have wounded or killed some of these and Reconnaissance Agency (AFISRA) of imagery and electronic communica- soldiers had it gone undetected. The at Lackland AFB, Tex., in an interview. tions signals captured by the sensors on soldiers also confiscated three insurgent Five years ago, however, this type of surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft weapons caches nearby, located as a support was not the norm. While DCGS flying near the route. result of the airman’s involvement. existed then, this sophisticated intel- 36 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 SrA. Julia Richardson analyzes com- puter imagery on the new operations at an accelerated pace to meet the in- floor of Distributed Ground System-1 satiable demand for the overwatch that at Langley AFB, Va. they provide. Fast forward to today. These actions ligence fusion system was organized have borne fruit. very differently across the Air Force. “I think the changes have been quite USAF photo by SrA. Dana Hill SrA. USAF photo by The system prevented USAF officials profound,” said James R. Clapper Jr., from fully exploiting the synergy of its undersecretary of defense for intel- distributed global analytic hubs. ligence, in an interview. Their impact, ISR Revolution Simply put, it was not possible for he continued, “is a reflection of the fact an airman at Beale to provide the same that ISR kind of drives everything else. By Michael C. Sirak, Senior Editor type of actionable intelligence to troops It drives operations.” at the forward edge of operations, as DCGS has been freed from its or- Morales did. ganizational restraints, and is now a no-kidding globally networked system Skilled in the Arts able to swiftly and easily draw upon the Air Force leaders saw these limita- expertise of analysts from any one of its tions. More broadly, they recognized distributed worldwide sites. that the nature of warfare had inexorably Clapper characterized this capability shifted; intelligence and operations as the US military’s “central nervous could no longer be viewed as separate system” for processing, exploiting, entities, and quickly finding and identify- and disseminating imagery and signals ing targets loomed as the US military’s intelligence products. The ability of biggest challenge. The Air Force in 2006 DCGS to link with intelligence centers launched an ambitious overhaul of its in the war theater “has been tremen- ISR enterprise. dous,” he said. The service leadership created a Success is evident on other ISR fronts, new Air Staff directorate for ISR, and too. After a drought of several years, the other organizations were revamped to Air Force now has a career intelligence streamline authorities and optimize how officer serving as the head of the ISR ISR echelons present themselves to Air directorate in a combatant command. Force and joint force commanders as well In this case, it is Brig. Gen. VeraLinn as the national intelligence community. Jamieson, the J-2 at US Southern Com- Strong emphasis was placed on creat- mand. And the way has been cleared for ing a cadre of senior officers and enlisted an Air Force general officer to serve as airmen skilled in the arts of this realm. J-2 of US Strategic Command. A new foundation of the trade was built The number of Air Force RPAs sup- on new strategies and far-reaching docu- porting operators in the war theater has ments stating how the service would ballooned from one continuous MQ-1 pursue future ISR systems, including air patrol in the early days of the war remotely piloted aircraft. in Afghanistan in 2001 to more than All this happened against the back- 40 around-the-clock orbits of MQ-1s drop of the Air Force pushing more and MQ-9s today. Plans call for the Air An MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted air- ISR assets—in particular the MQ-1 Force to have 65 orbits in place in 2013. craft comes in for landing at an airfield Predator and MQ-9 Reaper remotely The service needed only about 10 in Afghanistan. piloted aircraft—into the war theater months to take the MC-12W ISR USAF photo by SSgt. Brian Ferguson SSgt. USAF photo by

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 37 USAF photo by MSgt. Scott T. Sturkol T. Scott MSgt. USAF photo by

Liberty Project Aircraft all the way “We are at a transition point between A U-2 spyplane lands at an undisclosed from concept to fielding in Southwest an era of industrial age ... warfare to air base in Southwest Asia. Asia, a feat Clapper described as “a one in which we are in an information superb achievement” on a timeline age,” he said. The US military is now in of all ISR units under one house so “virtually unheard of.” These aircraft operating “in an era of much more that they could be treated as an inte- provide invaluable full-motion video rapid assimilation and distribution of grated whole and serve users across and electronic eavesdropping support information,” yet it is “still dealing with all domains—such as air, space, and to troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. processes and organizations” developed cyberspace—as opposed to stratifi ed Back when the service launched the in the industrial age of warfare. entities answering to a single com- makeover, USAF’s stated goal was mand that specializes in one domain. this: “Transform Air Force intelligence, Muscle Move Such domain-centric ownership only surveillance, and reconnaissance into “We need to change our processes and decreased ISR effectiveness, he said. a set of premier military intelligence organizations to meet that technological That new organization is AFISRA, organizations with the most respected shift,” he said. which grew out of the former Air In- personnel and the most valued ISR Deptula spearheaded the ISR changes telligence Agency that was structured capability.” since he took over the service’s top ISR under Air Combat Command. AFISRA “We have made signifi cant progress job in July 2006. The A-2 offi ce is now is a fi eld operating agency that reports on that journey,” said Lt. Gen. David A. the focal point for all Air Force ISR directly to the DCS for ISR. Deptula, deputy chief of staff for ISR, matters, ranging from the oversight of The agency oversees the 480th ISR the so-called A-2 of the Air Force, dur- RPA programs to monitoring develop- Wing, at Langley AFB, Va., the orga- ing an interview in his Pentagon offi ce. ments across ISR capability portfolios nization that manages the Air Force’s However, he added, “There is always to ensure “the left hand knows what the worldwide DCGS activities; the 70th ISR more to go.” right hand is doing,” as Deptula puts it. Wing at Ft. Meade, Md., the Air Force’s For Deptula, the need for the ISR He said that the biggest organization sole cryptologic wing; the National Air overhaul was a no-brainer. “muscle move” was USAF’s bringing and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; and the Air Force Technical Applications Center,

Key Original Targets 480th ISR Wing illustration 480th ISR Weapon Cache

IED Location

Disturbed Earth

Illustration representing the route that US ground troops took during an August 2009 mission in Afghanistan, supported by SrA. Andres Morales, an intelligence analyst in the DCGS node at Beale AFB, Calif. The soldiers safely traveled the route and, in the process, conﬁ scated three weapons caches and found an improvised explosive device.

38 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 at Patrick AFB, Fla., responsible for monitoring nuclear treaty compliance and detecting nuclear events. Deptula said the new structure has “had some huge positive benefits.” For one, it allowed the Air Force to realign the DCGS enterprise, which had been inefficiently divided across several Air Force major commands. It now resides Bateman Y. Brittany SrA. USAF photo by under the administrative control of the 480th ISR Wing, but with clearly defined lines of support from the five core Distributed Ground System (DGS) sites to the component numbered air forces that they support. The five core sites are at Beale, Langley (DGS-1), Osan AB, South Korea (DGS-3), Ramstein AB, Germany (DGS-4), and JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii (DGS-5). They are supported by six Air National Guard DGS sites An MC-12W ISR aircraft prepares for takeoff at JB Balad, Iraq. The Liberty Project that analyze about 60 percent of all the Aircraft went from concept to fielding in just 10 months. full-motion video coming off Air Force ISR platforms today. forces in Afghanistan as well as Iraq. just the second USAF career intelligence This new setup allows for DCGS to They “tell us exactly what are the officer to be selected to lead an intelli- be operated as a regionally focused, but products that the ground troops want,” gence directorate for a joint warfighting globally controlled, weapon system out said Johnson. Army liaison personnel command in about eight years. of Langley. That means that if one of the are also now resident at the core DGS NASIC is the primary producer of core sites is fully engaged supporting sites. A British airman recently became foreign air and space intelligence for the some missions, 480th ISR Wing officials certified for DCGS work, and soon, nation. Today, it has about 3,000 total are able to task another one of the sites Australians will be, too. staff. George described the center as to help out. “the one place in DOD where all sources “We can swing the weight of the effort Last Month’s Game of intelligence come together.” This wherever we need to,” said Heithold, Along with the DCGS realignment, includes imagery intelligence, such as the AFISRA commander. This setup, Deptula said AFISRA’s establishment geospatial intelligence (Geoint), Sigint, he continued, “allows us to apportion allowed for the creation of ISR groups open-source intelligence, foreign mate- where needed rather than to build huge that integrate elements of imagery intel- rial exploitation, and human intelligence, ISR capacities in all of the theaters, ligence and signals intelligence drawn among others. which we can’t afford to do.” from the 480th ISR Wing and 70th ISR The center’s analysts are not meant For example, when the US military, Wing to an unprecedented degree in to operate in the same time frames as including Air Force drones, mobilized the Department of Defense. This has the airmen in the DCGS. While DCGS to support humanitarian relief efforts in removed an old seam between the two analysts are like football referees observ- Haiti after the devastating earthquake sources of intelligence, thereby allowing what is happening on the playing hit there in January, the 480th ISR ing more effective ISR support to the field at the moment, NASIC analysts Wing was able to shift DCGS analysts combatant commanders. are more like the officials back in the at Beale who had been supporting US “Now we have clear lines of authority NFL booth. Central Command to the relief mission and responsibility and function that has “We aren’t looking at the game right without any impact to the work being dramatically increased the output of ISR now, but we look at what happened done for CENTCOM, said Col. Daniel to users in each one of the [combatant in yesterday’s game and last week’s R. Johnson, 480th ISR Wing commander, commands],” he said. game and last month’s game,” George during an interview at his headquarters. NASIC has also transformed, with a explained. “We are compiling all the “Our ability to flex that mission from focus on “being operationally relevant,” information from any of these events one location to another is just incred- Col. D. Scott George, center commander, to help provide a better understanding ible,” he said. said in an interview in his office. This of what we think will happen in tomor- The DCGS primarily works with U-2 has been “a big change in mind-set” for row’s game.” Dragon Lady surveillance-reconnais- NASIC analysts, since their focus in the NASIC has also undergone a process sance aircraft and MC-12s, along with past was more on long-term analysis, of “unitization” to align its internal MQ-1, MQ-9, RQ-4 Global Hawk, and he said. structure along the lines of the Air Force RQ-170 Sentinel RPAs. George has been selected for promo- in groups and squadrons in order to give “We are the ones who make sense out tion to brigadier general and is sched- Air Force officials a better understanding of what is coming off of the sensors,” uled to receive his star and assume his of how to use and leverage the center. said Johnson. new post as STRATCOM’s director of But it maintains an overall structure still The 480th ISR Wing has also embed- intelligence following a June 2 change recognizable to the national intelligence ded ISR liaison officers with ground of command. He follows Jamieson as community. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 39 GET REAL What’s real? Our KC-45 tanker. It’s the only tanker in the Air Force competition that is in production, fl ying and ready now. By contrast, our competitor’s concept aircraft exists only on paper—an unproven design that’s never been built or fl own. Our warfi ghters deserve a real tanker—one that will be built here in the U.S., by tens of thousands of Americans. So let’s get real: KC-45.

www.eadsnorthamerica.com

F-16 refueling operation, Nov. 3, 2009 See the video at www.KC-45now.com.

EADS KC-45Ad AFM 16.25x10.875.indd 1-2 5/13/10 10:02:26 AM GET REAL What’s real? Our KC-45 tanker. It’s the only tanker in the Air Force competition that is in production, fl ying and ready now. By contrast, our competitor’s concept aircraft exists only on paper—an unproven design that’s never been built or fl own. Our warfi ghters deserve a real tanker—one that will be built here in the U.S., by tens of thousands of Americans. So let’s get real: KC-45. www.eadsnorthamerica.com

F-16 refueling operation, Nov. 3, 2009 See the video at www.KC-45now.com.

EADS KC-45Ad AFM 16.25x10.875.indd 1-2 5/13/10 10:02:26 AM engaged and continues to inject updated threat data as the design of the new weapon system matures. For Deptula, there is also the issue of how one approaches new aircraft de- signs. Designations such as “bomber” are outdated, he contends. “Every shooter

USAF photo by MSgt. Scott T. Sturkol T. Scott MSgt. USAF photo by we build needs to be an effective sensor system,” he said. “And every sensor we build ought to have the capability to achieve some sort of kinetic effect.” Accordingly, the new “bomber” that the Air Force acquires is more accurately deemed an ISR-strike platform. His office has also been working on a new naming construct to potentially supplant “combat air patrol” as the term used to measure ISR sufficiency. “There is a big difference” between a normal CAP today and one with MQ-9s car- Members of the 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron prepare an RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft for a combat mission at a forward base. rying the new Gorgon Stare wide-area airborne surveillance (WAAS) pods Further, a “distributed mission site” the next several years. “ISR is a future that are expected in the inventory soon. recently stood up at NASIC that is mission growth area for the Air Force, With Gorgon Stare, one Reaper will linked into the DCGS enterprise. With and we encourage the kids in high be able to provide 10 separate video it, George said the center is, for the first school to come join the Air Force and feeds at once, vice just one today. Later time, “leveraging broader Geoint into the be imagery analysts or signals analysts,” versions will be capable of many more fight at increased speeds.” NASIC also said Johnson. simultaneous feeds. now regularly dispatches liaison officers That, in turn, brings up the issue of to Southwest Asia to help get the word Like Rain what is the best way to quickly add more out on how the center can support the There has been talk that the Air overhead ISR capability, said Deptula. warfighter. Force’s ISR enterprise may morph “If you want to get capability out there Heithold said AFISRA had made the into a major command at some point. soonest, the way to do it is by buying brunt of its organizational changes; now Last September, the Air Force held an more WAAS pods,” he said, noting that it is making some refinements to apply its ISR summit and this idea was mulled, this option is also much more afford- finite manpower billets to the areas most but the decision was made to maintain able, doesn’t take up any more ramp in need. For example, it is establishing the current setup and see how develop- space at the operating bases in theater, a human intelligence squadron within ments unfold. and doesn’t require more RPA pilots. the NASIC this summer. There is also “This is a pretty new organization and There is also the need to start de- “untapped Guard and Reserve capac- it has been working very, very well. That signing RPAs that are survivable in ity” that the agency seeks to access to is the key,” said Deptula. However, “I contested airspace. “When we get into strengthen the ISR enterprise, he said. do support the idea of having a majcom environments that are populated by AFISRA is also working to ensure that for ISR to serve the entire Air Force. I advanced air defense systems,” RPAs 24th Air Force, the service’s new cyber don’t support putting ISR underneath “are going to be falling from the sky operations arm, receives the intelligence a domain-focused majcom.” like rain,” said Deptula. support that it needs. To that end, the There is also a new DOD push to There are also “huge questions yet to agency is standing up a new ISR group integrate ISR professionals in the ac- be resolved” facing all of the services under the 70th ISR Wing this summer quisition community so that there is regarding RPAs, with no single senior to support 24th Air Force. more intelligence input as major new DOD organization having responsibility “They require signals intelligence,” weapon systems are developed. Along for dealing with them. Heithold said. “We haven’t quite got those lines, NASIC is “pushing really Deptula said they include arriving at all of those pieces right yet, but we are hard” to get weapons developers to an optimal joint concept of operations, stepping through that.” think differently about the design of airspace deconfliction, and air defense Despite the successes, many issues new systems, said George. in the face of greater numbers of RPAs lie ahead for the Air Force’s ISR force. For example, the F-35 Lightning II flying around, perhaps including enemy Among them, the service is still under strike fighter will be a sophisticated remotely piloted assets in large numbers strain to fill the thousands of spots needed platform with state-of-the-art sensors. at some point. for airmen to operate and maintain its For the aircraft to be effective, its “The bottom line is, this is no time burgeoning RPA fleet and to process, sensors “have to be smart on what the for ‘old think,’” he said. “We have got exploit, and disseminate the information threats are,” said NASIC spokesman to take some new approaches to the way produced by their sensors. James K. Lunsford. we move into the future. It is not just For example, the 480th ISR Wing cur- Whereas in the past, the center’s an option. Given the increased demand rently has about 4,100 total personnel, input came only in the early stages of and fewer resources we have available, but will grow by nearly 2,200 billets in an acquisition program, it now remains it is an imperative.” I 42 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 Verbatim By John T. Correll, Contributing Editor

