Contents - Airlift/Tanker Association

General Patterson’s legacy of allied interaction in airlift competitions
has significantly enhanced today’s Rodeo competitions. The
2007 Air Mobility Rodeo included nine international competitors
and 22 international observers in addition to 38 U.S. Total Force
competitive teams. The 317th TAW was named the winner of Airlift
Rodeo of 1980.
While at Pope AFB, General Patterson’s unit personnel participated
in several exercises in 1980, including DRAGON TEAM, which deployed
2,500 soldiers aboard 23 C-141 aircraft; BRAVE SHIELD, the
first deployment
of forces under
Rapid Deployment
Joint Task
Force control; and
AUTUMN FORGE,
in which his wing
participated in
the largest intercontinental
troop
and cargo airdrop
in history, transporting
600 paratroopers
from the
Beginning in March 1970, then Major Patterson
served at Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base,
Thailand, as an AC-130 gunship aircraft commander,
flight examiner and additional duty
maintenance officer in the 16th Special Operations
Squadron of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing.
(Photo courtesy Bob Patterson).
82nd Airborne
Division. The following
year, his
Airmen deployed
to Elmendorf AFB,
Alaska, for Exercise
BRIM FROST,
the first in a series
of five winter operations
exercises
that later became
known as Exercise
NORTHERN EDGE. Under General Patterson’s command, his units
garnered an Air Force Outstanding Unit Award and the Military Airlift
Command Award for Safety.
In March 1981, he became
the assistant chief of staff for
plans at Headquarters Military
Airlift Command, Scott Air
Force Base, Ill., but he was only
there a year before he became
vice commander of MAC’s 21st
Air Force at McGuire AFB, N.J.,
and then commander in July
1984.
Air Force historians have noted
that probably no numbered
air force has had so profound
and direct impact on saving
lives and protecting resources as
the 21st Air Force. Certainly, as
the deputy commander, General
Patterson oversaw operations,
which later prepared the command
for the more turbulent
times to follow in late 1983.
First, was Exercise FLINTLOCK
‘82, which consisted of 12 subexercises
held in ten countries to
include Norway, Tunisia, Greece, Liberia, Kenya, Jordan, Italy, France,
Denmark and West Germany. All total, nearly 2,700 passengers and
900 tons of cargo were transported, and these units were involved for
the first time in the employment portions of the exercise as well as
the redeployment phases.
General Patterson’s diplomatic relations with Jordan and Honduras
had begun to
yield fruit during
this time. King
Hussein of Jordan
first visited
troops in the field
as technicians
for 21 AF taught
cargo delivery system
rigging and
other cargo loading
procedures to
Jordanian soldiers
participating in
Exercise SHADOW
HAWK ‘82.
In January
1983, 21 AF crews
from the 436th ,
437th and 438th
Then Major Patterson resting his arm on a 20mm Vulcan
cannon of an AC-130 Spectre at Ubon Royal Thai Air
Force Base, Thailand, while serving with the 16th Special
Operations Squadron of the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing,
circa 1970. (Photo courtesy Bob Patterson).
Then Major Patterson during a mission brief at
Ubon Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, circa
1970. (Photo courtesy Bob Patterson).
Military Airlift
Wings flew 39 deployment
and redeployment missions during Exercise AHUAS TARA
I, MAC’s first Honduras-based military exercise. In July of that year,
King Hussein of Jordan and several members of his staff were treated
to their first ride in a C-5A over that Middle Eastern country.
In the fall of 1983, 21 AF became involved with more somber world
events. Following the terrorist bombing of the U.S. Marine Corps barracks
in Beirut, Lebanon, in which nearly 240 Americans were killed,
21 AF units in Europe were used to airlift service member remains
from Beirut IAP to Rhein Main AB, Germany, and eventually to Dover
AFB, Dela. In the midst of this, Operation URGENT FURY began as 21
AF aircrews began flying combat airlift missions from various staging
bases in the CONUS to Point Salines, Grenada. A record 171 missions
were flown, and by nightfall of 25 October, more than 700 MAC aircrew
and support personnel were on the islands of
Barbados and Grenada. General Patterson was certainly
in his element as the senior Air Force officer
on Grenada during hostilities. According to his
commander, when he deployed, he was known as
the field commander who could get things done.
That he did – over the next three days, a total of
688 U.S. and foreign medical students and their
dependents were evacuated on one C-5A and 17
C-141B missions operating out of Point Salines
Airfield and transported to Charleston AFB, S.C.,
and Dover AFB. One week later, 21 AF provided
airlift and crews for disaster relief and resupply
missions to bases in the eastern region of Turkey,
following a massive 6.0 earthquake, where more
than 1,300 people lost their lives.
In July 1984, General Patterson took the helm
from Major General Duane H. Cassidy, and two
days later personnel from eight 21 AF units began
participating in the longest-running land maneuver
exercise ever conducted by the U.S. During this
Honduras-based event known as AHUAS TARA II,
more than 13,000 tons of cargo and nearly 30,000
personnel were airlifted on nearly 300 airlift missions.
Army LtGen Jack McMull, XIIIth Airborne
Corps Commander, selected General Patterson as Deputy Task Force
Commander. A first for an Air Force officer for this traditional US
Army position. During his leadership tenure from 1982 to 1984, the
21 AF had primary airlift responsibility for more than 65 percent of
A/TQ • Airlift/Tanker Quarterly • Fall 2008
25