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"N0W" is a word heard frequently today. It expressesboth the impatience of burgeoning youth and theurgency of aircraft maintenance to an Air Force combat wing in action.Now is when we need to know how fast supplies arebeing used, how long it will takc to get more. It means

real time to supply people."The real-time processing of he Univac 1050-11 digital computer makes our standard base supply systemthe most advanced inventory control setup in theworld," SSgt. George D. Wall told us. "Thc 1050 doesthe legwork, adds up the figures and tells the supplyman all he needs to know about line iJems and accountsto make the right management decisions. Right now."Wall, NCOIC of the supply computer operation atBolling AFB , put a little extra emphasis on the wordnow. Seated at a many-buttoned console he was explaining what hc called the "in-line processing" of thewhirring, clicking 1050-II computer. The machine isthe hcart of the Air Force Standard Base Supply Systemused at 147 bases around the world.The Univac 1050 keeps thc records, reviews thestock levels and tells supply men when to replenish theshelves. It issues a requested item, finds a substitute ororders the item and charges it against the proper ac

count-automatically. It tells the requester the status ofhis order , the receiving warehouse what to expect andthe issue point what it owes and to whom . The accounting and finance records are posted by the machinewhich integrates stock control with budget ano financialmanagement. In seconds. Now!At each day's end a releveling cycle reads out allthe transactions in clear, precise English. It notes thequantity of each item issued. who received it and thenumber remaining. It compares the figurcs with stocklevel requirements, issues any recommendations forchanges in level based on the number of demandsagainst the supply and indicates what stock replcnishments are needed. And every step in the infinitely com-October 1968

In lhe minds of well trained airmen, materiel, mathematics andmachines add up to

AREAL-TIMESUPPLY

by EDISON T. BLAIRThe Airman Staff

plex electronic operation is recorded on a high speedmagnetic tape-just in case.According to the men who use it, the system is accomplishing almost impossible supply tasks. Like theone SMSgt. Archie Alexander tells about in Vietnam.Alexanqer worked in the management and proceduresoffice of Seventh Air Force Supply during the Tel offensive of 1968. One Thursday night the VC zeroed inon a warehouse at Dag Nang that contained about16,000 high priority aircraft line items. Both the warehouse and supplies were destroyed.The 10SO-II dug into its electronic memory and pro

duced a list of items stored in that warehouse. The list,telephone and teletype coordination with headquartersPacific Air Force and Air Force Logistics Commandcombined to put 80 percent of these items b ~ c k onsupply shelves in Da Nang by the following Thursqay."We could never have reordered and restocked those16,000 items that quickly without the 1050 and Ourstandard system," said Alexander.A classic example that demonstrates the real time advantages of the Univac 1050-II in the standard basesupply system is related from the technical school atLowry AFB, Colo., to Thailan

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This reoltime tomponent of the Univoc 10.5011 supply tomputer writesoruwers 10 0 supply mon's questions 01 a role of 7.50 line5 per minute.issued just as easily.

Crew chiefs, maintenance Il1en and supply men, Onceaccustomed to waiting days and weeks for part s to repair broken airplanes, nOw expect a new part to bedelivered by the time they rcmove the old one.

"You ju st wouldn't believe tho improvemen t in ourrecoverable assets- parts that can be repa ired and putback into service at base or depot level . It has been trcmendous," said Mr. Pat Surace, assistant ch ief of supplyat Andrews AFB, Md .

"The computer gives us complete control of the assetdaily and continually," Surace pointed out. "We getour end of the day report of transactions. The machinealso tells us the average repair cycle time, base repaircapabilities, order and shipping time and usage data onall of these valuable and repairable assets ."This data is generated at all standardized hases andit goes to the Air Force Logistics Command in the formof a stock balance and consumption report of all lineitems. You can easi ly sec how valuable this information can bc to AFLC, the wholcsalers for the Air Force.What makes it mOre valuahle is that thc information iscompiled at evcry base on a standard 80-characterpunch card and transmitted electronically in almostreal-time to AFLC through AUTODIN, the automaticdigital network."

This report, which once took a month or more to com-pile, post and a n a l y z ~ , was next to useless because ofthe time lag. Now AFLC uses this and a similar punchca rded report for the Air Force Rccoverable Asset Material System (AFRAMS). AFRAMS gives LogisticsCommand a worldwide stock position on a selectedgroup of recoverable items . The information enablesAFLC to make the m"st effective use of the matcrialthrough a push-pull delivery system.Andrews was the pilot base for the base supplystanda rdization. Base supply there was already designed

Told when on item i5 received, Ihe computer Ihen telh the supply monwho needs the item how mony ore needed, ond where 10 , tore the re,1.to suppon a great variety of aircraft as well as a largepiece of real estate with several tenants. The Univac1050-11 and the standard base supply system becameoperational at Andrews in March 1964.

This was just a month after a te st computer was installed at nearby Bolling AFB. The Supply System Design Office, then a field extension of the Air Force Directorate of Supply and Services, used the test unit to develop and tryout programs. The supply people at Andrews found th

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Computer memory, punched cards, tapes ItHPJvpply data available 01 tovch of button.

Inventory (onlroL cosl occounting ond all the alh.r dolo Ihat Air force supply people U le 10manoge Ihe multimillion dollor stockpilM of ""oteriol read. oul in seconds from Ihe I05Q..11.

gistics Command, Defense Supply Agency and Government Services Administration, for budget and management purposes. But each report was presl!nted in a different format. The wholesalers had to interpret the databefore it could be used.Personnel transfers added complications. And peopleallen needed a great deal of on-the-job training beforethey became effective in the organization.None of the supply computers in use had a remotecapability. Cards had to be sorted or punched, ca rriedto the computer room and placed directly into the card

reader there to get the information sought from thecomputer. The output document had to be hand-sortedand hand-carried, or mailed back to the right workarea. This was time-consuming, tOO slow for jet agesupply requirements. Besides, documents sometimeswerc lost or misplaced en route.

"It was obvious we needed a modernized systemthroughou t the Air Force," sa id Lt . Gen. Robert G.Ruegg, Deputy Chief of Staff for Systems and Logistics,US Air Force . "Our total supply inventory is wortharound: $11.7 billion and includes 1.7 million federallystock-numbered line items. Most of this stock is centrally funded and programmed . It is maintained at hundreds of locations throughout the world. Together, thisadds up to the largest integrated inventory management problem in either government or industry."A study made in 1962 indicated that the on ly realtime so lution was supply standardization throughoutthe Air Force. To do the job, the Univac I050-11 wasdesigned from scratch. With this computerized, standardilcd supply system was born a new career field,Supply Systems Analyst.The Air Training Command has built its trainingaround the 1050-Il, according to Sergeant Atkinsonwho helped them layout the career dcvelopment course .

The training course is frequently updated as newOctober 1966

needs and problems are experienced in the field."Like the supply system itself, the training is still notult,imate. We have all kept learning ourselves," Atkinson said, waving toward nearby desks manned by nonCOms with stripes that had to represent 15 or 20 yearsof supply experience. Most of them had at least 10years experience with various computers he told us.They were the people concerned with program design.They spent a lot of time talking to the supply people atthe bases, learning their problems. The problems areconverted into machine programs for sol ution .

Most problems, that is. Every base using the systemstays ill close touch with this central control center atBolling AFB by telephone and teletype. Prob lems inthe field are report ed in almost real time. But recentlywhen a ,!omputer in ThaiJand shut down, the expertshad to call On the civil engineers to solve their problem-a snake in the works. They st ill haven't worked out aprogram that will tell the mach ine what to do the nexttime this happens.

\:Iut they have helped work out a training and classification program for Training Command to insure thatpeople are trained to replace them . The idea is to traincareer supply system analysts and program designersfor the Air Force.

It stands to reason that a man must know a great dealabout the supply field itself-how items are stored andwhere, how and why inventories are kept. Therefo rethe prospective supply systems analyst serves an apprenticeship in the warehouse putting up and takingdown stock, Or in inventory management maintainingstock records.

Within three or four yea rs a supply man has reachedthe five skill level and has learned to read, understand and react to computer doc uments. He has learnedto think in supply computer terms and is ready to crosstrain into the supply computer field . With a few more

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years of experience and on-the-job training he is a supply man committed to an Air Force career and ready tobegin computer program and design.Computer program design begins with deciding whatyou want the computer to do and what steps it musttake in the process. With a very compact flow chart oflillle boxes and arrows and lines, TSgt. Norman Artisexplained a complete cycle of Univac 1050-11 operation.

