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“Rock the Museum” at the General Patton Memorial Museum

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The General Patton Memorial Museum in Chiriaco Summit has introduced a new community art initiative titled “Talking Rocks.” This ongoing exhibit invites participants to pick up a rock at the museum, paint it in a patriotic theme, and return it for placement in the museum’s Memory Garden.

Each contribution will become a lasting part of the display, honoring the spirit of service, patriotism, and remembrance. Entries are accepted throughout the year, but those received before Veterans Day (November 11) will be placed in the garden during the museum’s annual Veterans Day ceremony. Rocks received afterward will continue to be added to the exhibit on an ongoing basis.

Participation in the program is free through November 12, and all are encouraged to contribute. This initiative provides a meaningful way for individuals, families, and organizations to express appreciation for our nation’s veterans and first responders.

General Patton Memorial Museum
62-510 Chiriaco Road, Chiriaco Summit, CA 92201
(760) 507-4143
https://generalpattonmuseum.com

Stars, Stripes and Songs: A Celebration of Veterans

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On Monday, November 10, 2025, the McCallum Theatre, in partnership with the City of Palm Desert, will host the inaugural Veterans Day Eve Celebration—an evening dedicated to honoring our veterans, their families, and the community.

The festivities begin at 5:30 PM with a patriotic pre-show celebration, followed at 7:00 PM by a USO-style performance on the McCallum stage. After the show, attendees are invited to stay for a classic ice cream social to end the evening.

Veterans and their families will receive 50% off the general ticket price. Tickets are available for $15 with promo code THANKYOU50, beginning September 12.

This is a wonderful opportunity for the community to come together, enjoy music and camaraderie, and show appreciation to those who served.

Event Details:

  • Date: Monday, November 10, 2025
  • Time: 5:30 PM Pre-Show Celebration | 7:00 PM Performance
  • Location: McCallum Theatre, 73000 Fred Waring Drive, Palm Desert, CA 92260
  • Tickets: $15 with promo code THANKYOU50 – Order tickets online at:
    https://www.mccallumtheatre.org/veteransevecelebration/

For more information, visit https://www.mccallumtheatre.org or contact Brooke Stuessy, Director – Events at (760) 776-6186, bstuessy@mccallum-theatre.org.

River Rats Over North Vietnam: AFA Palm Springs Lunch Recap with Major Lee Cohen

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Yesterday’s AFA Palm Springs lunch at ROC’s Firehouse Grille was truly memorable. Sixteen of us filled the meeting room to hear one of our own, Major Lee Cohen, USAF (Ret.), share his experiences as a member of the famed River Rats during the Vietnam War.

Over 100 Missions in an EB-66
Major Cohen flew the EB-66, logging more than 100 combat missions in heavily defended skies over North Vietnam. His firsthand accounts gave us a vivid window into what it was like to fly electronic warfare missions day after day in some of the most hostile airspace in history.

Learning About the River Rats Association
For many of us, one of the most surprising and enlightening parts of Lee’s talk was learning about the River Rats Association, formally known as the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association. Most of the room was unfamiliar with the organization before his presentation.

Lee explained how the group began in 1967 when aircrews from across the services came together to share tactics, improve coordination, and build esprit de corps during the Vietnam War. They took their nickname from the Red River Valley airspace — one of the fiercest aerial battle zones of the conflict. What started as tactical collaboration grew into a lasting fraternity dedicated to preserving bonds of service, honoring sacrifices, and supporting fellow aircrew families.

Scholarship, Legacy & Museum
Lee also shared how, in 1970, the River Rats launched a scholarship program with the mission of “taking care of our own.” Since then, the program has awarded 1,468 scholarship grants, totaling more than $3,274,000 to the children, grandchildren, and spouses of Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Army aircrew members. This was new information to most of us and a powerful reminder of how their mission continues today.

The River Rats also maintain a museum in Bowling Green, Kentucky, which preserves their history and tells the story of the men and women who flew in one of the most challenging air campaigns in U.S. history.

