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Archive for the ‘History’ Category

Happy Birthday Marines!

Sunday, November 10th, 2024

Fort Liberty By Any Other Name

Saturday, November 9th, 2024

A few years ago it was decided to rename multiple US Army posts from their former names after Confederate Generals to more modern names, reflecting diversity and loyal service to our nation.

President Trump has pledged to return Fort Bragg‘s name when he returns to office next year.

While it will always be Fort Bragg to me, at least for sentiment’s sake, I have always wondered why an installation filled with paratroopers would be named after a mediocre artillery general.

I think it would be best to rename the installation after an American hero. The name “Liberty” took on a 1984esque aura, which has seemed to demoralize rather than uplift the service members assigned there.

We’ve got a long list of great men who were associated with Fort Bragg or its units to choose from. For instance, Alvin York, a WWI member of the 82nd Division who didn’t want to go to war but answered when his nation called. Then, there’s Jumpin’ General James Gavin, WWII hero and 82nd Abn Div CG. We could honor Gen William Yarborough; known as the father of modern Green Berets; he served as a paratrooper in WWII, Korea and in SE Asia.

Looking to enlisted men for inspiration there is a bevy of Medal of Honor awardees from Vietnam like MSG Roy Benavidez. Or, we could take inspiration from more modern heroes by christening the Army Fort outside of Fayetteville with the names Shughart—Gordon in honor of their selfless sacrifice in Mogadishu.

What are your ideas?

Special Operations Forces (1984)

Sunday, November 3rd, 2024

This Army training video produced in 1984 was intended for Army Captains and Majors in the Special Forces branch and depict SOF’s role in defense at that time.

The evolving nations with political and economic power struggles have created a constant stream of worldwide special situations and these are the missions of SOF:

1. Foreign internal defense
2. Unconventional warfare
3. Strategic and tactical reconnaissance
4. Strike
5. Strategic and tactical psychological operations (PSYOPS)
6. Civil administration
7. Rescue and evacuation
8. Collection security
9. Humanitarian operations
10. Terrorism counteraction
11. Civil affairs
12. Safeguarding of U.S. citizens abroad
13. Deception operations
14. Security assistance
15. Special Operations Aviation
16. Sabotage

US Military Liaison Mission Ends October 3, 1990

Sunday, October 6th, 2024

There were never more than fourteen at one time. They were licensed spies who were uniformed members of the United States military but who also held Soviet credentials or passes allowing nearly unrestricted access into and within the Soviet sector of East Germany. They were backed up by another 50 “off pass” personnel – drivers, equipment recognition specialists, analysts – all of whom were hand-picked experts in their fields. All were members of the US Military Liaison Mission (USMLM), a unique and elite joint service organization that was founded in 1947 and formalized in a bilateral agreement between the American and Soviet Chiefs of Staff. They answered only to the Commander-in-Chief, US Army Europe. The British and French had similar agreements – and the Soviets had liaison teams of their own, who patrolled throughout the Allied sectors of West Germany.


Mission Restricted Sign, in English, French, Russian, and German. These signs were nailed to seemingly every tree in East Germany, and consequently routinely ignored by the Allied Liaison Missions.

They traveled in teams (called tours) of two: an Army or Air Force officer who was a Russian linguist and Soviet specialist, paired with a noncommissioned officer driver who was fluent in German. They traveled in a standard four-wheel drive, non-descript vehicle, and were equipped with notebooks, binoculars, night vision goggles, tape recorders, cameras, compasses, maps, rations, and personal items, but no weapons. No espionage gear or other spy paraphernalia was ever carried. These “spies” never met with agents, conducted dead drops, intercepted messages, or participated in any clandestine activities. According to Major General Roland La Joie, a former commander of the USMLM, “the tours were really nothing more than overt mobile observation platforms crisscrossing the GDR [German Democratic Republic], seeking militarily useful information. The search, of course, was not entirely random.”


Potsdam House, the headquarters of the US Military Liaison Mission in East Germany.

Tours were assigned targets based on intelligence collection requirements from national and theater intelligence agencies. The targets included Soviet or East German garrisons, temporary deployment areas, field training areas, air-ground gunnery ranges, communications sites, river crossing areas, railroad sidings, and virtually anything else of military value in the country. Newly introduced or modified military equipment, especially combat vehicles and aircraft were always at the top of the target list. By virtue of the bilateral agreement, the only locations off-limits to the USMLM were “places of disposition of military units,” so the tours had to be exceedingly careful of where they stationed themselves to observe things such as military movements or tactical exercises. Tour members duly pursued, observed, recorded, and photographed whatever they encountered.


Members of the US Military Liaison Mission on a tour observing Soviet ground forces in East Germany.