It Never Happened ability to detect what I’ll call cruise mis- a conclusion that short-term risk was “Sept. 11 was a big lie and a pretext siles or crud cruise missiles is limited manageable, the fact is today those for the War on Terror and a prelude to the existing radar systems that we assumptions are not reality. Despite to invading Afghanistan.”—Iranian have today. ... This is an area [where] that, it appears the Air Force is going President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, we have concern, and we’re continu- ahead with the plan.”—Rep. Roscoe Washington Post, March 7. ing to work within the department to G. Bartlett (R-Md.), House Armed expand.”—Gen. Victor E. Renuart Jr., Services subcommittee hearing on Not a War commander, US Northern Command Navy and Air Force combat aviation “There is no cyberwar. I think that and NORAD, House Armed Services programs, March 24. is a terrible metaphor and I think Committee, March 18. that is a terrible concept.”—Obama Russia and Its Terrorists Administration cybersecurity czar Watch Out Below “We have torn off the heads of the Howard Schmidt, declaring that the “My fear is that the whole island will most odious bandits, but clearly this focus should instead be on fighting become so overly populated that it will was not enough. [Expanded measures] online crime and espionage, Wired. tip over and capsize.”—Rep. Henry need to be not just more effective, but com, March 4. C. Johnson (D-Ga.), House Armed harsher, crueler.”—Russian Presi- Services Committee hearing on sta- dent Dmitry Medvedev, Wall Street The Outlook for Osama tioning troops on Guam, March 26. Journal, April 2. “Let’s deal with reality. The reality is that we will be reading Miranda rights New Approach to History Wars of Racism to the corpse of Osama bin Laden. “I wanted to increase the focus on “Back in World War II, we viewed the He will never appear in an American joint, interagency, coalition warfare Japanese as ‘yellow slant-eyed dogs’ courtroom. The possibility of catching and expose the cadets to more of that. that believed in different gods. They him alive is infinitesimal. He will be That’s much different than the wars our were out to kill us because our way of killed by us or he will be killed by his history department was teaching. ... living was different. We, in turn, wanted own people so he can’t be captured by No one service does its missions with- to annihilate them because they were us.”—Attorney General Eric Holder, out the capabilities brought by other different. Does that sound familiar, by Associated Press, March 16. services, but for our airmen to under- any chance, to what’s going on today?” stand the challenges of our brethren —Actor Tom Hanks, co-producer of No New F-15s or F-16s on the ground, it is paramount.”—Lt. HBO series “The Paciﬁc,” declaring “We do not think it is wise to dis- Gen. Michael C. Gould, superinten- World War II in the Paciﬁc to have sipate the limited pool of resources dent of the Air Force Academy, Fort been a war of racism and terror, Time, that we have available for [the] F-35 Worth Star-Telegram, March 29. March 11. by procuring new, lesser capable aircraft that will last as long.”—Air Vanishing Air Superiority Division of Labor Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. “One of these days, over the Taiwan “In the early 1980s, US officials Schwartz, Reuters, March 30. straits or Central Asia, we will learn were particularly worried that the that eternal air superiority is not guar- system for command and control of Army’s Own Airpower anteed to the United States as some nuclear weapons had become out- “The airpower provided by our sis- kind of codicil to Manifest Destiny. dated and began taking actions to ter services has dominated the third American air forces will inevitably improve it. One day, President Ronald dimension, but the Army is unable to suffer a whipping unlike any they’ve Reagan told one of his assistants, leverage that third dimension. [During endured in decades, and American Thomas C. Reed, that he didn’t want the past year], we’ve had two combat troops and sailors will have to learn to fly away in a helicopter if there was outposts overrun by superior forces. how to operate in conditions where a nuclear alert. ‘I want to sit here in the Those are losses that we consider we lack air superiority, something office,’ Reagan said. Referring to Vice unacceptable, because we couldn’t unheard of since 1943.”—J. R. Dunn, President George H. W. Bush, Reagan see what was going on around the American Thinker, March 4. added, ‘Getting into the helicopter is outposts.”—Timothy Muchmore, di- George’s job.’ ”—David E. Hoffman, rector of Army Quadrennial Defense Fighter Risk Foreign Policy, April 2. Review, on Army need for its own “It appears to me that the recom- remotely piloted aircraft, National mendation to retire 250 fighters from Importing Sand to Iraq Defense, April. the Air Force and the subsequent “Based on the specs that we have budget reductions were made before for blast walls, it takes a particular Crud Cruise Missiles the Secretary of Defense announced grain and quality of sand. That sand “One of my very real concerns is the he was terminating the F-22 produc- is not in Iraq, so you have to bring ability of a nation state or a non-nation- tion and before any of us learned of the sand in.”—Maj. Gen. Phillip E. state actor to gain access to a lower- the years of delay now forecast in Joint McGhee, director of resource man- tech missile that could be launched Strike Fighter fielding. So while the Air agement for US Third Army, New from somewhere off our shore. ... Our Force assumptions back in 2008 led to York Times, March 31.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 43 Wildcats Meet the Ugly Babies The New Hampshire ANG boosts its power through a new association with active duty airmen.

Photography by Ted Carlson

44 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 Wildcats Meet the Ugly Babies

An F-16 from the Vermont Air National Guard takes on fuel from a New Hampshire Guard KC-135 during a training mission in the skies over New England.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 45 otal Force integration brings ac- Ttive duty, Air National Guard, and Reserve units together to maximize efﬁciency. Last October, the New Hampshire ANG began receiving personnel through an active-associate arrangement in which active duty airmen are assigned to a Guard or Reserve base. In this case, active duty airmen of the 64th Air Refueling Squadron (McConnell AFB, Kan.) are stationed with the 133rd Air Refuel- ing Squadron at Pease International Tradeport ANGS, N.H. This linkup of the 133rd—known as the “Wild- cats”—and the 64th, known as the “Ugly Babies”—has become a closely watched experiment. |1| A Boeing KC-135R comes in for a landing at Pease. |2| One of the 157th Air Refu- eling Wing’s KC-135s delivers fuel to a KC-10 from JB McGuire, N.J. The 157th is the parent unit of the 133rd ARS. 1

|3| MSgt. Erik White (l) and SSgt. Thomas Michaud, of the 157th Secu- rity Forces Squadron, stand watch at Pease. |4| The tail of Stratotanker No. 62-3515 at Pease. The KC-135s are old, but they have been well-maintained and frequently upgraded. 4

46 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 2

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|1| SSgt. Jason Inglis observes from ARW is readied for its next mission. rangements because highly experi- the ground as other airmen prepare to The integration plan will increase enced Air Guardsmen tend to make work on the vertical stabilizer of one use of the eight tankers shared by good mentors for younger active duty of the Wildcats’ KC-135s. |2| View from the157th ARW and the 64th ARS, by airmen. the cockpit of a Vermont Air Guard bolstering the traditional Air Guard F-16 as it approaches the boom in a stafﬁng with full-time active duty air- mission over New Hampshire. |3| View men. |5| TSgt. Paul Burke directs a of the ﬂight line and parking ramp KC-135 at Pease. Guard bases are at Pease. |4| A KC-135 of the 157th attractive homes for Total Force ar- AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 47 |1| TSgt. Christie Rouleau flies the boom toward an approaching KC-10 during a refueling mission. |2| Maj. Scott Sigfried of the Ver- mont Guard’s 158th Fighter Wing brings his F-16 in for fuel over New England. |3| View of a KC-135’s boom. |4| The KC-135R has been upgraded many times, such as with the modern engines visible here. A pair of the Vermont F-16s trail the Stratotanker. |5| TSgt. Mark Brophy, boom operator, works at the navigator’s station aboard a KC-135R.

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|1| SSgt. Edward Chaison (l) and David Pinard, and A1C Joseph enlisted Guardsmen and active duty TSgt. John Sequin secure a KC-135 Yahnia (with binoculars) manage the pilots. after a mission. |2| The business end airspace. |5| The crew returns after a of a Stratotanker. |3| MSgt. Michael successful day spent delivering fuel. Viera inspects a KC-135 engine From left are Rouleau, MSgt. Mike in preparation for another refuel- Dunlap, Capt. Ryan Jones, Capt. ing mission. |4| In the tower, A1C Wiley Semrau, and Capt. Toby Pel- Andrew Parla (foreground), MSgt. lenz. This blended crew consisted of

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 49 |1| A C-17 from Dover AFB, Del., refuels over New Hampshire. |2| In the hangar at Pease, SSgt. Owen Murray inspects the outboard spoiler assembly. |3| The KC-135 boom operator’s view of a JB McGuire KC-10 crew in ﬂight. |4| Once all the additional crew- men have arrived to ﬂy and maintain Pease’s KC-135s, such as this one, there will be approximately 130 active duty airmen participating in the base’s Total Force initiative. |5| Jones (l) and Pellenz, active duty pilots, in the cockpit of a Guard tanker. The venerable KC-135s have received upgraded cockpit displays, auxiliary power units, navigation systems, and other enhancements to keep them viable.

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50 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 1

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|1| The increased manning of the To- tal Force integration arrangement ensures the Air Force will get the most out of its ancient KC-135s, which will not ride off into the sunset any time soon. |2| A KC-135R comes in for a landing. |3| Airspace controllers SrA. Ray Miller (rear), A1C Jacob Richards (center), and A1C Elizabeth Gray monitor the radars on base. |4| ANG tankers were not being flown as frequently, so adding active duty personnel at Pease and other active-associate locations allows the Air Force to increase its utilization rates. The Guard averages about 350 hours on each KC-135 airframe per year, while the active duty ute rate is closer to 800 hours. The tankers may date to the Kennedy Administration, but the hard work and professional- 4 ism of their crews will ensure their value for years to come. I AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 51 USAF photo by SSgt. Clay Lancaster Clay SSgt. USAF photo by

Air Force special operators are in heavy demand, but there can be no letup in force transformation.

Airmen with USAF’s special tactics training squadron prepare for a high- altitude, low-opening mission during a joint training exercise.