For more about the River Rats and their history, visit their website: https://www.river-rats.org

AFA Palm Springs Lunch Tomorrow – Stories from the River Rats

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Join us tomorrow, Wednesday, for our next AFA Palm Springs lunch. Our speaker will again be Major Lee Cohen, USAF (Ret.), one of our own members who many of you know.

This time, Major Cohen will be sharing his experiences as one of the “River Rats”—the pilots who flew high-risk missions over North Vietnam. The River Rats were known for their courage, skill, and close brotherhood, and Lee’s firsthand stories promise to be both moving and illuminating.

Major Cohen is a retired U.S. Air Force officer and decorated combat pilot. He flew the EB-66 electronic warfare “Destroyer” and other aircraft during the Vietnam War, carrying out missions in some of the most contested airspace of the conflict. He later served in leadership roles and continued in the Air Force Reserve. In retirement, he has stayed active in veteran and aviation circles, bringing his experiences to audiences everywhere.

Location: ROC’s Firehouse Grille, 36891 Cook Street, Suite 10, Palm Desert
Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM
Cost: No charge for attendance — just purchase your own lunch.

As always, lunch will offer great company, spirited conversation, and an opportunity to hear directly from one of our members who lived an extraordinary slice of Air Force history.

We look forward to seeing you there. Thanks!

The Day NASA Went to Space… with a Corned Beef Sandwich

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Astronauts Gus Grissom (foreground), command pilot; and John Young, pilot, are shown inside their Gemini III spacecraft as they prepared for their launch from Cape Kennedy, Florida, on March 23, 1965. (NASA)

Gemini III was supposed to test spacecraft maneuvers and prove America could handle two men in orbit. Instead, it became famous for something far more down-to-earth: a smuggled corned beef sandwich.

Astronaut John Young tucked the deli special into his spacesuit pocket, courtesy of Wally Schirra, and surprised Gus Grissom mid-flight. For a moment, outer space smelled like a New York deli. But the laughter didn’t last — crumbs floated free in zero-G, raising alarms about what could happen if one drifted into the controls.

Congress wasn’t laughing, NASA tightened the rules, and the “space sandwich” went down in history as the snack that changed spaceflight policy.

👉 Want the full bite-by-bite account? Read NASA’s official story here:
https://www.nasa.gov/history/fallout-from-the-unauthorized-gemini-iii-space-sandwich/

Happy Birthday, United States Air Force

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A Pennsylvania Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotanker provides fuel for an F-22 Raptor from Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Va., April 2, 2025. The air refueling mission was part of routine proficiency training. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Master Sgt. George Perkins)

On September 18, 1947, with the signing of the National Security Act by President Harry S. Truman, the United States Air Force was established as a separate and independent branch of the Armed Forces. It was the culmination of decades of innovation and sacrifice, from the Wright brothers’ first flight in 1903 to the extraordinary achievements of Army Air Corps and Army Air Forces airmen in World War II.

The roots of the Air Force reach back to the U.S. Army Signal Corps’ Aeronautical Division in 1907, the first military aviation organization in America. Over the next forty years, air power proved decisive: the daylight precision bombing campaigns in Europe, the island-hopping battles of the Pacific, and the strategic lessons learned in global warfare all made clear that air dominance was essential to victory.

With independence came a new mission — global vigilance, reach, and power. From the early Cold War years of the Berlin Airlift in 1948, to the development of long-range nuclear deterrence, to air superiority over Korea, Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf, the U.S. Air Force has continuously adapted to meet new threats. Airmen have flown everything from the rugged F-86 Sabre to the B-52 Stratofortress, from the SR-71 Blackbird to the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II, and today they operate on the cutting edge of space and cyber domains.

As we mark the Air Force’s 78th birthday, we honor the more than 685,000 active-duty, Guard, Reserve, and civilian Airmen serving today, and the millions who have served before them. Their dedication and innovation have secured freedom in the air and space, ensuring that the United States remains strong, secure, and always ready to meet the challenges of tomorrow.

Happy 78th Birthday, U.S. Air Force — Aim High … Fly-Fight-Win.

