On This Day in History

  1995:    The 11th Reconnaissance Squadron is activated at Nellis AFB in preparation of the squadron to operate Predator unmanned drones. It is the first such unit in the Air Force.

  1944:    Operation COBRA. 3,000 planes attack German posts near St. Lo, accidentally killing Lt Gen Lesley J. McNair, US Ground Forces Commander.

1990:    The landing of SAC’s Boeing EC-135 Looking Glass Airborne Command Post at Offutt AFB ends 29 years of continuous operation with over 250 million miles of accident-free flying.

1918:    The Director of the Army Air Service orders every flying field in the United States to have an air ambulance. This was based on the February 1918 efforts of Maj Nelson E. Driver, a

  1950:    KOREAN WAR. The USN aircraft carrier USS Boxer arrives in Japan with 145 USAF F-51s on board. Photo here shows loading of the P-51s at Alameda.

1969:    APOLLO 11. Astronauts Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, Jr., fly lunar module Eagle to the Sea of Tranquility.

2002:    At McConnell AFB, the Airborne Laser (ABL), a highly modified Boeing 747-400F, makes its first flight.

1947:    President Truman signs the National Security Act, which establishes the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the CIA, and the US Air Force.

1962:    Maj Robert White flies X-15 No. 3 with the XLR-99 rocket engine on the first space flight by a manned aircraft: Altitude 58.7 miles (314,750 ft.), speed in excess of Mach 6 (3,784 mph).

  1971 – Brig Gen Jeanne Holm becomes 1st female general officer in the US Air Force. She is pinned by Secretary of the Air Force Robert C. Seamans, Jr. and Lt Gen Robert J.