The Palm Springs Chapter of the Air & Space Forces Association proudly serves the greater Palm Springs area. The Chapter’s active program supports Air Force members of all ranks and grades, addresses Air Force issues in advancing aerospace technology and professional and personnel issues, and reaches out to the Coachella Valley community. Thank You!
Today marks the anniversary of the first flight of one of the most famous aircraft of World War II, the North American B-25 Mitchell.
The B-25 first took to the air on August 19, 1940.
Less than two years later, on April 18, 1942, sixteen B-25Bs sat on the deck of the USS Hornet in the Pacific. Led by Lt. Col. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle, their crews launched from the carrier on a mission to strike targets in Japan, including Tokyo.
The Doolittle Raid came just months after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Although the physical damage from the raid was relatively limited, its impact was far greater. It provided an important boost to American morale and demonstrated that the Japanese home islands could be reached by American forces.
Think about that timeline.
On August 19, 1940, the B-25 was making its first flight. Just 20 months later, sixteen of them were launching from an aircraft carrier on one of the most daring and historically significant missions of World War II.
The photograph shows the Doolittle Raiders’ B-25s lined up on the deck of USS Hornet as they were carried toward Japan.
From first flight to history in less than two years.
A remarkable chapter in the heritage of American air power.
What does a remarkable airplane at EAA AirVenture Oshkosh have to do with the future of AFA Palm Springs? More than you might think.
As another record-breaking EAA AirVenture Oshkosh comes to a close, more than 734,000 people attended the world’s largest annual aviation gathering. More than 10,000 aircraft, 1,600 forums and workshops, 1,021 exhibitors, 6,000 volunteers, and an estimated $257 million economic impact made AirVenture 2026 another extraordinary success. From vintage aircraft and warbirds to military aviation, homebuilt airplanes, aerospace innovation, education, and the future of flight, Oshkosh remains unlike any other aviation event in the world.
Among the aircraft attracting attention this year was the remarkable Gee Bee QED, a modern recreation of the famous 1934 cross-country racer. It is an extraordinary aircraft, powered by a 1,425 horsepower radial engine and built as a faithful recreation of one of aviation’s most recognizable racing airplanes.
As impressive as the airplane is, the most compelling story surrounding it isn’t found in its performance specifications. It’s found in the people working around it.
In an interview at Oshkosh, Kelly Mahon, Director of Operations for the Mid America Flight Museum, explained that while preserving aviation history and honoring veterans remain central to the museum’s mission, another equally important mission is mentoring young people. High school students were invited into the restoration shop to learn, contribute, and become part of the project. One of those students later attended Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and completed engineering work that directly contributed to the aircraft.
One story stood out in particular. A mother initially became involved simply by bringing baked goods to the restoration team while her daughters participated. Her interest grew into a passion for aviation, and she eventually earned her Airframe and Powerplant mechanic certificate and became a member of the restoration team herself.
Mahon also challenged one of aviation’s most common assumptions. While much of the conversation focuses on a shortage of pilots, he argues that aviation has an equally urgent need for aircraft mechanics, technicians, engineers, and other skilled professionals who will build, maintain, and advance the aircraft of tomorrow.
His message was both simple and compelling:
“We’ve got to get them to the airport, and we’ve got to get them excited.”
Those ideas reinforce an important opportunity for AFA Palm Springs Chapter 134.
The Air & Space Forces Association has always been committed to supporting Airmen, Guardians, veterans, and aerospace education. As our Chapter continues to expand its Cyber Education initiatives, we also recognize that aviation itself remains an essential part of inspiring the next generation. Through growing relationships with organizations such as EAA Chapter 1116, Young Eagles, Civil Air Patrol, College of the Desert, local schools, and other STEM partners, we have an opportunity to introduce young people to aviation, aerospace, engineering, aircraft maintenance, cybersecurity, military service, and many of the careers that support our nation’s Air and Space Forces.
The future of aerospace depends on far more than pilots. It depends on the people who design, build, maintain, protect, and innovate the technologies that make flight possible.
Aviation has always inspired people to look beyond the horizon. The challenge today is making sure the next generation has the opportunity to discover that same inspiration. Whether that journey leads to the cockpit, the maintenance hangar, an engineering laboratory, a cyber operations center, or military service, it begins by giving young people the chance to experience aviation firsthand.
That is why aviation outreach remains an important part of the mission of AFA Palm Springs Chapter 134.
We encourage you to watch Kelly Mahon’s interview. The Gee Bee QED is a remarkable airplane, but the ideas behind the project may be even more inspiring.
We’re probably still a few years, a few billion dollars, and perhaps a space program away from building something like this.
Many organizations have a building where they display photographs, squadron memorabilia, and aircraft artwork. While we don’t have a permanent chapter hangar, we do have something just as accessible… our website.
Do you have one or two photographs from your military service? Your career in aviation? Were you an airline pilot, aircraft mechanic, air traffic controller, aerospace engineer, airport employee, Civil Air Patrol member, or simply someone who has loved airplanes your entire life? Maybe your career took you in a completely different direction, but aviation has always been one of your passions. We’d love to preserve and share your photographs and your story.
Digital photographs are welcome, but don’t worry if your memories are still tucked away in albums or boxes. If you have prints, slides, or negatives, simply bring them to one of our Air Commandos Lunches or another chapter event. I’ll professionally scan them, return the originals to you, and prepare them for our Virtual Hangar.
When you submit your photograph or photographs, please include as much information as you can about them, such as who is in the photograph, the aircraft, location, approximate date, squadron or organization, and the story behind the image. Even if you don’t know all of the details, don’t let that stop you. Every photograph helps preserve a small part of our shared history.