Artis, now at Cam Rallh Bay in Vietnam, was One ofthe men who helped switch the Bolling supply over tothe 1050. A graduate of the basic supply computerschool, Artis was the Training NCO who helped OJTthe people operating the Bolling supply today.The flow chart that Artis picked from a tech schoolmanual because it ex plained the operation in the"simplest terms" took II lillie boxes just to issue anitem. The second step, labeled "main analysis edit," he

.aid might involve more than 40 machine operationsjust to find out if the request was legitimate. It wouldlake bours of a supply man's job to do it manually.There were 12 steps involved if the item was out ofstock and 13 steps were necessary for the machine toacknowledge receipt of the ordered item and to issue it.The flow chart had a third operation that took fivesteps to adjust the accounting and finance records whenbase supply is billed for a line item by a wholesaler.If these are the simplest terms, think of how intricately complex the program designer's job must be. Remember the 105()"'U is a digital computer that makes mathematical compulations in microseconds with only twonumbers. The programmer must build his program inbinary numbers with infinite detail to cause the computer to arrive at the right answer in each step of such a

flow chart. It's no job for the inexperienced. These mennot only know the questions to ask the machines, butthey know the answers and how to arrive at them.When the Univac 105()"'1I supply computer is viewedfrom this end it becomes more obvious why Atkinsonand his cohorts advocate a six- or seven-year trainingand experience period for their design job."The Air Force supply inventory control problem istruly the acid test for any digital computer," said Maj.Harry Ellis, a former assistant to Mr. Surace nOw onactive duty with the Air National Guard. "This onemust do all the item and financial accounting records of

more than 90 percent of all on-hand and in-use suppliesand equipment on Air Force bases all over the world."The Univac 105()"'1I is a modular machine. Components can be added or taken away. The basic configuration can store 66 million characters or bits of information. Addition of another unit raises this to 132 millioncharacters and a third unit brings the total to 264 million bits. The processor serving these memory units canbe operated from the main console or from anyone ofup to 15 remote units. When the configurations aredoubled, space and requirements become the only limitson the capabilities.The Univac at Cam Ranh Bay AB stores information38

on 90,000 separate items of supply with an aggregateworth of about $100 million. Travis AFB stocks 100.000items in its supply warehouses and complete informationon anyone of them is available from the 1050's memoryin seconds.This California aerial port is also headquarters forthe Pacific Forward Supply System, which pre-pOsitionsmore than 6,000 critical line items of spare parts at13 Military Airlift Command en route points in thePacific. Linked by telephone and teletype and backedby the computerized Travis base supply, parts are delivered within 26 hours from these points 10 whereverthey are needed.

"Communications is the biggest hang-up-gettingthe punched cards 10 and from the AUTODIN transceiver," said Sergeant Atkinson. "But someday ourbases will interface directly with AFLC's big computersand our base units will function almost like our remoteunits do. U

This is already happening now with about 40 basesupply accounts too small for computers. They have aremote unit connected by telephone Or microwave tothe 1050 on a distant base. Tests of a complete vanmounted 1050-11 system that can be airlifted to advanced bases or replace a system knocked out by disaster Or enemy action will start soon. It's ready to gowhen it arrives.The Univac's voluminous electronic file capacity, instant random recall and fantastic reporting ability is areal boon 10 the people in the management and procedures branch of supply. The daily releveling cycle,special action and other reports help them identifyslow and fast-moving items so that excesses and short

ages can be adjusted to maintain efficient stock levels.The financial histories so readily available add to overall effectiveness."These reports that 1 now see daily once took weeksand months to compile," said CMSgt. Preston Butler,an NCOIC in management and procedures. "I see andidentify the problems now, as they happen, not monthslater when it's often too late to take effective preventiveaction. With all this information right at my fingertips.problems are corrected quickly. Our customers here onbase get better service and support. The wholesalersAFLC, DSA and GSA-get information that helps them

support us better."Reports that took weeks and months 10 compile?Who compiled them? The 4,000 or more people nolonger needed in supply. They have trained into othercareer fields.The Univac 1050-11 adds up the numbers-now.People simply review the computer's recommendationsand make decisions---now. Supply people have mOreinformation on which to base decisions. The numbersand information, in plain English, describe the supplysituation as it exists now, Not as it was last month, lastweek Or even yesterday.But l now.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP PHOTO: AI ( refcoshower with a hQndy oil drum 0$ a r e ~ e r v o i rTSgt. Biliol uplQins use of 0 piece ofequipment 10 Th ... i oircroft mechonics.C .. lled on "adviser," Billal can nonethelenohen be found delving inla an engine.Open o ir dining hgH il the ,",suglleHing for meols. Thoi food isdelicious, bUI hot, Billol reports,An areo of thotched hUh WO i home 10the Texan for mooy weelu .

A TEXAN AMONG THAISH ow does it feel to be the on ly US Air Force manstationed at a remote Thai army camp?" il 's great!" said TSgt . Robert L. Billut when a rov-ing reporter-photographer team from THE AIRMANvisited him recently at C hiang Klang, in northwest

Thailand. BiliOl was finishing a stint as a helicoptermaintenance adviser at the Royal Thai Army camp andhad mixed emotions about his impending departure."The Thais are wonderful people and they have takengood care of me. I'm anx ious to get home, of course, but] almost hate to leave."

Billot, who's from Beaumont, Tex ., was assigned atNakhon Phanom RTAFB when the call for a volun-teer came in , "Chiang Klang was just a name On a map.but it sounded interestjng. so I volunteered,"

The helicopters at Chiang Klang are used fo r re-supply, medical evacuation and counterinsurgency operations, Billot was enthusiastic about his job. "I'mcalled an adviser, and I work closely with the Thaimaintenance off icer here, but there are many timeswhen you could find both of us up to our armpits inH-34 engine parts . I've stayed really busy and the timehas just flown by.October 1968

"Living conditions? First class, 1 live in a comfortabletent and I've got the fanciest outdoo r shower and latrineyou've eve r seen. There's a Thai dispensary here with area lly fin e doctor and I've never felt I'd need any outside help if I got sick-which I haven't.

"And the food is tremendo us. I eat with the Thai of-ficers and quickly learned that Thai food is hot . Butit's surprising how fast you get used to it, especiallywhen there 's nothing else available. I've galien so Ican't eat anything unless it 's got a too-generous amountof hot pepper sauce on it."

A C-7 Caribou, flying in once or twice a week fromBangkok , was Billot's only link with the "outside ."Landing on the short, narrow, dirt airstrip, the Caribousbrought supplies, Thai replacement troops, the latestword from Billo!'s squadron at Don Muang RTAFB-and most important-mail.

In a nostalgic mood, Billot added, ' 'I 'm really goingto miss all of this. The people, the food , the way of living.But you know, there's one thing I won't miss . thatsix-hour flight to the pay table every payday." ~

-Capt . R . P. Everell31

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38

by MIKE LYNCHHq SMAMA

Phu to .. by SSttt. J\:I1}' C. Mu lter ,Oa Nan.: AB, Vil.:II\:Jm

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Force's Civilian AirmenThe baanies are their beat as these ~ A M e r salvage the unsalvageable amidst bullets and 'bolts.

A N uncanny knack for putting allkinds of crash- and battle-damaged aircraft back in the air is thechief claim to fame of a uniquegroup of Air Force civilians, all aircraft maintenance specialists.They arc always on the go.

Throughout Southeast Asia, andparticularly in Vietnam, th ey haveearned the thanks of pilots of boththe United States and South Vietnamese A ir Forces. To the formerthe y are calied RAM teams-forRapid Area Maintenance.That they move rapidly into areaswhere their maintenance skills areneeded there is no doubt. Th ey al most always go where the work is.Since pilots of battlc-damaged aircraft can't always pick and choosetheir landing sites, this often meansa clearing in Viet Cong infestedjungle or a primitive forward laterite strip.

October 1968

From April 1965 until early thisyear RAM teams put 486 crash- andbattle-damaged aircraft back in theair ove r Vietnam. Sixty-one morewere prepared for "one-time flights"to specia lized major repair facilities.Another 72 were roadied for shipment to major repair depots. Valuabl e, useable parts and equipmentwere salvaged from 19 that, for onercason or another, couldn't be saved.The value of these aircraft exceeded one billion dollars.

RAM specialists work both overseas and stateside. In the CONUSthey form RAM team pools, whichare always on standby alert status.When they get the word, they dashoff to places like Taiwan, thc Philippines, Korea and, of course, Thailand and Vietnam-wherever th eaction is. About 100 to 115 of thesemen are in Vietnam and Thailandat any given time.

Passports, visas, shot records arealways kept current. Hence, whenthey get the word to go, all theyhave to do is kiss the wife and kidsgoodby, grab their ~ . u i c a s e s and thefew special tools most maintenancespecialists carry aro und , and leavehearth and hOlOe .About one-half of all the RAMtcam strengt h in the Air Force Logistics Command (AFLC) comesfrom McClellan AFH. SMAMAheadquarters. AFLC's four mher air

materiel mens at Tinker AFH ,Okla ., Kelly AFR , Tex. , H ill AFR ,Utah, and Robins AFB , Ga . supplythe rest.RAM teams include spec ialists in15 basic aircraft maintenance skills,such as mechanics, electricians, hydraulic and sheet metal specialists,among others. They work on almostevery type of aircraft and helicopterin the USAF inventory.In Southeast Asia they're a dive'fSeforce whose "uniform of the day" isstrictly civ ilian mode-dungarees,levis, ove rall s, sport shirts, T -shinsand bo()ndockers.They carry no weapons. The only"sidearm s" they have arc side-euL:ling p l i c r dykes, tin snips, torquewrcnches and a supply of aircraftrepair inst ruments moved about fromone damaged aircraft to another.

