Exif_JPEG_420

Junk Jet has developed an archive impossible that ­trans­ports, in print format, net based works, or ­fragments of works showing collections, series, animations, applications, and reflecting anti-heart texts on the net and its new forms of art, design, and architecture. N°5, the net.heart issue, has transferred internet things from their digital space into a paper jet. This transportation procedure relies on documents in a similar way as the museum relies on photograph and video documenting performance arts. And Junk Jet believes that this analogue documentation is in no way inferior to pseudo-preserving techniques of data migration, emulation, or reprogramming. At the end, Junk Jet says: Transportation is not so much about the artwork as object, but rather about the indication of the subjective decision of the artist. In this sense Junk Jet is a Russian conceptualist.

 

junkjet.net/

www.igmade.net/order.html

www.facebook.com/pages/Junk-Jet/298633638983

 

With wireless contributions by Adam Cruces, Agathe Andre, Alessandro Bava, Alexei Shulgin, Angela Genusa, Angelo Plessas, Aureliano Segundo, Asli Serbest, Aristide Antonas, Artie Vierkant, Ball-Nogues, Bärbel Jetter, Bea Fremderman, Beatriz Ramo, Ben Aqua, Ben Vickers, Billy Rennekamp, Bonno van Doorn, Brad Troemel, Bryan Boyer, Carsten Güth, Christian Oldham, Christine Nasz and Stefanie Hunold, Constant Dullaart, Dennis Knopf, Eilis Mcdonald, Fabien Mousse, Gene McHugh, Greg J. Smith, Hanne Mugaas, Jacob Engblom, Jasper Elings, JODI, Jonas Lund, Jordan Tate, Katja Novitskova, Laimonas Zakas, Lenox Twins, m-a-u-s-e-r, Marisa Olson, Michael Schoner, Mike Ruiz, Mimi Zeiger, Mona Mahall, Natalie Bookchin, Nicholas O'Brien, Nicolas Sassoon, NIEI, NLarchitects, Olia Lialina, Palace Palace, Rafaël Rozendaal, Ricardo Scofidio, Parker Ito, Patrick Cruz, Pieterjan Grandry, Raphael Bastide, Sam Hancocks, Sarah Weis, Something Fantastic, Sterling Crispin, Theo Seemann, Will Brand, Wyne Veen

Edited by Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest

N°5 comes with a Poster: "Home Buttons by Architects"

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

In God We Trust

 

In God We Trust is the official national motto of the United States and the U.S. state of Florida. In God We Trust became the official U.S. national motto after the passage of an Act of Congress in 1956.[1]

 

In God We Trust is also found on the flag of Georgia, flag of Florida, and the Seal of Florida. It was first adopted by the state of Georgia for use on flags in 2001, and subsequently included on the Georgia flag of 2003. In Florida, it became the state motto during the term of Republican governor Jeb Bush, a Roman Catholic, who signed the bill making it so into law. Starting in 2007, the phrase can also be found on the license plates of Indiana, North Carolina, South Carolina and Ohio (it can be selected among offered designs).

 

History

 

The motto E Pluribus Unum, ("from many, one") was approved for use on the Great Seal of the United States in 1782. It still appears on coins and currency, and was widely considered the national motto de facto. However, by 1956 it had not been established so by legislation as the official "national motto", and therefore "In God We Trust" was selected. Hence, the Congressional Record of 1956 reads: "At the present time the United States has no national motto. The committee deems it most appropriate that 'In God we trust' be so designated as U.S. national motto."[1]

 

One possible origin of In God We Trust is the final stanza of The Star-Spangled Banner. Written in 1814 by Francis Scott Key (and later adopted as the U.S. national anthem), the song contains an early reference to a variation of the phrase: "...And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust'."

 

[edit] History on currency

 

As excerpted from the United States Treasury Department's public education website:[2]

 

The motto In God We Trust was placed on United States coins largely because of the increased religious sentiment existing during the American Civil War. Secretary of the Treasury Salmon P. Chase received many appeals from devout Christians throughout the country, urging that the United States recognize God on United States coins. From Treasury Department records, it appears that the first such appeal came in a letter dated November 13, 1861. It was written to Secretary Salmon P. Chase by Reverend M. R. Watkinson, Minister of the Gospel from Ridley Township, Pennsylvania, and read:

 

Dear Sir: You are about to submit your annual report to the Congress respecting the affairs of the national finances.

One fact touching our currency has hitherto been seriously overlooked. I mean the recognition of the Almighty God in some form on our coins.

You are probably a Christian. What if our Republic were not shattered beyond reconstruction? Would not the antiquaries of succeeding centuries rightly reason from our past that we were a heathen nation? What I propose is that instead of the goddess of liberty we shall have next inside the 13 stars a ring inscribed with the words PERPETUAL UNION; within the ring the allseeing eye, crowned with a halo; beneath this eye the American flag, bearing in its field stars equal to the number of the States united; in the folds of the bars the words GOD, LIBERTY, LAW.

This would make a beautiful coin, to which no possible citizen could object. This would relieve us from the ignominy of heathenism. This would place us openly under the Divine protection we have personally claimed. From my heart I have felt our national shame in disowning God as not the least of our present national disasters.

 

To you first I address a subject that must be agitated.

 

As a result, Secretary Chase instructed James Pollock, Director of the Mint at Philadelphia, to prepare a motto, in a letter dated November 20, 1861:

 

Dear Sir: No nation can be strong except in the strength of God, or safe except in His defense. The trust of our people in God should be declared on our national coins.

You will cause a device to be prepared without unnecessary delay with a motto expressing in the fewest and tersest words possible this national recognition.

 

It was found that the Act of Congress dated January 18, 1837, prescribed the mottoes and devices that should be placed upon the coins of the United States. This meant that the mint could make no changes without the enactment of additional legislation by Congress. In December 1863, the Director of the Mint submitted designs for a new one-cent coin, two-cent coin, and three-cent coin to Secretary Chase for approval. He proposed that upon the designs either OUR COUNTRY, OUR GOD or GOD, OUR TRUST should appear as the motto on the coins. In a letter to the Mint Director on December 9, 1863, Secretary Chase stated:

 

I approve your mottoes, only suggesting that on that with the Washington obverse the motto should begin with the word OUR, so as to read OUR GOD AND OUR COUNTRY. And on that with the shield, it should be changed so as to read: IN GOD WE TRUST.

 

Congress passed the Coinage Act (1864) on April 22, 1864. This legislation changed the composition of the one-cent coin and authorized the minting of the two-cent coin. The Mint Director was directed to develop the designs for these coins for final approval of the Secretary. In God We Trust first appeared on the 1864 two-cent coin.

 

Another Act of the United States Congress passed on March 3, 1865 which allowed the Mint Director, with the Secretary's approval, to place the motto on all gold and silver coins that "shall admit the inscription thereon." Under the Act, the motto was placed on the gold Double Eagle coin, the gold Eagle coin, and the gold Half Eagle coin. It was also placed on the silver dollar coin, the half dollar coin and the quarter dollar coin, and on the nickel five-cent coin beginning in 1866. Later, Congress passed the Fourth Coinage Act of February 12, 1873. It also said that the Secretary "may cause the motto IN GOD WE TRUST to be inscribed on such coins as shall admit of such motto."

 

The use of In God We Trust has not been uninterrupted. The motto disappeared from the five-cent coin in 1883, and did not reappear until production of the Jefferson nickel began in 1938. Since 1938, all United States coins bear the inscription. Later, the motto was found missing from the new design of the gold Double Eagle coin and the gold Eagle coin shortly after they appeared in 1907. In response to a general demand, Congress ordered it restored, and the Act of May 18, 1908, made it mandatory on all coins upon which it had previously appeared. Therefore, the motto was not mandatory on the one-cent and five-cent coins, but it could be placed on them by the Secretary of the Treasury or the Mint Director with the Secretary's approval.

 

American presidents such as Theodore Roosevelt strongly disapproved of the idea of evoking God within the context of a "cheap" political motto. In a letter to William Boldly on November 11, 1907, President Roosevelt wrote: "My own feeling in the matter is due to my very firm conviction that to put such a motto on coins, or to use it in any kindred manner, not only does no good but does positive harm, and is in effect irreverence, which comes dangerously close to sacrilege... it seems to me eminently unwise to cheapen such a motto by use on coins, just as it would be to cheapen it by use on postage stamps, or in advertisements."

 

Despite historical opposition, the motto has been in continuous use on the one-cent coin since 1909 and on the ten-cent dime since 1916. It also has appeared on all gold coins and silver dollar coins, half-dollar coins, and quarter-dollar coins struck since July 1, 1908.

 

In God We Trust was first used on paper money in 1957 when it appeared on the one-dollar Silver Certificate. The first paper currency bearing the motto entered circulation on October 1, 1957. The Bureau of Engraving and Printing (BEP) was converting to the dry intaglio printing process. During this conversion, it gradually included In God We Trust in the back design of all classes and denominations of currency.

 

As a part of a comprehensive modernization program, the BEP successfully developed and installed new high-speed rotary intaglio printing presses in 1957. These allowed BEP to print currency by the dry intaglio process, 32 notes to the sheet. One-dollar silver certificates were the first denomination printed on the new high-speed presses. They included In God We Trust as part of the reverse design as BEP adopted new dies according to the law. The motto also appeared on one-dollar silver certificates of the 1957-A and 1957-B series.

 

One-dollar silver certificates series 1935, 1935-A, 1935-B, 1935-C, 1935-D, 1935-E, 1935-F, 1935-G, and 1935-H were all printed on the older flat-bed presses by the wet intaglio process. P.L. 84-140 recognized that an enormous expense would be associated with immediately replacing the costly printing plates. The law allowed BEP to gradually convert to the inclusion of In God We Trust on the currency. Accordingly, the motto is not found on series 1935-E and 1935-F one-dollar notes. By September 1961, In God We Trust had been added to the back design of the Series 1935-G notes. Some early printings of this series do not bear the motto. In God We Trust appears on all series 1935-H one-dollar silver certificates.

 

On March 7, 2007, the U.S Mint reported an unknown amount of new George Washington dollar coins mistakenly struck without the edge inscriptions, including "In God We Trust." These coins have been in circulation since February 15, 2007 and it has been estimated by some experts that at least 50,000 of them were put in circulation. The coin rapidly became a collector's item as well as a source for conspiracy theorists.[3][4]

 

[edit] Adopted as National Motto

 

A law was passed by the 84th United States Congress (P.L. 84-140) and approved by the President on July 30, 1956. President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a joint resolution declaring In God We Trust the national motto of the United States.[1] The same Congress had required, in the previous year, that the words appear on all currency, as a Cold War measure: "In these days when imperialistic and materialistic Communism seeks to attack and destroy freedom, it is proper" to "remind all of us of this self-evident truth" that "as long as this country trusts in God, it will prevail." [5]

 

[edit] Controversy

 

Use of the motto on circulating coinage is required by law. While several laws come into play, the act of May 18, 1908 is most often cited as requiring the motto (even though the cent and nickel were excluded from that law, and the nickel did not have the motto added until 1938). Since 1938, all coins have borne the motto. The use of the motto was permitted, but not required, by an 1873 law. The motto was added to paper money over a period from 1957 to 1966.[citation needed]

 

Today, the motto is a source of some heated contention. Opponents of the phrase argue that the First Amendment and the "wall of separation between church and state" require that the motto be removed from all governmental use, including on coins and paper money.[6][7] They argue that religious freedom includes the right not to believe in the existence of deities and that the gratuitous use of the motto infringes upon the religious rights of those whose beliefs do not include a god. Some activists have been known to cross out the motto on paper money as a form of protest.[8]

 

On the other hand, United States President Theodore Roosevelt argued against placing the motto on coinage, not because of he lacked faith in God, but because he thought it sacrilegious to put the name of God on something so common as money.[9]

 

[edit] Popular culture references

 

Some shops in the United States have displayed jocular signs reading "In God we trust — All others pay cash." This was also used by humorist Jean Shepherd for the title of his 1966 book In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash. The sentence is parodied in an episode "Deep Space Homer" of the The Simpsons when an Inanimate Carbon Rod saves the day and is featured on the front-page of Time with the slogan "In Rod We Trust." Another religious themed episode (Season 8, Episode 22) is titled "In Marge We Trust." In the John Carpenter science fiction film They Live, the subliminal message hidden on money is the phrase "This is your God." In Chris Rock's Never Scared HBO Special, he made references to the motto to illustrate his point that Americans worship money, declaring, "All my life I've been looking for God, and he's right in my pocket!" In Chuck E. Cheese's restaurants, the 3-Stage, the 2-Stage, and the 1-Stage said "In Pizza We Trust'" instead of "In God We Trust. It offended some people so they painted over the "In Pizza We Trust" slogan with red, white, and blue.

 

Google Docklands Building, Ireland

Junk Jet has developed an archive impossible that ­trans­ports, in print format, net based works, or ­fragments of works showing collections, series, animations, applications, and reflecting anti-heart texts on the net and its new forms of art, design, and architecture. N°5, the net.heart issue, has transferred internet things from their digital space into a paper jet. This transportation procedure relies on documents in a similar way as the museum relies on photograph and video documenting performance arts. And Junk Jet believes that this analogue documentation is in no way inferior to pseudo-preserving techniques of data migration, emulation, or reprogramming. At the end, Junk Jet says: Transportation is not so much about the artwork as object, but rather about the indication of the subjective decision of the artist. In this sense Junk Jet is a Russian conceptualist.

 

junkjet.net/

www.igmade.net/order.html

www.facebook.com/pages/Junk-Jet/298633638983

 

With wireless contributions by Adam Cruces, Agathe Andre, Alessandro Bava, Alexei Shulgin, Angela Genusa, Angelo Plessas, Aureliano Segundo, Asli Serbest, Aristide Antonas, Artie Vierkant, Ball-Nogues, Bärbel Jetter, Bea Fremderman, Beatriz Ramo, Ben Aqua, Ben Vickers, Billy Rennekamp, Bonno van Doorn, Brad Troemel, Bryan Boyer, Carsten Güth, Christian Oldham, Christine Nasz and Stefanie Hunold, Constant Dullaart, Dennis Knopf, Eilis Mcdonald, Fabien Mousse, Gene McHugh, Greg J. Smith, Hanne Mugaas, Jacob Engblom, Jasper Elings, JODI, Jonas Lund, Jordan Tate, Katja Novitskova, Laimonas Zakas, Lenox Twins, m-a-u-s-e-r, Marisa Olson, Michael Schoner, Mike Ruiz, Mimi Zeiger, Mona Mahall, Natalie Bookchin, Nicholas O'Brien, Nicolas Sassoon, NIEI, NLarchitects, Olia Lialina, Palace Palace, Rafaël Rozendaal, Ricardo Scofidio, Parker Ito, Patrick Cruz, Pieterjan Grandry, Raphael Bastide, Sam Hancocks, Sarah Weis, Something Fantastic, Sterling Crispin, Theo Seemann, Will Brand, Wyne Veen

Edited by Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest

N°5 comes with a Poster: "Home Buttons by Architects"

Junk Jet has developed an archive impossible that ­trans­ports, in print format, net based works, or ­fragments of works showing collections, series, animations, applications, and reflecting anti-heart texts on the net and its new forms of art, design, and architecture. N°5, the net.heart issue, has transferred internet things from their digital space into a paper jet. This transportation procedure relies on documents in a similar way as the museum relies on photograph and video documenting performance arts. And Junk Jet believes that this analogue documentation is in no way inferior to pseudo-preserving techniques of data migration, emulation, or reprogramming. At the end, Junk Jet says: Transportation is not so much about the artwork as object, but rather about the indication of the subjective decision of the artist. In this sense Junk Jet is a Russian conceptualist.

 

junkjet.net/

www.igmade.net/order.html

www.facebook.com/pages/Junk-Jet/298633638983

 

With wireless contributions by Adam Cruces, Agathe Andre, Alessandro Bava, Alexei Shulgin, Angela Genusa, Angelo Plessas, Aureliano Segundo, Asli Serbest, Aristide Antonas, Artie Vierkant, Ball-Nogues, Bärbel Jetter, Bea Fremderman, Beatriz Ramo, Ben Aqua, Ben Vickers, Billy Rennekamp, Bonno van Doorn, Brad Troemel, Bryan Boyer, Carsten Güth, Christian Oldham, Christine Nasz and Stefanie Hunold, Constant Dullaart, Dennis Knopf, Eilis Mcdonald, Fabien Mousse, Gene McHugh, Greg J. Smith, Hanne Mugaas, Jacob Engblom, Jasper Elings, JODI, Jonas Lund, Jordan Tate, Katja Novitskova, Laimonas Zakas, Lenox Twins, m-a-u-s-e-r, Marisa Olson, Michael Schoner, Mike Ruiz, Mimi Zeiger, Mona Mahall, Natalie Bookchin, Nicholas O'Brien, Nicolas Sassoon, NIEI, NLarchitects, Olia Lialina, Palace Palace, Rafaël Rozendaal, Ricardo Scofidio, Parker Ito, Patrick Cruz, Pieterjan Grandry, Raphael Bastide, Sam Hancocks, Sarah Weis, Something Fantastic, Sterling Crispin, Theo Seemann, Will Brand, Wyne Veen

Edited by Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest

N°5 comes with a Poster: "Home Buttons by Architects"

Junk Jet has developed an archive impossible that ­trans­ports, in print format, net based works, or ­fragments of works showing collections, series, animations, applications, and reflecting anti-heart texts on the net and its new forms of art, design, and architecture. N°5, the net.heart issue, has transferred internet things from their digital space into a paper jet. This transportation procedure relies on documents in a similar way as the museum relies on photograph and video documenting performance arts. And Junk Jet believes that this analogue documentation is in no way inferior to pseudo-preserving techniques of data migration, emulation, or reprogramming. At the end, Junk Jet says: Transportation is not so much about the artwork as object, but rather about the indication of the subjective decision of the artist. In this sense Junk Jet is a Russian conceptualist.

 

junkjet.net/

www.igmade.net/order.html

www.facebook.com/pages/Junk-Jet/298633638983

 

With wireless contributions by Adam Cruces, Agathe Andre, Alessandro Bava, Alexei Shulgin, Angela Genusa, Angelo Plessas, Aureliano Segundo, Asli Serbest, Aristide Antonas, Artie Vierkant, Ball-Nogues, Bärbel Jetter, Bea Fremderman, Beatriz Ramo, Ben Aqua, Ben Vickers, Billy Rennekamp, Bonno van Doorn, Brad Troemel, Bryan Boyer, Carsten Güth, Christian Oldham, Christine Nasz and Stefanie Hunold, Constant Dullaart, Dennis Knopf, Eilis Mcdonald, Fabien Mousse, Gene McHugh, Greg J. Smith, Hanne Mugaas, Jacob Engblom, Jasper Elings, JODI, Jonas Lund, Jordan Tate, Katja Novitskova, Laimonas Zakas, Lenox Twins, m-a-u-s-e-r, Marisa Olson, Michael Schoner, Mike Ruiz, Mimi Zeiger, Mona Mahall, Natalie Bookchin, Nicholas O'Brien, Nicolas Sassoon, NIEI, NLarchitects, Olia Lialina, Palace Palace, Rafaël Rozendaal, Ricardo Scofidio, Parker Ito, Patrick Cruz, Pieterjan Grandry, Raphael Bastide, Sam Hancocks, Sarah Weis, Something Fantastic, Sterling Crispin, Theo Seemann, Will Brand, Wyne Veen

Edited by Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest

N°5 comes with a Poster: "Home Buttons by Architects"

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

Captain is the traditional customary title given to the person in charge of a ship at sea.

 

On most legal documents in the merchant shipping industry, the captain is more formally referred to as the ship's Master. A nautical "captain" may be a civilian with a master's license or a naval commissioned officer of any rank. In most modern navies, the rank of captain is equivalent to the army rank of colonel, and is thus three ranks higher than army captain.

 

On shore, a Harbourmaster, as the equivalent chief of a port, is sometimes titled "captain" if he had merchant marine or naval rank and professional service in command at sea. Many shipping companies also hire experienced captains to run their operations department.

 

Master

 

A person holding an unrestricted master's license (or certificate) is called a Master Mariner, and may use the postnomial MM. The term unrestricted indicates that there is no restriction of size, power or geographic locale on the license. It is the highest level of professional qualification amongst mariners.

 

Among professional mariners, the title "Captain" is generally reserved for someone who has served in command of a merchant vessel, and not for someone who may hold a command license but has never been appointed to a command position. Captains retain the title while working in a maritime related field ashore.

 

The term Master Mariner was in use in England from at least the 13th century—reflecting the fact that in guild terms, such a person was a master craftsman in this specific profession—and was introduced in America in the mid-19th century.

 

An unrestricted master's license is colloquially called a "Master's Ticket", "Master's Unlimited" or just a "Master's." In the UK the official name of a Master Mariner’s qualification has varied over the years. The conventions or acts governing the license have evolved alongside the shipping industry. The master's license is sometimes still referred to as a Class 1 or Master Foreign-Going certificate as it was named during the latter part of the 20th century. The UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency, inline with the amended STCW convention, currently title the license as Master Unlimited.

 

Rights and responsibilities

 

The captain has enormous legal powers and is responsible in all aspects for a ship underway. Powers include the right to use deadly force to suppress piracy and mutiny. It was a myth that any captain can conduct a marriage.[1] However this can now be done on Bermudan-flagged ships in international waters. The Master must hold a Marriage Officers License, valid on a designated ship, in order to do this, which is issued by the Minister of Labour, Home affairs and Public Safety in Bermuda.

 

At sea, the captain enjoys absolute command. This authority holds true even if higher-ranking persons are aboard. If a higher-ranking person gives the captain an order, care is taken to specify what is desired rather than how to do it. Rank does not give the right to interfere in the captain's running of the ship.

 

There is also an unwritten responsibility that the captain must be the last one to evacuate the ship. This has led to the recurring theme that the captain goes down with the ship, displayed in popular movies such as Titanic.

 

Most importantly, the captain has the moral responsibility towards all his or her ship mates' health, safety as well as wellbeing. In today's world very few professions hold so much power and responsibility. The range of responsibilities includes which navigational route to take, what items to purchase from next port, whether to dismiss a shipmate for his or her incompetence, or even what should be on the dinner menu for the whole ship.

 

Uniform and Cap

 

The traditional sleeve emblem for captains is four gold stripes (often called "rings") on the lower sleeve or shoulderboard. Many navies follow the precedent of the Royal Navy and have an "executive loop" on the top or inner ring. Often harbormasters have a fouled anchor or other local symbol on the gold rings. A slang term often used by crew is 'candy bars', one 'candy bar' for the 3/o, two for the 2/o and so on.

 

Uniform is still worn on many ships at sea, but generally these days only on the larger and more traditionally run vessels. It is not unusual for Ships Officers to have to dress in uniform to go into the wardroom after a certain time of day and it is still expected for entry into the saloon for dinner. This 'visible show' of rank is a reminder of seniority and superiority to the crew who are expected to show a good response to orders at all times. Uniform at sea will consist of black trousers, black shoes, white pilot shirt and epaulets denoting rank. Full uniform involving a navy blue or black reefer jacket and hat is rarely worn other than at remembrance services, marriages and such like.

 

In the passenger-carrying trade a unified corporate image is often desired and it is useful for those unfamiliar with the vessel to be able to identify members of the crew and their function. In this case, captains on duty usually wear the four stripes and rings with the traditional emblem or design of their particular shipping company or vessel’s nationality. Some companies and countries do have an "executive loop" similar to that of the Royal Navy. The Captain and officers on British ships often wear the traditional diamond shape within the stripes. This loop represents the wake of a ship's propeller. It should be worn on the correct direction. The over lapping loop should always be facing forward.

 

Most captains in the United States do not wear a uniform unless they are in the Merchant Marine Reserve.

 

The captain's uniform also consists of a navy blue or black peaked cap, nowadays usually with a white top, with a badge at the front: traditionally this would be the shipping line's house flag or comapnay logo within a golden wreath of oak leaves; in the UK however many captains wear the standard Merchant Navy cap badge instead, which is an anchor within a red oval, within a golden wreath of oak leaves, and topped by a Naval Crown. On the visor of the captain's cap is one row of gold oak leaves (or "Scrambled Eggs") along the edge.

 

Subordinates

 

The officer who is ranked immediately below the captain of a ship is designated the chief mate, chief officer, or first officer (also executive officer on naval vessels or staff captain on large passenger vessels). The chief mate is responsible for implementing the orders of the captain as well as conferring with the captain on matters concerning the ship. The "second in command" is typically responsible (along with the senior enlisted petty officer) for maintaining minor discipline on the ship as well as the vessel's cargo, stability and maintenance. The second mate (navigational officer), the third mate (safety officer), and the boatswain (crew foreman) are ranked below the chief mate.

 

Related terms

 

In older times, a captain was a nobleman given responsibility over a ship, but was not likely to have any nautical experience. The next officer of the ship would be the ship's master. The master carried out the executive functions of a captain, while the titular captain filled a ceremonial and legal role.

 

Sailing master

 

In the Royal Navy in the days of sail, "master" was often used as an abbreviation for the Sailing Master, the warrant officer responsible for the navigation and steering of the vessel. The position of sailing master was later commissioned and renamed the Navigating Officer. The Navigating Officer on a flagship, however, continued to be known as the Master of the Fleet until after the Second World War. The sailing master would call out to the men working the sails to move them a certain direction. This moved the sails at such an angle that the vessel moved towards the sailing master's request.

 

A ship's master was a wardroom officer. A ship's most senior warrant officers, those who headed the ship's technical departments, received their warrants from various Boards and Commissions. Their appointment and promotion did not lie within the Captain's discretion. The rate of the more junior crew members did lie within the captain's discretion—even midshipmen.

 

Master's mates

 

The Master's Mates were the assistants to the Sailing Master, also warrant officers. These were usually young men with family connections not quite good enough to become midshipmen who either aspired to become sailing masters themselves or to be commissioned as lieutenants, as often happened. Fletcher Christian was Master's Mate on HMS Bounty.

 

Master and Commander

 

Master and Commander was the full title of the rank held by Commanders when they were first introduced into the Royal Navy, then equivalent to a major in the British Army. This title formed the basis for the historical novel Master and Commander. The title was shortened to commander in 1814. The corresponding title in the U.S. Navy was "Master Commandant".

Exif_JPEG_420

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

United States Coast Guard

 

The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is a branch of the United States armed forces and one of seven uniformed services. It is unique among other armed forces in that it combines aspects of a maritime law enforcement agency (with jurisdiction both domestically and in international waters), naval military support, and a federal regulatory agency. It is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security, with its military operations working under the US Navy during times of war.

 

The Coast Guard has eleven statutory missions: Alien Migrant Interdiction Operations (AMIO) , Defense Readiness, Drug Interdiction, Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security, Other Law Enforcement, Search and Rescue, Aids to Navigation, Marine Safety, Living Marine Resources, Marine Environmental Protection, and Ice Operations. As one of the five armed forces and the smallest armed service of the United States, its stated mission is to protect the public, the environment, and the United States economic and security interests in any maritime region in which those interests may be at risk, including international waters and America's coasts, ports, and inland waterways.

Contents

[hide]

 

* 1 Overview

o 1.1 Description

o 1.2 Role

+ 1.2.1 Search and Rescue

+ 1.2.2 National Response Center

o 1.3 Authority as an armed service

o 1.4 Authority as a law enforcement agency

* 2 History

* 3 Organization

* 4 Personnel

o 4.1 Commissioned Officer Corps

+ 4.1.1 United States Coast Guard Academy

+ 4.1.2 Officer Candidate School

+ 4.1.3 Direct Commission Officer Program

+ 4.1.4 College Student Pre-Comissioning Initiative (CSPI)

+ 4.1.5 ROTC

o 4.2 Chief Warrant Officers

o 4.3 Enlisted

* 5 Ranks

* 6 Equipment

* 7 Symbols

o 7.1 Core values

o 7.2 Coast Guard Ensign

o 7.3 Coast Guard Standard

o 7.4 Racing Stripe

o 7.5 Semper Paratus

* 8 Missions

* 9 Uniforms

* 10 Issues

* 11 Notable Coast Guardsmen and others associated with the USCG

* 12 Deployable Operations Group (DOG)

* 13 Coast Guard Auxiliary

* 14 Coast Guard Reserve

* 15 Medals and honors

* 16 Organizations

o 16.1 Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl

o 16.2 USCGA Alumni Association

o 16.3 Coast Guard CW Operators Association

* 17 Popular culture

* 18 See also

o 18.1 Coast Guard

o 18.2 Related agencies

* 19 References

* 20 External links

 

[edit] Overview

 

[edit] Description

 

The Coast Guard, in its literature, describes itself as "a military, maritime, multi-mission service within the Department of Homeland Security dedicated to protecting the safety and security of America." The other armed services of the US military are components of the Department of Defense, under which the Coast Guard can also operate during times of war and under declaration by the President.

 

[edit] Role

 

The United States Coast Guard has a broad and important role in homeland security, law enforcement, search and rescue, marine environmental pollution response, and the maintenance of river, intracoastal and offshore aids to navigation (ATON). Founded by Alexander Hamilton as the Revenue Cutter Service on August 4, 1790, it lays claim to being the United States' oldest continuous seagoing service. As of October 2006, the Coast Guard has approximately 46,000 men and women on active duty, 8,100 reservists, 7,000 full time civilian employees and 30,000 active auxiliarists.[1]

 

While most military services are either at war or training for war, the Coast Guard is deployed every day. When not in war, the Coast Guard has duties that include maritime law enforcement, maintaining aids to navigation, marine safety, and both military and civilian search and rescue—all in addition to its typical homeland security and military duties, such as port security. While working as the only Military Branch allowed to make arrest, inquiries, and carry firearms inside of the USA, they are also the only Military Branch that are allowed to carry their firearms on and off base, thus giving them greater flexibility when being called to service. The service's decentralized organization and readiness for missions that can occur at any time on any day, is often lauded for making it highly effective, extremely agile and very adaptable in a broad range of emergencies. In a 2005 article in TIME Magazine following Hurricane Katrina, the author wrote, "the Coast Guard's most valuable contribution to [a military effort when catastrophe hits] may be as a model of flexibility, and most of all, spirit." Wil Milam, a rescue swimmer from Alaska told the magazine, "In the Navy, it was all about the mission. Practicing for war, training for war. In the Coast Guard, it was, take care of our people and the mission will take care of itself."[2]

 

The Coast Guard's motto is Semper Paratus, meaning "Always Ready". The service has participated in every U.S. conflict from 1790 through to today, including landing US troops on D-Day and on the Pacific Islands in World War II, in extensive patrols and shore bombardment during the Vietnam War, and multiple roles in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Maritime interception operations, coastal security,transportation security, transportation security, and law enforcement detachments are its major roles in Iraq.

 

[edit] Search and Rescue

 

See National Search and Rescue Committee

 

Search and Rescue (SAR) is one of the Coast Guard's oldest missions. The National Search and Rescue Plan[3] designates the United States Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime SAR operations, and the United States Air Force as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR. Both agencies maintain Rescue Coordination Centers to coordinate this effort, and have responsibility for both military and civilian search and rescue.

 

* USCG Rescue Coordination Centers

 

[edit] National Response Center

 

Operated by the U.S. Coast Guard, the National Response Center (NRC) is the sole U.S. Government point of contact for reporting environmental spills, contamination, and pollution

 

The primary function of the National Response Center (NRC) is to serve as the sole national point of contact for reporting all oil, chemical, radiological, biological, and etiological discharges into the environment anywhere in the United States and its territories. In addition to gathering and distributing spill data for Federal On-Scene Coordinators and serving as the communications and operations center for the National Response Team, the NRC maintains agreements with a variety of federal entities to make additional notifications regarding incidents meeting established trigger criteria. The NRC also takes Terrorist/Suspicious Activity Reports and Maritime Security Breach Reports. Details on the NRC organization and specific responsibilities can be found in the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan.[4]

 

* U.S. National Response Team

 

[edit] Authority as an armed service

 

The five uniformed services that make up the Armed Forces are defined in 10 U.S.C. § 101(a)(4):

“ The term “armed forces” means the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard. ”

 

The Coast Guard is further defined by 14 U.S.C. § 1:

“ The Coast Guard as established January 28, 1915, shall be a military service and a branch of the armed forces of the United States at all times. The Coast Guard shall be a service in the Department of Homeland Security, except when operating as a service in the Navy. ”

 

Coast Guard organization and operation is as set forth in Title 33 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

 

On February 25, 2003, the Coast Guard was placed under the Department of Homeland Security. The Coast Guard reports directly to the Secretary of Homeland Security. However, under 14 U.S.C. § 3 as amended by section 211 of the Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation Act of 2006, upon the declaration of war and when Congress so directs in the declaration, or when the President directs, the Coast Guard operates under the Department of Defense as a service in the Department of the Navy. 14 U.S.C. § 2 authorizes the Coast Guard to enforce federal law. Further, the Coast Guard is exempt from and not subject to the restrictions of the Posse Comitatus Act which restrict the law enforcement activities of the other four military services within United States territory.

