The Earl E. Myers Story, Chapter 25 — Lessons in European & African Geography, Page 2 of 3

My duties at 16th AF Headquarters were varied, challenging and always interesting. With my insatiable desire to fly, probably the most satisfying duty of all was to transport General Wade to his various destinations as he fulfilled his many obligations as 16th AF Commander. One memorable example that did not involve crisis, but illustrates the spirit of travel and adventure involved, was this trip back to the ZI (Zone of Interior) in one of our RB-47s.

On one flight to the U.S from Spain, it was a holiday. We were on schedule and Gen. Wade asked me west of Lages, Azores how much fuel we needed to continue to Davis Monthan Air Force Base at Tucson. The reply was about 24,000 lbs. OK said the General, see if you can obtain a tanker, but don't use my code name. At that time all General Officers were given a new code name every 3 weeks. During this period, his was Petunia. I called the 8th Air Force Command Post at Westover Mass. The request was complete and the reply was, “Its a National Holiday.” ”Stand by” was my response! “General, I need to use your code name to obtain the fuel you requested.” “O.K. go ahead.” Another call to the 8th Air Force Command Post was made, this time the request was, “Petunia requests a 24,000 lb offload.” “Roger stand by.” Almost at once they replied, “Your tanker will be over Albany (N.Y.) at flight level 33,000 ft. at the hour requested for the off load.” “Rodger, O.K.”

We preceded to the Albany VOR and the tanker was on schedule having been scrambled at Westover for the required off load. Refueling complete, the flight plan was changed to Tucson. The General had a daughter in Tucson and wanted to visit her before he started his Looking Glass Flights from Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. Later, arriving at Offutt AFB, he doubled up on his flights and completed his requirements. His duties completed, he wanted to go to Shreveport, Barksdale A.F.B., stay overnight and then proceed on to Madrid the next day. I felt a little on the bum side, feeling like I was coming down with a cold. We landed at Barksdale and checked into a nearby motel. I had a bowl of soup and took 2 aspirin and went to bed. About 1 a.m., I heard a knocking on my 2nd floor sliding door window. I went over and was going to jerk back the curtain and say, "What the Hell do you want? Well I jerked the curtain open and there stood Gen. Wade all three stars shining from the light's from the huge pool. I opened the door and said nothing that I had in my mind. He had shinnied around the porch from the room next door where he was billeted. We had a small conversation and then off to his room he went via the doorway.

We departed the next morning as scheduled and proceeded to the Broken Belt refueling area East of Boston. Refueling completed from a KC-135 at flight level 33,000 and the landing, as scheduled, at Torrejon A.B. Madrid was uneventful.

We all reported for duty at 0800 hrs the next day. He was on his way to the Command Post for his daily briefing and as he passed by my office he gave me a sly smile and motioned for me to follow. I did. I was once again reminded of what a wonderful gift it had been to pursue my dream to be an Air Force pilot and to serve a commander whom I held in such high regard.

During my tour at 16th AF Headquarters, I participated in a total of 56 round robin flights to the United States. Additionally, there were flights to many other destinations in Europe the Middle East and Africa.

On one of these European tours, we were to provide a static display at Aviano, Italy for Armed Forces Day. We arrived a day early as directed and set up for the display the next day. We jumped on a train to Venice and spent the night seeing some of the wonders of the world, returning in time for the static display.

After the Air Show was over, we departed for another display at Neuburg an der Donau Airfield (near Nurnberg), a display for the German Air Force. The runway was 10,000 feet long and they were operating F-86s. They had a tug standing by at the end of the runway to tow us back to the display area. On landing we cut #1 and 2, 5 and 6 engines and deployed the brake chute. The approach chute had already deployed in the traffic pattern much to the delight of the German audience. The feeling of thrill that flowed through the audience could be felt within the cockpit of our aircraft. We turned off at the midsection of the runway and taxied to the designated parking area where the Germans flocked to see and be up close to this huge monster like they had never seen before.

A feeling of mutual friendship and comradeship was immediately apparent between the USAF and German flight crews. Much food was consumed and beer flowed like the river nearby. What a time we had with those crews for 2 days and nights. When we departed we had a full load (660 gallons) of water injection on board and we used it, not mentioning to the German's what we were going to do. At about 2,800 ft. we lifted off at a high nose up attitude and accelerated and then a 270 degree turn and back across the runway at high speed (425 knots) as we departed for our return to Spain.