Fl00 Wing SwapNot 100 long ago, Col. James I.Cornett, ill charge of SMAMA'smainlenance directorah..: at McClel lan AFB received the following letterfrom Vietnam:Dear ColullcI Cornell:

We had [his F-/OO, [ail number572, with a bailie-damaged rightwing. Another, 437, needed a leflwing so we took the good wing off572 and installed i[ on 437.

Just abour then, 813 crashed, andexcept for iIS wings, was completelyde.\troyed. We removed th ese andput them 0 11 572 .While doing this job , the operaf(ng

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TOP lEFT: Unable to get ,.,is ( 1300111 of enemy territory where

i' craatolonded, RAM leam strippedo million dollar! warlto ofequipment from it, set il olire.TOP RIGHT: A fivemon RAMteam took only five doy, 10 ge l

Ihi5 ( . 123 oul of a ditch,repaired, and back inta the air .OTHER PHOTOS show RAMteom member! at work on fl05s,f-4C,. & voriOUl other aircraft.

squudmn robbed {he a/I section as(/1('y neede(/ it on another dwnagedaircra/I. They figured il would laketoo long to repair this section.

One 0/ our SMAMA metal men -Harry Wong-and I Looked OVt'f 'hisdam age (I section. Harry asked:"How long, Bill?"

I gave him three days. It was ajob which also included replacingborh main gears and running all 'heoperations on the aircwft.

Be/vn' the It'SI pilot 1O()k her up011 the first hop, he said he was verydoubtful abuutthe uircraft. Bilt whcNhe lam/ed, he said, "I don', knowwhut to say. I can't write up evenone lhing wrong with IlIi.\ hird."

You should have seen my bunch.Talk about a proud crew!

The letter came from RAM leamchief William "Bill" Parks, Jr, ForColonel Cornett, it was a firsthandreport that one of his responsibilities,AFLC's RA M team effort , was paying off."When it comes to getting ourcrash- and battle-damaged planesback where they belong-in the air

- 1 take my hat off to these amazingRAM team specialis,ts," ColonelCornett said recently. "Especiallysince 1 know what their job entails."

Exactly what doC's the job entail?Consider the F-IOO wing-swappingtask , Let's say you'rc a RAM teamchief with maybe a six-IllLln ere"",and you're gazing sadly at a thoroughly clobbered and battle-crashedSuper Subre .

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Maybe it tore a deep swath inthe South Vietnam terrain, and ispartiaHy buried. Somehow you'llhave to dig it out. Even to the layman, a crashed aircraft is a sad andunsightly picture. But to Air Forccrepair specialists, wbo lovingly andproudly put them together-bit bybit, piece by piece-a crashed airplane is sheer despair.Well, what to do?First, you'll have to drain thc birdof all its fuel. JP-4 from a jet; highoctane from a prop job. In the caseof the F-100, you've got to get theJP-4 out completely.If you're near or on a base inVietnam this initial undertaking canbe fairly easy. All you have to do iswheel a tanker truck up to the crash,scene, hook lip the vehicle's purgeequipment, and suck out the IP -4 -liquid, fumes, and all.

But in this case, as with so manycrashes in Vietnam, your work areais a desolate spot in the jungle. Andwhat you have working for you isonly a small, portable air compressor. But all is nnt lost. Sirtlply attacha common, household variety vacuum cleaner hose to the compressor,couple the other end to the SlIperSabre's tanks. Now the fuel andfumes can be sucked out.H there's olle thIng all RAMteams have, besides a lot of knowhow, it 's a Jot of muscle-essentialwhen it comes to swapping wingsfrom one plane to another. An F -100wing span. ror example, is 36 feet'10 inchcs. Shifting them ahout callsfor some doing.October 1968

So you've got to replace thesewings with those from anotherF-100. You begin by removing theplane's entire aircraft section to reduce the weight.And there arc other problems, allof which could be deemed backbreaking\ as well as downright frustrating. Take the F-IOO's right andleft wings for example. Removingthem from the fuselage is not nearlyso simple as it looks. They are asingle unit, hooked and bolted together inside the fuselage. So, to remove one, you have to lower both.

Then again, there's the wing fuelcell bladders-big, ungainly, hard tohandle, blobs of vulcanized rubberwhose conduits lead to the engine.Not to ment,ion the main ruel ceIl inside the fuselage and just forwardof the wing. Removing this is a project, too.Hey, Shorty!

This task invariably requires ahighly knowledgeable but fairlyshort-statured s pee i a l i s t likeSMAMA's Pete "Shorty" Bencdetto.He has a number of fairly interesting assignments cut out for him onthis particular job.After Ihe removes the dive brake,island to expose a small aperture,he has to worm his way up, into andthrough this opening. Moving muchlike a contortionist, he wiggles alongside a pair or big booster pumps.Now he must unbolt and drag bothof them out of the aircraft. Next, anumber of baffles have to be removed in addition to myriad lines and

conduits leading from the wings tothe fuselage. Everyone must be disconnected and removed before awing can be taken off the plane.It takes about a half dozen thoroughly skilled RAM experts to dothis wing-swapping job. The makeup

of this group usually calls for a workchief, an electrician, a hydraulicsspecialist, and a trio of aircraft mechanics. Each of these men can workin any of the mentioned skills , solong as hc works under the supervision of a journeyman in that skilLBeing able to work on all kinds ofaircraft repair jobs is one of the secrets to successful RAM teamwork.

What do thesc various experts doon this repair job? More than wehave space to cover her e. Suffice ilto say that an F-\ 00 wing changecalls for 131 separate and meticulous steps, according to the AircraftMaintenance Workbook. When suchjobs must be done in the field, farfrom an Air Force base's depot levelmaintenance repair shop, add a fewmore steps of improvisation to getthe job done."Charlie" Misses Out

Consider the case of the C-130Hercules that had crash-landed nearTay Ninh in Viet Cong territory. ARAM team crew was called in tocannibalize the aircraft for parts thatcould !be used elscwhcre.

This one took a lot of fast, hardwork-and courage.

SMAMA's Ben Wadsworth was aRAM team chief. Several civilianmaintenance specialists-a liready inVietnam-volunteered for the job.A number of active duty Air Forcepeople in the area also pitched in togive the civilians a hand.The US Army agreed to hold thearca as long as possible. They estimated this would be from two tofour days. Four platoons of infantryarmed with recoilless rifles and' machine guns, two mortar teams, andan armed convoy were provided totransport the RAM team and theirequipment to the scene and to securethe site.

The RAM team spent three highlyproductive days there salvaging threeengines complete with propellers; all

4t

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the radio, radar and instrumentationequipment; the leading edges of theplane's horizontal stabilizer; rollersand locking rails from the cargodeck; side panels from the wings; themain lett landing gear; the right rearlanding gear; and two pallet loadsof miscellaneous equipment.By then the Army felt it could no

longer keep the area secure so theRAM team emptied a drum of gasoline on the cargo deck, and what remained of the C-130 was set on fire.So. thanks to AFLCs RAM teammilitary-civilian mix of specialistsand the US Army, this was oneUSAF "bird" that "Charlie" didn'tget a chance to pluck.

The Know-HowFrequently, RAM team workersare faced with circumstances thatwould cause less stable people thanAFLC's specialists to turn gray overnight--or look for a psychiatrist.

