One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
One Hundred Years of Flight USAF Chronology ... - The Air University
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1991–92<br />
later provided aerial protection for a security zone in northern Iraq so<br />
that the Kurds could return to their homes. This area became a no-fly<br />
zone—an area in which Iraqi aircraft were forbidden to fly.<br />
April 18: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force completed the first successful flight test <strong>of</strong> a new Martin<br />
Marietta/Boeing MGM–134A small intercontinental ballistic missile.<br />
<strong>The</strong> missile traveled 4,000 miles from Vandenberg <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, California,<br />
to the Pacific Island target area at the Kwajalein Missile Range.<br />
May 10–June 13: In Operation SEA ANGEL, <strong>USAF</strong> transport aircraft airlifted<br />
more than 3,000 tons <strong>of</strong> relief equipment and supplies to<br />
Bangladesh after a typhoon and tidal wave. C–5s and C–141s carried<br />
most <strong>of</strong> the cargo, including five Army Black Hawk helicopters and<br />
their crews, to the city <strong>of</strong> Dacca. From there, C–130s and the helicopters<br />
transported relief supplies to the flooded area.<br />
June 8–July 2: <strong>The</strong> eruption <strong>of</strong> Mount Pinatubo in the Philippines buried Clark<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Base and two other U.S. military installations with volcanic ash, forcing<br />
the <strong>Air</strong> Force to evacuate some 15,000 people to Guam and the<br />
United States. FIERY VIGIL became the largest evacuation operation<br />
since the fall <strong>of</strong> South Vietnam in 1975. Clark <strong>Air</strong> Base in the Philippines,<br />
the oldest and largest <strong>USAF</strong> overseas base, closed permanently.<br />
September 27: President George H. W. Bush ordered termination <strong>of</strong> Strategic<br />
<strong>Air</strong> Command’s alert, initiated in October 1957, during which time<br />
crews stood ready around the clock to launch nuclear strikes. This<br />
event heralded the conclusion <strong>of</strong> the Cold War between the United<br />
States and the Soviet Union.<br />
November 1: After the crash <strong>of</strong> a Canadian C–130 Hercules in Greenland, a<br />
Twenty-Second <strong>Air</strong> Force C–5 Galaxy from Elmendorf <strong>Air</strong> Force Base,<br />
Alaska, loaded with a 36-member search-and-rescue team from the<br />
Alaskan <strong>Air</strong> National Guard, and two MH–60G Pave Hawk helicopters<br />
flew to Thule, Greenland. <strong>The</strong> American airmen located the crash scene<br />
some 300 miles from the North Pole and rescued 13 survivors.<br />
December 21: <strong>The</strong> AC–130U Spectre gunship flew for the first time. <strong>The</strong><br />
new-generation gunship combined increased firepower, reliability,<br />
and accuracy with the latest target-location technology.<br />
1992<br />
January 17: To modernize its fleet <strong>of</strong> training aircraft, the <strong>Air</strong> Force<br />
accepted the first production model T–1A Jayhawk.<br />
February 10–26: In Operation PROVIDE HOPE I, 15 <strong>USAF</strong> wings and<br />
groups airlifted 2,274 tons <strong>of</strong> food, medical supplies, and other relief<br />
cargo to 24 cities <strong>of</strong> the Commonwealth <strong>of</strong> Independent States, which<br />
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