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Universal Media Disc

The Universal Media Disc (UMD) is a discontinued optical disc medium developed by Sony for use on its PlayStation Portable handheld gaming and multimedia platform. It can hold up to 1.8 gigabytes of data and is capable of storing video games, feature-length films, and music. UMD is the trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment for their optical disk cartridge (ODC).

Video storage format
While the primary application for UMD discs is as a storage medium for PSP games, the format is also used for the storage of motion pictures and, to a lesser degree, television shows for playback on the PSP. The video is encoded in the H.264/MPEG-4 AVC format, with the audio in ATRAC3plus or PCM. Video stored on UMD is typically encoded in 720×480 resolution, but is scaled down when displayed on the PSP. To date there are around 1500 films released on UMD (around 1000 are common for all regions and around 500 are region exclusives). The American punk rock band The Offspring released their Complete Music Video Collection on the format. The BBC released a number of its programmes on UMD in the UK, including The Office, The Mighty Boosh, Doctor Who and Little Britain. WWE also released some wrestler highlights and documentary content on UMD format, such as The Monday Night War, Jake "The Snake" Roberts: Pick Your Poison, and WWE Raw Homecoming (a special episode of WWE Raw celebrating the return to USA Network); the only WWE pay-per-view released on UMD format was WrestleMania XXIV.

Tupac's performance, Live at the House of Blues, was also released on the UMD, which also included several music videos, including Hit 'Em Up.

Some adult films have been released on UMD in Japan. Sony reportedly took offence at adult film studios publishing pornography on the medium, but claimed that they were unable to restrict films on UMD like with games and other software for the PSP.

Specifications
ECMA-365: Data Interchange on 60 mm Read-Only ODC – Capacity: 1.8 GB (UMD)
 * Dimensions: approx. 64 mm (diameter) × 4.2 mm (thickness)
 * Maximum capacity: 1.80 GB (dual layer), 900 MB (single-layer)
 * Laser wavelength: 660 nm (red laser)
 * Numerical aperture: 0.64
 * Track pitch: 0.70 μm
 * Minimum pit length: 0.1384 μm
 * Modulation: 8-to-16 RLL(2,10)
 * Encryption: AES 128-bit

The case dimensions for UMD discs are 177×104×14mm.

Provisions
According to the official ECMA specification Sony designed the UMD to support two possible future enhancements and products.

 * 1) Protective Shutter: Similar to the MiniDisc and 3$1/2$-inch floppy disk, this protective shutter would shield the inner disc from accidental contact.
 * 2) Auto-Loading: UMDs were designed for possible future slot loading devices with Auto-Loading mechanisms. These would be very similar to the auto-loading mechanism used in slot loading MiniDisc home and car decks. It would also be similar to the Sony U-Matic auto-loading mechanism. Unlike the current clamshell loading design the PSP uses, a slot loading device using an Auto-Loading mechanism would be motorized and completely automatic. The user would insert the disc into the device slot, the motorized mechanism would then take over and draw the disc inside the drive completing the loading process. The disc would also be ejected fully automatically by the motorized mechanism, like a VCR. This would also mean that power would be required in order to insert or eject a disc.

Region coding
DVD region coding has been applied to most UMD movies and music. However, all PSP games are region-free, although some require pay-to-continue.

 * Region ALL: Worldwide (region-free)
 * Region 1: North America, Central America, Lithuania
 * Region 2: Europe (without Russia or Belarus), Japan, Middle East, South Africa, Greenland
 * Region 3: Southeast Asia, Taiwan, South Korea, Hong Kong
 * Region 4: Oceania, South America
 * Region 5: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, India, Pakistan, Africa (without Egypt or South Africa), North Korea, Mongolia
 * Region 6: China

Availability and support
UMDs offer large capacity and the capability to store quality audio/video content; however, the format's proprietary nature and the lack of writers and blank media made adoption difficult. The UMD format never saw implementation on any device other than the PlayStation Portable, and as a result the market was very limited compared to those for other optical media formats. Buyers were generally put off by the high price of UMD releases, which often retailed at comparable prices to but lacked the extra content found on DVDs. Poor sales of UMD movies early in the format's life caused major studios like Universal and Paramount to rescind their support. Retail support of the format experienced similar troubles, and in 2006 Wal-Mart began phasing out shelf space devoted to UMD movies, with other chains soon following suit. By 2006 most non-specialty retail stores had stopped bringing in new UMD movies and no longer had a separate section devoted to them, with a few stray unsold titles mixed in among the regular PSP games.

In late 2009, Sony began pushing developers away from the UMD format and towards digital distribution on the PlayStation Network in preparation for the launch of the digital-download-only PSP Go, which was the first (and only) PSP model to not include a UMD drive. However the system experienced lackluster sales compared to previous models, with most consumers still choosing the UMD-compatible PSP-3000 model, which continued to be sold alongside the PSP Go. Despite the earlier push for PlayStation Network releases around the PSP Go's launch, over half of the PSP's library was only ever available in UMD format including Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, though there have been a few PlayStation Network–only releases since the PSP Go's launch, such as LocoRoco Midnight Carnival. Still, most new games continued to be distributed via UMD, and, aside from those published by SCE, not all have been released on PlayStation Network. In 2011, the PSP-E1000, a budget PSP model with a UMD slot but without Wi-Fi (and thus no internet connectivity), was released, and is the final revision of the PlayStation Portable.

Since 2011, there have been no more movies released on the UMD, after the PS Vita's release.

The successor of the PlayStation Portable, the PlayStation Vita, dropped the Universal Media Disc support in 2011, March 21 in move similar to the PSP Go's discontinuation, focusing instead on digital downloads and opting for low-profile flash-based media for its retail software. 2014 marked the discontinuation of the PlayStation Portable, which rendered UMDs are no longer available on the PSP, due to the Region Lock, which began in 2014, November 17.

UMD can be dumped into normal disc image files (.iso or .cso), using a cracked PSP for the optical drive. This file can be loaded by a cracked PSP or PS Vita from a MemoryStick, using a hacked version of the game download functionality.

title: Universal Media Disc


text:
Resource Access Control Facility

RACF [pronounced Rack-Eff], short for Resource Access Control Facility, is an IBM software product. It is a security system that provides access control and auditing functionality for the z/OS and z/VM operating systems. RACF was introduced in 1976. Originally called RACF it was renamed to z/OS Security Server (RACF), although most mainframe folks still refer to it as RACF.

Its main features are:
 * Identification and verification of a user via user id and password check (authentication)
 * Identification, classification and protection of system resources
 * Maintenance of access rights to the protected resources (access control)
 * Controlling the means of access to protected resources
 * Logging of accesses to a protected system and protected resources (auditing)

RACF establishes security policies rather than just permission records. It can set permissions for file patterns—that is, set the permissions even for files that do not yet exist. Those permissions are then used for the file (or other object) created at a later time.

Community
There is a long established technical support community for RACF based around a LISTSERV operated out of the University of Georgia. The list is called RACF-L which is described as RACF Discussion List. The email address of the listserv is RACF-L@LISTSERV.UGA.EDU and can also be viewed via a webportal at https://listserv.uga.edu/scripts/wa-UGA.exe.

Books
The first text book published (first printing December 2007) aimed at giving security professionals an introduction to the concepts and conventions of how RACF is designed and administered was Mainframe Basics for Security Professionals: Getting Started with RACF by Ori Pomerantz, Barbara Vander Weele, Mark Nelson, and Tim Hahn.

Evolution
RACF has continuously evolved to support such modern security features as digital certificates/public key infrastructure services, LDAP interfaces, and case sensitive IDs/passwords. The latter is a reluctant concession to promote interoperability with other systems, such as Unix and Linux. The underlying zSeries (now IBM Z) hardware works closely with RACF. For example, digital certificates are protected within tamper-proof cryptographic processors. Major mainframe subsystems, especially Db2, use RACF to provide multi-level security (MLS).

Its primary competitors have been ACF2 and TopSecret, both now produced by CA Technologies.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Resource Access Control Facility


text:
Nehsi

Nehsi was an official at the court of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh Hatshepsut. He appears to have been of Nubian descent–nehsi (nHs.j) meaning He of Nubia–and held a number of important official positions, such as Wearer of the Royal Seal and chief treasurer. He is depicted in the "Punt Reliefs" in the temple of Deir el-Bahri where he is described as having been responsible for dispatching Hatshepsut's expedition to Punt. This has been interpreted by some as his having led the expedition from beginning to end.

The expeditionary force comprised five ships, each seventy feet long, accommodating 210 men including sailors and 30 rowers. Among the company were people who made records of the fauna, flora and the inhabitants of Punt, spiritual forebears of the Napoleonic scientists who wrote their Déscriptions of Egypt. Nehsi was buried in Saqqara, where he had a rock cut tomb.

title: Nehsi


text: User talk:199.190.225.45

title: User talk:199.190.225.45


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Data set (IBM mainframe)

In the context of IBM mainframe computers in the S/360 line, a data set (IBM preferred) or dataset is a computer file having a record organization. Use of this term began with, e.g., DOS/360, OS/360, and is still used by their successors, including the current z/OS. Documentation for these systems historically preferred this term rather than file.

A data set is typically stored on a direct access storage device (DASD) or magnetic tape, however unit record devices, such as punch card readers, card punches, line printers and page printers can provide input/output (I/O) for a data set (file).

Data sets are not unstructured streams of bytes, but rather are organized in various logical record and block structures determined by the  (data set organization),   (record format), and other parameters. These parameters are specified at the time of the data set allocation (creation), for example with Job Control Language  statements. Within a running program they are stored in the Data Control Block (DCB) or Access Control Block (ACB), which are data structures used to access data sets using access methods.

Records in a data set may be fixed, variable, or “undefined” length.

Data set organization
For OS/360, the DCB's  parameter specifies how the data set is organized. It may be
 * CQ
 * Queued Telecommunications Access Method (QTAM) in Message Control Program (MCP)

 * CX
 * Communications line group

 * DA
 * Basic Direct Access Method (BDAM)

 * GS
 * Graphics device for Graphics Access Method(GAM)

 * IS
 * Indexed Sequential Access Method (ISAM)

 * MQ
 * QTAM message queue in application

 * PO
 * Partitioned Organization

 * PS
 * Physical Sequential

among others. Data sets on tape may only be. The choice of organization depends on how the data is to be accessed, and in particular, how it is to be updated.

