Week 4: 3-8 September Flashcards
Squadron 4 Nickname
Fightin’ Fourth
Squadron 37 Nickname
Animalistic Skyraiders
BOLDFACE President Thomas Jefferson’s quote on Integrity pg 169
“He who permits himself to tell a lie once finds it much easier to do it a second and third time, till at length it becomes habitual; he tells a lie without attending to it, and truths without the world believing it.”
BOLDFACE General Charles A. Gabriel’s quote pg 169 (General Charles A. Gabriel, Chief of Staff, USAF)
[no front quotation marks] Integrity is the fundamental premise for military service in a free society. Without integrity, the moral pillars of our military strength, public trust, and self-respect are lost.”
BOLDFACE General S.L.A. Marshall’s quote pg 169 (General S.L.A. Marshall, British Army, Great Britain)
“A man has integrity if his interest in the good of the service is at all times greater than his personal pride, and when he holds himself to the same line of duty when unobserved as he would follow if his superiors were present.”
BOLDFACE Constitution: Preface pg 182
We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.
Constitution: Article 1, Section 1 pg 182
Section 1 All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which shall consist of a Senate and House of Representatives.
Constitution: Article 1, Section 2 pg 182-183
The House of Representatives shall be composed of Members chosen every second Year by the People of the several States, and the Electors in each State shall have the Qualifications requisite for Electors of the most numerous Branch of the State Legislature.
No Person shall be a Representative who shall not have attained to the Age of twenty five Years, and been seven Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State in which he shall be chosen.
Representatives and direct Taxes shall be apportioned among the several States which may be included within this Union, according to their respective Numbers, which shall be determined by adding to the whole Number of free Persons, including those bound to Service for a Term of Years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three fifths of all other Persons.
The actual Enumeration shall be made within three Years after the first Meeting of the Congress of the United States, and within every subsequent Term of ten Years, in such Manner as they shall by Law direct. The Number of Representatives shall not exceed one for every thirty Thousand, but each State shall have at Least one Representative; and until such enumeration shall be made, the State of New Hampshire shall be entitled to choose three, Massachusetts eight, Rhode Island and Providence Plantations one, Connecticut five, New York six, New Jersey four, Pennsylvania eight, Delaware one, Maryland six, Virginia ten, North Carolina five, South Carolina five, and Georgia three.
When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.
The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the sole Power of Impeachment.
B-1B Lancer pg. 117
B-1B Lancer
Manufacturer: Boeing
Function: Long-Range, Multi-Role, Heavy Bomber
Service Date: 1985
Speed 900+mph
Crew: Four
Production: 104 Inventory: 66
Commentary: The B-1 was planned as a replacement for the B-52 but was cancelled in 1977. The USAF revived the program in 1981. The B-1B was first used in combat against Iraq during Operation DESERT FOX in 1998.
RQ-4A Global Hawk pg 131
RQ-4A Global Hawk
Manufacturer: Northrup Grumman
Function: High-Altitude, Long-Endurance ISR
Service Date: 2001
Speed: 357 mph
Production: 77 (planned)
Inventory: 20
Commentary: The RQ-4 provides high-altitude, persistent (28+ hours) remotely piloted ISR capability. The system consists of an aicraft, GCS, and an integrated sensor suite.
B-36 Peacemaker pg 135
B-36 Peacemaker
Manufacturer: Consolidated Vultee
Function: Strategic Bomber
Service Date: 1948-1959
Speed: 435 mph
Crew: Thirteen
Production: 384
Commentary: The B-36 is the first bomber built specifically for carrying nuclear weapons. With a wingspan of 230 feet, the aircraft also holds the distinction of being the largest piston engine combat aircraft ever produced. Training missions simulating cold war missions often exceed over 40 hours in flight. The B-36 retired having never dropped a weapon in combat.
Brigadier General Billy Mitchell and the Ostfriesland pg 73-74
Although not an ace, William “Billy” Mitchell emerged as the outstanding American air combat commander of WWI. Supremely confident and abrasive, Mitchell clashed with his superiors; nevertheless, they recommended him for the top combat position, Chief of Air Service, First Army.
