{"id":3497,"date":"2016-10-16T22:24:36","date_gmt":"2016-10-17T02:24:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/?p=3497"},"modified":"2016-12-09T20:41:11","modified_gmt":"2016-12-10T01:41:11","slug":"kincheloe-air-force-base-sac-time-tales-of-a-mechanic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/ss.sites.mtu.edu\/mhugl\/2016\/10\/16\/kincheloe-air-force-base-sac-time-tales-of-a-mechanic\/","title":{"rendered":"Kincheloe Air Force Base SAC Time \u2013 Tales of a Mechanic"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
B-52H Bomber which is the update to the B-52G which were assigned to Kincheloe AFB.\u00a0<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kincheloe\u00a0Air Force Base was heavily involved in providing B-52 Bombers to patrol the world over to protect the US from enemies abroad by projecting military influence.\u00a0 The mechanics who worked on these flying fortresses had the incredible task of taking a self-damaging piece of flight-ware and repairing it to flight\u00a0capacity within a turnaround that could range to limits as small as twenty-four hours. \u00a0These turn-around times were utilized to allow continuous flights of B-52 Bombers around the globe to function as a deterrence for foreign aggression, primarily in this instance from Russia due to the Cold War.<\/span><\/p>\n

Kinross Air Force Base was reactivated as a United States Air Force controlled station on\u00a0July 1st 1952 when the outbreak of the Cold War began in earnest. \u00a0Kinross AFB was located in Chippewa County, south of Sault St. Marie which has the honor of having the Soo Locks located within the immediate vicinity.\u00a0 During World War II the Soo Locks were considered essential\u00a0to the war efforts which drove selection of the\u00a0Kinross Auxiliary Airfield in 1941\u00a0as a strategic location in the defense of the United States borders and assets. \u00a0The airfield at that time was controlled by\u00a0the United States Army. \u00a0After which in 1945 it was lent to civilian aviation interests after WWII ended. \u00a0After the return of control to the United States Air Force in 1952, the base was built up to provide a fighter-interceptor base of operations. \u00a0In 1959 the base was renamed to Kinchloe Air Force Base for Captain Ivan Kinchloe who was the first pilot to exceed 100,000ft up to\u00a0126,200ft. \u00a0Captain Kinchloe was born in Cassopolis, Michigan [4].<\/span><\/p>\n

A Debate For The Decades<\/h4>\n

A notable occurrence during the deterrence effort was on the date of November 22, 1963.\u00a0 The date John F. Kennedy died. \u00a0His death was no mere accident, he was assassinated by a lone gunman who, firing his three shots, places two within the body of President Kennedy and a single round within Governor Connally. \u00a0This took place in Dallas, Texas where the late President was conducting a campaign trip for the upcoming 1964 election. \u00a0This day lived on in infamy, having burned its way into many Americans hearts. \u00a0A common discussion topic living to this day is a question of what you were doing during those tragic hours\u2019 post-assassination when you found out Kennedy was shot. \u00a0A striking parallel to both today’s common question along the same thread for 9\/11, and the attack on Pearl Harbor.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was during Kennedy’s assassination\u00a0that Robert J. Lackey was hunting in the forest, only to return to Kincheloe to find the base placed on lockdown and in high alert.\u00a0 During the subsequent seven-day period the B-52G Bombers were kept with one engine running, this method allowing for the other engines to start with hot oil rather than cold oil, which decreased the time taken for engine start up.\u00a0 Along with the engines the flight chief was kept on board while\u00a0the crew slept and lived in the mole holes (officially termed Readiness Crew Buildings)\u00a0on the edge of the alert ramp.\u00a0 To paraphrase Robert Lackey, if another country would have so much as sneezed in those days, they would have ceased to exist.<\/span><\/p>\n

Robert Lackey joined the United States Air Force in January of 1963 just ten months before the assassination. \u00a0This was Lackey’s first military experience; he would eventually go on to enlist into to Army where he would serve additional time in the military. \u00a0After an eight-week experience at Lackland Air Force Base located in Bexar County, Texas, Lackey would head to Chanute Air Force Base in Illinois for his Advanced Individual Training on the topic of instrumentation for aircraft. \u00a0He spent the months of March through May at Chanute, in total a term of eleven weeks for AIT. \u00a0Armed with his new knowledge of aviation instrumentation Lackey was sent back north to a location very near his home town of Newberry Michigan, which is approximately 60 miles away from Kincheloe Air Force Base, the location of station for Lackey before, during and after the assassination.<\/span><\/p>\n