Programmers utilize various access methods (such as QSAM or VSAM) in programs for reading and writing data sets. Access method depends on the given data set organization.

Record format (RECFM)
Regardless of organization, the physical structure of each record is essentially the same, and is uniform throughout the data set. This is specified in the DCB  parameter. means that the records are of fixed length, specified via the  parameter. specifies a variable-length record. V records when stored on media are prefixed by a Record Descriptor Word (RDW) containing the integer length of the record in bytes and flag bits. With  and , multiple logical records are grouped together into a single physical block on tape or DASD. FB and VB are, and  , respectively. RECFM=U (undefined) is also variable length, but the length of the record is determined by the length of the block rather than by a control field.

The  parameter specifies the maximum length of the block. could be also specified, meaning, meaning all the blocks except the last one were required to be in full   length. , or, means a logical record could be spanned across two or more blocks, with flags in the RDW indicating whether a record segment is continued into the next block and/or was continued from the previous one.

This mechanism eliminates the need for using any "delimiter" byte value to separate records. Thus data can be of any type, including binary integers, floating-point, or characters, without introducing a false end-of-record condition. The data set is an abstraction of a collection of records, in contrast to files as unstructured streams of bytes.

Partitioned data set
A partitioned data set (PDS) is a data set containing multiple members, each of which holds a separate sub-data set, similar to a directory in other types of file systems. This type of data set is often used to hold load modules (old format bound executable programs), source program libraries (especially Assembler macro definitions), ISPF screen definitions, and Job Control Language. A PDS may be compared to a Zip file or COM Structured Storage.

A Partitioned Data Set can only be allocated on a single volume and have a maximum size of 65,535 tracks.

Besides members, a PDS contains also a directory. Each member can be accessed indirectly via the directory structure. Once a member is located, the data stored in that member are handled in the same manner as a PS (sequential) data set.

Whenever a member is deleted, the space it occupied is unusable for storing other data. Likewise, if a member is re-written, it is stored in a new spot at the back of the PDS and leaves wasted “dead” space in the middle. The only way to recover “dead” space is to perform file compression. Compression, which is done using the IEBCOPY utility, moves all members to the front of the data space and leaves free usable space at the back. (Note that in modern parlance, this kind of operation might be called defragmentation or garbage collection; data compression nowadays refers to a different, more complicated concept.) PDS files can only reside on DASD, not on magnetic tape, in order to use the directory structure to access individual members. Partitioned data sets are most often used for storing multiple job control language files, utility control statements, and executable modules.

An improvement of this scheme is a Partitioned Data Set Extended (PDSE or PDS/E, sometimes just libraries) introduced with DFSMSdfp for MVS/XA and MVS/ESA systems. A PDS/E library can store program objects or other types of members, but not both. BPAM cannot process a PDS/E containing program objects.

PDS/E structure is similar to PDS and is used to store the same types of data. However, PDS/E files have a better directory structure which does not require pre-allocation of directory blocks when the PDS/E is defined (and therefore does not run out of directory blocks if not enough were specified). Also, PDS/E automatically stores members in such a way that compression operation is not needed to reclaim "dead" space. PDS/E files can only reside on DASD in order to use the directory structure to access individual members.

Generation Data Group
A Generation Data Group (GDG) is a group of non-VSAM data sets that are successive generations of historically-related data stored on an IBM mainframe (running OS or DOS/VSE).

A GDG is usually cataloged.

An individual member of the GDG collection is called a "Generation Data Set." The latter may be identified by an absolute number, ACCTG.OURGDG(1234), or a relative number: (-1) for the previous generation, (0) for the current one, and (+1) the next generation.

GDG JCL & features
Generation Data Groups are defined using either the BLDG statement of the IEHPROGM utility or the DEFINE GENERATIONGROUP statement of the newer IDCAMS utility, which allows setting various parameters.
 * LIMIT(10) would limit the number of generations limit to 10.
 * SCRATCH FOR (91) would retain each member, up to the limited#generations, at least 91 days.

IDCAMS can also delete (and optionally uncatalog) a GDG.

title: Data set (IBM mainframe)


text:
Talk:Colorado potato beetle

Endemic
Just a note that there have been some recent edits using an incorrect use of endemic for this article. The editor started some discussion on my talk page, so I'm moving it here.

In short, wikilinking endemic rather than Endemic (epidemiology) is the correct useage here. Colorado potato beetle is not a disease where the latter link would be correct, and the term endemic in the non-epidemiological sense is about as common place in invasion biology as can be. The meaning of "not endemic" here is that it is not native to the region. Kingofaces43 (talk) 19:17, 24 September 2016 (UTC)

 * Dear Kingofaces43, your statement saying that endemic in epidemiological sense is not applicable to this kind of beetle, but only to describe the status of infective diseases of mankind IS RIGHT!
 * Since that my first attempt to correct the meaning of concerned sentence EXCLUDED the misleading term and link, which are not useful in this context.
 * My first correction was clear and precise, avoiding "endemic" plus the link leading to geographical / ecological endemism.
 * For sure an alien, possibly invasive species may not be endemic to a region at same time, thus superfluous to mention at all (European states).
 * After 2nd reverting of yours the sentence says again, that Colorado potato beetle is endemic to Russia, where it is an alien pest animal in real.
 * Do you see the clear contradiction within the sentence?
 * I am not sure, otherwise you would have understood the meaning of my first alteration and accepted it.

 * The term "endemic" in turn is NOT commonly used to describe invasive organisms for usual, yet may be used casually like here:
 * Leptinotarsa decemlineata HAD BEEN ENDEMIC to a relatively small region comprising the state of Colorado and minor parts of adjacent states, before its inadvertent spreading by mankind around the world, when the beetle became an invasive pest animal.

 * Next time please do not change my correction without asking, i would have explained the meaning to you.
 * Stamnariophilus 21:33, 24 September 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stamnaria0568 :(talk • contribs)

 * It looks like you're having some misunderstandings (maybe language issues) here because what you were wikilinking and saying earlier is at least partially contradicting what you are saying now. The original (endemic) should have remained compared to Endemic (epidemiology) based on what you're saying now, especially since the changes you made were even less accurate terms. It can be a nuanced term, but the usage was technically correct (native isn't the best term, but rather confined to certain regions).

 * I can see what the original writer seemed to with that sentence now, but what I've updated has a very different meaning than the two edits you previously made. I hope that's clearer now once you see the edit if you compare your individual edits again. Kingofaces43 (talk) 20:39, 26 September 2016 (UTC)

Stamnariophilus 21:59, 26 September 2016 (UTC) Dear reviewer, the one and only important fact is that you got the message and at last removed the inapplicable term. No matter if you may understand it for real, but please do not change without basic knowledge. I am biologist, got no "English problems" at all and do know about meaning of biologic terms - for usual. "Endemic-geogr/ecol." was useless and wrong in previous version, and i guess you do not know about the real meaning. "En.-epidemiol." might have made sense, in case it was used for all kinds of organisms, but is apparently restricted to human diseases. I was not sure about the latter fact (see my note at your talk page) thus my 2nd edit was wrong. For the next interactions: please do not undo my contribution, but do ask me for the reason. I surely could have explained why "endemism" is to be removed from the sentence, and you had learned the real meaning of the term in biological sense. Stamnariophilus 21:59, 26 September 2016 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Stamnaria0568 (talk • contribs)

Beetle statue image
I saw your question flagged for the image of the 'Colorado potato beetle statue in Hédervár, Hungary' and thought it intriguing, so Googled it. According to this one anecdotal source it marks the point of the discovery of the first CPB in Hungary in 1947. A factoid worthy of mention I should think if any better refs can be found to corroborate it. I'll update the caption for now, but it definitely needs sourcing properly. Zakhx150 (talk) 14:45, 13 July 2017 (UTC)

Origins
The article makes the statement "Native to the Rocky Mountains" and cites a 200-year-old source. The question of the origins of the "pest variant" of the beetle seems to be far more complicated, and I feel the article should reflect that (and use far more recent research). I am not competent enough to do these changes, but I feel the following study would be a good starting point for any biologist brave enough to tackle this question and improve the article: https://academic.oup.com/jee/article/111/2/868/4818462

Otto von B. (talk) 17:25, 3 April 2021 (UTC)

Mutualism
Further research on Colorado potato beetles suggest that these beetles secrete symbiotic bacteria to suppress plant defenses, thus altering the physiology of the plant itself. I feel that adding this information to your article would add more depth as these beetles feed on the leaves of plants, such as potatoes.

L.marcoymarquez (talk) 23:24, 15 February 2024 (UTC)

The entry on the Colorado potato beetle provides a thorough overview, detailing its taxonomy, range, and agricultural impact with historical context. While it effectively communicates the beetle's significance, it lacks crucial information on behavioral aspects such as migratory habits, mating behavior, and conservation concerns. Addressing these gaps would enrich readers' understanding of the beetle's ecological dynamics and aid in more holistic pest management strategies. Abeer.hreedeen (talk • contribs) 02:34, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Habitat, visible stripes, and mutualism
This Wikipedia article discusses the Colorado potato beetle, which, fascinatingly enough, is native to the Rocky Mountains and spread rapidly in potato crops across America and Europe from 1859 onwards. The year 1859 is quite interesting, considering the fact that potatoes were introduced to North America a few times in the 1600s but not widely known until 1719. The most interesting thing I took away from this article was, surprisingly the fun fact that they have 10 stripes. It’s interesting because originally, I thought that they would want to blend in with potatoes given the context that it is a destructive pest of potato crops, yet it doesn’t resemble it much. The historical context of cultural controls to ensure that crops weren’t ruined was very interesting to read about. Some even talked about the fact that there was an idea during the Cold War that these beetles could have been introduced by the CIA in an attempt to reduce food security. I would be more interested in understanding more about these fascinating beetles, specifically in the category of understanding their protective coloration and behavior. As of my initial read-through, I am still left questioning if these beetles have the best adaptive features to have clearly visible stripes on their body. Furthermore, I would be interested in understanding more about their migration or habitat choices. For example, I was surprised not to read any mention of China, India, Russia, or Ireland, as these are commonly known places for potatoes. Understanding their choice of habitat and migration patterns to Colorado would be interesting to dive deeper into. Lastly, I would want to understand better their mutualism with other animals, microbiomes, and plants. While there is evidence to show that they have negative associations with plants, especially potatoes, I wonder if there is any form of positive association or mutualistic efforts they may have with plants, humans, or other animals. Given the fact that this article has been listed as a good article, it makes sense with its high importance on insects and agriculture. I was a bit surprised to see that beetles were mid-importance and food and drink were low importance. I would love to understand better the migration and habitat choices of these beetles, their benefits to having visible stripes and understanding their mutualistic relationships. Mikakipnisuser (talk) 03:18, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Comment
It may be beneficial to add information on the migration habits of this beetle since this species has been known to travel for many miles between food sources Gbuml (talk) 03:34, 16 February 2024 (UTC)

Chri Ye (talk) 04:01, 16 February 2024 (UTC)The content about Parental care, Social Behavior and Mating might be included to build a more comprehensive picture for this species since these three aspects can have essential impacts on evolutionary behavior.

