FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. -- Since the Wing's earliest days, the men and women of Fairchild Air Force Base have excelled in their mission whether it was as a repair depot, strategic bombing and missile wing or now as an air refueling wing.
Throughout the years, the 92nd Air Refueling Wing's tradition of excellence has been highlighted with the awarding of several Air Force Outstanding Unit Awards and one Meritorious Unit Award. While the wing received the most recent AFOUAU in August 2012, the string of AFOUAs date back to May 1955 when the wing was awarded one for its role in Operation Big Stick where it pioneered the first mass B-36 deployment to the Far East. This was only the second time the AFOUA was given to a Strategic Air Command organization.
In August 1953, Strategic Air Command tasked the 92nd Bombardment Wing to fly twenty primary B-36 "Peacemaker" aircraft to Kadena Air Base, Japan to conduct a training exercise called Operation Big Stick. It was the first in a series of tests to gauge the capabilities of the B-36 in long distance flight.
Operation Big Stick exercised SAC's Emergency War Plan command organization by conducting a heavy bombardment training exercise in Alaska and the Far East. The other purpose of the exercise was to survey overseas installations such as Yokota Air Base, Japan, Kadena AB, Okinawa, and Anderson AFB, Guam, for heavy bombardment aircraft operational suitability.
In late August, under the command of Col. James V. Edmundson, the 92nd bombardment wing commander, 15 of the 20 tasked B-36 aircraft flew to Eielson AFB, Alaska, to pre-position for the simulated combat missions. This Eielson Force launched for simulated attacks on targets in the North Pacific and then flew on to Kadena AB. They flew in three cells consisting of five aircraft each.
Concurrently, the other five aircraft flew directly from Fairchild AFB to simulate striking other targets. This group was called the Featherweight Force. In order to make the flight from Fairchild AFB to Kadena AB, the aircraft underwent a configuration change called "featherweight." The configuration reduced the B-36's weight to gain more speed, altitude, and range by eliminating crew positions, removing gun turrets and reducing the ammunition load. The Featherweight Force flew a 6,500-mile great circle route from Neah Bay, Wash., to Shemya Island in the Aleutian Chain, and finally to Kadena AB to meet up with the Eielson Force.
Despite a well-developed plan, the weather, specifically cloud cover and winds, were worse than predicted which forced the cells of B-36s to proceed as individual groups instead of in one large formation. As a result, the multiple B-36 cells approached Kadena AB from different headings and arrived at approximately the same time. While there were some close calls (near mid-air collisions) between cells, all aircraft arrived in Japan safely. Despite the various issues, only three aircraft landed at an alternate base, two for fuel issues and one for maintenance reasons.
While in Japan, the 92 BW aircrews flew several training missions. Some of the B-36 aircraft landed at Anderson AFB, Guam, and at Yokota Air Base, Japan, in order to survey the installations for heavy bomber use. On Aug. 29, the B-36s began returning to Fairchild AFB. By early September, all but three of the 10-engined giants had returned home. On Sept. 5, two B-36s flew non-stop to conduct a fly-over for the air show in Dayton, Ohio. Impressively, they had to meet a control time to rendezvous with six B-47 bombers coming from the United Kingdom before conducting the fly-over. These B-36s landed at Wright-Patterson AFB and at Lockborne AFB before returning to Fairchild AFB on Sept. 9. After a maintenance problem, the final B-36 flew home from Anderson AFB on Sept.12.
Edmundson considered the results to be excellent. He believed the experience gained to be extremely valuable to crews, maintenance personnel and planning staff. Also, these personnel and the entire wing gained considerable confidence in the ability of the base to execute its Emergency War Plan mission. In addition, Gen. Curtis LeMay, the Commander in Chief of SAC, was happy with the operation and stated, "Congratulations on a fine job done... The overall success of the mission is indicative of the fine planning and leadership in all aspects of command, operations and material." For this incredible effort the 92nd was awarded the "Air Force Outstanding Unit Award" on May 15, 1955.
Operation Big Stick was significant in many ways. This operation began what would soon be a heavy bomber presence in this area. Notably, this was the first time that SAC, the nation's long-range striking force, rotated a B-36 wing to the Pacific Theater for a period extended operational training. This was also the first time a B-36 made a non-stop flight from the U.S. to the Far East. Finally, the timing of the exercise helped to reinforce the Korean armistice of July by demonstrating the United States' determination to try every means possible to keep peace in the Far East -- a true demonstration of Global Reach and Global Power.