 

[edit] Authority as a law enforcement agency

 

14 U.S.C. § 89 is the principal source of Coast Guard enforcement authority.

 

14 U.S.C. § 143 and 19 U.S.C. § 1401 empower US Coast Guard Active and Reserves members as customs officers. This places them under 19 U.S.C. § 1589a, which grants customs officers general law enforcement authority, including the authority to:

 

(1) carry a firearm;

(2) execute and serve any order, warrant, subpoena, summons, or other process issued under the authority of the United States;

(3) make an arrest without a warrant for any offense against the United States committed in the officer's presence or for a felony, cognizable under the laws of the United States committed outside the officer's presence if the officer has reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing a felony; and

(4) perform any other law enforcement duty that the Secretary of the Treasury may designate.

 

The U.S. Government Accountability Office Report to the House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary on its 2006 Survey of Federal Civilian Law Enforcement Functions and Authorities identified the U.S. Coast Guard as one of 104 federal components employed which employed law enforcement officers.[5] The Report also included a summary table of the authorities of the U.S. Coast Guard's 192 special agents and 3,780 maritime law enforcement boarding officers.[6] Some contend that these law enforcement personnel are "qualified law enforcement officers" within the meaning of the Law Enforcement Officer Safety Act, 18 U.S.C. 926B (LEOSA). The U.S. Coast Guard does not, however, have a LEOSA policy one way or the other.

 

As members of a military service, Coast Guardsmen (also known informally as Coasties) on active and reserve service are subject to the Uniform Code of Military Justice and receive the same pay and allowances as members of the same pay grades in the other four armed services.

 

[edit] History

 

Main article: History of the United States Coast Guard

 

Marines holding a sign thanking the US Coast Guard after the battle of Guam.

Marines holding a sign thanking the US Coast Guard after the battle of Guam.

 

The roots of the Coast Guard lie in the United States Revenue Cutter Service established by Alexander Hamilton under the Department of the Treasury on August 4, 1790. Until the re-establishment of the United States Navy in 1798, the Revenue Cutter Service was the only naval force of the early U.S. It was established to collect taxes from a brand new nation of patriot smugglers. When the officers were out at sea, they were told to crack down on piracy; while they were at it, they might as well rescue anyone in distress.[7]

 

"First Fleet" is a term occasionally used as an informal reference to the US Coast Guard, although as far as one can detect the United States has never in fact officially used this designation with reference either to the Coast Guard or any element of the US Navy. The informal appellation honors the fact that between 1790 and 1798, there was no United States Navy and the cutters which were the predecessor of the US Coast Guard were the only warships protecting the coast, trade, and maritime interests of the new republic.[8]

 

The modern Coast Guard can be said to date to 1915, when the Revenue Cutter Service merged with the United States Life-Saving Service and Congress formalized the existence of the new organization. In 1939, the U.S. Lighthouse Service was brought under its purview. In 1942, the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation was transferred to the Coast Guard. In 1967, the Coast Guard moved from the Department of the Treasury to the newly formed Department of Transportation, an arrangement that lasted until it was placed under the Department of Homeland Security in 2003 as part of legislation designed to more efficiently protect American interests following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

 

In times of war, the Coast Guard or individual components of it can operate as a service of the Department of the Navy. This arrangement has a broad historical basis, as the Guard has been involved in wars as diverse as the War of 1812, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War, in which the cutter Harriet Lane fired the first naval shots attempting to relieve besieged Fort Sumter. The last time the Coast Guard operated as a whole under the Navy was in World War II. More often, military and combat units within the Coast Guard will operate under the Navy while other Coast Guard units will remain under the Department of Homeland Security.

 

[edit] Organization

 

Main article: Organization of the United States Coast Guard

 

The headquarters of the Coast Guard is at 2100 Second Street, SW, in Washington, D.C. In 2005, the Coast Guard announced tentative plans to relocate to the grounds of the former St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington. That project is currently on hold because of environmental, historical, and congressional concerns. As of July 2006, there are several possible locations being considered, including the current headquarters location.

 

[edit] Personnel

 

[edit] Commissioned Officer Corps

 

There are many routes by which individuals can become commissioned officers in the US Coast Guard. The most common are:

 

[edit] United States Coast Guard Academy

 

Main article: United States Coast Guard Academy

 

The United States Coast Guard Academy is located on the Thames River in New London, Connecticut. It is the only military academy to which no Congressional or presidential appointments are made. All cadets enter by open competition utilizing SAT scores, high school grades, extracurricular activities, and other criteria. About 225 cadets are commissioned ensigns each year. Graduates of the Academy are obligated to serve five years on active duty. Most graduates (about 70%) are assigned to duty aboard a Coast Guard cutter after graduation, either as Deck Watch Officers (DWO) or as Student Engineers. Smaller numbers are assigned to flight training (about 10% of the class) or to shore duty at Coast Guard Sectors, Districts, or Area headquarters unit.

 

[edit] Officer Candidate School

 

In addition to the Academy, prospective officers may enter the Coast Guard through the Officer Candidate School (OCS) at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Connecticut. OCS is a rigorous 17-week course of instruction which prepares candidates to serve effectively as officers in the United States Coast Guard. In addition to indoctrinating students into a military life-style, OCS also provides a wide range of highly technical information necessary for performing the duties of a Coast Guard officer.

 

Graduates of the program typically receive a commission in the Coast Guard at the rank of Ensign, but some with advanced graduate degrees can enter as Lieutenant (junior grade) or Lieutenant. Graduating OCS officers entering Active Duty are required to serve a minimum of three years, while graduating Reserve officers are required to serve four years. Graduates may be assigned to a ship, flight training, to a staff job, or to an operations ashore billet. However, first assignments are based on the needs of the Coast Guard. Personal desires and performance at OCS are considered. All graduates must be available for worldwide assignment.

 

In addition to United States citizens, foreign cadets and candidates also attend Coast Guard officer training. OCS represents the source of the majority of commissions in the Coast Guard, and is the primary channel through which enlisted ranks can ascend to the officer corps.

 

[edit] Direct Commission Officer Program

 

The Coast Guard's Direct Commission Officer course is administered by Officer Candidate School. Depending on the specific program and background of the individual, the course is three, four or five weeks long. The first week of the five-week course is an indoctrination week. The DCO program is designed to commission officers with highly specialized professional training or certain kinds of previous military experience. For example, lawyers entering as JAGs, doctors, intelligence officers, and others can earn commissions through the DCO program. (Chaplains are provided to the Coast Guard by the US Navy.)

 

[edit] College Student Pre-Comissioning Initiative (CSPI)

 

The College Student Pre-Commissioning Initiative (CSPI) is a scholarship program for college sophomores. This program provides students with valuable leadership, management, law enforcement, navigation and marine science skills and training. It also provides full payment of school tuition, fees, textbooks, a salary, medical insurance and other benefits during a student's junior and senior year of college. The CSPI program guarantees training at Officer Candidate School (OCS) upon successful completion of all program requirements. Each student is expected to complete his/her degree and all Coast Guard training requirements. Following the completion of OCS and commission as a Coast Guard officer, each student will be required to serve on active duty (full time) as an officer for 3 years.

 

Benefits: Full tuition, books and fees paid for two years, monthly salary of approximately $2,000, medical and life insurance, 30 days paid vacation per year, leadership training.

 

[edit] ROTC

 

Unlike the other armed services, the Coast Guard does not sponsor a ROTC program. It does, however, sponsor one Junior ROTC ("JROTC") program at the MAST Academy.

 

[edit] Chief Warrant Officers

 

Highly qualified enlisted personnel from E-6 through E-9, and with a minimum of eight years of experience, can compete each year for appointment as a Chief Warrant Officer (or CWO). Successful candidates are chosen by a board and then commissioned as Chief Warrant Officers (CWO-2) in one of sixteen specialties. Over time Chief Warrant Officers may be promoted to CWO-3 and CWO-4. The ranks of Warrant Officer (WO-1) and CWO-5 are not currently used in the Coast Guard. Chief Warrant Officers may also compete for the Chief Warrant Officer to Lieutenant program. If selected, the officer will be promoted to Lieutenant (O-3E). The "E" designates over four years active duty service as a Warrant Officer or Enlisted member and entitles the member to a higher rate of pay than other lieutenants.

 

[edit] Enlisted

 

Newly enlisted personnel are sent to 8 weeks of Basic Training at the Coast Guard Training Center Cape May in Cape May, New Jersey.

 

The current nine Recruit Training Objectives are:

 

* Self-discipline

* Military skills

* Marksmanship

* Vocational skills and academics

* Military bearing

* Physical fitness and wellness

* Water survival and swim qualifications

* Esprit de corps

* Core values (Honor, Respect, and Devotion to Duty)

 

Following graduation, most members are sent to their first unit while they await orders to attend advanced training, in Class "A" Schools, in their chosen rating, the naval term for Military Occupational Specialty (MOS). Members who earned high ASVAB scores or who were otherwise guaranteed an "A" School of choice while enlisting can go directly to their "A" School upon graduation from Boot Camp.

 

Petty officers follow career development paths very similar to those of US Navy petty officers.

 

Enlisted Coast Guard members who have reached the pay grade of E-7, or Chief Petty Officer, must attend the U.S. Coast Guard Chief Petty Officer Academy at Training Center Petaluma in Petaluma, California, or an equivalent Department of Defense school, to be advanced to pay grade E-8. United States Air Force master sergeants, as well as international students representing their respective maritime services, are also eligible to attend the Academy. The basic themes of this school are:

 

* Professionalism

* Leadership

* Communications

* Systems thinking and lifelong learning

 

[edit] Ranks

Officer Grade Structure of the United States Coast Guard

Admiral

 

(ADM)

Vice Admiral

 

(VADM)

Rear Admiral

(upper half)

 

(RADM)

Rear Admiral

(lower half)

 

(RDML)

Captain

 

(CAPT)

Commander

 

(CDR)

Lieutenant

Commander

 

(LCDR)

Lieutenant

 

(LT)

Lieutenant,

Junior Grade

 

(LTJG)

Ensign

 

(ENS)

O-10 O-9 O-8 O-7 O-6 O-5 O-4 O-3 O-2 O-1

         

Warrant Officer Grade Structure of the United States Coast Guard

CWO4 CWO3 CWO2

  

Non Commissioned Officer Grade Structure of the United States Coast Guard[1]

Crossed anchors in the graphics indicate a rating of Boatswain's Mate

Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard

 

(MCPOCG)

Command Master Chief Petty Officer

 

(CMC)

Master Chief Petty Officer

 

(MCPO)

Master Chief Boatswain's Mate (BMCM) insignia shown

Senior Chief Petty Officer

 

(SCPO)

Senior Chief Boatswain's Mate (BMCS) insignia shown

Chief Petty Officer

 

(CPO)

Chief Boatswain's Mate (BMC) insignia shown

Petty Officer First Class

 

(PO1)

First Class Boatswain's Mate (BM1) insignia shown

Petty Officer Second Class

 

(PO2)

Second Class Boatswain's Mate (BM2) insignia shown

Petty Officer Third Class

 

(PO3)

Third Class Boatswain's Mate (BM3) insignia shown

E-9S E-9 E-9 E-8 E-7 E-6 E-5 E-4

       

Enlisted Grade Structure of the United States Coast Guard

Seaman

 

(SN)

Seaman Apprentice

 

(SA)

Seaman Recruit

 

(SR)

E-3 E-2 E-1

   

[edit] Equipment

 

The equipment of the USCG consists of thousands of vehicles (boats, ships, helicopters, fixed-winged aircraft, automobiles), communication systems (radio equipment, radio networks, radar, data networks), weapons, infrastructure such as United States Coast Guard Air Stations and local Small Boat Stations, each in a large variety.

 

Main article: Equipment of the United States Coast Guard

 

[edit] Symbols

 

[edit] Core values

 

The Coast Guard, like the other armed services of the United States, has a set of core values which serve as basic ethical guidelines to Coast Guard members. As listed in the recruit pamphlet, The Helmsman,[9] they are:

 

* Honor: Absolute integrity is our standard. A Coast Guardsman demonstrates honor in all things: never lying, cheating, or stealing. We do the right thing because it is the right thing to do—all the time.

* Respect: We value the dignity and worth of people: whether a stranded boater, an immigrant, or a fellow Coast Guard member; we honor, protect, and assist.

* Devotion to Duty: A Coast Guard member is dedicated to five maritime security roles: Maritime Safety, Maritime Law Enforcement, Marine Environmental Protection, Maritime Mobility and National Defense. We are loyal and accountable to the public trust. We welcome responsibility.[10]

 

[edit] Coast Guard Ensign

Coast Guard Ensign

Coast Guard Ensign

 

The Coast Guard Ensign (flag) was first flown by the Revenue Cutter Service in 1799 to distinguish revenue cutters from merchant ships. The order stated the Ensign would be "16 perpendicular stripes, alternate red and white, the union of the ensign to be the arms of the United States in a dark blue on a white field." (There were 16 states in the United States at the time).

 

The purpose of the flag is to allow ship captains to easily recognize those vessels having legal authority to stop and board them. This flag is flown only as a symbol of law enforcement authority and is never carried as a parade standard. See [2]

 

[edit] Coast Guard Standard

Parade Standard of the U.S. Coast Guard

Parade Standard of the U.S. Coast Guard

 

The Coast Guard Standard is used in parades and carries the battle honors of the U.S. Coast Guard. It was derived from the jack of the Coast Guard ensign which used to fly from the stern of revenue cutters. The emblem is a blue eagle from the coat of arms of the United States on a white field. Above the eagle are the words "UNITED STATES COAST GUARD;" below the eagle is the motto, "SEMPER PARATUS" and the inscription "1790."

 

[edit] Racing Stripe

Racing Stripe

Racing Stripe

 

The Racing Stripe was designed in 1964 to give the Coast Guard a distinctive, modern image and was first used in 1967. The symbol is a narrow blue bar, a narrow white stripe between, and a broad red[11] bar with the Coast Guard shield centered. The stripes are canted at a 64 degree angle, coincidentally the year the Racing Stripe was designed. The Stripe has been adopted for the use of other coast guards, such as the Canadian Coast Guard, the Italian Guardia Costiera, the Indian Coast Guard, and the Australian Customs Service. Auxiliary vessels maintained by the Coast Guard also carry the Stripe in inverted colors.

 

[edit] Semper Paratus

 

The official march of the Coast Guard is "Semper Paratus" (Latin for "Always Ready"). An audio clip can be found at [3].

 

[edit] Missions

 

Main article: Missions of the United States Coast Guard

 

Coast Guard Ensign (Photo U.S. Coast Guard)

  

USCGC Steadfast

 

USCG HH-65 Dolphin

 

USCG HH-60J JayHawk

USCG HC-130H departs Mojave

 

USCG HC-130H on International Ice Patrol duties

 

Coast Guard motor lifeboat maritime safety operation

 

A Coast Guard helicopter crew member looks out over post-Katrina New Orleans

 

The Coast Guard carries out five basic roles, which are further subdivided into eleven statutory missions. The five roles are:

 

* Maritime safety (including search and rescue)

* Maritime mobility

* maritime security

* National defense

* Protection of natural resources

  

The eleven statutory missions, found in section 888 of the Homeland Security Act are:

 

* Ports, Waterways and Coastal Security (PWCS)

* Counter Drug Law Enforcement

* Migrant Interdiction

* Other Law Enforcement (foreign fisheries)

* Living Marine Resources (domestic fisheries)

* Marine (maritime) Safety

* Marine (maritime) Environmental Protection

* Ice Operations

* Aids to Navigation (ATON)

* Defense Readiness

* Marine (maritime) Environmental Response

 

The OMEGA navigation system and the LORAN-C transmitters outside the USA were also run by the United States Coast Guard. The U.S. Coast Guard Omega Stations at Lamoure, North Dakota and Kāne'ohe, Hawai'i (Oahu) were both formally decommissioned and shut down on September 30, 1997.

 

[edit] Uniforms

 

In 1972, the current Coast Guard dress blue uniform was introduced for wear by both officers and enlisted personnel (Prior to 1972, they wore U.S. Navy-style uniforms with Coast Guard insignia). Relatively similar in appearance to the old-style U.S. Air Force uniforms, the uniform consists of a blue four-pocket single breasted jacket and trousers in a slightly darker shade. A light-blue button-up shirt with a pointed collar, two front button-flap pockets, "enhanced" shoulder boards for officers, and pin-on collar insignia for Chief Petty Officers and enlisted personnel is worn when in shirt-sleeve order (known as "Tropical Blue Long"). It is similar to the World War II-era uniforms worn by Coast Guard Surfmen. Officer rank insignia parallels that of the U.S. Navy but with the gold Navy "line" star being replaced with the gold Coast Guard Shield and with the Navy blue background color replaced by Coast Guard blue. Enlisted rank insignia is also similar to the Navy with the Coast Guard shield replacing the eagle on collar and cap devices. Group Rate marks (stripes) for junior enlisted members (E-3 and below) also follow U. S. Navy convention with white for seaman, red for fireman, and green for airman. In a departure from the U. S. Navy conventions, all petty Officers E-6 and below wear red chevrons and all Chief Petty Officers wear gold. Unlike the US Navy, officers and CPO's do not wear khaki; all personnel wear the same color uniform. See USCG Uniform Regulations [4] for current regulations.

 

Coast Guard officers also have a white dress uniform, typically used for formal parade and change-of-command ceremonies. Chief Petty Officers, Petty Officers, and enlisted rates wear the standard Service Dress Blue uniform for all such ceremonies, except with a white shirt (replacing the standard light-blue). A white belt may be worn for honor guards. A mess dress uniform is worn by members for formal (black tie) evening ceremonies.

 

The current working uniform of a majority of Coast Guard members is the Operational Dress Uniform (ODU). The ODU is similar to the Battle Dress Uniform of other armed services, both in function and style. However, the ODU is in a solid dark blue with no camouflage patterns and does not have lower pockets on the blouse. The ODU is worn with steel-toed boots in most circumstances, but low-cut black or brown boat shoes may be prescribed for certain situations. The former dark blue working uniform has been withdrawn from use by the Coast Guard but may be worn by Auxiliarists until no longer serviceable. There is a second phase of Operational Dress Uniforms currently in the trial phases. This prototype resembles the current Battle Dress blouse, which is worn on the outside, rather than tucked in.

 

Coast Guard members serving in expeditionary combat units such as Port Security Units, Law Enforcement Detachments, and others, wear working operational uniforms that resemble Battle Dress uniforms, complete with "woodland" or "desert" camouflage colors. These units typically serve under, or with, the other armed services in combat theaters, necessitating similar uniforms.

 

Enlisted Coast Guardsmen wear the combination covers for full dress, a garrison cover for Class "B," wear, and a baseball-style cover either embroidered with "U.S. Coast Guard" in gold block lettering or the name of their ship, unit or station in gold, for the ODU uniform. Male and female company commanders (the Coast Guard equivalent of Marine Corps drill instructors) at Training Center Cape May wear the traditional "Smokey the Bear" campaign hat.

 

A recent issue of the Reservist magazine was devoted to a detailed and easy to understand graphical description of all the authorized uniforms.

 

[edit] Issues

 

The Coast Guard faces several issues in the near future.

 

Lack of coverage affects many areas with high maritime traffic. For example, local officials in Scituate, Massachusetts, have complained that there is no permanent Coast Guard station, and the presence of the Coast Guard in winter is vital. One reason for this lack of coverage is the relatively high cost of building storm-proof buildings on coastal property; the Cape Hatteras station was abandoned in 2005 after winter storms wiped out the 12-foot (3.7 m) sand dune serving as its protection from the ocean.

 

Lack of strength to meet its assigned missions is being met by a legislated increase in authorized strength from 39,000 to 45,000. In addition, the volunteer Auxiliary is being called to take up more non-combatant missions. However, volunteer coverage does have limits.

 

Aging vessels are another problem, with the Coast Guard still operating some of the oldest naval vessels in the world. In 2005, the Coast Guard terminated contracts to upgrade the 110-foot (33.5 m) Island Class Cutters to 123-foot (37.5 m) cutters because of warping and distortion of the hulls. In late 2006, Admiral Thad Allen, Commandant of the Coast Guard, decommissioned all eight 123-foot (37 m) cutters due to dangerous conditions created by the lengthening of the hull- to include compromised watertight integrity. The Coast Guard has, as a result of the failed 110 ft (34 m) conversion, revised production schedules for the Fast Response Cutter (FRC). Of the navies and coast guards of the world's 40 largest navies, the U.S. Coast Guard's is the 38th oldest.[12]

 

Live fire exercises by Coast Guard boat and cutter crews in the U.S. waters of the Great Lakes attracted attention in the U.S. and Canada. The Coast Guard had proposed the establishment of 34 locations around the Great Lakes where live fire training using vessel-mounted machine guns were to be conducted periodically throughout the year. The Coast Guard said that these exercises are a critical part of proper crew training in support of the service's multiple missions on the Great Lakes, including law enforcement and anti-terrorism. Those that raised concerns about the firing exercises commented about safety concerns and that the impact on commercial shipping, tourism, recreational boating and the environment may be greater than what the Coast Guard had stated. The Coast Guard took public comment and conducted a series of nine public meetings on this issue. After receiving more than 1,000 comments, mostly opposing the Coast Guard's plan, the Coast Guard announced that they were withdrawing their proposal for target practice on the Great Lakes, although a revised proposal may be made in the future.[13][14][15][16][17]

 

[edit] Notable Coast Guardsmen and others associated with the USCG

 

Source: U.S. Coast Guard

 

* Derroll Adams, folk musician

* Nick Adams, actor

* Beau Bridges, actor

* Lloyd Bridges, actor

* Sid Caesar, comedian

* Lou Carnesecca, basketball coach, St. John's University

* Howard Coble, U.S. Congressman, North Carolina

* Chris Cooper, actor

* Richard Cromwell, actor

* Walter Cronkite, newscaster

* William D. Delahunt, U.S. Congressman, Massachusetts

* Jack Dempsey, professional boxer

* Buddy Ebsen (1908–2003), actor, comedian, dancer

* Blake Edwards, writer, director, producer

* Edwin D. Eshleman (1920-1985), former U.S. Congressman, Pennsylvania

* Arthur Fiedler, conductor

* Arthur A. Fontaine, captain, college sailing national champion, ISCA Hall of Fame

* Charles Gibson, newscaster

* Arthur Godfrey, entertainer

* Otto Graham, professional football player and coach

* Alex Haley, author of Roots and Coast Guard chief journalist (first African-American man to reach the Coast Guard's rank of Chief Petty Officer)

* Weldon Hill, pseudonym of William R. Scott, author of novel Onionhead, based on his World War II Coast Guard service

* William Hopper, actor

* Tab Hunter, actor

* Harvey E. Johnson, Jr., Vice Admiral, Deputy Director FEMA

* Steve Knight, Vocalist for Flipsyde

* Duke Paoa Kahanamoku, athlete, actor

* Jack Kramer, tennis professional

* Jacob Lawrence, artist

* Victor Mature, actor

* Douglas Munro, the only Coast Guardsman to be awarded the Medal of Honor

* Frank Murkowski, former governor and former U.S. Senator, Alaska

* Sam Nunn, former U.S. Senator, Georgia

* Arnold Palmer, professional golfer

* Ed Parker, martial artist

* Claiborne Pell, former U.S. Senator, Rhode Island

* Cesar Romero, actor

* Sloan Wilson, writer

* Dorothy C. Stratton first director of the SPARS

* Gene Taylor, U.S. Congressman, Mississippi

* Ted Turner, businessman

* Rudy Vallee, entertainer

* Thornton Wilder, writer

* Gig Young, actor

* Elian Gonzales, Refugee

* Popeye, Cartoon character, had tattoos and uniforms signifying he was in the USCG. "Popeye the Sailor Meets Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves" shows him under a USCG sign.

 

[edit] Deployable Operations Group (DOG)

 

The Deployable Operations Group is a recently formed Coast Guard command. The DOG brings numerous existing deployable law enforcement, tactical and response units under a single command headed by a rear admiral. The planning for such a unit began after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and culminated with its formation on July 20th, 2007. The unit will contain several hundred highly trained Coast Guardsmen. Its missions will include maritime law enforcement, anti-terrorism, port security, and pollution response. Full operational capability is planned by summer 2008.[18]

 

[edit] Coast Guard Auxiliary

 

Main article: United States Coast Guard Auxiliary

 

The United States Coast Guard Auxiliary is the uniformed volunteer component of the United States Coast Guard, established on June 23, 1939. It works within the Coast Guard in carrying out its noncombatant and non-law enforcement missions. As of November 18, 2007 there were 30,074 active Auxiliarists. The Coast Guard has assigned primary responsibility for most recreational boating safety tasks to the Auxiliary, including public boating safety education and voluntary vessel safety checks. In recent history prior to 1997, Auxiliarists were limited to those tasks and on-water patrols supporting recreational boating safety.

 

In 1997, however, new legislation authorized the Auxiliary to participate in any and all Coast Guard missions except military combat and law enforcement. 33 CFR 5.31 states that: Members of the Auxiliary, when assigned to specific duties shall, unless otherwise limited by the Commandant, be vested with the same power and authority, in execution of such duties, as members of the regular Coast Guard assigned to similar duties.

 

Auxiliarists may support the law enforcement mission of the Coast Guard but do not directly participate in it. Auxiliarists and their vessels are not allowed to carry any weapons while serving in any Auxiliary capacity; however, they may serve as scouts, alerting regular Coast Guard units. Auxiliarists use their own vessels (i.e. boats) and aircraft, in carrying out Coast Guard missions, or apply specialized skills such as Web page design or radio watchstanding to assist the Coast Guard. When appropriately trained and qualified, they may serve upon Coast Guard vessels.

 

Auxiliarists undergo one of several levels of background check. For most duties, including those related to recreational boating safety, a simple identity check is sufficient. For some duties in which an Auxiliarist provides direct augmentation of Coast Guard forces, such as tasks related to port security, a more in-depth background check is required. Occasionally an Auxiliarist will need to obtain a security clearance through the Coast Guard in order to have access to classified information in the course of assigned tasking.

 

The basic unit of the Auxiliary is the Flotilla, which has at least 10 members and may have as many as 100. Five Flotillas in a geographical area form a Division. There are several divisions in each Coast Guard District. The Auxiliary has a leadership and management structure of elected officers, including Flotilla Commanders, Division Captains, and District Commodores, Atlantic and Pacific Area Commodores, and a national Commodore. However, legally, each Auxiliarist has the same 'rank', Auxiliarist.

 

In 2005, the Coast Guard transitioned to a geographical Sector organization. Correspondingly, a position of 'Sector Auxiliary Coordinator' was established. The Sector Auxiliary Coordinator is responsible for service by Auxiliarists directly to a Sector, including augmentation of Coast Guard Active Duty and Reserve forces when requested. Such augmentation is also referred to as force multiplication.

 

Auxiliarists wear the similar uniforms as Coast Guard officers with modified officers' insignia based on their office: the stripes on uniforms are silver, and metal insignia bear a red or blue "A" in the center. Unlike their counterparts in the Civil Air Patrol, Auxiliarists come under direct orders of the Coast Guard.

 

[edit] Coast Guard Reserve

 

Main article: United States Coast Guard Reserve

 

The United States Coast Guard Reserve is the military reserve force of the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard Reserve was founded on February 19, 1941. Like most military reserve units, Coast Guard reservists normally train on a schedule of one weekend a month and an additional 15 days each summer, although many work other days of the week, and often more frequently than just two days a month. Unlike the other armed services, many Coast Guard reservists possess the same training and qualifications as their active duty counterparts, and as such, can be found augmenting active duty Coast Guard units every day, rather than just serving in a unit made up exclusively of reservists.

 

During the Vietnam War and shortly thereafter, the Coast Guard considered abandoning the Reserve program, but the force was instead reoriented into force augmentation, where its principal focus was not just reserve operations, but to add to the readiness and mission execution of every day active duty personnel.

 

Since September 11, 2001, over 8,500 Reservists have been activated and served on tours of active duty. Coast Guard Port Security Units are entirely staffed with Reservists, except for five to seven active duty personnel. Additionally, most of the staffing the Coast Guard provides to Naval Coastal Warfare units are reservists.

 

The Reserve is managed by the Director of Reserve and Training, RDML Cynthia A. Coogan.

 

[edit] Medals and honors

 

See also: Awards and decorations of the United States military

 

One Coast Guardsman, Douglas Albert Munro, has earned the Medal of Honor, the highest military award of the United States.[19]

 

Six Coast Guardsmen have earned the Navy Cross and numerous men and women have earned the Distinguished Flying Cross.

 

The highest peacetime decoration awarded within the Coast Guard is the Homeland Security Distinguished Service Medal; prior to the transfer of the Coast Guard to the Department of Homeland Security, the highest peacetime decoration was the Department of Transportation Distinguished Service Medal. The highest unit award available is the Presidential Unit Citation.

 

In wartime, members of the Coast Guard are eligible to receive the U.S. Navy version of the Medal of Honor. A Coast Guard Medal of Honor is authorized but has not yet been developed or issued.

 

In May 2006, at the Change of Command ceremony when Admiral Thad Allen took over as Commandant, President George W. Bush awarded the entire Coast Guard, including the Coast Guard Auxiliary, the Coast Guard Presidential Unit Citation with hurricane device, for its efforts after Hurricane Katrina.

 

[edit] Organizations

 

[edit] Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl

 

Those who have piloted or flown in U.S. Coast Guard aircraft under official flight orders may join the Ancient Order of the Pterodactyl ("Flying Since the World was Flat").

 

[edit] USCGA Alumni Association

 

The United States Coast Guard Academy Alumni Association is devoted to providing service to and promoting fellowship among all U.S. Coast Guard Academy alumni and members of the Association.

 

Membership Types: Academy graduates and those who have attended the Academy are eligible for Regular membership; all others interested in the Academy and its Corps of Cadets are eligible for Associate membership. (Website)

 

[edit] Coast Guard CW Operators Association

 

The Coast Guard CW Operators Association (CGCWOA) is a membership organization comprised primarily of former members of the United States Coast Guard who held the enlisted rating of Radioman (RM) or Telecommunications Specialist (TC), and who employed International Morse Code (CW) in their routine communications duties on Coast Guard cutters and at shore stations. (Website)

 

[edit] Popular culture

 

The Coast Guard has been featured in several television series, such as Baywatch, CSI: Miami, and Deadliest Catch; and in film. A comedy, Onionhead, portrayed Andy Griffith as a Coast Guard recruit. The 2000 film The Perfect Storm depicted the rescue operations of the USCGC Tamaroa (WMEC-166) as one of its subplots. Special Counter-Drugs helicopters known as HITRONs are seen in action on Bad Boys II. In the 2005 family comedy Yours, Mine, and Ours, Dennis Quaid plays a fictional U.S. Coast Guard Academy superintendent who marries a character played by Rene Russo and together have 18 children. The 2006 film The Guardian, starring Kevin Costner and Ashton Kutcher, was based on the training and operation of Coast Guard Rescue Swimmers. Additionally, a Coast Guard cutter and its commander and crew figured prominently in Tom Clancy's book Clear and Present Danger.

Basically, every thought, every opinion, every observation, and every relationship has a public place online. But more importantly, public sharing of information has become the norm. Our culture has made humility a dirty word. Many businesses (not all) should be willing to match (or at least get close to) their consumers’ comfort level with publicly displaying personality.

 

Read more about my thoughts on this here: www.golocal.com/seo-articles/where-do-you-and-your-brand-...

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

The American Legion is an organization of veterans of the United States armed forces who served in wartime. The Organization was founded in 1919 by veterans returning from Europe after World War I and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The group has nearly 3 million members.[1]

 

In addition to organizing commemorative events and volunteer activities, the American Legion is active in U.S. politics. While its primary political activity is lobbying for the interests of veterans, including support for veterans benefits such as pensions and the Veterans Affairs hospital system, it has also been involved in more general political issues, generally taking a conservative position. Most criticism of the Legion is based on its political activities.

 

The state American Legions run an annual civic training event for high school juniors called Boys State. Two members from each Boys State are selected for Boys Nation. The American Legion Auxiliary runs Girls State and Girls Nation. The American Legion also hosts many social events.

 

The group holds a congressional charter under Title 36 of the United States Code.

