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Flight Line Air Force Association Chapter 105
2019-2 Tucson, Arizona April 2019
Chapter Officers
President Wally Saeger
[email protected]
Vice President Mark Koechle
[email protected]
Secretary Vickie Jo Ryder
[email protected]
Treasurer Marie A. Lankford [email protected]
VP Aerospace Education
VP CyberPatriot Wally Saeger
[email protected]
VP Government Relations
VP Leadership Develop. Cal Payne
[email protected]
VP Membership Vickie Jo Ryder
[email protected]
VP Veterans Affairs Bill Goodall
[email protected]
VP Military Liaison Kevin Long
[email protected]
VP Programs / Communication Marie A. Lankford
[email protected]
VP Community Partners
Dave Carrell [email protected]
VP Community Outreach
Heidi Goldman [email protected]
VP Aerospace Education
(ROTC) Cadet Dylan Brummett [email protected]
VP Awards
VP AFA Golf Fundraiser Dick Roberts
[email protected]
VP Public Affairs / Newsletter Dick Roberts
[email protected]
From the Prez -
It’s already been a busy start to the year with more to
come.
For our meeting in January, we had three
agents from the Tucson Sector for Customs
and Border Protection provide an extensive
briefing about their role in providing border
security and the challenges they face daily.
They then patiently answered numerous ques-
tions from our highly engaged members.
At the January meeting, I caught Dick Rob-
erts totally off guard when we presented him
with an award as our chapter’s 2018 Member
of the Year.
We started February by attending the Desert Lightning Team
Annual Award Winners Recognition Ceremony where we offered each of
the winners a one-year eMembership in the AFA.
Although we didn’t have a meeting in Febru-ary, we started March
off with over 70 chapter
members and their guests attending the Fri-
day, March 1st session of the Air Combat
Command’s Heritage Flight Training and Cer-
tification Course which is hosted annually by
DMAFB. The HFTCC is held before the start
of the air show season so that pilots flying
WWII, Korean and Vietnam era aircraft can
be certified to fly in formation with modern
era A-10, F-16, F-22 and F-35 aircraft. Break-
fast was supplied by two of Community Part-
ners, Chick-fil-A El Con and Chick-fil-A
Tanque Verde. Thank you.
Thunder and Lightning over Arizona, the air
show hosted by the 355th Wing and Davis-
Monthan AFB took place March 23-24. We
had a booth manned by volunteers from the
chapter both days to explain what AFA is and
what we do to support the airmen and their
families in the greater Tucson area. Although
our location wasn’t as ideal as in past years,
we still interacted with those that came by and
even signed up one new member on the spot;
a capability provided by AFA National and
we were one of the first chapters able to use it.
Your chapter was selected to host a pilot class for
CyberGenerations which took place at the
base education center on Friday, March 29. The
class is aimed at senior citizens as a cyber safety
initiative based upon other education programs
that are part of CyberPatriot.
April will prove to be busy as our annual fund-
raising golf tournament will take place Saturday,
April 13 at The Haven Golf Course in Green
Valley.
We also have a guest speaker lined up for our
April meeting on Friday, April 26 at Club Iron-
wood; more details to follow on that so watch for
the email announcing the event.
As is normal for us, we won’t have a May
meeting due to Memorial weekend but the
Southwest Region Conference will take place in
Albuquerque NM, May 31-June 1 at the Hotel
Albuquerque. Again more details to follow for
those who may be interested in attending.
We’re working on lining up a guest speaker for
June before we take a break for July.
Due to the influence of Dick Roberts, our chap-
ter again received a donation of $250 from the
Aero Club of Arizona at their annual banquet,
March 9th in Green Valley. The donation will be
used as part of our annual scholarship award to a
deserving University of Arizona AFROTC Det
020 cadet which we present in December.
We are always looking for members who want
to be involved and everyone is invited to our
Executive Committee meetings which are held
the first Monday of the month. See the Coming
Events listing elsewhere in this newsletter.
Remember, we’re all: Airmen for Life
Remember EDUCATE, ADVOCATE and SUPPORT.
Wally Saeger, President
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Tucson Chapter’s January Meeting
At our January 25, 2019 meeting we were lucky enough to have
three Tucson Sector Border Patrol Agents do an outstanding
presentation. Agents Joseph Curran, Jacob Stukenberg and Jesus
Vasavilbaso were
able to present a compelling story about need for U.S. Customs
and Border Protection (USCBP) and the compelling roles played by
the three agencies: Office of Border Patrol (OBP), Of-fice of Field
Oper-ations (OFO), and Air and Marine Operation (AMO).