observed. “We have not invested a lot of The SOF money in the air. ... We are starting to.” Capt. Brian Chesko, a navigator who has accumulated about 1,400 flight hours, says the next 18 months will be important for all Spooky crews. Chesko says he has averaged two to Makeover three deployments a year, but notes that AC-130 gunners are deployed even By Marc V. Schanz, Associate Editor more often than that. Even as Chesko spoke, a contract air- ot long ago, several AC- USAF’s special operations forces liner waiting nearby prepared to transport 130U gunships were idling contribution is of enormous importance a new batch of Air Force SOF troops back on the ramp at Hurlburt Field, to the war effort. The Air Force is de- to Southwest Asia. Some had completed Fla., the home of Air Force veloping irregular warfare capabilities critical training tasks days earlier. NSpecial Operations Command headquar- by investing in specialized airlift, newer Since September 2001, the size and ters. This was as a notable event; gunships close air support assets, counterinsur- scope of the SOF contingent has un- are rarely seen there in groups anymore. gency training, and more aircraft suited dergone a transformation. The wars The Spookys haven’t changed bases. for continuous intelligence-surveil- have pulled in the command’s men and Rather, these deadly, cannon-firing air- lance-reconnaissance flights over the aircraft, ranging from the AC-130 for craft have become some of the busiest in discontinuous battlespace. close support to MC-130s for specialized the Air Force, deploying to many parts The Pentagon’s Fiscal 2011 budget tanker support and the CV-22 Ospreys of the world. They are most prominent, proposal allocates $6.7 billion over the for fast and flexible mobility. This leaves however, in the wars of Iraq and Afghani- next five years for recapitalization and precious little time for home-station stan, where they are in constant demand growth of Air Force special operations training or recovery. and perpetually in motion. They almost forces. A large chunk will go to recapi- “We have a wide diversity of operations never come home. talize the command’s air assets. Special right now,” said Col. Ray Chapman, the The Spooky gunship fleet could be operations forces have experienced command’s deputy director of operations said to represent Air Force Special Op- major growth since the 9/11 attacks, but and vice commander of 23rd Air Force. erations Command. It is heavily tasked the air component has lagged. Though operating tempo remains high, for today’s conflicts. Yet it is also trying “People think we’ve invested a lot he went on, AFSOC seeks a balance to manage an expanding mission set, of money in special operations, and between meeting immediate combat growing inventory, and much needed so we have fixed it,” Lt. Gen. Donald demands and taking care of airmen weapon modernization. C. Wurster, AFSOC commander, once longer term. 52 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 There is a lot of balancing going on ships with modern J models. The new The big challenge for the future will now, between growth in both require- gunships will be bought between Fiscal be training new aircrews. The pool of ments and on forces in the field and the 2011 and Fiscal 2015. experienced helicopter crew members is future demands anticipated, Chapman In all, the command will acquire 16 drying up. The last MH-53 was retired said. “We’re getting these weapons new J gunships—based on the MC-130J in 2008 and the Air Force’s HH-60 and systems and turning them as fast as airframe and fitted with a strike package. UH-1 communities can’t give up too [we] can.” This will increase the size of the fleet to many more bodies to help cover deficien- Gunship crews may be fine deploying 33 aircraft, a net growth of eight after cies, Glover said. two to three times a year for five years, accounting for the retirement of eight For its airlift, Air Force Special Op- but there comes a point where that level Spectres. erations Command seeks 37 MC-130Js of activity and time away from home to replace 10 Vietnam-era MC-130Es begins to cause damage. The squadron A Growth Field and 23 MC-130Ps. The new specialized looks for opportunities to put heavily Having outgrown its Florida Panhandle tankers are enablers, said Col. Bill Lane, used airmen in wing or operations group home, Air Force Special Operations the command’s deputy director of plans positions so they can spend some time Command is now shifting many CONUS and programs. at a lower tempo before coming back to assets to Cannon AFB, N.M., where the Elsewhere in the SOF community, their primary specialties at a later date. 27th Special Operations Wing stood up Army and Navy components have expe- “I would not say it’s an easy ops in October 2007. rienced 25 percent growth since 2006, tempo,” even for the airmen that AFSOC The command will get all 50 of its reported Lane. This means the Air Force manages to protect somewhat, said Lt. Ospreys by 2015. For the time being, SOF establishment is attempting to catch Col. Brenda Cartier, commander of the operators are doing their best to balance up in critical areas: mobility, armed 4th Special Operations Squadron. “It’s training demands back home with combat overwatch, ISR, and so forth. There are a sustainable ops tempo. Sustainable needs with a small fleet. gaps, both short and long term, that Air means we can continue to meet the The Osprey offers SOF teams twice Force Special Operations Command is requirements.” the speed of traditional rotorcraft, said attempting to fill. The squadron possesses 17 AC-130Us. Lt. Col. Matt Glover, operations offi- US Special Operations Command On any given day, only about five are cer for the 8th SOS at Hurlburt. This has repeatedly pressed for light mobil- available for operations. Most of the U allows teams to move twice as far in ity and strike capability to support its models are receiving new center wing a single period of darkness—or get small teams of operators at war around boxes, and others are beginning their somewhere in half the time—a huge the world. A smaller gunship variant, programmed depot maintenance cycle combat benefit. known as the Stinger II, based on the earlier than anticipated. Fleet manage- The 8th SOS saw its first CV-22 com- C-27J, was proposed but later canceled. ment is a “day-to-day” task, said Cartier. bat deployment to Iraq last year, where As recently as last year, AFSOC had no This makes it even harder to balance a great deal of information was gleaned recapitalization plans for gunships. training and operations. about the tilt-rotor in combat conditions. However, the command hopes to fill “We’ve worked hard to replace old While downwash from the powerful twin a portion of the gunship gap by the end aircraft that have flown at up to three rotors remains a “significant issue” and of this year. It will do so by modifying times their planned utilization rates,” some small fixes had to be made, the existing aircraft. MC-130W Combat Chapman said. “In five years, we’re going aircraft have proved overwhelmingly Spear aircraft are being equipped to look completely different.” effective, Glover said. and tested with the precision strike Plans call for Air Force Special On April 9, disaster struck the CV-22s. package, an upgrade to the modified Operations Command to request $1.6 One of the Ospreys crashed in southern C-130, which will give the aircraft billion to begin replacing the fleet’s Afghanistan, killing four. An accident armed overwatch tools to assist SOF Vietnam-era AC-130H Spectre gun- board is investigating the cause. teams in combat. In March, Adm. Eric T. Olson, commander of the multiservice US Special Operations Command, said the Air Force is fielding four aircraft fitted with the package. Dubbed “Dragon Spears,” the former tankers of the 73rd SOS at Photo by Sgt. Kieran Cuddihy Kieran Sgt. Photo by Cannon, will receive sensor upgrades, a standoff precision guided munitions system, a 30 mm gun, and new sensor and communications gear. The retrofitted tankers are a temporary fix for AFSOC’s stressed gunship fleet in the near term, and are making up for the cancellation of the “light gunship” concept. Chapman said the MC-130 can perform cargo and security assistance missions in addition to pop-up strikes. The aircraft “makes its money” by providing per- A CV-22 Osprey takes off during a joint training mission near Bamako, Mali. sistence over the battlespace, he added. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 53 ing, protocol, exercises, and other tasks, it can take two years to develop a fully qualified CAA. Advisors work under some of the most autonomous conditions possible and must be almost completely self-sufficient—separate from what Mi- USAF photo by A1C Jams Bell A1C Jams USAF photo by chalek called the “Fortress America” operations of general-purpose forces in Iraq or Afghanistan. If the mission calls for “living in a grass hut in the Sahara and sleeping on a mat, ... that’s what we do to make the mission effective,” Michalek said. The hard part is taking functional experts and turning them into adaptable, flexible advisors. MSgt. Ace Jones, a veteran of multiple advisory deployments with the Philippine An AC-130H Spectre gunship taxis onto the flight line at Hurlburt Field, Fla. armed forces, said much of his team’s work is building durable relationships Battlefield awareness capabilities In total, the NSAV program will de- and helping allies integrate their own have received close scrutiny recently. liver 20 Pilatus aircraft, 10 M-28s, and militaries. The command now boasts its own 17 medium aircraft by 2012. Chapman Advising is not just about irregular MQ-9 Reaper squadron in the 33rd SOS noted the requirement came from the warfare and finding bad guys, Jones (activated May 29, 2009 at Cannon) field—small operations detachments noted. CAA work protects allied govern- plus the 3rd SOS Predator squadron were often using contract airplanes to get ments by allowing them to project power, and Reserve associate unit, the 2nd to and from isolated and remote locations. authority, and aid. “If they can’t project SOS. Chapman noted AFSOC is also [to meet] their country’s civil needs, ... aggressively expanding its use and A Grass Hut in the Sahara that shows a lack of governance,” he said. proficiency with small unmanned aerial “These are very sensitive missions A great deal of the 6th SOS’ work vehicles, such as the Raven, often which require a low profile and not involves developing mobility assets in utilized by security forces and special [the] large footprint that a C-130 or areas of Asia and Africa with vast spaces tactics airmen. C-17 would necessitate,” he said. The and little infrastructure. When disaster AFSOC is planning to add a small- NSAV field has grown quickly through strikes, air assets can swing into action. UAV schoolhouse to the Air Force streamlined acquisition processes and The 6th SOS is authorized to roughly Special Operations Training Center at the relative simplicity of the aircraft. triple in size, but this takes time. “We Hurlburt later this year, preparing air The aircraft are needed not only in are still growing to meet our authori- commandos to use the small UAVs for Southwest Asia, but across Africa, zations,” Michalek said. Airmen who route reconnaissance, relief operations, the Pacific, South America, and other began training in 2007 didn’t make it to and in tactical engagements with other combatant commands. the operational level until 2009 because SOF troops. The “small footprint” approach is “they have to meet our standards.” Beyond the gunships and heavy lift, critical to another expanding piece of In the years ahead, Michalek hopes one of Air Force Special Operations AFSOC’s program—aviation foreign to bring back experienced airmen who Command’s largest growth areas is in internal defense, performed exclusively were in the unit earlier in their career. “nonstandard aviation”—or NSAV in by the 6th SOS. They could provide institutional knowl- Hurlburt parlance. The 6th SOS’ combat aviation advisors edge and help train a new generation of Hurlburt’s 319th SOS, which flies the work with allied militaries across the advisors. U-28A, a variant of the single-engine world to develop their aviation assets into “We like to say we are a tactical unit Pilatus PC-12, is a pioneer in the field. effective partners. Advisors are proficient on a strategic stage. Everything we do Air Force Special Operations Command in a range of languages and aircraft, has a strategic implication, and if we do is tight-lipped, as are the U-28A’s small from UH-1 Hueys to Mi-17 helicopters something bad, we may never be invited crews, about the aircraft. Its ability common in former Soviet-bloc nations, back to that country again,” he added. to operate on short and unimproved to the BT-67, a retrofitted version of the Getting the right people with the right surfaces, and suite of advanced radar, venerable DC-3 twin-engine prop trans- temperament is critical to the unit’s communications, and navigation tools port still used by many small militaries continued success. make the U-28 ideal for small, secretive across the world. At the same time, the command is missions. Lt. Col. Joseph Michalek, commander modernizing its training and education In 2008, a second nonstandard aviation of the 6th SOS, said, “For us, the weapon regimes to better support operators. unit stood up—the 318th SOS at Cannon. system is the advisor.” The advisors come To accomplish this, the command con- It is home to the PC-12 and will soon add from all across the force and include solidated training and education under additional light and medium twin-engine security forces, mechanics, and intel- the Air Force Special Operations Train- aircraft. By Feb. 10, the squadron had ligence personnel but are trained to be ing Center at Hurlburt. The center was one of 10 planned M-28 Skytrucks—a interchangeable. activated in October 2008 at the direction Polish light twin-engine transport based Between a four-phase training program of AFSOC commander Wurster, to take on the Antonov An-28 design. encompassing advanced SOF skills, fly- training out of operational squadrons to 54 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 give it a permanent home under a single organization. “The problem” said Col. Mark B. Alsid, AFSOTC’s commander, was that oddly enough, “the old institution didn’t institutionalize training.” Buckling under the post-9/11 operations tempo, the old training arrangement was unsustainable, AFSOTC officials say. DOD photo by SSgt. Billie J. Nelson Jr., US Army Nelson Jr., Billie J. SSgt. DOD photo by For example, the 19th SOS—Hurl- burt’s flight training squadron—was formerly under the auspices of the 1st Special Operations Wing. Rather than focus on deploying its operators downrange, the squadron frequently juggled training obligations with combat requirements of the 1st SOW. This meant having to spend valuable resources and manpower training up A gunner aboard an AC-130 Gunship loads rounds into a Bofors cannon during a and qualifying personnel—rather than mission supporting ground troops in Afghanistan. focusing on deploying its operators into combat, Alsid noted. Training activity takes up a large—and duration and low profile but high impact. Still under way, the massive reor- growing—chunk of resources for the This is markedly different from the long ganization is drawing all of Air Force expanding command. duration theater campaigns in Iraq and Special Operations Command’s training, Just prior to 9/11, the flight training Afghanistan. recruitment, assessment, and indoctrina- squadron graduated a little under a thou- Air Force Special Operations Com- tion activities under a single roof—from sand students a year, said Lt. Col. Dag mand’s core skill sets are geared toward combat aviation advisors to battlefield Anderson, commander of the 19th SOS. time-sensitive operations ranging from airmen pilots and support and adminis- In 2009, the number was just under 4,000 earthquake relief in Haiti (where combat trative personnel. as the squadron has taken on the addition controllers helped jumpstart airfield Col. William D. Andersen, com- of more ambitious and effective flight operations earlier this year) to any mander of the center’s Air Force Special simulators as well as keeping up with number of critical anti-terror operations. Operations School is responsible for demands for newer light aircraft crews “Sustained operations are someone else’s conducting introductory training for air and combat aviation advisors. bag,” Chapman noted. “We get in, we set commandos and combat aviation advi- things off, and we get out.” sors. US Special Operations Command The Indirect Approach The limited public evidence supports receives less than two percent of the In 2009, the squadron established a Chapman’s observation. Over the past Pentagon’s budget, he points out, but new training pipeline for AFSOC’s PC-12 several years, military statements and almost all of its assets are low density, and U-28 light aircraft while divesting the open sources have documented limited high demand. With the growth in opera- AC-130H training mission, which was SOF strikes in places such as Pakistan’s tional requirements, AFSOC’s support passed to Cannon’s 551st SOS. Anderson frontier regions, Yemen, and East Africa. and training infrastructure needed to noted that around 70 percent of the 19th Targeted operations, military assistance, be changed to reflect reality and help SOS trainees are out of undergraduate and advisory work with allies are ex- sustain combat forces better, he said. pilot or navigator training, or another pected to continue to grow in importance. Lt. Col. Steven Spanovich, a veteran initial training pipeline. “The indirect approach is going to combat controller and commander of Instructor pilots are at a premium. be huge in the years ahead,” Chapman the center’s Special Tactics Training Young AC-130 gunner students, for said. “We make our money by operating Squadron, heads up advanced training example, must be able to place 40 mm as a coalition, in partnerships. ... If we for in-demand battlefield airmen. Se- shells “danger close” in engagements build up these relationships, you become curity forces, pararescuemen, combat within weeks of graduating from Ander- a better coalition” and a better force. controllers, combat weathermen, and son’s course. “We’re not trying to haze The 4th SOS’ Cartier said it is a pri- others must go through Spanovich’s people,” he quipped about the course’s ority to make sure her gunship crews squadron after their initial training difficulty. “We just haven’t relaxed our are keeping skills up to perform both for the advanced skills needed in op- standards.” conventional warfare and other types erational units. Cartier said her 330 or so airmen of missions. Arriving at the STTS as “three levels,” are younger than in previous years but “We don’t know where we’ll be they leave as “five levels” after a battery maintain the high standard expected. in six or seven years,” she said, so of specialized skills training, courses, “We’re getting brand-new folks out of what might be needed next is never and conditioning, depending on what tech school,” she said. “But their talent far from her mind. “We have to train color beret they wear. “When we get is second to none. They are the reason to fight in Afghanistan, but we have them, they’ve graduated high school,” we are successful.” to look to train for the other fight, the Spanovich explains. “Here, they’re in Several command officials pointed undefined fight. ... We have to always college.” out the nature of SOF is one of limited keep it in mind.” I AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 55 Penny Packets, Then and Now By Rebecca Grant

