April 6–13, 1984. The 11th US space shuttle mission (41-C) is a spectacular success as the defective Solar Maximum Mission satellite (Solar Max) is repaired in orbit. After mission specialist George D. Nelson fails to capture the satellite on his spacewalk, Terry J. Hart uses Challenger’s remote manipulator arm to catch Solar Max on the fly. Nelson and James D.A. van Hoften repair the satellite in the shuttle’s payload bay before it is released.

May 22, 1984. The Chiefs of Staff of the Army and the Air Force sign a memorandum of agreement titled “Joint Force Development Process,” also known as “The 31 Initiatives.”

Aug. 27, 1984. The first Grumman X-29A forward swept wing research aircraft rolls out at the company’s Calverton, Long Island, facility in New York.

Sept. 4, 1984. The first production Rockwell B-1B bomber is rolled out at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif. Read “ The Magnificent B-1B,” Air Force Magazine, November 1984.

Oct. 5–13, 1984. On the 13th space shuttle mission, Challenger lifts off for the first time with a crew of seven. Mission 41-G is the first to have two female astronauts (Sally K. Ride and Kathryn D. Sullivan, who will become the first American woman to make a spacewalk) and the first to have a Canadian astronaut aboard (Marc Garneau). Commander Robert L. Crippen becomes the first to fly on the shuttle four times. Aloft, the crew refuels a satellite in orbit for the first time.

Oct. 18, 1984. Company pilot M.L. Evenson and USAF Lt. Col. L.B. Schroeder make the first flight of the Rockwell B-1B variable-geometry bomber at Palmdale, Calif., and land at Edwards AFB, Calif. This is the first of 100 aircraft to be built in the revitalized B-1 bomber program.

Dec. 14, 1984. At Edwards AFB, Calif., Grumman pilot Chuck Sewell makes the first flight of the X-29A forward-swept wing demonstrator. The X-29s, two of the most unusual aircraft ever built, are designed to prove the aerodynamic benefits of wings that appear to have been put on backwards.

1985

Jan. 24–27, 1985. The 15th space shuttle mission (51-C) is the first dedicated DOD flight. The Discovery crew of Navy Capt. Thomas K. Mattingly (mission commander), Air Force Lt. Col. Loren J. Shriver (pilot), and Air Force mission specialists Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka and Maj. Gary E. Payton, along with Marine Lt. Col. James F. Buchli, deploy a classified payload, believed to be a signals intelligence satellite.

Sept. 13, 1985. The first test of the LTV-Boeing ASM-135A air-launched anti-satellite weapon against a target is successfully carried out over the Western Test Range, Vandenberg, Calif. Launched from an F-15, the missile destroys a satellite orbiting at a speed of 17,500 mph approximately 290 miles above Earth.

Oct. 7, 1985. Navy F-14 Tomcats intercept and surround an Egypt Air Boeing 737 in international airspace over the Mediterranean. The 737, which is carrying the Palestinian terrorists who had hijacked the Italian luxury liner Achille Lauro, is forced to land in Sigonella AB, Sicily, where the terrorists are taken into custody.

Oct. 10, 1985. The LGM-118 Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile reaches initial operational capability. The 10-warhead missiles are based at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo.

Dec. 9, 1985. Russell A. Rourke becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

Dec. 16, 1985. After 20 years of operation, the Pioneer 6 satellite becomes the longest-running spacecraft in history. When launched in 1965, the solar-orbiting satellite had a life expectancy of six months.

1986

Jan. 28, 1986. The space shuttle Challenger explodes 73 seconds after liftoff, killing all seven astronauts, including schoolteacher Christa McAuliffe. Others on Mission 51-L included Francis R. Scobee, Navy Cmdr. Michael J. Smith, Judith A. Resnik, Ronald E. McNair, Air Force Lt. Col. Ellison S. Onizuka, and Gregory B. Jarvis. The manned space program will be halted for two years while vehicular and management flaws are corrected.

April 15, 1986. In Operation El Dorado Canyon, US Air Force F-111s launch from RAF Lakenheath in England, are refueled in the air six times by KC-10 tankers, maintain complete radio silence, and are joined by Navy A-6s in a retaliatory raid against Lybia in response to state-sponsored terrorism. Read El Dorado Canyon

April 24–May 7, 1986. Veterans of three wars attend the Air Force Association’s “Gathering of Eagles” in Las Vegas.

June 5, 1986. The Air Force orders two specially modified and equipped Boeing 747-200s to be the new Presidential transports. The new Air Force One aircraft, to be assigned to Andrews AFB, Md., will be designated VC-25A.

June 9, 1986. Edward C. Aldridge Jr. becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

July 1, 1986. Gen. Larry D. Welch becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

July 1, 1986. CMSgt. James C. Binnicker becomes Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Oct. 1, 1986. The Goldwater-Nichols Act gives theater commanders increased control of forces from all services.

Dec. 23, 1986. Dick Rutan and Jeanna Yeager land at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., after nine-day flight in experimental aircraft Voyager, the first-ever non-stop, unrefueled flight around the world.

