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A key wing in the history of the B-52 is 7th Bombardment Wing at Carswell AFB, TX. Organized as the 7th Bombardment Wing (7 BMW), the mighty Seventh was mighty indeed, having hosted a large variety of Strategic Air Command’s (SAC) fearsome bombers. Carswell over time had flown B-29/B-50 Superfortress, B-36 Peacemaker, B-52 Stratofortress, B-58 Hustler bombers as well as KC-135 tanker aircraft over its active SAC tenure.
Carswell AFB‘s origins predate WWII, and even reach back to WWI. Back when flying was a novelty, the US War Department wanted flying training sites for British Royal Flying Corps (RFC) in more temperate locations. In August of 1917, RFC leased several airfield sites near Ft Worth, TX. In 1918, these airfields fell under US Army Air Service control. Known then as Tarrant Field, in 1940 Consolidated Aircraft wanted to build an aircraft manufacturing plant at the site. In June 1941, President Roosevelt authorized $1.75 million to build an airfield next to the assembly plant. Originally planned as an operational base, Tarrant Field was revectored to become a heavy bomber training base following the Pearl Harbor attacks on 7 December 1941. In mid-1942, the first training unit was assigned there as well as the first production B-24 Liberator was produced at the Consolidated plant. Later that summer, Tarrant Field was renamed Fort Worth Army Airfield (FWAA). Numerous training units were stationed at FWAA throughout the war.
Carswell AFB’s name derives from a Ft Worth native by the same name. Major Horace S. Carswell Jr. was involved in a 1944 B-24 bombing mission over the South China Sea against Japanese shipping. Sent to attack cargo ships supplying Japan’s war machine, Carswell’s aircraft made two direct hits on a tanker but was fatally damaged in the fierce antiaircraft barrage, losing three engines and suffering an onboard fire. When the aircraft was known to be doomed, all but three of his crew bailed out. The bombardier‘s parachute was unusable, the copilot badly wounded, and Carswell chose to stay with the aircraft to get his crew to safety. Failing an attempt to crash land, the aircraft stuck the flank of a mountain and all three were killed. Major Carswell was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in 1946. In 1948, FWAA was renamed in Major Carswell’s honor.
Before the end of 1945, the 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing was established at FWAA. The following year, a heavy-duty runway was constructed at the airfield, and would prove valuable for future missions. In 1946 when Strategic Air Command (SAC) was organized, the 7th Bombardment Group, Very Heavy (with B-29s) was activated. In February 1949, a B-50 Superfortress (an improved B-29) called Lucky Lady II circumnavigated the globe nonstop from Carswell. The world record flight lasted 23,108 miles and totaled over 94 hours! The previous year, in 1948, the first production B-36 bomber was delivered to the Seventh from the Ft Worth plant across the airfield from FWAA, making the Seventh the first B-36 wing in SAC. The 7th Group reorganized as the 7th Bombardment Wing in 1951. Also in 1951, the 11th Bombardment Wing was activated, also flying the enormous B-36. This would make Carswell unique in having twin bombardment wings on the same base, the Seventh and Eleventh. Other SAC bases had bombardment wings and strategic missile wings under the same base, but only Carswell had twin bombardment wings—the “7/11”, a distinction it held for many years. Carswell’s B-36s were dispersed to other wings/retirement in 1958. The Eleventh then permanently moved to Altus AFB, Oklahoma where it welcomed the B-52.
The dawn of the B-52 era at Carswell coincided with the sunset of the B-36 and the 7/11. In 1958 with B-52s assigned, the 4123rd Strategic Wing was established at Carswell. With only the Seventh remaining, B-52s and KC-135 tankers would be the muscle at Carswell for decades to come. The BUFFs and tankers at Carswell deployed during the 1960/70s for Vietnam missions, sometimes emptying the airfield and barracks of all but a few caretakers while the bulk of the wing was off fighting a conventional war. In late 1973, Carswell once again became a training base, taking experienced B-52G/H crews for two weeks and giving them sufficient training to fly the older B-52Ds in combat. Carswell continued to do B-52 training until 1983. By 1974, Carswell’s resources were all back home and once again performing strategic alert duties.
