Replies

Thanks nocamels. Operation Nickel Grass not only helped to save Israel, it gave the US invaluable experience, while simultaneously humiliatiing the Russians. The US route was a quarter of the world's circumference, most of the flight path was over water, a good bit of it was near hostile nations' airspace -- and we still out-airlifted the commie bastards. The great strength of the operation was coordinating the freight with Israel's needs on the ground. And, just to show off, a few times whole tanks were delivered, ready to roll. Nixon was reeling (and drunk or hung over) from the Watergate mess, was asked what to do vis a vis supplying Israel, and he ordered, "you will send everything that will fly." Not much ambivalence there, eh? ;')

The Yom Kippur War:
And the Airlift Strike That Saved Israel
by Walter J. Boyne

Kindle Edition

The Two O'Clock War:
The 1973 Yom Kippur Conflict
and the Airlift That Saved Israel
(Hardcover)

I’m getting old. I was a USAF 2LT at the time of the Yom Kippur war. The only effect on our base was that my folks couldn’t come on base, the only time they visited us while I was on active duty. Spouses of the civilian workers, there more of them than blue-suiters, couldn’t get on base either. Many a civil servant had to walk to the gate or from the gate to their workplace, rather than be dropped off or picked up near the door. :)

We were however technically at DefCon 3, something that would not happen again until 9-11-2001.

However, later, after the cease fire, I also saw an El Al 747 on the ramp at Wright Patterson, in the cargo area, probably picking up supplies from the Mama-AMA. (Air Logistics centers were called Air Material Areas in 1973, and WP was the HQ of Logistics Command)

Even worse, I was between my junior and senior years in high school for the 6 day war. I remember it well too.