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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1995<br />
April 8: Despite being hit 12 times by small-arms fire during take<strong>of</strong>f, a <strong>USAF</strong><br />
C–130 Hercules aircraft returned safely to Italy after delivering flour to<br />
Sarajevo, Bosnia, as part <strong>of</strong> Operation PROVIDE PROMISE.<br />
April 19: After a truck bomb exploded and partially destroyed a federal<br />
building in Oklahoma City, killing 169 people and injuring more than<br />
400 others, the <strong>Air</strong> Force airlifted firefighters, urban search-and-rescue<br />
teams, investigators, and medical personnel from all over the United<br />
States to Oklahoma.<br />
April 27: <strong>Air</strong> Force Space Command declared the Global Positioning System<br />
satellite constellation fully operational. <strong>The</strong> system provides accurate<br />
geographical coordinates for personnel moving on the ground, sea, or<br />
air.<br />
June 2–3: Two B–1B Lancer bomber crews flew around the world in a record<br />
36 hours, 13 minutes, 36 seconds, refueling in flight six times and<br />
earning the crews the Mackay Trophy.<br />
June 2–8: After a surface-to-air missile downed his F–16 Fighting Falcon fighter<br />
over Bosnia, Capt. Scott O’Grady, <strong>USAF</strong>, evaded capture by hostile forces<br />
for six days until he was rescued by Marine Corps helicopters.<br />
June 27–July 7: For the first time, a U.S. space shuttle, the Atlantis, docked<br />
with the Russian space station Mir.<br />
June 30–August 10: In Operation QUICK LIFT, C–5 Galaxies and C–141<br />
Starlifters airlifted British and Dutch forces, comprising a United<br />
Nations rapid-reaction force, to Croatia.<br />
July 29: <strong>Air</strong> Combat Command activated the 11th Reconnaissance Squadron,<br />
the first unit <strong>of</strong> unmanned aerial vehicles, reflecting the <strong>Air</strong> Force’s<br />
increasing reliance on unmanned aircraft in combat-support roles.<br />
August 30: <strong>The</strong> North Atlantic Treaty Organization launched Operation<br />
DELIBERATE FORCE, an intensive air campaign against Serb ground<br />
targets in Bosnia-Herzegovina. Together with a Bosnian-Croatian<br />
ground <strong>of</strong>fensive, the air attacks persuaded the Serbs to agree to peace<br />
terms by the end <strong>of</strong> the year.<br />
September 14–30: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Air</strong> Force airlifted more than 30 tons <strong>of</strong> medical supplies<br />
from Charleston <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, South Carolina, to Hanoi, Vietnam,<br />
marking the first <strong>USAF</strong> humanitarian-airlift mission to Vietnam<br />
since 1975.<br />
September 15–21: After Hurricane Marilyn devastated islands in the eastern<br />
Caribbean Sea, <strong>Air</strong> Mobility Command, <strong>Air</strong> Force Reserve, and <strong>Air</strong><br />
National Guard cargo aircraft airlifted nearly 1,000 tons <strong>of</strong> relief cargo<br />
to the Virgin Islands. This disaster-relief operation was the first to<br />
employ C–17 Globemaster III aircraft.<br />
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