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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1950<br />
August 16: In the largest employment <strong>of</strong> air power in direct support <strong>of</strong><br />
ground forces since the Normandy invasion <strong>of</strong> World War II, 98 B–29s<br />
dropped more than 800 tons <strong>of</strong> 500-pound bombs on a 27-square-mile<br />
area near Waegwan, where large numbers <strong>of</strong> enemy troops were suspected<br />
to be concentrating for an attack on Taegu.<br />
September 15: U.S. ground forces supported by U.S. Navy and Marine<br />
Corps air strikes invaded Inchon near Seoul in South Korea, far to the<br />
rear <strong>of</strong> enemy lines. <strong>The</strong> invasion, coupled with a <strong>USAF</strong>-supported<br />
Eighth Army advance from the Pusan perimeter that began the next<br />
day, turned the tide <strong>of</strong> the Korean War, eventually forcing the North<br />
Korean army to withdraw from South Korea.<br />
September 15–October 28: <strong>The</strong> first contingent <strong>of</strong> 27th Fighter Escort Wing<br />
F–84E Thunderjet fighters left Bergstrom <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, Texas, on<br />
September 15, arriving in West Germany on September 18. <strong>The</strong> second<br />
contingent left Texas on October 15, arriving in West Germany on<br />
October 28. <strong>The</strong> 27th Fighter Escort Wing received the Mackay Trophy<br />
for this flight, the first mass deployment <strong>of</strong> jet-powered fighters flying<br />
over the Atlantic Ocean from the United States to Europe.<br />
September 18: Forty-two B–29s <strong>of</strong> the 92d and 98th Bombardment Groups<br />
dropped 1,600 bombs on enemy troop concentrations near Waegwan,<br />
allowing Eighth Army to advance rapidly from the Pusan perimeter<br />
toward Seoul, Korea.<br />
September 22: Col. David C. Schilling, <strong>USAF</strong>, completed the first nonstop<br />
flight over the Atlantic by a jet aircraft, landing his F–84 Thunderjet at<br />
Limestone, Maine, after flying 3,300 miles from England in 10 hours,<br />
one minute. He refueled three times from various converted bombers<br />
on the way.<br />
September 29: Capt. Richard V. Wheeler, <strong>USAF</strong>, made a record parachute<br />
jump from an altitude <strong>of</strong> 42,449 feet at Holloman <strong>Air</strong> Force Base, New<br />
Mexico.<br />
October 10: <strong>The</strong> first <strong>Air</strong> National Guard units were mobilized because <strong>of</strong><br />
the Korean conflict. Eventually, 66 <strong>of</strong> the Guard’s combat flying units<br />
were mobilized, and some 45,000 air guardsmen—approximately 80<br />
percent <strong>of</strong> the force—were called into federal service during the war.<br />
October 20–23: In the first airborne operation <strong>of</strong> the Korean War, more<br />
than 100 C–119s and C–47s dropped some 4,000 troops <strong>of</strong> the Army’s<br />
187th <strong>Air</strong>borne Regimental Combat Team and over 600 tons <strong>of</strong><br />
materiel at Sukchon and Sunchon, 30 miles north <strong>of</strong> Pyongyang.<br />
November 8: In history’s first battle between jet aircraft, Lt. Russell J. Brown<br />
in an F–80 Shooting Star shot down a North Korean MiG–15. Seventy<br />
B–29 Superfortresses conducted the largest incendiary raid <strong>of</strong> the<br />
68