 

History

 

Founding

 

The American Legion's Post Officers Guide recounts the organization's founding:

 

"A group of twenty officers who served in the American Expeditionary Forces (A.E.F.) in France in World War I is credited with planning the Legion. A.E.F. Headquarters asked these officers to suggest ideas on how to improve troop morale. One officer, Lieutenant Colonel Theodore Roosevelt, Jr., proposed an organization of veterans. In 1919, this group formed a temporary committee and selected several hundred officers who had the confidence and respect of the whole army. When the first organization meeting took place in Paris in March, 1919, about 1,000 officers and enlisted men attended. The meeting, known as the Paris Caucus, adopted a temporary constitution and the name The American Legion. It also elected an executive committee to complete the organization’s work. It considered each soldier of the A.E.F. a member of the Legion. The executive committee named a subcommittee to organize veterans at home in the U.S. The Legion held a second organizing caucus in St. Louis, Missouri, in May 1919.

 

As is confirmed by The National Library of the American Legion and its official supporting documents, the first post of the American Legion is George Washington Post 1 in Washington, D.C. Organized March 7, 1919, it obtained the first charter issued to any post of The American Legion on May 19, 1919. Originally, the post was named the “General John Joseph Pershing Post Number 1” in part to its members’ sincere admiration of Pershing as a man, as well as their appreciation for his career as a soldier in the United States Army. However, at the St. Louis caucus that same year, members decided that posts of the American Legion should not be named after living persons, and therefore the "Pioneer Post" was given its new and current name. The post completed the constitution and made plans for a permanent organization. It set up temporary headquarters in New York City and began its relief, employment, and Americanism programs.

 

Congress granted the American Legion a national charter in September, 1919. Among the founders was Ernest O. Thompson (1892-1966) of Texas, later Lieutenant General of the Texas National Guard, a member of the Texas Railroad Commission, and an expert on petroleum issues.

 

From The American Legion Questions and Answers page:

 

Q: How do I know if I am eligible for membership in The American Legion?

A: Our organization was founded on the premise that all those serving in the U.S. Armed Forces during times of national crisis, regardless of place of service, are eligible to belong to The American Legion. Our membership is based on period of service, not place of service. Therefore, if you have served at least one day of "active duty" during the eligibility dates, are presently serving in the military or have been honorably discharged, you may become a member. Certain members of the Merchant Marines are also eligible for the American Legion if they served overseas during World War II through the Vietnam War. For details, prospective members should contact any American Legion Post Adjutant.

 

Organizational structure

 

Posts

 

The Post is the basic unit of the Legion and usually represents a small geographic area such as a single town or part of a county. There are roughly 14,900 posts in the United States. The Post is used for formal business such as meetings and a coordination point for community service projects. Often the Post will host community events such as Bingo, Hunter breakfasts, holiday celebrations, and etc. It is also not uncommon for the Post to contain a bar open during limited hours.

 

Districts

 

Each Department is divided into Divisions and/or Districts. Each District will oversee several Posts, generally about 20, to help each smaller group have a larger voice. Divisions are even larger groups of about 4 or more Districts. The main purpose of these "larger" groups (Districts - Divisions) are to allow one or two delegates to represent an area at Conferences, Conventions, and other gatherings, where a large numbers of Legionnaires may not be able to attend...

 

Departments

 

The Posts are grouped together into a state level organization known as a Department for the purposes of coordination and administration. There is a total of 55 Departments; one for each of the 50 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, France, Mexico, and the Philippines. Canada was merged into Department of New York several years ago. The 3 Departments located overseas are intended to allow active duty military stationed and veterans living overseas to be actively involved with the American Legion similar to as if they were back in the states. The Department of France [8] consists of 29 Posts located in 10 European counties, the Department of Mexico [9] consists of 22 Posts located in Central America, and the Department of Philippines covers Asia and the Pacific Islands.

 

National headquarters

 

The main American Legion Headquarters is located on the Indiana War Memorial Plaza in Indianapolis. It is the primary office for the National Commander and also houses the historical archives, library, Membership affairs, and the Magazine editorial offices. The Legion also owns a building in Washington D.C. that contains many of the operation offices such as Legislative, Veterans Affairs, Media Relations, and etc.

 

List of National Commanders

 

* Franklin D'Olier Pennsylvania 1919-1920

* Frederick W. Galbraith, Jr. Ohio 1920-1921

* John G. Emery Michigan June 14, 1921-November 2, 1921

* Hanford MacNider Iowa 1921-1922

* Alvin M. Owsley Texas 1922-1923

* John R. Quinn California 1923-1924

* James A Drain Washington 1924-1925

* John R. McQuigg Ohio 1925-1926

* Howard P. Savage Illinois 1926-1927

* Edward E. Spafford New York 1927-1928

* Paul Vories McNutt Indiana 1928-1929

* O. L. Bodenhamer Arkansas 1929-1930

* Ralph T. O'Neil Kansas 1930-1931

* Henry L. Stevens, Jr. North Carolina 1931-1932

* Louis A. Johnson West Virginia 1932-1933

* Edward A. Hayes Illinois 1933-1934

* Frank N. Belgrano California 1934-1935

* Ray Murphy Iowa 1935-1936

* Harry W. Colmery Kansas 1936-1937

* Daniel Doherty Massachusetts 1937-1938

* Stephen F. Chadwick Washington 1938-1939

* Raymond J. Kelly Michigan 1939-1940

* Milo J. Warner Ohio 1940-1941

* Lynn U. Stambaugh North Dakota 1941-1942

* Roane Waring Tennessee 1942-1943

* Warren Atherton California 1943-1944

* Edward N. Scheiberling New York 1944-1945

* John Stelle Illinois 1945-1946

* Paul H. Griffith Pennsylvania 1946-1947

* James F. O'Neal New Hampshire 1947-1948

* S. Perry Brown Texas 1948-1949

* George N. Craig Indiana 1949-1950

* Erle Cocke, Jr. Georgia 1950-1951

* Donald R. Wilson West Virginia 1951-1952

* Lewis K. Gough California 1952-1953

* Arthur J. Connell Connecticut 1953-1954

* Seaborn P. Collins New Mexico 1954-1955

* J. Addington Wagner Michigan 1955-1956

* Dan Daniel Virginia 1956-1957

* John S. Gleason, Jr. Illinois 1957-1958

* Preston J. Moore Oklahoma 1958-1959

* Martin B. McKneally New York 1959-1960

* William R. Burke California 1960-1961

* Charles L. Bacon Missouri 1961-1962

* James E. Powers Georgia 1962-1963

* Hon. Daniel F. Foley Minnesota 1963-1964

* Donald E. Johnson Iowa 1964-1965

* L. Eldon James Virginia 1965-1966

* John E. Davis North Dakota 1966-1967

* William E. Galbraith Nebraska 1967-1968

* William C. Doyle New Jersey 1968-1969

* J. Milton Patrick Oklahoma 1969-1970

* Alfred P. Chamie California 1970-1971

* John H. Geiger Illinois 1971-1972

* Joe L. Matthews Texas 1972-1973

* Robert E. L. Earon Maryland 1972-1973

* James M. Wagonseller Ohio 1974-1975

* Harry G. Wiles Kansas 1975-1976

* William J. Rogers Maine 1976-1977

* Robert Charles Smith Louisiana 1977-1978

* John M. Carey Michigan 1978-1979

* Frank I. Hamilton Indiana 1979-1980

* Michael J. Kogutek New York 1980-1981

* Jack W. Flynt Texas 1981-1982

* Al Keller, Jr. Illinois 1982-1983

* Keith A. Kreul Wisconsin 1983-1984

* Clarence M. Bacon Maryland 1984-1985

* Dale L. Renaud Louisiana 1985-1986

* Hon. James P. Dean Mississippi 1986-1987

* John P. Jake Cower Massachusetts 1987-1988

* Hon. H. F. Sparky North Dakota 1988-1989

* Miles E. Epling West Virginia 1989-1990

* Robert S. Turner Georgia 1990-1991

* Dominic D. DiFrancesco Pennsylvania 1991-1992

* Roger A. Munson Ohio 1992-1993

* Bruce Thiesen California 1993-1994

* William M. Detweiler Louisiana 1994-1995

* Daniel A. Ludwig Minnesota 1995-1996

* Joseph J. Frank Missouri 1996-1997

* Anthony G. Jordan Maine 1997-1998

* Butch L. Miller Indiana 1998-1999

* Hon. Alan G. Lance Idaho 1999-2000

* Ray G. Smith North Carolina 2000-2001

* Richard Santos Maryland 2001-2002

* Ronald F. Conley Pennsylvania 2002-2003

* John A. Brieden Texas 2003-2004

* Thomas P. Cadmus Michigan 2004–2005

* Thomas L. Bock Colorado 2005–2006

* Paul A. Morin Massachusetts 2006-2007

* Martin “Marty” Conatser Illinois , 31 August 2007- present

 

References in popular culture

 

John Dos Passos included in his U.S.A. trilogy a detailed description of the Centralia Massacre, taking the IWW side in this affair.

 

The 1949 story "The Long Watch", by science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein, was commissioned by the American Legion and published in the Legion's magazine. However, the story was reportedly "heavily edited" before being published - presumably because its theme - a one-man rebellion by a future space officer who sacrifices his life to foil a military coup and the use of nuclear weapons on civilian populations - can be read both as extolling patriotic self-sacrifice and as extolling rebelliousness and disobedience.

 

On their 1989 album, Key Lime Pie, the alternative rock band Camper Van Beethoven referenced the American Legion in their song "When I Win The Lottery", with the lyrics,

 

And when I win the lottery, gonna buy the house next to Mr. Red, White and Blue, and when I win the lottery, gonna buy Post 306 American Legion, paint it red with five gold stars.

 

In chapter 9 of F. Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby, it's revealed that Jay Gatsby was a member of the American Legion.

Satya Nadella, senior vice president of research and development for the online services division for Microsoft Corp., speaks during a Microsoft Search Summit event in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Dec. 15, 2010. Microsoft Corp. updated its Bing search engine today, aiming to build on U.S. market-share gains last month as it chases Google Inc. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images *** Local Caption *** Satya Nadella

As someone looking down both barrels of 40 next month, I am of an age where technology is second nature whilst still having been brought up on good old books. If I'm busy and I want an answer yesterday then Google is my friend but If I am reading for pleasure, whether it's fact or fiction, give me a leather-bound tome any day.

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

The Jelly Belly Candy Company, or simply Jelly Belly, is a maker of jelly beans and other candy. Formerly known as The Herman Goelitz Candy Company, Jelly Belly produces more than 34 million pounds of candy annually. The company is based in Fairfield, California and has nearly 800,000 square feet of production space between its Fairfield and Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin facilities.

 

Jelly Belly makes many varieties of naturally flavored jelly beans, including juicy pear, watermelon, root beer, cherry and buttered popcorn. The jelly beans were most famously endorsed by U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who kept a jar of them on his desk in the White House and on Air Force One, and who also made them the first jelly beans in outer space, sending them on the 1983 Challenger shuttle as a surprise for the astronauts.

Exif_JPEG_420

www.sensis.com.au formatted for the PSP.

Top 10 Best Android Smartphones below Rs. 10,000 in India

 

Read more...http://goo.gl/3GJXAp

Googleplex Google headquarters in Mountain View, California aerial - Copyright 2018 David Oppenheimer - Performance Impressions aerial photography archives - www.performanceimpressions.com

Taken using Firefox Private Browsing and being non-logged in either website, which should neutralize most results personalization. Search results when also using Tor were very similar.

 

Bing contro Google: comparazione dei risultati della Ricerca Immagini per "New Aesthetic".

Screenshot creato usando la "Navigazione Anonima" di Firefox in modo da minimizzare le personalizzazioni dei risultati della ricerca. I risultati usando Tor erano sostanzialmente gli stessi mostrati qui.

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

The Department of the Army is one of the three service departments in the United States Department of Defense. It is headed by the Secretary of the Army, a civilian, who is responsible for the administrative (non-operational) affairs of the United States Army.

 

The department was formed in 1789 as the United States Department of War and was renamed the United States Department of the Army on September 18, 1947.

 

The highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff of the Army.

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

Columbia Encyclopedia: Beaverton,

city (1990 pop. 53,310), Washington co., NW Oreg., a suburb of Portland, in a farm area; inc. 1893. Beaverton is the heart of the Silicon Forest high-technology manufacturing complex. Headquarters for electronics companies and NIKE, Inc., are there. Food products, wine, and furniture are also produced.

 

Wikipedia: Beaverton, Oregon

 

Beaverton is a city in Washington County, Oregon, United States, seven miles west of Portland in the Tualatin River Valley. As of May 2006, its population is estimated to be 84,270,[1] 9.1% more than the 2000 census figure of 76,129. This makes it the second-largest city in the county and Oregon's sixth-largest city. Beaverton's controversial annexation plans during the next decade are likely to result in major growth in both population and area.

 

History

 

According to Oregon Geographic Names, Beaverton got its name because of the settlement's proximity to a large body of water resulting from beaver dams.

 

The area of Tualatin Valley which became Beaverton was originally the home of a Native American tribe known as the Atfalati which settlers mispronounced as Tualatin. The Atfalati population dwindled in the latter part of the 18th century, and the prosperous tribe was no longer dominant in the area by the 19th century when settlers arrived.[2]

 

19th century

 

The natives had a village called Chakeipi, meaning Place of the Beaver, and early settlers referred to it as "Beaverdam". Early settlers include the Hall Family from Kentucky, the Denneys who lived on their claim near present-day Scholls Ferry Road and Hall Blvd, and Orin S. Allen, from western New York, who resided at SW Allen and Hall Blvd.[2]

 

* 1847: Lawrence Hall (for whom Hall Boulevard is named) purchased 640 acres (2.6 km²) in Beaverdam and built a grist mill with his brother near present-day Walker Road. His was the first land claim in the area.

* 1849: Thomas Denney came to the area and built its first sawmill; Denny Road is named after him.

* 1860: A toll plank road from Portland to Beaverton was completed over a trail called Canyon Road.

* 1868: Joshua Welch, George Betts, Charles Angel, W.P. Watson, John Henry and other settlers of the area laid out what is now known as Beaverton hoping they could bring a railroad to an area once described as "mostly swamps & marshes connected by beaver dams to create what looked like a huge lake."

* 1872: Beaverton's first post office opened under George Betts, the first postmaster, in his general store. Betts Street, where the current post office now stands, is named in honor of him.

* 1893: The city of Beaverton, with a population of 400, was officially incorporated. Alonzo Cady, a local businessman, served as the first mayor.

 

20th century

 

Beaverton was an early home to automobile dealerships. A Ford Motor Company dealership was established there in 1915; it was purchased by Guy Carr in 1923 and over the years Carr expanded it into several locations throughout Beaverton.

 

In the early 1920s, Beaverton was home to Premium Picture Productions, a movie studio which produced about fifteen films. This site was later converted into an airfield known as Watts Airport and thereafter as Bernard's Airport.

 

The town's first library opened in 1925. Originally on the second floor of the Cady building, it has moved repeatedly; in 2000 it was moved to its current location on Hall Boulevard and 5th.

 

In the 1980s a light rail system was proposed[3] to connect Beaverton to downtown Portland, as part of Metro's plans for the region's transportation. In 1992, voters approved funding for Westside MAX; the project began construction in 1994 and was completed in 1998, with stations located at Millikan Way MAX station Merlo Road and Southwest 158th Avenue, Beaverton Creek, Beaverton Central, and the Beaverton Transit Center.

 

21st century

 

In December 2004, the city and Washington County announced an "interim plan" which will lead to Beaverton becoming the second-largest city in Oregon, second only to Portland.[4] The "interim" plan actually covers a period of more than ten years; from the county's perspective[4], the plan supports its strategy of having cities and special districts provide urban services. From the city's perspective[citation needed], it supports its strategy of continued annexation, beginning with areas already surrounded by the city, which Oregon state law allows to be annexed without landowner approval. Nike led a legal and lobbying effort to resist the annexation.[5] The lobbying effort succeeded quickly, with the Oregon Legislative Assembly enacting Senate Bill 887[6] which prohibit Beaverton from annexing Nike without Nike's consent. Nike continued its legal efforts, which as of July 2006 has cost Beaverton taxpayers over $360,000.[7]

 

The city and county also agreed to work on ending the "double taxation" of Beaverton property owners who subsidize urban services provided to residents of unincorporated area.

 

Several nearby unincorporated neighborhoods, even some considered Portland neighborhoods, are affected during the plan's first decade, including Cedar Hills, West Slope, Raleigh Hills and Garden Home. Property owned by Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, and Tektronix would also be affected.

 

Neighborhoods affected after the plan's first ten years include Bethany, Cedar Mill, and Aloha. If all areas covered by the plan were to be immediately incorporated into Beaverton, the city's present-day population would be 280,000.

 

Many of these neighborhoods actively oppose annexation because of Beaverton's higher taxation and controversial policing methods (including undercover seatbelt enforcement and photo radar). Court and electoral fights could delay Beaverton's annexation plans.

 

In 2006, the Murrayhill Little League baseball team qualified for the 2006 Little League World Series, the first Oregon team in 48 years to go that far. Murrayhill advanced to the semifinals before losing; the third-place game was rained out and not rescheduled. In addition, a Junior Softball team from Beaverton went to 2006 World Series in Kirkland, Washington, ending in sixth place.

 

Economy

 

Reser's Fine Foods, processor and distributor of fresh prepared foods, has headquartered in Beaverton since 1960. Beaverton is home to the world headquarters of Nike, Inc. Its headquarters are located on an unincorporated area inside, but excluded from, Beaverton city limits. More recently, Beaverton is the headquarters of Tektronix, which manufactures electronics including oscilloscopes and logic analyzers. As part of the Silicon Forest, Beaverton is the home of the Open Source Development Labs and the Linux Technology Center of IBM (formerly Sequent Computer Systems).[8] Cedar Hills Crossing is a shopping mall within the city of Beaverton.

 

Geography

 

Beaverton is located at 45°28′47″N, 122°48′36″W (45.479686, -122.809954)1.

 

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.3 mi² (42.3 km²), none of which is covered with water.

 

Demographics

 

As of the census2 of 2000, there were 76,129 people, 30,821 households, and 18,646 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,664.5/mi² (1,801.1/km²). There were 32,500 housing units at an average density of 1,991.3/mi²(768.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 78.31% White, 9.65% Asian, 1.74% Black or African American, 0.67% Native American, 0.36% Pacific Islander, 5.53% from other races, and 3.74% from two or more races. 11.12% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

 

There were 30,821 households out of which 32.3% had children younger than age 18 living with them, 46.8% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.5% were non-families. 29.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 3.07.

 

In the city the population was spread out with 25.0% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 35.2% from 25 to 44, 20.3% from 45 to 64, and 9.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 97.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.9 males.

 

The median income for a household in the city was $47,863, and the median income for a family was $60,289. Males had a median income of $41,683 versus $31,204 for females. The per capita income for the city was $25,419. About 5.0% of families and 7.8% of the population were below the poverty line, including 8.5% of those under age 18 and 6.8% of those age 65 or over.

 

Education

 

The public schools of Beaverton are part of the Beaverton School District. Private schools in the area include German American School, Holy Trinity School, Jesuit High School, Saint Cecilia Grade School, Southwest Christian School, Valley Catholic School, Valley Catholic Middle School, and WoodHaven School.

 

Colleges and universities

 

* Cambridge College High-Tech Institute

* Portland State University extended campus programs [9]

 

Sister cities

 

* Flag of the Republic of China Hsin Chu, Taiwan

* Flag of Russia Birobidzhan, Russia

* Flag of South Korea Cheonan, Korea

* Flag of France Cluses, France

* Flag of Japan Gotenba, Japan

* Flag of Germany Trossingen, Germany

 

References

 

1. ^ PSU:Population Research Center

2. ^ a b Beaverton History. City of Beaverton. Retrieved on 2007-09-07.

3. ^ Portland to Beaverton Light Rail System Environmental Impact Statement, Earth Metrics Inc., prepared for Metro (1985)

4. ^ a b County Board Approves Interim Plan with Beaverton, a December 2004 article from the Washington County website

5. ^ Statement By Nike Regarding The Recent Annexation Actions By The City Of Beaverton

6. ^ Oregon State Bill 887 as enrolled from the Oregon Legislative Assembly website

7. ^ Mayor blasts Nike: 'I'm tired of the bullying', a July 2006 article from the Beaverton Valley Times

See details at petitinvention.

petitinvention.wordpress.com/2008/02/10/future-of-interne...

The user's path to enlightenment. It can be read as the user's evolution but also as the web's constant change and shifting from almost-passive repository of information to active sharing of personalized experience.

 

Marissa Mayer leads the product management efforts on Google's search products: web search, images, groups, news, Froogle, the Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, Google Labs, and more. She joined Google in 1999 as Google's first female engineer and led the user interface and web server teams. Her efforts have included designing and developing Google's search interface; internationalizing the site to more than 100 languages; defining Google News, Gmail, and Orkut; and launching more than 100 features and products on Google.com. Several patents have been filed on her work in artificial intelligence and interface design.

Cognitive theory (psychology) is the study of how the brain processes data in the formation of beliefs and opinions and hence behavior based on those beliefs and opinions. Examples are such things as voting, financial decisions and social beliefs. Cognitive theory explains how we come to have our opinions and beliefs and why they differ among individuals. “Do not drink the Kool-Aid” , i.e., doing your own research and generally being a bit skeptical of conventional wisdom is the greatest way to combat its influence. (Look it up👌)

Tata Sky launches new set-top box with Wi-Fi

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For More Updates - latest news in Gujarat

 

Mrs Mazurski here was our librarian, now she's our search engine

Junk Jet has developed an archive impossible that ­trans­ports, in print format, net based works, or ­fragments of works showing collections, series, animations, applications, and reflecting anti-heart texts on the net and its new forms of art, design, and architecture. N°5, the net.heart issue, has transferred internet things from their digital space into a paper jet. This transportation procedure relies on documents in a similar way as the museum relies on photograph and video documenting performance arts. And Junk Jet believes that this analogue documentation is in no way inferior to pseudo-preserving techniques of data migration, emulation, or reprogramming. At the end, Junk Jet says: Transportation is not so much about the artwork as object, but rather about the indication of the subjective decision of the artist. In this sense Junk Jet is a Russian conceptualist.

 

junkjet.net/

www.igmade.net/order.html

www.facebook.com/pages/Junk-Jet/298633638983

 

With wireless contributions by Adam Cruces, Agathe Andre, Alessandro Bava, Alexei Shulgin, Angela Genusa, Angelo Plessas, Aureliano Segundo, Asli Serbest, Aristide Antonas, Artie Vierkant, Ball-Nogues, Bärbel Jetter, Bea Fremderman, Beatriz Ramo, Ben Aqua, Ben Vickers, Billy Rennekamp, Bonno van Doorn, Brad Troemel, Bryan Boyer, Carsten Güth, Christian Oldham, Christine Nasz and Stefanie Hunold, Constant Dullaart, Dennis Knopf, Eilis Mcdonald, Fabien Mousse, Gene McHugh, Greg J. Smith, Hanne Mugaas, Jacob Engblom, Jasper Elings, JODI, Jonas Lund, Jordan Tate, Katja Novitskova, Laimonas Zakas, Lenox Twins, m-a-u-s-e-r, Marisa Olson, Michael Schoner, Mike Ruiz, Mimi Zeiger, Mona Mahall, Natalie Bookchin, Nicholas O'Brien, Nicolas Sassoon, NIEI, NLarchitects, Olia Lialina, Palace Palace, Rafaël Rozendaal, Ricardo Scofidio, Parker Ito, Patrick Cruz, Pieterjan Grandry, Raphael Bastide, Sam Hancocks, Sarah Weis, Something Fantastic, Sterling Crispin, Theo Seemann, Will Brand, Wyne Veen

Edited by Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest

N°5 comes with a Poster: "Home Buttons by Architects"

Native American music

 

American Indian music is the musics that are shared by or that distinguish American Indian tribes and First Nations. In addition to the traditional music of those groups there now exist pan-tribal or intertribal genres as well as distinct Indian subgenres of popular music including: rock, blues, hip hop, classical, film music and reggae, as well as popular pan-tribal styles like waila (chicken scratch).

 

Characteristics

 

Vocalization and percussion are the most important aspects of traditional Native American music. Vocalization takes many forms, ranging from solo and choral song to responsorial, unison and multipart singing. Percussion, especially drums and rattles, are common accompaniment to keep the rhythm steady for the singers, who generally use their native language or non-lexical vocables (nonsense syllables). Traditional music usually begins with slow and steady beats that grow gradually faster and more emphatic, while various flourishes like drum and rattle tremolos, shouts and accented patterns add variety and signal changes in performance for singers and dancers.[1]

 

Song texts and sources

 

Native American song texts include both public pieces and secret songs, said to be "ancient and unchanging", which are used only for sacred and ceremonial purposes. There are also public sacred songs, as well as ritual speeches that are sometimes perceived as musical because of their use of rhythm and melody. These ritual speeches often directly describe the events of a ceremony, and the reasons and ramifications of the night.[2] Vocables, or lexically meaningless syllables, are a common part of many kinds of Native American songs. They frequently mark the beginning and end of phrases, sections or songs themselves. Often songs make frequent use of vocables and other untranslatable elements. Songs that are translatable include historical songs, like the Navajo "Shi' naasha', which celebrates the end of Navajo internment in Fort Sumner, New Mexico in 1868. Tribal flag songs and national anthems are also a major part of the Native American musical corpus, and are a frequent starter to public ceremonies, especially powwows. Native American music also includes a range of courtship songs, dancing songs and popular American or Canadian tunes like "Amazing Grace, "Dixie", "Jambalaya" and "Sugar Time". Many songs celebrate harvest, planting season or other important times of year.

 

Societal role

 

Native American music plays a vital role in history and education, with ceremonies and stories orally passing on ancestral customs to new generations. Native American ceremonial music is traditionally said to originate from deities or spirits, or from particularly respected individuals. Rituals are shaped by every aspect of song, dance and costuming, and each aspect informs about the "makers, wearers and symbols important to the nation, tribe, village, clan, family, or individual".[3] Native Americans perform stories through song, music and dance, and the historical facts thus propagated are an integral part of Native American beliefs. Epic legends and stories about culture heroes are a part of tribal music traditions, and these tales are often an iconic part of local culture.[4] They can vary slightly from year to year, with leaders recombining and introducing slight variations. The Pueblo compose a number of new songs each year in a committee which uses dreams and visions.[5]

 

The styles and purposes of music vary greatly between and among each Native American tribe. However, a common concept amongst many indigenous groups is a conflation of music and power. For example, the Pima people feel many of their songs were given in the beginning and sung by the Creator. It is believed that some people then have more of an inclination to musical talent than others because of an individual's peculiar power.

 

Gender

 

Within various Native American communities, gender plays an important role in music. Men and women play sex-specific roles in many musical activities. Instruments, songs and dances are often peculiar to one or the other sex, and many musical settings are strictly controlled by sex. In modern powwows, women play a vital role as backup singers and dancers.[7] The Cherokee people, for example, hold dances before stickball games. At these pre-game events, men and women perform separate dances and follow separate regulations. Men will dance in a circle around a fire, while women dance in place. Men sing their own songs, while women have their songs sung for them by an elder. Whereas the men's songs invoke power, the women's songs draw power away from the opposing stickball team.[8] In some societies, there are customs where certain ceremonial drums are only to be played by men. For the Southern Plains Indians, it is believed that the first drum was given to a woman by the Great Spirit, who instructed her to share it with all women of native nations. However, there also exist prohibitions against women sitting at the Big Drum.[8]

 

Chief Joseph once said, "We were taught to believe that the Great Spirit sees and hears everything, and that he never forgets, that hereafter he will give every man a spirit home according to his deserts; if he has been a good man, he will have a good home; if he has been a bad man, he will have a bad home. This I believe and all my people believe the same."

 

John Wooden Legs of the Cheyenne tribe once stated, "Our land is everything to us...I will tell you one of the things we remember on our land. We remember that our grandfathers paid for it - with their lives."

 

Charles A. Eastman once said, "Every age, every race, has its leaders and heroes. There were over sixty distinct tribes of Indians on this continent, each of which boasted its notable men. The names and deeds of some of these men will live in American history, yet in the true sense they are unknown, because misunderstood. I should like to present some of the greatest chiefs of modern times in the light of the native character and ideals, believing that the American people will gladly do them tardy justice."

 

In many tribal music cultures, there is a relative paucity of traditional women's songs and dances, especially in the Northeast and Southeast music areas. The Southeast is, however, home to a prominent women's musical tradition in the use of leg rattles for ceremonial and friendship dances, and the women's singing during Horse and Ball Game contests. The West Coast tribes of North America tend to more prominence in women's music, with special women's love songs, medicine songs and hand game songs; the Southwest is particularly diverse in women's musical offerings, with major ceremonial, instrumental and social roles in dances.. Women also play a vital ceremonial role in the Sun Dance of the Great Plains and Great Basin, and also sing during social dances; Shoshone women still sang the songs of the Ghost Dance into the 1980s.

 

History

 

Music and history are tightly interwoven in Native American life. A tribe's history is constantly told and retold through music, which keeps alive an oral narrative of history. These historical narratives vary widely from tribe to tribe, and are an integral part of tribal identity. However, their historical authenticity cannot be verified; aside from supposition and some archaeological evidence, the earliest documentation of Native American music came with the arrival of European explorers.[9] Musical instruments and pictographs depicting music and dance have been dated as far back as the 7th century.[10]

 

Bruno Nettl refers to the style of the Great Basin area as the oldest style and common throughout the entire continent before Mesoamerica but continued only in the Great Basin and in the lullaby, gambling, and tale genres around the continent. A style featuring relaxed vocal technique and the rise may have originated in Mesoamerican Mexico and spread northward, particularly into the California-Yuman and Eastern music areas. According to Nettl, these styles also feature "relative" rhythmic simplicity in drumming and percussion, with isometric material and pentatonic scales in the singing, and motives created from shorter sections into longer ones.[11]

 

While this process occurred, three Asian styles may have influenced North American music across the Bering Strait, all featuring pulsating vocal technique and possibly evident in recent Paleo-Siberian tribes such as Chuckchee, Yukaghir, Koryak. Also, these may have influenced the Plains-Pueblo, Athabascan, and Inuit-Northwest Coast areas. According to Nettl, the boundary between these southward and the above northward influences are the areas of greatest musical complexity: the Northwest Coast, Pueblo music, and Navajo music. Evidence of influences between the Northwest Coast and Mexico are indicated, for example, by bird-shaped whistles.[11] The Plains-Pueblo area has influenced and continues to influence the surrounding cultures, with contemporary musicians of all tribes learning Plains-Pueblo influenced pantribal genres such as Peyote songs.

 

Music areas

 

Nettl uses the following music areas which approximately coincide with Wissler, Kroeber, and Driver's cultural areas: Inuit-Northwest coast, Great Basin, California-Yuman, Plains-Pueblo, Athabascan, and Eastern.

 

Southwest

 

Arid American Southwest is home to two broad groupings of closely-related cultures, the Pueblo and Athabaskan. The Southern Athabaskan Navajo and Apache tribes sing in Plains-style nasal vocals with unblended monophony, while the Pueblos emphasize a relaxed, low range and highly blended monophonic style. Athabaskan songs are swift and use drums or rattles, as well as an instrument unique to this area, the Apache violin, or "Tsii'edo'a'tl" meaning "wood that sings" in Apache.[13]

 

Pueblo songs are complex and meticulously detailed, usually with five sections divided into four or more phrases characterized by detailed introductory and cadential formulas. They are much slower in tempo than Athabaskan songs, and use various percussion instruments as accompaniment.

 

Nettl describes Pueblo music, including Hopi, Zuni, Taos Pueblo, San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo, and many others, as one of the most complex on the continent, featuring increased length and number of scale tones (hexatonic and heptatonic common), variety of form, melodic contour, and percussive accompaniment, ranges between an octave and a twelfth, with rhythmic complexity equal to the Plains sub-area. He sites the Kachina dance songs as the most complex songs and Hopi and Zuni material as the most complex of the Pueblo, while the Tanoans and Keresans musics are simpler and intermediary between the Plains and western Pueblos. The music of the Pima and Papago is intermediary between the Plains-Pueblo and the California-Yuman music areas, with melodic movement of the Yuman, though including the rise, and the form and rhythm of the Pueblo.[14]

 

He describes Southern Athabascan music, that of the Apache and Navajo, as the simplest next to the Great Basin style, featuring strophic form, tense vocals using pulsation and falsetto, tritonic and tetratonic scales in triad formation, simple rhythms and values of limited duration (usually only two per song), arc-type melodic contours, and large melodic intervals with a predominance of major and minor thirds and perfect fourths and fifths with octave leaps not rare. Peyote songs share characteristics of Apache music and Plains-Pueblo music having been promoted among the Plains by the Apache people.[14]

 

He describes the structural characteristics of California-Yuman music, including that of Pomo, Miwak, Luiseno, Catalineno, and Gabrielino, and the Yuman tribes, including, Mohave, Yuman, Havasupai, Maricopa, as using the rise in almost all songs, a relaxed nonpulsating vocal technique (like European classical music), a relatively large amount of isorhythmic material, some isorhythmic tendencies, simple rhythms, pentatonic scales without semitones, an average melodic range of an octave, sequence, and syncopated figures such as a sixteenth-note, eight-note, sixteenth-note figure. The form of rise used varies throughout the area, usually being rhythmically related to the preceding non-rise section but differing in melodic material or pitch. The rise may be no higher than the highest pitch of the original section, but will contain a much larger number of higher pitches. In California the non-rise is usually one reiterate phrase, the rise being the phrase transposed an octave higher, the Yumans use a non-rise of long repeated sections each consisting of several phrases, the rise being three to five phrases performed only once, and in southern California the previous two and progressive forms are found.Southwest

 

Arid American Southwest is home to two broad groupings of closely-related cultures, the Pueblo and Athabaskan. The Southern Athabaskan Navajo and Apache tribes sing in Plains-style nasal vocals with unblended monophony, while the Pueblos emphasize a relaxed, low range and highly blended monophonic style. Athabaskan songs are swift and use drums or rattles, as well as an instrument unique to this area, the Apache violin, or "Tsii'edo'a'tl" meaning "wood that sings" in Apache.[13]

 

Pueblo songs are complex and meticulously detailed, usually with five sections divided into four or more phrases characterized by detailed introductory and cadential formulas. They are much slower in tempo than Athabaskan songs, and use various percussion instruments as accompaniment.