OBP is responsible for responding to all illegal traffic that
crosses the border between the official Port of En-try. They wear
green uniforms
OFO facilitates traffic through the official Ports of En-try.
Ports are manned by CBP (Customs) Officers. Their uniforms are
blue.
AMO provides aerial and marine support for CBP. AMO utilize
various manned and unmanned aircraft. Their uniforms are tan.
Customs and Border Protection is one of 22 agencies in the
Department of Homeland Security (DHS).
The U.S. Border Patrol (USBP) was established May 28, 1924 and
provides border security between desig-nated Ports of Entry. There
are 6,000 miles of land border: 4,000 miles with Canada and 2,000
miles with Mexico. USBP works with DHS partners across 2,600 miles
of coastal border along the Gulf of Mexico, Atlan-tic coast of
Florida and Caribbean. There are 20 USBP sectors across the United
States.
The Tucson Sector is responsible for 262 linear miles equating
to 90,530 square miles and covers almost the whole state of Arizona
except the Yuma Sector which starts at the Yuma/Pima county line.
There are nine stations within the Tucson Sector. The Wilcox
Station is the only station whose area of responsibility does not
touch the border with Mexico and is composed mostly of
checkpoints.
In FY2017, the Tucson Sector accounted for 45% of all marijuana
seizures nationwide and 13% of all arrests nationwide. This was
accomplished with a force of 3,691 agents.
The Tucson Sector has 141 miles of Vehicle Barrier (permanent
and Normandy) and 71 miles of Bollard Fence for a total of 212
miles of some form of man-made barrier. The remaining 50 miles have
a natural barrier such as mountains. When asked, the agents were
unanimous in the efficacy of some sort of physical barrier to deter
or slow illegal border crossings and their ability to apprehend
illegal immigrants.
USBP also uses technology such as remote sensors that are
permanent and truck-mounted for mobility.
They also make use of UAVs when they are available. Although
this technology is a force multiplier, it still comes down to the
Border Patrol Agents to identify, locate, and arrest the illegal
aliens before they disappear. The agents are trained to track
illegal immigrants using technology such as night vision goggles
and good old footprints or tire tracks. Every agent is trained as a
first responder to pro-vide initial medical care and over 250 are
EMTs.
The Border Patrol Agent training takes 19 weeks and covers the
areas of the law the agents must know and apply, physical fitness,
firearms training, driving training and basic Spanish
L-R: Border Patrol Agents Joseph Cur-
ran, Jesus Vasavilbaso, & Jacob Stuken-
berg
Walt Thomas
Heritage Flight F-22
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Web Sites of Interest for AFA Members
Air Force Association (AFA) AFA Tucson Chapter 105 www.afa.org
afatucson105.wordpress.com Military Officers Association of America
(MOAA www.moaa.org Air Force Sergeants Association (AFSA)
www.afsahq.org AFPC Afterburner Newsletter
www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/afretire DFAS (Retiree Finance Center)
www.dfas.mil Contact Congress www.senate.gov www.house.gov Air
Force Daily Report www.dailyreport.afa.org www.af.mil AFA Veteran
Benefits Association www.afaba.org 4Armed Forces.com. Your best
source of top quality Armed Forces Memorabilia and Gifts
www.4ArmedForces.com Appeals
www.warms.vba.va.gov/admin21/m21_1/mr/part1/ch05.doc Board of
Veteran’s Appeals www.va.gov/vbs/bva Center for Women Veterans
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. 2018 Chapter Member of the Year
Dick Roberts was the unanimous selection by your chap-
ter’s Executive Committee to be your chapter’s 2018 Mem-
ber of the Year. His selection was based upon his tireless
efforts behind the scenes to
make the chapter a success.
Dick lives in Green Valley and
has been a member of AFA
since 1994.
In 2018, he chaired our annual
golf tournament which was held
at The Haven Golf Course in
Green Valley for the first time
pending the closure of the Davis
-Monthan AFB golf course.
Through his dedicated efforts and the executive committee,
the April 13th event raised over $4,500. He even volun-
teered to chair the 2019 tournament which will again take
place at The Haven on April 13th.
Dick is a member of the chapter’s executive committee and
he faithfully drives from “the big city” to attend our
monthly
meetings where his insight is highly valued as we make de-
cisions about the direction of your chapter-both program-
matic and financially.
