Feb. 26, 1971. Army Capt. Jon E. Swanson, flying a Hughes OH-6 Cayuse helicopter, is called in to provide close air support to South Vietnamese ground troops in Cambodia. Flying at treetop level, he repeatedly exposes himself to enemy gunfire, firing grenades at targets and marking others with smoke rounds for other helicopter gunships in the area. His helicopter damaged, Swanson flies to safety, rearms, and reenters the fight to mark additional targets. Over the battle, his OH-6 is hit by ground fire and explodes. Swanson’s remains and those of his observer, SSgt. Larry Harrison, are not recovered until 1999. Swanson is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on May 2, 2002, the day before he and Harrison are buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

March 2, 1971. A policy is announced, which allows Air Force women who become pregnant to request a waiver to remain on active duty or to be discharged and return to duty within 12 months of discharge.

March 8, 1971. Capt. Marcelite C. Jordan becomes the first female aircraft maintenance officer after completion of the Aircraft Maintenance Officer’s School. She was previously an administrative officer.

March 17, 1971. Jane Leslie Holley, Auburn University, Alabama, becomes the first woman commissioned through Air Force ROTC.

April 17, 1971. Federal express begins air freight operations from Memphis, Tenn., guaranteeing overnight delivery anywhere in the United States. The first night, Fed Ex carries only 18 packages.

May 25, 1971. Maj. William Adams and his Bell UH-1H Huey medevac crew, along with a Huey gunship escort, to attempt to rescue three wounded soldiers from a firebase in Kontum Province, South Vietnam. The helicopters come under withering fire near the landing zone, but manage to get down. With the wounded secured, Adams lifts off, but the Huey is severely damaged by ground fire, hit again by a rocket-propelled grenade, rolls inverted, and crashes. All aboard are killed. Adams posthumously receives the Medal of Honor.

July 16, 1971. Jeanne M. Holm becomes the first female general officer in the Air Force.

July 26, 1971. Apollo 15 blasts off with an all-Air Force crew: Col. David R. Scott, Lt. Col. James B. Irwin, and Maj. Alfred M. Worden. The mission is described as the most scientifically important and, potentially, the most perilous lunar trip since the first landing. Millions of viewers throughout the world watch as color-TV cameras cover Scott and Irwin exploring the lunar surface using a moon rover vehicle for the first time.

Sept. 3, 1971. President Richard M. Nixon dedicates the new US Air Force Museum building at Wright-Patterson AFB, in Dayton, Ohio. A drive to raise private funds for the new museum building had begun in 1960. Read The Heritage of the Force

Oct. 1, 1971. CMSgt. Richard D. Kisling becomes the third Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Oct. 26–Nov. 4, 1971. Army CWO James K. Church sets a recognized turbine engine helicopter class record for altitude in horizontal flight (36,122 feet), Capt. B.P. Blackwell sets a record for altitude (31,165 feet) with a 2,200-pound payload, CWO Eugene E. Price sets two records for altitude (31,480 feet and 25,518 feet) with 4,400-pound and 11,000-pound payloads, and CWO Delbert V. Hunt sets a record for time-to-climb to 29,700 feet (five minutes, 58 seconds) all in the same Sikorsky CH-54B at Stratford, Conn.

1972

Feb. 20, 1972. Lt. Col. Edgar Allison sets a recognized class record for great circle distance without landing (turboprop aircraft) of 8,732.09 miles, flying from Ching Chuan Kang AB, Taiwan, to Scott AFB, Ill., in a Lockheed HC-130.

March 1972. The North Vietnamese spring invasion is stopped and then turned back by US airpower. Read The Easter Halt

March 23, 1972. Gen. John D. Lavelle relieved as commander of 7th Air Force for "unauthorized" air strikes in North Vietnam. Read Lavelle and Lavelle, Nixon, and the White House Tapes

April 1, 1972. The Community College of the Air Force is established.