Wiki Education assignment: Behavioral Ecology 2024
— Assignment last updated by Jaden.l17 (talk) 21:08, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Feedback from New Page Review process
I'm a student part of the Behavioral Ecology 2024 Wiki Education assignment and here is some feedback that I have: Overall, a well-written article. Small grammar errors were corrected and new paragraphs (breaking up sections) for an easier read were made. Some links to other Wiki pages needed to be corrected, but overall not many edits were needed. Footnotes that were in the middle of the sentence were moved to follow footnote rules. Moreover, there may need to be some sources added - for example, for the length of the larvae. Under Mate and host searching there is a ‘45◦of 0◦’ phrase that I’m not sure what the circles mean and clarification would be great wasn’t able to get access to the paper so was unable to correct it. Bomapoodle (talk) 22:34, 15 March 2024 (UTC)

Opinion
I think this page does a great job of creating a dialogue surrounding the Colorado Potato beetle. I appreciate the depth of information presented about its behavior, particularly about its life cycle and mating process. In an effort to contribute to the articles’ thoroughness, I added a couple of sections. The first section delves into its role as an agricultural pest—more specifically its capacity for both spatial and temporal field management. The second goes into the role of the transposable elements within its genome and how these movable genetic components create a certain plasticity that aids in its resistance to pesticides. VSimhambhatla (talk) 03:34, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

=
For this entry I added sexual dimorphism, mate and host searching, genetic differentiation from agriculture, genetic differentiation due to invasion, factors affecting beetle dispersal, abiotic conditions, biotic conditions, motivations for dispersal and stimuli, and biological management. ===== Connectscience0224 (talk) 06:59, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

Edits
I added sub-paragraph human interaction and deleted the paragraph taxonomy. I moved the first half of information that had previously been in this section to the Lead section and deleted the second half, as it was a repeat. I included information from a study that looked at the correlation between flight and diet. I also made grammar correction.

L.marcoymarquez (talk) 22:31, 19 March 2024 (UTC)

title: Talk:Colorado potato beetle


text:
Dory Previn

Dorothy Veronica "Dory" Previn (née Langan; October 22, 1925 – February 14, 2012) was an American lyricist, singer-songwriter and poet.

During the late 1950s and 1960s, Previn was a lyricist on songs intended for motion pictures and, with her then husband, André Previn, received several Academy Award nominations. In the 1970s, after their divorce, she released six albums of original songs and an acclaimed live album. Previn's lyrics from this period are characterized by their originality, irony and honesty in dealing with her troubled personal life as well as more generally about relationships, sexuality, religion and psychology. Until her death, she continued to work as a writer of song lyrics and prose.

Early years
Previn was born in either Rahway or Woodbridge, New Jersey, and grew up in Woodbridge, the eldest daughter in a strict Catholic family of Irish origin. She had a troubled relationship with her father, especially during childhood. He had served in the First World War and been gassed, and experienced periods of depression and violent mood swings. He tended to alternately embrace and reject her, but supported her when she began to show talent for singing and dancing. His mental health deteriorated after the birth of a second daughter, culminating in a paranoid episode in which he boarded the family up in their home and held them at gunpoint for several months. Previn's childhood experiences, described in her autobiography Midnight Baby, had a profound effect on her later life and work.

After high school, Previn attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for a year before financial difficulties forced her to leave. She toured as a chorus-line dancer and singer and started to write songs. She later wrote, "I have been an actress, model, and chorus girl. I've worked at odd jobs—secretary, salesgirl, accounting in a filling station, waitress—anything to keep me going while I pursued my writing." At that time, she entered a brief first marriage that soon ended in divorce.

Lyricist and marriage: 1958–1969
Through a chance contact with film producer Arthur Freed, she gained a job as a lyricist at MGM. There she met, and began collaborating with, composer André Previn. In 1958, as Dory Langdon, she recorded an album of her songs, The Leprechauns Are Upon Me, with André Previn and jazz guitarist Kenny Burrell accompanying her, for Verve Records. She married Previn in 1959. The couple collaborated on a number of songs used in motion pictures, including "The Faraway Part Of Town", sung by Judy Garland in the film Pepe, which was nominated for an Oscar for Best Song in 1960. In 1961 they wrote "One, Two, Three Waltz" for the movie One, Two, Three, and in 1962 "A Second Chance" for the movie Two for the Seesaw, which won them a second Oscar nomination. They also wrote songs recorded by Rosemary Clooney, Chris Connor, Vic Damone, Bobby Darin, Sammy Davis Jr., Doris Day, Eileen Farrell, Jack Jones, Marilyn Maye, Carmen McRae, Matt Monro, Leontyne Price, Nancy Wilson, and Monica Zetterlund. In 1964, they collaborated with Harold Arlen on "So Long, Big Time!", which was recorded by Tony Bennett. Later in 1966, the song was covered by Carola, accompanied by the Heikki Sarmanto Trio. During this period, Dory Previn wrote lyrics with other film composers for the movies Tall Story, Goodbye Again and Harper.

By the mid-1960s, André Previn had become a classical music conductor, touring worldwide, but Dory's fear of air travel kept her from joining him. In 1965 she suffered a psychiatric breakdown for which she was briefly hospitalized, but continued to write songs with André, including You're Gonna Hear from Me, recorded by Frank Sinatra, and began to use the name Dory Previn professionally. In 1967, they wrote five songs for the movie Valley of the Dolls. The soundtrack album spent six months on the charts, and Dionne Warwick had a pop hit with her version of the theme song. In 1968, she wrote a new English language libretto for Mozart's The Impresario. The next year, she won a third Oscar nomination for "Come Saturday Morning", with music by Fred Karlin, from the movie The Sterile Cuckoo. A hit version was recorded by The Sandpipers.

In 1968, André Previn had fully moved from composing film scores to conducting symphony orchestras, most notably the London Symphony Orchestra. While in London, he began an affair with 23-year-old actress Mia Farrow, who was working on the film A Dandy in Aspic. In 1969, Dory Previn discovered that Farrow had become pregnant by her husband, which led to their separation. Their divorce became final in July 1970. André Previn subsequently married Farrow. The betrayal led to Previn's being hospitalized again, where she was treated with electroconvulsive therapy. This seemed to change her outlook as a songwriter, making her more introspective. She expressed her feelings about Farrow and the end of her marriage in the song "Beware of Young Girls" on her 1970 album On My Way to Where.

In a 1973 interview, Previn said: "I'd been writing for films for several years, but nothing I could say in those theme songs had not been said better by many songwriters before me; and gloriously by poets. So what did I do? Did I want to go on and write more poetic lyrical metaphors on things already said? Or did I want to write about the one thing I can only presume to be an authority on: myself?"

Singer-songwriter: 1970–1980
In 1970, Previn signed as a solo artist with the Mediarts company founded by Alan Livingston and Nik Venet, and recorded her first album for 12 years, On My Way to Where. Much of it, which like several subsequent albums was produced by Venet, deals with her experiences in the late 1960s. "Mister Whisper" examines episodes of psychosis from within the confines of a psychiatric hospital, while "Beware of Young Girls" is a scathing attack on Mia Farrow and her motives for befriending the Previns. The track "With My Daddy in the Attic" is a chilling piece dealing with Stockholm syndrome and incest. The album's lyrics were published in book form in 1971.

Her second album of this period, Mythical Kings and Iguanas, released in 1971, was even more successful. United Artists Records then took over Mediarts and released her third album, Reflections in a Mud Puddle. It was voted one of the best albums of 1972 by Newsweek magazine, and was included in The New York Times critics' choice as one of the outstanding singer-songwriter albums of the 1970s. "Taps, Tremors and Time-Steps: One Last Dance for my Father", the second side of Reflections In a Mud Puddle, is a personal account of the deterioration of their relationship and her anguish at their differences remaining unresolved at the time of her father's death.

In 1972, she released Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign, a thematic album about Hollywood misfits and Mary C. Brown, an actress who kills herself jumping from Hollywood's letter "H", apparently based on Peg Entwistle. The songs were intended for a musical revue that ran briefly in Los Angeles. Previn teamed up with producer Zev Buffman to stage it on Broadway, but the previews were poor and the show was canceled before it opened.

Previn's albums maintained a balance of intensely personal lyrics and wider commentary. "A Stone for Bessie Smith" is about the premature death of singer Janis Joplin, while "Doppelgänger" examines the latent savagery of humanity. Self-conscious spirituality at the expense of the tangible is criticized in "Mythical Kings and Iguanas", while songs dealing with emotionally frail characters include "Lady With the Braid", "Lemon-Haired Ladies", and "The Altruist and the Needy Case". Feminist issues and dilemmas are explored in "Brando" and "The Owl and the Pussycat", while the male ego is attacked with wit and irony in "Michael, Michael", "Don't Put Him Down", and "The Perfect Man".

