To show you how things changed when the "wall" came down. When I started they were at Fairchild, Guam, Mather, March, Carswell, Blytheville, GForks, Minot, Barksdale, Grissom, KI Sawyer, Wurtsmith, Loring, Griffiss, Warner Robins,Ellsworth,....think thats it. Only H models now (last one built 1963) and only Minot and BAD.:geauxtige
That was your daughter? That is just THE coolest thing ever. Did you see Brees on TV when he saw it? Gosh, does she have autographed pictures? (I know a lot of people don't know how much things have changed for females but let me just say this: I was held after school in the 7th grade for saying I wanted to be a sports photographer. They wouldn't let me go home until I said, "journalist." 1970) Best of luck to you and thanks for sharing.
I was in Bossier one day in the late 60's when the Cold War was in full bloom and they scrambled the wing in a drill. There were dozens of B-52's and tankers taking off at intervals of 30 seconds or so blowing black smoke and being very loud. Almost as soon as they got airborne they all fanned out and got separation. It was very impressive . . . and a little scary. The townsfolk didn't know if it was another drill or The Big One.
I was in AFRES flying C-130's at Maxwell AFB, We did some combat training sorties with A-10's, I believe they were out of Barksdale. Could that have been you?
I had a cousin that lived just outside the fence on the north end of the runway close to the where the alert bombers sat. We would sit outside and listen for the sirens alerting a drill or whatever and watch the pilots run to the planes and take off just like you are talking about. Definitely an awesome sight. B52's, KC135's, and KC10's blasting down the runway! This was the early 70's. Not sure the KC10's were there at that time. May have just been the 52's and 135's. The KC10's were there during the 80's for sure. I had a friend at school whose dad was a pilot in the KC10's.
They were part of the training for the KC135 crews, I believe. Altus was also a training center for C5A navigators as I recall (it's been 40 years). Now, that was a big airplane.
Great Post TCUTiger. Thank you for your family's service to our Country. You must be proud of your Daughter. This turned into a great thread to read through. Thank you.
C5's are huge!!! They look like they are going to fall out of the sky when they take off. They look like the are going too slow to remain airborne.
I know I am few days late TCUTiger but want to throw in my congrats too. This is the thread of the week in my opinion. I grew up in Bossier and our neighborhood was just south of Barksdale. As kids, we would go to Mike Wood park and watch the planes. The thunder of those B-52's was always the best.