April 6, 1972. American aircraft and warships begin heavy, sustained attacks on North Vietnam for the first time since the cessation of bombing in October 1968.

April 12, 1972. Army Maj. John C. Henderson sets recognized turbine engine helicopter class time-to-climb records to 9,900 feet and 19,800 feet (one minute, 22 seconds and two minutes, 59 seconds) in a Sikorsky CH-54B at Stratford, Conn.

April 27, 1972. Four Air Force fighter crews, releasing Paveway 1 “smart” bombs, knock down the Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam. Previously, 871 conventional sorties resulted in only superficial damage to the bridge. Read Bridge Busting

May 10, 1972. Navy Lt. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (pilot) and Lt. (j.g.) Willie Driscoll (radar intercept officer), flying McDonnell Douglas F-4J Phantom IIs from the USS Constellation, shoot down three MiG-17s, This, combined with their aerial victories on Jan. 19 and May 8, make Cunningham and Driscoll the first US aces of the Vietnam War.

May 10, 1972. Capt. Charles B. DeBellevue (WSO), flying with Capt. Richard S. Ritchie (pilot), in a McDonnell Douglas F-4D, records his first aerial victory. DeBellevue, who would go on to be the leading American ace of the Vietnam War, recorded four of his victories with Ritchie. Both airmen flew with the 555th Tactical Fighter Squadron.

May 10–11, 1972. F-4 Phantoms from the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing drop smart bombs on the Paul Doumer Bridge, causing enough damage to keep this mile-long highway and rail crossing at Hanoi out of use. It will not be rebuilt until air attacks on North Vietnam cease in 1973.

June 29, 1972. Capt. Steven L. Bennett attempts to assist a friendly ground unit being overrun near Quang Tri, South Vietnam. Bennett strafes the North Vietnamese regulars with his Rockwell OV-10 Bronco but is hit by a SAM. Unable to eject because the parachute of his backseater, a Marine artillery spotter, had been shredded by shrapnel, Bennett ditches the aircraft in the Gulf of Tonkin. The observer escapes, but Bennett is trapped and sinks with the wreckage. Bennett is posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor. Read Valor: A Gift of Life and Impossible Odds in SAM 7 Alley

July 1, 1972. Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy activated at Gunter Air Force Station, Ala.

July 27, 1972. One month ahead of schedule, company pilot Irv Burrows makes the first flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle air superiority fighter at Edwards AFB, Calif. The F-15 is the first USAF fighter to have a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than one-to-one, which means it can accelerate going straight up.

Aug. 28, 1972. Capt. Richard S. Ritchie, with his backseater, Capt. Charles B. DeBellevue, shoots down his fifth MiG-21 near Hanoi, becoming the Air Force’s first ace since the Korean War.

Sept. 9, 1972. Capt. Charles B. DeBellevue (WSO), flying with Capt. John A. Madden Jr. (pilot), in a McDonnell Douglas F-4D, shoots down two MiG-19s near Hanoi. These were the fifth and sixth victories for DeBellevue, which made him the leading American ace of the war. All of his victories came in a four-month period. Madden would record a third victory two months later.

Nov. 4, 1972. Navy Cmdr. Philip R. Hite sets a recognized class record for distance in a closed circuit (turboprop aircraft) of 6,278.05 miles at NAS Patuxent River, Md., in a Lockheed RP-3D Orion.

Dec. 7–19, 1972. The Apollo 17 mission is the last of the moon landings. It is also the first US manned launch to be conducted at night. Mission commander Navy Cmdr. Eugene A. Cernan and lunar module pilot/geologist Harrison H. Schmitt spend a record 75 hours on the lunar surface.

Dec. 18, 1972. President Richard M. Nixon directs the resumption of full-scale bombing and mining in North Vietnam.

