The Stovebolt Site Forums The Side Lot Legion Hall Happy Birthday Air Force

Seventy-two years ago, President Harry Truman signed the National Security act of 1947 establishing the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of the U.S. military.
During World War I, prior to our founding, it was evident that air power was an absolute necessity if we wanted to win America's wars. By the end of the World War I, there were nearly 11,000 pilots serving our country, and through their victories, the airplane was here to stay in our nation’s military.
Our service was tested in its infancy and continues to be tested today. To this day, our Airmen have continuously deployed in support of contingency operations and humanitarian operations both home and abroad.

Amen brother!

Happy Birthday.

..... and their always dressed in Blue.

My brother and his granddaughter are visiting Wright Patterson AFB, she for a marathon and he is visiting where worked for 20 Plus years after 23 years in the AF E8 at retirement and she is an E6.

Happy birthday, Air Force! I have an uncle (B-24 aircrew in WW2) and cousin (career USAF PAO) who wore blue.

Semper Fi,
John

Belated Happy Birthday, Air Force - my Dad (Pilot) and Uncle (Bombardier) served in WWII in your pre-cursor, the Army Air Forces.

Yup....belated Happy Bithday. It's been right at 45 years since I got out of the Air Force. Opted for an early out just prior to testing for Staff Sgt. Good memories of being in the sevice and still have a few pics.

I’ve been out 51 years. Enjoyed my 4 years learning to grow up! 25251

It's been almost 42 years since I didn't almost join the Air Force.

Happy Birthday USAF.

The Australian Air Force is turning 100 next year. I have only been in it for a third of its life.
So happy birthday younger but much bigger brother.

Steve

I have lived my entire life within 5 miles of Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue, NE. Home of the Martin Bomber Plant where they built the "Enola Gay" during WW2. My Dad worked (Bell System) at Offutt for a couple decades and my oldest son (Captain US Air Force) was stationed there for 3 years. Offutt and the US Air Force has been good to the Omaha area for many decades. Thanks to Offutt, Omaha and surrounding communities were blessed to have the infrastructure for some of the best communications systems in the world (according to my Dad way back when).

Pretty cool when they have their air shows too.

John

all 4 of us brothers were USAF

My two older brother were in the Army and told me I'd better enlist before I got drafted. They always told me the Air Force had the better tents and food so I enlisted in the USAF. Always loved the midnight chow. I was in CE as a Power Production Specialist. I worked briefly at the power plant on base and then when I was sent to Clark Air Base in the Philippine's I worked on the flight line catching F4's & F5's coming back with problems in the MA-1A and BAK-12 barriers

48 years ago. Det 150 Turkey, 3rd Mob Okla, Det 26 Italy.

Us Weather guys always had to share the barracks with you Com guys. Cryptos were the odd group!

My boy after changing out the landing gear on a BUFF in the desert in Qatar a couple of years ago, and this past November when he made TSgt. Currently stationed at Minot AFB, Minot, ND. Cold winters, lol. Military service is not for everyone but he has grown, done well and flourished so I think it’s for him lol!

....olezippi, gosh, I thought I'd never ever hear anyone mention the Bak-6 or MA-1 barriers again.

I was a member of the "Barrier Crew" at K.I. Sawyer up in the U/P of Mi. Had a B-52 tear it all up on the north end one night because he over shot the runway and tower flipped up the MA-1 to try stop him before he went in the lake....what a mess! Took to days to dig the B52 out of the snow and lake.....at 25 below "0"
.....what memories.

I was stationed at K.I. Sawyer in 1973.

I left Sawyer in 67.............66 was worst winter on record up till then. I went back for a visit early 90's to see some old friends that were civillians and still working there!

Shortly before I got to Kadena Okinawa in 1970, a BUF had tried to abort a takeoff after losing two engines just before getting airborne. Can't fly- - - -can't stop! He ended up against the perimeter fence with a full load of high explosive bombs and full fuel. I don't know if Kadena had a barrier, or if they did, maybe there wasn't time to deploy it. The only survivor of the crash was the tail gunner, and he died a few hours later. Quite a mess!
Jerry

Jerry, if it was the crash I’m thinking of, I was in the tower that night. You could tell something was wrong with the sound of the engines. The pilot tried to pull up but it settled down and broke apart in the ditch at the end of the runway. Immediately caught on fire. The crew that could get out were running on fire. The tail gunner was the last one out. By that time the 500 pounders were going off forcing the fire trucks to back off. They would pull back forward til the next one went off. I don’t remember which one in rotation that plane was that night but the one right behind him was already rolling when it happened. The mission was aborted and the rest returned to their side of the base. Wreckage burned for several hours. We were closed down for a couple of days for cleanup. Sad deal.

Dragsix, I was in the tower (weather observation deck) for that launch. We knew something was wrong about halfway down the runway. The plane was laboring really hard, rose to about 25 feet then fell back onto the runway and broke in half. Caught fire immediately and shortly later the bombs began going off. The fire trucks who were always on standby whenever there was a mission launch, had to back away every time there was an explosion. They would pull back up and spray foam until another one would go off. No firefighters on the ground and they basically had to let it burn itself out. It was amazing how fast the engineers got the runway back open. Naha took the load for awhile. Very long shift that night.

Today is the 100th Birthday of the Royal Australian Air Force. So happy birthday to all those that have been involved.
The attached video is the dedication of the new colours and at the end a fly over. The fly over starts at about 1 hour 20.


Steve

HAPPY BIRTHDAY USAF, I served my time at Beale AFB, 9th Recon.,9th Comm. CRYPTO 30630 during the early 70's.
Always enjoyed watching the SR-71's and U2's takeoff and land from the alert center. We were a SAC base back then.

Myself and my 3 brothers were all USAF. Wow, that was a long time ago!!!

Pics from long ago....and yes, I know the gas flap is up on the 58 Impala.

My oldest boy is a TSgt. up at Minot, B-52s. Cold, oh my heavenly god cold. He was at Barksdale for a number of years prior. Those men and women work hard keeping those planes in top condition. We may need them yet.

My son has been stationed at Ramstein for a little over 2 years. He just returned back there from 5 weeks in Poland. If all goes well he'll be finding out his next move in the next few months. We're hoping for somewhere in the lower 48 as it would be good for our daughter in-law and granddaughter.

John

The wife of our local American Legion commander was a B-52 crew chief for quite a while. He's a retired fighter pilot who now flies commercial airliners for a living.
Jerry

I found this picture of my Airmen, this was just before I retired in 2018.

Ya know ... it was always a PITA, in a joint environment, to have to remove one of my boots so I had enough digits to count Air Force stripes to then be able to address one of you correctly. Made for many awkward moments.

Happy birthday all the same.