Breaking up airpower into smaller, ground-controlled units was a bad idea in World War II. It hasn’t gotten better with age. USAF photo by SSgt. Aaron Allmon SSgt. USAF photo by n World War II, Field Marshal Ber- recurring calls to allow ground units of A-10 Thunderbolts fly in a two-ship nard L. Montgomery and other British brigade size, or even smaller, to “own” formation over Afghanistan. commanders derisively used the term Air Force aircraft, assign targets, and tend “penny packets”—that is, “small to their airspace deconfliction. ary Force in France kept aircraft under Iunits”—to describe the improper divid- Today, airpower’s penny packet prob- high-level control at the field-army level, ing up and parceling out of airpower to lem has re-emerged, with new twists. The which aggregated several corps. ground forces. They turned the phrase issue is not just about who has opera- “Air units were parceled out to divi- into common currency among American tional control of fighters and bombers. sional and subordinate headquarters only airmen, too. The penny packets of the 21st century for specific operations,” noted historian The concept was explained best by center just as much on intelligence-sur- John Schlight. The Army’s ground-orient- Air Marshal Arthur Coningham. “The veillance-reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft. ed leaders and staff would later push to strength of airpower,” he contended, “lies For example, the Army plans for its abandon this system of centralized control in its flexibility and capacity for rapid Sky Warrior unmanned aerial vehicle, a and decentralized execution, while the concentration; it follows that control derivative of USAF’s Predator, to be a Air Service, Air Corps, Army Air Forces, must be centralized in an air commander medium-altitude aircraft wholly owned and independent Air Force would fight and command exercised through Air by individual Army units. to maintain the concept. Force channels; and air forces must be In those very early days, ISR would be concentrated in use and not dispersed in Early ISR done by observation aircraft assigned to penny packets.” War experience says this is a bad idea. perform corps-level tasks, such as artil- Penny packets, warned Montgomery, New Army policy and doctrine says lery spotting. are the poorest use of airpower. “Worse otherwise. When US Col. William Mitchell com- than useless,” said Air Chief Marshal The debate is international as well. In manded the Allied air component at St. Arthur W. Tedder. Generations of airmen February 2010, Air Chief Marshal Stephen Mihiel in 1918, he rounded up American have heeded lessons from World War II, Dalton, who heads the RAF, warned that aircraft using First Army’s authority and which established basic doctrine for uni- the airpower advantage “must not be borrowed French units to compose his fied control of airpower in a theater of war. squandered by nonexperts who do not pursuit and striking force. The observa- No one disputes that the needs of land really understand the third dimension, tion aircraft were dedicated to corps tasks forces, especially those under attack, or relative time and space advantage that for the big offensive, and went back to should often be the top priority mission. mastery of the air can deliver.” central ownership after it was completed. The trouble comes when individual During World War I, centralized control The 1930s saw a break between the ground units want their own penny pack- of the air was a given. US Army Gen. Army’s “air service” units—providing ets of airpower. Over the years, there are John J. Pershing’s American Expedition- observation and general support—and its 56 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 “air forces,” the pursuit and bomber arms. forces had not yet learned these lessons, “almost crazy, with two air forces but no Debates flared on how best to command and serious problems erupted shortly after effective command.” and control aircraft performing a ground the US Army landings in North Africa According to then-AAF Brig. Gen. El- attack role on the front with friendly in late 1942. wood R. Quesada, who was serving in the troops engaged. Limitations on radio US coastal command, it was Coningham communications and a lack of procedures A Crucial Difference who helped the Americans overcome their and training all created obstacles. At that time, observation and transport outdated concepts. Coningham identified In World War II, the first to encounter aircraft were organic to Army ground the crucial difference in outlook between the air control problem was the collection units. Airmen installed at forward Army a tactical formation dealing with targets of British commanders fighting in the headquarters arranged close air support in its immediate battlespace and that of North Africa campaign. (Hence the term operations. Just as their British counter- a higher echelon which is aware of the penny packets—an Anglicized reference parts had done early in the campaign, location of more important and more to small packages of candy or cigarettes.) the US Army’s inexperienced ground dangerous targets. They worked through the worst of their commanders wanted visible air patrols “It often happens,” said Coningham, problems while battling Lt. Gen. Erwin over ground forces. With the Luftwaffe “that an Army formation at the front sees a J. Rommel’s Afrika Korps in the desert contesting the air, the piecemeal parceling good target which, though reported, is not in 1941. RAF commanders such as Coningham, who led the Western Desert Air Force, used fighters to keep the Luftwaffe at bay while attacking Rommel’s tanks and columns roaming North Africa. Also, Coningham used airpower to provide close air support to British troops in contact with enemy forces. Centralization of airpower forces was critical in North Africa. In 1941, Prime Minister Winston S. Churchill left no doubt of his own view. “The idea of keeping standing patrols of aircraft over our moving columns should be USAF photo by SSgt. Aaron Allmon SSgt. USAF photo by abandoned,” he said, because it was militarily “unsound to distribute aircraft

attacked.” For example, a ground formation at the front reports a concentration of 200 motor transports and accompanying arms, but its request for an air attack is turned down. Why? The reason, Coningham went on, might be that, only 20 miles away, there is a huge concentration of 2,000 vehicles, indicating an armor force of division size or even larger. This concentration, planners know from experience, will probably affect the battlespace in perhaps as little as 10 hours. It is this concentration that will receive the weight of an air attack—not the com- paratively small target on the front. The ground unit at the front, however, often is unaware of the larger formation, and cannot see the big picture. All it knows is that it requested an air strike and was Top right: German tanks wind their way through North Africa during World War II. Above: British Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery surveys his ground troops. turned down. The Casablanca Conference of January in this way.” Churchill cautioned against out of airpower meant aircraft could not 1943 put an end to debate over penny diverting RAF fighters needed to hold always concentrate for maximum effect. packets by acknowledging that the mis- air superiority against the Luftwaffe. It was a mess: The failure to concentrate sions of air superiority and deep interdic- Soon enough, the British Army and airpower and attack deep targets often tion of enemy forces and supplies were the RAF took battlefield integration to led to disaster. The RAF’s Tedder later top priorities. Subsequent campaigns in an exceptionally high level. American called the Americans’ air arrangements Sicily and Normandy brought application AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 57 of airpower to a high art and provided air needs taken as a whole. Nothing could the current battlespace and World War superiority, deep interdiction of mov- have been clearer. II North Africa emerges from air su- ing German columns, and increasingly However, the wisdom gained in the periority, which was quickly achieved responsive close air support. bloody war did not stick for long. Integra- in Afghanistan and Iraq. Coalition Superficially, World War II’s penny tion atrophied as the highly skilled joint forces have become accustomed to air packet disputes were about whether the commands broke up. The World War superiority, allowing new penny packet land component leaders acknowledged II doctrine forged in North Africa did debates to rise up around two main is- the value and effect of centralizing air not permanently eliminate the divided sues—providing close support and ISR resources. The underlying problem was perspective. to coalition ground forces. the contrast between the narrow (but Until recently, American ground units urgent) tactical view of a small ground ISR Demand turned for indirect fire support mainly to unit and the wider leadership view of the When new conflicts came, the clash their own artillery. The two recent wars battlespace. Only senior commanders had of tactical and theater perspectives re- in the Greater Middle East have seen this the “big map” perspective of multiple emerged, and the tactical view was too function performed mostly by aircraft. ground units and areas beyond the front. strong for many commanders to resist. This is in part the result of advances in Beyond this, only airmen had a thor- The penny packet problem came back the technology of precision attack. By ough knowledge of what aircraft were again as Korea and Vietnam forced rework 2001, the air component boasted ef- available for theater tasks and land com- of air control arrangements—with new fective advanced technologies such as ponent support at any one time. technologies such as armed helicopters the satellite guided joint direct attack World War II commanders finally churning up new air control issues. munition (JDAM), which allows aircraft agreed air superiority was top priority Probably the most important devel- to efficiently strike ground targets with and wrote operational orders and doc- opment in eliminating penny packet great accuracy. trine giving senior airmen the resources problems was the eventual creation of Changing concepts of operation also and authority to manage air assets. the joint force air component commander altered the debate. Dispersed ground op- Those in lower ranks would inevitably (or, in multinational operations, the com- erations on Iraq’s roads or in Afghanistan’s complain when the airplanes didn’t bined force air component commander). mountains obliterated the concept of front hit “their” target. The press of combat The presence of a JFACC or CFACC as lines. In these kinds of discontinuous bat- meant that, most likely, no one would co-equal to the land and maritime com- tlespaces, ISR, fire support, and combat tell them why. manders allowed airmen to nip in the support logistics increasingly have come By early 1943, the British Army had bud any notion of dedicating aircraft to to depend on the air component. drawn the requisite conclusions and had ground force units. The first change was the demand for ended debate on the issue. “The Air Force From 1991 through 2003, land cam- more ISR, which inevitably raised calls ... must be centralized and kept under Air paigns were short, sharp, and successful. for penny packet control of individual air Force command,” declared Montgomery. CFACCs provided lavish aircraft for assets. Later came calls for more-direct “I hold that it is quite wrong for the sol- on-call close air support and used their tactical control of aircraft allocated for dier to want to exercise command over quickly won dominance of the air to strike strike. However, the nascent penny packet the air striking forces. The handling of deep targets at will. It seemed once again problem for strike aircraft was cured by a an Air Force is a life study, and therefore that penny packet problems were a thing deliberate effort to improve air and ground the air part must be kept under Air Force of the past. cooperation. command.” Then along came the lengthy and As in North Africa decades earlier, the Such remarks reflected an under- draining stability and counterinsurgency solution took time and the commitment standing by the senior commanders that operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. of both air and ground leaders. Army airmen needed centralized control to As more ground forces deployed, the commanders such as Maj. Gen. Curtis carry out their tasks, and this was also question of penny packets came roar- M. Scaparrotti, commander of NATO’s the best way to respond to ground force ing back. The big difference between Regional Command East in Afghani- stan, have praised the quick response of airpower in Afghanistan and the strong working relationship. Scaparrotti said he and USAF Brig. Gen. Steven L. Kwast, commander of the expeditionary wing at Bagram Airfield, begin every day with a “combined update with our close staff on what we’re going to do that day.” He added, “The way we operate could only be done with airpower.” US Army photo by Spc. Gregory J. Argentieri Gregory J. Spc. US Army photo by Once, a visiting Vietnam veteran warned Scaparrotti that he was taking great risk with his dispersed forces. In Vietnam, he said, platoons were within a short march of each other and always under cover of their own artillery. Scaparrotti replied he was comfortable Army soldiers tend to a Shadow unmanned aerial vehicle at Forward Operating with his maneuver plan because he had Base Fenty, Jalalabad Air Field, Afghanistan. airpower “no more than 11 minutes from 58 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 Beyond this, the Army’s aviation roadmap calls for a big shift to fleets of unmanned air vehicles for tasks like cargo resupply, too. “We’re integrating [UAVs] into all our formations downrange,” confirmed Army Vice Chief of

USAF photo by SrA. Nancy Hooks SrA. USAF photo by Staff Gen. Peter W. Chiarelli in an April speech at an Army aviation symposium. The Army doctrinal outlook sees no problem with a penny packet approach to organic ISR. In this respect, the thinking behind Sky Warrior, the Army’s Predator variant, speaks volumes. Sky Warrior production will ramp up to 24 aircraft per year. The Army will attach each of these to its units, where they will work An MC-12 Liberty Project Aircraft assigned to the 361st Expeditionary Reconnais- with other Army aircraft and helicopters sance Squadron taxis at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan. to allow Army operators to see and strike in the airspace. a dead stop over top of those troopers this. In the late 1990s, the Army began a Col. Gregory Gonzalez, the Army’s who are out there in harm’s way.” major shift to more reliance on close air project manager for unmanned air sys- The question of whether ISR assets support and less emphasis on supporting tems, told a UAV conference earlier this should be assigned directly to ground artillery. This process was bound to lead year, “The bottom line is the Army is not forces proved a tougher issue for airmen. to new questions about air control and rethinking its [decision] to assign these The Army has moved ahead with plans support priorities. Iraq and Afghanistan aircraft to specific units. We’re going for its own ISR air fleet based on recent operations only accelerated the debate. to have a direct-support relationship. combat lessons and new concepts. Early We’re not considering pooling all of RQ-1 Predator video changed overnight Slicing and Dicing Action our resources and running them from the conditions of maneuver by allowing Future Army doctrine, articulated in some location back in the United States.” the command post to see the battle in real the Army Capstone Concept of Decem- This may seem all well and good, time—although early Predator sensors ber 2009, calls for an Army based on but one showstopper looms over the and operating altitudes limited the view operational adaptability. It says that the debate—the issue of airspace control. to a so-called “soda straw” perspective. Army’s outlook assumes a requirement The Air Force has mastered the process The images were compelling and use- for organic Army information generation. of airspace allocation. A lesson from ful, however, and soon came to feel like a The Army now states that fighting Afghanistan was to avoid complicating prerequisite for maneuvering into an area for information will be the first task in the battlespace with superfluous restricted of potential danger. Much of the mission the battlespace of the future. However, operating zones. An ROZ is designed to revolved around the hunt for terrorist much of this opening battle will depend protect airspace over a special operations leaders and attacks on sensitive targets. on air assets. “Fighting for information forces patrol or engaged Army unit, but Detailed visuals and monitoring of enemy will require combined arms capabilities, an ROZ in the wrong place can block communications are essential to actionable access to joint capabilities, specialized the air component from sending fighters intelligence on high value targets. training, and the employment of ap- or UAVs to help out. It can also confuse The result was a tug against the doc- propriate combinations of manned and routing across a battlespace—a modern trine of unified control. As the demand unmanned air and ground systems,” the example of inefficiency of penny packet for airpower intensified, the impulse of document reads. A steady stream of allocations. land forces was to call for direct control ISR is crucial for the Army to ensure Twenty-first century warfare will be of aircraft by lower and lower tactical operational adaptability in a decentral- more dependent than ever on airpower. echelons. Benign airspace conditions cre- ized battle space, it claims. As such, airmen are holding fast to the ated just what Churchill had vigorously Proficient, dispersed small units are strong arguments against a modern-day denounced—a demand for ISR aircraft key to its future fighting style, the Army return to the slicing and dicing actions to act as airborne standing patrols. insists. Vertical lift and maneuver remain of yore. Partly because of this incessant drum- part of the picture. “At increasingly This is evident to airmen everywhere. beat for more ISR support, Predator lower echelons, Army leaders must be Command and control must be retained combat air patrols rose from a handful able to integrate the actions, activities, at the highest possible level to ensure in 2001 to 34 in early 2009, and are on and capabilities of joint assets into op- optimum tasking, warned Air Chief their way to a planned 65 orbits by 2013. erational campaigns,” the service notes Marshal Allan G. Houston, Australia’s Debate stuck on control of the plat- in its Capstone concept. In short, Army Chief of the Defense Force. He added, form. All signs indicate that, as a result doctrine is opening the door for new “It is imperative that we do not penny of Iraq and Afghanistan, Army leaders penny packet problems. packet these assets.” I will take home an intense new passion for organic air assets. This is especially Rebecca Grant is president of IRIS Independent Research. She has written ex- true for ISR aircraft. tensively on airpower and serves as director, Mitchell Institute, for AFA. Her most Army doctrine and operational con- recent article for Air Force Magazine was “Battling the Phantom Menace,” which cepts are laying a deep foundation for appeared in the April issue. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 59 The Question