Dec. 18, 1972. The US begins Operation Linebacker II, the 11-day bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong. Massive air strikes help persuade North Vietnam to conclude Paris peace negotiations, which will be finalized Jan. 27, 1973. Read Linebacker II

Dec. 18, 1972. In a throwback to past aerial combat, SSgt. Samuel O. Turner, the tail gunner on a Boeing B-52D bomber downs a trailing MiG-21 with a blast of .50-caliber machine guns near Hanoi. Six days later, A1C Albert E. Moore, also a B-52 gunner, shoots down a second MiG-21 after a strike on the Thai Nguyen rail yard. These were the only aerial gunner victories of the war.

1973

Jan. 8, 1973. Capt. Paul D. Howman (pilot) and lst Lt. Lawrence W. Kullman (WSO), flying in a McDonnell Douglas F-4D, record the last USAF victory in the Vietnam War as they shoot down a MiG-21 near Hanoi. It was the duo’s only aerial victory.

Jan. 15, 1973. The Air Force suspends all mining, bombing, and other offensive operations against North Vietnam.

Jan. 27, 1973. On the day cease-fire agreements ending the war in Vietnam are signed in Paris, crews flying Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses bomb logistics targets such as truck parks and storage areas south of the 20th Parallel. At 4:10 p.m. local time, the last USAF aircraft to fly over Hanoi, a Ryan AQM-34L drone, photographs results of the Operation Linebacker II raids for bomb damage assessment. The cease-fire takes effect at 7 p.m. EDT, which makes the cease-fire date effective Jan. 28th in Vietnam.

Feb. 12, 1973. Operation Homecoming, the return of 591 American POWs from North Vietnam, begins. All of the ex–POWs, which come from all military services, are processed through Clark AB, Philippines, to military hospitals in the United States and from there they are quickly reunited with their families. Read Valor: Valor en Masse
Weighing the Evidence on POWs
Honor Bound

April 10, 1973. First flight of the Boeing T-43A navigation trainer occurs. The T-43 is developed from the 737-200 civil transport.

April 17, 1973. Taking off from Guam, Air Force crews flying Boeing B-52 Stratofortresses make the last bombing missions over Laos, attacking targets south of the Plain of Jars because of Communist cease-fire violations.

May 25–June 22, 1973. An all-Navy crew of Capt. Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. and Cmdrs. Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz salvage the Skylab program, as they repair the space station (which had been damaged on launch) in orbit. Their 28-day, 404-orbit mission is the longest in history to this point.

July 1, 1973. Authorization for the military draft ends.

July 4, 1973. Lt. Col. Charles H. Manning sets a recognized class altitude record of 32,883 feet for piston-engined amphibian aircraft in a Grumman HU-16B Albatross at Homestead AFB, Fla.

July 18, 1973. John L. McLucas becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

July 28–Sept. 25, 1973. The Skylab 3 crew of Navy Capt. Alan L. Bean, Marine Maj. Jack R. Lousma, and scientist Owen K. Garriott Jr. perform valuable science experiments and Earth observations during their 59-day, 892-orbit stay on the space station.

Aug. 1, 1973. Gen. George S. Brown becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

Aug. 15, 1973. US bombing of targets in Cambodia cease. In the eight years and two months that Operation Arc Light was carried out, Strategic Air Command crews, flying Boeing B-52 Stratofortress bombers from Andersen AFB, Guam, released 2.9 million tons of bombs on 124,532 sorties (of the 126,615 sorties launched). Some 55 percent of the sorties were flown against targets in South Vietnam, 27 percent in Laos, 12 percent in Cambodia, and six percent in North Vietnam. During the Arc Light missions, the Air Force lost 31 B-52s—18 to hostile fire over North Vietnam and 13 to “other operational causes.” However, Maj. John J. Hoskins and Capt. Lonnie O. Ratley, flying LTV A-7D Corsair IIs, make the last raids of war in Southeast Asia when they attack targets near Phnom Penh late in the afternoon. A Lockheed EC-121 crew out of Korat RTAB, Thailand, that lands after the A-7 pilots earns the distinction of making the last mission of the war.