In 1973, Previn's screenplay Third Girl From The Left was filmed and broadcast as a TV movie. She also gave some public performances that year, including a concert in New York on April 18, 1973, that was recorded and released as a double LP, Live at Carnegie Hall, which featured in a book of the 200 best rock albums. She also continued to collaborate on music for film and TV. Her last film credit was the title song for Last Tango in Paris (1973), with music by Gato Barbieri.

She then switched to Warner Bros. Records, and released the album Dory Previn in 1974, followed by We're Children of Coincidence and Harpo Marx in 1976. Still unable to overcome her fear of flying, she crossed the ocean on the QE2 to tour in Europe in the late 1970s, and in 1980 performed in a musical revue of her songs, Children Of Coincidence, in Dublin. She withdrew from music for a period, and wrote two autobiographies, Midnight Baby: an Autobiography (1976, ISBN 978-0-02-599000-5) and Bogtrotter: An Autobiography with Lyrics (1980; ISBN 0-385-14708-2). The latter title refers to her Irish heritage: "bogtrotter" is a derogatory term for an Irish person. She wrote Schizo-phren, a one-woman play with songs.

Later life
From the 1980s, she often used the name Dory Previn Shannon, Shannon being her mother's maiden name. In 1983 she wrote and appeared in a musical statement on nuclear war, August 6, 1945, in Los Angeles. Working for television, she won an Emmy Award in 1984 for "We'll Win this World" (from Two of a Kind) with Jim Pasquale, and an Emmy nomination in 1985 for "Home Here" (from Two Marriages) with Bruce Broughton.

In 1984, she married actor and artist Joby Baker. She performed in London in 1986, and wrote a stage work, The Flight of the Gooney Bird. She last appeared in concert in 1988, in Dublin and at the Donmar Warehouse in London. Her short stories appeared in several publications, and she also worked on a novel, Word-Play with an Invisible Relative. She lectured on lyric writing, recording, and writing autobiographies at various American universities. Baker provided illustrations for The Dory Previn Songbook (1995), which contains songs from her period with United Artists.

In 1997, she collaborated with André Previn again, to produce a piece for soprano and ensemble, The Magic Number. It was first performed by the New York Philharmonic, with Previn conducting and Sylvia McNair performing the soprano part. A piano reduction was published by G. Schirmer, Inc (ISBN 0-7935-8803-0). In 2002, Dory Previn released a royalty-free recording available online, Planet Blue. It contains a mixture of recent and previously unreleased material dealing with environmental degradation and the threat of nuclear disaster. She continued to work, despite having suffered several strokes that affected her eyesight. A new compilation of her early 1970s work, The Art of Dory Previn, was released by EMI on January 21, 2008.

Death
Previn died, aged 86, on February 14, 2012, at her farm in Southfield, Massachusetts, where she lived with her husband, Joby Baker. In addition to her husband, she was survived by three stepchildren, Michelle Wayland, Fredricka Baker and Scott Zimmerman, and six step-grandchildren.

Original albums

 * The Leprechauns Are Upon Me (1958)—Verve, as Dory Langdon. Reissued in 1983 as Dory & Andre Previn
 * On My Way to Where (1970)—Mediarts
 * Mythical Kings and Iguanas (1971)—Mediarts
 * Reflections in a Mud Puddle/Taps Tremors and Time Steps (1971)—United Artists
 * Mary C. Brown and the Hollywood Sign (1972)—United Artists
 * Live at Carnegie Hall (1973)—United Artists
 * Dory Previn (1974)—Warner Bros. Records
 * We're Children of Coincidence and Harpo Marx (1976)—Warner Bros. Records
 * Planet Blue—(2002) Download only

Compilation albums
Previn's material from her period with United Artists has been reissued on CD under the Beat Goes On label.
 * One A.M. Phonecalls (1977) United Artists
 * In Search of Mythical Kings: The U.A. Years (1993) EMI
 * The Art of Dory Previn (2008) EMI

title: Dory Previn


text:
Air assault

Air assault is the movement of ground-based military forces by vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) aircraft, such as helicopters, to seize and hold key terrain that has not been fully secured, and to directly engage enemy forces behind enemy lines. In addition to regular infantry training, air-assault units usually receive training in rappelling, fast-roping techniques, and air transportation. Their equipment is sometimes designed or field-modified to allow better transportation and/or carrying within aircraft.

The United States Army field manual FM 1-02 (FM 101-5-1) describes an "air assault operation" as an operation in which assault forces (combat, combat support, and combat service support), using the firepower, mobility, and total integration of helicopter assets, maneuver on the battlefield under the control of the ground or air maneuver commander to engage and destroy enemy forces or to seize and hold key terrain usually behind enemy lines.

Due to the transport load restrictions of helicopters, air assault forces are usually light infantry, though some armored fighting vehicles, like the Russian BMD-1 are designed to fit most heavy lift helicopters, which enable assaulting forces to combine air mobility with a certain degree of ground mechanization. Invariably the assaulting troops are highly dependent on aerial fire support provided by the attack helicopters, armed helicopters, and/or fixed-wing aircraft escorting them. A concept called mounted vertical maneuver requires the ability to transport light, motorized, or medium-weight mechanized force by VTOL or super STOL aircraft.

Air assault should not be confused with air attack, air strike, or air raid, which all refer to attack using solely aircraft (for example bombing, strafing, etc.). Moreover, air assault should not be confused with an airborne assault, which occurs when paratroopers, and their weapons and supplies, are dropped by parachute from transport aircraft, often as part of a strategic offensive operation.

Organization and employment
Air assault and air mobility are related concepts. However, air assault is distinctly a combat insertion rather than transportation to an area in the vicinity of combat.

Air assault units can vary in organization; using helicopters not only in transport but also as close air fire support, medical evacuation helicopters and resupply missions. Airmobile artillery is often assigned to air assault deployments. Units vary in size, but are typically company to brigade sized units.

Airmobile units are designed and trained for air insertion and vertical envelopment ("a maneuver in which troops, either air-dropped or air-landed, attack the rear and flanks of a force, in effect cutting off or encircling the force", air resupply, and if necessary air extraction.

One specific type of air assault unit is the US Army air cavalry. It differs from regular air assault units only in fulfilling a traditional cavalry reconnaissance and short raids role. Britain's 16 Air Assault Brigade was formed in 1999 following an amalgamation of elements of 5th Infantry Brigade (5 Airborne Brigade) and 24 Airmobile Brigade, bringing together the agility and reach of airborne forces with the potency of the attack helicopter. Similarly, the US 101st Airborne Division was originally classed as airborne, then airmobile and now air assault.

History
Air mobility has been a key concept in offensive operations since the 1930s. Initial approaches to air mobility focused on parachutists and the use of military gliders. During World War II many assaults were done by military gliders. The World War Two era German Fallschirmjäger, Brandenburgers, and the 22nd Air Landing Division glider borne paras laid the foundation for modern day air assault operations. In 1941 the U.S. Army quickly adopted this concept of offensive operations initially utilizing wooden gliders before the development of helicopters. Following the war, faster aircraft led to the abandonment of the flimsy wooden gliders with the then new helicopters taking their place. Four YR-4B helicopters saw limited service in the China Burma India theatre with the 1st Air Commando Group

In 1943 the Germans conducted the Gran Sasso raid which implemented many aspects of the air assault concept. Another example was the German Brandenburgers' glider borne operation at Ypenburg during World War Two.

In 1946, U.S. Marine General Roy S. Geiger observed the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll and instantly recognized that atomic bombs could render amphibious landings difficult because of the dense concentrations of troops, ships and material at beachheads. During this time, The Commandant of the Marine Corps, Alexander Vandegrift, convened a special board known as the Hogaboom Board. This board recommended that the USMC develop transport helicopters in order to allow a diffused attack on enemy shores. It also recommended that the USMC form an experimental helicopter squadron. HMX-1 was commissioned in 1947 with Sikorsky HO3S-1s. In 1948 the Marine Corps Schools came out with Amphibious Operations—Employment of Helicopters (Tentative), or Phib-31, which was the first US manual for helicopter airmobile operations. The Marines used the term vertical envelopment instead of air mobility or air assault. HMX-1 performed its first vertical envelopment from the deck of an aircraft carrier in an exercise in 1949.

American forces later used helicopters for support and transport to great effect during the Korean War showing that the helicopter could be a versatile and powerful military tool.

First helicopter air assaults
The first helicopter airlift and helicopter sling load mission was conducted on September 13, 1951, during the Korean War. "Operation Windmill I" was conducted by the United States Marine Corps in support of a battalion clearing the enemy from a series of ridges around a basin called "The Punchbowl." In total seven HRS-1 Marine helicopters made 28 flights that delivered 8,550 kg (18,848 pounds) of supplies and evacuated 74 seriously wounded men.

On November 5, 1956, the Royal Marines' 45 Commando performed the world's first combat helicopter insertion with air assault during an amphibious landing as part of Operation Musketeer, in Suez, Egypt. 650 marines and 23 tons of equipment were flown in ten Westland Whirlwind Mark 2s of 845 Naval Air Squadron from the deck of HMS Theseus, and six each Whirlwinds and Bristol Sycamore HC.12s and HC.14s off HMS Ocean (R68)'s embarked Joint Experimental Helicopter Unit (JEHU) (Royal Air Force). "The plan was to use the helicopters to drop No. 45 Commando at Raswa, to the south of Port Said, in order to secure two vital bridges. Last-minute concerns about their vulnerability to ground fire meant that they were replaced in this role by French paratroops who conducted a daring low-level drop on 5 November, securing one of the two bridges intact. Instead No. 45 Commando was landed the following day, disembarking close to the seafront in the aftermath of the seaborne landing that had secured the area. This first-ever operational use of helicopters to land troops during an amphibious assault proved successful. With their carriers lying nine miles offshore, the marines were landed far more quickly than could have been achieved using landing craft, and without the need to get their boots wet. However ... they landed the marines in much the same place that old style landing craft would have put them."