In the quandaries of World of What War II, one ﬁnds the origins of Operations Research. to Target By Phillip S. Meilinger

re-World War II air doctrine, How do you, for example, disrupt of making them more efficient and both in the US and Britain, a rail transportation system, or what effective. Pcalled for employing a strate- size and type of bombs are most suit- The concept of OR was first tested gic major bombing campaign against able for putting an oil refinery out of in World War I when British scientists an enemy’s industrial centers. It was commission? What is the ideal bomber were called in by the Admiralty to a “faith-based” theory, unsupported formation to maximize accuracy while help devise a solution to the German by hard evidence. Because strategic also minimizing exposure to enemy submarine menace. After the war, bombing had been seldom conducted defenses? however, this discipline was largely before 1939, things did not work These types of questions had never forgotten. The scientists returned to out as planned. For airmen, their really been asked before, for the simple their private and academic pursuits, weapon’s newness meant surprises reason that the air weapon did not ex- and military officers were busy with were frequent. ist to strike such targets. To address other matters. How did air commanders cope? these unique questions required a new World War II quickly identified the First, they realized that some of the discipline, Operations Research. Es- need for such methods once again. most basic questions regarding tactics, sentially, OR was the use of scientific The Royal Air Force began attaching procedures, and cause and effect still and mathematical methods to study scientists and other specialists to its begged answers. military operations with the intent principal operational commands in 1940, 60 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 and by the autumn of 1941, they had target as did US bombers. Rather, they Operations analysts on the American been organized into OR sections, each proceeded individually to the target side borrowed heavily from their Brit- responsible to the unit’s commander. area in a long trail, usually stretch- ish counterparts. In September 1942, The leading members of these sections ing over a hundred miles. Operations Maj. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, who became were scientists and engineers, while the Research showed that, contrary to the commander of Eighth Air Force, set up rest of the staff consisted of personnel belief of the aircrews, concentration an OR section for studying bombing trained to “think numerically.” of the bomber stream over the target accuracy and loss rates. The problems studied by the OR should be increased. About the same time, Gen. Henry H. sections were largely tactical or techni- The scientists calculated that the “Hap” Arnold, commander of the Army cal—such as the most effective use of odds of a midair collision were ex- Air Forces, established in Washington aerial photography, camouflage, aerial tremely small, not more than one per the Committee of Operations Analysts mines, searchlights, radio, radar, etc. hour, and the odds of being struck by (COA) composed of mathematicians, Perhaps more importantly, they also the bombs of an aircraft above were lawyers, physicists, engineers, and began studying the effectiveness of negligible. Presumably, this estimate even one architect. strategic bombing. Speciﬁcally, Op- allayed the fears of the aircrews, and The types of problems examined erations Research attempted to answer so the concentration of aircraft in the by the committee and its detachment the question of what happened to RAF bomber stream was gradually increased at Eighth Air Force were similar to bombers over Germany, and then to from under 10 aircraft per minute to those studied by the OR sections at suggest methods to improve accuracy 30 per minute over the target area. Bomber Command. Their first task and effectiveness while also lowering was to determine the accuracy of the the risk to aircrews. Determine the Accuracy American bombers and then suggest In 1941, RAF’s Bomber Command Similarly, OR determined that evasive ways to improve it. had a difficult time even locating cit- action over the target itself was “mean- Using cameras that automatically ies at night; bombing difficulties led ingless.” Although rapid heading and took photos during bomb runs, they to radar and radio aids such as Gee, altitude changes may have made aircrews found that, not surprisingly, the better Oboe, and H2S. Operations Research feel better, they did nothing to lower their the weather, the better the accuracy. The would test, evaluate, and refine these chances of being hit. Worse, maneuvers Electronic bombing aids were there- navigation and targeting technologies. increased the odds of a collision while fore essential because the weather These aids became increasingly decreasing accuracy. over Germany was usually miserable. effective: In early 1942, less than If the resultant accuracy was so poor Regardless of the radio or radar aids 25 percent of bombs landed within as to require a restrike, then the risk employed, bombing through weather Question three miles of the target. By the end to aircrews actually increased through never matched visual bombing for ac- of the war, that number had climbed “evasive action.” In short, crews were curacy. By October 1944, 41.5 percent to 95 percent—with 50 percent hitting told to stiffen their upper lips, fly of Eighth Air Force’s visually aimed within a mile or so of the aimpoint. straight and level, and put their bombs bombs fell within 1,000 feet of the Bomber Command’s night bombers on target as the best ways to ensure aimpoint. Using only radio or radar did not fly in a large formation to the their continued survival. aids, accuracy plummeted to a miser- of What able five percent. As in Bomber Command, the operations analysts tackled many specific problems, including range extension, tactical formations, bomb weights and to Target fuses, the utility of incendiary bombs, and the optimal strike mission size. A typical problem involved determining the relative threat from enemy fighter airplanes versus anti-aircraft artillery. After extensive interviews with crew members, especially those who had been shot down and lived to tell of it, operations analysts discov- ered that stragglers had it the worst. When a bomber fell out of formation, it was almost immediately pounced on by a half-dozen enemy fighters. A bomber usually fell out of formation, however, because it had been hit by AAA. Specifically, hits to an engine

Opposite: A B-17 with the 359th Bomb Squadron seen from above. Left: B-17s with the 547th Bomb Squadron drop their weapons on a mission during World War II.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 61 Gen. Ira Eaker (shown here as a brigadier general) called for the creation of The officers at the Tactical School rec- the Enemy Objectives Unit, which was ognized this problem and made the first tasked with providing detailed analysis rudimentary attempts to study the work- of designated targets. ings of a modern industrialized nation during the 1930s. The War Department forbade the gathering of intelligence on the scientists their full support, but also foreign economies, however, so in 1936, faced other problems. Theories and students and instructors studied the in- doctrine assumed that strategic bomb- dustrial infrastructure of the northeast ing against the industrial infrastructure United States. Their investigations led of an enemy would have decisive them to conclude that 100 well-placed results: It would sap and eventually bombs could shut down 75 percent of the break both the will and capability of region’s electrical generating capacity. the enemy to resist. This was an article Other targets to be struck included rail of faith, not science. lines, fuel storage depots, steel plants, Research gave commanders and and food distribution and preservation planners guidance on how best to facilities. The result of these attacks destroy specific elements of enemy would be paralysis. infrastructure, but the broader question This sounded promising—although it remained: What effect did destroying proved overly optimistic in practice—so an oil refinery or railroad marshaling at the start of the war, air planners called yard have on the overall goal of win- in industrialists to study the German ning the war or breaking the enemy’s economy. They also went to New York will and capability? City financial institutions that had heav- In short, because you knew how to ily invested in Germany before the war. destroy a factory did not necessarily These banks had blueprints of factories, mean you should destroy it. Opera- production schedules, and other crucial tions Research told air commanders data on the German economy. started fires that caused an aircraft to how to hit the target correctly; they Using this information, intelligence lose power, drop out of formation, and now needed to hit the correct target. provided by the British, and knowledge become a straggler. of American industry, planners projected The solution: Put armor around the Intelligence Gathering what specific systems were most impor- vulnerable engines to reduce AAA To address this problem, air leaders tant and also most vulnerable. damage, which would in turn reduce had to move analysis to a higher level of Even more important were the ques- the number of stragglers and losses to abstraction. Airmen realized that they tions that arose after obtaining basic enemy fighters. had not developed a clear understand- economic and industrial data. If you Another problem considered by the ing of what made an economy work. were able to neutralize a portion of a analysts involved accuracy. After study- After all, strategic bombing, like a na- country’s rail network, what effect would ing countless poststrike photographs, val campaign of blockade and surface that produce on the enemy’s economy analysts determined, contrary to proce- raiding, is at base a form of economic as a whole? In short, air commanders dures and popular belief, that bombing warfare. But if you aren’t sure how an and planners were vitally interested in accuracy would be greatly enhanced if economy functions properly, how can determining the effects of their bomb- an entire group released its bombs when you know what makes it fail? ing campaign. the leader did—rather than if every bombardier chose his own drop point. Such technical problems had not been entirely ignored before the war, but many assertions were later proved absurd. In 1938, for example, one school’s bombardment text stated that 100-pound demolition bombs were “particularly efficacious against the average factory or warehouse.” Such small bombs proved useless in combat. It was precisely because of such muddled thinking that OR was so essential to the success of the strategic bombing campaign. Top Allied air commanders recognized this and gave

A large formation of B-17s streaks across the sky. Operations Research added science to the art of bombing.

62 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 A large billowing cloud of smoke ob- scures the view of the railyards at Mu- nich, Germany, after B-17s pummeled that area in September 1944.

informed agencies tasked to examine the German war economy looked at the same data and came up with totally different conclusions. The controversy over targeting seems never ending, and is illustrative. One historian has since argued that based on his extensive review of Ger- man railroad records, he is convinced that coal was the key commodity in the German economy, and since it was almost exclusively transported by rail, the transportation plan was the road to victory—albeit not for the reasons posited by rail plan advocates at the time. On the other hand, an author of the official history of British intelli- How did airmen address this prob- high altitude, combined with deliberate gence in the war maintained that his lem? They hired or drafted hundreds of German attempts to hide and mislead extensive study of German signals men and women to serve as intelligence Allied analysts, it soon became ap- intercepted during the war had con- gatherers and analysts from business, parent that BDA, then as now, was as vinced him that oil was the key target financial, scientific, engineering, and much an art as a science. set after all. Maj. Gen. Haywood S. legal backgrounds. Despite all of these efforts, basic Hansell Jr., one of the key planners It was a slow process. As late as questions regarding strategic bomb- of the American bombing campaign, 1939, there were only 22 people in ing remained either unanswered or in argued in his memoirs that it was not the Army’s entire G-2 intelligence dispute. In early 1944, for example, oil, coal, or railroads, but electricity division. Although G-2 expanded rap- Normandy invasion planners pondered that should have been given top prior- idly, virtually none of the hundreds of how best to employ heavy bombers to ity. And so it goes. new people hired had any experience support the landings. Air commanders were dependent on in intelligence gathering or analysis. intelligence, but the state of that art in Fortunately, much help came from Rail vs. Oil World War II made it difficult to have the British. Britain’s Ministry of Eco- The British, based on the results even a reasonable confidence that the nomic Warfare was established early in of the bombing campaign in Italy, chosen targeting strategy was correct. the war with an intelligence division concluded that a concentrated air Small wonder that specific target sets that collated and interpreted economic campaign against the German railroad moved up or down the priority list with information. When the US entered the network in northern France would be little explanation. Confused command- war and Eighth Air Force began de- most effective. ers were forced to use their intuition, ploying into British air bases in 1942, The Americans, backed by the analy- their limited experience, Operations Eaker called for a similar advisory sis of their Enemy Objectives Unit, Research, and intelligence analyses. body. The result was the Enemy Objec- argued for a campaign against German Regardless, the US and British air tives Unit, attached directly to Eighth oil. In this view, destruction of the oil doctrines prior to World War II were Air Force headquarters, composed of refineries and storage facilities would clearly flawed. Bomber operations over civilian economists and lawyers. Their bring the entire German war machine occupied Europe demanded new or- job was to provide detailed analysis to a halt. This “rail plan versus oil ganizations, new techniques, and new of designated targets, to include the plan” controversy raged on for several ideas so Operations Research and a importance of a particular plant within weeks until the supreme commander, unique strain of air-based intelligence an industry, the vulnerability of those Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, opted for grew and evolved to answer these fun- plants, and the time necessary for the rail plan in March 1944 because it damental needs. recovery after an air attack. seemed to offer more immediate results The results were dramatic. By early For this last function, the British and speed was imperative. 1945, the German economy was a established a section, termed RE8, What is interesting about this contro- shambles, and Japan’s would soon be which focused almost exclusively on versy is that the two most capable and as well. I bomb damage assessment. By mid- 1943, Americans joined RE8, which Phillip S. Meilinger is a retired Air Force pilot with 30 years’ service and a Ph.D. in then provided detailed BDA to both military history from the University of Michigan. He is the author of seven books Bomber Command and Eighth Air and more than 80 articles on military affairs. His latest book is Hubert R. Harmon: Force. Given the difficulty of measur- Airman, Officer, and Father of the Air Force Academy. His most recent article for ing damage from photographs taken at Air Force Magazine, “Paradox List,” appeared in the April 2009 issue. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 63 In 1966, Israel got its hands on a MiG-21, with major benefits for itself and the US Air Force. Have Doughnut

By John Lowery

n Aug. 16, 1966, Iraqi Air Force Capt. Munir Radfa defected to Israel in a MiG-21 jet fighter. OThe MiG-21 was, at the time, a state-of- the-art Soviet aircraft and the pride of Russia’s aircraft industry. The defection, orchestrated by the Israeli government, soon gave both Israel and the United States access to intelligence from a frontline Soviet fighter that the two nations would face in battle in the coming years. Code-named “Fishbed-E” by NATO, the Mach 2 fighter posed a serious threat to Israel’s ability to maintain air superiority in that nation’s dangerous and tense neighborhood. In the air order of battle, the Israelis faced down enemy air forces that included 18 Fishbeds in Syria, 10 in Iraq, and 34 in Egypt. At the time, the Israeli Air Force had nothing comparable to the MiG- Top: The MiG-21 demonstrates slow flight over the Nevada desert. Above: The air- 21—the IAF was equipped with slower craft at Groom Lake flight test center. French-made Vautours and Mirage IIIC fighters. A 20-year arms embargo Following orders from then-Prime over for promotion due to his Chris- imposed by the US Congress had Minister Levi Eshkol, Israel’s ultrase- tian origins. denied Israel modern aircraft such as cret Mossad intelligence agency had In addition, Mossad officers learned the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and orchestrated the Iraqi pilot’s defection. that—following completion of a US the newer McDonnell Aircraft F-4 Mossad officers reportedly cultivated military training course—Radfa had Phantom. Radfa’s frustration on being passed become excited about life in the West.

