Black Cats of Osan

Black Cats of Osan PDF Author: Rick Bishop
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1636243541
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 257

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Book Description
The story of the top-secret “Black Cats” who undertook dangerous long-duration high-altitude missions to provide intelligence on North Korea during the Cold War. Plying through the darkness at the very limit of the earth’s atmosphere, the U-2’s extrasensory intelligence-gathering sensors quietly intercept and redistribute mountains of information to a highly classified ground site, located at Osan Air Base, Korea. From there, the top-secret intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) products are distributed to the highest levels of command authority within the United States. Although the Dragon Lady has been in continuous service for nearly 70 years, she has always been considered a “National Asset,” with technology so sophisticated that she outlasted her “replacement”—the SR-71—decades ago. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Rick Bishop, a former U-2 pilot, takes the reader deep into the Black World of non-satellite ISR to reveal how a small detachment of 100 hand-selected personnel with only eight pilots and two aircraft became the most reliable and productive air force unit to ever utilize the Dragon Lady during the Cold War and to this day. As second-in-command of Detachment 2 (Det 2) of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing during the mid-1980s, Rick kept a detailed journal of the daily operations that routinely launched pilots on high-altitude solo missions lasting at least nine hours. Wearing full-pressure suits similar to those utilized by the Shuttle astronauts, these missions took a physiological toll on each pilot who upon return had to coax the Lady, universally known for her treacherous landing characteristics, safely back on the ground along with the often-priceless intelligence-gathering sensors. Although the pilots were the pointy end of the spear, this is also the story of the missions that could not be accomplished without the dedicated effort from enlisted personnel and civilian company tech reps to keep the maintenance-intensive platform in the air. Along with Physiological Support Division personnel, responsible for keeping the pilot alive in their pressure suit environment during emergency situations, as well as numerous other support troops required for logistical and supply support, the unparallel success of Det 2 can only be attributed to the professional pride of the close-knit selectively manned brotherhood known as the Black Cats of Osan.

Black Cats of Osan

Black Cats of Osan PDF Author: Rick Bishop
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 1636243541
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 257

Get Book Here

Book Description
The story of the top-secret “Black Cats” who undertook dangerous long-duration high-altitude missions to provide intelligence on North Korea during the Cold War. Plying through the darkness at the very limit of the earth’s atmosphere, the U-2’s extrasensory intelligence-gathering sensors quietly intercept and redistribute mountains of information to a highly classified ground site, located at Osan Air Base, Korea. From there, the top-secret intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (ISR) products are distributed to the highest levels of command authority within the United States. Although the Dragon Lady has been in continuous service for nearly 70 years, she has always been considered a “National Asset,” with technology so sophisticated that she outlasted her “replacement”—the SR-71—decades ago. Lt. Col. (Ret.) Rick Bishop, a former U-2 pilot, takes the reader deep into the Black World of non-satellite ISR to reveal how a small detachment of 100 hand-selected personnel with only eight pilots and two aircraft became the most reliable and productive air force unit to ever utilize the Dragon Lady during the Cold War and to this day. As second-in-command of Detachment 2 (Det 2) of the 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing during the mid-1980s, Rick kept a detailed journal of the daily operations that routinely launched pilots on high-altitude solo missions lasting at least nine hours. Wearing full-pressure suits similar to those utilized by the Shuttle astronauts, these missions took a physiological toll on each pilot who upon return had to coax the Lady, universally known for her treacherous landing characteristics, safely back on the ground along with the often-priceless intelligence-gathering sensors. Although the pilots were the pointy end of the spear, this is also the story of the missions that could not be accomplished without the dedicated effort from enlisted personnel and civilian company tech reps to keep the maintenance-intensive platform in the air. Along with Physiological Support Division personnel, responsible for keeping the pilot alive in their pressure suit environment during emergency situations, as well as numerous other support troops required for logistical and supply support, the unparallel success of Det 2 can only be attributed to the professional pride of the close-knit selectively manned brotherhood known as the Black Cats of Osan.

The Black Cats of Osan

The Black Cats of Osan PDF Author: Rick Bishop
Publisher: Casemate
ISBN: 9781636243535
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description
The Top-Secret "Black Cats" undertook dangerous long-duration high-altitude missions to provide intelligence on North Korea during the Cold War.

50 Years of the U-2

50 Years of the U-2 PDF Author: Chris Pocock
Publisher: Schiffer Publishing
ISBN:
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 448

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Book Description
When the U-2 first took off in 1955, no one involved in its top-secret project dreamt that this unique reconnaissance aircraft would still be flying today. The long story of the Dragon Lady is amazing, and complex; this book tells it all, in unprecedented detail, from the early days overflying the Soviet Union under CIA sponsorship, to the Cuban Missile Crisis, and on to the Vietnam War. The epic missions over Communist China were flown by nationalist pilots from Taiwan. How the U-2 was improved, enlarged and put back into production - twice. It led the real-time recce revolution with data links and high-tech sensors. Then it played a key role in Desert Storm, over Bosnia and Kosovo, and most recently over Afghanistan and Iraq. According to the CIA's own historian, Chris Pocock is the foremost authority on the U-2. To write this book, he flew in the aircraft, conducted 250 interviews, and analysed more than 1,000 declassified documents.