In 1956, the United States Marine Corps executed the first Division-strength exercise of vertical envelopment when the 1st Marine Division was helicopter-lifted from converted WWII jeep carriers to landing sites at Camp Pendleton, CA, U.S. Marine Corps Base. One of the ships utilized for this exercise was the USS Thetis Bay. This exercise was the culmination of the Marines' developing strategy of vertical envelopment rather than amphibious assaults on heavily defended beaches. The maneuvers were well-covered by the media of the time, including LIFE Magazine. The Marine Corps subsequently adopted this method as standard operating procedure after proving that helicopters could be used to transport very large numbers of troops and large amounts of supplies in a timely fashion.

Operation Deep Water was a 1957 NATO naval exercise held in the Mediterranean Sea that involved the first units of the United States Marine Corps to participate in a helicopter-borne vertical envelopment operation during an overseas deployment.

During the Vietnam war the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division conducted the first large scale air assault operation in combat during the Battle of Ia Drang.

Algerian War
The use of armed helicopters coupled with helicopter transport during the Algerian War for the French Army to drop troops into enemy territory gave birth to the tactics of airmobile warfare that continues today.

The machines of the French Army Light Aviation carried out a considerable number of missions against Algerian insurgents between 1955, when the Groupe d’Hélicoptères No.2 (GH 2) was created, and 1962 when the French empire in Algeria finally came to an end. GH 2 was based at Sétif – Aïn Arnat in the east of the country, and it was equipped primarily with machines to undertake transport missions, though the Vertol H-21C, would soon join the unit owing to concerns about the lack of machines which could both defend themselves and carry out offensive missions against the insurgents. Acquiring these machines lay in the hands of the licensee Piasecki given France's urgent need to have them on account of the circumstances. Usually, the H-21 could carry up to 18 troops, yet local operating (as well as climatic) conditions decreed that the French army examples could carry only up to around 12 troops each. In two years, GH 2 received the vast majority of the H-21s acquired by ALAT, which consisted of five squadrons by the end of 1958. A sixth squadron from the French naval air arm, the Aéronautique navale, had operated with GH 2 for little more than a year.

From 1955 to 1962, GH 2 took part in the major battles, which occurred near the frontier between Algeria and Tunisia, including the battle of Souk-Ahras in April 1958. The helicopters, including types such as the H-21, the Alouette II, the Sikorsky H-19 and Sikorsky H-34, together aggregated over 190,000 flying hours in Algeria (over 87,000 for the H-21 alone) and helped to evacuate over 20,000 French combatants from the combat area, including nearly 2,200 at night. By the time the war in Algeria had ended, eight officers and 23 non-commissioned officers from ALAT had died in the course of their duties.

Vietnam War
U.S. Army CH-21 helicopter transports arrived in South Vietnam on 11 December 1961. Air assault operations using Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) troops began 12 days later in Operation Chopper. These were very successful at first but the Viet Cong (VC) began developing counter helicopter techniques, and at the Battle of Ap Bac in January 1963, 13 of 15 helicopters were hit and four shot down. The Army began adding machine guns and rockets to their smaller helicopters and developed the first purpose built gunship with the M-6E3 armament system.

U.S. Marine helicopter squadrons began four-month rotations through Vietnam as part of Operation SHUFLY on 15 April 1962. Six days later, they performed the first helicopter assault using U.S. Marine helicopters and ARVN troops. After April 1963, as losses began to mount, U.S. Army UH-1 Huey gunships escorted the Marine transports. The VC again used effective counter landing techniques and in Operation Sure Wind 202 on 27 April 1964, 17 of 21 helicopters were hit and three shot down.

The 2nd Battalion 3rd Marines made a night helicopter assault in the Elephant Valley south of Da Nang on 13 August 1965 shortly after Marine ground troops arrived in country. HMM-361 commanded by LtCol Tom Ross. On 17 August 1965 in Operation Starlite the 2nd Battalion 4th Marines landed in three helicopter landing zones (LZs) west of the 1st VC Regiment in the Van Tuong village complex, 12 mi south of Chu Lai, while the 3rd Battalion 3rd Marines used seaborne landing craft on the beaches to the east. The transport helicopters were 24 UH-34s from HMM-361, HMM-261 and HMM-161 in relief, escorted by Marine and Army Hueys from VMO-2 and VMO-6 led by Maj Donald G. Radcliff, US Army who was killed in action. VC losses were 614 killed, Marine losses were 45 KIA and 203 WIA.

The need for a new type of unit became apparent to the Tactical Mobility Requirements Board (normally referred to as the Howze Board) of the U.S. Army in 1962. The Board met at a difficult time; the bulk of the military hierarchy were focused primarily on the Soviet threat to Western Europe, and perceived as requiring heavy, conventional units. The creation of new, light airmobile units could only occur at the expense of heavier units. At the same time, the incoming Kennedy administration was placing a much greater emphasis on the need to fight 'small wars', or counter-insurgencies, and was strongly supportive of officers such as General Howze who were embracing new technologies. The Board concluded that a new form of unit would be required, and commissioned tests – but justified these at the time on the need to fight a conventional war in Europe.

Initially a new experimental unit was formed at Fort Benning, Georgia, the 11th Air Assault Division on 11 February 1963, combining light infantry with integral helicopter transport and air support. Opinions vary as to the level of support for the concept within the Army; some have argued that the initial tests against the context of conventional warfare did not prove promising, and, despite opposition from the Joint Chiefs of Staff, it was primarily the Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara who pushed through the changes in 1965, drawing on support from within the Pentagon which had now begun to establish a counter-insurgency doctrine that would require just such a unit. Others have put more weight on the support of newly appointed senior Army commanders, including the new Chief of Staff General Wheeler, in driving through the changes. Nonetheless, the 11th Air Assault Division assets were merged with the co-located 2nd Infantry Division and reflagged as the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), continuing the tradition of the 1st Cavalry Division. Within several months it was sent to Vietnam and the concept of air mobility became bound up with the challenges of that campaign, especially its varied terrain – the jungles, mountains, and rivers which complicated ground movement.

The first unit of the new division to see major combat was the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, led by Lieutenant Colonel Harold G. Moore. The 7th Cavalry was the same regiment that Custer had commanded at the ill-fated Battle of the Little Bighorn. On November 14, 1965, Moore led his troops in the first large unit engagement of the Vietnam War, which took place near the Chu Pong massif near the Vietnam-Cambodia border. It is known today as the Battle of Ia Drang Valley, and is considered to be the first large scale helicopter air assault.

This battalion (vice "squadron," which would have been its nomenclature had it actually been a cavalry organization) gave common currency, albeit incorrectly, to the U.S. term "Air Cavalry." However, 1-7 Cav was in actuality an infantry formation carrying a "Cavalry" designation purely for purposes of lineage and heraldry. (True air cavalry organizations are/were helicopter-mounted reconnaissance units.) Light infantry-centric organizations (battalions, brigades, or divisions) that are trained, organized, and equipped to operate with organic (i.e., owned by the joint parent headquarters of both the light infantry organization and the supporting aviation organization) are classified as "Air Assault," previously designated as "Airmobile."

The Vietnam-era 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) was not an "air cavalry" division, per se, although it did contain air cavalry squadrons. The division was a new concept that probably was more akin to a modern version of "mounted rifles," owing to its helicopter "mounts," and, as did 1-7 Cav discussed above, carried the "Cavalry" designation primarily for purposes of lineage and heraldry, and not because of its then current mission or organizational structure.

On a practical level, virtually any light infantry formation can instantly become "airmobile" simply by dividing the assault elements into "chalks" (aircraft load designations pertaining to order of loading and type of aircraft), embarking them on the aircraft, transporting them to the objective/assembly area, and inserting/disembarking them into a landing zone, etc. However, true "air assault" organizations are specialized light infantry (much like airborne troops), who are trained, organized, and equipped specifically to perform the complex, rapid, and dynamic tasks inherent in air assault vice simply being transported by aircraft. Perhaps a rough comparison can be made between "motorized" and "mechanized" infantry. Any light infantry unit can be transported by truck (viz., "motorized"), however, "mechanized" infantry are specifically trained, organized, and equipped to conduct operations in close-coordination with tanks.

Southern African wars
The armed forces of Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa widely conducted airmobile warfare operations in Southern Africa, during the Portuguese Colonial War (1961–1974), the Rhodesian Bush War (1964–1979) and the South African Border War (1966–1990). The airmobile warfare was part of the counter-insurgency actions made by the forces of the three countries against guerrilla forces in Angola, Portuguese Guinea, Rhodesia, Mozambique and South-West Africa.

The airmobile warfare tactics used by Portugal, Rhodesia and South Africa had many similar characteristics. The air forces of the three countries also used the same types of helicopters (mainly Alouette III and later, regarding Portugal and South Africa, SA 330 Puma), and there were military cooperation agreements and sharing of experience between the three powers, including the secret Alcora Exercise.

Portuguese, Rhodesian and South African airmobile tactics often involved air assaults done by small units of special forces or light infantry, transported in four or five Alouette III helicopters. Assaults were often supported by an Alouette III armed with a side-mounted 20 mm MG 151 autocannon. This helicopter was nicknamed Helicanhão (heli-cannon) by the Portuguese and K-Car by the Rhodesians. Variants of the air mobile warfare tactics used in Africa included the Rhodesian Fireforce and the Portuguese heliborne-horseborne forces cooperation.

Bangladesh Liberation War (1971)
Meghna Heli Bridge was an aerial operation of Indian and Bangladeshi allied forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. It took place on 9 December, when the Indian Air Force airlifted the Mukti Bahini and the IV Corps of the Indian Army from Brahmanbaria to Raipura in Narsingdi over the River Meghna, bypassing the destroyed Meghna Bridge and Pakistani defences in Ashuganj.

Post Cold War

In the United States Army, the air assault mission is the primary role of the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). This unit is a division-sized helicopter-borne fighting force. 101st Airborne Division soldiers attend the Sabalauski Air Assault School. Graduates are qualified to insert and extract using fast rope and rappel means from a hover in addition to the ordinary walk on and off from an airlanded helicopter.