Finally, Dick is the editor and whip cracker for your chap-
ter’s quarterly newsletter. Without his diligent efforts,
the
newsletter wouldn’t contain the content it does or be the
first
-class product that it is. He puts his heart into every
issue
and has my sincere appreciation for his efforts.
Thank you Dick for your outstanding work in 2018 and your
continued support of Tucson Chapter 105
Wally Saeger, Chapter President
Serving Arizona's Veterans as They Have Served Us
The Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services (ADVS) provides
direct services to Veterans through the administra-tion of 19
Veterans Benefits Offices throughout the state - helping Veterans
connect with their VA benefits, two skilled-nursing Veterans' Home
facilities in Phoenix and Tucson provide short and long-term care,
the original Arizona Veter-ans' Memorial Cemetery in Sierra Vista,
and two new ceme-teries opened in 2016 in Northern Arizona at Camp
Navajo and in Southern Arizona in Marana - north of Tucson. In
addition, the Arizona Department of Veterans’ Services provides
critical, state-wide coordination and technical assis-tance to
services and organizations serving Veterans. This includes
activities such as coordinating services across pri-vate and public
sectors in serving targeted populations such as Veterans
experiencing homelessness, and special needs for the growing
population of Women Veterans - many of whom are at-risk, as well as
building community capacity to address Veteran employment and
higher education. Services provided by the Arizona Department of
Veterans’ Services were instrumental in connecting Arizona’s over
600,000 Veterans with over $399 million in Compensation, Pension,
Educational and Medical benefits, and grants from the United States
Department of Veterans Affairs in FY 2017. More information about
the Arizona Department of Veter-an’s Service can be found here:
https://dvs.az.gov
YOUR AIR FORCE – DID YOU KNOW? Located at Offutt Air Force Base
near Omaha, Neb., U.S. Strategic Command is one of ten unified
com-mands in the Department of Defense. The mission of USSTRATCOM
and its 162,000 members is to deter strategic attack and employ
forces, as directed, to guar-antee the security of our nation and
our allies. The com-mand's assigned responsibilities include
strategic deter-rence, nuclear operations, space operations, joint
elec-tronic spectrum operations, global strike, missile de-fense,
and analysis and targeting. USSTRATCOM's forces and capabilities
underpin and enable all other Joint Force operations.
Heritage
Flight Walt Thomas
https://go.afa.org/e/285922/2019-02-26/4v9jny/483333716?h=AU-n3kibTmYV2FnT8ayZvw9TB0RZJf_sVeU5HzZW1tA
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2018-2019 CyberPatriot XI
It’s hard to believe that CyberPatriot is in its 11th year.
What started with eight Junior ROTC high school programs
in Orlando FL as a test has grown to almost 6,400 teams
from around the world competing in three divisions: Open
High School, All Services and Middle School. This year,
there were six teams registered in the greater Tucson area
and 11 in the Chapter 105 AOR. Unfortunately, team results
are reported by team numbers and not team names as are
shown on the registration list so only results from four
teams
were available.
In the early rounds, teams compete within their own divi-
sions: Open High School, All Services and Middle School.
Based upon how they score, teams in the Open and All Ser-
vices are then divided into Platinum, Gold and Silver tiers.
Once a team is categorized into a tier, they only compete
against other teams in that particular tier. Only teams
catego-
rized as Platinum are competing to advance to the National
Finals. The competition is more difficult at the Platinum
level than it is at the Gold level which is more difficult
than
the Silver level.
Civil Air Patrol Neotoma Composite Squadron from North Tucson
was in its 5th year of competing and only two of their six team
members had competed in the past. The team ended
up competing at the All-Service Gold level and was able to
advance to the Semi-Final round. All of their hard work paid off as
they ended the competition as #1 Gold/All-Service team in the
NATION. Well done NCS. The team con-sisted of cadets: MSgt
Alexan-der Diaz, TSgt William Fricke, SSgt Nathan Poulton, SrA Ria
Blackwood, Amn Joey Buix, and Amn Benjamin Snow.
The team was coached by
CAP Lt Col Laura Markiewicz
and assistant coach CAP Capt
Silvia Scotti. The technical
mentor was C/2nd Lt Cannon
Smith. C/Smith had been the team’s previous captain but
was attending classes at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical Univer-
sity and mentored the team remotely.