Consider what happened in oneof Vietnam's back-country areas.SMAMA's RAM team crew-aircraft mechanic Pete Benedetto, sheetmetal man Dick Basden, flight linemechanic Bill Peters and hydraulicspecialist George Etters-had goneout to see what they could do for apair of crashed C-123 Providers.One of these, valued at about$555,000, needed a nose landinggear to become airborne again. Repairs inside the airplane also wereneeded. While going about their work,the RAM team from SMAMA hadSouth Vietnam troops standing byfor protection.This scene was in the jungle neara crude forward runway. TheSMAMA RAM team, minus suchessentials as airplane jacks, had quitea job on their hands. They had to

replace the nose gear and ready theC-123 for a one-time flight to Saigonand a depot-level repair job. How todo it?If there is one other thing thesespecialists have it is American-styleingenuity. "We rounded up about40 of the local villagers," said Benedetto. "Give or take a few pounds,they gross about a hundred pounds."We stood 'em up on the plane'stail, which caused the front end to

42

lift up high enough so my team workers could slip some oil drums andpallets under the nose."It took the SMAMA RAM crewa lot of concerted work and improvisation to get the C-123 in shape fora takeoff. Because the nose gearsteering cable was also broken in thecrash, they confiscated plain, ordinary fence wire, and repaired it thisway."With the nose gear from the otherplane on this one, and with the fencewire taking the place of the steeringcable, the plane could make onlyright turns on the ground."So, how now, Benedetto?"We simply pushed the repairedC-123 around until it was lined upwith the runway, and the pilot tookher oft."The interior supports of the planehad also been damaged in the crash.RAM team workers repaired thesupports by replacing them with or dinary angle iron. The overall resultwas one that might have given an

aeronautical engineer nightmares,but the patchwork held.The PioneersThe first call for RAM team assistance in Vietnam came in April1965-an urgent request from Pacific Air Force. SMAMA RAM teamspecialists-22 of them-packedtheir gear and took off for Tan SonNhul. There they tackled two battledamaged F105s and saw them bothfly again.The RAM team chief on this initial mission for the Air Force and

AFLC was SMAMA's big, tall, andthoroughly genial Ed Adamic whostarted work at McClellan AFB in1942 as an aircraft mechanic helper.Later on in his Air Force civilian

career, he began doing a lot of TDYtraveling for SMAMA and the AirForce. Much of his travel has beento Southeast Asia, especially to Vietnam. He has spent so much timein this area-made so many tripsback and forth that he is knownthroughout AFLC as "Mister Vietnam." To do the jobs the Air Forcehas given him, he has traveled some50,000 miles by ship plus 250,000miles by air. Time invested in all

this travel? Three complete years.Today Adamic is SMAMA's AreaLiaison Section chief. His office inthe maintenance directorate sees toit that RAM team members get towhere they are needed.For this modest. unassuming guy.March of last year included a diffi

cult dav. Ed Adamic was cited atthe 196'7 Air Force Association Convention in San Francisco. as one ofthe Air Force's outstanding civilianemployees.

Gen. Kenneth B. Hobson, thenAFLC commander, had Ihis to sayabout Adamic and his co-workers."These volunteer AFLC civilianemployees and their military counterparts are writing a new chapter-and a dramatic one-in the history of A ir Force support."General Hobson went on to relatethat he'd recently heard from Gen.William M. Momyer, Seventh AirForce commander. who said:"Your people did a terrific jobfollowing the mortar attack on TanSon Nhut. As you know, we hadsome 15 different aircraft damagedin some degree. Except for one CH-3and one RF-4C, everyone of thedamaged aircraft was back in theair in less than a week!"This is high, and deserved, praisefrom a commander in Vietnam. Butmaybe a lone statistic, coming byway of a report from AFLC's liaisonofficer 10 the Seventh Air Force,might better show the Air Force andthe world what men like Ed Adamieand his doughty comrades can accomplish:"Only six months after the RAM

team program went infO operation,the teams had returned to servicethe equivalem of One squadron ofaircrafl ever), two momhs,"

We asked Ed Adamic why he volunteers for so much RAM team workin Vietnam.

~ ' W e don't wear the uniform, -says Ed. "So just say that we civilianswant only to do our part. If it takesa few risks. what the hell? The bluesuiters-the pHots. and crews-aretaking a lot more. Our job. liketheirs, is to keep 'em flying." eO-

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October 1988

SHE CHOSE WEATHERWith the wind and the rain in her hair, her future Dnly seems partly clDudy .by SSgt. JAMES E. SKARSTEN, W;..bod,n AB, G"monyMALl poe ts ha ve o ften likened woman to the weather, desc r ibing her tempe rament and disposi tion with suc h terms as su nny. sto rm y- eve n torrid . Andman seems fo rc-v e r inclined to compare the female with his universe , particularlythe stars.

When yo u stop and think aho m it for a moment , then, it seems o llly naturalthat a womall might have more than a passing interes t in mdeorology. And so ilis with WAF Maj. Valoris M. Olso n, who bccllmc interested in m t ~ o r o l atChallute AFB. III., and took aclvaI1lage of an oppor tunity to stuJy the science ofweather at Penn State U n i v c r through Armed Forces Jnstirutc of T cdlllo logy(AFlT) progrum .She's a weather forecaster now, and lh r.: only WAF offi.cer hcaLiing an AirWea ther Service detachmen t. Major Olson's office is in the command post allJSAFE headq uarters, AS, Germany, where she and six others keep wat(;hon the weCllher for the Co mmander in Ch ief, U nited S [ a t c ~ Air Forces in Europe.H cr joh of I.:hasing "' thunderhumpcrs" (weatherman's slang fo r thunucrsto rmcloud:.;) tops Major Olson's list of fascinating ass ignments s ill l.:c she gradtwtcd fro lllOffit:er C a n d i J ~ ' t t c School in 1l)54 . She wa!) stationed m Tinker AFB , Okla., then .A T -33 was heing used as an ohservation ai rcraft so Major Olson hopped into th l'back seat of the T-hird . She made mov ies and sti ll pic tllres of thundersto rm sanu turnadocs for Project Noughrider_ an operatio n co nducted for thc US Wea therBurea u's Severe Storms Re sea rch Laboratory.

She also flew with Tinker-ha ,cd F-IOI and F-I04 pilots wh o bombarded O klahoma City with so nic booms to determine the dfects such booms-created hy supersonic tr

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HELLO AND GOODBV"The quicker we ca n get yo u out of nere, the better,"is th e philosophy of this outfit. And the airmen love it .

WHAT is the first thing a man wants to do when hesteps off an airplane at Travis AF B after a year inSouth Vietnam?Well. probably you could come up with as manyanswers as there are men stepping off planes at thatbusy MAC base. But on e thing everyone of them docsnOt want to do is spend much time at Travis. Each hassomewhere to go. Each is in a hurry to get there.

That's why an Air Force captain named Stephen A.Suto runs one of the most popular sections on the base-particularly for airmen separating. reenlisting or retiring.Suto's outfit is the Travis AF B port separation section.Speed is their watchword.

"We guarantee that a man will be on his way within24 hours after his arrival from overseas," Captain Sulosays, "and we very often beat that time hy a considerablemargin . It depends whrtl time of the da y a ma n arrives.In no case , however, will he spend more than 24 hoursat Travis."

The port separation center is a fa r cry from those ofpast wars and conflicts, when it was not uncoml11on formen to spend days and even weeks before they could getthrough their separation processing.

Just returned from overseo,_ these airmen ge l " Hello" briefing by theTrovis AFB leporolion cenler. Whole p r o ~ d u r e lakes les, than 24 hours.

44

Now they ar e met at the terminal by airmen from theport separation section and processing gets underwayimmediately . (Norton AFB. Calif., and McChord AFB.Wash., also handle RVN returnees.)

Secret Qf the outfit's speed is its crew of professionals-NCOs an d airmen who are true experts in every phaseof their specialties. They have to be. Problems arise con-stantly and involve virtually every aspect of personneladministration, pay. Veterans benefits. classification andso forth . As one man , SSgt. Rudolpho Oliva said, "W emay not know all the answers to all the problems, butwe know where to get them. "

On e big jo b is the distribution of records after a manfinishes his separation or retirement processing. Th erecorus arc , of course. extremely important to the ma nfor future rights and benefits. Yet important as theseare, men are not held over at Travis because of missingdocuments. They are processed and sent on their waywith the aSSurance that Captain Suto's small unit will dowhatever must be done to complete the record, and toget it to where it must go.

They never let the paper get in the way of the people.eOa

-

Experh like SSgf. Rudolpho Olivo dilCuu subject, su(h 05 civil serviceopportunities on d re\erve obligations as airmen gel clO$8r to discharge.

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Included in proce1sing is ~ 1 1 i m p o r t o n t l i n ~ 1 poyment. Here Sgl. WoyneErfle, ~ c c : o u n l i n g speelolist, p r e p ~ r e l finonciol records of )eporotees.

"Don't spend it al l in on e ploce." Sgt. Jomes Sowyer kids airman wh ojust received separation poy. Finance office is known for fast OClion .

October 1968

SSgt . C. M ~ c F o r l o n e handles permonent party separations retirements. Here he talks to MSg'. Bob Raybourn. NeOte u e p ~ r ~ t i o n cenler.

-'.

"Goodbye in 24 hours or lenl" roys Copt. Suto 0$ he signs the finalpaperwork. Tomorrow the process will begin ogoin, 01 more men arrive.