In September 1918, Mitchell massed 1,481 aircraft from American, French, British, and Italian units to support General John J. Pershing’s St. Mihiel offensive. Mitchell emphasized concentrated, mass attacks to overwhelm enemy air power and punish German ground forces. In four days, Allied airmen flew 3,300 combat sorties and droped 75 tons of explosives. Mitchell further refined his tactics during the Meuse-Argonne offensive of 26 September 1918 where 700 American aircraft faced 500 German planes in a bitter air-to-air struggle.
Two related themes marked American air power in the 1920s: Billy Mitchell’s drive for Air Force independence and a series of aviation records designed both to push aeronautical technology and to keep military aviation in the public eye. Convinced of air power’s potential as a revolutionary war-winning weapon, William “Billy” Mitchell aggressively promoted his cause. Hoping to make air forces the nation’s “first line of defense,” Mitchell challenged the U.S. Navy by arguing that bombers rendered battleships obsolete. To refute Navy claims that capital ships were unsinkable, Mitchell “mobilized” Martin MB-2 bombers and sank the 27,000-ton, ex-German battleship Ostfriesland on 21 July 1921.
Despite previous air service successes, the Navy remind unconvinced about its vulnerability from the air. Officials eventually turned over two WWI battleships, the USS New Jersey and the USS Virginia for a second demonstration. On 5 September 1923, 11 aircraft sunk the two battleships with bombs to spare. Ironically, although Mitchell failed to convince the War or Navy Departments of his claims, the bombing tests spurred the development of carrier-based aviation.
Frustrated by what he perceived as a lack of progress, Mitchell turned up the heat in his public statements. When the Navy airship Shendoah crashed on 5 September 1925, Mitchell issues a press release that charged, “ . . . the incompetency, criminal negligence, and almost treasonable administration of our national defense by the Navy and War Departments.” During the ensuing court martial, Mitchell attempted to transform the trial into a public hearing on air power. Found guilty of “conduct of a nature to bring discredit upon the military service,” the court sentenced Mitchell to a five-year suspension without pay. On 1 February 1926, he resigned from the Air Service to continue to fight for an independent Air Force as a civilian. Until his death in 1936, Billy Mitchell fought tenaciously for his vision.
Although Mitchell regarded it as a half measure, the Air Corps Act of 1926 greatly improved the status of aviation within the Army. It transformed the Air Service into the Air Corps, provided for representation within the General Staff, and added an Assistant Secretary of War for Air.
Brig General William “Billy” Mitchell: Page 105
Brig General Mitchell was a prominent crusader for air power. His career started when he became a second lieutenant in the volnteer signal company. Mitchell beame the driving force for advocating the strength and power that aeronautics would play in the future as an equal partner to the Army and Navy. He propsed the Deperatment of Aeronautics should be in charge of the training and personnel used by the other services. Mitchell proposed that the airplane was superior to the battleship, which he tried to demonstrate by sinking the Ostfriesland on 22 July 1921. In many ways, his ideas and methods sparked controversy and disaproval, which led to his court-martial. Mitchell attempted to gain support with his first book, Our Air Force. Mitchell contributed to the doctrinal and tactical growth of the Air Service despite the opposition that he struggled against.
Captain Richard S. Ritchie: Page 53
Captain (now Retired Brigadier General) Richard S. Ritchie, Class of 1964, was the first Air Fore ace of the Vietnam War. A distinguished fighter pilot, he earned the Air Fore Cross, the Silver Star with three clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with nine clusters, and twenty-five Air Medals. In 1972, he won the McKay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the year and the Jabara Award for Airmanship.
USAF Academy Vision pg 16
The Nation’s premier institution for producing leaders of character.
Pilot Wings, 1913 Badge
Pilot Wings, 1919-present
Senior and Master Badge Designators
Commander’s Pin
Unique Badges to USAFA
Prop & Wings
Unique Badges to USAFA
US Air Force Academy Permanent Professor