Carrying a long SAC tradition in nuclear warfare readiness, Carswell was long a strategic base, originally loaded with atomic gravity bombs. In 1973, Carswell welcomed the AGM-69, Short Range Attack Missile, being one of several BUFF bases armed with the weapon. The B-52 at Carswell became even more lethal with the introduction of the AGM-86/B Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) in 1985, becoming the first SAC wing to receive the new ALCM-modified B-52H. The ALCM-mod B-52H could carry not only two underwing pylons with 6 ALCM each, it could also load an additional eight ALCM on a new Common Strategic Rotary Launcher for a staggering total of twenty nuclear-capable cruise missiles. The ALCM-mod B-52Gs could only load the underwing pylons. Other than Carswell, the initial basing for ALCM was at Griffiss AFB New York, Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, Wurtsmith AFB, Michigan, Fairchild AFB, Washington, and Blytheville AFB, Arkansas.
An interesting non-nuclear war mission Carswell BUFFs were assigned was atmospheric monitoring. In 1986, deep in the Soviet Union (Ukraine), the Chernobyl power plant reactor number 4 experienced a power surge, melted down and exploded in an accident. The subsequent reactor fire showered highly-radioactive debris around the complex, and the smoke and emissions from the compromised reactor sent tons of radioactive cesium, iodine and other radionuclides into the atmosphere, affecting much of Europe and Asia with radioactive fallout. An 18-mile “exclusion zone” was evacuated around the plant, displacing hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians to the present day. Known as GIANT FISH, a special pod and air sampling scoops were adapted to four B-52H models, and two were Carswell aircraft. These GIANT FISH pod-equipped aircraft flew across Europe and Asia collecting atmospheric samples of the air for particulate radionuclides throughout 1986 and into 1987. These missions helped ascertain the extent of atmospheric radioactivity contamination.
The Carswell heritage as a dual-bomber wing returned with the advent of the supersonic Mach-2 B-58 Hustler. When the first production B-58s rolled off the assembly line in 1960, Carswell activated the 43d Bombardment Wing, marking another Carswell first—the first B-58 bombardment wing in the USAF. The B-58 also went to Bunker Hill AFB Indiana, marking only two strategic bombardment wings for the Hustler. Following the Alaska earthquake on 28 March 1964, Carswell Hustlers flew to the earthquake-devastated region to provide prompt reconnaissance photos of the damage in a little over 14 hours. In late 1964, Carswell’s Hustlers were reassigned to Little Rock AFB, Arkansas. The Hustler was never adapted to carry conventional bombs. A variety of other aircraft were assigned at Carswell, and not just strategic bombardment types; Air Force Reserve units flew from Carswell for decades providing global airlift and fighter mission support.
After the end of the Cold War, a round of base closures and reorganization spelled the end for Carswell in 1990. The heritage of the Air Force prized the mighty Seventh, so it was relocated to Dyess AFB, Texas to fly the B-1 Lancer bomber that year. SAC disbanded into Air Combat Command in 1992, leaving Carswell bombers to be reassigned to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana by 1993. While not facing complete closure, active duty units relinquished the reins to Carswell AFB to the Air Force Reserve, and in 1994 to the US Navy where it is known today as Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base. F/A-18 Hornet, C-130 Hercules and F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft from US Navy and Air Force Reserve occupy the massive airfield that once hosted the Peacemaker and Stratofortress bombers.
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To find this cache, calculate the coordinates from the information in this listing.
N 48° AB.CDE W 101° FG.HIJ
A= Total dollars President Roosevelt authorized to build airfield near Consolidated plant, $X.NX million, A=(N-5)
B= Year Major Carswell was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, XXXN B=(Nx0)
C= Total miles nonstop flight by Lucky Lady II circumnavigation record, XX,XXN miles, C=(N/2)
D= Year Carswell became the mighty “7/11”, XXXN, D=(Nx7)
E= Year 4123rd Strategic Wing was established at Carswell, XXXN, E=(N/2)
F= Year B-52H/G crews first started D-model training at Carswell, XXXN, F=(N-2)
G= Year AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile deployed at Carswell, XXNX, G=(N+1)
H= Total number of B-52H aircraft modified for GIANT FISH sampling missions, (number only), H=(N-1)
I= Total hours in B-58 Alaskan earthquake photographic mission, XN hours, I=(N/2)
J=Year 7th Bombardment Wing transferred to Dyess AFB, XXNX, J=(N-7)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Fort_Worth_Joint_Reserve_Base
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carswell_Air_Force_Base
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_S._Carswell_Jr.
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Carswell_AFB.htm
http://www.strategic-air-command.com/wings/0007bw.htm
https://fas.org/nuke/guide/usa/bomber/alcm.htm
https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104612/agm-86bcd-missiles/
https://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/fact-sheets/chernobyl-bg.html
Dorr, R. & Peacock, L. (1995). Boeing’s Cold War Warrior: B-52 Stratofortress. London, UK; Osprey Aerospace.