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PRESIDENTIAL UNITCITATION TO 8THAM) 3D TF'I'S

OFFICERS NEEDED f'()RWEATHER PROGRAMS

DEAOLINE NEARSFOIl AFROTC GRANTPROGIWI

58.821 DUE FORTHIRD STRIPE

IIIAs. pow.CONTINUE TO DRAWPAY

HEW 3-in-l IlANUALTO ACT AS CAREERINFO "CENTER"

. ~ . '" PENTAGONContinu

ho.ever. I t you have a degree, you go to DTS immediately. It you don't,lOU .111 attend an accredited college ot Jour choice. Air Force paysthe tuition and up to 1100 in book allowances. Incidentally, in th ef i r s t ,ear ot th e program, 294 air_en .ere selected, 136 ot .hom wereorrered immediate entry into OT5. To date. 141 airmen have beenCommissioned under this program.It you were assicned or attaChed to the 6tb Tactical Fighter Wingfrom December 16, 1966, to January 2, 1967. or to th e 3d TacticalFighter Wing trom June 8, 1966, to April 16, 1967, you are eligibleto wear tb e Presidential Unit Citation.Officers no. bave the opportunity ot attending basic meteorologyprograms a t one or nlne colleges or universities. Courses are one yearlong. You need at least three years ot college credit to qualify, andtbat credit _ust include aatbeaatics through integral calculus. I tmust also include one year ot physics including labOratory (at leasts ix semester hours or nine quarter bours). Winilum acadelic erage.us t be "C" or 2.0 on a tour-point 8stem. I t yqu are a ngnrate4lieutenant or captain, and are interested In be9011ng a weather officer,send your college transcript to tbe 3345tb Technlcal School, ChanuteAf'!!, I l l . 61866, They w111 evaluate i t an d le t you know it you'reeligible to apply in accordance with ArII 50-5.Be sure you Intor. your sons and/or triends about Air Unlversity'sAFROTC tour ..year Financial Assistance Grant Program. They ar eprop.salne applications trOR qualitied high 'ehopl students now. andthe deadline 1s n u t IOntb=lloveaber 15 , The ... are th e grants that willbe awarded to collece treou.en tor th e 1969-1970 school year. Sca' 500grants are to be ''lArded this yeaT under the program tbat began lastyear with 150 grants to outstanding high school seniors. Students cange t a l l the intonaation they need t ro . Tbs Financial Assistance GrantBulletin: 1969. available wIth other aater ial tram apprOXimately 3 3 ~ O O Ohigh sobool guidance oounselors throughout th e United States.From the r i rs t or this aonth tbrough th e las t ot January 1969. ~n il sergeants will be sewing On stripes. Reserve and Air NationalGuard ainaen will get 1,352 of t ho , air.en ot the Regular Air Forcethe rest. This is promotion cycle 692."Your pay and allowances will not be reduced sbould you be .1ssing inactlon, captured or interned." This statement now appears on AF Fora472, Pay Change Notice, in answer to the question often asked by SEAcrew members. All of your pay and alloyancls continue to accrue !bi leyou Are in MIA or POW status, bu t apparently . a n ~ people don't realizei t : hence the statement on th e Form 472.With th e late summer publication ot AFW 35-16 1 Air Force members havea centralized source ot career motivation directives and guidance. I tpertains to both otf icers and airmen and supersedes the old AFW 35-16

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Page 3

FAMILY SEPARATIONALLOWANCE lULL IIAYBE IlELD OVER

SOs NOT NEEDED FORlIARKSIIANSHIP RIBBON

PIIS -11 IS OUT:Ml'MIS-71 IS IN

OFFICER STRENGTHDUE FOR CUTBACK

0011111, '811

Officer Career Management Manual. AFR 36-20 USAF Orticer CareerWotivation P r o g r ~ 1 and AFW 39-9 Reenlistment in the Regular Air Forgs.If you have been a.ai t ing action on the Air Force-sponSored legislationto allow payment of th e family separation allowance to ~ e m b e r 5 .hosedependents occupy government quarters, word is that no action is likelyin the 90th Congress. I t is anticipated that the measure . i l l becarried over in th e 91st Congressional legislative program tor DoD.Problem arose because Air Fgrce members with dependents living iqquarters such as those at deactivated Schilling AFBt KanS . ic h arsbeing used by service families, ars not allo.ed under present law todraw the 830 per month family separation allowance. Tbe pendinglegislation would extend payment at the allowance to those occupyinggovernment quarters and otherwise entitled to i t .You don't have to sweat out special orders betore you pu t on your SmallArms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon. AFU BOO-3 has been changed so yoU Cannoy ge t your award entered in our personnel records on the basis ofyour Qualif ication Score Card, which is maintained in th e unit as partof your General Military Training Record. Oh yes, i t is necesSITY toqualifY to r expert I I t you did, be sure to tollow up by checking yourrecords. Make sure th e entry is made fairly soon, because i t a sl ipoccurs f sometimes i t ' s tough getting necessary verifications later on.By 1971 the present Personnel Data S y s t e ~ - O f f i e e r (PDS-O) and PersonnelData S y s t e m ~ A l r m e n Interim (POS-AI), will be replaced by a major newpersonnel information system. I t you've been keeping up with personneladvances, this won't be news to you. But a new designation Cor th esystem probably will be news. Formerl called the Personnel ManagementSystem (PMS-71), i t is now known as the Military Personnel ManagementInformatiQn system pMIS-71. Now If you hear about i t in the next fa .months--which you undoubtedly will--you wl11 know what i t ' s a l l about,CutbackS in the number of line officers on active duty will be donepalnlessly; at least to th e officers. Reductions for physical year 1969are th e result of budgetary (PL 90-364) l imitations, no t a lack of needfo r officers. Strength adjustments will be done simply by speeding uprelease of those active-duty officers who have already said they wouldl ike to leave the service in the near future. Included are: (1 ' RegularAir Force officers who have had their retirement or reSignation daleextended under th e Selective Retention of Regular Qfficers Program.These officers will get the opportunity to request release earlier thannow planned. (2) Active duty Reserve ofric8rs with lass than five yearsaetive duty as of June 30 , 1969, and who, prior to August 2, 1968,established a date of separation between July 1, 1969, and December 31,1969. (3) Active duty Reserve officers with more than five years activeslY.U. as of June 30, 1969, who have asked to be released between July Ifand December 31 t 1969. These officers will be separated six monthsearl ier i f they so desire. Additional detai ls will be forthcoming tromthe Military Personnel Center.

41

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TO THE AIR FORCE:Only Yesterday

"Routine flight"

48

- .THE commander at Carswell AFB, Tex., spoke of apossible "rontine flight" and said Capt. JamesGallagher would have to stand by- just in case.

That was why Mrs. Gallagher set out alone on theplanned trip to New Orleans. Of course, the festiveMardi Gras was still some days away and she countedon her husband's joining her in time for that occasion.Without Mrs. Gallagher's knowledge, however, thepossible "routine flight" did materialize and commandof Ihe mission went to her husband .His B-50 took off from Carswell one day at 12 :21p.m. He brought it back another day at 10:22 a.m ..coming in two minutes ahead of ETA.The crew emerged from the souped-up B-29 freshlyshaven and looking weill satisfied, but all obviouslytired. And this was quite a crew for a "routine flight"-1 4 men, twice as many as usual.Another thing not exactly "routine." Secretary ofthe Air Force Stuart Symington stood waiting at theflight line. along with SAC's commander. Lt. Gen. Curtis E. LeMay, and Maj. Gen . Roger Ramey, boss ofthe Eighth Air Force. Not to mention all the intent newspaper reporters and photographers an hand.Somewhat less than "routine," too, was the telegramfrom D f e n ~ e Secretary James Forrcstal congratulatingGallagher and the crew of l.ady l.uck 1I for "a significant achievement."

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To accommodate the photographers the crew deployed by the side of their plane-Gallagher, commander and pilot; 1st U. Arthur M. Neal, secondpilot; Capt. James H. Morris, third pilot ; Capt. GlennE. Hacker, first navigator; 1st Lt. Earl L. Rigor, secondnavigator; 1st Lt . Roland B. Boqner, radar officer; '1stLt. William F. Ca ffrey, relief radar officer; Capt. DavidB. Parmelee, flight engineer; SSgt. Robert G. Davis,assistant flight engineer; TSgt. Virgil L. Young , assistan t flight engineer; TSgt. Burgess G. Cantrell, radio op erato'; SSgt. Robert R. McLeroy, radio operator; TSgt.Melvin G. Davis, and SSgt. Donald G. Traugh , Jr.,gunners.Sensibly, Captain Gallagher did not dispute his commander who had put the "routine" label in advance onthe flight of Lady Luck I I .

"Everything was quite normal ," explained the COnlmand pilot. "The planning was excellent and everything worked out very well. It usually docs , as a matterof fact. 011 routine flights."

To the unprofl!ssional mind what was something lessthan ordinary was that Lady Luck / I had departed Carswell SOOIl after noon on Saturday, February 26, 1949,and did not return until the forenoon of Wednesday,March 2. Morcovc.c, the plane had been airborne allthe time in between logging a total of 23,452 miles andmaking history's first aerial circumnavigation of theOctober 1968

a 50 "Lucky lody II" taltes off 01 11:21 A.M. feb. 26, 19.9 from ConwellAFR. TeJo;" ond lands there (inset) following 23.04S2mile n o n - ~ I o p flight.

globe. (Note that Mareh 2 was the day aller the dayGallagher had hoped to spend in New Orleans.)

