Talk:50th Space Wing

Could a blazon of the arms be provided? --Daniel C. Boyer 17:21, 10 March 2006 (UTC)

Done. --Pmsyyz 18:53, 12 March 2006 (UTC)

Onizuka AFS is also referred to as "DICE" (referring to its nickname the Blue Cube")

I was a member of the 50 TFW during the 1980s when it was awarded the Phoenix Award for having the best maintenance complex in DOD. There were a number of shenanigans associated with that award that surfaced later. For example, HQ Air Force Audit Agency sent a letter to its office at Hahn AB suggesting that it conduct an audit of the wing's aircraft maintenance practices. As the wing transitioned to newer-model F-16s, it was turning in its older models at Hill AFB, UT, for use by Air National Guard units; however, the ANG would not accept them in their unsatisfactory condition until the wing paid for their repairs. This the wing did by setting up an account code to pay for the repairs at Hill AFB. The HQ AFAA letter noted this was a de facto admission of unsatisfactory aircraft maintenance and, noting an F-16 crash near Karlsruhe, which killed the pilot and a civilian on the ground, suggested looking into the possibility of a connection between maintenance practices and the crash. I don't know if an audit was ever actually done.

To help qualify for the Phoenix Award, the renovation of maintenance offices on base had been done using the "Self Help" program in which Civil Engineering provided the materials and airmen within maintenance provided the manpower to accomplish the jobs for themselves. While the program allows for individual offices to be renovated, renovating an entire building requires going through other channels, to include obtaining congressional approval; however, the program was used to deliberately circumvent that approval and renovate entire buildings, one room at a time. This did not come to light before the Phoenix Award was given to the wing; however, when it did, the civil engineer squadron commander quickly retired and then obtained a civilian job elsewhere in Germany with the military, reportedly for much increased pay.

During my four years at Hahn there were at least two aircraft lost each year, and usually with fatalities.

The base DWI rate was substantial and there were also four to five DWI deaths each year as well. During the wee hours of New Year's Day 1987, three drunken airmen from the base hospital left a party off base before anyone could get their keys and later they ended up in a gulley. A broken window allowed the car to fill with water and they drowned, and no one knew they were there until a passing Polizei car spotted them around 9 a.m. later that morning. In March three airmen from the munitions squadron were coming back home after drinking heavily and the driver's two passengers were killed when the car went off the road and hit a tree. One of them was about to complete his tour and return to the States, hence the reason for drinking. It was only March and already there were five dead. General Donnelly, commander of US Air Forces Europe at Ramstein AB, called up Colonel Ben Nelson, commander of the 50 TFW, and told him that if he lost another he would be fired. Since DWIs were very frequent, this seemed very likely.

The speed limit on base was dropped to 10 KPH (about 6 MPH) and the base became very proactive in catching drunk drivers. USAF security policemen were paired with local German Polizei and vice versa, plus checkpoints were established on roads between winefests in nearby Mosel River villages and the base. The increased effort resulted in a huge number of busts, not only of airmen but also senior NCOs and officers. In the end, to the surprise of many, the wing finished 1987 with no more DWI deaths. Colonel Ben Nelson went on to greater assignments and later retired with two stars.

50th Fighter-Bomber Wing emblem

What, if any, support is there for the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing emblem with a griffin on a cloud holding lightning bolts and an olive branch? Maurer, Endicott, Ravenstein and Robertson seem to agree on the following: The current emblem (in slightly different form, since the group was an Army unit - see 50th Operations Group) was first approved on 9 January 1942 for the 50th Pursuit Group. That emblem was approved for the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing in its current form on 15 July 1953 (six months after wing activation with that name). On 23 August 1956, the emblem including a nuclear cloud was approved to replace the original emblem and continued to be used by the 50th Fighter-Bomber Wing and 50th Tactical Fighter Wing until inactivation in September 1991. Six months after reactivation as the 50th Space Wing, the wing returned to its original emblem. There seems to be little if any opportunity for the "50th Fighter-Bomber Wing" to have used this emblem in addition to the two emblems the official record indicates were approved for it. --Lineagegeek (talk) 12:56, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

The Saunders reference uses the emblem in the first page. It also has the emblem on page 7, but says notheing about its adoption. It shows the 1956 emblem on page 11, along with a discussion of the emblem symbolism, but treats it as the "50th Tactical Fighter Wing emblem" although the wing was still a Fighter-Bomber Wing in 1956. --Lineagegeek (talk) 23:23, 3 December 2016 (UTC)

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