Page 3 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt, Sept. 1 2017

Thunderbolt 70 years of airpower September 2017 3 http://www.luke.af.mil Facebook.com/LukeThunderbolt
The sky was never the limit
IN BRIEF
Retiree Appreciation Day
Retiree Appreciation Day is to acknowledge the service of the veterans in the local metropolitan area, and to inform veterans of the services and activities that are available to them and their dependents. RAD is 8 to 11:30 a.m. Oct. 28 at the Naval Operations Support Center, Bldg. 300, at Luke Air Force Base. (Note: If you are a retiree without a current or valid ID card, you may gain access to this event by obtaining a visitors pass at South Gate Visitor’s Center and new ID cards will be issued at the Naval Operational Support Center (NOSC) during the day of the event.)
Flightline feasts
The September flightline feast is 11:30 a.m. Sept. 7 and is an Asian theme. The October flightline feast is 5:30 p.m. Oct. 5 and is an Oktoberfest theme. Both meals will take place behind Hangar 914.
Health fair
The 56th Medical Group is hosting Launch Into Health, a health fair, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Oct. 6 at Club Five Six. MDG is partnering with TRICARE network providers to share health information. Active-duty service members, family members, and TRICARE beneficiaries who receive medical care from the 56th MDG are invited. Admission is free and includes healthy cooking demos, flu shots, static displays, educational preventive screenings, healthy lifestyle information as well as entertainment for children. Free health screenings will focus on blood pressure, heart rate, height/weight, body fat, fitness and nutrition. Participants can complete a “preflight health checklist” and become eligible to win prizes.
Invisible wounds of war
The Invisible Wounds of War peer support group is noon to 1 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesday of the month in the Barcelona Room in Club Five Six. The group is open to active- duty, retirees and veterans who have combat trauma related concerns. This group is not affiliated with the mental health clinic and is meant to be a place where people can feel free to openly communicate with people they can relate to without fear of impacting their career or gaining a mental health stigma. For more information, call Ken Turner at 623-693-8537.
Munitions storage area closure
The 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron Munitions Stor- age Area will be closed Sept. 8 through 15 to conduct a 100-per- cent munitions inventory. Only emergency issues will be handled during this time. The last time and date for munitions turn-ins or issues is 4 p.m. Sept. 7. Normal operations will resume Sept. 16. For more information, call Tech. Sgt. Alex Dillman at 623- 856-5899 or Staff Sgt. Lewis Hudgings at 623-856-8479.
Marriage retreat
The 56th Fighter Wing Chapel is featuring an OXYGEN Seminar, which helps couples learn to become happier and improves their relationship. The seminar is 6 p.m. Friday to noon Sunday Sept. 22 through 24 at Poco Diablo Resort, 1752 State Route 179, Sedona, AZ 86339. To register, go to www. strongerfamilies.com/events. For more information, call Derek VanderMolen at 623-856-3507.
Only Tacos
“Only Tacos” reopens the first week of October, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, at the front of the Luke Air Force Base Exchange main entrance serving carne asada and chicken adobada tacos and green chile cream sauce. Taco bowls, gringas and combinations are also served.
FitFamilies Laser Tag
The 56th Force Support Squadron Youth Center is featuring a private FitFamilies Laser Tag event 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 17 at Laser Quest-Phoenix for youth, ages 5 and up. The cost is $5 per person and includes finger foods, drinks, equipment and door prizes. A parent must accompany children. Register by Sept. 8 at the youth center. For more information, or to sign up, call 623-856-7471.
FitFamilies Little Gym
The 56th FSS Youth Center is featuring a parent/child
For more than a century, the U.S. Air Force has defended this country in the air, space and cyberspace through the skill and the bravery of American Airmen.