Oct. 1, 1973. CMSgt. Thomas N. Barnes becomes Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Nov. 10, 1973. At New Orleans, the USAF Thunderbirds fly their 518th and last show in the McDonnell Douglas F-4E Phantom II. The team would convert to the Northrop T-38A Talon for the 1974 show season.

Nov. 14, 1973. The US ends its major airlift to Israel. In a 32-day operation during the Yom Kippur War, Military Airlift Command airlifts 22,318 tons of supplies. Read Nickel Grass

Nov. 14, 1973. The first production McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle is delivered to the Air Force at Luke AFB, Ariz.

June 9, 1974. Company pilot Henry E. Chouteau makes the first flight of the Northrop YF-17 at Edwards AFB, Calif. Although the YF-17 would not be selected as the winner of the Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter Technology evaluation program, it would become the progenitor of the Navy’s F/A-18 Hornet.

July 1, 1974. Gen. David C. Jones becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

July 29, 1974. The Department of Defense consolidates all military airlift aircraft under the Air Force as single manager for all of the armed forces.

Sept. 1, 1974. Maj. James V. Sullivan and Maj. Noel Widdifield set a New York to London speed record of 1,806.964 mph in a Lockheed SR-71A. The trip takes one hour, 54 minutes, 55 seconds.

Oct. 24, 1974. The Air Force’s Space and Missile Systems Organization carries out a midair launch of a Boeing LGM-30A Minuteman I from the hold of a Lockheed C-5A.

Dec. 23, 1974. Company pilot Charles Bock Jr., USAF Col. Emil Sturmthal, and flight test engineer Richard Abrams make the first flight of the Rockwell B-1A variable-geometry bomber from Palmdale, Calif.

1975

Jan. 13, 1975. The General Dynamics YF-16 is announced as the winner of the Air Force’s Lightweight Fighter Technology evaluation program. The F-16 is also the leading candidate to become the Air Force’s new air combat fighter.

Jan. 16–Feb. 1, 1975. Three USAF pilots set eight recognized class records for time to climb (jet aircraft) in a modified McDonnell Douglas F-15A, nicknamed Streak Eagle, over a period of two weeks at Grand Forks AFB, N.D.

Jan. 26, 1975. The Force Modernization program, a nine-year effort to replace all Boeing LGM-30B Minuteman Is with either Minuteman IIs (LGM-30F) or Minuteman IIIs (LGM-30G), is completed, as the last 10 LGM-30Gs are turned over to SAC at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo.

Feb. 1, 1975. Maj. Roger J. Smith sets a world time-to-climb record to 98,425 feet in three minutes, 27.8 seconds in the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Streak Eagle.

April 30, 1975. North Vietnamese troops accept the surrender of Saigon. Read The Fall of Saigon

May 15, 1975. Carrying 175 Marines, Air Force special operations helicopters land on Kho Tang Island, off the Cambodian coast, to begin rescue of the crew of the US merchant ship Mayaguez, which had been seized in international waters by the Cambodian Navy three days earlier. Read Valor: The Mayaguez Incident

June 30, 1975. The last Douglas C-47A Skytrain in routine Air Force use is retired to the US Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

July 15–24, 1975. US astronauts Brig. Gen. Thomas P. Stafford, USAF, Vance D. Brand, and Donald K. Slayton rendezvous, dock, and shake hands with Soviet cosmonauts Alexei A. Leonov and Valeri N. Kubasov in orbit during the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project.

Aug. 5, 1975. NASA pilot John Manke makes the first landing of a lifting body aircraft on a conventional concrete runway (versus one of packed sand) when he brings the Martin Marietta X-24B in on the main runway at Edwards AFB, Calif. Lt. Col. Mike Love repeats this feat on Aug. 20.

Aug. 20, 1975. The Viking 1 mission to Mars is launched from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on a Titan III booster. The spacecraft enters Mars orbit on June 19, 1976, and the lander, which takes soil samples and performs rudimentary analysis on them, soft-lands on July 20, 1976.