1987

May 5, 1987. The last Martin Marietta LGM-25C Titan II ICBM is taken off strategic alert at Little Rock AFB, Ark. The Titan II had stood nuclear alert since 1963.

May 17, 1987. Forty-four years to the day its crew became the first to complete 25 bombing missions over Europe, the Memphis Belle, arguably the most famous Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress ever built, is placed in its permanent home, a covered pavilion in a park on Mud Island, in Memphis, Tenn., in gala ceremonies. The dedication includes a fly by of seven privately-owned B-17s.

July 4, 1987. Lt. Col. Robert Chamberlain (and crew) sets a dozen recognized class records for speed with payload (jet aircraft) in a Rockwell B-1B at Palmdale, Calif. The brand-new aircraft is on an acceptance flight and flies a 500-mile closed course near Vandenberg AFB, Calif.

Sept. 17, 1987. Maj. Brent A. Hedgpeth (and crew) sets nine recognized class records for 3,100 miles with and without payload (jet aircraft) of 655.09 mph in a Rockwell B-1B at Palmdale, Calif.

Sept. 24, 1987. The Air Force’s Thunderbirds fly for a crowd of 5,000 in Beijing. It has been nearly 40 years since a US combat aircraft flew over and landed on Chinese soil.

1988

Jan. 1, 1988. SAC changes its missile crew assignment policy to permit mixed male/female crews in Minuteman and Peacekeeper ICBM launch facilities.

Jan. 20, 1988. The 100th and final B-1B bomber rolls off the line at Rockwell’s plant in Palmdale.

Feb. 10, 1988. The 2,000th F-16 fighter built is accepted by Singapore.

March 3, 1988. The Pioneer 8 solar orbiter, which was launched Nov. 8, 1968, with a six-month life expectancy, is finally declared defunct.

May 23, 1988. The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey, the world’s first production tilt-rotor aircraft, is rolled out at Bell Helicopter Textron’s plant in Arlington, Tex.

June 8, 1988. The Grumman X-29 breaks the record for most flights by an X-series aircraft, as NASA pilot Rogers Smith flies the No. 1 aircraft for the 200th time, breaking the record of 199 flights set by the three North American X-15s.

Aug. 2, 1988. As evidence of thawing superpower relations, US Secretary of Defense Frank C. Carlucci is given the opportunity to inspect the Soviet Tu-160 “Blackjack” strategic bomber during a visit to Kubinka AB, near Moscow.

Sept. 29, 1988. Launch of the space shuttle Discovery ends the long stand-down of the US manned space program in the wake of the Challenger disaster.

Nov. 6, 1988. The Air Force launches its last Martin Marietta Titan 34D booster from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. It carries a classified payload.

Nov. 7, 1988. The US Postal Service issues a 65-cent commemorative stamp bearing the likeness of Gen. H.H. “Hap” Arnold in ceremonies at the Arnold Engineering and Development Center at Arnold AFB, Tenn.

Nov. 10, 1988. The Air Force reveals the existence of the Lockheed F-117A Stealth fighter, operational since 1983. Read The Secret Doings at Tonopah and How the Skunk Works Fielded Stealth

Nov. 12, 1988. Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir G. Titov and Musa K. Manarov break the world space endurance record as they remain on board the space station Mir for their 326th day in orbit.

Nov. 19, 1988. Boeing KC-135R tanker crews from the 19th Air Refueling Wing (Robins AFB, Ga.), 340th ARW (Altus AFB, Okla.), 319th Bomb Wing (Grand Forks AFB, N.D.), and 384th BW (McConnell AFB, Kan.) set 16 class time-to-climb records in flights from Robins AFB.

Nov. 22, 1988. Northrop and the Air Force roll out the B-2 stealth bomber at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif.

Nov. 30, 1988. The Soviets roll out the An-225 transport, the world’s largest airplane.

Dec. 9, 1988. The first Sierra Research-de Havilland Canada E-9A airborne telemetry data relay aircraft is delivered to the Air Force’s 475th Weapons Evaluation Group at Tyndall AFB, Fla.

Dec. 29, 1988. The first operational dual-role (air superiority and deep interdiction) McDonnell Douglas F-15E fighter is delivered to the Air Force.

1989

Jan. 4, 1989. Two Libyan MiG-23 Flogger fighters, displaying hostile intentions, are shot down over international waters by an element of US Navy F-14 Tomcats operating from the carrier USS John F. Kennedy (CVN-67).

Feb. 14, 1989. The first McDonnell Douglas Delta II space booster is launched from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The 128-foot-tall rocket boosts the first operational NS-7 Block II Global Positioning System satellite into orbit.

Feb. 16, 1989. Northrop completes the 3,806th and final aircraft in the F-5/T-38 series. The milestone aircraft, an F-5E, will later be delivered to Singapore.

March 1, 1989. The first General Dynamics F-16A modified under the Air Force’s air defense fighter program is delivered to the Air National Guard’s 114th Tactical Fighter Training Squadron at Kingsley Field, Ore.

March 19, 1989. Bell pilot Dorman Canon and Boeing pilot Dick Balzer make the first flight of the Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey at Bell Helicopter Textron’s Flight Research Center in Arlington, Tex.

