Tales of the 55th

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jason Haag
  • 55th Wing Public Affairs
OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. --  Stressing the importance of the 55th Wing's history to its future, Brig. Gen. John N.T. Shanahan, 55th Wing commander, kicked off the 11th annual Tales of the 55th celebration April 9 at the James M. McCoy Airman Leadership School here.

"We do not know who we are until we understand where we came from. And only by knowing where we came from, can we figure out where we need to go as an organization," said General Shanahan.

The event, which was held in conjunction with the 55th Wing Heritage Week, was put on by the 55th Wing Association. The tales was started by retired Lt. Col. Robb Hoover as a way for veterans of the 55th Wing to relate their personal experiences to former and current wing members.

"Tales is a time to reflect on the heritage of our great wing all the way back to the 55th Fighter Group," said retired Col. Jim Thomas, 55th Wing Association president and emcee for the event.

This year's speakers included Colonel Thomas, Hank Dubuy, retired Lt. Col. Jeff Needham, all former members of the 55th Wing, and Maj. Ross Bullock, 45th Reconnaissance Squadron.

"I'm humbled and honored to be in the presence of many of those in the room who flew these sorties and lived these tales that we're going to talk about this evening," said General Shanahan.

The first "tale" was presented by Colonel Thomas, who relived a 55th Fighter Group mission from World War II where a group of P-51 Mustangs encountered six German "Mistel" combination aircraft over the Elbe River. The combinations consisted of a fighter attached to a medium bomber underneath. The 55th P-51s made sure the German pilots were not successful.

"I don't know what the target was they were going to, but it didn't get struck (that) day, because the Fightin' 55th was there," Colonel Thomas said.

After taking the audience back to WW II, Colonel Thomas introduced Mr. Dubuy, who was a RB-47H copilot in 1965, during the heart of the Cold War.

While flying a reconnaissance mission out of Yokota Air Base, Japan over the Sea of Japan, then Lt. Dubuy's aircraft came under attack by North Korean Mig fighters. The 55th aircraft took heavy enemy fire, while Lt. Dubuy returned fire from the tail gun, which he controlled.

"While I didn't know it at the time, the aircraft ended up being severely damaged. Three engines ended up either failing or being shut down from fuel leaks," Mr. Dubuy said.

Mr. Dubuy told the audience how his crew worked together analyzing the damage and devised a strategy to land the damaged aircraft at Yokota. After one failed approach, they managed to land the RB-47H safely with only three working engines despite the aircraft being nose heavy because of the loss of fuel from the rear main tank.

From the Cold War to today, the next tale of the 55th presented was from Colonel Needham, who was part of a 55th crew that was flying reconnaissance missions in the Mediterranean area in August of 1987. On Aug. 12, Colonel Needham and the rest of the crew were returning to their hotel from a mission. The crew was riding in an unmarked bus when a car bomb detonated near them, injuring the 10 people on the bus, including the driver. A female servicemember who was on leave and happened to be walking in the area was also struck by debris, which caused her injuries.

"The blast was pretty amazing. It threw us around on the bus. Because it was summer in Athens, it was about 95 degrees that day and most of us were just dressed in shorts and T-shirts. So there was a lot of exposed skin and the glass and metal found most of that," Colonel Needham said.

After the bus came to a stop, the crew got off, accounted for everyone and then made the remaining trip to the hotel on foot. Once they arrived at the hotel, they met with medics who treated them and police who took their statements, Colonel Needham said.

History lessons from events such as this terrorist attack are important as people continue to travel and deploy to spots around the world, Colonel Needham said.

"We go to a lot of places around the world where people don't like us. I think we go to more places now than we ever have in the past, and those places can be dangerous. It's always important to have your wits about you when you're out and about," Colonel Needham added.

After some door prizes were given out, the final "tale" of the 11th edition of Tales of the 55th was told by Major Bullock. His presentation was about how the 55th Wing responded after the 9/11 terrorists attacks.

Major Bullock was chief of wing tactics here in September 2001 and part of the initial team that deployed to set up operations in the Afghanistan theater. Immediately upon arrival at a bare base, his team went to work.

"We started right then building a base. Where we originally camped out wasn't more than a garage, think something about the size of the (Offutt) new shoppette. From there, we started our operation," Major Bullock said.

"We (had) every crack maintenance guy that Offutt could provide, they came from all the squadrons. These guys were amazing. We had a 100 percent sortie rate in September, October, November and December. Every single sortie flew," he said.

After establishing operations from the bare base, the 55th Wing went on to be an integral part of the effort as Operation Enduring Freedom kicked off.

"We had true freedom of movement and were able to keep an eye on anybody we needed to, and that is still going on to this day. It's pretty neat that we were a part of that," Major Bullock said.

After Major Bullock's presentation, it was time to close this year's edition of the Tales of the 55th with a final toast.

"To all the deployed warriors of the Fightin' Fifty-Fifth who are now on the front lines around the globe defending our freedom, so that we may have more tales of the 55th," Colonel Thomas concluded.