Sept. 1, 1975. Gen. Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., USAF, becomes the first black officer to achieve four-star rank in the US military.

Oct. 21, 1975. Fairchild Republic’s A-10A Thunderbolt II makes its first flight. The first combat-ready A-10A wing will be the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing at Myrtle Beach, S.C., which will begin taking delivery of the fighters in March 1977.

Nov. 26, 1975. NASA pilot Thomas McMurtry makes the last flight of the Martin Marietta X-24 lifting body program at Edwards AFB, Calif. The aircraft, which underwent a significant external shape change midway through the flight test program, was flown a total of 54 times.

Nov. 29, 1975. The first Red Flag exercise at Nellis AFB, Nev., begins a new era of highly realistic training for combat aircrews. Read Red Flag

1976

Jan. 2, 1976. Thomas C. Reed becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

Jan. 9, 1976. Air Force’s first operational F-15 Eagle arrives at the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, Langley AFB, Va.

May 8, 1976. At Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, the Thunderbirds fly the 2,000th show in their 23-year history. The team’s Northrop T-38A Talons sport a special paint scheme for America’s bicentennial celebration.

June 28, 1976. The Air Force Academy becomes the first of the big three service academies to admit women cadets when it admits Joan Olsen.

July 3-4, 1976. Israeli commandos, transported by C-130s, stage a surprise raid on Entebbe airport in the dead of night, fight a pitched battle with terrorists and Ugandan soldiers, and rescue more than 100 hostages who had been passengers aboard a hijacked Air France airliner.

July 27–28, 1976. Three SR-71 pilots (Maj. Adolphus H. Bledsoe Jr., Capt. Robert C. Helt, and Capt. Eldon W. Joersz) set three absolute world flight records over Beale AFB, Calif.: altitude in horizontal flight (85,068.997 feet), speed over a straight course (2,193.16 mph), and speed over a closed circuit (2,092.294 mph).

Aug. 26, 1976. First women enter USAF pilot training.

Sept. 6, 1976. Soviet pilot Lt. Victor Belenko, taking off from Sakharovka AB near Vladivostok, lands his MiG-25 (NATO reporting name “Foxbat”) interceptor at the Hakodate Airport in northern Japan and asks for political asylum. He is flown to the US two days later. The defection provides an intelligence bonanza, as this gives the West its first detailed inspection of the Mach 3-capable fighter and a chance to debrief a front-line pilot. The aircraft is partially disassembled, flown to a Japanese Air Self Defense Force base near Tokyo on a US Air Force C-5 Galaxy, where it is then fully disassembled and inspected in detail. On Nov. 12, the MiG-25, in crates, is loaded on a Soviet freighter and returned.

1977

March 10, 1977. The prototype Grumman EF-111A airborne tactical jamming platform for the Air Force is flown for the first time at the company’s Calverton, Long Island, NY, factory.

March 24, 1977. Boeing delivers the first basic production version of the E-3A Sentry (AWACS) to Tinker AFB, Okla. Read A Quarter Century of AWACS

April 6, 1977. John C. Stetson becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

May 20, 1977. The Sukoi T-10, the prototype of the Su-27 (NATO reporting name “Flanker”) makes its first flight. The Su-27 is the first of a new generation of Soviet fighters (along with the MiG-29 ‘Fulcrum’) to compete with, respectively, the US F-15 and F-16. Production numbers are in the low hundreds, and the type is flown by several other countries. Several successive aircraft, including the Su-30, -32, and -33 have been built around the basic Su-27 design.

June 30, 1977. President Jimmy Carter, citing the continued ability of the B-52 fleet and the development of cruise missiles, announces he is canceling the B-1A variable-geometry bomber program. Testing of the four B-1A prototypes will continue, however.

