Brian D. O'Neill is an American author and attorney, best known for Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer , a book about the U.S. Eighth Air Force and B-17 crews and missions in World War II. He is also the author of 303rd Bombardment Group, about the same subject.
Born into a U.S. Air Force family in 1949, O'Neill's growing up years were spent on many Air Force bases throughout the United States, at a time when piston-engined aircraft a generation or two behind the B-17 were still in wide use. His Air Force upbringing fostered a lifelong interest in World War II aviation history. After graduating from the University of Maryland in 1971, O'Neill served with the U.S. Navy for three years, first as a destroyer gunnery officer and then as a shipyard repair officer at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Upon leaving military service he became an attorney and the General Counsel of Curtiss-Wright Corporation, the aviation company that had manufactured the P-40 Warhawk fighter and the Cyclone B-17 engines during World War II. In 2001 O'Neill left corporate life to enter the private practice of law. As of 2013 he manages a very active immigration and employment law firm based in Morristown, New Jersey. [1]
Davis–Monthan Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base 5 miles southeast of downtown Tucson, Arizona. It was established in 1925 as Davis–Monthan Landing Field. The host unit for Davis–Monthan AFB is the 355th Wing assigned to Twelfth Air Force (12AF), part of Air Combat Command (ACC). The base is best known as the location of the Air Force Materiel Command's 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group, the aircraft boneyard for all excess military and U.S. government aircraft and aerospace vehicles.
Hickam Air Force Base is a United States Air Force installation, named in honor of aviation pioneer Lieutenant Colonel Horace Meek Hickam. The installation merged in 2010 with Naval Station Pearl Harbor to become part of the newly formed Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, on the island of Oʻahu in the State of Hawaiʻi. The base neighbors Daniel K. Inouye International Airport and currently shares runways with the airport for its activities and operations.
Hunter Army Airfield, located in Savannah, Georgia, United States, is a military airfield and subordinate installation to Fort Stewart located in Hinesville, Georgia.
The Boeing KC-97 Stratofreighter is a United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.
Royal Air Force Molesworth or more simply RAF Molesworth is a Royal Air Force station located near Molesworth, Cambridgeshire, England with a history dating back to 1917.
The Vultee A-31 Vengeance was an American dive bomber of World War II, built by Vultee Aircraft. A modified version was designated A-35. The Vengeance was not used operationally by the United States, but was operated as a front-line aircraft by the British Royal Air Force, the Royal Australian Air Force, and the Indian Air Force in Southeast Asia and the Southwest Pacific. The A-31 remained in service with U.S. units until 1945, primarily in a target-tug role.
Royal Air Force Thurleigh or more simply RAF Thurleigh is a former Royal Air Force station located 5 miles (8.0 km) north of Bedford, Bedfordshire, England. Thurleigh was transferred to the United States Army Air Forces Eighth Air Force on 9 December 1942 and designated Station 111, and used for heavy bomber operations against Nazi Germany.
The 26th Space Aggressor Squadron is a unit of the United States Air Force located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. It is part of the 926th Group and is the reserve associate of the 527th Space Aggressor Squadron.
Royal Air Force Andrews Field or more simply RAF Andrews Field is a former Royal Air Force station located 4 miles (6.4 km) east-northeast of Great Dunmow Essex, England.
Fairmont State Airfield is three miles south of Fairmont, in Fillmore County, Nebraska. The National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2011–2015 categorized it as a general aviation facility. It has no scheduled airline service.
General Russell Elliott Dougherty was commander in chief of the Strategic Air Command and director of strategic target planning, at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska.
Forrest Lee Vosler, was a Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress radio operator who was the second enlisted U.S. airman to receive the Medal of Honor. He also received the Air Medal and Purple Heart.
The 449th Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Third Air Force supporting United States Africa Command. It is stationed at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti. It flies missions for Africa Command and Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa, supporting varied U.S. objectives in the area.
Bernard (Barney) Wayne Rawlings was the Eighth Air Force co-pilot of the B-17 bomber, "G.I. Sheets", which was shot down over Belgium in 1944. With the aid of resistance fighters in Belgium and France, Rawlings made his way to Spain where, after a brief incarceration, he was repatriated. His story is recounted in Half a Wing, Three Engines, and a Prayer by Brian D. O'Neill, and The Last Airman, by Roger Rawlings.
The 22nd Operations Group is the operational flying component of the United States Air Force 22nd Air Refueling Wing. It is stationed at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, and is part of Air Mobility Command (AMC)'s Eighteenth Air Force.
The 323rd Air Expeditionary Wing is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the United States Air Forces in Europe. As a provisional unit, it may be activated or inactivated at any time.
The 38th Bombardment Group is an inactive unit of the United States Air Force. It was most recently assigned as the operational (flying) component of the 38th Bombardment Wing, stationed at Laon-Couvron Air Base, France, where it was inactivated on 8 December 1957.
The 303rd Air Expeditionary Group is a provisional United States Air Force unit. In 2011, it was assigned to United States Air Forces Europe to activate or inactivate as needed.
The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical rift developed between more traditional ground-based army personnel and those who felt that aircraft were being underutilized and that air operations were being stifled for political reasons unrelated to their effectiveness. The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926, and was part of the larger United States Army. The Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) on 20 June 1941, giving it greater autonomy from the Army's middle-level command structure. During World War II, although not an administrative echelon, the Air Corps (AC) remained as one of the combat arms of the Army until 1947, when it was legally abolished by legislation establishing the Department of the Air Force.
Half a Wing, Three Engines and a Prayer, is a book about B-17 crews and missions in World War II, written by Brian D. O'Neill. He is also the author of 303rd Bombardment Group, on the same subject.