March 21, 1989. NASA completes the flight test of the Mission Adaptive Wing, a modification to the advanced fighter technology integration (AFTI) F-111 that allows the curvature of the aircraft’s leading and trailing edges to be varied in flight. The MAW completes 144.9 hours on 59 flights.

March 30, 1989. Fairchild delivers the first of 10 C-26A operational support aircraft to the Air National Guard’s 147th Fighter-Interceptor Group at Ellington ANGB, Tex. The C-26 is the military version of the Metro III commuter aircraft.

April 17, 1989. Lockheed delivers the 50th and last C-5B Galaxy transport to the Air Force in ceremonies at Marietta, Ga.

April 17–18, 1989. Lockheed pilots Jerry Hoyt and Ron Williams set 16 class time-to-climb and altitude records in separate flights in a NASA U-2C at the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. The 32-year-old aircraft, which was loaned to NASA in 1971, is retired to a museum after the flights.

May 4, 1989. Air Force Maj. Mark C. Lee releases the Magellan probe from the payload bay of the space shuttle orbiter Atlantis during the first day of the four-day STS-30 space mission. The 21-foot-tall, 7,604-pound Magellan probe is designed to map Venus with its synthetic aperture radar.

May 22, 1989. Donald B. Rice becomes Secretary of the Air Force.

June 10, 1989. Capt. Jacquelyn S. Parker becomes the first female pilot to graduate from the Air Force Test Pilot School at Edwards AFB, Calif.

June 14, 1989. The first Martin Marietta Titan IV heavy-lift space booster is successfully launched from Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. The booster, nearly 20 stories tall, carries a classified military payload.

July 6, 1989. The nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, is presented to retired Air Force Gen. James H. “Jimmy” Doolittle in White House ceremonies. Read “ Jimmy Doolittle’s Greatest Contributions,” Air Force Magazine, September 1985 and An American Hero

July 6, 1989. The 169th and last MGM-31 Pershing 1A intermediate-range ballistic missile is destroyed at the Longhorn Army Ammunition Plant near Karnack, Tex., under the terms of the intermediate nuclear forces (INF) treaty.

July 17, 1989. Northrop Chief Test Pilot Bruce Hinds and Air Force Col. Richard Couch, director of the B-2 Combined Test Force, make the first flight of the Northrop B-2A advanced technology bomber, flying from Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., to the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif.

Aug. 2, 1989. The Navy successfully carries out the first undersea launch of the Lockheed UGM-133A Trident II (D5) sea-launched ballistic missile. The missile is launched from USS Tennessee (SSBN-734) while cruising off Florida.

Aug. 6, 1989. As further evidence of the thaw in US-Soviet relations, two MiG-29 fighters and the giant An-225 transport land and refuel at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, on their way to an air show in Canada.

Aug. 8–13, 1989. The 30th mission in the US space shuttle program is carried out, as the crew of five service astronauts launches a classified payload from the orbiter Columbia. It is the longest military shuttle flight to date.

Aug. 24, 1989. The Voyager 2 space probe completes its grand tour of the solar system as the 1,787-pound vehicle passes within 3,000 miles of Neptune. Voyager 2 was launched in Aug. 1977.

Sept. 14, 1989. The Bell-Boeing V-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft achieves its first conversion from helicopter mode to airplane mode while in flight.

Sept. 15, 1989. McDonnell Douglas delivers the 500th AH-64 Apache helicopter to the US Army at the company’s plant in Mesa, Ariz.

Oct. 1, 1989. Air Force Gen. Hansford T. Johnson, pinning on his fourth star and assuming command of US Transportation Command and MAC, becomes the first Air Force Academy graduate to attain the rank of full general. He is a member of the Academy’s first graduating class of 1959.

Oct. 3, 1989. The last of 37 Lockheed U-2R/TR-1A/B high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft is delivered to the Air Force.

Oct. 4, 1989. A crew from the 60th Military Airlift Wing, Travis AFB, Calif., lands a Lockheed C-5B transport at McMurdo Station in Antarctica. This is the first time an aircraft so large has landed on the ice continent. The C-5B, carrying 72 passengers and 168,000 pounds of cargo (including two fully assembled Bell UH-1N helicopters), lands without skis.

Dec. 3, 1989. Solar Max, the first satellite to be repaired in orbit, is destroyed as it re-enters the atmosphere over Sri Lanka.

Dec. 14, 1989. MAC approves a policy change that will allow female aircrew members to serve on C-130 and C-141 airdrop missions.

Dec. 20, 1989. Operation Just Cause begins in Panama. The Air Force plays a major role, ranging from airlift, airdrops, and aerial refueling to bringing Panamanian dictator Manuel Noriega to the US. In Just Cause, the Lockheed F-117A stealth fighter is used operationally for the first time.

1990

Jan. 25, 1990. The Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird high-altitude, high-speed reconnaissance aircraft is retired from SAC service in ceremonies at Beale AFB, Calif. SR-71 crews flew more than 65 million miles, half at speeds above Mach 3.