 

Nettl describes Pueblo music, including Hopi, Zuni, Taos Pueblo, San Ildefonso, Santo Domingo, and many others, as one of the most complex on the continent, featuring increased length and number of scale tones (hexatonic and heptatonic common), variety of form, melodic contour, and percussive accompaniment, ranges between an octave and a twelfth, with rhythmic complexity equal to the Plains sub-area. He sites the Kachina dance songs as the most complex songs and Hopi and Zuni material as the most complex of the Pueblo, while the Tanoans and Keresans musics are simpler and intermediary between the Plains and western Pueblos. The music of the Pima and Papago is intermediary between the Plains-Pueblo and the California-Yuman music areas, with melodic movement of the Yuman, though including the rise, and the form and rhythm of the Pueblo.[14]

 

He describes Southern Athabascan music, that of the Apache and Navajo, as the simplest next to the Great Basin style, featuring strophic form, tense vocals using pulsation and falsetto, tritonic and tetratonic scales in triad formation, simple rhythms and values of limited duration (usually only two per song), arc-type melodic contours, and large melodic intervals with a predominance of major and minor thirds and perfect fourths and fifths with octave leaps not rare. Peyote songs share characteristics of Apache music and Plains-Pueblo music having been promoted among the Plains by the Apache people.[14]

 

He describes the structural characteristics of California-Yuman music, including that of Pomo, Miwak, Luiseno, Catalineno, and Gabrielino, and the Yuman tribes, including, Mohave, Yuman, Havasupai, Maricopa, as using the rise in almost all songs, a relaxed nonpulsating vocal technique (like European classical music), a relatively large amount of isorhythmic material, some isorhythmic tendencies, simple rhythms, pentatonic scales without semitones, an average melodic range of an octave, sequence, and syncopated figures such as a sixteenth-note, eight-note, sixteenth-note figure. The form of rise used varies throughout the area, usually being rhythmically related to the preceding non-rise section but differing in melodic material or pitch. The rise may be no higher than the highest pitch of the original section, but will contain a much larger number of higher pitches. In California the non-rise is usually one reiterate phrase, the rise being the phrase transposed an octave higher, the Yumans use a non-rise of long repeated sections each consisting of several phrases, the rise being three to five phrases performed only once, and in southern California the previous two and progressive forms are found.

 

Eastern Woodlands

 

Inhabiting a wide swath of the United States and Canada, Eastern Woodlands natives, according to Nettl, can be distinguished by antiphony (call and response style singing), which does not occur in other areas. Their territory includes Maritime Canada, New England, U.S. Mid-Atlantic, Great Lakes and Southeast regions. Songs are rhythmically complex, characterized by frequent metric changes and a close relationship to ritual dance. Flutes and whistles are solo instruments, and a wide variety of drums, rattles and striking sticks are played. Nettl describes the Eastern music area as the region between the Mississippi river and the Atlantic. The most complex styles being that of the Southeastern Creek, Yuchi, Cherokee, Choctaw, Iroquois and their language group, the simpler style being that of the Algonquian language group including Delaware and Penobscot. The Algonquian speaking Shawnee have a relatively complex style influenced by the nearby southeastern tribes.[16]

 

The characteristics of this entire area include short iterative phrases, reverting relationships, shouts before, during, and after singing, anhematonic pentatonic scales, simple rhythms and meter and, according to Nettl, antiphonal or responsorial techniques including "rudimentary imitative polyphony". Melodic movement tends to be gradually descending throughout the area and vocals include a moderate amount of tension and pulsation.

 

Plains

 

Extending across the American Midwest into Canada, Plains-area music is nasal, with high pitches and frequent falsettos, with a terraced descent (a step-by-step descent down an octave) in an unblended monophony. Strophes use incomplete repetition, meaning that songs are divided into two parts, the second of which is always repeated before returning to the beginning.

 

Large double-sided skin drums are characteristic of the Plains tribes, and solo end-blown flutes (flageolet) are also common.

 

Nettl describes the central Plains tribes, from Canada to Texas: Blackfoot, Crow, Dakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, and Comanche, as the most typical and simple sub-area of the Plains-Pueblo music area. This area's music is characterized by extreme vocal tension, pulsation, melodic preference for perfect fourths and a range averring a tenth, rhythmic complexity, and increased frequence of tetratonic scales. The musics of the Arapaho and Cheyenne intensify these characteristics, while the northern tribes, especially Blackfoot music, feature simpler material, smaller melodic ranges, and fewer scale tones.[17]

 

Nettl Arapaho music includes ceremonial and secular songs, such as the ritualistic Sun Dance, performed in the summer when the various bands of the Arapaho people would come together. Arapaho traditional songs consist of two sections exhibiting terraced descent, with a range greater than an octave and scales between four and six tones. Other ceremonial songs were received in visions, or taught as part of the men's initiations into a society for his age group. Secular songs include a number of social dances, such as the triple meter round dances and songs to inspire warriors or recent exploits. There are also songs said to be taught by a guardian spirit, which should only be sung when the recipient is near death.

 

Great Basin

 

Music of the Great Basin is simple, discreet and ornate, characterized by short melodies with a range smaller than an octave, moderately-blended monophony, relaxed and open vocals and, most uniquely, paired-phrase structure, in which a melodic phrases, repeated twice, is alternated with one to two additional phrases. A song of this type might be diagrammed as follows: AA BB CC AA BB CC, etc.

 

Nettl describes the music of the sparesly settled Great Basin, including most of desert Utah and Nevada (Paiute, Ute, Shoshoni) and some of southern Oregon (Modoc and Klamath), as "extremely simple," featuring melodic ranges averaging just over a perfect fifth, many tetratonic scales, and short forms. The majority of songs are iterative with each phrase repeated once, though occasional songs with multiple repetitions are found. Many Modoc and Klamath songs contain only one repeated phrase and many of their scales only two to three notes (ditonic or tritonic). This style was carried to the Great Plains by the Ghost Dance religion which originated among the Paiute, and very frequently features paired-phrase patterns and a relaxed nonpulsating vocal style. Herzog attributes the similarly simple lullabies, song-stories, and gambling songs found all over the continent historically to the music of the Great Basin which was preserved through relative cultural isolation and low-population.

 

Northwest Coast

 

Open vocals with monophony are common in the Pacific Northwest and British Columbia, though polyphony also occurs (this the only area of North America with native polyphony). Chromatic intervals accompanying long melodies are also characteristic, and rhythms are complex and declamatory, deriving from speech. Instrumentation is more diverse than in the rest of North America, and includes a wide variety of whistles, flutes, horns and percussion instruments.

 

Nettl describes the music of the Kwakwaka'wakw, Nuu-chah-nulth, Tsimshian, Makah, and Quileute as some of the most complex on the continent, with the music of the Salish nations (Nlaka'pamux, Nuxálk, and Sliammon, and others directly east of the Northwest tribes) as being intermediary between these Northwest Coast tribes and Inuit music. The music of the Salish tribes, and even more so the Northwest coast, intensifies the significant features of Inuit music, see below, however their melodic movement is often pendulum-type ("leaping in broad intervals from one limit of the range to the other"). The Northwest coast music also "is among the most complicated on the continent, especially in regard to rhythmic structure," featuring intricate rhythmic patterns distinct from but related to the vocal melody and rigid percussion. He also reports unrecorded use of incipient polyphony in the form of drones or parallel intervals in addition to antiphonal and responorial forms. Vocals are extremely tense, producing dynamic contrast, ornamentation, and pulsation, and also often using multiple sudden accents in one held tone.

 

Arctic

 

Main article: Inuit music

 

The Inuit of Alaska, Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory, Nunavut and Greenland are well-known for their throat-singing, an unusual method of vocalizing found only in a few cultures worldwide. Throat-singing is used as the basis for a game among the Inuit. Narrow-ranged melodies and declamatory effects are common, as in the Northwest. Repeated notes mark the ends of phrases. Box drums, which are found elsewhere, are common, as a tambourine-like hand drum. Nettl describes "Eskimo" music as some of the simplest on the continent, listing characteristics including recitative-like singing, complex rhythmic organization, relatively small melodic range averaging about a sixth, prominence of major thirds and minor seconds melodically, with undulating melodic movement.

 

Academic study

 

Archaeological evidence of Native American music dates as far back as the 7th century. However, the earliest written documentation comes from the arrival of European explorers on the American continent, and the earliest academic research comes from the late 19th century. During that period, early musicologists and folklorists collected and studied Native American music, and propounded theories about indigenous styles. In the early 20th century, more systematic research began led by comparative musicologists like Frances Densmore, Natalie Curtis, George Herzog and Helen Roberts. Densmore was the most prolific of the era, publishing more than one hundred works on Native American music. Most recently, since the 1950s, Native American music has been a part of ethnomusicological research, studied by Bruno Nettl, William Powers and David McAllester, among others.

 

Pan-tribalism

 

Pan-tribalism is the syncretic adoption of traditions from foreign communities. Since the rise of the United States and Canada, Native Americans have forged a common identity, and invented pan-tribal music, most famously including powwows, peyote songs and the Ghost Dance.

 

The Ghost Dance spread throughout the Plains tribes in the 1890s, and most still survive in use. They are characterized by relaxed vocals and a narrow range. Apache-derived peyote songs, prayers in the Native American Church, use a descending melody and monophony. Rattles and water drums are used, in a swift tempo. The Sun Dance and Grass Dance of the plains are the roots of intertribal powwows, which feature music with terraced descent and nasal vocals, both Plains characteristic features.

 

An example of an intertribal song is the AIM Song, which uses meaningless vocables to make it accessible to people of all tribes. However, because of its origins from the Lakota and Ojibwe people, it still retains some Plains characteristics.

 

John Trudell launched a new genre of spoken word poetry in the 1980s, beginning with Aka Graffiti Man (1986). The next decade saw further innovations in Native American popular music, including Robbie Robertson (of The Band) releasing a soundtrack for a documentary, Music for the Native Americans, that saw limited mainstream success, as well as Verdell Primeaux and Johnny Mike's modernized peyote songs, which they began experimenting with on Sacred Path: Healing Songs of the Native American Church. Waila (or the chicken scratch music of the Tohono O'odham) has gained performers like the Joaquin Brothers fame across Native American communities, while hip hop crews like WithOut Rezervation and Robby Bee & the Boyz From the Rez (Reservation of Education) have a distinctively Native American flourish to hip hop. In the 21st Century the leading light of contemporary Native American music has been Martha Redbone who's award winning albums Home of the Brave (2002) and Skintalk (2005) have incorporated both traditional song and culture references into a brew of soul, funk, rock and jazz that has reached audiences across Europe and Japan as well as into the urban communities of the US. Meanwhile, young Native musicians such as Red Earth (see "Zia Soul" (2003) ), DJ Abel, Derek Miller, Ethnic DeGeneration, and Casper are producing outstanding underground music (ranging from hip-hop to funk to reggae to metal) defying stereotypes of Native people (without label support).

 

Native American flute

 

Main article: Native American flute

 

The Native American flute has achieved some measure of fame for its distinctive sound, used in a variety of New Age and world music recordings. Its music was used in courtship, healing, meditation and spiritual rituals.

 

The late 1960s saw a roots revival centered around the flute, with a new wave of flautists and artisans like Doc Nevaquaya and Carl Running Deer. Notable and award winning Native American flautists include: Mary Youngblood, Kevin Locke, Jay Red Eagle, Robert Tree Cody, Robert Mirabal, Joseph Firecrow , Jeff Ball , Terry Lee Whetstone , and Jan Michael Looking Wolf. Of special importance is R. Carlos Nakai (Changes, 1983), who has achieved some mainstream renown for his mixture of the flute with other contemporary genres.

 

The Native American flute is the only flute in the world constructed with two air chambers - there is a wall inside the flute between the top (slow) air chamber and the bottom chamber which has the whistle and finger holes. The top chamber also serves as a secondary resonator, which gives the flute its distinctive sound. There is a hole at the bottom of the "slow" air chamber and a (generally) square hole at the top of the playing chamber. A block (or "bird") with a spacer is tied on top of the flute to form a thin, flat airstream for the whistle hole (or "window"). Some more modern flutes use an undercut either in the block or the flute to eliminate the need for a spacer.

 

The "traditional" Native American flute was constructed using bread based on the body - the length of the flute would be the distance from armpit to wrist, the length of the top air chamber would be one fist-width, the distance from the whistle to the first hole also a fist-width, the distance between holes would be one thumb-width, and the distance from the last hole to the end would generally be one fist-width. Unlike Western music, traditional American Indian music had no standard pitch reference, such as A440, so flutes were not standardized for pitch.

 

Modern Native American flutes are generally tuned to a variation of the minor pentatonic scale (such as you would get playing the black keys on a piano), which gives the instrument its distinctive plaintive sound. Recently some makers have begun experimenting with different scales, giving players new melodic options. Also, modern flutes are generally tuned in concert keys (such as A or D) so that they can be easily played with other instruments. The root keys of modern Native American flutes span a range of about three and a half octaves, from C2 to A5.

 

Native American flutes most commonly have either 5 or 6 holes, but instruments can have anything from no holes to seven (including a thumb hole). Various makers employ different scales and fingerings for their flutes.

 

Some modern Native American flutes are called "drone" flutes, and are two (or more) flutes built together. Generally, the drone chamber plays a fixed note which the other flute can play against in harmony.

 

Native American drums

 

Main article: Native American drums

 

Of great influence and importance are American Indian drums. Different tribes have different traditions about their drums and how to play them. For larger dance or powwow type drums, the basic construction is very similar in most tribes: a wooden frame or a carved and hollowed-out log, with rawhide buckskin or elk skin stretched out across the opening by sinew thongs. Traditionally American Indian drums are large, two to three feet in diameter, and they are played communally by groups of singers who sit around them in a circle. For smaller single-sided hand drums, a thinner frame or shell is used, and a rawhide surface is string onto only one side, with lacing across the other. Other types include two basic styles of water drums: the Iroquois type and the Yaqui type. The Iroquois water drum is a small cup-shaped wooden vessel, with water inside it, and a moistened tanned hide stretched across the top opening; the wetness and tightness of the tanned hide produce changes in pitch as the water drum is played over time. The Yaqui type of water drum is actually a half gourd, large in size, that floats in a tub of water like a bubble on the surface; the outer round surface of the gourd is struck with a drum stick, and the vibrations are amplified using the tub of water as a resonator.

 

Awards

 

The American Grammy Awards present an annual award for Best Native American Music Album, and the Canadian Juno Awards present an annual award for Aboriginal Recording of the Year.

 

The dedicated Canadian Aboriginal Music Awards and Native American Music Awards ceremonies are also held annually.

 

Samples

 

* Media:Bice'waan Song.ogg is a recording from the Library of Congress, collected by Alice Cunningham Fletcher and Francis La Flesche and published in 1897. The singer is George Miller, who was probably born in about 1852. It was described as: "The true love-song, called by the Omaha Bethae waan, an old designation and not a descriptive name, is sung generally in the early morning, when the lover is keeping his tryst and watching for the maiden to emerge from the tent and go to the spring. They belong to the secret courtship and are sometimes called Me-the-g'thun wa-an - courting songs. . . . They were sung without drum, bell or rattle, to accent the rhythm, in which these songs is subordinated to tonality and is felt only in the musical phrases. . . . Vibrations for the purpose of giving greater expression were not only affected by the tremolo of the voice, but they were enhanced by waving the hand, or a spray of artemesia before the lips, while the body often swayed gently to the rhythm of the song (Fletcher, 1894, p. 156)."

* Download recording Ghost Dance and gambling song from the Piute and Arapaho Native Americans from the Library of Congress' Emile Berliner and the Birth of the Recording Industry Collection; performed by James Mooney (possibly along with Charles Mooney; neither are believed to be Native Americans) on July 5, 1894

* Download recording - Kiowa mescal daylight song from the Library of Congress' Emile Berliner and the Birth of the Recording Industry Collection; performed by James Mooney (possibly along with Charles Mooney; neither are believed to be Native Americans) on July 5, 1894

* Download recording - "Steal Partner" Seminole song from the Library of Congress' Florida Folklife from the WPA Collections; performed by Richard Osceola, Naha Tiger, John Josh and Morgan Smith in July 1940 in Cow Creek, Florida

Marissa Mayer leads the product management efforts on Google's search products: web search, images, groups, news, Froogle, the Google Toolbar, Google Desktop, Google Labs, and more. She joined Google in 1999 as Google's first female engineer and led the user interface and web server teams. Her efforts have included designing and developing Google's search interface; internationalizing the site to more than 100 languages; defining Google News, Gmail, and Orkut; and launching more than 100 features and products on Google.com. Several patents have been filed on her work in artificial intelligence and interface design.

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

World War II (1941-1945)

 

World War II, or the Second World War,[1] was a global military conflict, the joining of what had initially been two separate conflicts. The first began in Asia in 1937 as the Second Sino-Japanese War; the other began in Europe in 1939 with the German invasion of Poland.

 

This global conflict split the majority of the world's nations into two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. It involved the mobilization of over 100 million military personnel, making it the most widespread war in history, and placed the participants in a state of "total war", erasing the distinction between civil and military resources. This resulted in the complete activation of a nation's economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities for the purposes of the war effort. Over 60 million people, the majority of them civilians, were killed, making it the deadliest conflict in human history.[2] The financial cost of the war is estimated at about a trillion 1944 U.S. dollars worldwide,[3][4] making it the most costly war in capital as well as lives.

 

The Allies were victorious, and, as a result, the Soviet Union and the United States emerged as the world's leading superpowers. This set the stage for the Cold War, which lasted for the next 45 years. The United Nations was formed in hopes of preventing another such conflict. The self determination spawned by the war accelerated decolonization movements in Asia and Africa, while Europe itself began moving toward integration.[5]

Contents

[hide]

 

* 1 Background

* 2 Course of the war

o 2.1 War breaks out

o 2.2 Axis advances

o 2.3 The war becomes global

o 2.4 The tide turns

o 2.5 Allies gain momentum

o 2.6 Allies close in

o 2.7 Axis collapse, Allied victory

* 3 Aftermath

* 4 Casualties, civilian impact, and atrocities

o 4.1 Concentration camps and slave work

o 4.2 Chemical and bacteriological weapons

o 4.3 Bombings

o 4.4 War trials

* 5 See also

* 6 References

* 7 External links

 

Background

 

In the aftermath of World War I, the defeated German Empire signed the Treaty of Versailles.[6] This restricted German military and territorial growth and required the payment of massive war reparations. Civil war in Russia led to the creation of the communist Soviet Union which soon was under the control of Joseph Stalin. In Italy, Benito Mussolini seized power as a fascist dictator promising to create a "New Roman Empire".[7] The ruling Kuomintang (KMT) party in China launched a unification campaign against rebelling warlords in the mid-1920s, but was soon embroiled in a civil war against its former Chinese communist allies. In 1931, an increasingly militaristic Japanese Empire, which had long sought influence in China[8] as the first step of its right to rule Asia, used the Mukden Incident as justification to invade Manchuria; the two nations then fought several small conflicts until the Tanggu Truce in 1933.

German troops at the 1935 Nuremberg Rally

German troops at the 1935 Nuremberg Rally

 

In 1933, National Socialist Adolf Hitler became the leader of Germany and began a massive rearming campaign.[9] This worried France and the United Kingdom, who had lost much in the previous war, as well as Italy, which saw its territorial ambitions threatened by those of Germany.[10] To secure its alliance, the French allowed Italy a free hand in Ethiopia, which Italy desired to conquer. The situation was aggravated in early 1935 when the Saarland was legally reunited with Germany and Hitler repudiated the Treaty of Versailles, speeding up remilitarization and introducing conscription. Hoping to contain Germany, the United Kingdom, France and Italy formed the Stresa Front. The Soviet Union, also concerned due to Germany's goals of capturing vast areas of eastern Europe, concluded a treaty of mutual assistance with France.

 

These alliances did not amount to much. The Franco-Soviet pact, required to go through the League of Nations bureaucracy before taking effect, was essentially toothless[11][12] and in June of 1935, the United Kingdom made an independent naval agreement with Germany easing prior restrictions. The isolationist United States, concerned with events in Europe and Asia, passed the Neutrality Act in August.[13] In October Italy invaded Ethiopia, but was soon politically isolated, with Germany the only major European nation supporting its aggression. Alliances shifted, with Italy revoking its objections to Germany's goal of making Austria a satellite state.[14]

 

In March of 1936, Hitler remilitarized the Rhineland in direct violation of the Versailles and Locarno treaties, receiving little response from other European powers.[15] This strategy of giving an aggressor what they supposedly need in order to maintain peace is called appeasement. When the Spanish Civil War broke out in July, Hitler and Mussolini supported fascist Generalísimo Francisco Franco in his civil war against the Soviet-supported Spanish Republic. Both sides used the conflict to test new weapons and methods of warfare.[16]

 

With tensions mounting, efforts to strengthen or consolidate power were made. In October, Germany and Italy formed the Rome-Berlin Axis and a month later Germany and Japan, each believing communism–and the Soviet Union in particular–to be a threat, signed the Anti-Comintern Pact, which Italy would join in the following year. In China, the Kuomintang and communist forces agreed on a ceasefire to present a united front to oppose Japan.[17]

 

Course of the war

 

See also: Timeline of World War II

 

War breaks out

Japanese forces during the Battle of Wuhan

Japanese forces during the Battle of Wuhan

 

In mid-1937, following the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, Japan began a full invasion of China. The Soviets quickly lent support to China, effectively ending China's prior cooperation with Germany. Starting at Shanghai, the Japanese pushed Chinese forces back, capturing the capital Nanjing in December. In June of 1938 Chinese forces stalled the Japanese advance by flooding the Yellow River. Though this bought time to prepare their defenses at Wuhan, the city was still taken by October.[18] During this time, Japanese and Soviet forces engaged in a minor skirmish at Lake Khasan; in May of 1939, they became involved in a more serious border war.[19]

 

In Europe, Germany and Italy were becoming bolder. In March 1938, Germany annexed Austria, again provoking little response from other European powers.[20] Encouraged, Hitler began making claims on the Sudetenland; France and Britain conceded these for a promise of no further territorial demands.[21] Germany soon reneged, and in March 1939 fully occupied Czechoslovakia.

Soviet and German officers in Poland

Soviet and German officers in Poland

 

Alarmed, and with Hitler making further demands on Danzig, France and Britain guaranteed their support for Polish independence; when Italy conquered Albania in April, the same guarantee was extended to Romania and Greece.[22] The Soviet Union also attempted to ally with France and Britain, but was rebuffed due to western suspicions about Soviet motives and capability.[23] Shortly after the Franco-British pledges to Poland, Germany and Italy formalized their own alliance with the Pact of Steel; following this, in a move that shocked all other major powers, Germany and the Soviet Union concluded a non-aggression pact, including a secret agreement to split Poland and eastern Europe between them.[24]

 

By the start of September 1939, the Soviets had routed Japanese forces and the Germans invaded Poland. France, Britain, and the countries of the Commonwealth declared war on Germany but lent little support other than a small French attack into the Saarland.[25] In mid-September, after signing an armistice with Japan, the Soviets launched their own invasion of Poland.[26] By early October, Poland had been divided between Germany and the Soviet Union. During the battle in Poland, Japan launched its first attack against Changsha, a strategically important Chinese city, but was repulsed by early October.[27]

 

Axis advances

British and French soldiers taken prisoner in Northern France

British and French soldiers taken prisoner in Northern France

 

Following the invasion of Poland, the Soviets began moving troops into the Baltic region. Finnish resistance in late November led to a four-month war, ending with Finnish concessions.[28] France and the United Kingdom, treating the Soviet attack on Finland as tantamount to entering the war on the side of the Germans[29] responded to the Soviet invasion by supporting its expulsion from the League of Nations.[29] Though China had the authority to veto such an action, it was unwilling to alienate itself from either the Western powers or the Soviet Union and instead abstained.[29] The Soviet Union was displeased by this course of action and as a result suspended all military aid to China.[29] By mid-1940, the Soviet Union's occupation of the Baltics was completed with the installation of pro-Soviet governments.[30]

 

In Western Europe, British troops deployed to the Continent, but neither Germany nor the Allies launched direct attacks on the other. In April, Germany invaded Denmark and Norway to secure shipments of iron-ore from Sweden which the allies would try to disrupt. Denmark immediately capitulated, and despite Allied support Norway was conquered within two months.[31] British discontent over the Norwegian campaign led to the replacement of Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain by Winston Churchill on May 10, 1940.[32]

 

On that same day, Germany invaded France and the Low Countries, making rapid progress using blitzkrieg tactics. By the end of the month the Netherlands and Belgium had been overrun and British troops were forced to evacuate the continent, abandoning their heavy equipment.[33] On June 10th, Italy invaded, declaring war on both France and the United Kingdom;[33] twelve days later France surrendered and was soon divided into German and Italian occupation zones,[34] and an unoccupied rump state under the Vichy Regime. In early July, the British attacked the French fleet in Algeria to prevent their seizure by Germany.[35]

German bombers during the Battle of Britain

German bombers during the Battle of Britain

 

With France neutralized, the Axis was emboldened. Germany began an air superiority campaign over Britain to prepare for an invasion[36] and enjoyed success against an over-extended Royal Navy, using U-boats against British shipping in the Atlantic.[37] Italy began operations in the Mediterranean, initiating a siege of Malta in June, conquering British Somaliland in August, and making an incursion into British-held Egypt in early September. Japan increased its blockade of China in September by seizing several bases in the northern part of the now-isolated French Indochina.[38]

 

Throughout this period, the neutral United States took measures to assist China and the Western Allies. In November 1939, the American Neutrality Act was amended to allow Cash and carry purchases by the Allies.[39] During 1940, the United States implemented a series of embargos, including oil, iron, steel and mechanical parts, against Japan;[40] in September it agreed to a trade of American destroyers for British bases.[41]

 

At the end of September the Tripartite Pact between Japan, Italy and Germany formalized the Axis Powers. As a warning to the United States, the pact stipulated that, with the exception of the Soviet Union, any country not currently in the war which attacked any Axis Power would be forced to go to war against all three.[42] The Soviet Union expressed interest in joining the Tripartite Pact, sending a modified draft to Germany in November and offering a very German-favourable economic deal;[43] while Germany remained silent on the former, they accepted the latter.[44] Regardless of the pact, the United States continued to support the United Kingdom and China by introducing the Lend-Lease policy[45] and creating a security zone spanning roughly half of the Atlantic Ocean where the United States Navy protected British convoys.[46]

 

Soon after the pact, Italy's fortunes changed. In October, Italy invaded Greece but within days were repulsed and pushed back into Albania, where a stalemate soon occurred.[47] Shortly after this, in Africa, Commonwealth forces launched offensives against Libya and Italian East Africa. By early 1941, with Italian forces having been pushed back into Libya by the Commonwealth, Churchill ordered a dispatch of troops from Africa to bolster the Greeks. The Italian Navy also suffered significant defeats, with the Royal Navy putting three Italian battleships out of commission via carrier attack at Taranto, and several more warships neutralized at Cape Matapan.[48]

German paratroopers invading Crete

German paratroopers invading Crete

 

The Germans soon intervened to assist Italy. Hitler sent German forces to Libya in February and by the end of March they had launched an offensive against the diminished Commonwealth forces. In under a month, Commonwealth forces were pushed back into Egypt with the exception of the besieged port of Tobruk. The Commonwealth attempted to dislodge Axis forces in May and again in June, but failed on both occasions. In early April the Germans similarly intervened in the Balkans, invading Greece and Yugoslavia; here too they made rapid progress, eventually forcing the Allies to evacuate after Germany conquered the Greek island of Crete by the end of May.[49]

 

The Allies did have some successes during this time though. In the Middle East, Commonwealth forces first quashed a coup in Iraq which had been supported by German aircraft from bases within Vichy-controlled Syria,[50] then, with the assistance of the Free French, invaded Syria and Lebanon to prevent further such occurrences.[51] In the Atlantic, the British scored a much needed public morale boost by sinking the German flagship Bismarck.[52] Perhaps most importantly, the Royal Air Force had successfully resisted the Luftwaffe's assault, and on May 11, 1941, Hitler called off the bombing campaign over Britain.[53]

 

In Asia, in spite of several offensives by both sides, the war between China and Japan was stalemated by 1940. In August of that year, Chinese communists launched an offensive in Central China; in retaliation, Japan instituted harsh measures in occupied areas to reduce human and material resources for the communists.[54] Mounting tensions between Chinese communist and nationalist forces culminated in January 1941, effectively ending their co-operation.[55]

 

With the situation in Europe and Asia relatively stable, Germany, Japan and the Soviet Union made preparations. With the Soviets wary of mounting tensions with Germany and the Japanese planning to take advantage of the European War by seizing resource-rich European possessions in Southeast Asia the two powers signed a neutrality agreement in April, 1941.[56] By contrast the Germans were steadily making preparations for an attack on the Soviet Union, amassing forces on the Soviet border, particularly in Finland and Romania.[57]

 

The war becomes global

German soldiers in the Soviet Union, 1941

German soldiers in the Soviet Union, 1941

 

In late June, Germany, along with other European Axis members and Finland, invaded the Soviet Union. They made significant gains into Soviet territory, inflicting a large numbers of casualties, and by the start of December had almost reached Moscow, with only the besieged cities of Leningrad and Sevastopol behind their front-lines left unconquered.[58] With the onset of a fierce Soviet winter though, the Axis offensive was ground to a halt[59] and the Soviets launched a counter-offensive using reserve troops brought up from the border near Japanese Manchukuo.[60]

 

Following the German attack on the Soviets, the United Kingdom began to regroup. In July, the United Kingdom and the Soviet Union formed a military alliance against Germany[61] and shortly after jointly invaded Iran to secure the Persian Corridor and Iran's oilfields.[62] In August, the United Kingdom and United States jointly issued the Atlantic Charter, a vision for a post-war world which included "the right of all peoples to choose their form of government".[63] In November, Commonwealth forces launched a counter-offensive in the desert, reclaiming all gains the Germans and Italians had made.[64]

 

In Asia, Japan was preparing for war. The Imperial General Headquarters plan was to create a large perimeter stretching into the Central Pacific in order to facilitate a defensive war while exploiting the resources of Southeast Asia; to prevent intervention while securing the perimeter it was further planned to neutralize the United States Pacific Fleet on the outset.[65] In preparation, Japan seized military control of southern Indochina in July, 1941; an action the United States, United Kingdom and other western governments responded to by freezing all Japanese assets.[66] On December 7th Japan attacked British, Dutch and American holdings with near simultaneous offensives against Southeast Asia and the Central Pacific, including an attack on the American naval base of Pearl Harbor.[67]

 

These actions prompted the United States, United Kingdom, China, and other Western Allies to declare war on Japan. Italy, Germany, and the other members of the Tripartite Pact responded by declaring war on the United States. In January, the United States, United Kingdom, Soviet Union and China, along with twenty-two smaller or exiled governments, issued the Declaration by United Nations, affirming the Atlantic Charter[68] and formalizing their alliance against the Axis Powers. The Soviet Union did not adhere fully to the declaration though, as they maintained their neutrality agreement with Japan[69] and exempted themselves from the principle of self-determination.[63]

British soldiers surrendering from the Battle of Singapore

British soldiers surrendering from the Battle of Singapore

 