Tucson University High School had three teams: one team
was classified as Platinum and two were classified as Gold
after the preliminary rounds. The Platinum team ended up
2nd in the state round but did not do well enough in the
Semi
-Final round to be ranked or advance to the National Finals.
Still all teams competed well and gained valuable experi-
ence in the process.
Registration for CyberPatriot XII opened April 1, 2019 and will
surely encompass even more teams ready to take on the
challenge.
Pilot CyberGenerations Class
The AFA CyberPatriot program started 12 years ago as an
effort to get high school aged kids interested in STEM
(Science, Technology, Engi-
neering and Math) education
and cyber security. It started
with a cyber defense competi-
tion that evolved into cyber
education at the high school,
middle school, and finally ele-
mentary school levels. The
latest iteration is a cyber security education program aimed
at
more senior citizens.
To test out the course that was de-veloped by AFA National, your
chapter was selected to be one of the guinea pigs and we conducted
a class on March 29th at the Davis-Monthan AFB education center of
the pilot class. Thirteen people attended the class conducted by
chapter president Wally Saeger (professional educators don’t need
to worry about your jobs, he did OK but not ready for prime time).
Those attending the class pro-vided great feedback and interacted
well with others attending so we were able to provide good feedback
for potential im-provements/modifications.
Left to Right: kneeling: C/MSgt Alexander Diaz and C/SSgt
Na-than Poulton
Standing: C/Amn Benjamin Snow, C/Amn Joey Buix, C/SrAmn Ria
Blackwood, C/TSgt William Fricke and Assistant Coach Capt Silvia
Scotti
Heritage Flight F-35
Walt Thomas
AFA Tucson Chapter 105 Thunder & Lightning Over Arizona Air
Show
March 23-24
Bill Goodall
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“A Little Bit of History”
Titan II Missile
The Titan II was an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM)
and space launcher developed by the Glenn L. Martin Com-pany from
the earlier Titan I missile. Titan II was originally designed and
used as an ICBM, but was later used as a medi-um-lift space launch
vehicle to carry payloads for the United States Air Force (USAF),
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and National
Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration (NOAA). Those payloads
included the USAF Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP),
the NOAA weather satellites, and NASA's Gemini manned space
capsules. The modified Titan II SLVs (Space Launch Vehicles) were
launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California up until 2003.
The missile consists of a two-stage, rocket engine powered vehicle
and a re-entry vehicle (RV). Provisions are included for in-flight
separation of Stage II from Stage I, and separation of the RV from
Stage II. Stage I and Stage II vehicles each contain propellant and
pressurization, rocket engine, hydraulic and electrical systems,
and explosive components. In addition, Stage II contains the flight
control system and missile guid-ance set. The Titan II was in
service from 1963 to 1987. There were originally 63 Titan II
Strategic Air Command missiles. Nine were deployed to Vandenberg
Air Force Base, the principal Titan II training base, in
California. Eighteen of the missiles were on 24-hour continuous
alert surrounding Davis–Monthan Air Force Base near Tucson,
Arizona. The remain-ing thirty-six missiles were equally divided
between Little Rock Air Force Base in Arkansas, and McConnell Air
Force Base in Wichita, Kansas, and also placed on continuous
24-hour alert, making for a total of fifty-four operational combat
asset Titan IIs.[
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STARBASE Arizona is gearing up to wind down another great year
here at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Since the beginning of the
year in August, we will have seen more than 30 classes from ten
schools and four different school districts from across the city of
Tucson. That works out to be over 950 students!!
By providing these students with hands-on activities in the
fields of science, technology, engineering and math we are
equipping them with the tools to not only be critical thinkers in
their current educational environment, but training them to be
heavy hitters in the ever-changing world of STEM. STAR-BASE is able
to cover a variety of concepts in the 25 hours that students are
here on the base, and pique their interest in the hopes that they
will further pursue a career in a STEM field.
We are ever grateful for the opportunity to be a part of the DM
community, and words cannot express how much we appreciate the
support from the base and our active duty vol-unteers. Our program
would not be possible without them and our students love and
cherish the time spent with the Airmen. If you are ever interested
in volunteering with STARBASE, we always have opportunities!!
Please contact Mikelle Cronk at [email protected] for
more information.
Thank you
A BIG thank you to El Con and Tanque Verde Chick-fil-A’s for
providing chick’n minis
and fruit trays in support of the Her-itage Flight on March 1st.