Jan. 31, 1990. Coronet Cove, the Air National Guard’s rotational deployments to defend the Panama Canal, ends after more than 11 years. More than 13,000 sorties, totaling 16,959 hours, had been flown since the operation began.

Feb. 21, 1990. The Air Force returns to dual-track pilot training. The team of McDonnell Douglas, Beech, and Quintron is selected over two other teams to provide the Tanker/Transport Training System. This turnkey operation will train pilots going on to fly “heavies” using the T-1A Jayhawk.

March 1, 1990. The Rockwell/MBB X-31A Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability (EFM) demonstrator rolls out at Rockwell’s facility at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif. A joint venture between the US and West Germany, the X-31 is designed to prove technologies that will allow close-in aerial combat beyond normal flying parameters.

March 6, 1990. Lt. Col. Ed Yielding (pilot) and Lt. Col. J.T. Vida (reconnaissance systems officer) set four speed records, including a transcontinental mark of 2,112.52 mph (one hour, eight minutes, 17 seconds elapsed time) over the 2,404.05-mile course from Oxnard, Calif., to Salisbury, Md., on, what was at the time, the last Air Force flight of the Lockheed SR-71.

March 26, 1990. Grumman rolls out the first production-standard version of the improved F-14D Tomcat for the US Navy at its plant in Calverton, N.Y.

April 2, 1990. Air Force pilot Maj. Erwin “Bud” Jenschke demonstrates in-flight thrust reversing for the first time while flying the McDonnell Douglas NF-15B S/MTD (STOL/Maneuvering Technology Demonstrator) aircraft over Edwards AFB, Calif.

April 4, 1990. McDonnell Douglas turns over the last of 60 KC-10A Extender tanker/cargo aircraft to the Air Force at its plant in Long Beach, Calif.

April 5, 1990. The first launch of the Orbital Sciences/Hercules Aerospace Pegasus air-launched space booster, the first all-new booster in two decades, is successfully carried out off the California coast.

April 24, 1990. The space shuttle Discovery, with a crew of five, lifts off on the 35th mission in the shuttle program. The next day, astronaut Steven A. Hawley releases the Hubble Space Telescope, an on-orbit observatory with great scientific promise. Although the telescope gathers unprecedented images, it proves to be somewhat myopic (a two-micron-wide spherical aberration—less than the width of a human hair—is found) and will have to be repaired on a 1993 shuttle flight.

April 25, 1990. Boeing delivers the 200th re-engined and upgraded KC-135R tanker to the Air Force. It is delivered to the 340th Air Refueling Group at Altus AFB, Okla.

April 30, 1990. USAF announces that Air Force Special Operations Command, the first new command since 1982, will be established by early summer. This component of the US Special Operations Command will be composed primarily of 23rd Air Force assets.

May 4, 1990. The Hughes/Raytheon AIM-120A Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) passes its “final exam”—demonstration of its ability to achieve multiple victories against multiple targets. There are three direct hits and a lethal near miss in the four missiles vs. four targets test near Eglin AFB, Fla.

May 17, 1990. An Air Force crew from McGuire AFB, N.J., lands a Lockheed C-141B transport at Moscow’s Sheremetievo Airport to deliver an inoperative MGM-31 Pershing II missile that will go into a museum in Moscow. The crew then picks up an inoperative Soviet SS-20 for display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

May 22, 1990. Air Force Special Operations Command is established.

May 22, 1990. Company pilot Larry Walker and Air Force pilot Maj. Erwin “Bud” Jenschke land the McDonnell Douglas NF-15B S/MTD test bed in a mere 1,650 feet at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. Pratt & Whitney two-dimensional, thrust-reversing engine nozzles are the main method of stopping the aircraft.

June 1990. The Air Force publishes its vision statement, Global Reach–Global Power.

June 1, 1990. SAC turns over the first pair of General Dynamics FB-111As to TAC. With one internal modification, the aircraft will be redesignated F-111Gs.

June 22, 1990. The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23A Advanced Tactical Fighter prototype is rolled out in ceremonies at the ATF Combined Test Force Facility at Edwards AFB, Calif. It is powered by two Pratt & Whitney YF119-PW-100 engines. Northrop pilot Paul Metz will make the first flight Aug. 27, 1990.

July 1, 1990. Gen. Michael J. Dugan becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

July 11, 1990. Four Air National Guard F-16 pilots from the 177th Fighter-Interceptor Group at Atlantic City IAP, N.J., escort two Soviet MiG-29 fighters and an Il-76 transport in US airspace, flying from Kalamazoo, Mich., to Rockford, Ill., as part of the Soviet Union’s first US air show tour.

July 12, 1990. The last of 59 Lockheed F-117A stealth fighters is delivered to the Air Force in ceremonies at the company’s Palmdale, Calif., facility.

July 24, 1990. SAC ends Looking Glass, more than 29 years of continuous airborne alert, as a Boeing EC-135C Airborne Command Post aircraft lands at Offutt AFB, Neb.

Aug. 1, 1990. CMSgt. Gary R. Pfingston becomes Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force.

