WWIII Aircraft Losses: 2 ATAF, Central Front D+0 (9 July, 1987) Part II

2nd Allied Tactical Air Force -Continued Author’s Note: The Luftwaffe air losses for D+0 are missing from this post. They are on a separate flash drive at home. I’m in Florida for a few days so at some point next week I will be sure to post them. Apologies. Belgian Air Force 349 Squadron, Beauvechain …

5 Primary Factors That Contributed To The Soviet/WP Defeat On The Central Front: Operation Dark Comet Part I

Operation Dark Comet was a bolt out of the blue, impacting the Soviet armies and air forces just a handful of hours prior to the start of the Warsaw Pact offensive on the Central Front. It was long accepted as fact on both sides of the Iron Curtain that the Soviets and their Pact allies …

Memories of WWIII: Destination Bitburg Part III

Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Andrew Baker, USAF (Ret.)- “The next morning, Drool (Major Ed Leahy, 27fth TFS operations officer) and I hit the ground running. By first light Drool was busy working out air plans with the Bitburg wing staff and contemporaries from our sister squadrons there. For most of the morning on 5 July, I …

Memories of WWIII: Destination Bitburg Part II

Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Andrew Baker, USAF (Ret.)- “We touched down at Bitburg in the early afternoon of July 4th. Independence Day and a Saturday, though my first impression of the airbase revealed signs of neither. The airbase was a madhouse of activity and drove home how seriously USAFE was taking this crisis. To be frank, …

Memories of WWIII: Destination Bitburg Part I

Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Andrew Baker, USAF (Ret.)- “Around 2000 on July 3, 1987 I received a call at home from my squadron CO. He ordered me to pack a bag and in front of the wing headquarters building at 2100. Fortunately, packing a bag was no big deal. I already had one ready to go …

Memories Of World War III: The Road To War Part III

Lieutenant Colonel Franklin Andrew Baker, USAF (Ret.)-  “When the coup went down in Moscow my squadron was out at Nellis and about to start the second half of a Red Flag rotation. The matter wasn’t talked about much since we had our hands full with the exercise. But in the last couple of days the …

The Central Front D+20 (29 July, 1987) Part IV

General Bill Kirk, USAF was the Commander of Allied Air Forces in Central Europe (COMAAFCE). Thus far, he had run an almost flawless air war, having achieved air superiority and overcome Warsaw Pact advantage in aircraft numbers, as well as the much-vaunted effectiveness of enemy air defenses. That is not to say NATO losses in …

Status of USAF Combat Wings & Squadrons in Europe D+13 (22 July, 1987)

Authors Note: I received at least six "WTF! You did the Army but not the Air Force orders of battle??" themed emails earlier this weekend. In the last one I was referred to as Benedict Arnold by a former squadron mate. So, since I had a bit of free time while recovering, I decided fair …

Air War on the Central Front D+10 (19 July, 1987)

On D+10 2 ATAF (Allied Tactical Air Force) was almost entirely consumed with the land battle raging in the NORTHAG sectors. Maintaining air superiority over the battlefield and providing near-constant close air support for the NATO ground units engaged north and south of Hanover, especially those defending east of the Leine. This day saw a …

Snapshots of War: The First Sortie

On 9 July, 1987, Major Mark Dwyer was an F-15 pilot assigned to the 32nd Tactical Fighter Squadron at Soesterberg Airbase, a USAFE base in the Netherlands. Dwyer, a native of Albany, NY and graduate of Penn State University, was also the operations officer for the 32nd. In addition to their jobs in the cockpit, …