The B-52 Mechanics Life<\/h4>\n

The maintenance required by a B-52G consists of refitting nearly every engine once touchdown occurs.\u00a0 It was not unheard of for multiple engines on the eight engine platform to go out mid-flight due to vibrations disconnecting or breaking\u00a0necessary internal parts which would have to be repaired by a ground crew.\u00a0 Engines would be removed from the plane and replaced by a refitted engine from short term storage.\u00a0 The plane would then be sent back up and flown for another twenty-four hours, return for twenty-four to be repaired, then the cycle would repeat. \u00a0The main problem with the engine design during this time was for an oil pressure sensor located directly on the engine frame. \u00a0The threading of the measurement tool onto the mounting point was designed exceedingly poorly to handle the vibrational strain caused by the average use of the airframe. \u00a0The cyclical strain pattern on the part caused metal fatigue to build up within the connection point to where the component would break off and allow for the oil it was directly measuring to flow out of the engine. \u00a0This would force the pilot to shut down the engine and shunt oil around the damage and forcing the crew to handle the aircraft with one less engine. \u00a0This process could be seen multiple times during regularly scheduled flights of the B-52G leading to many crews coming back to base with two, three, or even four engines non-operational.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Overhead image of Kincheloe AFB in April 1997.<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

November 22 in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan is a time of year where the snow begins to fly as the weather turns to its winter habits. \u00a0It is during the winter that snow crews begin to take to the runways to clear them for the day’s operations. \u00a0These crews would go out with snow plow vehicles to begin scraping runways\u00a0clean for the aircraft. \u00a0However, it was not the most cherished job and many times when the blades where broken or the plow suffered debilitating damage the crews would be allowed to go back to their barracks for the interim time of repair. \u00a0Needless to say a crew member\u00a0caught on to this phenomenon and began to puzzle out ways to exploit this fact. \u00a0Leading to a number of extra blade breakages occurring in the winter of 1963 to 1964 where he would drop his\u00a0blades at high speeds leading to damage to the plow allowing him to go home for the rest of the night. \u00a0This was put to an end by the Commanding Officer at Kinchloe Air Force Base by requiring plow crew\u00a0members to remain with a damaged vehicle until the repairs were completed. \u00a0Rapidly a turnaround was seen the crewmans blade care and his plows were making it through a work day without mishap after that.<\/p>\n

The First Hours After The Assassination<\/h4>\n

The personnel of Kinchloe Air Force Base did take their jobs seriously when called on as demonstrated when Kennedy was assassinated. \u00a0As stated, the base went into a lockdown while Lackey was away with the actual shots being fired by Lee Harvey Oswald on President Kennedy at 1:30 p.m. Eastern standard time. \u00a0The base itself did not assume a posture of lockdown and heightened security until one to two hours after the assassination was carried out. \u00a0This document, written by White House Naval Assistant Oliver Hallett to Bromley Smith the National Security Council Executive Secretary, indicates the military response to the assassination of John F. Kennedy [3]. \u00a0It\u00a0reveals that only the Commander in Chief of the Pacific region and the Southern Regions of the United States reacted with heightened levels of DEFCON, which stands for Defense Condition. \u00a0DEFCON has five levels, five being the lowest level of threat ranging up to imminent threat of attack. \u00a0Levels were raised by the Pacific region to DEFCON three unless such actions would have heightened tensions in their regions, this directive was sent out at 3:13 p.m. November 22nd. \u00a0The DEFCON was raised to level four by the Southern Commander in Chief at 2:50 p.m. on the 22nd and returned to level five on the 24th at 12:20 p.m [3].<\/p>\n