Another mailer to take the flight ou t o f the ordin,try for such judges was that another B-50 had beendispatched not Illany days earlier with the same flightobjective, but had been forced to land in the Azores because of a seriolls engine fire.

Captain Gallagher matter-of-factly disclosed thatLlIdy Lllck II had heen refueled four times in flight by8-295 converted inl aerial tankers. The rcfuelings lookplace over the Azores, Saudi Arabia , the Philippinesand Hawaii. Besides, the bomb bay of his plane hadbeen fitted with extra tanks to increase the 829'5 fuelcapacity. He was understandably pleased that, uponlanding, Lady Luck I I still had enough fu el in thetanks for seven more hours of flight.

G"Jllaghcr, who hflils from Melrose, Minn.. was notdisposed to make a ,production out of the in-flight refueling . "Well , I do n' t see why it couldn't be done," hetold questioners, "The significant thing is that now youcan go anywhere in the world at any time : 'His B-50 had traveled at altitudes varying from 10,-000 to 20,000 feet, at a ground speed averaging 23Ymph, to get around thc world in two hours less than fourdays.

On the siddines at Carswell incredulous security officers congratulated themselves that there had not beenthe least leak about the nature of the mission LadyLlIck 1/ had undertaken.Mrs. Hacker, wife of the first navigator, was dumbfounded. Her hu sba nd had left their Fort Worth home

the previous week and "didn ' t tell me one thing. I'lljust be doggoned!"

Once the landing to-do had ended and Captain Gallagher was in the clear, hc faced the delicate chore ofexplaining to his spouse why he failed to show up forthe Mardi Gras. He reached her at her hotcl.

He apologized for not putting in an appearance , explaining: "Oh, I just flew around the world nonstop ."Mrs. Gallagher was not buying any such story."How could you do that, silly," she demanded, "with

out any place to fill up al l gas?"He r husband gave her a quick briefing and sa id she'dread more about it in the afternoon newspapers."1 had no inkling," shc protestcd later. "I could

hardly believe il."This was how Captain Gallaghcr missed Mardi Gras .P.S. The one ship in Ferdinand Magellan's armadathat first succeeded in circumnavigating the globe tookabout 1,000 days (1519 -22). That colorful newspaperwoman, Nellie Bly, set a better mark ill 1899, circlingthe earth by variolls means then available. Her lime:72 days 6 hours II minutes. Dy comparison Lml)'Luck II's 94 hours I minute would seem to representan improvement. - W. A. Kinney ~

49

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IN a move to help solve a constant shortage of career-oriented physicians, the Air Force two years agolaunched a program whereby selected officers can undergo med ical training at Air F orce expense. It was aprecedent-seuing action. providing stud ents with medical school tuition and, related expen ses. in addition tofull pay and allowances.Fo r airmen , the roa d is a little longer than it is forofficers. Airmen must have. or acquire, a college degree

and then a co mmi ss ion . Th ey can then apply for theMedical Education Program, known as ME P ."The Medical Education Program is a grt=at thing forairmen," says Brig. Gen. John M. Talbot , AssistantSurgeon Genera l for Staffing and Education .. /t's quiteconceivable for young, dynamic and highly intelligentenlisted men and women to earn a co llege degreeand a eo mmission and then quali fy for the program ."

Re se rve and Rcgular nonrated officers in the gradeof first lieutenant or below are eligible to apply forthe program. Fo r Regu lar officers the annual quota is27; for Reserves, it's 50. Two percent of the quotas aregiven to the milil ary service academies and to Air F orceROTC and Officer T raining School graduates.MEP participants are requ ired to pay back threemonths of ac tive duty for each month of medica l schooling. Th is means a nine-year-serv ice com mitment for

36 months schoo ling, in addition to any previous commitments not ye t se rved. Ho wever, th e time spen t inthe MEP counts towa rd Air Force re tirement.Reserve 2nd Lt. Charles E. Brady 1Il is one mancurrently enrolled in the program ,"I f I hadn't been accepted for MEP I wouldn't begoing to medica l school now."He was referri ng to the fact that four years of medical school cducat ion wou ld have cost him about $ 12 .-

000 . " But getting my degree won't cost me a penny,"he added.Brady just began hi s sophomore year in the MedicalCollege of Virginia at Richmond . During hi s summervaca tion he worked in the pathology laboratory at theAndrews AFB Malcolm Grow USAF Hos pital.He was beginning hi s senior year in premed at OldDominion College, Norfol k, Va. , when he asked eachmilitary service and the US Public Health Department abou t th eir financial assistance programs. -

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in August or September. The application should include the following: A ktter of rc

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\ "\, "" \" "- i\ \ \;\ , ~" 1\, "FOR EXTRAORDINARY HEROISMby SMSgt. JAMES A. GEORGE " , ' ..\ \ ' \. , .'\ \ \ ", i

HE

L52

\ \ \. \ , \ , 1,.~ \'>.'\ \ '''-,., ' I \ \ "" ,'\" \.: "" \ '. " .S H O R T E T \ ~ ~ l N E t " - , .. "

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flying missions immeuiateiy. On his 10th miss ion, inApril I%6, he was hit by an enemy bullet while pulling a wounded Marine aboard his HH-3E Jolly GreenGiant. His flight hclmcl probably saved his life."Th e round knocked me down," Ha

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the crew was called out again for another try. Air Forcepilots had spotted the downed flyer and marked hisposition. Two HH-3E helicopters headed for the area."This time we saw him," Hackney said. "I went downto help him get on the hois!. We made it up the hoist

together and into the Jolly Green. I was bending Overhim. trying to treat his abrasions. when the flak hit us."There was smoke and flames everywhere. Th e pilot

we had Just rescue"" reached ou t an arm. I grabbed aparachute and put it on him as fast as I could (H .ckneygave the airman his own chute) Then I found one formyself. I had it partially on when the second n;lUndof flak hit us."

Aircrew members in other L'SAF aircraft at therescue site said later that the HH-3E was engulfed inflames and that there were gaping holes in the pilorsand copilot's areas of the cabin. Hackney didn't seethe damage to his aircraft, however. He was suddenlydumped into open space, just a few hundred feet abovethe top tier of jungle growth.

"The sudden pressure (from the explosion I threwme back-hard. I felt a sharp pain in my left arm. Iremember reaching for the door. Next thing I saw wasthe helicopter-from outside. I'd been blown out therear door."

Trained to survive. Haekney reacted swiftly to histraining. He pulled the D-ring on his chute, and huggedthe unbuckled harness tight under his arms to keepfrom slipping out. As he hit the highest of the jungleHees. the chute opened just enough to break his fall.His crash through the hranches was halted with a joltwhen the chute risers snagged in the treetops. He freedhimself from the harness and half climhed. half slid tothe ground. He was the only survivor from the HH3E.

"I guess I looked pretty rotten," Hackney said later." I had blackened my face to prevent detection. My leftann and back were bleeding and burned and my rightarm was rubbed raw." In addition to flash burns. thePJ had taken a lew shrapnel hits."I knew the other helicopter would come back for

me--eilher later in the afternoon or {he next day." Sothe 19-year-old veteran of some :::00 rescue missions inVietnam began laking slock of his. situation,"I had my medical pouch with me. a pistol withsix rounds of ammo. and some pencil smoke flares,

I'd been wearing my camouflaged flight helmet whenwe were hit, but it was gone, \\-'hen I heard sounds inthe jungle I was worried, but I didn't see anything."Hackney wasn't worried about being picked up. Hewas more concerned about a Valentine card. It haucost him a buck and now he wondered if he wouldbe able to send it to his girl friend in lime.Minutes later he heard an aircraft engine. then a lTSAir Force plane new almost directly over him. "I gotout the red smoke flare. opened it to mark my position.and found a prelly good spot to wait ,)Ot the helicopterthat I was sure would be arriving soon,"Actually, he was on the ground only about 30 mmutes from the time he plummeted into the jungle treesuntil another HH-3E came in to pick him up. A formerclassmate in PJ training schools. A1C Luther Davis.Oct8ber tssa

came down the hoist to get Hackney out of the jungle.The end of a long and hair-raising day was almost

over as the Jolly Green Giant raced for an ai r basein Thailand, but Hackney had one more "scare" instore for him. At the base dispensary a reading of hisblood pressure showed that it was extremely high-210over 180. But the exhausted Haekney had gone "outlike a light" on a hospital stretcher.

When he heard a medical technician yelling for thedoctor because he thought the young P J had died.Hackney woke up suddenly. "That really scared me,"he said.