The Axis Powers, however, were able to continue their offensives. Japan had almost fully conquered Southeast Asia with minimal losses by the end of April, 1942, chasing the Allies out of Burma and taking large numbers of prisoners in the Philippines, Malaya, Dutch East Indies and Singapore.[70] They further bombed the Allied naval base at Darwin, Australia and sunk significant Allied warships not only at Pearl Harbor, but also in the South China Sea, Java Sea and Indian Ocean.[71] The only real successes against Japan were a repulsion of their renewed attack on Changsha in early January, 1942,[72] and a psychological strike from a bombing raid on Japan's capital Tokyo in April.[73]

 

Germany was able to regain the initiative as well. Exploiting American inexperience with submarine warfare, the German Navy sunk significant resources near the American Atlantic coast.[74] In the desert, they launched an offensive in January, pushing the British back to positions at the Gazala Line by early February.[75] In the Soviet Union, the Soviet's winter counter-offensive had ended by March.[76] In both the desert and the Soviet Union, there followed a temporary lull in combat which Germany used to prepare for their upcoming offensives.[77][78]

 

The tide turns

American aircraft attacking a Japanese cruiser at Midway

American aircraft attacking a Japanese cruiser at Midway

 

In early May, Japan initiated operations to capture Port Moresby via amphibious assault and thus sever the line of communications between the United States and Australia. The Allies, however, intercepted and turned back Japanese naval forces, preventing the invasion.[79] Japan's next plan, motivated by the earlier bombing on Tokyo, was to seize the Midway Atoll as this would seal a gap in their perimeter defenses, provide a forward base for further operations, and lure American carriers into battle to be eliminated; as a diversion, Japan would also send forces to occupy the Aleutian Islands.[80] In early June, Japan put their operations into action but the Americans, having broken Japanese naval codes in late May, were fully aware of the Japanese plans and force dispositions and used this knowledge to achieve a decisive victory over the Imperial Japanese Navy.[81] With their capacity for amphibious assault greatly diminished as a result of the Midway battle, Japan chose to focus on an overland campaign on the Territory of Papua in another attempt to capture Port Moresby.[82] For the Americans, they planned their next move against Japanese positions in the southern Solomon Islands, primarily against the island of Guadalcanal, as a first step towards capturing Rabaul, the primary Japanese base in Southeast Asia.[83] Both plans started in July, but by mid-September the battle for Guadalcanal took priority for the Japanese, and troops in New Guinea were ordered to withdraw from the Port Moresby area to the northern part of the island.[84] Guadalcanal soon became a focal point for both sides with heavy commitments of troops and ships in a battle of attrition. By the start of 1943, the Japanese were defeated on the island and withdrew their troops.[85]

 

In Burma, Commonwealth forces mounted two operations. The first, an offensive into the Arakan region in late 1942 went disastrously, forcing a retreat back to India by May of 1943.[86] The second was the insertion of irregular forces behind Japanese front-lines in February which, by the end of April, had achieved dubious results.[87]

Soviet soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad

Soviet soldiers in the Battle of Stalingrad

 

On the German's eastern front, they defeated Soviet offensives in the Kerch Peninsula and at Kharkov[88] and then launched their main summer offensive against southern Russia in June, 1942, to seize the oil fields of the Caucasus. The Soviets decided to make their stand at Stalingrad which was in the path of the advancing German armies and by mid-November the Germans had nearly taken Stalingrad in bitter street fighting when the Soviets began their second winter counter-offensive, starting with an encirclement of German forces at Stalingrad[89] and an assault on the Rzhev salient near Moscow, though the latter failed disastrously.[90] By early February, the German Army had taken tremendous losses; their troops at Stalingrad had been forced to surrender and the front-line had been pushed back beyond its position prior to their summer offensive. In mid-February, after the Soviet push had tapered off, the Germans launched another attack on Kharkov, creating a salient in their front-line around the Russian city of Kursk.[91]

 

In the west, concerns that the Japanese might utilize bases in Vichy-held Madagascar caused the British to invade the island in early May, 1942.[92] This success was off set soon after by an Axis offensive in Libya which pushed the Allies back into Egypt until Axis forces were stopped at El Alamein.[93] On the Continent, Allied commandos had conducted a series of increasingly ambitious raids on strategic targets, culminating in the a disastrous amphibious raid on the German held port of Dieppe.[94] In August the Allies succeeded in repelling a second attack against El Alamein and, at a high cost, managed to get desperately needed supplies to the besieged Malta.[95] A few months later the Allies commenced an attack of their own in Egypt, dislodging the Axis forces and beginning a drive west across Libya.[96] This was followed up shortly after by an Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa which resulted in the region joining the Allies.[97] Hitler responded to the defection by ordering the occupation of Vichy France,[97] though the Vichy Admiralty managed to scuttle their fleet to prevent its capture by German forces.[98] The now pincered Axis forces in Africa withdrew into Tunisia, which was conquered by the Allies by May, 1943.[99]

 

Allies gain momentum

U.S. soldiers in the Solomon Islands

U.S. soldiers in the Solomon Islands

 

Following the Guadalcanal Campaign, the Allies initiated several operations against Japan. In May, 1943, American forces were sent to eliminate Japanese forces from the Aleutians,[100] and soon after began major operations to isolate Rabaul by capturing surrounding islands, and to breach the Japanese Central Pacific perimeter at the Gilbert and Marshall Islands.[101] By the end of March, 1944, the Allies had completed both of these objectives, and additionally neutralized another major Japanese base in the Caroline Islands. In April, the Allies then launched an operation to retake Western New Guinea.[102]

 

In mainland Asia, the Japanese launched two major offensives. The first, started in March, 1944, was against British positions in Assam, India[103] and soon led to Japanese forces besieging Commonwealth positions at Imphal and Kohima;[104] by May however, other Japanese forces were being besieged in Myitkyina by Chinese forces which had invaded Northern Burma in late 1943.[105] The second was in China, with the goal of destroying China's main fighting forces, securing railways between Japanese-held territory, and capturing Allied airfields.[106] By June the Japanese had conquered the province of Henan and begun a renewed attack against Changsha in the Hunan province.[107]

 

In the Mediterranean, Allied forces launched an invasion of Sicily in early July, 1943. The attack on Italian soil, compounded with previous failures, resulted in the ousting and arrest of Mussolini later that month.[108] The Allies soon followed up with an invasion of the Italian mainland in early September, following an armistice with the Allies.[109] When this armistice was made public on September 8th, Germany responded by disarming Italian forces, seizing military control of Italian areas,[110] and setting up a series of defensive lines.[111] On September 12th, German special forces further rescued Mussolini who then soon established a new client state in German occupied Italy.[112] The Allies fought through several lines until reaching the main German defensive line in mid-November.[113] In January, 1944, the Allies launched a series of attacks against the line at Monte Cassino and attempted to outflank it with landings at Anzio. By late May both of these offensives had succeeded and, at the expense of allowing several German divisions to retreat, on June 4th Rome was captured.[114]

A Soviet tank during the Battle of Kursk

A Soviet tank during the Battle of Kursk

 

German operations in the Atlantic also suffered. By May 1943, German submarine losses were so high that the naval campaign was temporarily called to a halt as Allied counter-measures became increasingly effective.[115]

 

In the Soviet Union, the Germans spent the spring and early summer of 1943 making preparations for a large offensive in the region of Kursk; the Soviets anticipated such an action though and spent their time fortifying the area.[116] On July 4th, the Germans launched their attack, though only about a week later Hitler cancelled the operation.[117] The Soviets were then able to mount a massive counter-offensive and, by June 1944, had largely expelled Axis forces from the Soviet Union and made incursions into Romania.[118]

 

In November, 1943, Franklin Roosevelt and Winston Churchill met with Chiang Kai-shek in Cairo and then with Joseph Stalin in Tehran. At the former conference, the post-war return of Japanese territory was determined and in the latter, it was agreed that the Western Allies would invade Europe in 1944 and that the Soviet Union would declare war on Japan within three months of Germany's defeat.

 

Allies close in

Assault landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy

Assault landing at Omaha Beach in Normandy

 

In June, 1944, the Western Allies invaded northern France and in August, after reassigning several Allied divisions in Italy, then invaded southern France;[119] by 25 August the Allies had liberated Paris.[120] During the latter part of the year, the Western Allies continued to push back German forces in western Europe, and in Italy ran into the last major defensive line.

 

On the Germans eastern front, the Soviets launched a series of powerful offensives. Starting in early June the Soviets launched massive assaults against Finland, Belarus, Ukraine and Eastern Poland, Romania, and Hungary.[121] These operations resulted in great successes, with Bulgaria, Romania and Finland signing armistices with the Soviet Union,[122] and prompted Polish resistance forces to initiate several uprisings in Poland, though the largest of these, in Warsaw, was conducted without Soviet assistance and put down by German forces.[123]

 

By the start of July, Commonwealth forces in Southeast Asia had repelled the Japanese sieges in Assam, pushing the Japanese back to the Chindwin River[124] while the Chinese captured Myitkyina. In China, the Japanese were having greater successes, having finally captured Changsha in mid-June and the city of Hengyang by early August.[125] Soon after, they further invaded the province of Guangxi, winning major engagements against Chinese forces at Guilin and Liuzhou by the end of November[126] and successfully linking up their forces in China and Indochina by the middle of December.[127]

 

In the Pacific, American forces continued to press back the Japanese perimeter. In the middle of June, 1944, they began their offensive against the Mariana and Palau islands, scoring a decisive victory against Japanese forces in the Philippine Sea within a few days. In late October, American forces invaded the Filipino island of Leyte; soon after, Allied naval forces scored another large victory against the Japanese in the Leyte Gulf.[128]

 

Axis collapse, Allied victory

Soviet Victory Banner being raised over the German Reichstag building

Soviet Victory Banner being raised over the German Reichstag building

 

On December 16, 1944, German forces counterattacked in the Ardennes against the Western Allies. It took six weeks for the Allies to repulse the attack. The Soviets attacked through Hungary, while the Germans abandoned Greece and Yugoslavia. In Italy, the Western Allies remained stalemated at the German defensive line.

 

In mid-January 1945, the Soviets attacked in Poland, pushing from the Vistula to the Oder river in Germany, and overran East Prussia.[129]

 

On February 4, U.S., British, and Soviet leaders met in Yalta. They agreed on the occupation of post-war Germany,[130] and when the Soviet Union would join the war against Japan.[131]

 

In February, Western Allied forces entered Germany and closed to the Rhine river, while the Soviets invaded Pomerania and Silesia. In March, the Western Allies crossed the Rhine north and south of the Ruhr, encircling a large number of German troops, while the Soviets advanced to Vienna. In early April the Western Allies finally pushed forward in Italy and swept across western Germany, while in late April Soviet forces stormed Berlin; the two forces linked up in Germany on April 26.[citation needed]

 

On April 12, U.S. President Roosevelt died; he was succeeded by Harry Truman. Mussolini was killed by Italian partisans on April 28th[132] and two days later Hitler shot himself.[133]

 

German forces surrendered in Italy on April 29th and Germany itself surrendered on May 7.[134]

 

In the Pacific theater, American forces advanced in the Philippines, clearing Leyte by the end of 1944. They landed on Luzon in January 1945 and Mindanao in March.[135] British and Chinese forces defeated the Japanese in northern Burma from October to March, then the British pushed on to Rangoon by May 3.[136]

Nuclear explosion at Nagasaki

Nuclear explosion at Nagasaki

 

American forces also moved toward Japan, taking Iwo Jima by March, and Okinawa by June.[137] American bombers destroyed Japanese cities, and American submarines cut off Japanese imports.[138] But Japanese leaders decided to fight on, hoping for a bloody defeat of Allied invasion and then a negotiated peace.[citation needed]

 

On July 11, the Allied leaders met in Potsdam, Germany. They confirmed earlier agreements about Germany,[139] and reiterated the demand for unconditional surrender by Japan, specifically stating that "the alternative for Japan is prompt and utter destruction".[140] During this conference the United Kingdom held its general election and Clement Attlee replaced Churchill as Prime Minister.

 

Japan rejected the Potsdam terms; the United States then dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima (August 6) and Nagasaki (August 9). On August 8, the Soviets invaded Japanese-held Manchuria, as agreed at Yalta. On August 15, 1945, Japan surrendered, ending the war.[134]

 

Aftermath

 

Main article: Aftermath of World War II

 

In an effort to maintain international peace,[141] the Allies formed the United Nations, which officially came into existence on 24 October, 1945.[142]

 

Regardless of this though, the alliance between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union had begun to deteriorate even before the war was over,[143] and the two powers each quickly established their own spheres of influence.[144] In Europe, the continent was essentially divided between Western and Soviet spheres by the so-called Iron Curtain which ran through and partitioned Allied occupied Germany and occupied Austria. In Asia, the United States occupied Japan and administrated Japan's former islands in the Western Pacific while the Soviets annexed Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands; the former Japanese governed Korea was divided and occupied between the two powers. Mounting tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union soon evolved into the formation of the American-led NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact military alliances and the start of the Cold War between them.[145]

 

In many parts of the world, conflict picked up again within a short time of World War II ending. In China, nationalist and communist forces quickly resumed their civil war. Communist forces were eventually victorious and established the People's Republic of China on the mainland while nationalist forces ended up retreating to the reclaimed island of Taiwan. In Greece, civil war broke out between Anglo-American supported royalist forces and communist forces, with the royalist forces victorious. Soon after these conflicts ended, war broke out in Korea between South Korea, which was backed by the western powers, and North Korea, which was backed by the Soviet Union and China; the war resulted in essentially a stalemate and ceasefire.

 

Following the end of the war, a rapid period of decolonization also took place within the holdings of the various European colonial powers. These primarily occurred due to shifts in ideology, the economic exhaustion from the war and increased demand by indigenous people for self-determination. For the most part, these transitions happened relatively peacefully, though notable exceptions occurred in countries such as Indochina, Madagascar, Indonesia and Algeria.[146] In many regions, divisions, usually for ethnic or religious reasons, occurred following European withdrawal; this was seen prominently in the Mandate of Palestine, leading to the creation of Israel and Palestine, and in India, resulting in the creation of the Dominion of India and the Dominion of Pakistan.

 

Economic recovery following the war was varied in differing parts of the world, though in general it was quite positive. In Europe, West Germany recovered quickly and doubled production from its pre-war levels by the 1950s.[147] Italy came out of the war in poor economic condition,[148] but by 1950s, the Italian economy was marked by stability and high growth.[149] The United Kingdom was in a state of economic ruin after the war,[150] and continued to experience relative economic decline for decades to follow.[151] France rebounded quite quickly, and enjoyed rapid economic growth and modernization.[152] The Soviet Union also experienced a rapid increase in production in the immediate post-war era.[153] In Asia, Japan experienced incredibly rapid economic growth, and led to Japan becoming one of the most powerful economies in the world by the 1980s.[154] China, following the conclusion of its civil war, was essentially a bankrupt nation.[155] By 1953, economic restoration seemed fairly successful as production had resumed pre-war levels.[156] This growth rate mostly persisted, though it was briefly interrupted by the disastrous Great Leap Forward economic experiment. At the end of the war, the United States produced roughly half of the worlds industrial output; by the 1970s though, this dominance had lessened significantly.[157]

 

Casualties, civilian impact, and atrocities

Chart showing World War II deaths by country in millions as well as by percentage of population, and piechart with percentage of military and civilian deaths for the Allied and the Axis Powers.

Chart showing World War II deaths by country in millions as well as by percentage of population, and piechart with percentage of military and civilian deaths for the Allied and the Axis Powers.

 

See also: World War II casualties, War crimes during World War II, and Consequences of German Nazism

 

Estimates for the total casualties of the war vary, but most suggest that some 60 million people died in the war, including about 20 million soldiers and 40 million civilians.[158][159][160] Many civilians died because of disease, starvation, massacres, genocide. The Soviet Union lost around 27 million people during the war, about half of all World War II casualties.[161] Of the total deaths in World War II, approximately 85% were on the Allied side (mostly Soviet and Chinese) and 15% on the Axis side. One estimate is that 12 million civilians died in Holocaust camps, 1.5 million by bombs, 7 million in Europe from other causes, and 7.5 million in China from other causes.[162] Figures on the amount of total casualties vary to a wide extent because the majority of deaths were not documented.

 

From 9 to 11 million of these civilian casualties, including around six million Jews, were systematically killed in the Holocaust.[163] Likewise, Japanese military murdered from nearly 3,000,000 to over 10,000,000 civilians, mostly Chinese during the war.[164]

 

Concentration camps and slave work

Victims of the Holocaust.

Victims of the Holocaust.

 

The Holocaust was the killing of approximately six million European Jews, as well as six million others who were deemed "unworthy of life" (including the disabled and mentally ill, Soviet POWs, homosexuals, Freemasons, Jehovah's Witnesses, and the Roma) as part of a program of deliberate extermination planned and executed by the National Socialist government in Germany led by Adolf Hitler. About 12 million forced laborers, most of whom were Eastern Europeans, were employed in the German war economy inside the Nazi Germany.[165]

 

In addition to the Nazi concentration camps, the Soviet Gulag, or labor camps, led to the death of citizens of occupied countries such as Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as German prisoners of war (POW) and even Soviet citizens themselves who had been or were thought to be supporters of the Nazis.[166] Sixty percent of Soviet POWs died during the war.[167] Vadim Erlikman estimates the number at 2.6 million Soviet POWs that died in German Captivity.[168] Richard Overy gives the number of 5.7 million Soviet POWs. Of those, 57% died or were killed, a total of 3.6 million.[169] The survivors on their return to the USSR were treated as traitors (see Order No. 270).[170]

Body disposal at Unit 731, the infamous Japanese biological warfare research unit.

Body disposal at Unit 731, the infamous Japanese biological warfare research unit.

 

Japanese POW camps also had high death rates, many were used as labour camps. According to the findings of the Tokyo tribunal, the death rate of Western prisoners was 27.1% (American POWs died at a rate of 37%),[171] seven times that of POW's under the Germans and Italians[172] The death rate of Chinese was much larger as, according to the directive ratified on 5 August 1937 by Hirohito, the constraints of international law were removed on those prisoners.[173] Thus, if 37,583 prisoners from the UK, 28,500 from Netherlands and 14,473 from USA were released after the surrender of Japan, the number for the Chinese was only 56.[174]

 

According to a joint study of historians featuring Zhifen Ju, Mark Peattie, Toru Kubo, and Mitsuyoshi Himeta, more than 10 million Chinese were mobilized by the Japanese army and enslaved by the Kōa-in for slave labor in Manchukuo and north China.[175] The U.S. Library of Congress estimates that in Java, between 4 and 10 million romusha (Japanese: "manual laborer"), were forced to work by the Japanese military. About 270,000 of these Javanese laborers were sent to other Japanese-held areas in South East Asia. Only 52,000 were repatriated to Java, meaning that there was a death rate of 80%.[176] According to Mitsuyoshi Himeta, at least 2.7 million died during the Sankō Sakusen implemented in Heipei and Shantung by General Yasuji Okamura.

Mistreated and starved prisoners in the Mauthausen camp, Austria, 1945.

Mistreated and starved prisoners in the Mauthausen camp, Austria, 1945.

 

On February 19, 1942, Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, interning thousands of Japanese, Italians, German Americans, and some emigrants from Hawaii who fled after the bombing of Pearl Harbor for the duration of the war. 150,000 Japanese-Americans were interned by the U.S. and Canadian governments, as well as nearly 11,000 German and Italian residents of the U.S.

 

Allied use of slave labor occurred mainly in the east, such as in Poland[2], but more than a million was also put to work in the west. By December 1945 it was estimated by French authorities that 2,000 German prisoners were being killed or maimed each month in mine-clearing accidents.[177]

 

Chemical and bacteriological weapons

 

Despite the international treaties and a resolution adopted by the League of Nations on 14 May 1938 condemning the use of toxic gas by Japan, the Imperial Japanese Army frequently used chemical weapons. Because of fears of retaliation, however, those weapons were never used against Westerners but only against other Asians judged "inferior" by the imperial propaganda. According to historians Yoshiaki Yoshimi and Seiya Matsuno, the authorization for the use of chemical weapons was given by specific orders (rinsanmei) issued by Hirohito himself. For example, the Emperor authorized the use of toxic gas on 375 separate occasions during the invasion of Wuhan, from August to October 1938.[178]

 

The biological weapons were experimented on human beings by many units incorporated in the Japanese army, such as the infamous Unit 731, integrated by Imperial decree in the Kwantung army in 1936. Those weapons were mainly used in China and, according to some Japanese veterans, against Mongolians and Soviet soldiers in 1939 during the Nomonhan incident.[179] According to documents found in the Australian national archives in 2004 by Yoshimi and Yuki Tanaka, cyanide gas was tested on Australian and Dutch prisoners in November 1944 in the Kai islands.[180]

 

Bombings

 

Massive aerial bombing by both Axis and Allied air forces took the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians. Anglo-American bombing of German cities claimed up to 600,000 civilian lives,[181] most notably, the bombing of Dresden. The city of London was heavily bombed by the German Luftwaffe from September, 1940 to May, 1941 during their blitz of Britain; at one point the city was bombed for 57 straight nights. For the first, and so far only, time, nuclear weapons were used in combat: two atomic bombs released by the United States over Japan devastated Hiroshima and, three days later, Nagasaki. The number of total casualties in these bombings has been estimated at 200,000.[182]

 

War trials

 

From 1945 to 1951, German and Japanese officials and personnel were prosecuted for war crimes. Charges included crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, waging wars of aggression, and other crimes. The most senior German officials were tried at the Nuremberg Trials, and many Japanese officials at the Tokyo War Crime Trial and other war crimes trials in the Asia-Pacific region. Many other minor officials were convicted in minor trials, including subsequent trials by the Nuremberg Tribunal, the Dachau Trials, and the Khabarovsk War Crime Trials. No significant trials were held against Allied violations of international law (notably the Soviet Invasion of Poland in 1939), or against Allied war crimes, such as the Allied terror bombings of Axis cities or Soviet atrocities in Eastern Europe.

  

Search engine Ask.com buys advertising on public transport to protest against people choosing to use Google for internet searching. The danger with campaigns like this is that gullible politicians start backing it and call for regulation.

Read more and participate in the discussion on SearchMob.

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A Ferris wheel (also known as an observation wheel or big wheel) is a nonbuilding structure consisting of an upright wheel with passenger gondolas suspended from the rim.

 

Ferris wheels are an amusement park ride and may also be found at urban parks and public places. Ferris wheels usually hold about 50-100 people.

 

History

 

The Ferris wheel is named after George Washington Gale Ferris, Jr. He graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and he was a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania bridge-builder. He began his career in the railroad industry and then pursued an interest in bridge building. Ferris understood the growing need for structural steel and founded G.W.G. Ferris & Co. in Pittsburgh, a firm that tested and inspected metals for railroads and bridge builders.

 

Ferris designed and built the first 264 foot (80 meter) wheel for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, Illinois in 1893. The wheel was intended as a rival to the Eiffel Tower, the centerpiece of the 1889 Paris exhibition. This first wheel could carry 2,160 persons. The Ferris wheel was the largest attraction at the Columbian Exposition standing over 250' tall and powered by two 1000 HP steam engines. There were 36 cars accommodating 60 people each (40 seated, 20 standing). It took 20 minutes for the wheel to make two revolutions—the first to make six stops to allow passengers to exit and enter; the 2nd a single non-stop revolution—and for that, the ticket holder paid 50 cents. The wheel was moved twice after the 1893 Fair and was eventually destroyed (by controlled demolition) in 1906 after it was used at the St. Louis exposition of that year. At 70 tons, its axle was the largest steel forging of the time. It was 26 stories tall, only a quarter of the Eiffel Tower's height.[1]

 

Sections of this Ferris wheel were used to construct a bridge across the Kankakee River, about 45 miles south of Chicago just north of Tefft, Indiana. [2]

 

The Travels of Peter Mundy, 1608–1667 describes and illustrates "Several sorts of Swinginge used in their Publique rejoyceings att their feast of Biram" in the Ottoman Balkans. Among means "lesse dangerous and troublesome" only for children was a Ferris wheel "like a Craine wheele att Customhowse Key" where the passengers swing on short swings, sometimes sitting, sometimes hanging trapeze fashion. The illustration here is of a different Turkish design, apparently for adults.

 

Another Ferris wheel with a height of 65 meters (213 feet), dating back to 1897, is the Riesenrad in Vienna's Prater in the second district of Leopoldstadt. It was designed by Hubert Cecil Booth. See also World's Fair...

 

London, UK had its very own 'Gigantic Wheel' built at Earls Court in 1895, which was modelled on the original one in Chicago. This wheel stayed in service until 1906 by which time it had carried over 2.5 million passengers. It was built by two young Australian engineers named Adam Gaddelin and Gareth Watson and was the first of over 200 Ferris wheels that they built.

 

For the 1900 Paris Exposition a 'Grande Roue', of similar size and design to Ferris', was constructed. It was demolished in 1937. The wheel had 40 cars (as opposed to Chicago's 36), and is clearly visible in photos of the 1900 exhibition

 

Double and triple wheels

 

In the mid to late 1970s, coaster company Intamin AG invented a twist on the Ferris wheel. Using long arms to hold the wheels, they created a way to load and unload Ferris wheels more quickly. In 1976, 2 Sky Whirls opened at Marriott's Great America (IL, CA) and were the first triple wheels. Triple wheels were attached to three long arms mounted equal distance in a circle on a central tower. When loading/unloading passengers, the 3 arms would rotate until one arm was at the loading area and hydraulics would bring that arm/wheel to the ground.

 

A two-arm version titled "Zodiac" was also installed at Kings Island in Ohio as well as Hersheypark in PA titled "Giant Wheel." The double wheels were attached to a long, straight arm. The arm was mounted in the center on a central tower. When the hydraulics lowered one side, the other raised. The Kings Island Zodiac was relocated to Australia's Wonderland but closed in 2004.

 

All models featured 8-10 passenger cages. The cages were attached to the wheels by chains. When the wheel was in the loading position, it was horizontal and all cages could be loaded at once. As the arm raised or rotated, the wheel moved to a vertical position and provided a typical Ferris-wheel ride, only much higher from the ground.

 

Another version of this ride existed at Magic Mountain in California titled "Galaxy." This ride was similar to the Zodiac, except the arms did not raise as far off the ground. The arms on this ride were shaped more in a "V", than a straight line, and the central tower was shorter. On each wheel were 4 smaller wheels that also rotated, providing a double vertical rotating movement.

 

A fourth version of the ride was installed and removed at Astroworld in Texas titled "Morowheel." It was also similar to the Zodiac model, but had the shorter tower/"V" arm configuration of the Galaxy.

 

Observation wheels

 

Some operators prefer the term observation wheel to Ferris wheel, and large Ferris wheels are sometimes marketed as observation wheels to differentiate them from smaller Ferris wheels, however the two are actually the same, and any distinction between the two names is at the discretion of the wheel operator. Indeed, many of the wheels whose owners reject the term Ferris wheel actually have more in common with the original Chicago Ferris wheel of 1893, particularly in terms of being an iconic landmark for a city or event.

 

The world's tallest wheel, the Singapore Flyer, is described as an observation wheel by its operators.[4]

 

The London Eye (world's tallest, 1999-2006) is also described as an observation wheel by its operators.[5]

 

The Star of Nanchang (world's tallest, 2006-2008) is usually referred to as a Ferris wheel, and less commonly as an observation wheel.

 

World's tallest Ferris wheel installations

 

The world's tallest Ferris wheel is the Singapore Flyer, in Singapore. It is 165 metres (541 ft) high. It started rotating on February 11, 2008, and officially opened to the public on March 1, 2008.

 

The Star of Nanchang, in Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, China, previously held the record. It is 160 metres (520 ft) high and opened for business in May 2006.

 

The preceding record holder was the London Eye, in London, UK. It is 135 metres (440 ft) high, and is still the largest in the Western Hemisphere.[6] It was officially opened (by Tony Blair) on December 31, 1999, but did not open to the public until March 2000 because of technical problems.

 

The great popularity of the London Eye led to a number of other cities (including Belfast, Birmingham, Kuala Lumpur, Las Vegas, Manchester, Melbourne, Moscow, Nanchang, Shanghai, Singapore, and York) installing, or proposing to install, very tall (50 m or higher) wheels. The proposed Birmingham wheel would perhaps be the most unusual, as it would be fixed in place while the pods would move around the circumference along a rail track.

 

The Shanghai Star, initially planned as a 200 metres (660 ft) tall wheel to be built by 2005, was revised to 170 metres (560 ft) with a completion date set in 2007, but then cancelled in 2006 due to "political incorrectness"[7]. Plans to build a 183 metres (600 ft) wheel at the Rio All Suite Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas were cancelled in May 2004. An approximately 150 metres (490 ft) wheel was proposed for the redevelopment of the New Frontier Hotel and Casino (also in Las Vegas) but the site has since been sold to another developer.

 

More Ferris wheels and manufacturers

 

* The Great Wheel Corporation

o Proposed wheel in Qingdao, China

o Proposed wheel in Orlando

* The Allan Herschell Company

o Seattle Wheel - has 15 cars with up to two people per car.

* Eli Bridge [3]

o Eagle Wheel - 16 cars with up to three people per car.

o Hy #5 Big Eli Wheel - some are cable driven, others are rim driven. Has 12 cars with up to three people per car.

o Little Wheel - much smaller in dimensions, but it still has 12 cars with up to two people per car.

* Ronald Bussink Professional Rides (formerly Nauta Bussink) [4]

o R60 - 60 meter wheel with 42 enclosed capsules with air conditioning. The largest transportable Ferris wheel in the world. Seen in Germany (Dresden), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur), Spain (Seville), UK (Belfast, Birmingham, London, Manchester, York) and elsewhere. It requires at least twenty 40ft containers to transport it and is ballasted with water.

* Chance Morgan

o Astro Wheel - 16 cars (8 facing one way, 8 facing the other way) with up to two people per car.

o Century Wheel - 15 cars with up to four people per car.

o Giant Wheel - 20 cars with up to six people per car. This is one of the biggest production Ferris wheels, and requires at least two 18-wheelers to transport it.

o Sky Wheel - a double wheel. There is a wheel on top, and bottom of the ride. There are eight cars per each wheel with up to two people for each car.

* Intamin AG

o Coaster Wheel - this type of Ferris wheel is a little different. Some of the 16 cars move on a track in the middle of the wheel. There are also 8 cars on the outside of the ride that do not move much, and do not have a track. One of these is located at Disney's California Adventure, and another is located at Coney Island. Each car can hold up to six people.

* Roger Wadkins (formerly Bob Childress - Expo Wheels LLC)

o Expo Wheel - 16 cars with up to two people per car. The seating on this wheel is much like the Eli Bridge Hy #5, or Chance's Astro Wheel.

 

Ferris wheels in popular culture

 

* The hero of Robert Lawson's children's book The Great Wheel is part of the construction crew for the original ferris wheel.

* The TV show Carnivàle deals with a circus in 1930's, which has its Ferris wheel as an important symbol, which plays an important role in the series finale.

* The main character from Stargate: Atlantis, John Sheppard, likes Ferris wheels.

* The Ferris wheel Riesenrad (in Vienna, Austria) is the stage for a key scene in the 1949 film noir The Third Man. It is also featured in the 1987 James Bond film, The Living Daylights, and appears in the 1995 Richard Linklater film Before Sunrise.

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

Fanno Creek is a 15-mile (24 km) long tributary of the Tualatin River in the Portland metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Oregon.[3] Part of the drainage basin of the Columbia River, its watershed covers 32 square miles (83 km²) in Multnomah and Washington counties, including 7 square miles (18 km²) within the Portland city limits.[3]

 

From its headwaters in the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills) in southwest Portland, the creek flows generally west and south through the cities of Portland, Beaverton, Tigard and Durham, and unincorporated areas of Washington County. It enters the Tualatin River about 9 miles (14 km) above the Tualatin confluence with the Willamette River at West Linn.[6][7][8]

 

Before the arrival of European Americans, the watershed was inhabited for thousands of years by the Atfalati or Tualatin tribe of the Kalapuya. The first settler of European descent, Augustus Fanno, for whom the creek is named, settled near what later became Beaverton and established an onion farm. The Fanno farm house has been restored as part of a public park, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, and is among the 14 urban parks established in or near a narrow riparian corridor along the creek.

 

Although its water quality is rated as "very poor" by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), Fanno Creek supports aquatic life, including cutthroat trout in its upper reaches. Watershed councils such as the Friends of Fanno Creek and government agencies at the federal, state, and local levels have been working to reduce pollution in the creek and its tributaries and to restore native vegetation along the stream banks.