Aug. 2, 1990. In a major policy speech, President George H.W. Bush declares a new defense strategy, emphasizing regional conflict rather than the fading Soviet threat. He says it will be possible to reduce the armed forces by about 25 percent, a level that will become known as the “Base Force.” The speech receives minimal notice, overshadowed by events in Kuwait and the impending War in the Gulf. Read The Base Force

Aug. 2, 1990. Iraq invades Kuwait. Iraq completes its occupation the next day and stands poised to cross the Saudi Arabian border.

Aug. 7, 1990. The US begins Operation Desert Shield, the large-scale movement of US forces to the Middle East in response to Iraq’s Aug. 2 invasion of Kuwait and threat to Saudi Arabia.

Aug. 8, 1990. A C-141 carrying Airlift Control Element lands in Dhahran, the first USAF aircraft into the crisis zone. F-15s from 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, Langley AFB, Va., and elements of the 82nd Airborne Division, Ft. Bragg, N.C., arrive in Saudi Arabia. US AWACS aircraft augment Saudi AWACS orbiting over Saudi Arabia.

Aug. 9, 1990. Alaskan Air Command ceases to exist. The former command now becomes a numbered (11th) Air Force and is made part of Pacific Air Forces.

Aug. 17, 1990. For the first time, the first stage of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet is activated to increase the availability of airlift to the Middle East.

Aug. 21, 1990. By this date, one billion pounds of materiel have arrived in or are en route to Saudi Arabia. Six fighter wings are deployed, and SAC steps up refueling efforts and RC-135 reconnaissance flights in the area. By late Aug., more than 40,000 reserve members of all services have been called up.

Aug. 23, 1990. The first of two Boeing VC-25A Presidential transport aircraft is delivered to the 89th Military Airlift Wing at Andrews AFB, Md. The new aircraft, a modified 747-200B commercial transport, will replace the VC-137C aircraft currently used as “Air Force One.”

Aug. 29, 1990. The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22A ATF prototype is unveiled in ceremonies at Lockheed Plant 10 in Palmdale, Calif. This aircraft is powered by two General Electric YF120-GE-100 turbofan engines. Lockheed pilot Dave Ferguson makes the first flight of the YF-22 Sept. 29, 1990.

Sept. 6, 1990. The US Postal Service issues a 40-cent postage stamp honoring Lt. Gen. Claire L. Chennault.

Sept. 18, 1990. Gen. John Michael Loh becomes acting Air Force Chief of Staff.

Oct. 11, 1990. Rockwell pilot Ken Dyson makes the first flight of the Rockwell/MBB X-31A Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability (EFM) demonstrator at Air Force Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif. The flight lasts 38 minutes.

Oct. 30, 1990. Gen. Merrill A. McPeak becomes Air Force Chief of Staff.

Nov. 9, 1990. Col. Thomas C. Cook, believed to be the Air Force’s last World War II combat veteran still serving, retires. He saw action as a B-24 navigator in Europe and transferred to reserve status in 1948. He returned to active duty in 1976.

Dec. 17, 1990. The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22 prototype is flown to an unprecedented 60-degree angle-of-attack (AOA) attitude and remains in full control in a test flight over Edwards AFB, Calif.

1991

Jan. 7, 1991. Saying that “nobody could tell him how much it would cost to keep the program going,” Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney announces that he is canceling the McDonnell Douglas/General Dynamics A-12 Avenger attack aircraft program for default. The A-12 would have been the Navy’s first stealth aircraft. Read How the A-12 Went Down

Jan. 16, 1991. At 6:35 a.m. local time, B-52G crews from the 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale AFB, La., take off to begin what will become the longest bombing mission in history. Carrying 39 AGM-86C Air Launched Cruise Missiles (a conventional version of the nuclear-armed General Dynamics AGM-86B ALCM), the bomber crews fly to the Middle East and launch their missiles against high-priority targets in Iraq.

Jan. 17, 1991. War begins in the Persian Gulf. Operation Desert Shield becomes Operation Desert Storm. More than 1,200 combat sorties are flown, and 106 cruise missiles are launched against targets in Iraq and Kuwait during the first 14 hours of the operation. Read The Gulf War: Expanded Chronology and The Strategy of Desert Storm

Jan. 17, 1991. Constituting less than 2.5 percent of all coalition aircraft, stealthy F-117A fighter-bombers attack more than 31 percent of Iraqi strategic targets on the first day of the war.

Jan. 25, 1991. In one of the fastest development and fielding of weapons in modern history, Air Force Systems Command’s Armament Division asks the Army to machine eight-inch cannon barrels to the shape of a bomb. On Feb. 24, the first of these Lockheed/Texas Instruments GBU-28/B bombs is tested at Tonopah Test Range, Nev., and penetrates so deeply, the weapon is never found. Within five hours of delivery to Saudi Arabia, two of the 4,700-pound weapons are dropped from an F-111 on Feb. 27.

Jan. 27, 1991. Two F-111Fs deliver precision bombs on the refinery at Al Ahmadi, Kuwait, closing oil manifolds opened by Iraqi forces and stopping the flow of crude oil into the Persian Gulf.