February 6, 1967, was a day that Sgt. Duane D.Hackney will always remember. It was a day on whichhe nearlv lost hIS life; a dav when he did lose some ofhis clos;" friends after their helicopter was blown outof the sky. It w", also a day when a young parareseueman had helped save a pilot's life, only to lose the manminutes later; and a day when it was the PJ's turn tobe rescued. That Hackney survived his sudden. low-level"bailouC was a near-mirade. It was also a tribute tothe thoroughness of his training.

Today, the 21-year-

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LETTERS, Continuedso much armame nt it wa s difficult touriog down without great fighterphme losses? SSgl. Robert B. Porneroy

Midd le towll , Pa .* * *Where' s Th e Bell?

Sir: I'm trying to IDente a (:h row eplated b(:ll ucarillg the inscription,"27th Fighter \\ 'ing. Tucgu. Korea,1950-51" nnd all attache!l phHJUCwhich reads , " Prc.c;(' III t>d to Co l. A.'ihI"y B. Packard Iw Ih , 271h Air Pu-lice Squadron." AllyOll l' having kno wlt-dgc of this hislorind trophy rna)' can tact me.

Capt. Rob e rt L. McAllisterH'I 271h Tac Fir WgCannun ' \FB. N. Mex. 88101

* * *Mustong MemoriesSir : Your May was 0I1t ' of theLes t. The photos on the back pagew(.'re 1Il0st ink n!stillg while the a rti

de s 011 the "Thuds" and AI l l l l l gwere the fros tillg on the cake' , Th ephoto of th e "new" Arm y Mustang.llum ht'l" 0-7:?UUO, stirred !iOniC memories . The following photo shows the!'iamc phmt' in 1961, just aft er it wasflow n dow I from Canada. li s RCA F.

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A CAY TO REIVIEIVIBERAs the stern slipped under il crealed a concussion Ihal lell like a cannon had been fired underwaler.

TEN survivors of the Okinawan

fishing vessel that had just disappeared bclow the surface of theangry Pacific huddled in the rear ofthe amphibious HU-\6 A lbatross asit tried to lilt into the air.The odds were not favorable. Anopen-sea landing had been bazardous enough. Now approaching darkness and an oncoming squall linecombined to challenge the takeoff.The first takeoff attempt failed.So did the second, as the rescue ercwcommander, Maj. Thomas 1. Lunn.

tried to find a clear path between thchuge swells.Nearby, the crew of another HlJ J6 watched Major Lunn's efforts tobecome airborne. Sitting at thc controls of the second aircraft, Maj.lames F. Chubncr silcnNy chceredLunn on. As the daylight rapidlyfailed and the sea became mOre violent. Chubner felt increasing concern. Watching Lunn maneuver between two swells for his third try atclearing the clutching waves, Chubner couldn't hclp thinking that thishad been some day ."A day to remember," he said tohimself as his HU- J6, now a boat,rocked with its crew and the remaining nine survivors of the fishing vessel. It had been some day, one thatwas not yet concluded. Getting thetwo A lbatross home safcly was, atthis point, still far from assured.For the men of the 33d Acrospace

Rescue and Recovery Squadron, anOkinawa-based unit commanded byLt. Col. Roy E . Jacobsen, the "dayto remember" began after the sunhad already begun its downwardjourney. It was May 22, and the 33dwas alerted shortly after the Okinawan ship captain reported his fishing vessel, the 109-ton Duiichi Hyura-Maru, was having propeller difficulties and was taking on water.The Daiichi Hyura-Maru was '105miles southeast of Ok inawa. A shorttimo later the vessel flashed an urgenl 50S signal. Because of the "p-October 1968

by Lt. WILLIAM K. WARRENHickam AFB, Hawaii

proaching darkness it was decidedto save precious minutes by scrambling the alert crew while the callfor help was bcing confirmed.

Major Lunn was the alert r'escuecrew commander. Darkness was hismajor concern because if darknesscatches an HU-16 still on the opensea it has to remain there overnighLIt is impossible to take off from theopen sea in darkness because thereis no way of evaluating sea comlitions to determine a takeoff heading.

Eight minutes after being scrambled, the rescue crew had the A Iba-tross airborne. A sbort while laterthe SOS was confirmed and the HU-16 sped toward the scene. They spotted the ship about 30 minutes later.At first the A lbalmss crewthoughl thc vessel they had sighledwas another ship th at had heard the

distress call and had come to thearea to assist. They figured that theDaii"hi Hyura-Maru had sunk. However, when they got closer they sawthat the ship was foundering and thata 20-man lifc raft was close by witha number of people in it.

Major Lunn madc a couple of lowpasses over the ship and raft. Everyone waved at the HU-16 so Lunnconclutted that n'obody was seriouslyinjured. Since there was no immediate need to deploy the pararescuemen, Lunn began to survey thewater for landing.

But there were too many people tobe picked up by the one HU-16 .About an hour aftcr the first A fba-lross launch another look to thesky IInder the command of MajorChubner.

The Ooiithi Hyuro-Moru i, phoTogrophed during llogel of linking lOS milel louthwell of Okinawo.57

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58

hcilem eo l run 1 high 0' su rvivors of $uokenvessel orrive 01 No ha AS, Okinawa ab oa rdHU-16 of 33d Aerospgce Re$cu e g od Ret ove' y Squadron (lop) . Emolions sho w d ea rly00 fa(tls af restued fishermen (above right )oo d their f(fmilie, during reunion in Squad-ron briefing room . Rescuers, Mgion ThomasJ. Luno an d Jomes F. Chuboe r, wilh Copi.Charles R. Jenkins, acc ept formal Thanh ofship ' s coploin (righl) o nd his moles. CoplaioJen kins plaITed 10COlioo of the doomed shipfrom The Air Defense Conlrol Cenler on dguided rescue me n 10 the oreo.

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1\; ' lILES above the rolling German1'1. countryside, supersonic interceptors slashed through slate-coloredskies to identify an aircraft speedingalong the Iron Curtain. At the sametime, a Voodoo pilot touched downnorth of London, following a reconnaissance training night'" near theNorth Sea. Simultaneously. a Phan-tom screamed over sand wastes tostrike a practice larget in a southwestern desert of the United States,

These imaginary events, whichcould have happened this week, represent a typical day for the new generation of airmen and aircraft making up today's Lnited States AirForee in Europe (LSAFE),

For 23 years, LSAFE-the ai rcomponent of the t:S EuropeanCommand {ElJCOM l -has exercised responsibilities along a perimeter of free nations embracing aquaner of the globe, Like the long,blue line of men and WOmen beforethem, L'SAFE's new generation(t>quipped with hardware spanningthe entire spectrum of tactical atrpower) fans out along a giam arcreaching from the British IslesthroUgh Western Europe, ~ o r t hAfrica and the Middle East, to SouthAsia, In addition, a considerablenumber of CSAFE airmen are nowdual-based and stationed within theUS, Living up to their commandmotto. Vigilance lor Freedom,CSAFE men and women of todaystill stand ready to help the CSmeet commitments to the SonhAtlantic Treat) 0 r g an i z a t ion ,

I ~ A T O l , an d other internationalagreements. But there the similaritybetween lJSAFE. 1968 and LSAFEof yesteryear largely disappears,The CSAFE of today possessesmore firepower. Its aircrews for themost part arc recently toughenedcombat veterans. Its airmen are hetter educated. owning formidable newskills, The command's mission ismore diverse: its capahililies moreflexible, And it is rapidly adjustingto new and sweeping changes involving liS geographical fabric,

CSAFE exercises responsibilitiesthroughout an area nearly lwkf thesize of the C.S. It has major interestsin 7 primary installat ions andnearly four hundred smaller ones.60

L'SAFE has been greatly alteredduring recent months, largely by twodvnamic events: the 1966-67 reloc;tion from bases in France, and theonset of dual-basing,

The move from France saw basesclose that had, over the years, beenhomes for thousands of Americanairmen and families, t 'SAFE units

[S.tFE:THE\f:\l

GE\ElttTIO\Dual based units and a quick responsecapability keynote USAFE's readiness today,by Moj. GERALD J, HICKMAN

Hq USAFE

shifted to operating locations withinother nations (primarily the CnitedKingdom and the Federal Republicof Germany), or became dual-based,A dualbased CSAFE unit hastwo home stations: one within theCS and one in Europe, where periodic visits are made for in-thearertraining.