 

Course

 

The main stem begins at about river mile 15 (RM 15) near the intersection of Southwest 25th Avenue and Oregon Route 10 (Beaverton–Hillsdale Highway) in the Hillsdale neighborhood of southwest Portland. It flows west along the north side of the highway, passing Albert Kelly Park and receiving Ivey Creek and Bridlemile Creek on the right before reaching the United States Geological Survey (USGS) stream gauge at Southwest 56th Avenue (RM 11.9). Shortly thereafter and in quick succession, it enters Washington County and the unincorporated community of Raleigh Hills, crosses under Route 10, and receives Sylvan Creek on the right. Here the stream turns south, passing through Bauman Park, where Vermont Creek enters on the left at about RM 10, and then southwest to flow through the Portland Golf Club and Vista Brook Park, where Woods Creek enters on the left. From here it flows west again for about 1 mile (1.6 km), passing through Fanno Creek Trail Park and entering Beaverton at about RM 8 before turning sharply south and flowing under Oregon Route 217 (Beaverton–Tigard Highway) slightly upstream of RM 7.[7][8][9][10]

 

Fanno Creek then flows roughly parallel to Route 217 for about 2 miles (3.2 km) through Fanno Creek Park and Greenway Park. Near the southern end of Greenway Park, the creek passes under Oregon Route 210 (Scholls Ferry Road), and enters Tigard at about RM 5. In quick succession, Hiteon Creek enters on the right, Ash Creek on the left, and Summer Creek on the right before the creek reaches Woodard Park, goes under Oregon Route 99W (Southwest Pacific Highway), and flows through Fanno Park and Bonita Park as well as residential neighborhoods. Between the two parks, Red Rock Creek enters on the left at about RM 2.5. Slightly downstream of Bonita Park, Ball Creek enters on the left. Fanno Creek then enters Durham, passes a USGS gauging station at RM 1.13, flows through Durham City Park, and empties into the Tualatin River 9.3 miles (15.0 km) by river from its confluence with the Willamette River.

 

Watershed

 

The slopes at the headwaters of Fanno Creek consist mainly of Columbia River Basalt exposed in ravines but covered by up to 25 feet (8 m) of wind-deposited silt in other places. Silts and clays are the most common watershed soils, and significant erosion is common.[12]

 

Draining about 32 square miles (83 km²),[4] of which 7 square miles (18 km²) lies inside the Portland city limits[3] and nearly all of which is urban,[13] Fanno Creek receives water from the West Hills, Sexton Mountain in Beaverton, and Bull Mountain near Tigard. About 117 miles (188 km) of streams flow through the watershed, including Ash Creek, Summer Creek, and 12 smaller tributaries.[12]

 

Small watersheds adjacent to the Fanno Creek watershed include those of minor tributaries of the Willamette River or the Tualatin River. These include Tryon Creek, Balch Creek, and other small streams originating on the eastern side of the West Hills and flowing directly into the Willamette River. To the northwest, Hall Creek, Cedar Mill Creek, and Bronson Creek flow into Beaverton Creek, a tributary of Rock Creek, which empties into the Tualatin River at the larger stream's RM 38.4, about 29 miles (47 km) upriver from the mouth of Fanno Creek.[11][14]

 

The highest elevation in the watershed is 1,060 feet (320 m) at Council Crest in the West Hills, on the northeast edge of the watershed where tributaries run in deep ravines.[12] The peak elevation on Sexton Mountain, on the west edge of the watershed, is 476 feet (145 m),[15] while Bull Mountain, on the southwest, rises to 715 feet (218 m).[16] Stream elevations on the main stem drop below 300 feet (91 m) where Fanno Creek leaves the City of Portland at about RM 11.9.[12]

 

About 50 inches (130 cm) of precipitation, almost all of which is rain and about half of which arrives in November, December, and January, falls on the watershed each year. Although significant flooding occurred in 1977, the watershed has not experienced a 100-year flood since the area became urban.

 

History

 

The first people of the Fanno Creek watershed were the Atfalati or Tualatin tribe of the Kalapuya, who inhabited large parts of the Willamette Valley for at least 6,000 to 8,000 years before the arrival of European Americans. The valleys of the main river and its major tributaries such as the Tualatin River consisted of open grassland maintained by annual burning, with scattered groves of trees along the rivers and creeks. The Kalapuya moved from place to place in good weather to fish, to hunt small animals, birds, waterfowl, deer, and elk, and to gather nuts, seeds, roots, and berries. Important foods included camas and wapato. During the winter, the Kalapuya lived in pit or plank houses big enough for several families. The original Kalapuya population was greatly reduced by European diseases such as smallpox against which the Indians had no immunity. Unable to defend themselves against the influx of European-American settlers that began in the 1840s, by the mid-1850s the Kalapuya were sent, along with other Oregon tribes, to the Grande Ronde and Siletz reservations further west.[17]

 

Fanno Creek is named after Augustus Fanno, the first European American settler along the creek. In 1847, he started an onion farm on a 640-acre (260 ha) donation land claim in what later became part of Beaverton. Other 19th century newcomers along the creek engaged mainly in logging, farming, and dairy farming until the Southern Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Electric Railway lines made the watershed more accessible for urban development around the turn of the century. The Oregon Electric, a 49-mile (79 km) system built between 1903 and 1915, ran between downtown Portland and the Garden Home community in the Fanno Creek watershed, where it split into branches leading to Salem and Forest Grove. The Southern Pacific began running electric trains, known as the Red Electric, in the watershed in 1912. The company that eventually became Portland General Electric installed electric service in the area, and by 1915 the population of the upper Fanno Creek neighborhoods of Multnomah, Maplewood, Hillsdale, and West Portland Park had grown to 2,000.

 

Pollution

 

Although the water quality of Fanno Creek was rated as "very poor" by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) between 1986 and 1995, it improved during those years for several reasons. Historically, Fanno Creek has been polluted by urban and industrial sources, small sewage treatment plants, ineffective septic systems, farming and grazing operations, and illegal dumping. Health and environmental concerns led to the closing of substandard wastewater treatment plants in the 1970s, and urban development reduced the number of farms and farm animals along the creek. A ban in 1991 on phosphate detergents, increased connection to municipal sewers, stormwater management, and greater public awareness helped to reduce urban pollution not coming from point sources, and water quality improved.[18]

 

DEQ monitors Fanno Creek at Bonita Road in Tigard, at about RM 2. On the Oregon Water Quality Index (OWQI) used by DEQ, water quality scores can vary from 10 (worst) to 100 (ideal). The minimal seasonal average for Fanno Creek on this scale was 55, "very poor". By comparison, the minimal seasonal average in the nearby Willamette River at the Hawthorne Bridge in downtown Portland was 74 during the same years.[18] Measurements of water quality at the Tigard site during the years covered by the DEQ report showed high concentrations of phosphates, fecal coliform bacteria, and suspended solids, and a high biochemical oxygen demand. Moderately high concentrations of ammonia and nitrate nitrogen occurred during high flows during fall, winter, and spring. High temperatures and low dissolved oxygen concentration in the summer were evidence of eutrophication.

 

Biology

 

Fish and wildlife

 

The watershed is used by about 100 bird species, several kinds of mammals, and a few fish species. Mammals commonly seen in the watershed include beaver, raccoon, opossum, spotted skunk, Douglas squirrel, and Townsend's chipmunk; black-tail deer and coyotes are sometimes seen. Fanno Creek contains non-migrating cutthroat trout that grow to a maximum length of about 7 inches (18 cm). The spawning beds for these trout are in the fast-flowing, gravel-bottomed headwaters and not in the flat-land tributaries further downstream. Other fish species found in Fanno Creek include sculpins, dace, and mosquitofish.

 

Vegetation

 

The watershed begins in the Coast Range ecoregion designated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) but flows thereafter through the Willamette Valley ecoregion.[19][20] The narrow riparian corridors along streams in the watershed commonly include Western red cedar, Douglas-fir, and vine maple, and sword fern as well as invasive species like English ivy.[3] Many red alder and big leaf maple are found, and shrubs include red huckleberry, Oregon-grape, elderberry, wood rose, and salmonberry.[12] A restoration project in Tigard along the main stem has removed invasive non-native plants such as reed canary grass and Himalayan blackberry and replaced them with native species.[21] A project in Beaverton replaced turf and rough-mowed grass near the creek with native shrubs and trees such as Oregon white oak.[22]

 

The Tualatin Riverkeepers, a nonprofit watershed council based in Tigard; Clean Water Services, a public utility that protects water resources in the Tualatin River watershed, and the Tualatin Hills Parks and Recreation District have formed the Tualatin Basin Invasive Species Working Group to identify and eradicate invasive plants that displace native plants, cause erosion, and diminish water quality. The five plants considered most threatening are Japanese knotweed, meadow knapweed, giant hogweed, garlic mustard and purple loosestrife. The Oregon Department of Agriculture and the City of Tigard are working to eradicate giant hogweed from lower Fanno Creek.

 

Parks

 

Fanno Creek passes through or within 0.1 miles (0.2 km) of 14 parks in several jurisdictions. The Portland Parks and Recreation Department manages Hillsdale Park, 5 acres (2.0 ha) with picnic tables and a dog park near the headwaters at about RM 15;[24] Albert Kelly Park, 12 acres (4.9 ha) with unpaved paths, picnic tables, play areas, and Wi-Fi north of the creek near Southwest Dosch Road at roughly RM 14.5,[25] and the Fanno Creek Natural Area, 7 acres (2.8 ha) north of the creek near Southwest 59th Avenue at about RM 11.7.[26]

 

Several Fanno Creek parks in Beaverton and unincorporated Washington County are managed by the Tualatin Hills Park and Recreation District (THPRD). The district, tax-supported and governed by an elected board, is the largest special park and recreation district in Oregon.[27] This group of parks includes Bauman Park, about 8 acres (3.2 ha) at about RM 10; Vista Brook Park, about 4 acres (1.6 ha) at roughly RM 8.5, with trails including one that is accessible to people with physical handicaps, a playground, and courts for basketball and tennis, and Fanno Creek Trail, about 2 acres (0.81 ha), with picnic tables and trails at about RM 8.[28]

 

A series of connected parks also managed by the THPRD run from roughly RM 7 to RM 5 beginning with Fanno Creek Park, about 21 acres (8.5 ha), with trails including one accessible to people with handicaps; Fanno Farmhouse, about 1 acre (0.40 ha) with an accessible trail and picnic tables as well as the Fanno family home, restored by the THPRD and listed on the National Register of Historic Places; Greenway Park, about 87 acres (35 ha) with trails including an accessible trail, picnic tables, a playground, and sports fields, and Koll Center Wetlands, about 13 acres (5.3 ha) with wildlife.[28] [29]

 

Parks along Fanno Creek in Tigard include Woodard Park, 10 acres (4.0 ha) of big trees, trails, and play structures at about RM 4;[30] Bonita Park at about RM 3 with a playground and picnic areas,[31] and Fanno Park, a natural area behind City Hall at about RM 2.[32]

 

About 20 percent of the small city of Durham consists of parks. Surrounded by the larger cities of Tigard and Tualatin, the city covers 265 acres (107 ha) occupied by about 1,400 people. Durham City Park, at the confluence of Fanno Creek and the Tualatin River, consists of 46 acres (19 ha) of heavily-wooded floodplain with paved trails, children's play areas, and a picnic shelter. Smaller parks in Durham bring its park-area total to about 50 acres (20 ha).[33]

 

Sections of trail along the main stem of Fanno Creek form part of a planned 15-mile (24 km) Fanno Creek Greenway Trail linking Willamette Park on the Willamette River in southwest Portland to the confluence of the creek with the Tualatin River in Durham. The trail, for pedestrians and bicyclists, is accessible to people with disabilities. Many unfinished segments remained as of 2008.

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

13 No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.

 

John 15

 

1I AM the True Vine, and My Father is the Vinedresser.

 

2Any branch in Me that does not bear fruit [that stops bearing] He cuts away (trims off, takes away); and He cleanses and repeatedly prunes every branch that continues to bear fruit, to make it bear more and richer and more excellent fruit.

 

3You are cleansed and pruned already, because of the word which I have given you [the teachings I have discussed with you].

 

4Dwell in Me, and I will dwell in you. [Live in Me, and I will live in you.] Just as no branch can bear fruit of itself without abiding in (being vitally united to) the vine, neither can you bear fruit unless you abide in Me.

 

5I am the Vine; you are the branches. Whoever lives in Me and I in him bears much (abundant) fruit. However, apart from Me [cut off from vital union with Me] you can do nothing.

 

6If a person does not dwell in Me, he is thrown out like a [broken-off] branch, and withers; such branches are gathered up and thrown into the fire, and they are burned.

 

7If you live in Me [abide vitally united to Me] and My words remain in you and continue to live in your hearts, ask whatever you will, and it shall be done for you.

 

8When you bear (produce) much fruit, My Father is honored and glorified, and you show and prove yourselves to be true followers of Mine.

 

9I have loved you, [just] as the Father has loved Me; abide in My love [[a]continue in His love with Me].

 

10If you keep My commandments [if you continue to obey My instructions], you will abide in My love and live on in it, just as I have obeyed My Father's commandments and live on in His love.

 

11I have told you these things, that My joy and delight may be in you, and that your joy and gladness may be of full measure and complete and overflowing.

 

12This is My commandment: that you love one another [just] as I have loved you.

 

13No one has greater love [no one has shown stronger affection] than to lay down (give up) his own life for his friends.

 

14You are My friends if you keep on doing the things which I command you to do.

 

15I do not call you servants (slaves) any longer, for the servant does not know what his master is doing (working out). But I have called you My friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from My Father. [I have revealed to you everything that I have learned from Him.]

 

16You have not chosen Me, but I have chosen you and I have appointed you [I have planted you], that you might go and bear fruit and keep on bearing, and that your fruit may be lasting [that it may remain, abide], so that whatever you ask the Father in My Name [as [b]presenting all that I AM], He may give it to you.

 

17This is what I command you: that you love one another.

 

18If the world hates you, know that it hated Me before it hated you.

 

19If you belonged to the world, the world would treat you with affection and would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world [no longer one with it], but I have chosen (selected) you out of the world, the world hates (detests) you.

 

20Remember that I told you, A servant is not greater than his master [is not superior to him]. If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you; if they kept My word and obeyed My teachings, they will also keep and obey yours.

 

21But they will do all this to you [inflict all this suffering on you] because of [your bearing] My name and on My account, for they do not know or understand the One Who sent Me.

 

22If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not be guilty of sin [would be blameless]; but now they have no excuse for their sin.

 

23Whoever hates Me also hates My Father.

 

24If I had not done (accomplished) among them the works which no one else ever did, they would not be guilty of sin. But [the fact is] now they have both seen [these works] and have hated both Me and My Father.

 

25But [this is so] that the word written in their Law might be fulfilled, They hated Me without a cause.(A)

 

26But when the Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Advocate, Intercessor, Strengthener, Standby) comes, Whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of Truth Who comes (proceeds) from the Father, He [Himself] will testify regarding Me.

 

27But you also will testify and be My witnesses, because you have been with Me from the beginning.

 

John 15 (from wikipedia)

 

John 15 is the fifteenth chapter in the Gospel of John in the New Testament section of the Christian Bible. It is part of what New Testament scholars have called the 'farewell discourses' of Jesus. It has historically been a source of Christian teaching, Christological debate and reflection, and its images (particularly of Jesus as the vine) have been influential in Christian art and iconography. The chapter implies one of the highest and most developed Christologies to be found in the New Testament.

 

Analysis

 

The chapter presents Jesus speaking in the first person. Although ostensibly addressing his disciples, most scholars conclude the chapter is written with events concerning the later church in mind. Jesus is presented as explaining the relationship between himself and his followers - seeking to model this relationship on his own relationship with his Father.

 

The chapter introduces the extended metaphor of Christ as the true vine. God is the vine tender. His disciples are said to be branches - which must 'abide' in him if they are to 'bear fruit'. The disciples are warned that barren branches are pruned by the vinedresser.

 

The chapter proceeds by comparing the close relationship of Jesus and his disciples ('abiding') to that of himself and his Father. Disciples are reminded of the love of the Father and the Son - the love of the Son for the disciples, and then indicted to 'love one another' in the same manner. Verse 13 speaks of the 'greater love' as being the willingness to 'lay down' life for friends. This text, which primarily refers to Jesus’ impending death, has since been widely used to affirm the sacrifice of martyrs and soldiers in war, and is thus often seen on war memorials and graves.

 

The chapter concludes by warning disciples to expect persecution and promises the gift of the parakletos (paraclete or Holy Spirit). The reference to the Spirit in verse 26, speaks of it as sent by the Son from the Father. This verse has been particularly influential in debates concerning the nature of the Trinity and in the filioque disputes between Eastern and Western Christianity.

 

External links

 

BibleGateway.com, quoting the New International Version of John 15

 

www.biblegateway.com/passage/index.php?search=john 15&version1=31

  

The Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia is typical of thousands of war memorials in using the words of John 15:13 'no greater love' in its tribute to the fallen.

Over the years I’ve noticed a merging of visual aesthetics and user aesthetics, both conscious and unconscious, when I build websites using WordPress. A few PHP tweaks invariably lead to grander changes and complete site overhauls, always driven toward a need to keep the site simultaneously search engine friendly and user friendly. Often, these tweaks take the form of WordPress plugins.

 

For my full thoughts on SEO and Social plugins, go here: www.golocal.com/seo-articles/which-seo-and-social-wordpre...

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

The 101st Airborne Division—nicknamed the “Screaming Eagles”—is a modular infantry division of the United States Army primarily trained for air assault operations. During World War II, it earned renown by its actions in the Normandy Landings and the Battle of the Bulge. During the Vietnam War, the 101st was redesignated an airmobile division, and later as an air assault division. For historical reasons, it keeps the identifier “airborne”, but does not conduct parachute operations at a division level. Many modern members of the 101st are graduates of the U.S. Army Air Assault School, and wear the Air Assault Badge, but it is not a prerequisite to be assigned to the division. The division is headquartered at Fort Campbell, Kentucky and has served in Iraq and Afghanistan. It is the only division in the U.S. Army that has two aviation brigades.

 

History

 

World War II

 

The division was activated on August 15, 1942 at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. On August 19, 1942, its first commander, Major General William C. Lee, promised his new recruits that the 101st had "no history but had a rendezvous with destiny."

 

General Order Number Five, which gave birth to the division, reads:

 

The 101st Airborne Division, activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, has no history, but it has a rendezvous with destiny. Like the early American pioneers whose invincible courage was the foundation stone of this nation, we have broken with the past and its traditions in order to establish our claim to the future.

 

Due to the nature of our armament, and the tactics in which we shall perfect ourselves, we shall be called upon to carry out operations of far-reaching military importance and we shall habitually go into action when the need is immediate and extreme.

 

Let me call your attention to the fact that our badge is the great American eagle. This is a fitting emblem for a division that will crush its enemies by falling upon them like a thunderbolt from the skies.

 

The history we shall make, the record of high achievement we hope to write in the annals of the American Army and the American people, depends wholly and completely on the men of this division. Each individual, each officer and each enlisted man, must therefore regard himself as a necessary part of a complex and powerful instrument for the overcoming of the enemies of the nation. Each, in his own job, must realize that he is not only a means, but an indispensable means for obtaining the goal of victory. It is, therefore, not too much to say that the future itself, in whose molding we expect to have our share, is in the hands of the soldiers of the 101st Airborne Division.

 

During World War II, the Pathfinders of the 101st Airborne Division led the way on D-Day in the night drop prior to the invasion. They left from RAF North Witham having trained there with the 82nd Airborne Division.

 

On August 25, 1944 the division became part of the XVIII Airborne Corps in the First Allied Airborne Army. As part of this formation, the division took part in Operation Market Garden.

 

During the Battle of the Bulge the 101st, as one of the few forces available to contain the German advance, was rushed forward by truck to defend the vital road junction of Bastogne. Famously, Brigadier General Anthony McAuliffe answered the German demand for surrender with the reply "To the German Commander: NUTS! -The American Commander" and the division fought on until the siege was lifted and the German advance halted.

 

On 1 August 1945, the 101st Airborne Division left Germany for Auxerre, France, to begin training for the invasion of Japan. When Japan surrendered two weeks later, the operation became unnecessary. The 101st inactivated on 30 November at Auxerre.

 

For their efforts during World War II, the 101st Airborne Division was awarded four campaign streamers and two Presidential Unit Citations. The division suffered 1,766 Killed In Action; 6,388 Wounded In Action; and 324 Died of Wounds during World War II.

 

Units

 

* Division Headquarters

* 501st Parachute Infantry Regiment, attached 1 May 1944 – past 9 May 1945

* 502nd Parachute Infantry Regiment

* 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, assigned 1 March 1945, previously attached 15 September 1943 - 1 March 1945

* 327th Glider Infantry Regiment

* 401st Glider Infantry Regiment, disbanded 1 March 1945 in France; assets to 327th GIR

* HHB, Division Artillery

o 321st Glider Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)

o 463rd Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)

o 907th Glider Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)

o 377th Parachute Field Artillery Battalion (75mm)

* 81st Airborne Antiaircraft Battalion

* 326th Airborne Engineer Battalion

* 326th Airborne Medical Company

* 101st Parachute Maintenance Company

* 101st Signal Company

* 101st Counter Intelligence Corps Detachment

* Headquarters, Special Troops

o 801st Airborne Ordnance Maintenance Company

o 426th Airborne Quartermaster Company

o Headquarters Company, 101st Airborne Division

o Military Police Platoon

o Reconnaissance Platoon

o Band (assigned in 1 Mar 45 reorganization)

 

Helmet insignia

 

The 101st is distinctive partly by their helmet decorations. The soldiers used card suits (diamonds, spades, hearts, and clubs) to indicate the regiment to which they belonged. The only exception being the 187th, who were added to the division later.

 

* These insignias were first seen in World War II, and can still be seen on 101st Division soldiers today.

o 327th: Clubs (♣) (Presently worn by the 1st Brigade Combat Team)

o 501st: Diamonds (♦) (Currently 1st Battalion, 501st Infantry Regiment is part of the 4th Brigade (ABN), 25th Infantry Division in Alaska.) (The Diamond is presently used by the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade)

o 502nd: Hearts (♥) (Presently worn by the 2nd Brigade Combat Team)

o 506th: Spades (♠) (Presently worn by the 4th Brigade Combat Team)

o 187th: Torii (Presently worn by the 3rd Brigade Combat Team; not during World War II, when the 187th Infantry Regiment was part of the 11th Airborne Division.)

 

Reactivation

 

The 101st Airborne Division was reactivated as a training unit at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky, in 1948 and again in 1950. It was reactivated again in 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina, and in March 1956, the 101st was transferred, less personnel and equipment, to Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to be reorganized as a combat division. The 101st was reactivated as a "pentomic" division with five battle groups in place of its World War II structure that featured regiments and battalions. The reorganization was in place by late April 1957 and the division's battle groups were:

 

* 2nd Airborne Battle Group, 187th Infantry

* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 327th Infantry

* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 501st Infantry

* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 502nd Infantry

* 1st Airborne Battle Group, 506th Infantry

 

Division artillery consisted of the following units:

 

* Battery D, 319th Artillery (Abn)

* Battery E, 319th Artillery (Abn)

* Battery A, 321st Artillery (Abn)

* Battery B, 321st Artillery (Abn)

* Battery C, 321st Artillery (Abn)

* Battery A, 377th Artillery (Abn)

 

Other supporting units were also assigned.

 

Civil rights

 

From September through November 1957 elements of the division's 1st Airborne Battle Group, 327th Infantry (bearing the lineage of the old Company A, 327th Glider Infantry Regiment) were deployed to Little Rock, Arkansas, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower to enforce Federal court orders during the Little Rock Crisis.

 

Vietnam War

 

In the mid-1960s, the 1st Brigade and support troops were deployed to the Republic of Vietnam, followed by the rest of the division in late 1967. In almost seven years of combat in Vietnam, elements of the 101st participated in 15 campaigns. Notable among these were the Battle of Hamburger Hill in 1969 and Firebase Ripcord in 1970. The 101st was deployed in the northern I Corps region operating against the Vietnam People's Army (NVA) infiltration routes through Laos and the A Shau Valley. Elements of the division supported the ARVN Operation Lam Son 719, the invasion of southern Laos, in 1971, but only aviation units actually entered Laos. In the seven years that all or part of the division served in Vietnam it suffered 4,011 Killed in Action and 18,259 Wounded in Action.

 

It has been said that most North Vietnamese had never seen a bald eagle, so they called the 101st soldiers "Chicken Men" or "Rooster Men." Viet Cong commanders would regularly include in their briefings that they were to avoid confrontation with the "Chicken Men" at all costs, as they were sure to lose. Supposedly this remained a source of fierce pride among veterans who served in Vietnam under the 101st.[1]

 

Such claims must be balanced against the reality of combat losses. Casualties for the 101st in Viet Nam were twice those suffered in World War II, and its total number of Killed in Action (4,022) was the third highest of all U.S. Army ground units, behind the 1st Cavalry Division (5,464) and the 25th Infantry Division (4,561). Had the entire division arrived in 1965, as did the 1st Cav and 25th, its total casualties would have undoubtedly been even higher.

 

Post-Vietnam

 

In 1968, the 101st took on the structure and equipment of an airmobile division. Following its return from Vietnam, the division was rebuilt with one brigade (3rd) and supporting elements on jump status, using the assets of what had been the 173rd Airborne Brigade. The remaining two brigades and supporting units were organized as airmobile. With the exception of certain specialized units, such as the pathfinders and parachute riggers, in early 1974 the Army terminated jump status for the division. Concurrently the 101st introduced the Airmobile Badge (renamed later that year as the Air Assault Badge), the design of which was based on the Glider Badge of World War II. Initially the badge was only authorized for wear while assigned to the division, but in 1978 the Army authorized it for service-wide wear. Soldiers continued to wear the garrison cap with glider patch, bloused boots, and the cloth wing oval behind their wings, as had division paratroopers before them. The division also was authorized to wear a full color (white eagle) shoulder patch insignia instead of the subdued green eagle shoulder patch that was worn as a combat patch by soldiers who fought with the 101st in Vietnam, a distinction shared with the 1st and 5th Infantry divisions.

 

Tragedy struck the division on December 12, 1985. A civilian aircraft, Arrow Air Flight 1285, chartered to transport some of the division from peacekeeping duty with the Multinational Force Observers on the Sinai Peninsula to Kentucky, crashed near Gander, Newfoundland. All eight air crew members and 248 US servicemen died, most were from the 3d Battalion, 502d Infantry. The crash was the worst in Canadian aviation history. President Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy travelled to Fort Campbell to comfort grieving family members. On March 8, 1988, two U.S. Army helicopters collided in Fort Campbell, Kentucky, killing 17 servicemen.

 

Persian Gulf War

 

In January 1991, the 101st once again had its "Rendezvous with Destiny" in Iraq during the combat air assault into enemy territory. The 101st sustained no soldiers killed in action during the 100-hour war and captured thousands of enemy prisoners of war. General Richard A. Cody, then lieutenant colonel, commander of the 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, fired the first shots of the war[citations needed] from his AH-64 Apache.

 

The division has supported humanitarian relief efforts in Rwanda and Somalia, then later supplied peacekeepers to Haiti and Bosnia.

 

Montana forest fires

 

In August and September 2000, the 3rd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, helped fight fires on the Bitterroot National Forest in Montana. Designated Task Force Battle Force and commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Jon S. Lehr, the battalion fought fires on the Valley Complex near Darby, Montana.

 

Reference: Military Support in Wildland Fire Suppression 1988 - 2003, National Interagency Fire Center, www.nifc.gov/pres_visit/military.html

 

Operation Enduring Freedom

 

The 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) was the first conventional unit to deploy in support of the American War on Terrorism.[citation needed] The 2nd Brigade, "Strike", built around the 502nd Infantry, was largely deployed to Kosovo on peacekeeping operations, with some elements of 3/502 deploying after 9/11 as a security element in the CENTCOM AOR with the Fort Campbell-based 5th Special Forces Group. The Division quickly deployed its 3rd Brigade, the 187th Infantry's "Rakkasans" as the first conventional unit to fight as part of Operation Enduring Freedom.[citation needed] After an intense period of combat in rugged Shoh-I-Khot Mountains of eastern Afghanistan during Operation Anaconda with elements of the 10th Mountain Division, the Rakkasans redeployed to Fort Campbell only to find the 101st awaiting another deployment order.

 

Operation Iraqi Freedom

 

In 2003, Major General David H. Petraeus ("Eagle 6") led the Screaming Eagles to war during the 2003 invasion of Iraq (Operation Iraqi Freedom). General Petraeus led the division into Iraq saying, "Guidons, Guidons. This is Eagle 6. The 101st Airborne Division's next Rendezvous with Destiny is North to Baghdad. Op-Ord Desert Eagle 2 is now in effect. Godspeed. Air Assault. Out." The division was in V Corps, providing support to the 3rd Infantry Division by clearing Iraqi strongpoints which that division had bypassed. The Division then went on to a tour of duty as part of the occupation forces of Iraq, using the city of Mosul as their primary base of operations. 1st and 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment (1st Brigade) oversaw the remote airfield Qayarrah West 30 miles south of Mosul. The 502nd Infantry Regiment (2nd Brigade) and 3rd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment were responsible for Mosul itself while the 187th Infantry Regiment (3rd Brigade) controlled Tal Afar just north of Mosul.

 

Once replaced by the first operational Stryker Brigade, the 101st was withdrawn in early 2004 for rest and refit. As part of the Army's modular transformation, the existing infantry brigades, artillery brigade, and aviation brigades were transformed. The Army also activated the 4th Brigade Combat Team, which includes the 1st and 2nd Battalions, 506th Infantry Regiment ("Currahee") and subordinate units. Both battalions were part of the 101st in Vietnam but saw their colors inactivated during an Army-wide reflagging of combat battalions in the 1980s, with 1-506th INF resurfacing in Korea, along with 1-503rd INF and 2-503rd INF (the latter later inactivated), as Air Assault units within the 2nd Infantry Division. The colors of the 506th have returned to the 101st and 1-503rd and 2-503rd are parachute infantry battalions of the 173rd Airborne Brigade in Italy, just as they were when the 173rd was in Viet Nam.

 

The reconfiguration of 101st formed seven major units in the division (four infantry BCTs, two combat aviation brigades (CABs), and one sustainment brigade), making it the largest formation currently in the U.S. Army.

 

As of December 2007, 143 members of the Division have died while on service in Iraq.

 

Second deployment to Iraq

 

The division's second deployment to Iraq began in the late summer of 2005. The division headquarters replaced the 42nd Infantry Division, which had been directing security operations as the headquarters for Task Force Liberty. Renamed Task Force Band of Brothers, the 101st assumed responsibility on November 1, 2005 for four provinces in north central Iraq: Salah ad Din, Kirkuk, Diyala and As Sulymaniyah. On December 30, 2005, Task Force Band of Brothers also assumed responsibility for training Iraqi security forces and conducting security operations in Ninevah and Dahuk provinces as the headquarters for Task Force Freedom was disestablished.

 

During the second deployment, 2nd and 4th Brigades of the 101st Airborne Division were assigned to conduct security operations under the command of Task Force Baghdad, led initially by 3rd Infantry Division, which was replaced by 4th Infantry Division. The 1st Battalion of the 506th Infantry (4th Brigade) was separated from the division and served with the Marines in Ramadi, in the Al Anbar province. 3rd Brigade was assigned to Salah ad Din and Bayji sectors and 1st Brigade was assigned to the overall Kirkuk province which included Hawijah, one of the deadliest cities in Iraq.

 

Task Force Band of Brothers' primary mission during its second deployment to Iraq was the training of Iraqi security forces. When the 101st returned to Iraq, there were no Iraqi units capable of assuming the lead for operations against Iraqi and foreign terrorists. As the division concluded its tour, 33 battalions were in the lead for security in assigned areas, and two of four Iraq divisions in northern Iraq were commanding and controlling subordinate units.

 

Simultaneously with training Iraqi Soldiers and their leaders, 101st Soldiers conducted numerous security operations against terrorist cells operating in the division's assigned, six-province area of operations. Operation Swarmer was the largest air assault operation conducted in Iraq since April 22, 2003. 1st Brigade conducted Operation Scorpion with Iraqi units near Kirkuk.

 

Developing other aspects of Iraqi society also figured in 101st operations in Iraq. Division commander Major General Thomas Turner hosted the first governors' conference for the six provinces in the division's area of operations, as well as the neighboring province of Erbil.[3] Numerous civil affairs operations were directed by the division, including the construction and renovation of schools, clinics, police stations, and other important landmarks in civilian communities from Turkey to Baghdad and from the Syrian border to the Iranian border.

 

Accusations of misconduct in Iraq

 

On June 19 2006, the US military announced that three soldiers of the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, Private First Class Corey R. Clagett, Specialist William B. Hunsaker and Staff Sergeant Raymond L. Girouard, were being charged in connection of the deaths of three male detainees in an operation near a canal north of Baghdad on May 9. On June 21, a fourth soldier was charged, but none were convicted.