B‑21 Raider Moves Forward: Key Progress

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A second B-21 Raider, the nation’s sixth-generation stealth bomber, joins flight testing at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., Sept. 11. The program is a cornerstone of the Department of the Air Force’s nuclear modernization strategy, designed to deliver both conventional and nuclear payloads. (Courtesy photo)

Northrop Grumman has delivered a second B‑21 Raider flight test aircraft to Edwards Air Force Base. The addition of this second aircraft significantly boosts the flight test campaign.

The testing is now moving beyond basic flight performance — the focus is shifting to mission systems and weapons integration, which are critical for future operational capability.

Ground test efforts continue in parallel. Engineers are subjecting the Raider to extreme mission condition simulations and durability testing (e.g. simulated lifetimes), and so far it’s been performing better than earlier digital models predicted.

Support, Sustainment, & Upgrades

Northrop Grumman is developing an enhanced software package aimed at enabling the B‑21 fleet to receive seamless updates—ensuring that the aircraft’s mission capabilities and weapons systems can evolve to meet future threats.

For training and maintenance, the company is putting in place full‑scale support systems: simulators, immersive labs, virtual environments, and a Fleet Management Tool for maintenance and sustainment. This infrastructure is designed so that when B‑21s are deployed, squadron crews, maintainers, and support personnel are ready.

Bigger Picture & Strategic Implications

The expansion of testing with more aircraft accelerates the path toward operational readiness. Having more test assets allows for faster validation of systems, weapons, and mission performance.

The B‑21 is being positioned as a cornerstone of the U.S. long‑range strike capability, incorporating both nuclear and conventional roles.

From Newsroom at Northrup Grumman https://news.northropgrumman.com/b-21-raider/Northrop-Grumman-Advances-B-21-Raider-Across-Test-and-Production

Satellite Network Boosts Next-Gen Airpower

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Today’s SDA Payload Launch Marks a Pivotal Boost to Space Force Support for Next-Gen Fighter Operations. Many of you perhaps saw it if you were in the area.

At 7:12 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday, September 10, 2025, SpaceX’s Falcon 9 lifted off from Vandenberg Space Force Base carrying 21 Transport Layer satellites—the first operational satellites of the Space Development Agency’s (SDA) Proliferated Warfighter Space Architecture (PWSA)—launching a new era in resilient military communications.

Reconstituted under the U.S. Space Force in October 2022, SDA’s mission is to build and operate a hardened, low-earth orbit mesh network of satellites that delivers rapid command-and-control connectivity—even in contested environments. This launch, executed under the National Security Space Launch (NSSL) Phase 2 contract with Space Systems Command, marks the first tranche of operational transport satellites vital to realizing that vision.

Built by York Space Systems, these 21 satellites form a flexible, distributed network using optical inter-satellite links (OISLs). This mesh architecture ensures low-latency, beyond-line-of-sight data relay, allowing real-time connectivity from space to units on the ground or in the air.

Modern and future fighters like NGAD (Next Generation Air Dominance) and upgraded F-35 variants will rely heavily on instant data access—whether for coordinated targeting, sensor fusion, or threat detection. The SDA Transport Layer will serve as an invisible force-multiplier, enabling seamless exchanges of video feeds, radar tracks, and targeting data directly to cockpit systems—even across vast distances. SDA’s mesh network acts as a “space relay,” overcoming the geographic limits of traditional Link 16 radio, and enabling secure, persistent connectivity—from Hawaii to Guam and beyond.

This launch is more than hardware in orbit—it represents a shift toward integrated multi-domain operations, anchoring air-to-space synergy and ensuring fighter wings remain connected, informed, and lethal. The resilience embedded in a distributed architecture yields depth, survivability, and coverage that legacy satellite systems can’t match.

