The Black Vault:
In 1986, Dailey completed Aerial Gunnery Training in then-Castle Air
Force Base, Calif. He then served as a tail gunner on board the B-52
Stratofortress.
As part of SAC's Single Integrated Operational
Plan for nuclear deterrence in the Cold War, Dailey served as a briefer
for various missions, including for the SAC commander on five separate
occasions.
"For the next four years, I flew just shy of 1,000 hours as a gunner," he said.
Dailey
then volunteered for retraining into Intelligence, beginning a career
that would take him with special operations forces in assignments around
the world like Africa, Afghanistan and South Korea.
And in the
same year the Soviet Union collapsed, the Air Force retired the Air
Force specialty career of B-52 gunner in 1991. SAC later became
inactivated as a major command the following year.
As of today,
many B-52 gunners have retired or currently serve in other fields as
part of the Reserve since their former careerfield's inactivation. But
Dailey's retirement did not focus on being the last-of-a-kind as much as
it highlighted the importance of being part of a team, a family and a
legacy of service.
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