 

In July 2006, five troopers were charged in connection with the rape and murder of 14 year old Iraqi girl Abeer Qasim, and the murder of three of her family members, including a 5-year-old girl. The incident took place in Mahmoudiya, south of Baghdad. Previously, an arrest in the case was also made in June of 2006 when former trooper Steven D. Green was apprehended in North Carolina. On November 17, 2006 Specialist James Barker was sentenced to life in prison for the incident. Friday February 23, 2007 saw the Sergeant, two specialists and two privates convicted with lengthy sentences.

 

Third deployment to Iraq

 

The 1st Brigade Combat Team of the 101st is currently deployed in Iraq, in the Salah ad Din Province, northeast of Baghdad. The 2nd Brigade Combat Team is currently deployed in Baghdad, and the 3rd Brigade Combat Team is currently deployed in the Southern belt region southwest of Baghdad.

 

General information

 

The most recent change of command within the division took place on November 10, 2006. During this change of command, MG Jeff Schloesser took command of the 101st from the division's previous commander, now-LTG Tom Turner. Turner left the 101st to command Fifth Army.

 

* Commanding General: Major General Jeffrey J. Schloesser

* Deputy Assistant Division Commander (Operations): Colonel (promotable) Mark A. Milley.[4]

* Deputy Assistant Division Commander (Support): Brigadier General James C. McConville.[4]

 

* Chief of Staff: Colonel Thomas D. Vail

* Division Command Sergeant Major: Command Sergeant Major Vincent F. Camacho

 

Parachute Demonstration Team

 

The "Screaming Eagles" is also the nickname for the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) Command Parachute Demonstration Team. Its history goes as far back as the late 1950s, during the infancy of precision freefall. The command group decided to form a full time team in 1984.

 

See website: www.campbell.army.mil/PDT/pdt.htm

 

Current structure

 

101st Airborne Division:

 

* 501st Special Troops Battalion

* 1st Brigade Combat Team ("Bastogne")(♣)

o 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment ("Above the Rest")

o 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment ("No Slack")

o 2nd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment ("Balls of the Eagle")

o 1st Squadron (RSTA), 32nd Cavalry Regiment ("Victory or Death")

o 1st Brigade Special Troops Battalion

o 426th Brigade Support Battalion

* 2nd Brigade Combat Team ("Strike")(♥)

o 1st Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment ("First Strike")

o 2nd Battalion, 502nd Infantry Regiment ("Strike Force")

o 1st Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment ("Top Guns")

o 1st Squadron (RSTA), 75th Cavalry Regiment ("Widowmakers")

o 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion

o 526th Brigade Support Battalion

* 3rd Brigade Combat Team ("Rakkasans") (Torii)

o 1st Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment ("Leader Rakkasans")

o 2nd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment ("Raider Rakkasans") (inactivated 30 Sep 2005)

o 3rd Battalion, 187th Infantry Regiment ("Iron Rakkasans")

o 3rd Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment ("Red Knight")

o 1st Squadron (RSTA), 33rd Cavalry Regiment("War Rakkasans")

o 626th Brigade Support Battalion ("Assurgam")

o 3rd Brigade Special Troops Battalion ("Rak Solid")

* 4th Brigade Combat Team ("Currahee")(♠)

o 1st Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment ("Red Currahee")

o 2nd Battalion, 506th Infantry Regiment ("White Currahee")

o 1st Squadron (RSTA), 61st Cavalry Regiment ("Panther")

o 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment ("Guns of Glory")

o 801st Brigade Support Battalion ("Maintaineers")

o 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion ("Apache")

* 101st Combat Aviation Brigade ("Wings of Destiny")(♦)

o 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment ("Out Front")

o 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment ("Expect No Mercy")

o 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment ("Eagle Assault")[5]

o 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment (GSAB) ("Shadow of the Eagle")

o 96th Support Battalion (Aviation) ("Troubleshooters")

* 159th Combat Aviation Brigade ("Eagle Thunder") (Triangle)

o 7th Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment ("Pale Horse")

o 3rd Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment ("Eagle Attack")

o 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment ("Wings of the Eagle")[5].

o 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment (GSAB) ("Eagle Lift")

o 563rd Support Battalion (Aviation) ("Keep Them Fighting")

* HHC, 101st Sustainment Brigade ("Life Liners")[6]

o 106th Transportation Battalion

o 129th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion ("Drive the Wedge")

o 561st Combat Support Battalion (inactivated)

o 101st Soldier Support Battalion (inactivated)

o 101st Brigade Troops Battalion ("Trojans")

o 326th Engineer Battalion (CBT)

 

Note: The 49th Quartermaster Group at Fort Lee, Virginia, may provide support to, but is not part of, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault).49th Quartermaster Group49th Quartermaster Group

 

Lineage

 

HHC, 101st Division

 

* Constituted 23 July 1918 in the National Army as Headquarters, 101st Division

* Organized 2 November 1918 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi

* Demobilized 11 December 1918 at Camp Shelby, Mississippi

* Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters, 101st Division

* Organized 10 September 1921 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin

* Redesignated 31 March 1942 as Division Headquarters, 101st Division

* Disbanded 15 August 1942; concurrently, reconstituted in the Army of the United States as Headquarters, 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana

* Inactivated 30 November 1945 in France

* Allotted 25 June 1948 to the Regular Army

* Activated 6 July 1948 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Inactivated 27 May 1949 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Activated 25 August 1950 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Inactivated 1 December 1953 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Activated 15 May 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

* Reorganized and redesignated 3 February 1964 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Airborne Division

 

HHC, 1st Brigade

 

* Constituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters Company, 101st Division

* Organized in November 1921 at Milwaukee, Wisconsin

* Reorganized and redesignated 31 March 1942 as Headquarters and Military Police Company (less Military Police Platoon), 101st Division

* Disbanded 15 August 1942; concurrently reconstituted in the Army of the United States as Headquarters Company, 101st Airborne *Division, and activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana

* Inactivated 30 November 1945 in France

* Allotted 25 June 1948 to the Regular Army

* Activated 6 July 1948 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Inactivated 27 May 1949 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Activated 25 August 1950 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Inactivated 1 December 1953 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Activated 15 May 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

* Reorganized and redesignated 1 July 1956 as Headquarters and Service Company, 101st Airborne Division

* Reorganized and redesignated 25 April 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, Command and Control Battalion, 101st Airborne Division

* Reorganized and redesignated 3 February 1964 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division

 

HHC, 2nd Brigade

 

* Constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as Headquarters, 159th Infantry Brigade, an element of the 80th Division

* Organized 27 August 1917 at Camp Lee, Virginia

* Demobilized 1 June 1919 at Camp Lee, Virginia

* Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 159th Infantry Brigade, an element of the 80th Division

* Organized in September 1922 at Richmond, Virginia

* Redesignated 23 March 1925 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 159th Brigade

* Redesignated 24 August 1936 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 159th Infantry Brigade

* Converted and redesignated 12 February 1942 as the 80th Reconnaissance Troop (less 3d Platoon), 80th Division (Headquarters and *Headquarters Company, 160th Infantry Brigade, concurrently converted and redesignated as the 3d Platoon, 80th Reconnaissance Company, 80th Division)

* Troop ordered into active military service 15 July 1942 and reorganized at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, as the 80th Cavalry *Reconnaissance Troop, an element of the 80th Division (later redesignated as the 80th Infantry Division)

* Reorganized and redesignated 12 August 1943 as the 80th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized

* Inactivated 6 January 1946 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey

* Redesignated 15 July 1946 as the Reconnaissance Platoon, 80th Airborne Division

* Activated 21 May 1947 at Richmond, Virginia, as the 80th Airborne Reconnaissance Platoon, an element of the 80th Airborne Division

* (Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve)

* Reorganized and redesignated 20 April 1948 as the Reconnaissance Platoon, 80th Airborne Division

* Reorganized and redesignated 18 September 1950 as the 80th Airborne Reconnaissance Company

* Reorganized and redesignated 10 May 1952 as the 80th Reconnaissance Company, an element of the 80th Infantry Division

* Disbanded 29 March 1959 at Richmond, Virginia

* Reconstituted (less 3d Platoon) 22 October 1963 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 159th Infantry *Brigade (3d Platoon, 80th Reconnaissance Company--hereafter separate lineage)

* Redesignated 21 January 1964 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division

* Activated 3 February 1964 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

 

HHC, 3rd Brigade

 

* Constituted 5 August 1917 in the National Army as Headquarters, 160th Infantry Brigade, an element of the 80th Division

* Organized 27 August 1917 at Camp Lee, Virginia

* Demobilized 7 June 1919 at Camp Lee, Virginia

* Reconstituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 160th Infantry Brigade, an element of the 80th Division

* Organized in September 1922 at Baltimore, Maryland

* Redesignated 23 March 1925 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 160th Brigade

* Redesignated 24 August 1936 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 160th Infantry Brigade

* Converted and redesignated 12 February 1942 as the 3d Platoon, 80th Reconnaissance Troop, 80th Division (Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 159th Infantry Brigade, concurrently converted and redesignated as the 80th Reconnaissance Troop [less 3d Platoon], 80th Division)

* Troop ordered into active military service 15 July 1942 and reorganized at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, as the 80th Cavalry Reconnaissance Troop, an element of the 80th Division (later redesignated as the 80th Infantry Division)

* Reorganized and redesignated 12 August 1943 as the 80th Reconnaissance Troop, Mechanized

* Inactivated 6 January 1946 at Camp Kilmer, New Jersey

* Redesignated 15 July 1946 as the Reconnaissance Platoon, 80th Airborne Division

* Activated 21 May 1947 at Richmond, Virginia, as the 80th Airborne Reconnaissance Platoon, an element of the 80th Airborne Division

* (Organized Reserves redesignated 25 March 1948 as the Organized Reserve Corps; redesignated 9 July 1952 as the Army Reserve)

* Reorganized and redesignated 20 April 1948 as the Reconnaissance Platoon, 80th Airborne Division

* Reorganized and redesignated 18 September 1950 as the 80th Airborne Reconnaissance Company

* Reorganized and redesignated 10 May 1952 as the 80th Reconnaissance Company, an element of the 80th Infantry Division

* Disbanded 29 March 1959 at Richmond, Virginia

* 3d Platoon, 80th Reconnaissance Company, reconstituted 22 October 1963 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 160th Infantry Brigade (remainder of the company - hereafter separate lineage)

* Redesignated 21 January 1964 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Brigade, 101st Airborne Division

* Activated 3 February 1964 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

 

HHB, 101st Division Artillery

 

* Constituted 24 June 1921 in the Organized Reserves as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 176th Field Artillery Brigade

* Organized in 1923 in Wisconsin

* Redesignated 30 January 1942 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 101st Division Artillery

* Disbanded 15 August 1942; concurrently reconstituted in the Army of the United States as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 101st Airborne Division Artillery, and activated at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana

* Inactivated 30 November 1945 in France

* Allotted 25 June 1948 to the Regular Army

* Activated 6 July 1948 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Inactivated 27 May 1949 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Activated 25 August 1950 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Inactivated 1 December 1953 at Camp Breckinridge, Kentucky

* Activated 15 May 1954 at Fort Jackson, South Carolina

* Reorganized and redesignated 1 July 1956 as Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Battery, 101st Airborne Division Artillery

* Reorganized and redesignated 25 April 1957 as Headquarters and Headquarters Battery, 101st Airborne Division Artillery

 

HHC, 101st Aviation Brigade

 

* Constituted 1950-12-07 in the Regular Army as the 4th Light Aviation Section

* Activated 1950-12-19 in Korea

* Inactivated 1954-11-05 in Korea

* Redesignated 1956-07-01 as the 101st Aviation Company, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

* Reorganized and redesignated 1962-12-03 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Aviation Battalion[7]

* Reorganized and redesignated 1987-10-16 as the 101st Aviation Brigade, a parent regiment under the United States Army Regimental System

 

HHC, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

# Constituted 1962-11-15 in the Regular Army as Company A, 101st Aviation Battalion, an element of the 101st Airborne Division

# Activated 1962-12-03 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

# Inactivated 1979 -04-04 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

# Activated 1981-09-30 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

# Reorganized and redesignated 1987-10-16 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, and remained assigned to the 101st Airborne Division

 

HHC, 2d Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

* Constituted 1962-11-15 in the Regular Army as Company B, 101st Aviation Battalion, an element of the 101st Airborne Division

* Activated 3 December 1962-12-03 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

* Reorganized and redesignated 1987-10-16 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2d Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, and remained assigned to the 101st Airborne Division[8]

* Inactivated 1988-11-16 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

* Activated 1991-08-16 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

 

HHC, 3d Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

# 1968-07-01 in the Regular Army as Company C, 101st Aviation Battalion, an element of the 101st Airborne Division

# Activated 1968-12-20 in Vietnam.

# Reorganized and redesignated 1987-10-16 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 3d Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, and remained assigned to the 101st Airborne Division

 

HHC, 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

# Constituted 1 July 1968-07-01 in the Regular Army as Company D, 101st Aviation Battalion, an element of the 101st Airborne Division

# Activated 1968-12-20 in Vietnam

# Inactivated 1981-09-30 at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

# Redesignated 1987-10-16 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 4th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, as an element of the 101st Airborne Division

 

HHC, 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

Constituted 1987-09-16 in the Regular Army as the 5th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

 

HHC, 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

Constituted 16 1987-09-16 in the Regular Army as the 6th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

 

HHC, 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

# Constituted 1950-12-07 in the Regular Army as the 4th Light Aviation Section.

# Activated 1950-12-19 in Korea

# Inactivated 1954-11-05 in Korea

# Redesignated 1956-07-01 as the 101st Aviation Company, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

# Reorganized and redesignated 1962-12-03 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 101st Aviation Battalion

# Headquarters Company, 101st Aviation Battalion[9] reorganized and redesignated 1987-10-16 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 7th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, and remained assigned to the 101st Airborne Division

 

HHC, 8th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

Constituted 1987-10-16 in the Regular Army as the 8th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

 

HHC, 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment

 

Constituted 1989-12-16 in the Regular Army as the 9th Battalion, 101st Aviation Regiment, assigned to the 101st Airborne Division, and activated at Fort Campbell, Kentucky

 

HHC, 159th Aviation Brigade

 

* Constituted 16 October 1992 in the Regular Army as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 159th Aviation Group, and activated at Fort Bragg, North Carolina

* Reorganized and redesignated 16 June 1998 as Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 159th Aviation Brigade, 101st Airborne Division.

 

Honors

 

Campaign Participation Credit

 

* World War I (2nd and 3rd Brigades ONLY):

 

1. Hundred Days Offensive (also known as the Battle of Saint-Quentin or the Second Battle of the Somme);

2. Meuse-Argonne Offensive;

3. Picardy 1918

 

* World War II (except 159th Aviation Brigade):

 

1. Normandy (with arrowhead);

2. Rhineland (with arrowhead);

3. Ardennes-Alsace;

4. Central Europe

 

* Vietnam War (Except 159th Aviation Brigade):

 

1. Defense (1st Brigade Only);

2. Counteroffensive (1st Brigade Only);

3. Counteroffensive, Phase II (1st Brigade Only)

4. Counteroffensive, Phase III;

5. Tet Counteroffensive;

6. Counteroffensive, Phase IV;

7. Counteroffensive, Phase V;

8. Counteroffensive, Phase VI;

9. Tet 1969/Counteroffensive;

10. Summer-Fall 1969;

11. Winter-Spring 1970;

12. Sanctuary Counteroffensive;

13. Counteroffensive, Phase VII;

14. Consolidation I;

15. Consolidation II

 

* Southwest Asia (Except 159th Aviation Brigade):

 

1. Defense of Saudi Arabia;

2. Liberation and Defense of Kuwait

 

[edit] Decorations

 

1. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for NORMANDY (Division and 1st Brigade Only)

2. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for BASTOGNE (Division and 1st Brigade Only)

3. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for DAK TO, VIETNAM 1966 (1st Brigade only)

4. Presidential Unit Citation (Army) for DONG AP BIA MOUNTAIN (3rd Brigade Only)

5. Valorous Unit Award for THUA THIEN PROVINCE (3rd Brigade and DIVARTY Only)

6. Valorous Unit Award for TUY HOA (1st Brigade Only)

7. Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for VIETNAM 1965-1966 (1st Brigade Only)

8. Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for VIETNAM 1968 (3rd Brigade Only)

9. Meritorious Unit Commendation (Army) for SOUTHWEST ASIA (Except 159th Aviation Brigade)

10. French Croix de Guerre with Palm, World War II for NORMANDY (Division and 1st Brigade Only)

11. Belgian Croix de Guerre 1940 with Palm for BASTOGNE (Division and 1st Brigade Only);

12. cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action at BASTOGNE (Division and 1st Brigade Only)

13. Belgian Fourragere 1944 (Division and 1st Brigade Only)

14. Cited in the Order of the Day of the Belgian Army for action in FRANCE AND BELGIUM (Division and 1st Brigade Only)

15. Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm for VIETNAM 1966-1967 (1st Brigade Only)

16. Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm for VIETNAM 1968 (2nd Brigade Only)

17. Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm for VIETNAM 1968-1969 (Except 159th Aviation Brigade)

18. Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm for VIETNAM 1971 (Except 159th Aviation Brigade)

19. Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class for VIETNAM 1968-1970 (Except 159th Aviation Brigade)

20. Republic of Vietnam Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class for VIETNAM 1970 (DIVARTY only)

 

Division commanders

 

* MG William C. Lee Aug-42 - Feb-44

* BG Don F. Pratt 6-Feb-44 - 14-Mar-44[11]

* MG Maxwell D. Taylor Mar-44 - Aug-45

* BG Anthony C. McAuliffe 5-Dec-44 - 26-Dec-44[11]

* BG William N. Gillmore Aug-45 - Sep-45

* BG Gerald St. C. Mickle Sep-45 - Oct-45

* BG Stuart Cutler Oct-45 - Nov-45

* MG William R. Schmidt Jul-48 - May-49

* MG Cornelius E. Ryan Aug-50 - May-51

* MG Roy E. Porter May-51 - May-53

* MG Paul DeWitt Adams May-53 - Dec-53

* MG Riley F. Ennis May-54 - Oct-55

* MG F. S. Bowen Oct-55 - Mar-56

* MG Thomas L. Sherburne, Jr. May-56 - Mar-58

* MG William C. Westmoreland Apr-58 - Jun-60

* MG Ben Harrell Jun-60 - Jul-61

* MG C.W.G. Rich Jul-61 - Feb-63

* MG Harry H. Critz Feb-63 - Mar-64

* MG Beverly E. Powell Mar-64 - Mar-66

* MG Ben Sternberg Mar-66 - Jul-67

* MG Olinto M. Barsanti Jul-67 - Jul-68

* MG Melvin Zais Jul-68 - May-69

* MG John M. Wright May-69 - May-70

* MG John J. Hennessey May-70 - Feb-71

* MG Thomas M. Tarpley Feb-71 - Apr-72

* MG John H. Cushman Apr-72 - Aug-73

* MG Sidney B. Berry Aug-73 - Jul-74

* MG John W. McEnery Aug-74 - Feb-76

* MG John A. Wickham, Jr. Mar-76 - Mar-78

* MG John N. Brandenburg Mar-78 - Jun-80

* MG Jack V. Mackmull Jun-80 - Aug-81

* MG Charles W. Bagnal Aug-81 - Aug-83

* MG James E. Thompson Aug-83 - Jun-85

* MG Burton D. Patrick Jun-85 - May-87

* MG Teddy G. Allen May-87 - Aug-89

* MG J. H. Binford Peay III Aug-89 - Jun-91

* MG John Miller Jun-91 - Jul-93

* MG John M. Keane Jul-93 - Feb-96

* MG William F. "Buck" Kernan Feb-96 - Feb-98

* MG Robert T. Clark Feb-98 - Jun-00

* MG Richard A. Cody Jun-00 - Jul-02

* MG David H. Petraeus Jul-02 - May-04

* MG Thomas R. Turner II May-04 - Nov-06

* MG Jeffrey J. Schloesser Nov-06 - present

 

Noted Members (selection)

 

* Fred Dailey - Ohio politician

* Jimi Hendrix - Rock and Roll icon

* William C. Lee - General, WW2 veteran, considered as one of the most important influences behind the establishment of U.S. airborne troops

* Richard D. Winters - Major, WW2 veteran, portrait in the TV series Band of Brothers

 

In popular culture

 

* The very popular TV series "Band of Brothers", chronicling the exploits of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion 506th PIR, 101st Airborne Division, in the Second World War.

* In the fourth season episode "Inauguration" of the TV drama The West Wing, the 101st Airborne is deployed alongside the 82nd Airborne Division to the fictional country of Equatorial Kundu to stop a genocide.

* The 101st Airborne Division is featured in several video games, including all of the Brothers in Arms games, Call of Duty, and its expansion pack Call of Duty: United Offensive, and also in Medal of Honor: Frontline.

* Private Ryan in the movie Saving Private Ryan is a soldier in the 101st Airborne division.

* The Soldier class in Team Fortress 2 yells the words "Screamin' Eagles" occasionally on a taunt or critical hit.

* Documentary Movie I Am an American Soldier followed C co, 3 BCT during its tour of duty in Iraq in 2006.

* I Am an American Soldier website

www.iamanamericansoldier.com/

Firstly, I'm really missing hanging out on Flickr! Been really occupied with a pet project recently. And now, I am happy to say that, the project has turned out into something substantial - a website which I've wanted to create for a long time.

 

It's a website which will have many tools to do nice (and funky) stuffs with your photos. Right now it's got only one project - Archivr, which is a search engine that allows your to find your photos that made it to Explore Front Page. Lots of features will be added to it soon. Right now it's the first release, so it's basic.

 

Well, there are many many many other sites to do cool things with your photos. So, why one more? Well, the answer is simple - this one's mine! :) And I am going to pour all my ideas into it to create unique and fun things - for the love of programming and photography.

 

The site is now in Beta. I am working on it everyday to add new tools and features (there isn't much right now). I'm having so much fun working on it that my camera's is feeling totally ignored and is collecting dust (for now). The reason for me to be spending so much time on this is because I haven't use any 3rd party framework or any other such mambo jumbo. Everything from the site design - to the backend code - to the database design, were all done from scratch, with love :)

 

If you take it for a spin and have any suggestions or comments please feel free to shoot me a message - I will be a happy panda :)

 

Drum rolls please.... lol

 

www.clipyourphotos.com

Search engines

Motorola Launches New Moto 360 Smartwatch

goo.gl/1tDSNl

 

Have a look at News of the Day - gujarat news in english

 

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

United States Air Force

 

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the U.S. Previously part of the U.S. Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947.[2] It is the last branch of the United States military to be formed.

 

The USAF is the largest and one of the most technologically advanced air forces in the world, with about 6013 manned aircraft in service (4,282 USAF; 1,321 Air National Guard; and 410 Air Force Reserve); approximately 160 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles, 2161 Air-Launched Cruise Missiles, and 580 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles;[3] and as of April 4, 2008, had 328,808 personnel on active duty, 70,303 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 106,254 in the Air National Guard. In addition, the Air Force employs 141,573 civilian personnel.[3]

 

The USAF is conducting a large Reduction-in-Force (RIF). Because of budget constraints, the USAF will reduce the service's current size from 333,000 active duty personnel, to 316,000, which will be the smallest United States Air Force since Pearl Harbor according to Air Force Chief of Staff, General Mosley, in his interview with air internationals vol.74 issue. The current size of the active-duty force is roughly 70% of that of the USAF at the end of the first Gulf War in 1991.[4]

 

Not all of the United States' military combat aircraft are operated by the USAF. The Army operates its own helicopters, mostly for support of ground combatants; it as well maintains a small fleet of fixed wing aircraft (mostly Unmanned Aerial Vehicles). The Navy is responsible for a multitude of aircraft, including integrated air wing combat aircraft operating aboard its 11 aircraft carriers and also many maritime patrol and transport aircraft stationed at multiple Naval air stations around the world. The Marine Corps operates its own combat and transport aircraft in support of its ground mission and often in conjunction with Naval Aviation. The Coast Guard also maintains transport and search-and-rescue aircraft (SARA), which may be used in a combat and law enforcement role. All branches of the U.S. military operate helicopters.

 

The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force who heads administrative affairs. The Department of the Air Force is a division of the Department of Defense, headed by the Secretary of Defense. The highest ranking military officer in the Department of the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

Contents

[hide]

 

* 1 Mission

o 1.1 Search and rescue

* 2 History

o 2.1 Wars

o 2.2 Humanitarian operations

* 3 Administrative organization

o 3.1 Force structure

* 4 Operational organization

o 4.1 Aerospace Expeditionary Task Force

o 4.2 Commander, Air Force Forces

+ 4.2.1 Air Operations Center

o 4.3 Air Expeditionary Wings/Groups/Squadrons

* 5 Vocations

* 6 Aircraft

* 7 Culture

o 7.1 Uniforms

o 7.2 Awards and badges

o 7.3 Grade Structure and Insignias

o 7.4 Motto

* 8 See also

* 9 References

o 9.1 Further reading

* 10 External links

 

[edit] Mission

 

1. According to the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 502) which created the Air Force:

 

In general the United States Air Force shall include aviation forces both combat and service not otherwise assigned. It shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The Air Force shall be responsible for the preparation of the air forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war except as otherwise assigned and, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of the peacetime components of the Air Force to meet the needs of war.

 

2. §8062 of Title 10 US Code (10 USC 8062) defines the purpose of the Air Force as:

 

* to preserve the peace and security, and provide for the defense, of the United States, the Territories, Commonwealths, and possessions, and any areas occupied by the United States;

* to support national policy;

* to implement national objectives;

* to overcome any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of the United States.

 

3. The stated mission of the USAF today is to "deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests — to fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace".[5]

 

[edit] Search and rescue

 

The National Search and Rescue Plan designates the United States Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime search-and-rescue (SAR) operations, and the United States Air Force as the federal agency responsible for inland SAR.[6] Both agencies maintain Rescue Coordination Centers to coordinate this effort.[3]

 

* United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center

 

[edit] History

 

Main article: History of the United States Air Force

 

Roundels which have appeared on US aircraft1. 5/17-2/18 2. 2/18-8/19 3. 8/19-5/42 4. 5/42-6/43 5. 6/43-9/43 6. 9/43-1/47 7. 1/47-

Roundels which have appeared on US aircraft

1. 5/17-2/18 2. 2/18-8/19 3. 8/19-5/42

4. 5/42-6/43 5. 6/43-9/43 6. 9/43-1/47

7. 1/47-

 

The United States Air Force became a separate military service on September 18, 1947, with the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947.[7] The Act created the United States Department of Defense, which was composed of three branches, the Army, Navy and a newly-created Air Force.[8] Prior to 1947, the responsibility for military aviation was divided between the Army (for land-based operations) and the Navy, for sea-based operations from aircraft carrier and amphibious aircraft. The Army created the first antecedent of the Air Force in 1907, which through a succession of changes of organization, titles, and missions advanced toward eventual separation 40 years later. The predecessor organizations of today's U.S. Air Force are:

 

* Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps (August 1, 1907 to July 18, 1914)

* Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps (July 18, 1914 to May 20, 1918)

* Division of Military Aeronautics (May 20, 1918 to May 24, 1918)

* U.S. Army Air Service (May 24, 1918 to July 2, 1926)

* U.S. Army Air Corps (July 2, 1926 to June 20, 1941) and

* U.S. Army Air Forces (June 20, 1941 to September 17, 1947)

 

[edit] Wars

 

The United States Air Force has been involved in many wars, conflicts, and operations since its conception; these include:

 

* World War I[9] Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps

* World War II[10] United States Army Air Forces

* The Cold War

* The Korean War

* The Vietnam War

* Operation Eagle Claw

* Operation Urgent Fury

* The United States invasion of Panama

* Operation Eldorado Canyon

* The Gulf War

* Operation Northern Watch

* Operation Southern Watch

* The Kosovo War

* Operation Enduring Freedom

* Operation Iraqi Freedom

 

[edit] Humanitarian operations

 

The U.S. Air Force has taken part in numerous humanitarian operations. Some of the more major ones include the following:[11]

 

* Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles), 1948-1949

* Operation Safe Haven, 1956-1957

* Operations Babylift, New Life, Frequent Wind, and New Arrivals, 1975

* Operation Provide Comfort, 1991

* Operation Sea Angel, 1991

* Operation Provide Hope, 1992-1993

* Operation Unified Assistance, December 2004 - April 2005

 

[edit] Administrative organization

 

Main article: Organizational structure and hierarchy of the United States Air Force

 

The Air Force is one of three service departments, and is managed by the (civilian) Department of the Air Force. Guidance is provided by the Secretary of the Air Force(SECAF) and the Secretary's staff and advisors. The military leadership is the Air Staff, led by the Chief of Staff.

 

USAF direct subordinate commands and units are the Field Operating Agency (FOA), Direct Reporting Unit (DRU), and the currently unused Separate Operating Agency.

 

The Major Command (MAJCOM) is the superior hierarchical level of command. Including the Air Force Reserve Command, as of 30 September 2006, USAF has nine major commands, and a tenth, Air Force Cyber Command, in process. The Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a level of command directly under the MAJCOM, followed by Operational Command (now unused), Air Division (also now unused), Wing, Group, Squadron, and Flight.

 

[edit] Force structure

 

Headquarters, United States Air Force, The Pentagon, Arlington, Virginia

 

* Air Combat Command (ACC), headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia

o First Air Force, headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida

o Eighth Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana

o Ninth Air Force, headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina

o Twelfth Air Force, headquartered at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona

* Air Education and Training Command (AETC), headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas

o Second Air Force, headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi

o Nineteenth Air Force, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas

* Air Force Cyber Command (Provisional) (AFCYBER), interim location at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana

o Twenty Fourth Air Force

* Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio

* Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), headquartered at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia

o Fourth Air Force, headquartered at March Air Force Base, California

o Tenth Air Force, headquartered at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas

o Twenty-Second Air Force, headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia

* Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado

o Fourteenth Air Force, headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California

o Twentieth Air Force, headquartered at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming

* Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida

o Twenty-Third Air Force

* Air Mobility Command (AMC), headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois

o Eighteenth Air Force, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois

* United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany

o Third Air Force, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany

o Seventeenth Air Force, headquartered at Sembach Annex, Germany

* United States Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii

o Fifth Air Force, headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan

o Seventh Air Force, headquartered at Osan Air Base, Republic of Korea

o Eleventh Air Force, headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska

o Thirteenth Air Force, headquartered at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii

 

The permanent establishment of the USAF, as of 30 September 2006,[12] consisted of:

 

* Active duty forces:

o 57 flying wings, 8 space wings, and 55 non-flying wings

o 9 flying groups, 8 non-flying groups

+ 134 flying squadrons, 43 space squadrons

* Air Force Reserve

o 35 flying wings, 1 space wing

o 4 flying groups

+ 67 flying squadrons, 6 space squadrons

* Air National Guard

o 87 flying wings

+ 101 flying squadrons, 4 space squadrons

 

The United States Air Force and its Air Reserve Components field a total of 302 flying squadrons.[13]

 

[edit] Operational organization

 

The above organizational structure is responsible for the peacetime Organization, Equipping, and Training of aerospace units for operational missions. When required to support operational missions, the National Command Authority directs a Change in Operational Control (CHOP) of these units from their peacetime alignment to a Regional Combatant Commander (CCDR). In the case of AFSPC, AFSOC, PACAF, and USAFE units, forces are normally employed in-place under their existing CCDR. Likewise, AMC forces operating in support roles retain their componency to USTRANSCOM unless chopped to a Regional CCDR.

 

[edit] Aerospace Expeditionary Task Force

 

CHOPPED units are referred to as "forces". The top-level structure of these forces is the Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force (AETF). The AETF is the Air Force presentation of forces to a CCDR for the employment of Air Power. Each CCDR is supported by a standing Component Numbered Air Force (C-NAF) to provide planning and execution of aerospace forces in support of CCDR requirements. Each C-NAF consists of a Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) and AFFOR/A-staff, and an Air Operations Center (AOC). As needed to support multiple Joint Force Commanders (JFC) in the COCOM's Area of Responsibility (AOR), the C-NAF may deploy Air Component Coordinate Elements (ACCE) to liaise with the JFC. If the Air Force possesses the most strategic air assets in a JFC's area of operations, the COMAFFOR will also serve as the Joint Forces Air Component Commander (JFACC).

 

[edit] Commander, Air Force Forces

 

The Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) is the senior Air Force officer responsible for the employment of Air Power in support of JFC objectives. The COMAFFOR has a special staff and an A-Staff to ensure assigned or attached forces are properly organized, equipped, and trained to support the operational mission.

 

[edit] Air Operations Center

 

The Air Operations Center (AOC) is the JFACC's Command and Control (C²) center. This center is responsible for planning and executing air power missions in support of JFC objectives.

