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
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
1941<br />
Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold, chief <strong>of</strong> the Army <strong>Air</strong> Forces, and his staff in 1941.<br />
Left to right: Lt. Col. Edgar P. Sorenson, Lt. Col. Harold L. George, Brig. Gen.<br />
Carl Spaatz, Arnold, Maj. Haywood S. Hansell, Jr., Brig. Gen. Martin F. Scanlon,<br />
and Lt. Col. Arthur W. Vanaman<br />
June 22: Nazi Germany and its Axis allies launched Operation BAR-<br />
BAROSSA, an overwhelming invasion <strong>of</strong> the Soviet Union by more<br />
than 100 divisions. <strong>The</strong> Luftwaffe spearheaded the assault, and by the<br />
end <strong>of</strong> the day, Germany claimed to have destroyed over 1,200 Soviet<br />
aircraft—899 on the ground and 400 in the air.<br />
July 7: U.S. forces occupied Iceland, which became an important staging<br />
base for U.S. airplanes on the way to England.<br />
July 8: <strong>The</strong> Royal <strong>Air</strong> Force used B–17s in war for the first time in a daylight<br />
raid on Wilhelmshaven, Germany.<br />
July 19: Capt. Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., a West Point graduate whose father<br />
had been the first black graduate <strong>of</strong> the U.S. Military Academy,<br />
reported to Tuskegee Institute in Alabama with 12 aviation cadets to<br />
begin flight training as the first class <strong>of</strong> black pilot candidates in the<br />
U.S. military.<br />
August 4: <strong>The</strong> <strong>Air</strong> War Plans Division <strong>of</strong> the War Department, which<br />
included Lt. Col. Harold L. George, Lt. Col. Kenneth N. Walker, Maj.<br />
Haywood S. “Possum” Hansell, Jr., and Maj. Laurence S. Kuter, began<br />
formulating a plan to project the aircraft necessary to defeat Germany.<br />
<strong>The</strong> plan, called AWPD-1, completed on August 12, outlined a strategic<br />
bombing campaign against key enemy target sets.<br />
August 12: Capt. Homer Boushey, Jr., flying an Ercoupe civilian airplane,<br />
made the first rocket-assisted take<strong>of</strong>f at Wright Field, Ohio. This technique<br />
later allowed heavily loaded airplanes to take <strong>of</strong>f in less space<br />
and time.<br />
38