One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University

July 8: C–141 Starlifters airlifted the first of 25,000 troops withdrawn from
Southeast Asia under President Richard M. Nixon’s Vietnamization
policy, flying them from Vietnam to McChord Air Force Base, Washington.
July 20: Four days after launching from the Kennedy Space Center in
Florida and a few hours after the landing of the lunar module, Apollo
11 crew members Neil Armstrong, a civilian, and Col. Edwin E. Aldrin,
Jr., USAF, became the first men to walk on the Moon. At the same
time, Lt. Col. Michael Collins, USAF, orbited the Moon in the mission’s
command module.
August 19: The Air Force began airlifting relief equipment and supplies to
southern Mississippi to relieve the victims of Hurricane Camille, the
strongest hurricane ever to hit the United States. By September 16, the
service had airlifted more than 5,900 tons of relief cargo, flying at least
six kinds of transport aircraft. This humanitarian airlift operation was
one of the largest such efforts in history.
December 18: Air Force Missile Development Center crews completed the
first guided launch of the Maverick—an air-to-surface televisionguided
missile capable of attacking moving targets at short range. Designated
the AGM–65, the missile would eventually be carried by a variety
of bomber, fighter, and attack aircraft.
1970
1969–70
January 5: Aerospace Defense Command’s Backup Intercept Control III
radar system became fully operational with the acceptance of the facility
at the 80th Air Defense Group, Fortuna Air Force Station, North
Dakota. Designed to provide immediate information on any airborne
threat to North America, this system augmented the semiautomatic
ground-environment system.
February 27: The Department of Defense selected Pratt and Whitney Aircraft
to develop and produce engines for both the USAF F–15 and the
Navy F–14B aircraft.
March 15: The overseas portion of the worldwide automatic voice network
was completed, connecting all U.S. military installations by telephone.
April 10: Air Training Command completed shipment of 872 trainers to
Southeast Asia under Project Pacer Bravo in support of the South Vietnamese
air force improvement and modernization program.
April 11–17: The Air Force supported the launch and recovery of the threeman
Apollo 13 crew, who, despite suffering an onboard explosion,
journeyed around the Moon and returned safely to Earth.
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