Dual-based units are assigned tothe Tactical Air Command (T AC)and Aerospace Defense Command(AIX') for administration, However, they remain under the o p e r a ~tional control of the CS Commanderin Chief, Europe, as exercised by theL'SAFE Commander in Chief. Atstateside bases. dual-based unitscontinue to train for NA TO requirements. They also continue to reflecttheir USAFE ties through aircraftmarkings. flight suit patches, an dbase entrance signs.Dual-basing was born during therapid relocation from France, andenlarged during 1968, following con

sultations with NATO allies, All told,six dual-based squadrons now contribute to the l 'SAFE mission, Redeploying units to CONUS butkeeping them sharply honed forNATO needs, is expected to savemillions annually in gold reserves.LareeS! of the dual-based units isthe three-squadron 49th TacticalFightet Wing. which flies the F-4DPhantom II, This high-geared unitredeployed from Spangdahlem AB,Germany, to HoIloman AFB, N,Mex,. during the past summer. ,Vhiletts pilots train for NATO requirements above the stark peaks andplains of the American southwest.another unit-the caretaking 7149thTactical Fighter Wing, which wasespecially created for the job-keepsthe base at Spangdahlem ready to receive any or all of its dual-basedsquadrons at any time,

Two additional Phamom squadrons are dual-based at MountainHome AFB. Idaho, and RamsteinAB, Germany. One, a tactical fighterunit. is part of the 50th TacticalFighter Wing. The other. a reconnaissance outfit, is part of the 26thTactical Reconnaissance Wing,

Sixth of the dual-based USAFEsquadrons is another 26th TRW unit,the 4713th Defense Systems Evaluation Squadron, with home stations atStewart AFB. N. y" and Ramstein,It flies the EB-57 Canberra,

Contrary to the views of some observers, the redeployment of units tothe LS is not a withdrawal from theEuropean theater. Gen, Maurice A.Preston (CSAF, Ret.), who presided over the relocation fromFrance and the onset of dual-basing.emphasized that USAFE's combatcapability has not been reduced byreshaping the command's geographicfabric, And he has carefuliy described how redeployment differsfrom withdrawal.

". . . let me attempt to correctwhat seems to be a minor. but isrcaHy a \ery important. semanticmistake many people make in referring to dual-basing," he said duringan interview shonly before hetired and was succeeded as LJSAFECommander in Chief by Gen, HoraceM. Wade, "Although based in theUnited States, those squadrons will

The Airman

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still be under my operational command. They are stillpart of USAFE. Thus, you can see that there is a slightshading in meaning of words involved here that is extremely important. I wish we could make this point moreclear to more people. As for the redeployment affectingour operations-I don't think the effect will be appreci-able. We will maintain facilities in a constant state ofreadiness here in Europe to receive the units at a mo-ment's notice. And we will return the units to this theaterperiodically to keep our airerews familiar with the areaand its associated flying problems. Whenever necessary.we will return the units, complete with support person-nel, rapidly."

When asked if moving USAFE units from France hada significant effect on the command, General Prestonsaid:"Not in respect to denying us the capability of per-forming the mission. We closed nine bases there, plusmany smaller facilities, but we are still fully capableof living up to our commitments.

"1 think USAFE today represents the most powerfulcombat force We have ever had in the theater. Moreover.I believe it to be the most effective force of its size everassembled here."

A major command of the United States Air Force.USAFE is primarily a tactical air force. But just as vari-ous command relationships make USAFE more than anAir Force command. additional responsibilities make itmore than a tactical air force.As the Air Force portion of the US military commit-ted to NATO, CSAFE represents a major segment of the

NATO deterrent force. Its mission. in support of NATO.EUCOM, and the Air Force. is to conduct. control andcoordinate air operations, carry out established policesand directives. and provide administrative and logisticalsupport. In general terms, the job of USAFE is to trainand support forces to be turned over to NATO control.should the need arise.Whether in Turkey, Italy. or other NATO nations.L1SAFE men and women train continuously with USand allied ground and air forces, to create and sustainrappon and understanding of mutual problems.Also transcending its role as a tactical air force.USAFE. within the unified command. is responsiblefor all US Air Force operations within the theater, re-gardless of which Air Force major command furnishesthe people and equipment. USAFE-as the air arm ofEUCOM-becomes responsible for programming additional missions like aerial refueJing. aerospace rescueand recovery, communications. w cat her , and aero-medical evacuation.

The US Army in Europe (USAREUR) and US Navyin Europe (USN AVEUR) join USA FE within theoverall EUCOM structure headed by Gen. Lyman L.Lemnitzer.Like General Lemnitzer, who is NATO's SupremeAllied Commander, Europe. the USA FE Commanderin Chief has an additional NATO command. For instance. General Wade commands the Fourth AlliedTactical Air Force (4ATAF). in addition to CSAFE.62

In the event of war. USAF's tactical forces would bepassed to Allied Command Europe (ACE) for operational employment. USAFE would retain responsibilityfor supporting its units with people, materiel and otherthings like base facilities. While ACE would direct theoperations of USAFE's tactical forces, it would still beup to LJSAFE to keep those forces in shape to fly.

Illustrating the scope of the USAFE commitment. allthree of the Allied Command's major military subcommands would be provided with LJSAFE tactical elements.However, most of the tactical fighter force would beassigned to 4A T AF. a unit of Allied Forces CentralEurope (AFCENT). US, Canadian and German unitsmake up 4ATAF.

..At present. 4A T AF is primarily a planning agency.But in the event of war, it would take charge of theallied forces assigned," General Preston noted.

Today USAFE units participate in NATO exercisesand other types of training on a regular basis. Recentexamples are Exercise Deep Furrow, held in Greecelast August and Exercise Polar Express. staged in Nor-way during June.

CSAFE squadrons also regularly engage in a program of exchange visits with squadrons of allied air for-ces. And USAFE units committed to AFCENT tanglewith Allied aircrews in annual competitions involving tac-tical fighter. air defense and reconnaissance operations.

Incidentally. not all USAFE activities are associatedwith NATO. Consider operations in Spain and Libya.Wheelus AB ncar Tripoli, Libya, boasts weaponsranges and fine, year-round flying weather. Many ofUSA FE's eombat aircrew weapons training programsare conducted there. The Sixteenth Air Force, which isheadquartered near Madrid, is responsible for USAFEactivities in Spain. Because of its consistently excellentweather, Spain-like I.ibya-is an ideal place to trainnew aircrews.To earrv out the USAFE mission, General Wade re-

lies heavily on the commanders of three numbered airforces. two air divisions, a third unit equivalent to anair division. and several smaller units that report directlyto his Wiesbaden, Germanv. headquarters.

The Third Air Force op;,rates in the United Kingdom,with headquarters near London. Its aircrews fly bothtactical fighter and reconnaissance aircraft. including theF-4 PhanTom. the F-100 Super Sabre and the RF-IOIVoodoo.The Seventeenth Air Force is based largely in Ger-many, with headquarters at Ramstein. This large, num-bered air force also has operations in Italy and conductsUSAFE training in Libya. It flies tactical and rceonnaisssance training missions in the Phantom. Specialunits include among others an air commando squadronthat works c lo s e ly with the Special Forces ofUSAREUR.In Spain, the Sixteenth Air Force operates the F-100Super Sabre, and control centers for airlift and weatheroperations.USAFE's primary contribution to the NATO air

The Ai"".

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Rhein-Mgin AB, G e ~ m a n y i l lhe oerial pori for millions of uS servicemenond dependenh_ Three airlift w o r k h o ~ s e s shown: C-141 J C-124 and C-130 .

defense system at present is provided by the 86th AirDivision . Like the Seventeenth Air Force, this organization is headquartered at Ramstein . Ils interceptorsquadrons, which are equipped with the F-102 DeltaDagger, are based in Germany and the Netherlands.The ground element of the division includes a networkof radar sites overlooking the political border dividingthe Federal' Republic of Germany from the Soviet Zoneto the east.The southernmost USAFE sub com man d is TheUnited States Logistics Group, Turkey (TUSLOG) ,with headquarters in Ankara. TUSLOG is responsiblefor operations in Turkey and Greece and is outfittedwith the F-100 , flown by rotatIOnal squadrons.Airlift ann of USAFE is the 322d Air Division, ofthe Military Airlift Command (MAC), which 'has headquarters near London. The 322d Air Divi !>ion, undertbe operational command of USAFE, is responsible forairlift operations throughout the European theater. TheC-130 Hercules on rotation from TAC and C-124Globemasler on rotation from MAC are the workhorseso[ the command's intratheater airlift needs. In recentHumonitorion ossislonce is perhops Ihe mosl rewording o ~ p e ( 1 of USAFEminion. Air Force mon gives medicol oid to eorthquoke viclim in lurkey .

October 1968

F-4D Phon/oms ot Bilburg AB , Germony, repnBenl the lolest odditions tothe modern oircroft thot CHe pori of USAFE forces committed to NATO.

A USAFE combol controller foHens his porochute before boording 0 C141Slorli/je,. Combot controllers set up drop lon es lor oirborne troops.

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months, the Air Reserve forces have increased trainingin the theater and increased utilization has been madeof the C- I41 Starlifter, Aeromedical oP

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Hey , thot's

. l e t ' ~ see the R U 5 S i o n ~ top that. I don't worry about thol bullet withb. my nome on it. They don't make

on e Ig enough .

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