Air Force Association members and
guests really appreciated the food and sup-port!
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intercontinental_ballistic_missilehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_L._Martin_Companyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glenn_L._Martin_Companyhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HGM-25A_Titan_Ihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Launch_vehiclehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Air_Forcehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NASAhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administrationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Oceanic_and_Atmospheric_Administrationhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defense_Meteorological_Satellite_Programhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Geminihttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vandenberg_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_entryhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategic_Air_Commandhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis%E2%80%93Monthan_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Davis%E2%80%93Monthan_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tucson,_Arizonahttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Rock_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McConnell_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McConnell_Air_Force_Basehttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wichita,_Kansashttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGM-25C_Titan_II#cite_note-7mailto:[email protected]
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Community Partner Program For more than 40 years, businesses
have been joining the Air Force Association to support both AFA
National and local AFA chap-ters. Becoming a Community Partner is a
great way to get your business involved with your local Air Force
Community. Community Partners are partnership businesses that want
to assist both AFA National and the local AFA chapters by becoming
involved in Community efforts to support the United States Air
Force. By forming a partnership with your local AFA chapter, your
business will help AFA fulfill their mission to promote a dominant
Unit-ed States Air Force and a strong national defense. Any
business or organization can become a CP and have two options for
member-ship: Category One (CP I) $90.00 annually- Business can
designate one person to receive AFA Membership and enjoy all
benefits thereof. Category Two (CP II) $180.00 annually- Business
can designate two people to receive AFA Membership and enjoy all
benefits thereof. Not only does a Community Partner receive all the
benefits of an AFA membership, such as a variety of product and
service dis-counts, insurance programs, and much more, but the
partner will also receive the following upon joining AFA: Date
Medallion Wooden Plaque 8”x5” “Our Business Supports Our Troops"
Window Decal If your business is interested in becoming a Community
Partner, you should first contact your local chapter.
For questions or for more information on the program, please
contact: Dave Carrell, [email protected], (520) 305-4407 Have your
business become a part of a great cause and show your patrons that
you support our Air Force!
A & E Specialty Marketing Chick-fil-A La Posada Lodge &
Casitas Elliott M. Klahr Matt Hountz Juan Loo, Sales & Catering
Mgr P. O. Box 4423 3605 E. Broadway Blvd 5900 N. Oracle Rd Rio
Rico, AZ 85648 Tucson, AZ 85716 Tucson, AZ 85704 520-281-1369 (P)
520-321-4232 520-887-4800 (P) 520-980-0515 (C) 520-293-7543 (F)
[email protected] Ciruli Brothers ascendcollection.com 5
Calle Cristina Chick-fil-A Rio Rico, AZ 85648 Jackson Oil Company
Dave Carrell 520-281-1456 Robert Ferretti 6675 E. Grant Rd.
623-217-8005 Tucson, AZ 85715 Vantage West Credit Union
520-305-4407 Cindy Brainer Radisson Suites Tucson P.O. Box 15115
Valerie Friend, General Manager Tucson, AZ 85708 6555 E. Speedway
Blvd Chick-fil-A 520-298-7882 Tucson, AZ 85710 Jim Paine
800-888-7882 520-721-7100 Ext.7600 (P) 4885 N. Oracle Rd.
Vantagewest.org 520-722-6146 (F) Tucson, AZ 85705
[email protected] 520-408-2456
Tucson Chapter’s Community Partners
Tucson Appliance Company Chris Edwards
4229 E. Speedway Blvd Tucson, AZ 85712-4523
Chick-fil-A Brian White 3943 W. Ina Road Tucson, AZ 85741 (520)
744-6269
Sonesta ES Suites Ellen Jimenez, Director of Sales 6477 East
Speedway Boulevard Tucson, AZ 85710 520-721-0991
SonestaESsuites.com
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://sonestaessuites.com/
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7
World War II—History On average, 6,600 American servicemen died
per MONTH, during WWII (about 220 a day). People who were not
around during WW2 have no understanding of the magni-tude. This
gives some insight. 276,000 aircraft manufactured in the US .
43,000 planes lost overseas, including 23,000 in combat. 14,000
lost in the continental U.S. The staggering cost per aircraft in
1945 dollars vs 2019 dollars ($1 = $14.11) B-17 $204,370.