6464 AIR FORCE Magazine // JuneJune 20102010 The heavy pitch forces at high speed limited the pilot’s ability to recover from a diving attack or maneuver while approaching and departing the target area. This was no doubt intended to prevent overstress problems during pull up from a target. However for a fighter-bomber it made “high pitch rates difficult or impossible to Have achieve.” Thus, the US analysts determined, recovery during dive-bombing, strafing, or air-to-ground rocket firing was problematic. Doughnut One of the most significant findings was the discovery that below 15,000 feet, the aircraft could not go supersonic. At low altitude, the severe buffeting simply prevented it from exceeding airspeeds of 685 mph or .98 Mach. This airspeed limitation was a major exploitable design flaw. Later in the Vietnam War, US F- A test pilot carefully performs a preflight check. Testers were tasked with evaluat- ing the aircraft’s effectiveness in comparison to US fighters. 105Ds and F-4s typically approached an aerial target at 633 mph then departed well in excess of 702 mph— On the morning of his fateful train- urgently to determine the MiG’s perfor- often supersonic. ing-flight-turned-defection, Radfa’s mance, compared to select US aircraft, The exceptionally slow engine ac- MiG was fitted with a 108-gallon and to formulate tactics for both defen- celeration was a characteristic that auxiliary fuel tank. This ensured he sive and offensive maneuvering. The had been corrected in American jet would have adequate fuel for the 560- Have Doughnut test objectives were to engines in the 1950s. The MiG-21 mile flight to Israel. evaluate the airplane’s effectiveness as a engine was technologically behind After climbing to 30,000 feet, day fighter-interceptor and its secondary its US counterparts, so spool-up from Radfa departed Iraqi airspace with role in ground attack. idle to full military power required no problem, but over Jordan, he was 14 seconds, with a tendency to hang intercepted by two Royal Jordanian What DIA Found up in the process. This could lead to Air Force Hawker Hunters which at- While its armament was adequate for hot compressor stall or engine over- tempted to make radio contact. an interceptor, US analysts found the temperature. Although they got no reply from Fishbed’s gunsight deficient. Another exploitable discovery: The Radfa, they allowed him to continue “The tracking index drifts off the Fishbed’s afterburner marked the air- on, presumably because of the Iraqi bottom of the windscreen when track- craft’s location by producing white insignia on his aircraft. ing targets in excess of three Gs,” reads puffs of unburned fuel when it was As prearranged, Radfa was met at a declassified report from the Defense engaged or disengaged. This was small the Israeli border by two IAF Mirage Intelligence Agency. Typical of delta- consolation, however, because the MiG IIIs whose pilots escorted him to a wing aircraft, the airspeed bleed-off pilot’s ability to visually acquire his safe landing. during high-G turns was excessive. own aerial targets was similarly aided With Radfa’s assistance, Israeli test This speed-bleed decreased the MiG’s by the smoke trail left by the engines of pilot Dani Shapira began a detailed turn radius, however, and the G force all contemporary American jet fighters. evaluation of the MiG-21, according to could be sustained at slower speeds than A special limitation for the day-visual a later account published in Israel News. comparable US fighters. conditions fighter-interceptor was the After testing in Israel, the aircraft Obviously, in a turning fight, this front and rear visibility. Forward visibil- was moved to the US government’s gave the Fishbed a tactical advantage. ity through the gunsight was restricted secret Nevada airfield commonly The DIA assessment identified several by the combination of a bulletproof glass known as Area 51 or Groom Lake. major aerodynamic limitations in the slab and the windscreen. It was here—birthplace of the Mach MiG-21. These included: Visibility in the 50-degree tailcone, 3-cruising SR-71 “Blackbird” and the Exceptionally heavy pitch force meanwhile, was handicapped by the stealthy F-117—that the US had the required above 685 mph. protective seat flap over the pilot’s opportunity to put the MiG-21 through Severe buffeting below 15,000 feet head and the narrow design of the its paces. when approaching 685 mph or a .98 ship’s canopy and fuselage structure. Redesignated as the YF-110, the indicated Mach number. For the point interceptor role, the Fishbed’s test and evaluation project Exceptionally slow engine accelera- MiG-21’s basic weapons included a was code-named Have Doughnut. tion from idle to full military power. 30 mm cannon loaded with 60 rounds Because the MiG-21 was then doing Poor directional stability in tur- of ammunition and two AA-2 “Atoll” battle in Vietnam, US analysts sought bulence. heat-seeking missiles.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 65 attack,” generally from a cross-course intercept. For example, when US fighters were bombing targets north of Hanoi, such as the Paul Doumer Bridge, enemy MiG-21s would be vectored by ground control intercept radar from Chinese airspace to a position behind the Phantoms. As the F-4s pulled up from their target, the MiGs would launch Atoll missiles and zoom back to political sanctuary in China. Air forces called these attacks “blow-throughs.” At high altitude the Fishbed’s small size made it very difficult to visually acquire or keep in sight while maneuvering. In a frontal or trailing attack, its slight silhouette also made it difficult to acquire on radar. Flaps and gear down, the MiG comes in for a landing during tests in Nevada. Seriously complicating air superiority efforts was the fact that North Vietnamese airfields, parked aircraft, The Soviet-built Atoll missiles were the combat from a position of nearly command centers, and main radar copies of the US-made AIM-9 Side- unbeatable advantage. installations were forbidden targets. winder. Communist forces had obtained Typically, DIA found, the Fishbeds During the late 1960s, thanks to this a Sidewinder when a Nationalist Chinese were “vectored into the rear hemi- combination of technical strengths, F-86F pilot ﬁred one at a MiG-17. The sphere for a high-speed, single-pass tactical advantages, and political pro- AIM-9 failed to explode—but lodged in the MiG-17’s fuselage. Using reverse engineering, the Sidewinder was copied by the USSR and became the standard Soviet air-to-air missile for the MiG-21 and other ﬁghters.

Unaware Victims In the air-to-ground role, the MiG- 21 had the 30 mm cannon and could carry two pods containing a total of 32 57 mm folding-fin aerial rockets. The cannon proved potentially lethal against tanks. When strafing, however, DIA analysts found there was consid- erable pipper (gunsight) jitter during firing. The aircraft’s high speed-low altitude stability in rough air was also deemed unsatisfactory. It is noteworthy that by the time the US became heavily engaged in the Vietnam War, the Soviet spon- sors and North Vietnamese Air Force commanders very effectively planned around the Fishbed’s limitations. They never committed their fighters unless there was a good chance of success and subsequent escape. In fact, in 80 percent of the North Vietnamese Air Force kills, the victims were unaware they were under attack. As USAF’s “Red Baron” study of aerial warfare in Vietnam determined, before the US obtained effective radar coverage of North Vietnam, the winner The aircraft was kept inside a hangar much of the time, the better to avoid Soviet of an air engagement usually initiated reconnaissance satellites. 66 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 The final USAF MiG kill of the Vietnam War occurred Jan. 8, 1973. The engagement took place in Route Pack 3, 80 miles southwest of Hanoi—after the cessation of the Christmas bombing in the north under Linebacker II. Capt. Paul D. Howman and weapons system officer 1st Lt. Lawrence W. Kullman were leading a predawn MiG CAP, protecting B-52s bombing surface-to-air missile sites around Vinh. Red Crown, the Navy’s shipborne radar control platform, identified a MiG-21 65 miles to the northeast, but the MiG came off the radar scope. How- man found it again when he spotted the flame of the Fishbed’s afterburner and was able to maneuver behind the MiG. The engagement ended the way the Have Doughnut analysts had suggested Maj. Fred Cuthill, a test pilot, straps into the Have Doughnut aircraft’s cockpit. As- years before: “By orienting an attack sisting is Maj. Jerry Larsen. towards the Fishbed-E’s blind [rear] cone in lag pursuit-type maneuvering, ... the tections, MiG-21s shot down more to above the Fishbed’s subsonic top F-4 can defeat the MiG-21.” American F-4s and F-105s than the speed. In the zoom maneuver—from USAF finished the war Jan. 28, 1973 US was able to kill in return. low altitude to 30,000 feet with full with a two-to-one overall kill-loss ratio. Despite its sleek shape, the MiG- military power—the Phantom had a The Air Force had downed 137 MiGs, 21’s performance at high altitude was significant advantage. In afterburner, with 65 aircraft (including bombers) found inferior to the F-4, F-105D, the F-4 held a slight advantage in a lost to MiGs. and F-104. The Fishbed’s top speed zoom to 20,000 feet. The North Vietnamese pilots were was Mach 2.05, whereas the F-4 and In instantaneous hard (high-G) turns carefully trained and competent war- F-105D were both capable of about that the MiG-21’s delta wing allowed a riors. Their top ace, Nguyen Van Coc, Mach 2.14. tight turning radius superior to all the was credited with seven aircraft and The F-104 Starfighter was limited major US fighters in Vietnam. Have two Firebee unmanned aerial vehicles only by a rise in skin temperature that Doughnut’s DIA analysts therefore destroyed. His aircraft victories in- took place at about Mach 2.21. warned against participating in “pro- cluded two Air Force F-4s, one Navy Despite being heavier, both the F- longed maneuvering engagements,” F-4B, two “Wild Weasel” F-105Fs, 105D and F-4 were found basically aka dogfighting. Analysts recom- one F-105D, and the only F-102A superior to the MiG-21. Maintaining mended that pilots press an attack only kill of the war. a high airspeed and avoiding turning if they had an initial rear-hemisphere Enemy command and control was engagements was the key to US success, advantage. In particular, F-105 Thun- excellent, too. North Vietnamese in- although the F-4 was also aerodynami- derchief pilots were advised to emulate terceptors were expertly guided by cally superior in a vertical contest. the MiG-21’s hit-and-run tactics. their ground controllers, who set up The Have Doughnut tests showed the the MiGs perfectly to ambush the F-4 had the capability “to control an The Results American fighters. MiG interceptors engagement below 15,000 feet by ex- This advice was confirmed by the used their advantages in ambush and ploiting the MiG-21 airspeed limitation actual combat results in the skies over hit-and-run tactics to great effect. and airspeed bleed-off characteristic North Vietnam. “The American fighters Despite facing worthy opponents and at high G.” In a visual encounter, the flew faster than ours: We had to force severe political constraints throughout recommendation was to get behind them to turn,” North Vietnamese MiG ace the war, Air Force fighter crews ended the MiG and operate “in the vertical” Luu Huy Chao told Ralph F. Wetterhahn, the war with a positive kill-loss ratio. during air combat maneuvering. a former F-4 pilot. When US fighters got The bulk of the credit for this goes to The Soviet fighter’s slow engine sucked into turning engagements, their USAF’s airmen, but the knowledge spool-up was a special handicap. The superior speed “did not matter,” he said. gleaned by testing a front-line MiG-21 14-second acceleration from idle to full “We just made use of an appropriate borrowed from Israel surely contrib- power made formation flying difficult angle to cut their [circle], and our guns uted to the success. I for the MiG pilots, and formation ma- became effective.” neuvers required constant use of speed The F-105D proved surprisingly ef- John Lowery is a veteran Air Force brakes and rapid throttle movement. fective against the Fishbed-E. The Thun- fighter pilot and freelance writer. He is Using full military power up to about derchief could easily exceed the MiG’s author of five books on aircraft perfor- 30,000 feet, the F-4 accelerated much top speeds, but maintaining high speed mance and aviation safety. His most faster than the MiG-21. Below 15,000 at low altitude was the key to survival. recent aricle for Air Force Magazine, feet, the advantage was even greater “Thud” pilots regularly departed heavily “Zoom Climb,” appeared in the Febru- as the F-4 could easily accelerate defended targets at supersonic speed. ary 2005 issue. AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 67 The indomitable La Guardia led American airmen on the Italian Front in World War I. Fiorello’s Foggiani By John T. Correll

