This Military Service Page was created/owned by
MSgt Thomas Hill (Tom)
to remember
Eastwood, Lauren, MSgt USAF(Ret).
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Contact Info
Home Town Waterbury
Last Address 1651 Carolina Drive Newark, Ohio
Date of Passing Feb 20, 2016
Location of Interment Cedar Hill Cemetery - Newark, Ohio
Retired - State Vocational Teacher - Retired - Journeyman Electrician - Master Mason - 32 Degree Scotish Rite Mason - Lifetime member NRA - Life member of 49th FIS Association - Vigil Member Order of the Arrow - Target Shoot and Concealed Carry licence holder - Life Member of Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter #55 - Life Member of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post #1060 - American Legion Post #804 - B-52 Stratofortress Association - Life Member of Disabled American Veterans (DAV) Chapter #23 Newark, Ohio
1972-1973, EC-121D Big Eye/College Eye
From Year 1972
To Year 1973
Personal Memories
Not Specified
Image
EC-121D Big Eye/College Eye Details
Aircraft/Missile Information
LOCKHEED EC-121D CONSTELLATION
The EC-121, originally designated RC-121, was a radar-picket version of the U.S. Air Force's C-121 passenger airplane. The EC-121 provided early warning by detecting and tracking enemy aircraft with the electronic gear in the large radomes above and below its fuselage.
The Air Force ordered 82 EC-121s between 1951 and 1955, 72 of which were EC-121Ds. The EC-121 entered service with the Air Defense Command in 1953, flying patrols off the U.S. coasts as an aerial extension of the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line. EC-121s remained in service until they were replaced by more capable E-3 Sentry AWACS (Airborne Warning And Control System). The last EC-121 was retired from the U.S. Air Force Reserve in 1978.
In Southeast Asia, these unarmed radar aircraft aided in downing enemy planes, directed U.S. aircraft to aerial refueling tankers, and guided rescue planes to downed pilots. The aircraft on display was nicknamed Triple Nickel because of its serial number (53-555). On Oct. 24, 1967, over the Gulf of Tonkin, it guided a U.S. fighter into position to destroy a MiG-21. This action marked the first time a weapons controller aboard an airborne radar aircraft had ever directed a successful attack on an enemy plane. Triple Nickel came to the museum in 1971
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