For those who missed the live stream, SpaceX’s official webcast of the SDA T1TL-B launch—including launch, booster recovery, and commentary—is still available via their site: Watch the SDA T1TL-B Launch Here: https://www.spacex.com/launches/sda-t1tl-b

With this successful deployment, the SDA’s PWSA takes its first operational step toward delivering real-time space-enabled connectivity to the warfighter. AFA members should stay engaged with SDA and Space Force developments—as these satellites transform the battlefield, reinforcing that space is no longer the final frontier—it’s the next tactical domain.

A Historic First for Female Aviators in the USAF

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The first 10 female officers to graduate from the Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training Program, Class 77-08, with a Northrop T-38A-50-NO Talon, 63-8111, 2 September 1977. (U.S. Air Force)

On this day in 1977, the U.S. Air Force celebrated a monumental achievement: the graduation of the first 10 female officers from Undergraduate Pilot Training (Class 77-08) at Williams AFB, Arizona. Serving alongside 36 male classmates, these trailblazers earned their coveted Silver Wings and broke through barriers that had stood for decades.

Their names — Captains Connie Engel, Kathy La Sauce, Mary Donahue, Susan Rogers, Christine Schott; First Lieutenants Sandra Scott, Victoria Crawford; and Second Lieutenants Mary Livingston, Carol Scherer, and Kathleen Rambo — stand as testaments to courage and perseverance.

Among them, Capt. Christine E. Schott would go on to make history again as the USAF’s first woman aircraft commander, flying the C-9A Nightingale.

Initiated by a 1975 pilot-training test program, these women logged over 210 flight hours in advanced trainer jets and blazed a trail for future generations of female aviators.

Decades later, their legacy continues: in 2016 they were inducted into the Women in Aviation International Pioneer Hall of Fame, and the AETC Trailblazer Room stands in their honor.

On this anniversary, we salute these pioneering women and the women following them who soared beyond limitations.

👉 Read the full story here: https://vintageaviationnews.com/warbird-articles/this-day-in-aviation-history-graduation-of-the-first-10-female-air-force-pilots.html

Air Force to Field Autonomous Cessna Caravan

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 A Cessna 208B Grand Caravan equipped with Reliable’s aircraft autonomy system takes part in Air Force exercises in 2024. [Courtesy: Reliable Robotics]

The U.S. Air Force has taken a significant step toward transforming airlift operations with a $17.4 million contract awarded to Reliable Robotics for its aircraft autonomy system, the Reliable Autonomy System (RAS), to be deployed on Cessna 208B Grand Caravan single-engine turboprops.

Why This Matters for the AFA and the Air Force Community:

  • End-to-end automated flight: RAS enables automated taxiing, takeoff, flight, and landing—offering robust autonomy with built-in redundancy and precision navigation that addresses common safety risks like controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) and loss of control in flight (LOC‑I).
  • Designed for austere environments: The Indo‑Pacific region is set to benefit first, with the aircraft’s simplicity and autonomy enabling efficient missions in remote areas where human resources are stretched.
  • Safety + affordability: With a much lower operational cost—approximately $2,000 per flight hour compared to around $20,000 for a C‑130J—and a 90% dispatch reliability rate, the Caravan proves to be both cost-effective and ready for rugged service.
  • Multi-platform potential: Though the Caravan is the immediate focus, RAS is aircraft-agnostic. The Air Force is already exploring its integration with larger models like the KC‑135 Stratotanker and Cessna 408 SkyCourier.
  • Proven performance in exercises: Reliable Robotics previously demonstrated RAS capabilities during real-world, military‑style Agile Flag exercises—autonomously flying Caravan missions across multiple California and Nevada airfields via remote pilot operations with an onboard safety pilot.

What’s Next? This contract marks a pivotal milestone in the Air Force’s shift toward autonomous aviation. By leveraging commercial-grade autonomy solutions like RAS, the service is poised to enhance operational readiness, cost efficiency, and mission adaptability, especially within the doctrine of Agile Combat Employment.

Want to dig deeper into this cutting-edge development? Read the full story in Flying Magazine here:

“Air Force to Field Autonomous Cessna Caravan” – Flying Magazine August 26, 2025
https://www.flyingmag.com/air-force-reliable-robotics-automated-caravan/