($2,884,522 P-40 $44,892. ($633, 615) B-24 $215,516. ($218,996)
P-47 $85,578. ($1,207,866) B-25 $142,194. ($2,006, 956) P-51
$51,572. ($727,898) B-26 $192,426. ($2,715,942) C-47 $88,574.
($1,250,152) B-29 $605,360. ($8,544,180) PT-17 $15,052. ($212,447)
P-38 $97,147. ($1,371,154) AT-6 $22,952. (323,949) From Germany 's
invasion of Poland Sept. 1, 1939 until Japan 's surrender on Sept.
2, 1945 = 2,433 days. America lost an average of 170 planes per
day. A B-17 carried 2,500 gallons of high octane fuel and carried a
crew of 10 airmen. 9.7 billion gallons of gasoline consumed. 108
million hours flown. 460 thousand million / 460,000,000,000 (460
Billion) rounds of aircraft ammo fired overseas. 7.9 million bombs
dropped overseas. 2.3 million combat flights. 299,230 aircraft
used. 808,471 aircraft engines used. 799,972 propellers. WWII’s
MOST-PRODUCED COMBAT AIRCRAFT Russian Ilyushin IL-2 36,183 Yakolev
Yak 31,000
Messerschmitt Bf-10930,480 Focke-Wulf Fw 190 29,001 Supermarine
Spitfire 20,351 Convair B-24/PB4Y 18,482 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
15,686 North American P-51 Mustang 15,875 Junkers Ju-88 15,000
Hawker Hurricane 14,533 Curtiss P-40 Warhawk 13,738 Boeing B-17
Flying Fortress 12,731 Vought F4U Corsair 12,571 Grumman F6F
Hellcat 12,275 Petlyakov Pe-2 11,400 Lockheed P-38 Lightning 10,037
Mitsubishi A6M Zero10,449 North American B-25 Mitchell 9,984
Lavochkin LaGG 75,753 Grumman TBM Avenger 9,837 Bell P-39 Airacobra
9,584 Nakajima Ki-43 Oscar 5,919 DeHavilland Mosquito 7,780 Avro
Lancaster 7,377 Heinkel He-11 16,508 Handley-Page Halifax 6,176
Messerschmitt Bf-110 6,150 The US lost 14,903 pilots, aircrew and
support personnel plus 13,873 airplanes --- inside the continental
United States . There were 52,651 aircraft accidents (6,039
involving fatalities) in 45 months. Average 1,170 aircraft
accidents per month---- nearly 40 a day. It gets worse..... Almost
1,000 planes disappeared enroute from the US to foreign climes. But
43,581 aircraft were lost overseas including 22,948 on combat
missions (18,418 in Europe ) and 20,633 due to non-combat causes
overseas. In a single 376 plane raid in August 1943, 60 B-17s were
shot down. That was a 16 percent loss rate and meant 600 empty
bunks in England . In 1942-43, it was statistical-ly impossible for
bomber crews to complete the intended 25-mission tour in Europe.
Pacific theatre losses were far less (4,530 in combat) owing to
smaller forces commit-ted. The B-29 mission against Tokyo on May
25, 1945, cost 26 Superfortresses, 5.6 percent of the 464
dispatched from the Marianas .
Over 40,000 airmen were killed in combat and another 18,000
wound-ed. Some 12,000 missing men were declared dead, including
those "liberated" by the Soviets but never returned. More than
41,000 were captured. Half of the 5,400 held by the Japanese died
in captivity, com-pared with one-tenth in German hands. Total
combat casualties were 121,867. The US forces peak strength was in
1944 with 2,372,000 personnel, nearly twice the previous year's
figure. Losses were huge---but so were production totals. From 1941
through 1945, American industry delivered more than 276,000
military air-craft. That was not only for US Army, Navy and Marine
Corps, but also for allies as diverse as Britain , Australia ,
China and Russia . Our enemies took massive losses. Through much of
1944, the Luftwaffe sustained hemorrhaging of 25% of aircrews and
40 planes a month. Experience Level: Uncle Sam sent many men to war
with minimum training. Some fighter pilots entered combat in 1942
with less than 1 hour in their assigned air-craft.. The 357th
Fighter Group (The Yoxford Boys) went to England in late 1943
having trained on P-39s, then flew Mustangs. They never saw a
Mustang until the first combat mission. With the arrival of new
aircraft, many units transitioned in combat. The attitude was,
"They all have a stick and a throttle. Go fly `em." When the famed
4th Fighter Group converted from P-47s to P-51s in Feb 44, there
was no time to stand down for an orderly transition. The Group
commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said, "You can learn to fly 51s
on the way to the target". A future P-47 ace said, "I was sent to
England to die." Many bomber crews were still learning their trade.
