Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 60, Number 173, Decatur, Adams County, 24 July 1962 — Page 4

PAGE FOUR

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With Criaii at Hand Mobilized Air National Guard Outfits Proved ‘Ready Now!’ a Valid Slogan

WASHINGTON, D. O—Two yean ago Air National Guard units adopted the slogan, “Ready Now!" But it took the threat <rf a war and a partial mobilization to prove thia to the public. Fer years, Air Guard Fight-er-Interceptor squadrons had been flying five-minute alert missions for the Air Defense Command. Last year alone they performed nearly 20,000 intercepts of unidentified aircraft. More recently, Air Guard C-97 Stratofreighter units bad taken over heavy cargo assignments under the Military Air Transport Service (MATS), a mission that has taken Guardsmen to the far corners of the earth. These units, both Fighter-Interceptor and Heavy Transport, were performing duty in State status; yet, in each case, they were flying missions identical to those of the active U. S. Air Force and under Air Force control. But in spite of this record, the nation was largely unprepared for the events that took place following President Kennedy’s activation of 22,000 Air Guardsmen last fait In July, with the Berlin Crisis growing almost daily, the President told the world be was planning to order into active duty a number of Air National Guard (ANG) air transport and tactical air •quadrons, “to give us the airlift capacity and protection wu may need.* . On October Ist most of these units were called. The six C-97 Air Transport Squadrons immediately expanded to full strength and went into business on a full-time basis. I With the Tactical Fighter ■quadrons, it was another matter. We needed tactical air support for our NATO ground forces in Europe and we needed ft tn a hurry. And this support had to come from the Air Guard. The world was ■tanned at the swiftness with which ft earns. I Barely a month after their Call-up, these Guardsmen were “on location”—in France, in Germany, and in Spain—and wen engaged in the performance of routine missions. They bad merely flown more than ’tOO jet aircraft across the Atlantic in the largest mass deployment of planes since World War 111

ROM THE PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE!© THE PEOPLE: r* *1 am planning to order into i active duty a number of air transport K squadrons and Air National Guard |fl;.'/ tactical air squadrons to give us the airlift capacity and protection Sfli” we may need." JOHN F. KENNEDY IB President of the United States fl July 25, IMI H

ON THE ALERT in France. Pilots, bombs and jets—these are the ingredients of last fall’s fantastically successful mobilization of 22,000 fully trained Air National Guardsmen for the Berlin crisis. Within a month of their callup, these Guardsmen were flying vital tactical missions throughout Europe in support of NATO ground forces.

These men had little or no overwater flying experience, and they were called upon to fly across the North Atlantic in wintery weather. Because of range limitations of their aircraft, it was necessary for them to fly via the Azores and via the Greenland-Iceland-Scotland routes, each calling for highly skilled navigation and control techniques. And they made it without an accident. Then, on November 1, three Fightef-Interceptor squadrons were called to duty. The “Island-Hopping” technique of the Tactical Fighter squadrons was beyond the capabilities of relatively short-range supersonic F-104 ’s. So they disassembled their planes, loaded them into huge transports, and within only ten days these units were operating out of their overseas bases. Never before had a reserve component performed such remarkable feats and never before had such praise been forthcoming. Usually sparing of compliments General Curtis E. LeMay, Air Force Chief of Staff, perhaps best expressed the general reaction when he said: “AH obstacles were overcome by ingenuity and determination in spite of the extremely short preparation

time available. The end result of the safe and expeditious arrival of the fighters should be a source of great pride to all who had a part in the operation. “I wish to offer my congratulations for the outstanding manner in which this difficult and vitally important task was successfully accomplished.” This spirit of professionalsim continued to amaze observers as the mobilized units integrated into the active Air Force and settled down to the nerve racking and sometimes back-breaking labor of keeping the peace. At Ramstein Air Base in Germany the regulars grinned wryly at the “week-end warriors” from Tennessee and Arizona who were flying the F-104 Starfighters. But they soon learned to respect them when radar observers reported that these men were able to get their jets into the air and to the Iron Curtain border on training missions so fast that the Communist jets were often unable to react. Red planes were barely off the ground when the F-104’s were already „ on the way back to home bases. — : They demonstrated their professionalism again last May, when the 151st FighterInterceptor squadron from Nashville, Tenn., broke the Air Force-wide record for the number of flying hours in the F-104 during a given month. They flew their 1400-mph Starfighters more than 836 hours, exceeding the old USAF mark by more than 100. This achievement of maintenance and operation was made even more significant by the fact that the 151st was • equipped with only 18 air--4 craft —7 short of normal, f Now, as these squadrons are returning home, the nation knows that “READY NOW” is more than a slogan. It is a fact of life that the Air Guard i lives proudly with every day.