On another flight with the Commanding General of 16th Air Force, we were to visit and inspect the alert facilities in Morocco at Sidi. We arrived in our RB-47 and the remainder of the inspection team arrived by a KC-97. When the inspection for that day was accomplished, more was to follow the next morning.


	Biographical Notes Relating to The Earl E. Myers Story Chapter 25 Lessons in European & African Geography Page 2 of 3 Pages
	My duties at 16th AF Headquarters were varied, challenging and always interesting. With my insatiable desire to fly, probably the most satisfying duty of all was to transport General Wade to his various destinations as he fulfilled his many obligations as 16th AF Commander. One memorable example that did not involve crisis, but illustrates the spirit of travel and adventure involved, was this trip back to the ZI (Zone of Interior) in one of our RB-47s. On one flight to the U.S from Spain, it was a holiday. We were on schedule and Gen. Wade asked me west of Lages, Azores how much fuel we needed to continue to Davis Monthan Air Force Base at Tucson. The reply was about 24,000 lbs. OK said the General, see if you can obtain a tanker, but don't use my code name. At that time all General Officers were given a new code name every 3 weeks. During this period, his was Petunia. I called the 8th Air Force Command Post at Westover Mass. The request was complete and the reply was, “Its a National Holiday.” ”Stand by” was my response! “General, I need to use your code name to obtain the fuel you requested.” “O.K. go ahead.” Another call to the 8th Air Force Command Post was made, this time the request was, “Petunia requests a 24,000 lb offload.” “Roger stand by.” Almost at once they replied, “Your tanker will be over Albany (N.Y.) at flight level 33,000 ft. at the hour requested for the off load.” “Rodger, O.K.” We preceded to the Albany VOR and the tanker was on schedule having been scrambled at Westover for the required off load. Refueling complete, the flight plan was changed to Tucson. The General had a daughter in Tucson and wanted to visit her before he started his Looking Glass Flights from Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha. Later, arriving at Offutt AFB, he doubled up on his flights and completed his requirements. His duties completed, he wanted to go to Shreveport, Barksdale A.F.B., stay overnight and then proceed on to Madrid the next day. I felt a little on the bum side, feeling like I was coming down with a cold. We landed at Barksdale and checked into a nearby motel. I had a bowl of soup and took 2 aspirin and went to bed. About 1 a.m., I heard a knocking on my 2nd floor sliding door window. I went over and was going to jerk back the curtain and say, "What the Hell do you want? Well I jerked the curtain open and there stood Gen. Wade all three stars shining from the light's from the huge pool. I opened the door and said nothing that I had in my mind. He had shinnied around the porch from the room next door where he was billeted. We had a small conversation and then off to his room he went via the doorway. We departed the next morning as scheduled and proceeded to the Broken Belt refueling area East of Boston. Refueling completed from a KC-135 at flight level 33,000 and the landing, as scheduled, at Torrejon A.B. Madrid was uneventful. We all reported for duty at 0800 hrs the next day. He was on his way to the Command Post for his daily briefing and as he passed by my office he gave me a sly smile and motioned for me to follow. I did. I was once again reminded of what a wonderful gift it had been to pursue my dream to be an Air Force pilot and to serve a commander whom I held in such high regard. During my tour at 16th AF Headquarters, I participated in a total of 56 round robin flights to the United States. Additionally, there were flights to many other destinations in Europe the Middle East and Africa. On one of these European tours, we were to provide a static display at Aviano, Italy for Armed Forces Day. We arrived a day early as directed and set up for the display the next day. We jumped on a train to Venice and spent the night seeing some of the wonders of the world, returning in time for the static display. After the Air Show was over, we departed for another display at Neuburg an der Donau Airfield (near Nurnberg), a display for the German Air Force. The runway was 10,000 feet long and they were operating F-86s. They had a tug standing by at the end of the runway to tow us back to the display area. On landing we cut #1 and 2, 5 and 6 engines and deployed the brake chute. The approach chute had already deployed in the traffic pattern much to the delight of the German audience. The feeling of thrill that flowed through the audience could be felt within the cockpit of our aircraft. We turned off at the midsection of the runway and taxied to the designated parking area where the Germans flocked to see and be up close to this huge monster like they had never seen before. A feeling of mutual friendship and comradeship was immediately apparent between the USAF and German flight crews. Much food was consumed and beer flowed like the river nearby. What a time we had with those crews for 2 days and nights. When we departed we had a full load (660 gallons) of water injection on board and we used it, not mentioning to the German's what we were going to do. At about 2,800 ft. we lifted off at a high nose up attitude and accelerated and then a 270 degree turn and back across the runway at high speed (425 knots) as we departed for our return to Spain. On another flight with the Commanding General of 16th Air Force, we were to visit and inspect the alert facilities in Morocco at Sidi. We arrived in our RB-47 and the remainder of the inspection team arrived by a KC-97. When the inspection for that day was accomplished, more was to follow the next morning.
		The Detachment Commander had set up a breakfast for the next morning. Gen. Wade was always pulling some kind of caper. but this time it was my turn. I had known the club/mess officer from before. I asked him to set a breakfast food bowl in front of each setting and put one shredded wheat cake with 2 anchovies crossed on top of the shredded wheat, then put a saucer on top to keep them from drying out. He exclaimed that he would get fired. I said I most likely would to, but I haven't been fired yet today. O.K.— He did it. When Gen Wade sat down with the rest of the staff, he removed the saucer and at once said, "Earl Myers you rascal you!". Well, he got even with me later on in the day.

