4450TH AGS/First Sergeant, Tonopah Test Range, Nevada
Senior Master Sergeant Russell D. Roberson was First Sergeant of the 4450th Aircraft Generation Squadron, Tonopah Test Range, NV. As the First Sergeant, he maintains a liaison between the squadron commander and the enlisted force assigned to the 4450th AGS. Sergeant Roberson advises the commander on enlisted force issues and maintains a constant vigilance on matters affecting the health, morale, and welfare of the force. The 4450th mission involves the test and development of the F-117 Stealth Fighter. The USAF acknowledged the existence of the F-117 in October, 1988.
He graduated from Gaffney High School, Gaffney, South Carolina in 1968. He entered the Air Force in 1968, and has held a variety of management positions in the Logistics career field before becoming a First Sergeant.
EDUCATION:
NCO Leadership School (Correspondence)- 1972
NCO Academy, Robins AFB, GA-1976
First Sergeant Academy, Maxwell AFB, AL -1981
Senior NCO Academy, Maxwell AFB, AL-1988
Community College of the Air Force, Maxwell AFB, Al
Eastern Washington University, Charleston AFB, SC
St. Phillips College, San Antonio, Tx
ASSIGNMENTS:
3708 BMTS, LACKLAND AFB, TX SEPT 1968
832ND TRANSPORTATION SQ, CANNON AFB, NM OCT 68-JUN 69
TUSLOG DET 3-2, SAMSUN AS, TURKEY JUN 69-MAR 70
TUSLOG DET 94, KARAMURSEL CDI, TURKEY MAR 70-JAN 71
6940TH TRAINING WING, GOODFELLOW AFB, TX JAN 71-APR 72
474TH TACTICAL FIGHTER WING, TAHKLI RTAFB, THAILAND JUN 74-NOV 74
388TH TACTICAL FIGHTER WING, KORAT RTAFB, THAILAND NOV 74-JUL 75
2955TH COMBAT LOGISTICS SUPPORT SQ, ROBINS AFB, GA JUL 75-JAN 80
437TH MILITARY AIRLIFT WING, CHARLESTON AFB, SC JAN 80-NOV 82
DEFENSE LANGUAGE INSTITUTE (DOD), LACKLAND AFB, TX NOV 82-JAN 86
4450TH TACTICAL GROUP, TONOPAH TEST RANGE, NV JAN 86-JUL 89
MAJOR AWARDS AND DECORATIONS:
Defense Meritorious Service Medal
Meritorious Service Medal
Air Force Commendation Medal with two oak leaf clusters
Air Force Achievement Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor and with 4 Oak leaf clusters
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal w/ star device
Humanitarian Service Medal w/numeral 2
National Defense Service Medal
Air Force Good Conduct Medal with 5 oak leaf clusters
Air Force Longevity Service Award with 4 oak leaf clusters
USAF NCO Professional Military Education Graduate Ribbon with 1 oak leaf cluster
Air Force Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon
Air Force Training Ribbon
Air Force Military Training Center First Sergeant of the Year 1983
EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION:
Airman October 1968
Airman First Class April 1969
Sergeant November 1970
Staff Sergeant November 1971
Technical Sergeant April 1977
Master Sergeant October 1981
Senior Master Sergeant November 1986
Description Operation Babylift was the name given to the mass evacuation of children from South Vietnam to the United States and other countries (including Australia, France, and Canada) at the end of the Vietnam War (see also the Fall of Saigon), from April 3–26, 1975. By the final American flight out of South Vietnam, over 3,300 infants and children had been evacuated, although the actual number has been variously reported. Along with Operation New Life, over 110,000 refugees were evacuated from South Vietnam at the end of the Vietnam War. Thousands of children were airlifted from Vietnam and adopted by families around the world.
Overview
A pair of well-worn baby shoes worn by an orphan evacuated from Vietnam during Operation Babylift
With the central Vietnamese city of Da Nang having fallen in March, and with Saigon under attack and being shelled, on April 3, 1975, U.S. President Gerald Ford announced that the U.S. government would begin evacuating orphans from Saigon on a series of 30 planned flights aboard C-5A Galaxy cargo aircraft.
Service organizations including Holt International Children's Services, Friends of Children of Viet Nam (FCVN), Friends For All Children (FFAC), Catholic Relief Service, International Social Services, International Orphans and the Pearl S. Buck Foundation petitioned the government to help evacuate the various orphans in their facilities in Vietnam. In their book, Silence Broken, Childhelp (International Orphans at the time) founders Sara O'Meara and Yvonne Fedderson chronicle their request from Lieutenant General Lewis William Walt to help with evacuations and finding homes for the Asian-American orphans.
Flights continued until artillery attacks by North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong military units on Tan Son Nhut Airport rendered airplane flights impossible.
The operation was controversial because there was question about whether the evacuation was in the children's best interest, and because not all the children were orphans.
Plane crash
Main article: Tan Son Nhut C-5 accident
A C-5A Galaxy 68-0218 flew the initial mission of Operation Babylift to bring Vietnamese orphans to the US in the few remaining days before the Republic of Vietnam fell. The C-5 departed Saigon-Tan Son Nhut Airport shortly after 4 p.m. on April 4, 1975. Twelve minutes after takeoff, there was what seemed to be an explosion as the lower rear fuselage was torn apart. The locks of the rear loading ramp had failed, causing the door to open and separate. A rapid decompression occurred. Control and trim cables to the rudder and elevators were severed, leaving only one aileron and wing spoilers operating. Two of the four hydraulic systems were out. The crew wrestled at the controls, managing to keep control of the plane with changes in power settings by using the one working aileron and wing spoilers. The crew descended to an altitude of 4,000 feet on a heading of 310 degrees in preparation for landing on Tan Son Nhut's runway 25L. About halfway through a turn to final approach, the rate of descent increased rapidly. Seeing they couldn't make the runway, full power was applied to bring the nose up. The C-5 touched down in a rice paddy. Skidding for a quarter of a mile, the aircraft again became airborne for a half mile before hitting a dike and breaking into four parts, some of which caught fire. According to DIA figures, 138 people were killed in the crash, including 78 children and 35 Defense Attaché Office Saigon personnel.
When American businessman Robert Macauley learned that it would take more than a week to evacuate the surviving orphans due to the lack of military transport planes, he chartered a Boeing 747 from Pan Am and arranged for 300 orphaned children to leave the country, paying for the trip by mortgaging his house.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
April / 1975
To Month/Year
April / 1975
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
People You Remember Assigned to the 374th Military Airlift Wing during these operations. Worked 12-16 hour days 7 days a week during these special operations in April and May 1975.
