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

1983–84
August 30: Lt. Col. Guion S. Bluford, USAF, became the first black astronaut
to journey into space. He rode aboard Challenger on the eighth spaceshuttle
mission.
September 1: A Soviet Su–15 interceptor shot down a Boeing 747 Korean
airliner with 269 people aboard near Sakhalin Island, north of Japan.
Three HC–130 Hercules aircraft from the 33d Aerospace Rescue and
Recovery Squadron at Kadena Air Base, Japan, participated in the subsequent
search but found no survivors. KC–135 Stratotankers also supported
the search operation.
September 3–25: As part of Operation RUBBER WALL, Military Airlift Command
flew 85 C–141 Starlifter, 24 C–5 Galaxy, and four C–130 Hercules
missions to transport about 4,000 tons of supplies from the
United States to American marines in Lebanon.
September 5: A KC–135 Stratotanker crew led by Capt. Robert J. Goodman
saved an F–4E Phantom and its crew over the Pacific. The KC–135
refueled the F–4E four times and towed it with a refueling boom. The
crew received the Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious flight of the
year.
October 23–December 9: After a terrorist bomb exploded at a Marine Corps
barracks in Beirut, Lebanon, Military Airlift Command and Air Force
Reserve cargo and aeromedical-evacuation aircraft transported 239
dead and 95 wounded Americans to the United States and Europe for
burial and medical treatment.
October 24–November 3: In Operation URGENT FURY, American military
forces raided the Caribbean island of Grenada to evacuate U.S. citizens,
restore democracy, and eliminate a hostile Cuban/Soviet base.
Military Airlift Command and Air Force Reserve C–5 Galaxy, C–141
Starlifter, and C–130 Hercules aircraft flew 496 missions to transport
11,389 passengers and 7,709 tons of cargo to Grenada. Strategic Air
Command tankers and Tactical Air Command fighters, as well as Air
National Guard EC–130Es, supported the operation, which accomplished
its triple mission. During Operation URGENT FURY, Lt. Col.
James L. Hobson, Jr., USAF, led a flight of MC–130 Hercules aircraft
that successfully completed an airborne assault on Point Salinas, dropping
paratroopers at the exact planned time over target in a hail of
antiaircraft fire. For his actions in assuming the assault lead from a disabled
aircraft, Colonel Hobson earned the Mackay Trophy.
1984
February 24: Military Airlift Command flew two C–141 Starlifter missions
from Larnaca, Cyprus, to Cherry Point, North Carolina, to support the
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