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

2002
May 13: President George W. Bush announced an agreement between the
United States and Russia that would reduce the number of nuclear
weapons in their arsenals by two-thirds.
May 22: The X–45A unmanned combat air vehicle flew for the first time at
Edwards Air Force Base, California. It was the first unmanned aircraft
designed for combat operations, such as suppression of enemy air
defenses, in an extremely hostile environment.
July 22: At McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, the YAL–1A, destined to
become the world’s first directed-energy combat aircraft, completed
its first flight. A modified Boeing 747, the YAL–1A was designed to
carry an airborne laser to destroy enemy missiles in their boost phases.
August 21: The first Lockheed-Martin Atlas V lifted off from Cape
Canaveral, Florida, inaugurating a new type of launch missile. Part of
the Air Force’s Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle program, the system
used a standard booster, adding supplemental boosters as needed
for a variety of payloads.
October 1: U.S. Northern Command activated as a new unified command
under Gen. Ralph Eberhart, USAF, who remained commander of the
North American Aerospace Defense Command. Including elements of
all the U.S. armed services, the new command assumed responsibility
for the military protection of North America.
October 1: Gen. John Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, authorized deactivation
of the Peacekeeper intercontinental ballistic missile system. Each
missile was originally designed to carry 10 independently targetable
warheads, but the end of the Cold War made the system unnecessary.
December 9: One day after Typhoon Pongsona devastated Guam with sustained
winds of 150 miles per hour, the Air Force began airlifting relief
equipment and supplies to the island. Within 10 days, 58 C-5 missions
delivered 1,200 tons of humanitarian cargo to Andersen Air Force Base.
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