	On another day, while at this same Base in Morocco, there was a young camel wandering about the base. It was very friendly. We had a courier aircraft that was ready to return to Torrejon (Madrid) and I had the camel loaded up and it was on its way to Spain. We kept it hidden until the wee hours of the morning and then staked it out in the front yard at Gen. Wades quarters on base. At 0800 here came the General leading the camel to the Headquarters second floor. He stopped by and tied it to my desk and, without saying a word, he went to the Command Post for his daily briefing. He asked the staff to obtain a security clearance for “Smokey” the camel. The camel was returned the next day by a daily courier flight. I am sure it had a smile on its face. One afternoon about quitting time Gen. Wade stopped by my desk and told me a short story which was very humorous. He then asked if we had a plane available to go to Incerlick AB at Adana Turkey. “Yes?”was my reply, “We have one cocked and the other on standby.” He said “How soon could we be airborne”. I replied, “Within 30 minutes.” He said “O.K. I'll meet you there.” I had a navigator and another pilot on standby and we were at the aircraft in 20 min. We were airborne in 30 min with Gen. Wade in the front seat landing 4 hours later at Adana. Our normal routine was for the flight crew to stand by and supervise the refueling. In a short time, Gen. Wade made his appearance and we were airborne on a return flight to Torrejon. Another 4 hour flight. About 250 miles East of Madrid we received a call to contact the 16th A.F. Command Post. We made contact and they gave us an encrypted message. Your destination has been changed to Offutt AFB (in Omaha) with a tanker refueling over Lages and Broken Belt, continuing on to Offutt. On arrival at Offutt Air Force Base, Headquarters Strategic Air Command, as usual, we had the aircraft reserviced and fresh supplies put aboard. Gen. Wade appeared and asked, "Guy's do you think we could return to Torrejon?. I replied, “General, the weather is forecast to be good and it should be a smooth flight back.” Off We Go Into The Dark Black Night. We refueled in the Broken Belt area and landed on schedule at Torrejon and all returned home for some much-needed rest. We always carried C-rations on board just in "case". It was back to work the next day. Twenty four and a half hours of flight time was logged for the total trip. End of Page 2, Chapter 25 — Go to Page 3 Page — 1 — 2 — 3 This Chapter Go to EEM Introduction —Chapter 1 — 2 — 3 — 4 — 5 — 6 — 7 — 8 9 — 10 — 11 — 12 — 13 — 14 — 15 — 16 — 17 — 18 19 — 20 — 21 — 22 — 23 — 24 — 25 26 — 27 — 28 — 29 — 30 — 31 — 32 Return to Biographical Stories Index Page Go to Home Page