The enemy’s capabilities were only part of the problem; the MLM was also tasked to look for indications of intent to use those capabilities. La Joie writes: “On every single day throughout the Cold War, eight or more Allied tours were roaming the countryside of East Germany. Every day, all night, each tour looking exactly for signs of imminence of hostilities.” Because of their unique and expansive access to Soviet military forces in Germany, the USMLM was included in all discussions about the Soviet threat, at both military and diplomatic levels. Their perspective from within the Soviet sector was exceptionally clear, even if incomplete.

Despite the official agreement, the Cold War had heated up over the decades, and the danger was genuine: On March 22, 1984, a member of the French Mission lost his life in a staged traffic “accident.” Almost exactly one year later, on March 24, 1985, Major Arthur D. Nicholson of the USMLM was shot and killed by a Soviet sentry while on a routine liaison mission. However, despite the dangers, the Missions persevered. Dutiful to the end, MLM members monitored the withdrawal of Soviet forces out of Germany and across the Polish border. They remained at their posts until the day the two sides of Germany were reunited, on October 3, 1990, at which time the Military Liaison Mission declared: Mission Accomplished.

By Ruth Quinn, Staff Historian, USAICoE Command History Office

Remembering the Battle of Mogadishu

Thursday, October 3rd, 2024

On this date in 1993, US service members were engaged in what is now known as the Battle of Mogadishu. A joint organization was formed named ” TF Ranger” to deploy to Mogadishu, Somalia in support of a UN-led humanitarian mission.

By October 3rd, they had been conducting operations for quite some time, but that day’s raid would be unlike anything they had experienced. The mission was to raid the city’s Olympic Hotel in order to capture key leaders of the Aidid Militia who had been opposing IN efforts to feed the locals.

Unfortunately, during the exfil portion of the raid, a battle ensued which claimed the lives of 18 Americans and wounded another 73. Additionally, CW3 Michael Durant was captured by the Aideed militia after being shot down while piloting his Blackhawk. Fortunately, Durant was later repatriated and went on to retire from the 160th.

Of the men killed that day, two would be awarded the Medal of Honor, Delta Operators Gary Gordon and Randy Shughart, for their selfless efforts to protect Durant after his aircraft, callsign Super 64, was shot down.

Last year, the US Army reevaluated the awards presented to the participants of that battle and amongst the Ranger element, upgraded 60 veteran’s awards including 58 Silver Stars and two Distinguished Flying Crosses. The order of battle included other organizations and their Soldiers have received similar upgrades.

If you are unfamiliar with the events, one of the best accounts of the battle is contained in the book, “Blackhawk Down” by author Mark Bowden. Much of the information was serialized prior to the book’s publication in the Philadelphia Enquirer. Later this was made into a movie bearing the same name.

Please take a moment to remember these men and their sacrifice.

Additionally, the 75th Ranger Regiment was created on this day in 1984, with the stand up of its 3rd Battalion. Four decades later, the Ranger Regiment boasts five battalions of some of the most elite warriors on the face of our planet.

Operation Restore Democracy, It Was 30 Years Ago Today

Thursday, September 19th, 2024

Thirty years ago, I joined thousands of other US and allied service members as we descended on the island nation of Haiti as part of Operation Restore Democracy.

As a Haitian Creole and French Crypto-Linguist in 3rd Group I was assigned to the JSOTF, at one point working specifically for BG Potter.

We flew on MH53s from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba to the airport at Port of Prince to establish our initial presence in our mission to restore the Presidency of Jean Bertrand Aristide seen here with me. You should have the look on his face when I spoke with him in both French and Kreyol.

I ended up living in a couple of locations around the Port au Prince area during my two deployments in Haiti (I also served under the UN Mission in Haiti) before leaving Group for the Air Force.

70 Years of Flight: The C-130’s Legacy, Future

Thursday, September 12th, 2024

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) —  

Since its first flight Aug. 23, 1954, the C-130 Herculeshas proven to be one of the most versatile and active aircraft in the Air Force’s fleet, having carried troops and supplies from the tundra of Antarctica, to the deserts of the Middle East, to the tropical islands of the Pacific, and nearly everywhere in between. 
 
Robins Air Force Base, host of the C-130 70th Anniversary celebration, has played a key role in keeping the C-130 fleet not just flying, but equipped with the technology and modernizations that make it a critical component of the contemporary Air Force fleet.

“It’s the greatest airplane ever built, and it’s stained honorably with American blood, sweat and tears,” said Gen. Mike Minihan, commander of Air Mobility Command. “That airplane is a monument to everyone that flies, fixes, and supports it … From the assembly line, to the flight line, to the depot line, it’s the hands that touch it that make it so powerful.”

The Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex at Robins AFB is the central hub for depot maintenance and modernization of the C-130. With 12 different C-130 models spread across seven major commands and the Air National Guard, totaling 436 aircraft in the Air Force fleet, effective and efficient maintenance is vital to keeping the mission running – especially in an era of Great Power Competition.

“We’re the best at what we do here,” said Ben Stuart, 560th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron director of operations. “The first flight was in 1954, and we’ve been doing depot maintenance on C-130s at Robins since 1964.

We’ve got mission partners with the program office, engineering, the Defense Logistics Agency and Lockheed Martin,” Stuart continued. “That combination is what makes us the best in the business, and we have been doing it for 60 years. Nobody else in the world does the repair and overhaul work that we do here at Robins.”

Around 50 of the aircraft come through each year for maintenance, to include planned depot maintenance, unplanned depot-level maintenance like battle damage repair, and modifications.

While Robins does significant C-130 work on the installation, the scope of its mission does not stop at the gates.

The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s C-130 engineering team regularly receives Engineering Technical Assistance Requests, where in-unit maintenance teams run into issues they are not able to solve on station. In 2023, the AFLCMC team received almost 3,500 ETARs, many of which resulted in the aircraft being grounded. In responding to these, Robins AFB coordinates with the home units to find a solution. When needed, engineers will deploy to the aircraft’s location to resolve the issue, keeping the global C-130 fleet flying and active.

As the Air Force calls on its members to reoptimize for Great Power Competition, the C-130 is being prepared for its next chapter. The call for reoptimization, the emphasis on Agile Combat Employment and the challenges of the Pacific theater mean that the C-130 will need to continue evolving.

“To survive and operate in that environment, it will absolutely be on the backs of our C-130s,” said Michael Beasley, the Mobility Directorate C-130 Hercules division senior materiel leader and retired maintenance officer.

According to Beasley, one of the biggest challenges in reoptimizing for GPC is the logistical hurdles that come with the change in area of responsibility.

Beasley spoke on how flights in the Middle East were often short range, only lasting a few hours, with less concern for fuel and range management.

Moving to operations in the Pacific, with major hubs often thousands of miles apart with nothing but ocean in between, that sentiment has changed.

“In the past we never had to worry about that, right? We’re just flying from Ramstein Air Base, (Germany), down to Iraq,” Beasley said. “We didn’t have to worry about that long term, or that margin at the end of the flight that says, ‘Man, I need to squeeze just another hour and a half out of this airplane.’ GPC has us thinking about how we can do that.”

From increases in engine power and efficiency, to new propellor technologies and weight reduction efforts, the modernization efforts of the C-130 are a series of upgrades that not only provide individual benefit but work in tandem to make the aircraft as effective as possible.

“We’re trying to squeeze out every bit of performance out of this airplane we can, because we know that we’re probably the bedrock of that ACE concept,” Beasley said. “Once we get everything in theater and we’re in the battle, what’s going to keep that battle alive are the C-130 tactical transports, getting that stuff from island to island.”

The C-130 has also seen a number of avionics upgrades aimed at increasing effectiveness in a connectivity-contested environment.

Two technologies being utilized are the Real-Time in Cockpit and Dynamic Retasking Capability systems. These allow the C-130 to receive key information from command-and-control communication systems, or C2CS, prior to entering a battle space and provides the ability to forward this information off to advance commanders. Not only does this increase the awareness of the air crew, but also acts as a force multiplier in expanding the reach of C2CS.

With 70 years of history as one of the most versatile and battle-tested aircraft in the Air Force fleet, the C-130 looks to enter its next era in the reoptimization for Great Power Competition – and just as Robins AFB has kept the aircraft flying the last seven decades, it will be sending out the aircraft to maintain air dominance for years to come.

By Patrick Sullivan, 78th Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Commemorate National POW Day on 19 September at the Airborne and Special Operational Museum in Fayetteville

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2024

To commemorate National POW MIA Recognition Day, join us at the ASOM on September 19 for a Lindsay Lecture Series event with MSGT Lawrence “Bud” Wilson, who was a prisoner of war during the Korean War for two years.

Register here. All active duty service members get in free upon registration.

MSGT Wilson’s Story

MSGT Lawrence “Bud” Wilson was an Army medic during the Korean War. On May 18, 1951, his team was surrounded, and life changed for him on that day.

“There was nowhere to run. I thought that was the end of me,” Wilson said.

He was taken as a prisoner of war by Chinese forces. For the next two years, four months and 18 days, he lost his freedom. And the captivity was hard.

“The first thing you came down with was diarrhea. The next thing was head lice and body lice,” Wilson described.

He and the other POWs lost almost a third of their weight while they were confined. They also came under fire.

But Wilson managed to survive the ordeal. Learn more about his time in captivity by joining us on the eve of National POW/MIA Day at the ASOM.