 

[edit] Air Expeditionary Wings/Groups/Squadrons

 

The AETF generates air power to support COCOM objectives from Air Expeditionary Wings (AEW) or Air Expeditionary Groups (AEG). These units are responsible for receiving combat forces from Air Force MAJCOMs, preparing these forces for operational missions, launching and recovering these forces, and eventually returning forces to the MAJCOMs. Theater Air Control Systems control employment of forces during these missions.

 

[edit] Vocations

 

The vast majority of Air Force members remain on the ground. There are hundreds of support positions which are necessary to the success of a mission.

 

The classification of an Air Force job is the Air Force Specialty Code (AFSC). They range from flight combat operations such as a gunner, to working in a dining facility to ensure that members are properly fed. There are many different jobs in fields such as computer specialties, mechanic specialties, enlisted aircrew, medical specialties, civil engineering, public affairs, hospitality, law, drug counseling, mail operations, security forces, and search and rescue specialties.

 

Perhaps the most dangerous Air Force jobs are Explosive Ordnance Disposal, Pararescue, Combat Control, Combat Weather and Tactical Air Control Party, who deploy with infantry and special operations units who disarm bombs, rescue downed or isolated personnel, call in air strikes and set up landing zones in forward locations. Most of these are enlisted positions. Other jobs have seen increasing combat, and have been billed "Battlefield Airmen". These include EOD, Vehicle operators, and OSI.

 

Nearly all enlisted jobs are "entry level," meaning that the Air Force provides all training. Some enlistees are able to choose a particular job, or at least a field before actually joining, while others are assigned an AFSC at Basic Training. After Basic Military Training, new Air Force members attend a technical training school where they learn their particular AFSC. Second Air Force, a part of Air Education and Training Command is responsible for nearly all technical training.

 

Training programs vary in length; for example, 3M0X1 (Services) has 31 days of tech school training, while 3E8X1 (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) is 1 year of training with a preliminary school and a main school consisting of 10 separate divisions; somtimes taking students close to 2 years to complete. Some AFSC's have even shorter or longer training.

 

[edit] Aircraft

 

Main article: List of military aircraft of the United States

 

B-2 Spirit

B-2 Spirit

F-22 Raptors

F-22 Raptors

V-22 Ospreys

V-22 Ospreys

C-17 Globemaster III

C-17 Globemaster III

 

The United States Air Force has over 7,500 aircraft commissioned as of 2004. Until 1962, the Army and Air Force maintained one system of aircraft naming, while the U.S. Navy maintained a separate system. In 1962, these were unified into a single system heavily reflecting the Army/Air Force method. For more complete information on the workings of this system, refer to United States Department of Defense Aerospace Vehicle Designations.

 

Current aircraft of the USAF[14]:

 

* O/A-10A/C Thunderbolt II

* An-26 Curl

* B-1B Lancer

* B-2A Spirit

* B-52H Stratofortress

* C-5A/B/C/M Galaxy

* KC-10A Extender

* C-12C/D/F Huron

* C-17A Globemaster III

* C-20A/B/C Gulfstream III

* C-20G/H Gulfstream IV

* C-21A Learjet

* C-22B

* VC-25A (Air Force One)

* C-26B Metroliner

* C-29A

* C-32A

* C-37A Gulfstream V

* C-38 Courier

* C-40B Clipper

   

* C-41A Aviocar

* C-130E/H/J Hercules

* AC-130H/U Spectre/Spooky II

* HC-130H/N

* LC-130H

* MC-130E/H/W Combat Talon/Combat Spear

* WC-130J

* C-135C/E/K Stratolifter

* NC-135B/E/W

* KC-135E/R/T Stratotanker

* EC-137D Stratoliner[citation needed]

* VC-137C

* CN-235-100[citation needed]

* E-3B/C Sentry

* E-4B

* E-8C JSTARS

* E-9A

* F-15A/B/C/D Eagle

* F-15E Strike Eagle

   

* F-16A/B/C/D Fighting Falcon

* F-22A Raptor

* F-35 Lightning II

* F-117A Nighthawk

* MH-53J/M Pave Low III/IV

* HH-60G Pave Hawk

* Mi-8 Hip

* NT-39A/B Sabreliner

* OC-135B

* M/RQ-1A/B Predator

* RQ-4A Global Hawk

* MQ-9 Reaper

* RC-135S/U/V/W

* T-1A Jayhawk

* T-6 Texan II

* (A)T-38A/B/C Talon

   

* Boeing T-43

* TC-18E

* TC-135S

* TC-135W

* Piper Aircraft Company TG-8A Piper Club glider

* TG-3A

* TG-4A

* TG-7A

* TG-9A

* TG-10B/C/D

* TG-11A

* TG-15A/TG-15B

* UH-1N Iroquois

* U-2R/S "Dragon Lady"

* UC-26C

* UV-18A/B Twin Otter

* UV-20A Chiricua

* CV-22B Osprey

* U-28A

* WC-135C/W

 

Source: [15]

 

[edit] Culture

 

[edit] Uniforms

 

Main article: United States Air Force uniform

 

United States Air Force personnel wear uniforms which are distinct from those of the other branches of the United States Armed Forces. The current uniform is an olive drab/black/brown and tan combination called the Battle Dress Uniform (BDU). Members deployed to an AOR wear a variation of the BDU, tan and brown in color, called the Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU). A new uniform called the Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) is currently being distributed to some bases, and in a memo from HQ AFPC at Randolph AFB dated September 2007, will be distributed to basic trainees in their clothing issue starting October 2007. The ABU is already authorized for wear, and is scheduled to completely replace the BDU and DCU by November 2011.

 

[edit] Awards and badges

 

In addition to basic uniform clothing, various badges are used by the USAF to indicate a job assignment or qualification-level for a given assignment. Badges can also be used as merit-based or service-based awards. Over time, various badges have been discontinued and are no longer distributed.

 

[edit] Grade Structure and Insignias

 

See also: United States Air Force officer rank insignia

See also: United States Air Force enlisted rank insignia

 

The standard USAF uniform is also decorated with an insignia to designate rank. USAF rank is divided between enlisted airmen, non-commissioned officers, and commissioned officers, and ranges from "airman basic" to the commissioned rank of general. Promotions are granted based on a combination of test scores, years of experience, and selection board approval. Promotions among enlisted men and non-commissioned officers rankings are generally designated by increasing numbers of insignia chevrons. Commissioned officer rank is designated by bars, oak leaves, a silver eagle, and anywhere from one to five (only in war-time) stars.

 

For cadet rank at the U.S. Air Force Academy, see United States Air Force Academy Cadet Insignia.

 

[edit] Motto

 

The United States Air Force does not have an official motto, but there are numerous unofficial slogans such as "Nothing Comes Close" and Uno Ab Alto. For many years, the U.S. Air Force used "Aim High" as its recruiting motto; more recently, they have used "Cross Into the Blue", "We've been waiting for you" and "Do Something Amazing", and the newest one, "Above All".[16]

 

Each wing, group, or squadron usually has its own motto(s). Information and logos can usually be found on the wing, group, or squadron websites.[17]

 

The Airman's Creed is a statement introduced in the spring of 2007 to summarize the culture of the Air Force.

Exif_JPEG_420

Junk Jet has developed an archive impossible that ­trans­ports, in print format, net based works, or ­fragments of works showing collections, series, animations, applications, and reflecting anti-heart texts on the net and its new forms of art, design, and architecture. N°5, the net.heart issue, has transferred internet things from their digital space into a paper jet. This transportation procedure relies on documents in a similar way as the museum relies on photograph and video documenting performance arts. And Junk Jet believes that this analogue documentation is in no way inferior to pseudo-preserving techniques of data migration, emulation, or reprogramming. At the end, Junk Jet says: Transportation is not so much about the artwork as object, but rather about the indication of the subjective decision of the artist. In this sense Junk Jet is a Russian conceptualist.

 

junkjet.net/

www.igmade.net/order.html

www.facebook.com/pages/Junk-Jet/298633638983

 

With wireless contributions by Adam Cruces, Agathe Andre, Alessandro Bava, Alexei Shulgin, Angela Genusa, Angelo Plessas, Aureliano Segundo, Asli Serbest, Aristide Antonas, Artie Vierkant, Ball-Nogues, Bärbel Jetter, Bea Fremderman, Beatriz Ramo, Ben Aqua, Ben Vickers, Billy Rennekamp, Bonno van Doorn, Brad Troemel, Bryan Boyer, Carsten Güth, Christian Oldham, Christine Nasz and Stefanie Hunold, Constant Dullaart, Dennis Knopf, Eilis Mcdonald, Fabien Mousse, Gene McHugh, Greg J. Smith, Hanne Mugaas, Jacob Engblom, Jasper Elings, JODI, Jonas Lund, Jordan Tate, Katja Novitskova, Laimonas Zakas, Lenox Twins, m-a-u-s-e-r, Marisa Olson, Michael Schoner, Mike Ruiz, Mimi Zeiger, Mona Mahall, Natalie Bookchin, Nicholas O'Brien, Nicolas Sassoon, NIEI, NLarchitects, Olia Lialina, Palace Palace, Rafaël Rozendaal, Ricardo Scofidio, Parker Ito, Patrick Cruz, Pieterjan Grandry, Raphael Bastide, Sam Hancocks, Sarah Weis, Something Fantastic, Sterling Crispin, Theo Seemann, Will Brand, Wyne Veen

Edited by Mona Mahall and Asli Serbest

N°5 comes with a Poster: "Home Buttons by Architects"

SAMSUNG DIGITAL CAMERA

 

GOOGLE

 

so since I've had my pro account sometimes I like to look the number of views I get each day. I also like to see what people searched. For the past year people have been searching for: pink cupcakes, chicken and penne, Korean food, kimchi, chocolate cake, flan, best dessert ever (yes, people search for that and I named one of my photo that =))...anyway, you get it.

But recently I've noticed some really strange things...once someone searched for penis festival...I guess they have always been searching for weird things my photos just never showed up. anyway, see notes in the photos for the crazy things I saw some people searched for. =) hehe.

revista.virket.com/software-as-a-service-oportunidades-de...

~*Photography Originally Taken By: www.CrossTrips.Com Under God*~

 

The Thunderbirds are the Air Demonstration Squadron of the U.S. Air Force, based at Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada. The squadron tours the U.S. and much of the world, performing aerobatic formation and solo flying in specially-marked USAF jet aircraft.

 

Officers serve a two-year assignment with the squadron, while enlisted personnel serve three to four. Replacements must be trained for about half of the team each year, providing a constant mix of experience.

 

The squadron performs no more than 88 air demonstrations each year and has never canceled a demonstration due to maintenance difficulty. In addition to their air demonstration responsibilities, the Thunderbirds are part of the USAF combat force and a component of the 57th Wing. If required, the team's personnel and aircraft can be rapidly integrated into a fighter unit at Nellis AFB.

 

History

 

The Squadron was activated, after 6 months training in an unofficial status, on January 1, 1953 as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team at Luke AFB, just west of Phoenix. They flew their debut exhibition at Luke a week later, and began public exhibitions at the 1953 Cheyenne Frontier Days in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The team had flown 26 shows by that August. The first team leader was Major General Dick Catledge, and the first plane flown by the squadron was the F-84 Thunderjet. As the F-84G Thunderjet was a single seat fighter, a 2 seat T-33 Shooting Star served as the narrator's aircraft and was used as the VIP/Press ride aircraft. The T-33 served with the Thunderbirds in this capacity in the 1950s & 1960s.

 

The next year, the Thunderbirds performed their first overseas air shows, in a tour of South America. A year later, in 1955, they moved to the F-84F Thunderstreak aircraft, in which they performed 91 air shows. The aircraft of the squadron was again changed in June 1956, to the F-100 Super Sabre, which gave the pilots supersonic capability. This switch was accompanied by a move of headquarters to Nellis AFB, Nevada on June 1 with their first show after the move being held on June 23. It also signaled a shift in their performance routine—for example, the Cuban 8 opening routine was dropped, and emphasis was placed on low, screaming flyovers and demonstrations of takeoff performance. For a time, if the show's sponsor permitted it, the pilots would create a "sonic boom" (this ended when the FAA banned supersonic flight over the continental U.S.)

 

In 1960 a decision was made to allow the tail (vertical stabilizer) of the #4 slot plane, blackened by the exhaust of the other planes, to remain black. (Contrary to rumor, the stabilizer was never painted black.) This practice remained in force through the 1973 season. In 1961, the team was compelled to discontinue the vertical bank maneuver due to an FAA regulation prohibiting aerobatics that pointed the nose of the aircraft toward the crowd. 1962 saw the introduction of dual solo routines, and the Thunderbirds went on their first European deployment in 1963, the year after the disbanding of the "Skyblazers" (see below). The team switched to the F-105 Thunderchief for a brief period, but returned to the F-100 in 1964 after only six airshows, following Capt. Gene Devlin's death resulting from structural failure of the aircraft in a high-G climbing maneuver. The F-100 was also judged to be more maneuverable for demonstration displays, and was retained through the 1968 season.

 

By 1967, the Thunderbirds had flown 1,000 shows. In 1969, the squadron adopted the noisy and huge F-4E Phantom, which it flew until 1973, the only time the Thunderbirds would fly jets similar to those of the Blue Angels, as it was the standard fighter for both services. A special white paint had to be developed to cover high-temperature metals, replacing the bare metal paint scheme of past planes. The white paint scheme has been continued to the present. Due to the 1973 oil crisis, the team was grounded for some time. In 1974 they switched to the more economical T-38 Talon, a supersonic trainer based on the F-5 fighter. Five T-38s used the same amount of fuel needed for one F-4 Phantom. The switch to the T-38 also saw an alteration of the flight routine to exhibit the aircraft's maneuverability in tight turns, and also ended the era of the black tail on the #4 slot plane, which would now be regularly cleaned and shined like the others.

 

In 1982, there was another disaster for the Thunderbirds, occurring during pre-season training on January 18. While practicing the 4 plane diamond loop, the formation impacted the ground at high speed, instantly killing all four pilots: Major Norm Lowry, leader, Captain Willie Mays, Captain Pete Peterson and Captain Mark Melancon. The cause of the crash was officially listed by the USAF as the result of a mechanical problem with the #1 aircraft's control stick actuator. During formation flight, the wing and slot pilots visually cue off of the #1 lead aircraft, completely disregarding their positions in relation to the ground.

 

In 1983, the team returned to front-line fighters with the General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcon. They would change to the updated F-16C (now Lockheed-Martin) in 1992, an aircraft which has proven its outstanding effectiveness in both air-to-ground and air superiority competitions.

 

In 1986, the Thunderbirds did a fly-by for the re-dedication of the Statue of Liberty in New York City, which was viewed by tens of millions. They also performed the first American military demonstration in a Communist country when the team visited Beijing, China in 1987. Their 3,000th air show was performed in 1990. In 1996, the team participated in the Atlanta Olympics' opening ceremonies, which were viewed by an estimated 3.5 billion people worldwide. The squadron celebrated its 50th anniversary on June 1, 2003.

 

In June 2005 the Thunderbirds accepted Captain Nicole Malachowski as the squadron's first ever female pilot and in 2006 the first ever female solo pilot, Captain Samantha Weeks, was added to the officer list. In 2008 she became the first ever female lead solo.

 

Also in 2005, the Thunderbirds temporarily grounded themselves pending an investigation into a minor mid-air incident during the Chicago Air & Water Show on August 20. During a diamond formation slow-roll pass, the tip of the missile rail on the right wing of the slot (#4) aircraft contacted the left stabilator of the right (#3) aircraft. A four-foot section of the missile rail snapped off, while the #3 aircraft sustained damage described by one of the Thunderbirds pilots as a "medium deep scratch" to the red paint of the stabilator. Amateur video showed the missile rail falling into the "safety box" on Lake Michigan away from boaters. While there were no injuries and the aircraft remained apparently flightworthy, the demonstration was immediately terminated, all aircraft returned to Gary International Airport, and the Thunderbirds did not return for the second day of the Chicago show. The Right Winger (#3) was Major D. Chris Callahan, and the Slot position (#4) was flown by Major Steve Horton.

 

The 2007 European Goodwill Tour was conceived as an opportunity to spread international goodwill and demonstrate the pride, precision and professionalism of Airmen worldwide. It was the Thunderbirds’ first visit to Europe after the tragic events of 9-11 and the team took to this monumental challenge with tenacity. History was made at the first stop during an expertly coordinated flag-panel unveiling in Ireland, which highlighted the Thunderbirds’ first-ever air show performance in the country. Despite inclement weather, more than 100,000 people attended the air show, garnering nationwide exposure by Irish media. Coverage also spanned the globe when Air Force Link posted the story and photos provided by the team.

 

Additional stops along the way included aerial demonstrations in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria's Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Italy, France and England, where the Thunderbirds participated in The Royal International Air Tattoo, world’s largest air show. VIPs in attendance included Parliament and even British royalty. Outside of aerial demonstrations, the team participated in eight official public relations events attended by heads of state and local civic leaders. There were also multiple community visits with needy children throughout the European theater in an effort to make new friends and eliminate the stereotypical Eastern view of Americans as the world’s police. It took months of planning and hundreds of man-hours to pull it off, but the five-week trip to seven different European countries was diplomatic, historic and sensational.

 

On November 10 and November 11, 2007, the City of Las Vegas and Nellis AFB saluted the U.S. Air Force, hosting the capstone event of the USAF's 60th anniversary celebration. Those that came to this historic event witnessed some of the best aerobatic performances and aerial demonstrations seen anywhere in the world. Thanks to endorsement and sponsorship by Las Vegas, Aviation Nation was the most publicized air show in America with more than $680,000 in guaranteed media reaching regional, national and international audiences through an extensive advertising and promotions program.

 

The 2008 air show schedule

 

February

17 — Flyover for 50th Daytona 500, Daytona International Speedway, Daytona Beach, Florida

March

2 — Flyover for UAW-Dodge 400, Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Las Vegas, Nevada

15 — San Angelo, Texas

29 — Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

April

5 and 6 — Punta Gorda, Fla.

12 and 13 — Lakeland, Fla.

19 and 20 — Wilmington, N.C.

26 — Charleston Air Force Base, S.C.

May

3 and 4 — March ARB, Calif.

10 and 11 — Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.

17 and 18 — Fort Smith, Ark.

24 — Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.

28 — U.S. Air Force Academy, Colo. Invitation Only

31 — McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.

June

1 — McGuire Air Force Base, N.J.

7 and 8 — Rockford, Ill.

14 and 15 — Quebec City, Canada

21 — Klamath Falls, Ore.

24 — Eielson Air Force Base, AK

28 and 29 — Elmendorf Air Force Base, AK

July

4 and 6 — Battle Creek, Mich.

12 and 13 — Milwaukee, Wis.

19 and 20 — McChord Air Force Base, Wash.

23 — Cheyenne, Wyo.

26 and 27 — Rochester, N.Y.

August

8 and 10 — Abbotsford, Canada

16 and 17 — Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

20 — Atlantic City, N.J.

23 and 24 — Kansas City, Mo.

30 and 31 — Travis Air Force Base, Calif.

September

6 and 7 — Westover ARB, Mass.

12 and 13 — Reno, Nev.

14 — Mountain Home, Idaho

20 and 21 — Scott Air Force Base, Ill.

27 and 28 — Salinas, Calif.

October

4 — Vance Air Force Base, Okla.

11 and 12 — Ft. Worth, Texas

18 and 19 — Dobbins Air Force Base, Ga.

25 and 26 — Houston, Texas

November

1 and 2 — Lafayette, La.

8 and 9 — Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

 

While the above schedule has been approved, it is subject to change. For up-to-date information and complete details about the Air Force Thunderbirds, visit their official website

 

Aircraft

 

Republic F-84G Thunderjet 1953-1954

 

Republic F-84F Thunderstreak 1954-1956 Mindful of their mission to show the Air Force’s best aircraft, the Air Force selected the swept wing F-84F Thunderstreak as their second aircraft in 1955. The Thunderstreak was modified for the team by adding smoke tanks for the first time, and red, white and blue drag chutes.

 

North American F-100C Super Sabre 1956-1963 The USAF's first operational supersonic aircraft. With the move from the F-84F to the F-100 Super Sabre in 1956, the Thunderbirds became the world’s first supersonic aerial demonstration team. That same year, the Thunderbirds moved to Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, simplifying logistics and maintenance for the aircraft.

 

Republic F-105B Thunderchief 1964 (only 6 shows flown in type) Largest and heaviest single engine fighter ever produced.

 

North American F-100D Super Sabre 1964-1968

 

McDonnell F-4E Phantom II 1969-1973 The F-4’s conversion was the most extensive in the team’s history. Among other modifications, paints that had worked on the F-100 made the F-4 look patchy because of multicolored alloys used in the F-4 to resist heat and friction at Mach 2 speeds. As a result, a polyurethane paint base was developed and used to cover the problem. The white paint base remains a part of today’s Thunderbird aircraft.

 

Northrop T-38 Talon 1974-1981 1974 brought with it a fuel crisis and as a result a new aircraft for the team, the sleek, swift and highly maneuverable Northrop T-38A Talon, the Air Force’s first supersonic trainer. Economically, the T-38 was unmatched. Five T-38s used the same amount of fuel needed for one F-4 Phantom, and fewer people and less equipment were required to maintain the aircraft.

 

Although the Talon did not fulfill the Thunderbird tradition of flying front-line jet fighters, it did meet the criteria of demonstrating the capabilities of a prominent Air Force aircraft.

 

General Dynamics F-16A/B Fighting Falcon 1983-1991 During the switch to the F-16A the Thunderbirds acquired new block 15 aircraft which they operated for about 10 years making the team one of the last USAF units flying the older F-16A's before transitioning into new C's. They also operated the two-seat F-16B during this time for training new pilots and for VIP flights, these being replaced by the F-16D when the rest of the squadron transitioned to the F-16C.

 

Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Fighting Falcon 1992-Current The block 32H/J aircraft currently assigned to the Thunderbirds were built in 1986 & 1987 and are some of the oldest operational F-16s in the Air Force. (Lockheed purchased the General Dynamics division which makes the F-16 (Fort Worth, TX) in 1993.) Recently the team accepted its first block 52 model with various upgrades to the avionics, landing gear and more. While the new-to-the-squadron jets are upgrades, they are still some of the oldest F-16s in the Air Force inventory. Plans are to accept several more throughout 2008 and transition completely to the block 52 model for aerial demonstrations for the 2009 show season.

 

Transition to F-16s

 

In 1982 the team switched to the F-16A Fighting Falcon; this transition had been under consideration before the "Diamond Crash" in January. The team sat out the 1982 airshow season and spent that year retraining and transiting over into the new aircraft to ready themselves for the 1983 season.

 

The team continues to fly the F-16 today, having switched from the "A" to "C" version in 1992.[citation needed] These are nearly identical to current combat aircraft; it takes just a few minor modifications for an F-16C to be made ready for the Thunderbirds. These changes include the replacement of the 20 mm cannon and ammunition drum with a smoke-generating system, including its plumbing and control switches, the removal of the jet fuel starter exhaust door, and the application of the Thunderbirds' glossy red, white, and blue polyurethane paint scheme. All of the modification work is performed at the maintenance depot at Hill AFB near Ogden, Utah.

 

Current Thunderbirds

 

Members of the 2008 season USAF Thunderbird Team:

 

* Flying Thunderbird No.1 Lt Col Greg Thomas (Commander/Leader)

* Flying Thunderbird No.2 Major Chris Austin (Left Wing)

* Flying Thunderbird No.3 Major Kirby Ensser (Right Wing)

* Flying Thunderbird No.4 Major Scott Poteet (Slot)

* Flying Thunderbird No.5 Major Samantha Weeks (Lead Solo)

* Flying Thunderbird No.6 Major T. Dyon Douglas (Opposing Solo)

* Flying Thunderbird No.7 Lt Col Rob Skelton (Operations Officer)

* Flying Thunderbird No.8 Major Anthony Mulhare (Advance Pilot/Narrator)

* Thunderbird No.9 Major (Dr) Charla Quayle (Flight Surgeon)

* Thunderbird No.10 Capt Amy Glisson (Executive Officer)

* Thunderbird No.11 Capt Charles Ploetz (Maintenance Officer)

* Thunderbird No.12 Capt Elizabeth Kreft (Public Affairs Officer)

 

The Routine (The Demo)

 

From the end of the runway the 4-ship Thunderbird team get ready to begin their take-off roll with the words "Thunderbirds run em up!" being retransmitted from the team leader's mic through the PA system for the anxiously awaiting crowd to hear.

 

Diamond: As Thunderbirds 1 through 4 lift off the slot aircraft slips immediately into position behind 1 to create the signature Diamond formation in the climb passing by the crowd and into a rolling turn at the departure end of the field and set up for their first pass the diamond clover loop.

 

Thunderbird 5 then executes a Dirty Roll immediately following take-off.

 

Thunderbird 6 then takes off and executes a Split-S.

Thunderbirds in a traditional diamond formation

Thunderbirds in a traditional diamond formation

 

Solos: Thunderbird 5 takes to the air next performing a clean low altitude aileron roll followed by 6 who performs a split-s climbing in a near vertical maneuver rolling over and diving back toward show center pulling up just above the runway and exiting in the opposite direction.

 

Much of the Thunderbirds' display alternates between maneuvers performed by the diamond, and those performed by the solos. The diamond performs maneuvers in tight formation such as formation loops and rolls or transitions from one formation to another. The opposing solos usually perform their maneuvers just under the speed of sound, and show off the capabilities of their individual F-16s by doing maneuver such as fast passes, slow passes, fast rolls, slow rolls, and very tight turns. Some of their maneuvers include both solo F-16s at once, such as opposing passes (where the solos fly towards each other in what appears to be a collision course, and seem to narrowly miss each other) and mirror formations (their two F-16s being flown back-to-back in the calypso pass or belly-to-belly. In such formations, one Thunderbird must of course be inverted, and it is always Thunderbird number 5. In fact, the "5" on this aircraft is painted on upside down, and thus appears right-side-up for much of the routine). At the end of the routine, all six aircraft join in formation, forming the Delta. There is also an extra amount of humor regarding the inverted performance of Thunderbird Five: the pilots all wear tailored flight suits with their name and jet number embroidered on the left breast. The 5 is sewn inverted.

 

One of the Thunderbirds' standing engagements is the annual commencement ceremony at the United States Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs. The jets fly over Falcon Stadium at the precise moment the cadets throw their hats into the air at ceremony's end.

 

Accidents

 

The Thunderbirds have performed at over 4,000 airshows worldwide, accumulating millions of miles in hundreds of different airframes over the course of their 54+ years of service.

 

Flying high performance fighter jets is inherently dangerous; when flying in extremely close formation the danger is compounded. The team has suffered two fatal crashes during air shows.

 

The first was the death of Major Joe Howard flying Thunderbird 3 on June 4, 1972 at Dulles Airport, during Transpo 72. His Phantom (F-4E s/n# 66-0321) experienced a structural failure of the horizontal stabilizer. Maj Howard ejected as the aircraft fell back to earth from about 1,500 feet tail first and descended under a good canopy, but was too close to the explosion fireball and did not survive. The second death occurred May 9, 1981 at Hill AFB, Utah, when Captain David "Nick" Hauck flying Thunderbird 6 crashed while attempting to land his ailing T-38 after an engine malfunctioned and caught fire. The safety officer on the ground radioed Capt Hauck, "You’re on fire, punch out", to which he responded, “Hang on... we have a bunch of people down there”. The aircraft continued to fight to stay airborne for about ½ a mile before hitting a large oak tree and a barn, then slid across a field and flipped as it traversed an irrigation canal, ultimately erupting into a fireball just a few hundred feet from the runway's end. No one on the ground was injured even though the wreck occurred adjacent to a roadway packed with onlookers.

 

Airshows

 

* September 24, 1961 TSgt John Lesso of the Thunderbirds C-123 crew was killed when an Air Force C-123 carrying the Army Golden Knights crashed on take-off at an airshow in Wilmington, NC. He was aboard the aircraft as an observer.

 

* June 4, 1972: Major Joe Howard flying Thunderbird 3 was killed during Transpo 72 airshow at Dulles International Airport.

 

Captain Chris Stricklin ejects from his F-16 at an air show in September 2003.

Captain Chris Stricklin ejects from his F-16 at an air show in September 2003.

 

* September 14, 2003: 31-year-old Captain Chris Stricklin, flying Thunderbird 6 (opposing solo) failed to pull out of a dive but safely ejected at Mountain Home AFB in southwest Idaho. Stricklin miscalculated the altitude required to complete his opening maneuver, a "Split S". The elevation of the airfield was about 1100 feet higher than the team's home base at Nellis AFB. He climbed to an inadequate altitude of just 1670 feet above ground level, instead of 2500 feet, before initiating the pull-down dive of the Split S maneuver. Stricklin ejected when the rapidly descending F-16C was only 140 feet above ground - just 0.8 seconds prior to impact. His parachute deployed just above the ground and he sustained only minor injuries from the ejection. There were no injuries to any personnel or spectators on the ground.[1]

 

[edit] Other incidents

 

* October 9, 1958 19 men aboard the Thunderbirds support C-123 perish in a crash about 50 miles NW of Boise, Idaho, while transiting to an airshow from Hill AFB UT to McChord AFB WA. It is believed that the aircraft struck a flock of geese[citation needed].

 

* December 13, 1954: Capt. George Kevil is killed during solo training at Luke.

 

* September 26, 1957: Lt. Bob Rutte is killed in solo training at Nellis.

 

* March 12, 1959: Capt. C.D. Salmon is killed in solo training at Nellis.

 

* July 27, 1960: Capt. J.R. Crane, advance pilot and narrator for the team, is killed during a solo proficiency flight at Nellis.

 

* April 6, 1961: Maj. Robert Fitzgerald, commander and group leader of the team, and Capt. George Nial, advance pilot and narrator, are killed during training at Nellis.

 

* May 9, 1964: Capt. Eugene J. Devlin is killed when his F-105 breaks in two as it enters the vertical while in a 3 plane formation following a low pass over Hamilton Air Force Base, California.[2]

 

* October 12, 1966: Maj. Frank Liethen and Capt. Robert Morgan are killed during a flight at Indian Springs Auxiliary Field in Nevada.

 

* January 9, 1969: Capt. Jack Thurman is killed in solo training at Nellis.

 

* December 21, 1972: Capt. Jerry Bolt and Tech Sgt. Chuck Lynn are killed during a flight test at Nellis.

 

* July 25, 1977: Capt. Charlie Carter, Thunderbird pilot and narrator, is fatally injured during maneuvers at F.E. Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming.

 

* May 9, 1981: Capt. Nick Hauck is killed in the crash of his No. 6 T-38 during a low approach at Hill AFB, Utah, impacting south of the runway.

 

* September 8, 1981: Lt. Col. D.L. Smith, commander of the Thunderbirds, is killed when his aircraft ingests seagulls and stalls while leaving Cleveland. Smith crashed into Lake Erie without attempting to eject.

 

* January 18, 1982: The "Diamond Crash" becomes the worst training crash in Thunderbird history. Maj. Norm Lowry, Capt. Willie Mays, Capt. Pete Peterson and Capt. Mark Melancon are killed while flying the famous diamond formation during training at Indian Springs. The crash resulted from insufficient back pressure on the T-38 control stick during the loop. This major crash with associated fatalities led to the Thunderbirds getting the F-16 Fighting Falcon as a replacement aircraft. In order to rebuild the Thunderbird Team, the Air Force reached back to previous Thunderbird pilots still on active duty to "come out of air show retirement", qualified each in the F-16A, and had them begin flying "two-ship" through all the maneuvers, and expanded — one airplane at a time — up to the full six airplanes. The "new" F-16 Thunderbirds were led by Major Jim Latham.

 

Relationship to other USAF aerial demonstration teams

 

The first USAF jet-powered aerobatic demo team was the "Acrojets", performing early in 1949 with F-80Cs at the USAF Fighter School at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, and was headed by Col. Howard W. "Suede" Jensen. This team flew together until August 1950, when it was deactivated due to the American commitment to the Korean War. Additionally, there was also a later USAFE "Acrojets" team in Germany, this one made up of USAF T-33 instructor pilots at Fürstenfeldbruck AB in the mid-1950s.

 

The "Skyblazers" were the USAF demonstration team representing the United States Air Forces Europe (USAFE) from the late 1940s through the 1950s. This team was formed in early 1949 by a group of 22d Fighter Squadron pilots from the 36th Fighter Wing at Fürstenfeldbruck AB in Germany. At this time they were flying Lockheed F-80B "Shooting Stars." The unit transitioned to the F-84E in 1950, the F-86F in 1955 and the F-100C in 1956. Unlike the Thunderbirds, the Skyblazers seldom appeared outside of the realm of USAFE operations in Europe.

 

The Skyblazers were disbanded in January 1962 when their home squadron was rotated back to the United States and their assigned aircraft transitioned to the F-105 Thunderchief.