Jan. 27, 1991. Coalition aircraft attain air supremacy after 10 days of aerial combat.

Jan. 29, 1991. Iraq launches its only offensive of the Gulf War and gets promptly clobbered by airpower. Read The Epic Little Battle of Khafji

Feb. 6, 1991. Capt. Robert Swain of the 706th Tactical Fighter Group (AFRES), NAS New Orleans, La., shoots down an Iraqi helicopter in the first air-to-air victory for the Fairchild A-10 Thunderbolt II attack aircraft. He uses the airplane’s internal GAU-8/A 30 mm cannon.

Feb. 15, 1991. In one of the most unusual air-to-air victories ever, Capt. Tim Bennett and Capt. Dan Bakke of the 4th Tactical Fighter Wing at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., shoot down an Iraqi helicopter (probably an Mi-24 Hind) with a GBU-10 2,000-pound Laser-Guided Bomb dropped from their F-15E. Read Tim Bennett’s War

Feb. 22, 1991. Soviet cosmonaut Musa K. Manarov sets a record for accumulated time in space, amassing his 447th day in orbit. Cosmonaut Manarov is on the 83rd day of his Soyuz TM-11 mission, working aboard the space station Mir, when he breaks the record.

Feb. 24, 1991. With Iraqis reeling—casualties, desertions, and other effects of the air campaign—the coalition launches its ground campaign, which (supported heavily by airpower) is concluded in just 100 hours.

Feb. 28, 1991. Iraq surrenders to the US-led coalition. In the 42-day, round-the-clock war, the Air Force flew 57 percent of all sorties with less than 58 percent of the assets, flew more than 38,000 combat sorties, offloaded more than 800 million pounds of fuel, and transported 96,465 passengers and 333 million pounds of cargo. Read What We Should Have Learned in Desert Storm, But Didn’t

March 8, 1991. The first Martin Marietta Titan IV heavy-lift space booster to be launched from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., lifts off. The booster carries a classified payload.

April 6, 1991. Operation Provide Comfort, humanitarian air operations to protect and supply Kurds in northern Iraq threatened by Saddam Hussein after the Gulf War, begins.

April 11, 1991. Iraq accepts all terms of the UN cease fire. Gulf War officially ends.

April 18, 1991. The Air Force carries out the first successful flight test of the Martin Marietta/Boeing MGM-134A small ICBM. The missile flies 4,000 miles from Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to its assigned target area in the Army’s Kwajalein Missile Range in the Pacific Ocean.

April 23, 1991. Air Force Secretary Donald B. Rice announces that the Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics F-22 and the Pratt & Whitney F119 engine are the winners in the Advanced Tactical Fighter competition.

May 6, 1991. The US destroys the last of 846 MGM-31 Pershing II missiles prohibited by the INF Treaty. On May 12, the Soviet Union destroys the last of 1,846 SS-20 missiles.

June 6, 1991. The Air Force reveals the existence of the Northrop AGM-137A Tri-Service Standoff Attack Missile (TSSAM), a stealthy ground attack weapon with a range of less than 600 kilometers.

July 1, 1991. The Warsaw Pact, the military coalition of Soviet Bloc countries, formally disbands.

July 2, 1991. McDonnell Douglas announces the first flight of the first production helicopter built without a tail rotor. The MD520N uses a blown air system for anti-torque and directional control.

Sept. 15, 1991. The McDonnell Douglas C-17A transport makes its first flight. The crew of four takes off from the company’s plant in Long Beach, Calif., and lands two hours, 23 minutes later at the Air Force Flight Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif.

Sept. 27, 1991. Strategic bomber crews stand down from their decades-long, round-the-clock readiness for nuclear war.

Nov. 26, 1991. Clark AB, Philippines, is officially turned over to the Philippine government, ending nearly 90 years of US occupancy. It was the largest overseas USAF base.

Dec. 17–19, 1991. Four Naval aviators set 16 recognized class records for altitude, speed, and time-to-climb with and without payload (turboprop aircraft) in a Grumman E-2C Hawkeye at NAS Patuxent River, Md.

Dec. 19, 1991. Navy Lt. Cmdrs. Eric Hinger and Matt Klunder set a recognized class record for altitude with a 1,000-kilogram payload (turboprop aircraft) of 41,253.6 feet in a Grumman E-2C Hawkeye at NAS Patuxent River, Md.

Dec. 21, 1991. The first Rockwell new-generation AC-130U gunship is flown for the first time.

Dec. 25, 1991. The Soviet Union ceases to exist.

1992

Jan. 18, 1992. Air Training Command receives its first T-1A Jayhawk trainer aircraft at Reese AFB, Tex. With the T-1A, ATC will implement its new Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training program.

Jan. 31, 1992. The Navy takes delivery of the last production Grumman A-6 Intruder attack aircraft, closing out 31 years of Intruder production.

Feb. 10, 1992. Operation Provide Hope, the delivery of food and medical supplies to the former Soviet Union, begins.

Feb. 28–29, 1992. Four Air Force crews set recognized class time-to-climb records (jet aircraft) in a Rockwell B-1B at Grand Forks AFB, N.D.