In addition, all U.S. Marine Corps divisions are capable of, and routinely train for and perform, air assault operations. Forward-deployed Marine Corps infantry battalions/regiments (reinforced, organized, and designated as Battalion Landing Teams/Regimental Combat Teams, or BLTs and RCTs, respectively), form the Ground Combat Element (GCE) of a Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), or Marine Expeditionary Brigade (MEB). These MEUs and MEBs are capable of embarking aboard amphibious warships and include air assault as one of several means of conducting amphibious landing operations, supported by embarked Marine Corps tilt-rotor, helicopter, and STOVL fixed-wing strike aircraft.

The 10th Mountain Division Light Infantry has a limited capability to perform air assault operations. On September 19, 1994, the 1st Brigade of the 10th Mountain Division conducted the Army's first air assault from an aircraft carrier, the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN-69), as part of Operation Uphold Democracy. This force consisted of 54 helicopters and almost 2,000 soldiers. This was the Army's largest operation from an aircraft carrier since the Doolittle Raid of World War II

The 16th Air Assault Brigade of the British Army is the UK's main air assault body. It comprises units of paratroopers from the Parachute Regiment and light infantry units trained in helicopter insertion, as well as light tanks and artillery.

Britain's 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines are also highly experienced in air assault, both for boarding ships and in land attacks, see article above.

Russo-Ukrainian War
The Battle of Antonov Airport was an operation during the opening days of the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine where the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) attempted an air assault in order to capture Hostomel Airport, in order to use the airport to airlift troops and heavy equipment directly into Kyiv. The VDV was initially able to capture the airport, but without artillery or armored support they were not able to handle a counter-attack started by local Ukrainian forces. The airport was captured only on the second day by a second air assault combined with an armored push from ground troops.

A simultaneous air assault was attempted at Vasylkiv, where VDV paratroopers attempted to seize the Vasylkiv Air Base but the attack was repelled.

List of air assault forces/units

 * 601 Assault Helicopter Battalion
 * 🇧🇷 brazil
 * 12th Light Infantry Brigade (Airmobile)
 * División de aviación asalto aéreo (DAVAA)
 * Brigada de aviación 25
 * Brigada no. 32 de aviación ejercito
 * Brigada contra el narcotrafico
 * Brigada de fuerzas especiales
 * Batallon de operaciones especiales de aviación
 * Brigada de fuerzas especiales
 * Batallon de operaciones especiales de aviación

 * 🇫🇷 France
 * 4th Airmobile Brigade
 * 11th Parachute Brigade

Brigade (Air Assault)]] 🇲🇾 malaysia
 * 🇩🇪 Rapid Forces Division
 * 🇩🇪 Air Assault Brigade 1
 * 🇳🇱 11 Luchtmobiele Brigade [Combined with the helicopters of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, they form the 11 Air Manoeuvre Brigade (11 AMB)]
 * 71st Airmobile Infantry Brigade
 * 5th Airmobile Infantry Brigade
 * Nedsa marines
 * Sepah Quds
 * Friuli Air Assault Brigade
 * Folgore Parachute Brigade
 * Raider Infantry Battalions
 * Paskhas
 * [[12th Brigade (Japan)|12th
 * Folgore Parachute Brigade
 * Raider Infantry Battalions
 * Paskhas
 * [[12th Brigade (Japan)|12th
 * [[12th Brigade (Japan)|12th
 * [[12th Brigade (Japan)|12th
 * 🇰🇿 Kazakhstan
 * Kazakh Air Assault Forces
 * Lebanese Air Assault Regiment (Lebanon)
 * Lebanese Air Assault Regiment (Lebanon)
 * 10th Parachute Brigade (Malaysia)
 * Light Commando Battalions (LCBs)
 * Light Commando Battalions (LCBs)
 * 25th Air Cavalry Brigade
 * Rapid Reaction Brigade
 * 495th Paratrooper Battalion "Căpitan Ștefan Soverth"
 * 🇷🇺 russia
 * 76th Guards Air Assault Division
 * 44 Parachute Regiment (1999 to present)
 * 6 South African Infantry Battalion
 * One brigade under each combined corps
 * ROC Army Aviation and Special Forces Command (陸軍航空特戰指揮部)
 * Special Operations Command (特戰指揮部 )
 * 1st Special Operations Battalion "Might" (特戰第一營 "威")
 * 2nd Special Operations Battalion "Dare" (特戰第二營 "敢")
 * 3rd Special Operations Battalion "Firm" (特戰第三營 "剛")
 * 4th Special Operations Battalion "Fierce" (特戰第四營 "猛")
 * 5th Special Operations Battalion "Strong" (特戰第五營 "強")
 * 601st Aviation Brigade (航空六〇一旅)
 * 602nd Aviation Brigade (航空六〇二旅)
 * Aviation Training Command (飛行訓練指揮部) - 603rd Aviation Brigade (航空六〇三旅)
 * Guards
 * 7th Light (Air-transportable) Infantry Brigade
 * Air Mobile Brigade
 * Sri Lanka Commando Regiment
 * 31st Airborne Battalion
 * 14th Special Forces Division
 * 15th Special Forces Division
 * 1st Special Forces Division (1st SFD)
 * Long Range Reconnaissance Patrols Company (LRRP)
 * Royal Thai Navy SEALs
 * RECON
 * Special Operations Regiment (SOR)
 * Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
 * 95th Airmobile Brigade
 * 79th Airmobile Brigade
 * 80th Airmobile Regiment
 * 28th Training Battalion
 * 16 Air Assault Brigade
 * 3 Commando Brigade
 * 101st Airborne Division
 * 1st Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Brigade Combat Team
 * 3rd Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Quick Response Division (South Korea)
 * Ukrainian Air Assault Forces
 * 95th Airmobile Brigade
 * 79th Airmobile Brigade
 * 80th Airmobile Regiment
 * 28th Training Battalion
 * 16 Air Assault Brigade
 * 3 Commando Brigade
 * 101st Airborne Division
 * 1st Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Brigade Combat Team
 * 3rd Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Quick Response Division (South Korea)
 * 2nd Brigade Combat Team
 * 3rd Brigade Combat Team
 * 2nd Quick Response Division (South Korea)
 * 2nd Quick Response Division (South Korea)

title: Air assault


text:
National Center for Health Statistics

The National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) is a U.S. government agency that provides statistical information to guide actions and policies to improve the public health of the American people. It is a unit of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System. It is headquartered at University Town Center in Hyattsville, Maryland, just outside Washington, D.C.

History
The Marine Hospital Service, predecessor of the Public Health Service (PHS), began collecting data on communicable diseases and performing surveillance of the incidence and distribution of diseases due to an 1878 act of Congress. In 1893, another law provided for weekly collection of data from state and municipal authorities.

The Division of Sanitary Reports and Statistics was established in 1899 as part of the initial establishment of internal divisions within the Marine Hospital Service. Separately, the Division of Public Health Methods was formed in 1937 within the National Institute of Health. In 1943, these two divisions were merged, retaining the name Division of Public Health Methods but being transferred into the Office of the Surgeon General.

In 1946, the Division of Public Health Methods absorbed the Vital Statistics Division, which dated from 1903, from the Bureau of the Census in the Department of Commerce. The merged division was renamed the National Office of Vital Statistics. It was then transferred into the PHS Bureau of State Services in 1949.

In 1960, the National Office of Vital Statistics and the National Health Survey merged to form the National Center for Health Statistics. The National Health Survey had been created within PHS in 1956 through the National Health Survey Act ; it was the successor to a seminal national health survey performed by the Works Progress Administration during 1935–1936, which had multiple supplemental studies carried out in the intervening decades.

During the PHS reorganizations of 1966-1973, the National Center for Health Statistics was part of the Health Services and Mental Health Administration (HSMHA), and afterwards was part of the Health Resources Administration. Since 1987, it has been part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Data collection programs
NCHS collects data with surveys, from other agencies and U.S. states, from administrative sources, and from partnerships with private health partners. NCHS collects data from birth and death records, medical records, interview surveys, and through direct physical examinations and laboratory testing. These diverse sources give perspectives to help understand the U.S. population's health, health outcomes, and influences on health.

There are four major data collection programs at NCHS:

National Vital Statistics System
The National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) collects official vital statistics data based on the collection and registration of birth and death events at the state and local levels. NCHS works in partnership with the vital registration systems in each jurisdiction to produce critical information on such topics as teenage births and birth rates, prenatal care and birth weight, risk factors for adverse pregnancy outcomes, infant mortality rates, leading causes of death, and life expectancy.

National Health Interview Survey
The National Health Interview Survey (NHIS) provides information on the health status of the U.S. civilian noninstitutionalized population through confidential interviews conducted in households by Census Bureau interviewers. NHIS is the Nation's largest in-person household health survey, providing data on health status, access to and use of health services, health insurance coverage, immunizations, risk factors, and health-related behaviors.

National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey
The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) is NCHS's most in-depth and logistically complex survey, operating out of mobile examination centers that travel to randomly selected sites throughout the U.S. to assess the health and nutritional status of Americans. This survey combines personal interviews with standardized physical examinations, diagnostic procedures, and laboratory tests to obtain information about diagnosed and undiagnosed conditions; growth and development, including overweight and obesity; diet and nutrition; risk factors; and environmental exposures.

National Health Care Surveys
The National Health Care Surveys provide information about the organizations and providers that supply health care, the services they render, and the patients they serve. Provider sites surveyed include physician offices, community health centers, ambulatory surgery centers, hospital outpatient and emergency departments, inpatient hospital units, residential care facilities, nursing homes, home health care agencies, and hospice organizations. The National Health Care Surveys are used to study resource use, including staffing; quality of care, including patient safety; clinical management of specific conditions; disparities in the use and quality of care; and diffusion of health care technologies, including drugs, surgical procedures, and information technologies.

