This Week In AFLCMC History – September 16 - 22, 2024

  • Published
  • By Air Force Life Cycle Management Center History Office
16 Sep 1919 (Mobility Directorate)
Today, 105 years ago, the Army Air Service at Kelly Field flew to the aid of hurricane and flood victims in southern Texas. They were later joined by pilots from Fort Sam Houston as well. Flying Curtiss JN-4 “Jennies”, the military aviators helped scout damages to flooded communities in the Corpus Christi area, and airdropped supplies to stranded survivors. A relief train from San Antonio had been delayed on account of a destroyed track. Ultimately the storm and its floods officially killed 284 people; though the National Weather Service estimated that a more realistic death toll is between 600 to 1,000 people.
 
17 Sep 1964 (Hanscom AFB/Digital Directorate)
On today’s date, 60 years ago, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced to the world that the U.S.A. had the capability to bring down enemy “bomb-carrying satellites” and had an over-the-horizon radar that was able to see beyond the curvature of the Earth to detect missiles shortly after launch.  The announcement came during his 1964 election campaign (and followed hot on the trail of his controversial “Daisy” girl television ad, which stoked fears of nuclear war). Although his announcement at the time was necessarily vague, due to national security concerns, he was referring to the U.S. antisatellite (ASAT) “Program 437,” that employed Thor missiles as satellite interceptors, and the Hanscom AFB-managed Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS).
 
19 Sep 1969 (Armament Directorate)
Today, 55 years ago, the first air-launched test of an AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missile took place at Edwards AFB, California. The missile was launched from an F-4E Phantom II, flown by McDonnell Douglas test pilot F. H. “Buck” Rogers. Although the original operational Maverick was television guided, the missile tested on this date was unguided, and was primarily fired to demonstrate safe separation and launching from an aircraft. The Hughes Aircraft Company had been developing the missile since about 1966, and the first production version of the AGM-65A was delivered to the Air Force in August 1972. The Maverick remains in use today, though it is now produced by Raytheon, which bought the Hughes Aircraft Company in a 1997 merger.
 
20 Sep 1904 (Aviation History)
One hundred and twenty years ago today, a significant milestone in aviation history was achieved when Wilbur Wright successfully completed the first circle in an airplane, at Huffman Prairie, now part of Wright-Patterson AFB Area A. He was piloting the Wright Flyer II, the Wright Brothers’ second aircraft, which was built that same year. It included changes from the original Flyer used at Kittyhawk, North Carolina, but these initially worsened its performance. It flew a total of 105 flights as the siblings learned the art of flying and demonstrated their increasing mastery in controlling their invention. The event was witnessed by writer and entrepreneur Amos Root, who had come nearly 200 miles from Medina, Ohio, to see it. He later wrote about it enthusiastically in his agricultural and beekeeping journal, Gleanings in Bee Culture. Root’s article was by far the most accurate contemporary account of the plane and its capabilities.
 
21 Sep 1950 (Training Directorate/Bombers Directorate)
During the Korean War, the North American T-6 Texan, which was designed as a fast and rugged WWII-era training aircraft, found a second calling as an airborne Forward Air Controller (FAC) in the Korean War. On 21 Sep 1950, several T-6s acting as FAC aircraft spotted 30 enemy tanks moving in to strike at the US Army's 24th Infantry Division, which was unaware of their advance. Using their own radios, as well as the air-to-ground radios they carried as FACs, they notified both the USAF and the Army artillery on the ground of the threat, with both responding. A total of 14 enemy tanks were destroyed before they could seriously damage the American ground forces, and the remainder were forced to retreat. The modern Beechcraft T-6 Texan II trainer is named after these hardy forefathers.
 
22 Sep 1990 (Wright-Patterson AFB)
From Aug 1990 to Apr 1991, Wright-Patterson AFB (WPAFB) took on a new mission, becoming an aerial port of embarkation in support of deployments to the Persian Gulf War. Locally, thirty-one WPAFB units received deployment taskings in support of Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM, sending off a total of 606 personnel from the base. But on this date, 22 Sep 1990, the 64th Ordnance Detachment (EOD), with a total of 14 soldiers and 34.5 short tons of cargo, became the first U.S. Army unit to deploy from the base, as it fulfilled its role as an embarkation point for the first time. The 64th Ordnance Detachment came from Fort Benjamin Harrison in Indiana. In total, more than 2,300 soldiers from 21 different Army units eventually passed through WPAFB in support of the war effort.
 
20 Years Ago in AFLCMC History: 18 Sep 2004 - Air Force Marathon Goes “Official”
It was a beautiful Saturday morning twenty years ago, on 18 Sep 2004. Temperatures were in the low 40s, and clear blue skies promised plenty of sunshine. More than 3,800 runners from 48 states and 10 foreign countries lined up at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, for the 8th annual U.S. Air Force Marathon. The youngest racer was 3-year-old Natalie Kunes, while the oldest was 86-year-old Maggie Hunt-Cohn of Georgia, both of whom ran in the 5-kilometer course. The most senior full marathon runners were Paul Gionfriddo and Margaret Hagerty, both 81 years old.
 
What made this marathon special, however, was that it was the first one held at Wright-Patterson AFB to be an “officially sanctioned Air Force event.” The Air Force marathon had actually started at there in 1997, after a married couple in the 74th Medical Group noticed that the Air Force was the only military branch that did not support a marathon and suggested it as a way to celebrate the Air Force’s 50th anniversary. However, it wasn’t until 2004 that it received the Air Force Services Agency’s official seal of approval, bringing it even greater credibility and recognition. The goal of the organizers was to eventually see 20,000 runners participate.
 
The 2004 winners were James Bresette (men’s overall winner), a 44-year-old mechanic from Arkansas, and Capt Jill Metzger (women’s overall winner), a 31-year-old from Ramstein AB, Germany, who became the first two-time female winner of the event.