written by Robert Von Bargen In 1963, I was a Navigator on alert at RAF Upper Heyford near Oxford in England. My crew had flown from our home station at Pease AFB in New Hampshire three weeks before. We were waiting for our replacement aircraft to arrive. We would not be released to fly
written by Bob Von Bargen Robert McNamara meeting with Pres. Lyndon B. Johnson in the White House (LBJ Library photo by Yoichi Okamoto) My experience with the US Air Force Strategic Air Command, or SAC, began in January 1960 when I reported for duty in the 509th Air Refueling Squadron at Pease
written by SSGT Forrest Purdy, USAFRES SSGT Forrest Purdy, USAFRES, Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, 2007 GWOT veteran Forrest Purdy wrote us after reading Vietnam Marine Jack Woodard's post on his brief time in Graves Registration. The post, and the conversation with Graves Registration veterans on a recent VBC Happy Hour, reminded Forrest of
written by Todd DePastino Former USAF pilot Dick Westerhoff recently mentioned that when he flew the F-104 in the late 1950s, the ejection seat fired downward out the bottom of the aircraft. If you think that sounds like a bad idea, you're right. It was. Dick's Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was the leading
Written by Todd DePastino The Berlin Air Lift of 1948-1949 owed its enormous success not only to the skill, determination, and courage of its air crews but also to good old American hoopla that publicized it. The Cold War, among other things, was a battle of messaging, as the United States and the Soviet
Written by Todd DePastino The Berlin Airlift, which began 75 years ago on June 25, was one of the United States Armed Forces’ finest hours. Children watching a U.S. cargo plane landing at Tempelhof Airfield in Berlin, 1948 (USAF Historical Research Agency) For almost one year, the US Air Force, with the