Beale Air Force Base During the Cold War

Beale Air Force Base During the Cold War PDF Author: James B. Quest
Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
ISBN: 1439644551
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 128

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Book Description
KLAXON! The alarm immediately sent the aircrews at Beale Air Force Base, California, scrambling to their alert aircraft in a race to get airborne first. The KC-135 tankers were usually the quickest to taxi out, with the B-52 bombers following closely behind. Soon, the air filled with the rumble of engines as aircraft roared down the runway trailing great clouds of exhaust and disappeared into the skies of Northern California. It was a dramatic scenario practiced many times during the Cold War and one that Universal Pictures filmed at Beale AFB for its movie A Gathering of Eagles, starring Rock Hudson and Rod Taylor.

Lockheed Blackbird

Lockheed Blackbird PDF Author: Paul F. Crickmore
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1472851404
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 530

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Book Description
The SR-71 Blackbird is an iconic aircraft that has come to symbolize America's technological superiority during the Cold War. Using recently declassified information, globally renowned expert Paul Crickmore updates his definitive account of the aircraft. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird ranks as one of the most elegant, sleek and powerful aeroplanes ever designed. But it was not built to be admired – it was built not to be seen at all. The high-altitude aerial reconnaissance sorties it was to perform were top secret and carefully concealed from public knowledge. However, as the aircraft have become museum pieces and details of their work declassified, the whole story of their design and operation can finally be told. This updated edition of Paul Crickmore's classic Lockheed Blackbird: Beyond the Secret Missions is based on 850 pages of documentation and images declassified by the CIA covering the A-12 Oxcart programme. These highly significant documents range from discussions at the highest levels of the US government concerning the rationale for Oxcart's development and eventual deployment, to extremely detailed intelligence data gleaned from each of the 29 operational missions flown by Oxcart during Operation Black Shield. The Blackbird family of aircraft continue to fascinate a wide age group and, since the aircraft will never fly again, its history has become timeless. This new edition will provide the last word on the SR-71 Blackbird and its operational history.

U-2 ‘Dragon Lady’ Units 1955–90

U-2 ‘Dragon Lady’ Units 1955–90 PDF Author: Peter E. Davies
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 147286171X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 97

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Book Description
An illustrated account of the early service of the Lockheed U-2, one of the most important and longest-serving intelligence gathering platforms fielded by the US air force. The U-2 is one of the most recognizable aircraft of the Cold War; nicknamed the 'Dragon Lady' after the codename given to it by the CIA, this powered glider was designed and operated in great secrecy, providing US authorities with photographic and electronic information from areas of interest across the globe. This illuminating new volume dives deep into the U-2's most critical missions, exploring its role in the Cuban Missile Crisis, nuclear reconnaissance in the Soviet Union, and intelligence missions in China and North Vietnam. Using previously unpublished research, aviation expert Peter E. Davies examines the operations of one of the landmark aircraft of the 20th century from a fresh and engaging perspective, enhanced by more than 50 photos and 21 newly commissioned profile artworks.

I Am a Cat

I Am a Cat PDF Author: Sōseki Natsume
Publisher: Coward McCann
ISBN:
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 446

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Book Description
Originally written as a 10-part serial in 1905-06 and later combined into one volume. I am a cat is considered by many to be Soseki's comic masterpiece as it pokes fun at the upper-middle class of Japanese society during the Meiji era. A nameless cat living with a schoolteacher comments on the on the follies and foibles of the people around him.

Far Eastern Economic Review

Far Eastern Economic Review PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : East Asia
Languages : en
Pages : 1482

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Book Description
Asia's premier business magazine. The magazine reports on politics, business, economics, technology and social and cultural issues throughout Asia, with a particular emphasis on both Southeast Asia and China.

Airman

Airman PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Aeronautics
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description


RAF & East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War

RAF & East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War PDF Author: Nigel Walpole
Publisher: Air World
ISBN: 1526758393
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 512

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Book Description
“You’ll learn what these pilots went through knowing that their actions or reactions could trigger a global nuclear war.” —Historic Aviation RAF and East German Fast-Jet Pilots in the Cold War is the result of ten years of research, involving many visits to the former German Democratic Republic by a small Anglo/German team of military specialists. Their purpose was to explore the lives of RAF and East German fighter and ?ghter-bomber pilots, in the air and on the ground, at work and play, during the Cold War in North Germany. The book is based largely on personal testimony from these pilots, coupled with facts drawn from official archives and comment from other historical sources. Where possible, political considerations have been avoided and no outright criticism has been intended, readers being left to draw their own conclusions on the thinking, strategies, equipment and tactics discussed. Far from being an intellectual polemic on the Cold War, the text and photographs merely record a slice of history as seen through the eyes of a select few who took up arms in the defense of their respective homelands—and faced each other daily across the Iron Curtain. In an insightful conclusion, Nigel Walpole reassess the threat that both sides believed was genuine during those tense decades of the Cold War and examines the possible course and nature of a conflict which neither NATO nor the Warsaw Pact wanted but both actively planned for. “The writer has avoided politics where possible, and in doing so reassesses the threat and uncertainty—and ultimately the fears—both air forces faced. It’s truly fascinatingl.” —Flypast