Aim Points Air Force

Commentary - Be the Best

8/10/2011&Nbsp;-  SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo.  -- What does it mean to you to be a member of the world's greatest Air Force? When I joined the military 21 years ago, I had no intention of serving one day past my four-year enlistment. My parents bought me a suitcase for my high school graduation and gave me two months to figure out what I was going to do with it. Growing up in a very small town in Iowa, I was looking for an adventure. I don't recall if it was the motivational "Aim High" slogan or the six-week basic military training that drew me in, but once my parents signed the release form to allow me to join the military at 17, there was no turning back. Had someone told me then that I would still be here 20+ years later, I would have told them they were nuts. If I were to give one reason for my decision to stay in the Air Force, it would be the expectation for people to perform at a higher level. Many may not realize it, but core values did not exist until the mid-90s. When I joined the Air Force, there were no written guidelines of how to be a good Airman. Our instructions were easy, know your job, work hard and don't be a dirt bag. Although these instructions integrate well with today's Air Force core values, you won't find them in any books or engraved on cool coins you can carry around in your pocket. When you really think about it, whether it's the Air Force core values or these rudimentary tips to success, it all boils down to one thing, being the best in all that you do. First of all, be the best at your job. Know the Air Force Instructions and become the "go-to guy or gal" when issues arise. Don't get sidetracked with all of the extracurricular activities to the point that your primary duties fall to the wayside. The Air Force didn't hire us to stock the snack bar or head up fundraisers. Don't get me wrong, these things are also important, but not at the risk of getting the job done.

Successful Sidewinder Approaches Sixty | Defense Media Network

Next year, the Navy will hold a celebration at China Lake, Calif., to mark the 60th anniversary of the Sidewinder missile, the first test firing of which took place 59 years ago this month.

Although air-to-air battles are rare today, guided missiles are taken for granted as a key weapon of choice when fights take place. In the 1950s, however, guided missiles were a new idea and, at first, unproven. Fighter pilots used guns to shoot down enemy aircraft.

For example, in October 1951, Navy Lt. (later Capt.) Walter M. “Wally” Schirra , on an exchange tour with the Air Force, was piloting an F-84E Thunderjet to escort a bombing mission by B-29 Superfortresses over North Korea. Schirra fought a Soviet MiG-15 fighter and was credited with shooting it down, using .50-caliber machine gun rounds.

A year later, Schirra was project pilot in a program to develop the Sidewinder air-to-air missile. On Aug. 21, 1952, he piloted an F3D-1 Skyknight that made the first aerial test of an experimental version of the Sidewinder. The location was Point Mugu, Calif.

Schirra fired at an F6F-5K Hellcat drone, and the Sidewinder initially locked onto the target with its infrared, heat-seeking system. But the missile went off in the wrong direction and the test failed.

Schirra (1923-2007) later became the only astronaut to fly in all three of America’s first space programs (Mercury, Gemini and Apollo ) but he often talked with fondness about the moment a new and unproven missile went astray on him.

The slim, sleek Sidewinder was created by a small team at the Naval Ordnance Test Station, China Lake, led by the late Dr. William B. “Bill” McLean – with little of the congressional and industry participation that typifies military programs today.

McLean’s team is credited as being first in the world to solve the problem of passive infrared homing guidance, the technology that transforms a missile into a heat-seeker ready to fly up a foe’s hot exhaust.

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