July 16, 1971
1971 – Brig Gen Jeanne Holm becomes 1st female general officer in the US Air Force. She is pinned by Secretary of the Air Force ...
July 15, 1958
1958: Operation BLUE BAT. After the Iraqi government falls, tensions increase in Lebanon. This strain leads Lebanon’s President to seek US security assistance. ...
July 14, 1974
1974: Gen Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, the first USAF Chief of Staff, dies at Walter Reed General Hospital at age 83. Photo courtesy of Getty ...
July 13, 1921
1921: Brig Gen William “Billy” Mitchell’s Martin MB-2 and Handley Page bombers sink several ships off the Virginia Capes. The tests study the use of ...
July 10, 1962
1962: Operation DOMINIC-Sunset. From Johnston Island, a Thor IRBM carries a megaton-plus hydrogen bomb above 200 miles in altitude. The detonation marks the highest thermonuclear ...
July 9, 1944
1944: MEDAL OF HONOR. During an attack on the Ploesti oil refineries, Lt Donald D. Pucket’s B-24 receives heavy and direct hits and crashes. For ...
July 8, 1944
1944: Lt Col Clifford Heflin flies his C-47 on the first landing mission into France to rescue airmen who had parachuted behind enemy lines.
July 7, 1942
1942: Flying a Lockheed Vega A-29 Hudson, Lt Harry J. Kane and crew of the 396th Bomb Squadron attack and sink a German submarine ...
July 6,1989
1989: President George H. W. Bush presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian award to Gen James H. Doolittle (retired) at ...
July 3, 1992
1992: Operation PROVIDE PROMISE. The US European Command launches the operation to airlift relief supplies to Bosnia-Herzegovina on a regular basis.