Download Free Air National Guard At Sixty A History Book in PDF and EPUB Free Download. You can read online Air National Guard At Sixty A History and write the review.

The Air National Guard's role within the Air Force has matured and changed enormously since its establishment as a separate reserve component September 18, 1947. Air National Guard members have served around the world and their military experience and civilian skills have proven invaluable as our nation prosecuted conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. They also served during several major contingencies including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Crisis if 1961 and 1962. In addition, Air Guard members made major contributions in a host of other operations in Panama, the Balkans, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and the Iraq no-fly zones instituted after Operation Desert Strom. In the United States, the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts brought into sharp focus the Air Guard's well-established role as America's hometown Air Force. The Air National Guard flew over 3,000 sorties, moved over 30,000 passengers, and hauled over 11,000 tons of desperately needed supplies into Gulf Coast airfields, some of which Guard personnel opened and operated. Air National Guard members rescued 1,443 people--heroically saving people stranded by the flood. At eight sites along the Gulf Coast, Air National Guard medical units treated more than 15,000 patients, combining expert medical care with compassion.
The Air National Guard's role within the Air Force has matured and changed enormously since its establishment as a separate reserve component September 18, 1947. Air National Guard members have served around the world and their military experience and civilian skills have proven invaluable as our nation prosecuted conflicts in Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Kosovo, Afghanistan, and Iraq. They also served during several major contingencies including the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Berlin Crisis if 1961 and 1962. In addition, Air Guard members made major contributions in a host of other operations in Panama, the Balkans, Somalia, Rwanda, Haiti, and the Iraq no-fly zones instituted after Operation Desert Strom. In the United States, the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts brought into sharp focus the Air Guard's well-established role as America's hometown Air Force. The Air National Guard flew over 3,000 sorties, moved over 30,000 passengers, and hauled over 11,000 tons of desperately needed supplies into Gulf Coast airfields, some of which Guard personnel opened and operated. Air National Guard members rescued 1,443 people--heroically saving people stranded by the flood. At eight sites along the Gulf Coast, Air National Guard medical units treated more than 15,000 patients, combining expert medical care with compassion.
Except in a few instances, since World War II no American soldier or sailor has been attacked by enemy air power. Conversely, no enemy soldier orsailor has acted in combat without being attacked or at least threatened by American air power. Aviators have brought the air weapon to bear against enemies while denying them the same prerogative. This is the legacy of the U.S. AirForce, purchased at great cost in both human and material resources.More often than not, aerial pioneers had to fight technological ignorance, bureaucratic opposition, public apathy, and disagreement over purpose.Every step in the evolution of air power led into new and untrodden territory, driven by humanitarian impulses; by the search for higher, faster, and farther flight; or by the conviction that the air way was the best way. Warriors have always coveted the high ground. If technology permitted them to reach it, men, women andan air force held and exploited it-from Thomas Selfridge, first among so many who gave that "last full measure of devotion"; to Women's Airforce Service Pilot Ann Baumgartner, who broke social barriers to become the first Americanwoman to pilot a jet; to Benjamin Davis, who broke racial barriers to become the first African American to command a flying group; to Chuck Yeager, a one-time non-commissioned flight officer who was the first to exceed the speed of sound; to John Levitow, who earned the Medal of Honor by throwing himself over a live flare to save his gunship crew; to John Warden, who began a revolution in air power thought and strategy that was put to spectacular use in the Gulf War.Industrialization has brought total war and air power has brought the means to overfly an enemy's defenses and attack its sources of power directly. Americans have perceived air power from the start as a more efficient means of waging war and as a symbol of the nation's commitment to technology to master challenges, minimize casualties, and defeat adversaries.
After nearly four decades of government denial, the deeds of four Alabama Air National Guardsmen who died at the Bay of Pigs in 1961 have been made public and their names memorialized at the CIA's Wall of Honor in Langley, Virginia. Their stories can now be told. The four guardsmen who died flew with a group of Alabama volunteers to secret CIA bases in Guatemala and Nicaragua to train Cuban exiles to fly B-26 bombers in support of the invasion forces. When the small group of exhausted pilots could no longer sustain the air battle, seven Alabama Guardsmen flew with them into combat on the final day of the invasion in a futile attempt to stave off defeat at the embattled beachhead. The body of one of these men, Thomas W. "Pete" Ray, remained in Cuba until 1978 where it was frozen as a war trophy and as evidence of U.S. complicity in the failed 1961 invasion.
Tuesday, Sep. 11, 2001, dawned cool and clear, with sunny skies all along the eastern seaboard. For Air Force aviators like Lt. Col. Timothy "Duff" Duffy of the 102d Fighter Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, the day held the promise of perfect flying weather, at a time when the U.S. civil aviation system was enjoying a period of relative peace, despite concerns about a growing terrorist threat. More than ten years had passed since the last hijacking or bombing of a U.S. air carrier. That morning, however, the country came under a shocking, coordinated aerial assault by nineteen al Qaeda hijackers...The attack plan carried out by the suicide operatives had been years in the making. It was intended to cause mass, indiscriminate casualties and to destroy or damage the nation’s financial, military, and political centers, four high value U.S. targets selected by bin Laden, independent operator Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, and al Qaeda operations chief Mohammed Atef... By the time 1 World Trade Center, North Tower, collapsed at 10:28 a.m. EDT, almost three thousand people had been killed or were dying; the financial center of the U.S. had been reduced to burning, toxic rubble; the iconic symbol of the military strength of the country had been severely damaged; the tranquility of a field in Pennsylvania had been shattered; U.S. Air Force and Air National Guard fighter aircraft had set up combat air patrols over Washington, D.C., and New York City; and the administration of President George W. Bush and the Department of Defense (DOD) had begun shifting major resources of the federal government and military services to a new national priority, homeland defense.
Presenting a fascinating insider's view of U.S.A.F. special operations, this volume brings to life the critical contributions these forces have made to the exercise of air & space power. Focusing in particular on the period between the Korean War & the Indochina wars of 1950-1979, the accounts of numerous missions are profusely illustrated with photos & maps. Includes a discussion of AF operations in Europe during WWII, as well as profiles of Air Commandos who performed above & beyond the call of duty. Reflects on the need for financial & political support for restoration of the forces. Bibliography. Extensive photos & maps. Charts & tables.
"Leading the way describes how the men and women of Air Force civil engineering have provided the basing that enabled the Air Force to fly, fight, and win. This book depicts how engineers built hundreds of bases during World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, the Gulf War, and Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. At the same time, these engineers operated and maintained a global network of enduring, peacetime bases. It describes the engineers' role in special projects such as the ballistic missile program, the Arctic early warning sites, and construction of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Using hundreds of sources, this detailed narrative tells the story of how civil engineers have been organized, trained, equipped, and employed for more than 100 years. From the beaches of Normandy to the mountains of Afghanistan, civil engineers have forged an unmatched record of success and built a solid foundation for today's Air Force."--Back cover.