Other data collection programs
In addition to its major data collection programs, NCHS conducts targeted surveys and augments survey data where possible. NCHS conducts the National Survey of Family Growth to obtain information on factors affecting birth and pregnancy rates, adoptions, and maternal and infant health, and supplements the information obtained on birth certificates collected through the National Vital Statistics System. NCHS's State and Local Area Integrated Telephone Survey (SLAITS) produces state-level data on such topics as the health of children with special needs, to meet the data needs of its colleagues in HHS's Maternal and Child Health Bureau and elsewhere. NCHS's National Immunization Survey is conducted in collaboration with other CDC offices in Atlanta. NCHS's National Death Index creates a longitudinal component to other routine data systems. NCHS's Questionnaire Design Research Laboratory develops and tests survey and data collection instruments for use by NCHS and other federal agencies and research organizations.

title: National Center for Health Statistics


text:
IEFBR14

IEFBR14 is an IBM mainframe utility program. It runs in all IBM mainframe environments derived from OS/360, including z/OS. It is a placeholder that returns the exit status zero, similar to the true command on UNIX-like systems.

Allocation (also called Initiation)
On OS/360 and derived mainframe systems, most programs never specify files (usually called datasets) directly, but instead reference them indirectly through the Job Control Language (JCL) statements that invoke the programs. These data definition (or " ") statements can include a "disposition" parameter that indicates how the file is to be managed — whether a new file is to be created or an old one re-used; and whether the file should be deleted upon completion or retained; etc.

IEFBR14 was created because while  statements can create or delete files easily, they cannot do so without a program to be run due to a certain peculiarity of the Job Management system, which always requires that the Initiator actually execute a program, even if that program is effectively a null statement. The program used in the JCL does not actually need to use the files to cause their creation or deletion — the  specification does all the work. Thus a very simple do-nothing program was needed to fill that role.

IEFBR14 can thus be used to create or delete a data set using JCL.

Deallocation (also called Termination)
A secondary reason to run IEFBR14 was to unmount devices (usually tapes or disks) that had been left mounted from a previous job, perhaps because of an error in that job's JCL or because the job ended in error. In either event, the system operators would often need to demount the devices, and a started task –  – was often provided for this purpose.

Simply entering the command S DEALLOC at the system console would run the started task, which consisted of just one step. However, due to the design of Job Management, DEALLOC must actually exist in the system's procedure library, SYS1.PROCLIB, lest the start command fail.

Also, all such started tasks must be a single jobstep as the "Started Task Control" (STC) module within the Job Management component of the operating system only accepts single-step jobs, and it fails all multi-step jobs, without exception. //STEP01   EXEC PGM=IEFBR14

Parsing and validation
At least on z/OS, branching off to execute another program would cause the calling program to be evaluated for syntax errors at that point.

Naming
The "IEF" derives from a convention on mainframe computers that programs supplied by IBM were grouped together by function or creator and that each group shared a three-letter prefix. In OS/360, the first letter was almost always "I", and the programs produced by the Job Management group (including IEFBR14) all used the prefix "IEF". Other common prefixes included "IEB" for dataset utility programs, "IEH" for system utility programs, and "IEW" for program linkage and loading. Other major components were (and still are) "IEA" (Operating System Supervisor) and "IEC" (Input/Output Supervisor).

As explained below, "BR 14" was the essential function of the program, to simply return to the operating system. This portion of a program name was often mnemonic — for example, IEBUPDTE was the dataset utility (IEB) that applied updates (UPDTE) to source code files, and IEHINITT was the system utility (IEH) that initialized (INIT) magnetic tape labels (T).

As explained further in "Usage" below, the name "BR14" comes from the IBM assembler-language instruction "Branch (to the address in) Register 14", which by convention is used to "return from a subroutine". Most early users of OS/360 were familiar with IBM Assembler Language and would have recognized this at once.

Usage
Example JCL would be : To create a Partitioned Data Set:

Implementation
IEFBR14 consisted initially of a single instruction a "Branch to Register" 14. The mnemonic used in the IBM Assembler was BR and hence the name: IEF BR 14. BR 14 is identically equivalent to BCR 15,14 (Branch Always [ mask = 15 = always ] to the address contained in general purpose register 14). BR is a pseudo instruction for BCR 15. The system assembler accepts many cases of such pseudo-instructions, as logical equivalents to the canonical System/360 instructions. The canonical instance of BR 14 is BCR 15,14.

The linkage convention for OS/360 and its descendants requires that a program be invoked with register 14 containing the address to return control to when complete, and register 15 containing the address at which the called program is loaded into memory; at completion, the program loads a return code in register 15, and then branches to the address contained in register 14. But, initially IEFBR14 was not coded with these characteristics in mind, as IEFBR14 was initially used as a dummy control section, one which simply returned to the caller, not as an executable module.

The original version of the program did not alter register 15 at all as its original application was as a placeholder in certain load modules which were generated during Sysgen (system generation), not as an executable program, per se. Since IEFBR14 was always invoked by the functional equivalent of the canonical BALR 14,15 instruction, the return code in register 15 was always non-zero. Later, a second instruction was to be added to clear the return code so that it would exit with a determinate status, namely zero. Initially, programmers were not using all properties of the Job Control Language, anyway, so an indeterminate return code was not a problem. However, subsequently programmers were indeed using these properties, so a determinate status became mandatory. This modification to IEFBR14 did not in any way impact its original use as a placeholder.

The machine code for the modified program is:

SR   R15,R15  put zero completion code into register 15 BR   R14      branch to the address in register 14 (which is actually an SVC 3 instruction in the Communications Vector Table)

The equivalent machine code, eliminating the BR for clarity, is:

SR   R15,R15  put zero completion code into register 15 SVC  3        issue EXIT SVC to terminate the jobstep This makes perfect sense as the OS/360 Initiator initially "attaches" the job-step task using the ATTACH macro-instruction (SVC 42), and "unwinding" the effect of this ATTACH macro (it being a Type 2 SVC instruction) must be a complementary instruction, namely an EXIT macro (necessarily a Type 1 SVC instruction, SVC 3).

title: IEFBR14


text:
North American YF-93

The North American YF-93 was an American fighter development of the F-86 Sabre that emerged as a radically different variant that received its own designation. Two were built and flown before the project was eventually canceled.

Design and development
In 1947, North American Aviation began a design study, NA-157, to create a true "penetration fighter" to meet the requirements of a long-range version of its F-86A Sabre. In order to accommodate more fuel, a much larger F-86A was envisioned, eventually able to carry 1961 gal, both internally and with two 200 gal underwing drop tanks. The new variant possessed a theoretical unrefuelled range of over 2000 nmi, twice that of the standard production F-86A. The resultant fighter originally designated the F-86C was intended to compete with the XF-88 Voodoo and Lockheed XF-90 to fulfill the USAF's Penetration Fighter requirement for a bomber escort.

The F-86C was much larger and heavier, weighing in at 10640 lb more than its antecedent. The increased weight and girth necessitated a dual-wheel main landing gear, increased wing area and a more powerful engine, the Pratt & Whitney J48 rated at 6250 lbf static thrust and 8750 lbf thrust available in afterburner. With the SCR-720 search radar and six 20 mm (.79 in) cannon mounted in the nose where the air intake was on the F-86A, the engineers designed a novel set of flush-mounted NACA inlets.

In December 1947, the Air Force ordered two prototype NA-157s and, considering the many changes to the F-86, redesignated it YF-93A. Both prototypes were built with NACA inlet ducts; the first, (48-317), was later retro-fitted with more conventional intakes. Six months later, the initial contract was followed up with an order for 118 F-93A-NAs. In 1949, the production order was abruptly canceled as priorities had shifted dramatically following the testing of the ground-breaking Boeing B-47 which reputedly would not need an escort due to its high speed capabilities. With the prototype YF-93As just coming off the production line, the USAF took over the project.

Operational history

The prototypes, serial numbers 48-317 and -318, began flight tests in 1950 and were entered in a flyoff against the other penetration fighter projects, the XF-88 and XF-90; the XF-88 Voodoo was declared the winner. None of the projects would be ordered. The YF-93As were turned over to the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) AMES facility for further testing before being utilized as chase aircraft until 1956. Flight with the NACA ducts proved troublesome at high angles of attack, restricting air flow to the engines. NACA Research Memorandum A7I06 'An experimental investigation of NACA submerged air inlets in a 1/5-scale model of a fighter airplane', Donald E Gault, Dec 1947 (from Cranfield repository) By this time, however, higher performance aircraft were available and both aircraft were eventually declared surplus and scrapped.

Operators

 * United States Air Force
 * United States Air Force

Variants

 * F-86C
 * Original designation for a re-engined variant of the F-86A, two built.

 * YF-93A
 * Two prototype F-86Cs redesignated,

 * F-93A
 * Production variant, order for 118 cancelled.

title: North American YF-93


text:
Talk:Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland

Untitled
I originally wrote this as a means of drawing attention to the Society, of which I am a fellow. As a fellow I am naturally rather fond of the Society, consequently despite attempts at academic impartiality the article is - no doubt - generally favorable. In an attempt to be as impartial as possible I will mention the criticisms, of which I am aware, that have been leveled at the RAS, and more specifically the journal. These fall into two specific categories. Firstly that the Society's mandate is too general to be useful in an era of increased specialization. And secondly that it is guilty of propagating ‘orientalist’ stereotypes – the RAS is in fact mentioned a few times by Said in his Orientalism. I will not personally attempt to answer these criticisms, as my bias would be an overwhelming handicap. Clearly however these criticisms have not deterred the hundreds of academics, diplomats, professionals, and interested armatures, who belong to the Society, nor the dozens of academic libraries which subscribe to the Journal. I would be very pleased if someone would like to expand on any of the themes that I have introduced here – especially if you disagree with me! Finally thanks to the people who tidied up my original effort in order to bring it into ‘wiki’ specifications.