Aug. 1, 1977. CMSgt. Robert D. Gaylor becomes Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Aug. 31, 1977. Alexander Fedotov, flying in the MiG E-266M, a modified MiG-25 “Foxbat,” sets the recognized absolute record for altitude, reaching 123,523.58 feet at Podmoskovnoye, USSR. The record is the only recognized absolute record not held by a pilot from the United States.

Oct. 1, 1977. Volant Oak, the quarterly rotation of six Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve transports to Howard AFB, Panama, for in-place tactical airlift in Central and South America, begins.

Oct. 6, 1977. The MiG-29 prototype (NATO reporting name “Fulcrum”) makes its first flight. The MiG-29 is the second of a new generation of Soviet fighters (along with the Su-27 ) to compete with, respectively, the US F-16 and F-15. More than 800 aircraft have been built, and as of 2003, the aircraft is still in limited production and the more than 20 countries flying the MiG-29 are in the process of updating their fleets. MiG-29s are now flown by the air arms of two NATO members, Germany and Poland.

Dec. 1, 1977. In total secrecy, company test pilot Bill Park makes the first flight of the Lockheed XST Have Blue demonstrator at Groom Lake, Nev. Developed in only 20 months, Have Blue is designed as a test bed for stealth technology.

1978

Feb. 22, 1978. The first test satellite in the Air Force’s Navstar Global Positioning System is successfully launched into orbit. Read The Sensational Signal

March 23, 1978. Capt. Sandra M. Scott becomes the first female aircrew member to pull alert duty in SAC.

July 1, 1978. Gen. Lew Allen Jr. becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

Nov. 30, 1978. The last Boeing LGM-30G Minuteman III ICBM is delivered to the Air Force at Hill AFB, Utah.

1979

Jan. 6, 1979. The 388th Tactical Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah, receives the first operational General Dynamics F-16A fighters.

July 9, 1979. The Voyager 2 space probe, launched in 1977, flies within 399,560 miles of Jupiter’s cloud tops. Voyager 2 will pass Neptune in 1989.

July 26, 1979. Hans Mark becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

Aug. 1, 1979. CMSgt. James M. McCoy becomes Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Oct. 1, 1979. All atmospheric defense assets and missions of Aerospace Defense Command are transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC). Also on this date, the Aerospace Audiovisual Service becomes the single manager for Air Force combat audiovisual documentation.

1980

March 12–14, 1980. Two B-52 crews fly nonstop around the world in 43.5 hours, covering 21,256 statute miles, averaging 488 mph, and carrying out sea surveillance/reconnaissance missions.

April 24, 1980. In the middle of an attempt to rescue US citizens held hostage in Iran, mechanical difficulties force several Navy RH-53 helicopter crews to turn back. Later, one of the RH-53s collides with an Air Force HC-130 in a sandstorm at the Desert One refueling site. Eight US servicemen are killed. Read Desert One

May 28, 1980. The Air Force Academy graduates its first female cadets. Ninety-seven women are commissioned as second lieutenants. Lt. Kathleen Conly graduates eighth in her class.

Aug. 22, 1980. Department of Defense reveals existence of Stealth technology that “enables the United States to build manned and unmanned aircraft that cannot be successfully intercepted with existing air defense systems. ”

1981

Feb. 9, 1981. Verne Orr becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

April 12, 1981. The space shuttle Columbia, the world’s first reusable manned space vehicle, makes its first flight with astronauts John W. Young and Navy Capt. Robert L. Crippen aboard.

April 14, 1981. The Space Shuttle Columbia lands on Rogers Dry Lake, Edwards AFB, Calif., after its first orbital mission. This was the first time in history that an orbital vehicle left earth under rocket power and returned on the wings of an aircraft.

June 7, 1981. A surprise attack by the Israeli Air Force destroys the Osirak nuclear reactor near Baghdad, setting back Iraq’s attempt to develop nuclear weapons. “ Osirak and Beyond,” Air Force Magazine, August 2002.