La Guardia Airport is named for him. There was even a Broadway musical, “Fiorello!” It ran for 795 performances and won the Pulitzer prize for drama in 1960. But all of that came later. In 1918, he was, concurrently, a member of Congress and a captain on active duty with the Army Air Service in charge of American airmen on the Italian Front in World War I. In between his military duties, he made speeches and had dinner with King Victor Emmanuel III. He constantly upset Army bureaucrats on behalf of his airmen and more often than not, he prevailed. It seems Left: La Guardia (center) in front of a unlikely that anyone other than Caproni bomber in Italy. Above: The logo for the Pulitzer prize-winning La Guardia could have done it. Broadway play based on La Guardia’s Fiorello (“Little Flower” in life. Italian) was born in 1882 in Greenwich Village in Manhat- ran a small fl ying school at Mineola, tan. His father, a recent immigrant Long Island. The trainer aircraft was a from Foggia in Italy, was a musician. He light Bleriot monoplane with a three- joined the Army as a band leader when cylinder engine. It was a single-seater, hen Fiorello La Guardia Fiorello was a few months old. Fiorello so the student was alone in the aircraft. died in 1947, the New grew up on Army posts, mainly Ft. Hua- York Times called him chuca and Whipple Barracks in Arizona. Into Congress, Into War “the little fi rebrand”—he When his father retired, the family moved Training began with “grass cutting” Wwas 5 ft. 2 in.—and “New York’s most to Trieste, where his mother had been runs of about a mile and a half on the colorful mayor since Peter Stuyvesant.” born. Young La Guardia entered US ground. The student then got out, turned La Guardia was elected to an unprec- consular service in Europe and returned the plane around, and taxied back. edented three terms and served as mayor to the United States in 1906 to work as Once the student was able to keep the from 1934 to 1945. He wrested control an interpreter at Ellis Island by day and machine straight, La Guardia said, “the of the city from the Tammany Hall politi- attend New York University School of next step was a straightaway hop on the cal machine, which had dominated New Law by night. He eventually became same course. We would lift the machine York politics for more than 80 years. In deputy attorney general for the state, about 15 to 100 feet in the air and then 1934, he hefted a sledge hammer and assigned to the New York City bureau. land. This simple instruction went on for led a search-and-destroy mission against In 1915, “having convinced myself quite a while before we were allowed mob boss Frank Costello’s slot machines. that we were going to get into the war, to circle the fi eld.” He is fondly remembered for reading I decided that I wanted to go into our La Guardia was elected to Congress the Sunday comics to kids on WNYC Air Corps,” La Guardia said. A friend, in 1916. He introduced a bill to make radio during a newspaper strike in 1945. Sicilian immigrant Giuseppe Bellanca, the fraudulent sale of war materials a 68 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 felony punishable by imprisonment in that he had helped shape the law peacetime and by death in time of war. It that created the cadets and knew never got out of the Judiciary Committee. that the intent of Congress was to When the United States entered the provide them fi rst class passage. war, La Guardia supported the adminis- The ship left New York Sept. 11. tration’s request for a military draft. “I “Our boys soon took over the had told the young men in my district ship and were running all over that if I should vote for putting them the decks,” La Guardia said. The into the Army, I would go myself, and colonel in command of all Army personally I was eager to get into action,” personnel aboard was furious La Guardia said. “I was 34 years old, and ordered the cadets sent physically fi t, but too short to become down to steerage because they a foot soldier. Whatever further war were not yet offi cers. Fiorello measures might be needed could easily took exception, arguing that pass the House without my vote. So I was they had fi rst class tickets and ready to go to the front and determined the status of commissioned to do so.” In July 1917, he applied for offi cers. a direct commission. “It came out that I was a He saw no reason to resign from member of Congress,” he Congress. Some members who joined said. The colonel continued the military did resign their seats; oth- to fume, but “we managed ers did not. “I felt it would be good for to win the argument,” La Congress and good for the Army to Guardia said. have some of us serving abroad,” La When the ship docked Guardia said. in Liverpool, there was a As he told the story in his memoirs, he change of plans. The cadets put nothing on his application blank to were sent to British fl ying schools, indicate he was a member of Congress. and La Guardia went to Paris, where he Lt. Willis Fitch, one of the original The offi cer who interviewed him was met a different group of 125 cadets and Foggiani. Fitch later became the fi rst executive director of the Air Force As- “impressed by the fact that I had some took them by train to Foggia, about 150 sociation. little fl ying training,” he said, and offered miles southeast of Rome. La Guardia’s him a commission as a lieutenant. A few detachment arrived Oct. 17. Forty-six days later, he reported to the Aviation American cadets were already there, “He went to Italy at the time of the Section of the Signal Corps and was under command of Maj. William Ord unfortunate happenings of Caporetto taken to see Maj. Benjamin Foulois, Ryan and training as pilots on Farman last fall,” the New York Times said later. soon to be chief of air service for the biplane pushers. La Guardia was the “President Wilson and the United States American Expeditionary Force. second-ranking American offi cer at could not have chosen a better represen- Foulois “asked me if I was related to Foggia. tative in Italy than this brave soldier. On Congressman La Guardia,” he said. “I many occasions, La Guardia has spoken asked him if that would make any dif- Unfortunate Happenings to the King, to soldiers, and to the people ference one way or the other. ‘No, not World War I on the Italian Front was of Italy, in ammunition factories, in the at all,’ he said.” often forgotten, lacking the scope and trenches of the Piave, and elsewhere. ... Foulois knew, of course, exactly who intensity of the Western Front. The La Guardia’s achievements in Italy have La Guardia was. A contingent of 150 Italians had declared war on Austria- gained the admiration, the praise, and aviation cadets was to be sent to Italy Hungary in 1915 and used their Caproni the gratitude of the entire nation, from for pilot training. The United States trimotors to bomb Austrian airfi elds, the King down.” had only 26 pilots and a few military roads, and railways. The Americans had Between Sept. 28, 1917, and June 25, airfi elds. Most training had to be done been settled in at Foggia only a short 1918, a total of 406 US pilots graduated abroad, in France, Britain, and Italy. By time when the Italians were defeated at Foggia. They were known as “the amazing coincidence, the site chosen and pushed back by the Germans and Foggiani,” and sometimes as “Fiorello’s for training in Italy was Foggia, which Austrians in the Battle of Caporetto in Foggiani” in honor of their fl amboyant was La Guardia’s father’s hometown. November. Reinforced by the British leader and champion. La Guardia was assigned to Mineola, and French, the Americans established In January 1918, the students at Foggia where the cadets were being assembled and held a line along the Piave River in were divided into two camps. Ryan kept for overseas deployment. He was pro- northern Italy near Venice. overall command and was head of one of moted to captain and assistant to the “There can be no doubt that Caporetto the camps, with LaGuardia in command contingent commander. caused panic in Italy,” La Guardia said. of the other. Before long, La Guardia One of La Guardia’s fi rst tasks in Min- The Minister of Finance told him that again riled the chain of command, this eola was to make travel arrangements. “within the Cabinet there was a strong time over food. The War Department order specifi ed use feeling that a separate peace might be The rations provided for students of “any passenger liner sailing from the necessary.” From that point on, La Guar- were meager: dark black bread for port of New York.” La Guardia booked dia’s diplomatic skills, his ties to Italy, breakfast, “a boiled macaroni paste” at 156 fi rst class passages on the Cunard and his status as a member of Congress noon, gruel or soup in the evening, and liner SS Carmania. He took the position took on special importance. “a diminutive piece of boiled meat” once AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 69 designated to represent the United States in dealing with Italy on aircraft contracts. Ryan was reassigned to France in June, and La Guardia, operating from an office in Rome, was responsible for both training and procurement. He was still a captain, without enough rank to be in charge of all Air Service officers in Italy, but he did not let that bother him. Most American pilots trained in Italy were sent to France for service with the AEF, but a detachment of about 75 remained under command of La Guardia and flew missions with the Italian air force. Among them was Lt. Willis S. Caproni bombers, such as this “heavy” one, had three motors—two in front, one Fitch, one of Fiorello’s original Foggiani, behind, in a push-pull configuration. who went on to become the first executive director of the Air Force Association, a week, La Guardia said. “I did not see ond lieutenant. About 50 of the graduates 1946-47, and the first peacetime editor how we could keep Americans, used to went on to train in aerial gunnery and of Air Force Magazine. our diet, healthy on that kind of food.” become pursuit pilots, but that program The first American bomber pilots He arranged for a caterer to provide faltered because of a shortage of aircraft left Foggia for the front on June 15. well-balanced meals, with meat or fish and other reasons. Follow-on training They were attached to Italian bomber every day. Major Ryan was doubtful of for bomber pilots was more successful. squadrons at Padua, Verona, and Aquila the authority to do this, so La Guardia to gain experience and augment under- signed the contract. Caproni Training strength units. After flying four or five In due time, La Guardia was ordered Initially, the new pilots were given missions with experienced Italian pilots, to report to an outraged general in the a choice between training in the big they were given command of a CA-450 Chief Quartermaster’s office in Tours, Caproni bomber or the new, nimble- or CA-600 and an Italian combat crew. France. The general told La Guardia he looking SIA-7B reconnaissance bomber. King Victor Emmanuel III came to was going to charge him with violating Naturally, most of them picked the SIA. Padua to visit the airmen and had La the law, disregarding Army regulations, The United States had ordered a num- Guardia as his dinner guest at a former and squandering public funds. ber of the latest SIAs, which offered monastery near the front. They conversed The general kept citing Army regula- increased speed and efficiency—but easily in both Italian and English. La tions. La Guardia said regulations could which had a reputation for structural Guardia divided his time between Padua be changed. The general said that would troubles. Several test pilots had been and duties in Rome. He was promoted take an act of Congress. “Well, I can killed. The first American to fly a SIA at to major Aug. 8, and managed to fly get an act of Congress,” La Guardia Foggia was also killed when the airplane five combat missions in the Caproni in said. When the general learned that La buckled under him. September. His total combat time logged Guardia was a member of Congress, La Guardia declared the SIAs to was 10 hours and 20 minutes. the atmosphere changed. “For the first be “junk” and suspended training. “I La Guardia returned to the United time since I had come into the room, informed the Italian factory making States in October. “After it looked cer- he asked me to be seated,” La Guardia them that we did not care to receive tain that the German collapse was only said. “We parted as friends.” From any more of them at Foggia,” he said. a matter of weeks, I was ordered home Tours, La Guardia went to see the head He made his decision stick, despite the on some military planning mission, of the Interallied Finance Commission, protests of the company and the Italian which proved unnecessary because of which worked out a plan for paying for government. The United States took the the impending victory,” he said. the meals. planes already on hand but canceled the As the war ended, US pilots on the La Guardia was equally ready to chal- rest of the order. southern front were withdrawn and the lenge Italian authorities when the need The rest of the Foggiani trained in combat division headquarters was closed arose, as it did in 1918 over problems various models of the three-engine Nov. 19. Eighty American pilots served with the SIA-7B biplane, which the Caproni bomber. with the Italians. The greatest number at United States had ordered from Societa Caproni pilots could go on to complete the front at any one time was 58. They Italiana Aviazone, an affiliate of the Fiat the bombardment course at Foggia, and took part in 65 missions and flew 587 motor car firm. It was one of several 131 of the Foggiani did so. Adminis- hours of combat operations. airplanes used for training at Foggia. trator-student La Guardia began his La Guardia was re-elected in Novem- Student pilots began with the French own training in the Caproni in October ber. He resigned his commission, went Farman MF.11 “Shorthorn,” a biplane 1917 but did not finish until the middle back to Congress, and served until 1932. with pusher propellers. It had tandem of March 1918 because so much of his La Guardia was elected mayor of New cockpits but no windscreen, so student time was taken by administrative duties. York Jan. 1, 1934 and began his long and instructor were exposed in the slip- In February 1918, La Guardia was and successful run at City Hall. I stream from the waist up. After his solo in the Farman, the student was rated a John T. Correll was editor in chief of Air Force Magazine for 18 years and is now a military pilot and commissioned a sec- contributing editor. His most recent article, “MiG Alley,” appeared in the April issue. 70 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 Books Compiled by Chequita Wood, Media Research Editor

No Need To Die: Abundance of Valor: Hero of the Air: Glenn American Flyers Resistance, Survival, Curtiss and the Birth in RAF Bomber and Liberation: 1944- of Naval Aviation. Wil- Command. Gordon 45. Will Irwin. Ballantine liam F. Trimble. Naval In- Thorburn. Quay- Books, New York (800- stitute Press, Annapolis, side Publishing 733-3000). 378 pages. MD (800-233-8764). 270 Group, Minneapolis $30.00. pages. $37.95. (800-826-6600). 246 pages. $34.95.

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Cataclysm: General In the Footsteps of A Tactical Ethic: Hap Arnold and the the Band of Brothers: Moral Conduct Defeat of Japan. Her- A Return to Easy in the Insurgent man S. Wolk. University Company’s Battleﬁelds Battlespace. Dick of North Texas Press, With Sergeant Forrest Couch. Naval Institute Denton, TX (800-826- Guth. Larry Alexander. Press, Annapolis, MD 8911). 300 pages. NAL Caliber, New York (800-233-8764). 140 $24.95. (800-631-8571). 322 pages. $22.95. pages. $24.95.

The Iraq Effect: The Middle East After We Won: And Then Counterspace: The the Iraq War. Frederic There Was Linebacker Next Hours of World Wehrey, Dalia Dassa II: Strategic and Politi- War III. William B. Kaye, et. al. RAND, cal Issues Surrounding Scott, Michael J. Santa Monica, CA the Bombing Cam- Coumatos, and William (877-584-8642). paign. Albert Atkins. J. Birnes. Forge, New 187 pages. $40.00 Authorhouse, Blooming- York (888-330-8477). (download at http:// ton, IN (888-519-5121). 352 pages. $25.99. www.rand.org/pubs/ 237 pages. $9.90. monographs/2010/ RAND_MG892.pdf).

When Janey Comes Fighter Pilot: The Marching Home: Memoirs of Legendary MASH Angels: Tales of an Air-Evac Helicopter Portraits of Women Ace Robin Olds. Robin Combat Veterans. Olds with Christina Pilot in the Korean War. Richard C. Kirk- Laura Browder. The Olds and Ed Rasimus. University of North St. Martin’s Press, New land. Burford Books, Springﬁeld, NJ (973- Carolina Press, Cha- York (888-330-8477). pel Hill, NC (800-848- 400 pages. $26.99. 258-0960). 276 pages. $18.95. 6224). 157 pages. $35.00.

Freedom Flyers: The Master of the Air: Tuskegee Airmen of William Tunner Whirlwind: The Air War World War II. J. Todd and the Success Against Japan 1942- Moye. Oxford Univer- of Military Airlift. 1945. Barrett Tillman. sity Press, New York Robert A. Slayton. The Simon & Schuster, New (800-445-9714). 241 University of Alabama York (800-223-2336). pages. $24.95 Press, Tuscaloosa, AL 316 pages. $28.00. (800-621-2736). 291 pages. $43.50.

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 71 Flashback

Back in the Saddle Again Magazine. Text by Andrea K. Dudney Andrea K. by Text Magazine. Air Force Air Force Photo from

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Air Force Orientation In March, Air Force Association Chairman of the Board Joseph E. Sutter helped the Gen. Bruce K. Holloway Chapter in Knoxville, Tenn., introduce its Community Partners to a nearby Air National Guard facility. A small group of the partners, chapter members, and cadets from AFROTC Det. 800 at the University of Tennessee-Knoxville visited the ANG base at McGhee Tyson Airport, about 10 miles south of Knoxville. Chapter President James M. Mungenast wrote that for some Community Partners, it was the first time they’d been on an Air Force base. They received a comprehensive introduction. 134th Air Refueling Wing Commander Col. Timothy T. Dearing spoke to the guests about the unit’s mission and economic impact on the area. Col. Richard B. Howard, commander AFA Board Chairman Joe Sutter, third from right, joined Community Partners and of the I. G. Brown ANG Training and other guests of the Gen. Bruce K. Holloway Chapter for an orientation to the 134th Education Center, presented a briefing Air Refueling Wing, McGhee Tyson Arpt., Tenn. on his facility, where more than 4,200 ANG students receive professional association. Garland is a current AFA How I Spent My Winter Vacation military education each year. national director; Croom is a director The Carl Vinson Memorial Chapter Col. David Evans, 119th Command emeritus. They presented several tro- in Warner Robins, Ga., has promoted and Control Squadron commander, phies. The four-foot-tall grand prizes this slogan, in one form or another, described his unit. It provides training, went to the teams from San Antonio’s for decades: “Every Day in the USA Is standardization, and evaluation for John Jay High School—for top honors Armed Forces Appreciation Day.” satellite communication and information in both the armed and unarmed catego- Chapter member Dan Callahan origi- system operators and has supported ries—and Tom C. Clark High School, in nally coined the phrase in 1968 with a the state’s civilian emergency services second place. slightly different beginning: “Every Day following several hurricanes, including Thirty-one teams of cadets competed, in Middle Georgia... .” It appeared on Katrina in 2005. traveling to the Alamodome from states the chapter’s letterhead, on signs, and The AFA guests took a windshield as far away as California and North even in shrubbery trimmed to form let- tour of the McGhee Tyson, and with Dakota. ters of the slogan’s acronym. Maj. Jason Brock as a guide, capped For the East Coast competition, 37 In February, a group of students at their orientation with a close-up look at teams gathered in Macon, Ga., on March Warner Robins High School spent the a KC-135 refueler. 19, where S. Sanford Schlitt, AFA’s vice chairman of the board for aerospace Drills That Thrilled education, presented the trophies. Membership Dues To Increase The Air Force National JROTC West- Lackey High School from Indian On Sept. 13, 2009, AFA conven- ern Drill Championships, co-sponsored Head, Md., took first place in the tion delegates approved the first by AFA and Air Force JROTC Head- armed division and second place in association dues increase since quarters, took place in San Antonio on the unarmed division. East Paulding 2001. (Previous increases were in March 13. A few days later, the Eastern High School, from Dallas, Ga., finished 1993 and 1997.) One-year member- version of the competition filled an arena first in the unarmed division. Spring ship will increase to $45; three-year south of Atlanta. Valley High School of Columbia, S.C., membership to $110; and life mem- In San Antonio, Alamo Chapter finished second. bership to $600. The increase will be members Edward W. Garland and The top teams were to go on to an implemented for all categories on William D. Croom Jr. represented the all-services drill meet in Daytona, Fla. July 1. The delegates also directed a review of the dues structure. The review will begin in 2012. More photos at http://www.airforce-magazine.com, in “AFA National Report”

AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 75 AFA National Report last weekend of their winter break paint- The topic was the Air Force Fiscal 2011 at Randolph Macon Academy in Front ing the latest iteration of the slogan, as budget. The speaker: Maj. Gen. Alfred K. Royal, Va. well as some Air Force images, on the Flowers, deputy assistant secretary for The school’s chairman of the science side of a building in a business area budget. The occasion? A “Box Lunch department, Mitchell Hubbard, received near Robins Air Force Base. Membership Meeting.” the chapter’s Teacher of the Year honor High school art teacher Polly Shee- Flowers backed his presentation with at the meeting. Hubbard is the school’s han said that her 19 student volunteers some of the budget rollout material that science department chairman. were so enthusiastic about painting the he had delivered at the Pentagon Feb. 1. Other awards at the meeting’s ban- mural that they showed up 90 minutes He described the priorities of Air Force quet went to the personnel of the 167th early to begin priming the wall. They leaders and how the service’s budget Airlift Wing, based at Eastern West volunteered to start even earlier the supports the Quadrennial Defense Re- Virginia Airport, W.Va.; SSgt. Glenn F. next day and to work until dark to finish. view and covered highlights of funding Macher III, from the 167th, named NCO Sheehan reported that her young in the various budget categories. of the Year; and Xing Zhang, an RMA artists enjoyed the reactions the mural According to George DeFilippi, chap- cadet. She received an AFA Medal and generated: “People were honking their ter communications VP, the audience of Certificate of Achievement. horns as they drove by, giving thumbs-up more than 60 was particularly interested Retired Gen. Gregory S. Martin was signs.” Some passers-by photographed in the Air Force’s pending KC-X tanker guest speaker. He is a former com- the mural, and a soldier who had just contract. Other questions covered the mander of US Air Forces in Europe returned from Qatar stopped to thank Light Attack-Armed Reconnaissance and Air Force Materiel Command and the students. (LAAR) aircraft and the timetable and is now a consultant. Creation of the colorful 40-foot mural funding for T-38 trainer replacement. While at RMA, Martin took the op- dovetailed with the chapter’s kickoff in Afterward, Kevin R. Lewis, Steele portunity to get a full briefing—with an March of an effort to get the slogan Chapter external affairs VP, commented emphasis on science and math educa- adopted by other organizations. Led by that Flowers’ “in-depth knowledge and tion—from the school’s president, retired President Timothy P. Callahan, chapter frank presentation provided a level of Maj. Gen. Henry M. Hobgood. RMA members mailed letters to several detail not normally seen in a briefing is the oldest coeducational boarding military-affiliated associations, asking of this sort.” school offering AFJROTC. them to use the patriotic phrase. Virginia State Meeting More Chapter News Box Lunch on the Budget In March, the Northern Shenandoah The Gen. B. A. Schriever Los Members of the Donald W. Steele Sr. Valley Chapter hosted the Virginia State Angeles Area Chapter co-sponsored Memorial Chapter and the Nation’s quarterly meeting with a full house: another sold-out “SMC Industry Days” Capital Chapter had a lot to digest at Representatives from all 10 of the state’s in Long Beach, Calif., in April. Nearly a joint meeting in Arlington, Va. chapters attended the gathering, held 400 representatives from more than

