The Eagle Monthly Special points of interest: Detachment 475! Lead Lab Recaps Plane of the Month Thoughts of an IMT Greetings all around! It has been a good run and a great year. We have accomplished so much and should all be proud. As we part ways for the summer, a small recap and a little closure would go a long way in helping things end on a high note. So for the last time I ask that you read on and see what we have been up to! Good Luck! A salutation to all, FTP s in particular! You have all put so much into the program and have given everything to be where you are now. Now your journey has come to a junction where you must test all you have learned. On behalf of us all, we wish you good luck! Activities! Day Away: Multiple Days Away as it more realistically should be called, was a blast! Early morning PT sessions, GLP exercises and warrior knowledge sprinkled on top made for an authentic AFROTC experience. We performed, and I dare say, outperformed the other schools at this event. This is what we do, and this is how well we do everything. Commander s Call: Nothing is more entertaining, and at the same time more informative than SSgt. Padilla giving a safety briefing. Laughs were had and commendations were given. A good finish; the Commander s Call lab was a great way to end this semester. Good luck on finals and have a great summer! Article of the Month For those of you who do not know, a competition is taking place for cadets who have submitted articles for the Eagle Monthly! They need your vote to win. Go to: https://www.facebook.com/ theeaglesnest475 to vote for the best article this month. {An Eagle} {Cadet Enos Saluting at the SPEED OF EXCELLENCE}
Looking Out the Door This is an interesting point I've come to at the end of my freshmen year. I have a full year of experience with the AFROTC program and yet in terms of both knowledge and experience, I can tell that I have seen only the tip of a gargantuan iceberg. As the year draws to a close, I feel a strange mix of sensations observing both what is happening in the near future for myself and what is happening for others within the detachment. This state of mind is hard to describe, although many may share this feeling. The closest equivalency I can come up with goes back to my 18th birthday present. As a gift for my 18th birthday, I was given the opportunity to go skydiving. 10,000 feet was the height of the jump. I had to sit through a fourty-five minute briefing legally signing my life away in the event something should happen. The sen- Patriotism and Popcorn! Adapted from a book published in 1961 by Joseph Heller, "Catch -22" is a 1970 film Starring Alin Arkin. It is about a WWII pilot named Captain John Yossarian in the Mediterranean theatre. The film is a black-comedy, and like the book, is a critique of the many manifestations of the abuse of power; the context of the time of publication being McCarthyism. The title itself offers a synopsis of the book through its definition. A "Catch-22" is a self-contradictory piece of circular logic in which the only solution is made impossible by either a condition inherent to the original problem, or a rule made thereafter. Contextually, one of the catches in the movie and book states "that agents enforcing Catch-22 need not prove that Catch-22 actually contains whatever provision the accused violator is accused of violating," and as stated later on by an old woman. "Catch- 22 says they have a right to do anything we can't stop them from doing." The movie and book, although pieces of fiction, are a grim reminder of the very real and tempting potential to abuse power. As a member of the Air Force, I find "Catch-22" See page 3 to be a vital piece in realizing a number of things about leadership. First, I have learned from it that the enemy, though we may want them to, may not distinguish themselves with a separate uniform, and that as leaders, we must be aware that they may surface among us. Second, I have learned that power is inherently a "Catch-22" in which powerful people can oppress in subjugate those who are powerless. It is See page 3 {Cadet Hart trembles with excitement!} {Catch-22 by Joseph Heller} Page 2