June 18, 1981. In total secrecy, company pilot Hal Farley makes the first flight of the Lockheed F-117A stealth fighter at Tonopah Test Range, Nev. The existence of this aircraft would not be publicly revealed until 1988. Read Two Decades of Stealth

June 26, 1981. The first production Grumman/General Dynamics EF-111A, a specially developed ECM tactical jamming aircraft, makes its first flight.

Aug. 1, 1981. CMSgt. Arthur L. Andrews becomes Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Sept. 26, 1981. The Boeing 767 twin-engine, twin-aisle jetliner makes its first flight at Everett, Wash. Flight decks of the 767 and its stablemate, the single-aisle Boeing 757 are nearly identical, so pilots can easily qualify to fly both.

Oct. 2, 1981. President Ronald Reagan reinstitutes the B-1 bomber program canceled by the Carter Administration in 1977. Read A Tale of Two Bombers

Nov. 10, 1981. For the first time, US Air Forces in Europe and the German Air Force test a section of the autobahn for emergency landings.

1982

Feb. 4, 1982. First flight of Tacit Blue “Whale,” which demonstrated that curvilinear surfaces were valuable in foiling radar. It leads to advances that live on in the B-2 and the F/A-22. Read The (Tacit) Blue Whale

Feb. 19, 1982. The Boeing 757 twin-engine, single aisle jetliner makes its first flight at Renton, Wash.

Feb. 24, 1982. NATO receives the first of 18 E-3A Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft at Geilenkirchen AB, Germany.

June 6-11, 1982. In the Bekka Valley of Lebanon , the Israeli Air Force overcomes the long-standing combat advantage of surface-to-air missiles, destroying 19 SAMs with no losses. In the follow-up action, the Israelis shoot down 82 Syrian MiGs without losing any of their own fighters. Read The Bekka Valley War

July 1, 1982. US Air Force activates its first ground launched cruise missile (GLCM) wing, the 501st Tactical Missile Wing, at RAF Greenham Common in England. Read The Short, Happy Life of the Glick-Em

July 1, 1982. Gen. Charles A. Gabriel becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

Sept. 1, 1982. Air Force Space Command is established, with headquarters at Colorado Springs, Colo.

Nov. 11, 1982. Vance D. Brand, Robert F. Overmyer, Joseph P. Allen IV, and William B. Lenoir lift off in the space shuttle Columbia. STS-5 is the first mission to send four astronauts aloft at one time and is first fully operational flight of a space shuttle.

1983

Feb. 9, 1983. The first rewinged C-5A makes its first flight at Marietta, Ga. It will be delivered to the Air Force at the end of the month.

Feb. 10, 1983. The Cruise Pact is signed by the US and Canada, allowing testing of US cruise missiles in northern Canada.

March 23, 1983. Flight testing of the Rockwell B-1A resumes at Edwards AFB, Calif. This aircraft is modified for the B-1B development effort.

May 9, 1983. A C-141 crew from the 18th Military Airlift Squadron, McGuire AFB, N.J., becomes USAF’s first all-female crew to fly a round-trip mission across the Atlantic.

June 17, 1983. The first LGM-118A Peacekeeper (originally MX) ICBM is test-launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

June 18, 1983. The first American woman to go into space, Sally K. Ride, is aboard Challenger on the seventh space shuttle mission (STS-7).

July 4, 1983. Flying in their new General Dynamics F-16A Fighting Falcons, the USAF Thunderbirds perform before an estimated crowd of two million people at Coney Island, N.Y.

Aug. 1, 1983. CMSgt. Sam E. Parish becomes Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Aug. 30, 1983. Two milestones are recorded on the STS-8 space shuttle mission: The oldest astronaut, William E. Thornton, 54, and the first black American astronaut, Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr., USAF, are sent aloft on the space shuttle Challenger with three others.

Oct. 25–Nov. 2, 1983. US forces conduct Operation Urgent Fury, the rescue of American medical students on the Caribbean island of Grenada. Read “ Blue Christmas Coming Up,” Air Force Magazine, January 1984.