THE DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT, DECATUR, INDIANA

HOW THE GUARD STRENGTHENS AMERICA » Organized to represent the most powerful reserve forces that have ever been available to U. S. military planners, today’s National Guard still retains its “grass roots’’ identity. Army and Air National Guard units are situated in 2,600 U. S. communities. Every Guard unit has as its primary concern a combat or a support mission. Most of the National Guard is in “training” status. All training today is at the unit level, which means that Guard units can concentrate on advance development of teamwork. This has been made possible largely by the fact that all new members of the Guard must complete six months training in the Active Army. This has enabled the Guard to get out of the basic training business. Part of the Guard is “operational” at all times, filling a vital role in the Air Defense program. Both Army and Air Guardsmen are in this important mission across the nation. On the Army side, the Guard maintains a large number of fully operational NIKE air defense missile sites, guarding key industrial complexes and population centers from coast to coast, including Hawaii. Soon these Guards-! men, who have been equipped with the NIKE-AJAX, will be reequipped with the newer and more deadly NIKE-HERCULES. This conversion program is already in progress. Guardsmen are at these NIKE sites around the clock, ready to open fire should an enemy air attack ever materialize. Air Guard fighter squadrons assigned to the Air Defense Command fulfill a similar vital mission. Designed squadrons on “runway alert” can put jet interceptors into the skies on short order. Practice alerts keep flight and ground crews on their toes. Dispersed from coast to coast, from Hawaii to Puerto Rico and from Alaska to the Rio Grande, the National Guard is also' a vital element in America’s ability to make rapid recovery from nuclear attack should an aggressor strike. Keeps Taxes Down These troubled times require that we maintain forces at a high degree of readiness. This costs money. Our Defense budget now stands at a record peacetime high —so it is fairly obvious that every avenue of savings is an important one. High as it is, the budget for Defense would have to be a lot higher were it not for an effective National Guard system. This system provides troop units available for a rapid build-up of both the Army and the Air Force, thereby modifying to a conciderable extent what would otherwise be the need to support a huge, full-time activeduty military establishment. It has been estimated that the cost of maintaining a Guardsman —including his weekly drill pay, his uniforms and his equipment—is approximately one-sixth that of his active-duty counterpart. There is little cost involved in maintaining a Guardsman at a high degree of readiness, in relation to his contributon to our military power. The immediate result of this is more trained manpower in readiness for fewer tax dollars. Or, put another way this provides for more than be diverted to other defense requirements, such as added research and development, without cutting into manpower or call for any possible emergency. With reference to the role the National Guard was called upon to play in the “limited mobilization” of 1961 when President John F. Kennedy called for a quick build-up of conventional warfare forces, a leading U. S. military writer stated it was regarded by the Army as an “impressive performance” on the part of National Guardsmen and other reserves. The writer added his own impression that “more than impressive, jt is downright comforting” Tn the New York Times, an editorial called attention to the overseas deployment of Air Guard fighter squadrons. “For weekend warriors, less than a month away from an office desk, a flight across the ocean in the cockpit of a singleseater fighter, is in space vernacular, ‘A-OK’ even in this age of foreshortened geography.” Even in the framework of the “limited mobilization” the National Guard was able to live up to the claim that every dollar spent on it does double duty. It buys two organizations! for the price of one. First, a military combat team ready now for service in any kind of widespread national crisis; second, a highly mobile and well-dis- I presed force available for rapid deployment ui emergencies short of all-out armed conflict. k „ " '

Welcome Home, Guardsmen With some 66,000 Army and Air National Guardsmen coming off active duty in the weeks ahead, It is appropriate that we now take stock of the truly remarkable job that these citizen-soldiers have accomplished since their callup last October for the Berlin crisis. Perhaps the most significant accomplishment of the callup was voiced by Sen. Henry M. Jackson of Washington when he said: "This is the first time that a President has been able to use the military power presented by our reserve program to achieve a forign policy objective." What this means is that for the first time in our history, our reserve forces were at a high enough level of readiness to represent an immediate show of force when they were called to active duty. No amount of publicity over the so-called "gripes ' during the early stages of the mobilization can overshadow this fact. The highlight of the Air Guard mobilization was the greatest overseas deployment of jet fighters in our history. Within one month of their recall last October 1, combatready pilots of the Air Guard flew more than 200 jets from their home communities to bases in Europe and immediately began operations. This was an unprecedented accomplishment and certain-

' I SI aSHKIiIt SfM ' i ■ H * ™ iiis * ■ TWWBMMte B J *2&IsO*a«WBBBEt-j .-Bi ■**3l tiSilC j M’* - l -iTi <ll vjBJ * ■ II L**r« 1 KI ■H W .rtrtRPW i M “ MWllIfeIR TlWWl' ’’■Ss O t -A- m ; MM ' msS PrUßffwSl READY NOW! ' '' '' -' - f: - 1 '. ') , j This is the “Wall of Shame.” With tons of concrete and | and job to answer the challenge.., and answer it they I reels of barbed wire, the Communists again attempted to | did! We are proud to pay tribute ta the citizen-soldiers ! push back the frontiers of freedom in the summer of j of the National Guard whose readiness status enabled us ' 1961. But once again, free men willingly left home, family < to meet this critical situation head-on.- successfully. ' Welcome Home! ’ i \ / NATIONAL GUARDSMEN MBk xft OPEN 8:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. DAILY Except Sunday PLENTY of FREE PARKING 622 N. 13th Street

ly e.tabll.h.» th. Air Guar< d-bn * Wng a "ready naw" c<>mb<|t £hkj«-th. 32nd Infantry of Wi»con»in and th. 49th Armored of T«x«were called to active duty and < J * Kla ;’ d 1 ” > r X*^ y ° n ready after only three month, of actual »« , "'"9- And op February 15, both divltlon* were aligned to th. Army, elite, fa.t-movlng Strategic Army Corp.. Thia allowed the immediate movement of 40,000 active Army troop, ov.r.ear , When you .top to cop.lder that It would have taken the active Army and Air Fere, at lea.t a year to build comparable fore., from .cratch, you begin to get an Idea of th. importance of thi. callup. , What are the condition, that we can draw from the events of the past year? . Fir.t, it ha. become apparent that the National Guard system i. able to adapt lt.elf to the changing requirement, of 20th century warfare and contribute .Ignlflcantly to our overall defense strocture. , Second, in spite of »ome early complaint, last tall, the individual Guard«men responded magnificently. In the face of obvious hardships, they were anxiou. to get on with the job of whipping their unit, into shape. And finally, this mobilization should be a lesson to us all that the only way to prevent a war is to let the enemy know we are prepared to fight one if necessary.