Or bring your prints, slides, or negatives to one of our chapter gatherings, and I’ll scan them and promptly return the originals.
If you’ve previously given a presentation to our chapter, I probably already have the photographs and information you shared. I’ll begin building our Virtual Hangar with those, and I hope everyone else will add one or two photographs of their own to help it grow.
One of the things I still enjoy is receiving a magazine in the mail.
Call me old fashioned, but there is something satisfying about holding a printed publication in your hands. The battery never runs out. It slips easily into a backpack or briefcase. You can read it at the beach, beside the pool, or in bright sunlight without fighting reflections on a screen. And if you happen to drip nacho cheese on it, you simply wipe it off and keep reading.
The latest issue of Air & Space Forces Magazine has started arriving in members’ mailboxes, and it is one I look forward to every year.
The 2026 Air & Space Forces Almanac is a remarkable 176-page reference filled with current information about the United States Air Force and United States Space Force. It covers everything from aircraft inventories, weapons systems, budgets, installations, and organizational structure to personnel statistics, leadership, awards, and much more. It is also packed with outstanding photography and graphics that make it just as enjoyable to browse as it is to study.
Unlike most magazines that are read once and recycled, this is a publication that stays within easy reach. Throughout the year, I find myself pulling it off the shelf whenever I want to verify a fact, check an aircraft inventory, look up a command, or simply enjoy some excellent aviation photography.
Receiving Air & Space Forces Magazine, including this annual Almanac, is one of the many benefits available to AFA members at qualifying membership levels. It is another reminder that membership is about much more than supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. It also connects you with information and resources that are difficult to find gathered together anywhere else.
If your copy has already arrived, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. If not, keep an eye on your mailbox. I think you’ll find it’s well worth the wait.
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.
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.
From the glass nose of a B-25 Mitchell bomber, the view over the Salton Sea is both breathtaking and humbling. This position, once occupied by a bombardier in World War II, offers one of the most dramatic perspectives in aviation — a reminder of the courage it took to fly these aircraft in combat.
Today, August 19, we share this video in recognition of National Aviation Day. Established in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, the observance was set to coincide with the birthday of aviation pioneer Orville Wright. The day encourages reflection on the achievements of the Wright brothers and the continuing impact of aviation on our world.
Among the aircraft that carried forward that legacy is the North American B-25 Mitchell. Best remembered for its role in the daring Doolittle Raid of 1942, the B-25 served across every theater of World War II, from the Pacific to Europe. More than 9,800 were built, performing missions that ranged from level bombing to anti-shipping strikes, and many continued flying long after the war in training, transport, and even civilian roles.
Flying in the nose of this aircraft today connects us directly to that history — bridging past and present through the experience of flight.
KC-135 Stories from the Vietnam War — Gary Lueders at the Air Commandos Luncheon
At this week’s AFA 134 Air Commandos Luncheon, retired airline pilot and military aviator Gary Lueders gave a compelling talk about his time flying the KC-135 Stratotanker during the Vietnam War. With a great turnout of 15 attendees filling the table at Roc’s Firehouse Grille in Palm Desert, Gary shared firsthand accounts of flying 123 combat air refueling missions, supporting aircraft under dangerous conditions across Southeast Asia.
His presentation covered both the personal and the historical—from the heroics of air-to-air refueling to the operational challenges and moments that defined the KC-135’s role in the war. He also brought original squadron patches from the Wild Weasels and the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, each with its own storied (and humorous) legacy, featuring mottos like “YGBSM” and “NKAWTG” that only aircrews truly appreciate.
A “Wild Weasel” flight patch shared by Gary Leuders during his presentation—complete with the classic and unofficial squadron motto “YGBSM,” whose meaning remains a bit of an inside joke among aircrew.
A patch from the 909th Air Refueling Squadron, part of Gary Leuders’ time flying KC-135s. The letters “NKAWTG” stand for “Nobody Kicks Ass Without Tanker Gas”—a proud, unofficial motto among air refueling crews.
From growing up next to Alexandria Air Force Base to a 31-year career with American Airlines and volunteer work at the Palm Springs Air Museum, Gary’s lifelong connection to aviation came through with insight and enthusiasm.
A great lunch, a strong showing, and another memorable session of shared history and community.
You’re Invited: AFA 134 Air Commandos Luncheon Special Guest Speaker – Gary Lueders “Flying the KC-135: A Career in the Air and Beyond”
Join us for an engaging presentation by Gary Lueders, a veteran KC-135 pilot whose career spans Air Force service during the Vietnam War, a 31-year flying career with American Airlines, and leadership roles in aviation and community service. Gary will share stories from his time flying 123 combat air refueling missions during the Vietnam War, his work as an FAA Check Airman, and his continuing involvement in aviation.
📅 Date: Wednesday, April 30, 2025 🕦 Time: 11:30 AM – 1:00 PM 📍 Location:Roc’s Firehouse Grille 36891 Cook Street, Palm Desert, CA 92211
Growing up next to Alexandria Air Force Base, Gary’s early passion for aviation set the stage for a remarkable career in both military and civilian aviation. His experiences flying the KC-135 and mentoring pilots reflect a lifetime dedicated to flight and service.
The Air Commandos Luncheon began as a way for AFA members and friends to reconnect following the COVID lockdowns. Held every couple of weeks, it’s an informal gathering for conversation, camaraderie, and lunch ordered from the menu—now with the occasional addition of a guest speaker.
There is no fee to attend—just come and enjoy your own lunch and/or beverage.