Of Jimmy Doolittle's 15 pilots on the April 1942 Tokyo raid, only
five had won their wings before 1941. All but one of the 16
co-pilots were less than a year out of flight school. In WW2,
safety took a back seat to combat. The AAF's worst accident rate
was recorded by the A-36 Invader version of the P-51: a staggering
274 accidents per 100,000 flying hours. Next worst were the P-39 at
245, the P-40 at 188, and the P-38 at 139. All were Allison
powered. Bomber wrecks were fewer but more expensive. The B-17 and
B-24 averaged 30 and 35 accidents per 100,000 flight hours
respectively-- a horrific figure considering that from 1980 to 2000
the Air Force's major mishap rate was less than 2. The B-29 was
even worse at 40 per 100,000 hours; the world's most
so-phisticated, most capable and most expensive bomber was too
urgently needed to be able to stand down for mere safety reasons.
(Compare: when a $2.1 billion B-2 crashed in 2008, the Air Force
de-clared a two-month "safety pause"). The B-29 was no better for
maintenance. Although the R3350 was known as a complicated,
troublesome power-plant, only half the mechanics had previous
experience with it. Navigators: Perhaps the greatest success story
concerned Navigators. The Army grad-uated some 50,000 during WW2.
Many had never flown out of sight of land before leaving "Uncle
Sugar" for a war zone. Yet they found their way across oceans and
continents without getting lost or running out of fuel - a tribute
to the AAF's training. At its height in mid-1944, the USAAF had 2.6
million people and nearly 80,000 aircraft of all types. Today the
US Air Force employs 327,000 active personnel (plus 170,000
civilians) with 5,500+ manned and perhaps 200 unmanned aircraft.
That's about 12% of the manpower and 7% of the airplanes of the WW2
peak. SUMMATION: Another war like that of 1939-45 is doubtful, as
fighters and bombers have given way to helicopters and
remotely-controlled drones, eg. over Afghanistan and Iraq . But
within our living memory, men left the earth in 1,000-plane
formations and fought major battles five miles high, leav-ing a
legacy that remains timeless.
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JOIN AFA
Air Force Association Tucson Chapter 105
P. O. Box 15057 Tucson, AZ 85708
Air Force Association Means Americans for Air Power
Upcoming Events
Look for future “field trips” to different organization on base;
if you have something specific you want to see please let us know!
There are MANY events supporting our local Airmen listed below and
more to come! As a Chapter, we try to attend all that we can. If
you are interested in representing our AFA Chapter at any of these,
please inform Wally Saeger ([email protected]) and he will
coordi-nate it. You just have to show up and enjoy these
traditional military ceremonies and gatherings. First come, first
served!!
April 2019 - 1st: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200,
355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - 13th: Annual AFA
Chapter 105 Golf Tournament, The Haven GC, Green Valley - 26th:
Chapter Monthly Luncheon, Speaker TBD May 2019 - 6th: Chapter
Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room
(all welcome!) - 13th: First Arizona Air Force Association Annual
Gathering, Ft Huachuca Thunder Mountain, Speaker New AFA President
Bruce “Orville” Wright, Lt Gen, USAF (Ret) -31st: Southwest Region
Conference Tours, Kirtland AFB, NM
June 2019 - 1st: Southwest Region Conference, Hotel Albuquerque,
Albuquerque, NM
- 3rd: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops
Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - 28th: Chapter Monthly
Meeting: TBD
SAVE THESE DATES: - July 1st: Chapter Executive Committee
Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - Aug
5th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group
Conference Room (all welcome!) - Aug 23rd: Chapter Monthly Meeting:
TBD - Sep 9th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops
Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - Sep 14-15: AFA National
Convention, Washington DC - Sep 16-18: AFA Air, Space and Cyber
Conference, Washington DC - Sep 27th: Chapter Monthly Meeting &
Election of Chapter Officers: TBD
AFA’s Mission
Our Mission is to promote a dominant USAF and a strong national
defense and to honor airmen and our AF heritage. To accomplish this
we:
Educate the public on the critical need for unmatched aerospace
power and a technically superior workforce to ensure US national
security,
Advocate for aerospace power and STEM education, and
Support the total Air Force Family and promote aerospace
education.