March 24, 1992. Rep. Les Aspin, Chairman of the House Armed Services Committee—and soon to be Secretary of Defense in the Clinton Administration—introduces a portfolio of alternatives to the defense program, prosing cuts deeper than the 25 percent “Base Force” reduction already planned. Read The Base Force Meets Option C

April 1, 1992. The Community College of the Air Force graduates its 100,000th student, TSgt. Gordon J. Wiese.

April 9, 1992. The Air Force’s new Variable Stability In-Flight Simulator Test Aircraft (VISTA), a modified General Dynamics F-16, designated NF-16, that will replace the 40-plus-year-old NT-33, is flown for the first time at the General Dynamics facility in Fort Worth, Tex. The flight lasts 53 minutes.

May 12, 1992. Lockheed Aeronautical Systems delivers the 2,000th C-130 Hercules transport in ceremonies at Marietta, Ga. The milestone aircraft, a C-130H, is later delivered to the Air National Guard’s 123rd Airlift Wing at Standiford Field, Ky.

June 1, 1992. SAC, TAC, and MAC are deactivated. Bomber, fighter, attack, reconnaissance, and electronic combat/electronic warfare aircraft and all ICBMs regroup under Air Combat Command (ACC). Airlifter and tanker aircraft regroup under Air Mobility Command (AMC). Read No More SAC, TAC, and MAC

June 1, 1992. US Strategic Command is established, with responsibility for planning, targeting, and command of US strategic forces.

July 1, 1992. Air Force Systems Command and Air Force Logistics Command are merged to create Air Force Materiel Command, which is to provide “cradle to grave” management of weapon systems.

July 1, 1992. Air Force begins Operation Provide Promise, flying humanitarian relief missions into Croatia and Bosnia. It is the longest-running air supply effort in history, officially ending Jan. 4, 1996.

Aug. 27, 1992. Operation Southern Watch begins as Persian Gulf coalition members (primarily the US Air Force and Navy) begin to enforce the ban (announced 24 hours earlier) on Iraqi airplanes from flying south of the 32nd parallel. Any Iraqi aircraft flying south of the parallel will be shot down. This action is precipitated by Iraq’s failure to comply with United Nations Resolution 688, which demands that the Iraqi government stop the repression of its Shiite population in southern Iraq.

Oct. 3–4, 1992. At Mogadishu, Somalia, where 18 American Rangers were killed and 80 wounded, Air Force Special Operations troopers play a major role in helping the wounded and beating back the attack. USAF pararescueman TSgt. Timothy A. Wilkinson will be awarded the Air Force Cross for his actions. MSgt. Scott Fales and Sgt. Jeffrey Bray will be awarded the Silver Star. Read Heroes at Mogadishu

Oct. 15, 1992. The Pentagon’s budget-driven “Bottom Up Review” makes wholesale reductions to the armed forces. Air Force fighter wing equivalents, for example—cut previously from 34 to 26 in the “Base Force” plan—are cut yet again to 20. Read The Bottom-Down Review
The High-Risk Military Strategy
The Legacy of the Bottom-up Review

Dec. 9, 1992. Operation Restore Hope, an international humanitarian operation in Somalia, begins. More than 28,000 troops are sent to safeguard food, supplies, and aid workers, from armed factions trying to seize power. Thirty-three Air Force active duty and Reserve units take part in the initial deployment.

Dec. 16–18, 1992. Capts. Pamela A. Melroy and John B. Norton, along with company pilots William R. Casey and Charles N. Walls, set a number of recognized altitude records with payload (for two different subclasses of jet aircraft) in a McDonnell Douglas C-17A Globemaster III at Edwards AFB, Calif. A class record for greatest load (133,422 pounds) carried to 6,600 feet is also set on the flight.

Dec. 19, 1992. Capt. Jeff Kennedy and crew set a recognized class record for great circle distance without landing (jet aircraft) of 10,083.11 miles in a Boeing KC-135R.

Dec. 19, 1992. An AMC KC-135R crew from the 97th Air Mobility Wing, Altus AFB, Okla., flies more than 8,700 miles from Kadena AB, Japan, to McGuire AFB, N.J., to set an aircraft class record for nonstop, unrefueled flight.

Dec. 27, 1992. While flying combat air patrol in Operation Southern Watch, two F-16 pilots from the 363rd Fighter Wing, Shaw AFB, S.C., intercept a pair of Iraqi MiG-25s flying in the United Nations-imposed no-fly zone over southern Iraq. One of the pilots, flying an F-16D, fires an AIM-120A AMRAAM and downs one of the MiGs, marking the first use of the AIM-120A in combat and the first USAF F-16 air-to-air victory.

1993

Jan. 13, 1993. USAF Maj. Susan Helms, flying aboard Endeavour, becomes the first US military woman in space.

March 1, 1993. Lockheed completes acquisition of General Dynamics Fort Worth Division. The $1.5 billion purchase gives Lockheed control of the F-16 fighter line and increases the corporation’s share of the F-22 program to 67.5 percent.