• 1903 - 1911: The dawn of the
new century witnessed man take to the air for the first time in a heavier-than-air powered aircraft conceived and flown by two Ohio bicycle salesmen. Their maiden flight on that cold, windy December day in 1903, and the subsequent decade of innovation that followed, would help put the U.S. on a course to become the most powerful, most advanced country in the world.
• 1912 - 1939: For centuries, war was reserved for the battlefields and the high seas. But when the war to end all wars broke out in Europe on July 28, 1914, the once-peaceful skies would quickly know the ravages of manned conflict. Soon, fixed-wing aircraft would be conducting ground at- tacks and taking part in aerial dogfights with the U.S. poised to take the lead.
• 1940 - 1945: The Second World War would draw more than 30 countries and all the world’s superpowers into the deadli- est conflict in human history. There was no battleground more vital to victory than the sky above. Beginning with Ja- pan bombing Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, and ending with the U.S. dropping two atomic bombs
on Japanese cities almost four years later, the skies became the ultimate high ground.
• 1946 - 1949: It was a time of rela- tive peace, but not idle times. The lessons learned during the global conflict of WWII propelled the U.S. to push the envelope of what was possible both technologically and organizationally, includ- ing the separation of the Air Force into its own branch of the military. In the process, the U.S. became a leading superpower.
• 1950 - 1953: When war broke out between North and South Korea, the United States once again found itself thrust into an international conflict thousands of miles from home. Backed by China and the Soviet Union, North Korea was on the brink of victory when America entered the fray and turned the tide. The war ultimately ended in a stale- mate, but the U.S. reconfirmed its role as a global military power.
• 1954 - 1964: The decade that separated the Korean and Viet- nam wars bore witness to many achievements of the human spirit. Suddenly the skies were no longer high enough, as man began reaching for the stars. Air- men continued to test the bound- aries of the human body by flying faster and higher and longer than anyone had ever traveled before.
• 1965 - 1973: The battle to halt the spread of communism drew the U.S. back to Southeast Asia once more and into a conflict unlike any other. Over the course of the campaign, the importance of air superiority and the use of new tactics and more sophisticated weapons systems would forever change the way wars are fought.
• 1974 - 1989: After nearly a decade of fighting an unpopular war overseas, the Air Force experi- enced an era of relative peace that saw new breakthroughs in technology and service. In the years that followed the Vietnam
Courtesy photo
Avengers fly in formation Septem- ber 1942 over Norfolk, Va.
War, the many contributions by women and minorities in the Air Force were being recognized and new opportunities were being opened.
• 1990 - 1999: As the 20th century came to a close, the U.S. cement- ed its role as the most advanced Air Force in the world with its display of air power during the liberation of Kuwait, the activa- tion of the GPS system and the launching of the first unmanned aerial vehicle, which would once again change the way battles are fought from the skies.
• 2000 - present: Shortly after the world celebrated the birth of a new century, the U.S. would be plunged into its longest war ever after it was attacked on Sept. 11, 2001. The war on terror would be an ongoing conflict against an enemy without traditional borders, and we would see the emergence of unmanned aerial vehicles as a dominant player in the Air Force’s air attack.
Courtesy of airforce.com
THUNDERBOLT ALMANAC
Fiscal 2017 graduates
21st FS (calendar year).................................. 8 61st FS .......................................................... 39 62nd FS......................................................... 47 63rd FS ........................................................... 0 69th FS ........................................................... 0 309th FS ....................................................... 45 310th FS ....................................................... 49 311th FS ....................................................... 42
314th FS ...................................................... 30 425th FS (calendar year) ............................... 7 550th FS ...................................................... 45 56th TRS ...................................................... 42 607th ACS.................................................. 210 372nd TRS, Det. 12 ................................... 667 944th OG, Det. 2 .......................................... 13
Hours flown F-35 9,240.1
Sorties flown 6,072
F-16 14,934.4
(As of July 31, 2017)
10,977
T-Bolts
Deployed around the world.
209 Luke Airmen are deployed to 15 locations
See BRIEFS, Page 16