Looking Out the Door continued... sation I am remembering comes from the moment when we had reached the height of our climb in a rickety twinprop aircraft and I'm being called up first to jump. I had an instructor strapped to my back, but as I gazed out the window, to me he was not there. I was standing on the edge of a shaking ledge off a drop that would end catastrophically should even something small go wrong. Even if I survive that error, I will have no one to blame but myself. Of course the instructor was actually still at my back. I would soon jump and the thrill of that fall would immediately supersede whatever anxiety I had just felt. To draw the parallels, I look to where I am now. I have received my instruction over the past year and I have signed many papers. I will be expected to perform next year as an FTP. Though I have an amazing group of fellow cadets and distinguished cadre, at the moment of the jump, I can still feel that tension building in my stomach as I wait for the countdown. I know I will do fine, and I am excited to jump, other- wise I wouldn't be here. I know those around me are all willing and ready to help but in this moment, while my breath is held, I am bare with not but a parachute and no margin for error. In the end I am actually excited for FTP year to start so I can stop being anxious and start performing. There is nothing left to do but jump. {Proof of my story} Patriotism and Popcorn continued... up to leaders, those in power to restrict themselves from abusing power to their own gains. Third and finally is that all other morals are based on the concept that life is sacred, and without it, no other morals can be justified. As a leader in the armed forces of the United States, it must then be my duty then to protect life and only take it when necessary, so as to ensure that Page 3 we may remain a moral society. I highly recommend both the movie and the book. "Catch-22" is a difficult read and the movie may be easier to follow for some but from both an educational and entertainment standpoint, it is a great use of time. {A poster for the movie adaptation as directed by Mike Nichols
The Eagle Monthly Plane of the Month The plane I want to discuss served the United States Army Air Force in the waning months of World War II, and then in the Korean War under the newly formed United States Air Force. Conceived and designed as a four -engine, high-altitude bomber, B-29 "Superfortress" derived its name from its predecessor, the B-17 "Flying Fortress". The Boeing Model 335, was a submitted design to meet the USAAF's requirement for a bomber that could deliver a 20,000 lb payload 2,667 mi to a target while having the capability to fly at 400 mph. Boeing's model won and was given the designation XB-29, which later became B-29 once the planes entered service. The cost of development and production of the B-29 rivaled that of the "Manhattan Project", which was still an intensely guarded secret at the time. Originally operating out of bases in China and then from islands within striking distance of Japan, the B-29 served almost exclusively in the Pacific theatre. Introduced on May 8th, 1944, the B-29 was capable in wartime of reaching an altitude of 31,850 ft. and maintain a speed of 350 mph at that maximum elevation. This protected it from Japanese A6M Zeros and ground base artillery as it was quite difficult to reach the bombers at that altitude. The Superfortress initially began with high-altitude, day-time explosiveordinance sorties over Japanese industrial centers, the USAF switched over to lower-altitude, night-time firebomb raids which improved bomb accuracy and increased devastation on the largely wooden cities of mainland Japan. In the famous "Firebombing of Tokyo" and subsequent fires, estimates ranging between 100,000 and 300,000 casualties and over 300,000 buildings destroyed showed the effectiveness of this tactic. As it was the only type of plane capable, the B-29 was put down in history as the first and only plane to drop nuclear weapons on enemy soil. The Enola Gay, armed with the 9,700 lb "Little Boy" Uranium-based bomb dropped its payload over {Artists rendition of the B-29} Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. The Bockscar armed with the 10,300 lb. "Fat Man" Plutoniumbased explosive, bombed Nagasaki on August 9. The crews of both bombers were kept in the dark about the nature of the payload until after the bombs were dropped. These bombings were intended to force a Japanese surrender, preventing an inevitably bloody land invasion to subdue the country. After WWII, the B -29 served in a strategicbombing as well as nightraid/interdiction role during the Korean War from 1950 to 1953. Its age began to show as it could See page 5 Page 4
The Eagle Monthly Plane of the Month continued... not compete with jet propelled aircraft, foe and friend alike. Losing roles to successors like the B-36 Peacemaker, B-47 Stratojet, and B-52 Stratofortress, the B-29 and its main variants were phased out of service during the 1960's. The B-29 is a silver -plated reminder of the capabilities of American Ingenuity. From pressurized cabins, to atomic payloads, its resume shows our ability to take great strides in technology, and sew unparalleled destruction. If you are interested in sharing your article, submitting pictures for next month s edition of the Eagle Monthly, or having the issue emailed to friends and family please contact one of the cadets listed below! Cadet Bradbury Hart bah11@wildcats.unh.edu Page 5