From Air Force Times

 

Barksdale bombers expand B-52 capabilities

Recreation of historic 1938 mission points to future

By John Andrew Prime - The Shreveport Times

Posted : Sunday Aug 26, 2007 13:57:20 EDT

 

Three Barksdale Air Force Base B-52s used a modern twist to a historic mission almost 70 years old to add a dramatic new capability to the bomber’s long list of tricks.

 

Flying almost 10 hours and putting about 3,500 miles under their wings Friday, the trio of veteran bombers pinpointed a specific ship several hundred miles east of Bermuda then spent two hours gathering images and information about it.

 

In May 1938, three B-17 bombers from what was then the 2nd Bomb Group intercepted the Italian cruise liner Rex several hundred miles east of New York City.

 

Friday’s mission, called Rex Redux, quickly found the target, the USNS 2nd Lt. John P. Bobo. The B-52s then electronically shipped intelligence gathered by a targeting pod, called LITENING, to planners on land, who in a war or emergency could have directed the bombers to take further action.

 

The three B-52s represented the range of cooperation involved in transforming LITENING into a cyber-age weapon married to the veteran, versatile and long-range B-52.

 

The mission leader was Lt. Col. Robert Nordberg, of the Air Force Reserve’s 93rd Bomb Squadron, which pioneered the use of LITENING on the B-52. With him was fellow reservist Lt. Col. Bill “Sleepy” Floyd, one of the foremost developers of the system.

 

A second airplane was commanded by Lt. Col. Ricardo Beruvides, of the 49th Test Squadron. The third was under the command of Lt. Col. James Noetzel, of the 2nd Bomb Wing’s 96th Bomb Squadron. The flight marked the active-duty Air Force’s first such use of LITENING.

 

“It was a first-rate mission,” an exultant Col. Robert Wheeler, new head of the 2nd Bomb Wing, said during a briefing that followed the bombers’ return just after 6 p.m. “But this is just a first step.”

 

Hints of future uses for the capabilities proved in Friday’s mission could come from “targets of opportunity” tasks the bombers were given on their leg home. They were sent to give reports on selected targets, from a dam on a lake to an airport parking ramp, exactly the targets terrorists might wish to destroy or that could be damaged in natural disasters.

 

The impetus for the mission came from the highest echelons of the Air Force. Gen. T. Michael Moseley, the service’s chief of staff, suggested the Rex mission of 1938 as a model for a demonstration of the new capabilities of the LITENING/B-52 team.

 

The May 1938 mission caused some furor with other branches of the military, which saw the air strike capability as an assault on entrenched and historic means of defending the nation.

 

“The airmen generated a great deal of heat over the mission,” Moseley wrote of his troops at Barksdale. “But the image was forever burned in the minds of folks.”

On topic, but a bit off. Either way, read what this man did.

 

The President of the United States in the name of The Congress takes pride in presenting the MEDAL OF HONOR posthumously to

 

SECOND LIEUTENANT JOHN P. BOBO

UNITED STATES MARINE CORPS

 

for service as set forth in the following CITATION:

 

For conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty as Weapons Platoon Commander, Company I, Third Battalion, Ninth Marines, Third Marine Division, in Quang Tri Province, Republic of Vietnam, on 30 March 1967. Company I was establishing night ambush sites when the command group was attacked by a reinforced North Vietnamese company supported by heavy automatic weapons and mortar fire. Lieutenant Bobo immediately organized a hasty defense and moved from position to position encouraging the outnumbered Marines despite the murderous enemy fire. Recovering a rocket launcher from among the friendly casualties, he organized a new launcher team and directed its fire into the enemy machine gun position. When an exploding enemy mortar round severed Lieutenant Bobo's right leg below the knee, he refused to be evacuated and insisted upon being placed in a firing position to cover the movement of the command group to a better location. With a web belt around his leg serving as tourniquet and with his leg jammed into the dirt to curtail the bleeding, he remained in this position and delivered devastating fire into the ranks of the enemy attempting to overrun the Marines. Lieutenant Bobo was mortally wounded while firing his weapon into the mainpoint of the enemy attack but his valiant spirit inspired his men to heroic efforts, and his tenacious stand enabled the command group to gain a protective position where it repulsed the enemy onslaught. Lieutenant Bobo's superb leadership, dauntless courage, and bold initiative reflected great credit upon himself and upheld the highest traditions of the Marine Corps and the United States Naval Service. He gallantly gave his life for his country.

 

/S/LYNDON B. JOHNSON

 

 

(Emphasis mine)

That is just amazing. Jammed his stump in the dirt to help his buddies. WOW.

That is just amazing. Jammed his stump in the dirt to help his buddies. WOW.

 

If that doesn't get you MOTIVATED, I do not know what will.

 

Semper Fidelis 2nd Lieutenant Bobo, WHEREVER YOU ARE.

 

 

[talk about a hijacked thread ]

That is just amazing. Jammed his stump in the dirt to help his buddies. WOW.

 

Its nothing that Pete wouldn't do for you, Dewayne.

Of that I have no doubt because he is a Marine. On a side note it got the other Marines I work with all excited as well there were several boot brushes brought out to get that extra little bit of shine because of it