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

1973–75
involved the resources of Military Airlift Command, Tactical Air Command,
and the Air Force Reserve.
October 14–November 14: During the “Yom Kippur War,” USAF airlifters
supporting Operation NICKEL GRASS flew 567 sorties from the
United States, delivering 22,318 tons of war materiel to Israel. Regular
and Reserve units participated.
December 3: Pioneer 10 became the first space probe to reach the vicinity of
Jupiter.
1974
April 10: United States Air Forces in Europe used C–130 communication
flights to support Operation NIMBUS STAR, a minesweeping operation
to reopen the Suez Canal to navigation.
June 9: Northrop test pilot Henry E. “Hank” Chouteau made the first flight
in the YF–17 prototype aircraft at Edwards Air Force Base, California.
Although the YF–16 was selected over the YF–17 as the Air Force’s
newest fighter aircraft, the YF–17 was the progenitor of the Navy’s
F–18 Hornet.
September 3: Strategic Air Command removed from alert its last Minuteman
I intercontinental ballistic missile at the 90th Strategic Missile
Wing, Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, during conversion to Minuteman
III missiles.
September 16: The 8th Tactical Fighter Wing completed its redeployment
from Ubon Airfield, Thailand, to Kunsan Air Base, South Korea.
November 24: President Gerald R. Ford and General Secretary Leonid I.
Brezhnev of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics signed the Vladivostok
Strategic Arms Limitation Accord, which limited deployment of
both strategic-delivery vehicles and multiple, independently targetable
reentry vehicles.
1975
January 13: Dr. John L. McLucas, secretary of the Air Force, authorized purchase
of the General Dynamics F–16—a low-cost, lightweight, highly
maneuverable aircraft.
January 16–February 1: By setting eight time-to-climb records in the F–15
Eagle, Maj. Roger J. Smith, Maj. David W. Peterson, and Maj. Willard
R. MacFarlane earned the Mackay Trophy.
114