It was in the afternoon when Lackey returned to Kinchloe AFB after having been off base to go hunting in the Upper Peninsula woodland area surrounding the base. \u00a0When he arrived back to base he was confronted by heightened security who demanded to see his credentials and to be made aware of why he had left the base, how long he had been away, why he was returning, and other intensive lines of questioning. \u00a0His reason for returning was due to a duty shift he was assigned to, which he had already been cutting close when he had anticipated a regular inspection upon moving into the base. \u00a0With the intense scrutiny he suffered that day, it put him far behind schedule. \u00a0At this point he was still unaware of the happenings earlier that day in Dallas. \u00a0From his entering onto the base and movement to his lodgings to dress for his shift, he noted the heightened level of alert but still was not told the reasoning. \u00a0From his barracks Lackey went to the mechanics\u2019 garage for his duty shift. \u00a0It was here that he was confronted by an airman he knew at an acquaintance level. \u00a0When Lackey attempted to enter the building the guard demanded that he be presented with proper identification. \u00a0By now Lackey was very much behind schedule for reaching his duty station on time, as such he laughed off the demand and tried to push through into the building. \u00a0The guard, who was fully armed with an M-16, thumped Lackey in the chest with the heels of both hands\u00a0and again demanded identification. \u00a0Upon its’ presentation Lackey was let into the mechanics\u2019 work shop and then, and only then, found out that the assassination of John F. Kennedy had taken place and that the base had been placed on high alert in response.<\/p>\n

Kincheloe Air Force Base was not seen as raising their DEFCON level, however, according to Robert Lackey the base kept their fleet of B-52 Bombers ready and lined up on the Christmas Tree with an engine running. \u00a0The engines were a main concern with getting the B-52 off of the ground. \u00a0The engine, when started cold would take a long time to warm up, additionally this process would require the starting of a single engine which would then provide the power from its’ alternator to start the other engines. \u00a0This would later be solved with modifications to the B-52H model. \u00a0This significant lag time between an order and liftoff was of large concern in the event of an attack on the United States in the form of a nuclear strike where timing is essential. \u00a0As such the Kinchloe Bombers were kept running to allow for a quick reaction to be launched should the command be given. \u00a0Each bomber had at least ten warheads for its nuclear capability. \u00a0There were a total of fifteen B-52Gs stationed at the Base, which made up the 93rd\u00a0Bombardment Squadron which was a part of the\u00a04239th Strategic Wing of the Strategic Air Command assigned in November of 1961, but had not been declared operational until May 1st, 1962.<\/p>\n

With tensions high and a base on lock-down, the Kincheloe Air Force Base endured a week of standing at the brink of total war. \u00a0The mood on the base was such that if even a whiff of a plot by another country had come our way the sentiment would have been extreme retaliation. \u00a0The airmen on Kincheloe Air Force Base were ready to retaliate with all of the force held within their power. \u00a0The sentiment was held across the base, across the nation in some ways. \u00a0Kennedy was a well-loved president, the depth of morning given to him after his death was seen in three hundred thousand citizens paying their final respects while braving freezing temperatures and creating a line in the Capitol that stretched over nine miles. \u00a0During the funeral itself representatives from over ninety countries attended,\u00a0<\/span>totaling in the\u00a0hundreds [2]. \u00a0Needless to say, when Kennedy was shot, the world stood still.<\/p>\n\n

\u00a0 Primary Sources<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Air, F. T. (2002). LETTERS<\/a>.\u00a0Air Force Times,<\/em> 52.<\/li>\n
  2. Waldron, Lamar, and Thom Hartmann. “12.”\u00a0Legacy of Secrecy: The Long Shadow of the JFK Assassination<\/em>. Berkeley, CA: Counterpoint, 2009. 166. Print.<\/li>\n
  3. USA.\u00a0Changes in Defense Readiness Conditions as a Result of the Assassination of President Kennedy<\/a><\/em>. By O. S. Hallett. Washington: White House, 1963. Print.\u00a0Published 4 December\n

    Secondary Sources<\/li>\n

  4. Broyhill, Marvin T. “Kincheloe AFB<\/a>.” Kincheloe AFB. Marvin T. Broyhill, n.d. Web.<\/li>\n
  5. Chiles, Jim. “DEFCON Diaries: List of Alerts and Close Calls.” <\/a> Blogspot:Disaster-wise<\/em>. Jim Chiles, 8 Feb. 2014. Web.<\/li>\n
  6. Maurer (1992).\u00a0World War II Combat Squadrons of the United States Air Force: The Official Military Record of Every Active Squadron.\u00a0\u00a0<\/em>Smithmark Publishers 1992.<\/li>\n
  7. Muller, Robert (1982).\u00a0Air Force Bases: Active Air Force Bases within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Volume 1.\u00a0<\/em>Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, 1989<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Additional Reading:<\/p>\n