March 9, 1993. A Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft comes out of retirement to fly its first scientific flight for NASA at the Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif. The aircraft, fitted with an ultraviolet video camera in the nose bay, is flown to an altitude of approximately 83,000 feet and collects more than 140,000 images of stars and comets.

April 12, 1993. NATO Operation Deny Fight begins, enforcing a ban ordered by the UN Security Council on aircraft operations in the no-fly zone of Bosnia. The operation ends Dec. 20, 1995.

April 28, 1993. Secretary of Defense Les Aspin lifts the long-standing ban on female pilots flying US combat aircraft, including Army and Marine Corps attack helicopters.

April 29, 1993. German test pilot Karl Lang makes the first demonstration of a high-angle-of-attack, post-stall, 180-degree turn known as a Herbst Maneuver while flying the Rockwell/MBB X-31A EFM demonstrator. The turn is completed in a 475-foot radius.

May 22, 1993. Lt. Cmdr. Kathryn P. Hire, the first woman in the Navy to be assigned to a combat unit, flies her first mission as a tactical crew member on a Lockheed P-3C Update III maritime patrol aircraft during a bombing exercise. Hire flies with VP-62, a Reserve unit based at NAS Jacksonville, Fla. The first Air Force female combat pilot will be 1st Lt. Jeannie Flynn, who will take her place in an F-15E cockpit later in 1993.

May 25–Aug. 3, 1993. The first successful demonstration of aerobraking (using atmospheric drag to slow a spacecraft) puts the Magellan Venus probe in a lower orbit. The probe suffers no ill effects.

June 14, 1993. The first operational McDonnell Douglas C-17A Globemaster III transport is delivered to the 437th Airlift Wing at Charleston AFB, S.C.

June 17, 1993. Lt. Col. Patricia Fornes becomes the first woman to lead an Air Force ICBM unit. She assumes command of the 740th Missile Squadron at Minot AFB, N.D., a squadron once commanded by her father.

June 29, 1993. The Air Force rolls out the first Boeing OC-135B Open Skies Treaty observation aircraft at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. It is the first of three that will be used by the US to verify foreign compliance with arms treaties.

July 1, 1993. Air Training Command becomes Air Education and Training Command.

July 1, 1993. Day-to-day control of ICBMs passes to Air Force Space Command from Air Combat Command.

July 8, 1993. Slingsby Aviation Ltd. rolls out the first T-3A Enhanced Flight Screener for the Air Force at its plant in York, England.

July 30, 1993. The multiaxis thrust-vectoring system installed on the VISTA NF-16 is employed for the first time in a test at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, Calif. By Sept. 1993, the aircraft will achieve a transient angle of attack of 110 degrees and a sustained AOA of 80 degrees.

Aug. 5, 1993. The Advanced Flight Test Integration (AFTI) F-16 completes its 600th mission at the Air Force Flight Test Center, Edwards AFB, Calif. The flight collects data for the AFTI/F-16 Ground Collision Avoidance System test effort.

Aug. 6, 1993. Sheila E. Widnall, associate provost and professor of aeronautics and astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, becomes Secretary of the Air Force. Widnall is the first female Secretary for any of the armed services.

Aug. 11–14, 1993. Global Enterprise, an ACC exercise to train aircrews for long-distance power projection missions, is carried out from Ellsworth AFB, S.D. Two Rockwell B-1B Lancers are flown to Europe, across the Mediterranean and Red Seas around the Arabian Peninsula, and land at a staging base in southwest Asia. After exchanging crews, the B-1s are flown from southwest Asia, via Japan, over the Aleutians, and then back to South Dakota. Total flight time is 37.3 hours, and the 24-hour first leg is the longest flight ever made by a B-1B crew.

Aug. 17, 1993. The first of 350 early model Boeing B-52 bombers is cut into five pieces with a 13,000-pound steel guillotine at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. The bombers were destroyed under the terms of the Strategic Arms Reduction Talks II Treaty.

Aug. 18, 1993. McDonnell Douglas’s Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) subscale single-stage-to-orbit prototype makes a 60-second first flight at the White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The 42-foot-tall vehicle takes off vertically, hovers at about 150 feet, moves laterally approximately 350 feet, and lands tail down.

Aug. 24 and 26, 1993. Two mixed Air Force and contractor crews set recognized class time-to-climb and altitude records (jet aircraft) in a McDonnell Douglas C-17A Globemaster III at Long Beach, Calif.

Sept. 15, 1993. Boeing announces that work on the first B-52H bomber to be adapted for conventional warfare missions has been completed at its facility in Wichita, Kan.

Oct. 1, 1993. USAF’s Officer Training School moves from Lackland AFB, Tex., to Maxwell AFB, Ala.

Oct. 8, 1993. Capt. Pamela A. Melroy and company pilot Richard M. Cooper set two recognized jet aircraft class records for altitude with a 70,000-kilogram payload (32,169 feet) and greatest mass carried to a height of 2,000 meters (161,023 pounds) in a McDonnell Douglas C-17A Globemaster III at Edwards AFB, Calif.

Dec. 1, 1993. Allison Engine Company separates from General Motors and becomes an independent company. Allison had been a part of GM since 1929.