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7676 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 50 aerospace companies attended the who work on mission planning capa- population, has the fourth largest Na- annual three-day event. It focuses on bilities gathered at the MGM Grand tional Guard. Chapter President James the Space and Missile Systems Cen- Convention Center. They took in three E. Fultz reported that Goodwin noted ter’s programs, specifically business days of briefings, training classes, and how this legacy of service dates to the opportunities in the military space sec- information exchange sessions. There Civil War, when Hoosiers constituted tor. This year’s theme: “Facing a New were more than 200 breakout sessions some eight percent of the Union Army. Space Reality ... Cyber, Protection, and nearly 50 exhibitors at this event, As for Indiana’s military contribution Budgets, and Architectures.” Lt. Gen. co-hosted by the Electronic Systems today, Goodwin said more than 16,500 John T. Sheridan, SMC commander, Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass. Lt. Gen. Guardsmen from Indiana have deployed was among the guest speakers. David A. Deptula, USAF deputy chief of since 9/11. In March, the Paul Revere Chap- staff for ISR, was the keynote speaker. In Connecticut, William H. Fort- ter co-hosted a similar conference, Southern Indiana Chapter mem- hofer, president of the Flying Yankees/ the 15th annual Mission Planning bers got a history lesson on “Hoosier Gen. George C. Kenney Chapter, Users’ Conference. It took place not Military Contributions, Yesterday and attended the military ball and awards on its home turf of Massachusetts but Today” from guest speaker ANG Brig. ceremony for the University of Con- in more easily accessible Las Vegas. Gen. J. Steward Goodwin. The Indiana necticut’s AFROTC Det. 115 to present Some 1,500 developers, users, and ANG chief of staff told the group that an AFA Outstanding AFROTC Cadet sustainment and acquisition personnel the state, although 16th largest in medal, ribbon, and certificate to Kelsi Ann Horan. Forthofer also presented the UConn junior with a commemora- tive plaque from the chapter. Retired Gen. William J. Begert, former Pacific AFA’S CORPORATE Air Forces commander and now a Pratt & Whitney executive, was guest speaker. MEMBERSHIP PROGRAM Wisconsin’s Billy Mitchell Chap- ter awarded Roman Ruud, 14 years AFA is pleased to announce our new Corporate old, its Civil Air Patrol Cadet of the Membership Program. Our goal is to provide our Year honor. Chapter President Victor L. Corporate supporters with a strong sense of value Johnson Jr. and Leadership Develop- from their participation with us. ment VP Donald C. Adams presented the medal, ribbon, and certificate at a BENEFITS INCLUDE: CAP squadron meeting in March. Ruud earned the recognition through his work Exclusive access to exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities at as a unit leader and color guard member. AFA’s conferences

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AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 7777 AFA National Report

With backing from the Central fortunate to have 15 AFJROTC units Richmond M. Keeney, 1930-2010 Florida Chapter, the 22nd annual AFA in the area, but the chapter also works Richmond M. “Max” Keeney, AFA’s Florida AFJROTC drill competition took hard on building a relationship with the insurance and membership director from place in March. Det. 158, University of students, providing classroom lectures 1958 until his retirement in 1997, died South Florida in Tampa, hosted competi- on Air Force topics and involving the April 27. He was a resident of Montgomery tors from 17 high schools. The Honor cadets in chapter activities. Village, Md., and was 79 years old. Guard from MacDill AFB, Fla., served as In a March ceremony at Hill AFB, He was responsible for field op- judges. Cadets from Sandalwood High Utah, Building 849 was dedicated as erations for much of his nearly four School in Jacksonville, Fla., took home Price Hall, to honor Jack C. Price. decades with AFA and had developed the top three of 52 trophies awarded. AFA’s president from 1988 to 1990 and group insurance plans as well as the The Central Florida Chapter— board chairman from 1990 to 1992, highly successful membership drives headed by William A. Yucuis—can count Price served in USAF for six years, in the 1970s. on student cadets to consistently put then began a 35-year career at Hill Mr. Keeney received special recog- them over the top in membership recruit- in 1953. He retired as deputy director nition at the association’s 2006 Air & ment drives. The chapter ended 2009 of distribution, working in the building Space Conference, for overseeing the by signing up 61 AFJROTC cadets from that now bears his name. It is today Air Force 12 Outstanding Airmen awards Lake Brantley High School alone—plus headquarters for the 309th Maintenance program for more than 30 years. 27 University of Central Florida cadets Wing. Ute-Rocky Mountain Chapter Mr. Keeney was a native of Newton, and a number of other students in President Brandon Strong and Treasurer Mass., and had earned a bachelor’s JROTC and Civil Air Patrol units. Accord- Audrey L. Wolff, as well as former AFA degree from Amherst College before ing to the chapter’s aerospace education Board Chairman Stephen P. Condon, serving in the Air Force from 1952 VP, Richard A. Ortega, the chapter is attended the ceremony. to 1956. n

Reunions [email protected]

8th Tactical Fighter Wg/FW. Oct. 13- 109th Military Police Co, Frankfurt, Air Rescue Assn. Sept. 22-26 in Sacra- 17 at the Academy Hotel in Colorado Germany. Nov. 4-7 in Tucson, AZ. Con- mento, CA. Contacts: Marilyn Nicholas, Springs, CO. Contact: Pete Nash (480- tact: Rob Fetters, 3602 W. Menadota 8715 E. Boston, Wichita, KS 67207 223-2351) ([email protected]). Dr., Glendale, AZ 85308 (602-405-3182) (316-686-0430) (mnicholas8cox.net) ([email protected]) (www. or Ken Pribyla (703-619-1385) (kprib@ 12th Bomb Gp (WWII); 12th Fighter mlrsinc.com/109thmpco). verizon.net). Escort Wg/Strategic Fighter Wg (Ko- rea); 12th TFW (Vietnam); 12th Fighter 509th BW. Sept. 27-30 in San Diego. B-52 Stratofortress Assn. Sept. 30-Oct. Tng Wg, Randolph AFB, Tex.; and Contact:Don Scheid, 10440 Georgetown 3 in Shreveport, LA. Contact:Wayne Pit- all supporting units. Oct. 7-11 in Fort Pl., Las Vegas, NV 89134 (702-360-4611) tman, 498 Carthage Dr., Beavercreek, Worth, Tex. Contacts: E. J. Sherwood ([email protected]). OH 45434 (937-426-1289) (kwavn@ (480-396-4681) (el.sherwood.biz@cox. earthlink.net). net) or Mary Bushnell (651-739-0051) 526th FIS/Tactical Fighter Sq, Ramstein ([email protected]). AB, Germany. Sept. 9-12 in Dayton, OH. Brady Air Base/Camp Hakata, Japan, Contact: Tom Lane (419-668-9446) veterans of all services, NSA, and civil- 38th BG, WWII B-25s in the Pacific ([email protected]). ians. Sept. 13-17 in Hamburg, PA. Con- Theater. Sept. 29-Oct. 3, at the Holiday tact: Gus Cone (253-531-1783). Inn in Alexandria, VA. Contact: Jack 623rd AC&W Assn, including 624th, DeTour, 98-1108 Malualua St., Aiea, HI 851st Sq., 529th Gp, 305 Fighter Con- Buckeye Wg Assn. Aug. 13-15 in Fair- 96701 ([email protected]) (808- trol Sq., 313th ADIV, 51st FIW, 2152nd born, OH. Contact: James Valeri (937- 487-2842). Comm. Sq., 623rd AC Flight, and all 426-6649) ([email protected]). involved in the air defense of Okinawa. 48th Fighter Sq/Fighter Interceptor Sept. 20-24 in Biloxi, MS. Contact: David Pilot Tng Class 56-S. Nov. 8-10 at Sq/Fighter Training Sq. Sept. 28-Oct. Hammond (228-388-3085) (daham- Chateau LeMoyne Hotel in New Orleans. 2 in Dayton, OH. Contact: Joe Onesty, [email protected]). Contact: Bob Watson, 1586 Indepen- 455 Galleon Way, Seal Beach, CA 90740 dence Ave., Melbourne, FL 32940 (321- (562-431-2901). AF Postal & Courier Assn. Oct. 8-11 259-8389) ([email protected]). at the Holiday Inn Operland Airport 71st FS. June 14-21 at Langley AFB, in Nashville, TN. Contacts: Jim Fos- SAC veterans. Aug. 25-29 at the Dou- VA. Contact: Michael Fritts (716-560- hee (254-774-7303) (jimfoshee@ bletree Reid Park Hotel in Tucson, AZ. 4786) (757-764-3500) (michael.fritts@ sbcglobal.net) or Frank Vazquez Contact: Toby Romero (866-260-9302) langley.af.mil). (321-972-3509). (520-203-8809). n

E-mail unit reunion notices four AFA Conventions months ahead of the event to reunions@ afa.org, or mail notices to “Reunions,” June 10-12 California State Convention, Beale AFB, Calif. Air Force Magazine, 1501 Lee Highway, June 26 North Carolina State Convention, Goldsboro, N.C. Arlington, VA 22209-1198. Please designate the unit holding the reunion, July 24 Alabama State Convention, Huntsville, Ala. time, location, and a contact for more Sept. 11-12 AFA National Convention, Washington, D.C. information. We reserve the right to Sept. 13-15 AFA Air & Space Conference, Washington, D.C. condense notices.

7878 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 AFA Members: MetLife gives you something to smile about...

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Artwork by Zaur Eylanbekov F-8 Crusader

The F-8 Crusader was beloved by its Navy and aerodynamically sophisticated. Features included a Marine Corps pilots. It was the first carrier-based midspan dogtooth extension of the chord, designed fighter to exceed a speed of 1,000 mph. Though to alleviate pitch-up, and wings with inboard and intended to be a day-only, clear-weather air supe- outboard leading edge flaps. riority fighter, this Vought aircraft was later given limited all-weather capability. The Crusader is often The aircraft gained national fame with a series of referred to as the “Last Gun Fighter.” Built around high profile record-setting flights, including one by four 20 mm cannons, it was the last US fighter to Maj. John Glenn, who in 1957 flew supersonic from rely on guns as primary armament. coast to coast. In 1962, the RF-8 variant played a crucial role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, providing The all-metal aircraft featured a unique two-position, essential low-level photographs, of Soviet and Cu- variable-incidence wing which could be raised ban deployments. It was active primarily, however, hydraulically seven degrees, enabling the aircraft in the Vietnam War, where its guns came in handy to land and take off at low speeds while giving the during close-in dogfights with North Vietnamese pilot excellent visibility. It was not the prettiest MiGs. The Crusader also served as a bomb truck, aircraft in the fleet—Crusader featured a gaping employed against communist forces in South chin inlet and a slab-sided fuselage—but it was Vietnam. —Walter J. Boyne

This aircraft: USMC F-8E Crusader—BN #150663—of VMF(AW) 312 (“the Checkerboards”), as it looked in late 1965.

In Brief Designed, built by Vought first flight March 25, 1955 crew of one one P&W J57 turbojet engine number built 1,264. Specific to F-8E: max speed 1,120 mph cruise speed 560 mph max range 1,100 mi armament four 20 mm cannons, two Sidewinder missiles, rocket pack, two 2,000-lb bombs or two Bullpup missiles weight (max) 34,000 lb span 35 ft 2 in length 54 ft 6 in height 15 ft 9 in. Famous Fliers Medal of Honor: James Stockdale. Notables: Dick Bellinger, Donald Engen, Paul Gillcrist, Charles Klusmann, Harold Marr, Paul Speer. Record Setters: John Glenn (coast to coast, three hours, 23 minutes), Duke Windsor (1,015 mph). Interesting Facts Originally designated the F8U reputed to be an “ensign killer” for its early control difficulties flew in first combat against North Vietnamese MiG-17 (April 1965) posted best kill ratio (6:1) of any US fighter in Vietnam War nicknamed “gator” by its crews suffered from high accident rate used by Marine Corps for close air support enjoyed longest service (until 1987) in photo-recce variant played major role in Cuban Mis- sile Crisis flown off a carrier with wings folded became only Crusaders on deck, with wings raised seven degrees. aircraft to use the AIM-9C—a radar-guided Sidewinder.

80 AIR FORCE Magazine / June 2010 The US16E Ejection Seat was competitively selected by Lockheed Martin for the F-35 Lightning II aircraft. The US16E is a member of the Mk16 family that includes the US16LA, US16N and US16T Ejection Seats ﬁ tted to Raytheon T-6 Texan II, NASA T-38 and USAF T-38 aircraft.

Martin-Baker has speciﬁ cally developed the US16E Ejection Seat to meet the JSF requirements. An integrated modular design which is common to all 3 aircraft variants ensures the lowest life cycle cost and lowest installed mass possible. This innovative design, built on sixty years of continuous Ejection Seat development makes it the most advanced Ejection Seat ever developed: the US16E offers the widest possible aircrew accommodation, while providing the greatest ejection performance for any Ejection Seat introduced into service.

The US16E will be manufactured at Martin-Baker’s facility in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

Martin-Baker is proud to be on the program and proud to be supporting the war-ﬁ ghter.

BETWEEN CARRYING MORE AND COSTING LESS, THERE IS ONE IMPORTANT WORD: HOW.

The C-5M Super Galaxy gets troops and supplies where they’re needed faster, more reliably, and at signiﬁcantly lower cost. With more thrust. Shorter takeoff roll. And faster climb rate. The C-5M will continue performing beyond 2040, and will pay for itself through operational and sustainment savings. Carrying more cargo at a lower cost is all a question of how. And it is the how that makes all the difference.