Kris Radford, Victoria BC

I believe that Kris Radford's original article, with subsequent amendments/editing, is a rather good effort and doesnt really need much more addition. It is quite suitable as I see it from the Wikipedia perspectives and the references and citations given are ample and very good. I dont think this really needs to be marked as 'lacking verifiable sources/references' because all the sources given are imminently verifiable. As to the concerns and themes rasied by the author above, I think perhaps these can even simply be discussed or placed in a footnote or briefly mentioned in the Reflist. The RAS is a very well known and highly respected body indeed and there seems to me to be no doubt as to its credentials. ====Khani100

I have requested consensus on this article as I feel that there's no need to tag this needlessly for more references/citations, which are quite adequate and the Royal Asiatic Society isnt an unknown body, much of this information is common knowledge and available generally from the RAS itself. Also, as already explained above, this article isnt the forum for a scholarly argument or dissertation on criticisms levelled at the RAS. A brief mention in a footnote, or in the main text (with the adequate refs/citations also given therein) would probably suffice. I would strongly urge that the article be allowed to stand as it is, basically, thanks. ====Khani100

Indeed, as the Society's present, global and distinguished membership seems to indicate, at this time, that there is a general worldwide acceptance and respect for the RAS and its work and people are continuing to add/contribute to its preceedings, at various levels. ====Khani100

Consensus
Since there appear to be no consensus issues surrounding the article I have removed the associated tag. ► Philg88 ◄ star.png 11:20, 16 May 2012 (UTC)

Publications
http://books.google.com/books?id=vwRp8-H9NxsC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false http://books.google.com/books?id=qaJSAAAAcAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=5J6gAAAAMAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=saJDAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

http://books.google.com/books?id=MwABAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

Rajmaan (talk) 19:52, 22 January 2013 (UTC)

https://openlibrary.org/books/OL14040455M/Miscellaneous_papers_relating_to_Indo-China_and_the_Indian_Archipelago

https://archive.org/details/s1miscellaneousp02leyduoft

http://books.google.com/books/about/Miscellaneous_Papers_Relating_to_Indo_Ch.html?id=l1AdAAAAMAAJ

http://books.google.com/books/about/Miscellaneous_Papers_Relating_to_Indo_Ch.html?id=b5soAAAAYAAJ

http://books.google.com/books?id=utZMAAAAYAAJ

http://books.google.com/books?id=TgkYAAAAYAAJ

http://www.forgottenbooks.com/books/Miscellaneous_Papers_Relating_to_Indo-China_and_the_Indian_1000143440

Entitlement of Fellows to use post-nominal letters FRAS
There seemed to be lack of clarity regarding whether elected Fellows are entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRAS since they do not appear in the Society's published bye-laws. As a Fellow of the RAS, I have received clarification from the Executive Officer of the Society in an email on 18 May 2021 that Fellows are indeed entitled to use FRAS post-nominals. This is a much better source of authority than the old lists of peerages etc currently cited which demonstrate historical usage but not entitlement to that usage. I am not sure how this can best be referenced in the article.

 * Unfortunately it cannot be, as it would be original research. If there is an entitlement, as opposed to a customary use (which is what the current sources show) this needs to be published rather than written in a private letter. Normally, such an entitlement, regarding a chartered body, is given in the statutes, public regulations, etc. of the society in question (i.e. the Byelaws and Standing Orders in this case); indeed if it is not in the society's rules, it's hard to see under what rules such an entitlement would exist. Robminchin (talk) 15:33, 27 February 2023 (UTC)
 * If they weren't entitled to use the post-nominal letters FRAS, there would be no reason for the society's publications (some cited in this article) to list individuals WITH said post-nominal letters. Stands to reason. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 92.24.233.106 (talk) 03:10, 5 March 2024 (UTC)


text:
Shuma-Gorath

Shuma-Gorath is a character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by Steve Englehart and Frank Brunner, the character first appeared in Marvel Premiere #10 (September 1973). Shuma-Gorath belongs to the Great Old Ones, a race of ancient eldritch beings who predate Earth. It is a recurring antagonist of the superhero Doctor Strange.

Publication history
Shuma-Gorath first appears as an adversary for Doctor Strange in Marvel Premiere #10 (September 1973), created by writer Steve Englehart and artist Frank Brunner. The character's name is taken from Robert E. Howard's short story "The Curse of the Golden Skull," which features a dying magician named Rotath invoking the "iron-bound books of Shuma-Gorath" in a curse against humanity.

Heroic Signatures holds the rights to the Shuma-Gorath name, due to its use in Howard's story, along with additional elements related to the Conan the Barbarian and Kull of Atlantis mythos, which is licensed to Marvel Comics.

Fictional character biography
During Earth's pre-history Shuma-Gorath ruled the world, and demanded human sacrifice until eventually banished by time-traveling sorcerer Sise-Neg. The entity eventually returns during the Hyborian Age, but is imprisoned within a mountain by the power of the god Crom. Shuma-Gorath continues to be an influence on Earth until it was returned to its home dimension by Crom.

When the entity tries to return to Earth via the mind of the Ancient One, his disciple Doctor Strange is forced to kill him to prevent this. Years later, Strange battles Shuma-Gorath in its home dimension, and although victorious, he gradually becomes a new version of the entity. Strange commits suicide to prevent this transformation and is resurrected by an ally. Sorcerer Nicholas Scratch summons the entity to Earth, but it is driven back by the combined efforts of Doctor Strange, the Fantastic Four, the Salem's Seven and villain Diablo.

Shuma-Gorath is eventually revealed to be one of the four undying extra-dimensional "multi-angled ones" guiding a metaphysical invasion from a dimension called the "cancerverse". In attempting to destroy Death itself, the entity and its allies are rendered inert by the conceptual form of Death and subsequently are trapped in the cancerverse when it is destroyed. Shuma-Gorath survives and once again attempts to invade Earth but is repelled by the superhero team the Avengers with the Spear of Destiny.

During the 2011 "Fear Itself" storyline, Shuma-Gorath is among the demons to meet at the Devil's Advocacy to discuss the threat of the Serpent and what this means to them.

During the 2013 "Infinity" storyline, Thanos' servant Ebony Maw manipulates Doctor Strange into summoning Shuma-Gorath to the streets of New York. The creature is met by Luke Cage and his new team of Avengers. Blue Marvel arrives at the scene of the battle and flies through Shuma-Gorath's head, destroying its physical manifestation. Shuma-Gorath's astral body possesses a crowd of people in New York City and attempts to recreate itself on Earth. It is weakened through mystical attacks by Power Man and White Tiger and finally banished by Monica Rambeau, who penetrates Shuma-Gorath's eye as a ray of light and disperses the entity from within.

The Last Days of Magic storyline describes Shuma-Gorath as responsible for destroying the home planet of the character Imperator, leader of the Empirikul, by sending a group of evil sorcerers after his family. This leads the Imperator to dedicate his life to destroying magic in every universe.

Later, during a battle, Dormammu states to Doctor Strange that he helped the Empirikul in finding Shuma-Gorath, who was defeated by the Imperator. Doctor Strange later banishes Dormammu to Shuma-Gorath itself, who was visibly wounded and seeking revenge.

Powers and abilities
Shuma-Gorath is a godlike ruler of nearly a hundred alternate universes. The character has the power to destroy galaxies and realities. The entity is described as immortal. Shuma-Gorath is able to manipulate reality. It can communicate with and control life forms across dimensions. It can shoot powerful energy blast from its eye or tentacles. The entity is capable of teleportation. It also possesses the ability to shape-shift. Shuma-Gorath can also levitate.

Critical response
Peter Cunis of CBR.com called Shuma-Gorath one of Doctor Strange's "most popular villains." Jonah Schuhart of Looper asserted, "Shuma-Gorath remains one of Marvel's most interesting antagonists, and a fine example of how Marvel's writers have been able to integrate a variety of influences into one universe." Johnny Brayson and Nola Pfau of Bustle included Shuma-Gorath in their "50 Most Powerful Characters In The Marvel Universe" list, and called it Doctor Strange's "greatest and most dangerous foe." Marc Buxton of Den of Geek included in their "Doctor Strange 2: Characters We Want to See" list. Rosie Knight of Nerdist included Shuma-Gorath in their "8 Magic Characters We Want to See Come to the MCU" list. Chris Heasman of Looper ranked Shuma-Gorath 2nd in their "Doctor Strange's Most Powerful Villains" list. Trey Pasch of MovieWeb ranked 3rd in their "Doctor Strange: His Best Comic Book Villains" list. Jamie Lovett of ComicBook.com ranked Shuma-Gorath 4th in their "5 Greatest Doctor Strange Villains" list. Aparna Ukil of Sportskeeda ranked Shuma-Gorath 7th in their "10 Best Kaijus from Marvel and DC Comics" list.

Screen Rant included Shuma-Gorath in their "15 Most Powerful Magical Beings In Marvel Comics" list, in their "15 Most Powerful Doctor Strange Villains" list, in their "Scarlet Witch's 15 Most Powerful Enemies" list, and in their "10 Best Doctor Strange Comics Characters Not In The MCU" list. CBR.com ranked Shuma-Gorath 1st in their "11 Strongest Doctor Strange Villains" list, 2nd in their "10 Most Powerful Demonic Marvel Villains" list, and 3rd in their "20 Most Villainous Gods In The Marvel Universe" list.

Venomverse
In the Venomized event, a Poison Shuma-Gorath was present in the Poison Hive's invasion of the Prime Marvel Universe, fighting Vision and Falcon, successfully bonding a symbiote to the latter.

Film

 * A creature based on Shuma-Gorath, renamed Gargantos after another green, one-eyed octopus monster from Marvel's Sub-Mariner comics, appears in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022).  The character's name was changed due to rights issues with Heroic Signatures.  This version is a creation of Wanda Maximoff, with the purpose of capturing America Chavez so the former can use her powers for her own, before it is killed in battle by Doctor Strange.

Video games

 * Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in Marvel Super Heroes,  voiced by Frank Perry.
 * Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter, voiced again by Frank Perry.
 * Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, voiced again by Frank Perry.
 * Shuma-Gorath appears as a non-playable character in Pinball FX 2.
 * Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds,  voiced by Paul Dobson.
 * Shuma-Gorath appears as a playable character in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3,  voiced again by Paul Dobson.
 * Gargantos, inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) incarnation of the character, appears in Marvel Puzzle Quest.

Merchandise

 * In 2022, Lego released a Shuma-Gorath Lego minifigure inspired by the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) incarnation of the character.

title: Shuma-Gorath


text:
User:Cgfoz

My name is Chris Foster. At the moment I don't have a great deal of experience of working in WIKI so I apologise for the sparseness. Hopefully that will come in the future.

title: User:Cgfoz