The Syrian airfield prepare for reception of military aircraft of China
The latest news about fast emergence in borders of Syria of navy of China encouraged Syrians and res[...]
1993
January 1 At Falcon Air Force Base, Colorado, the 7th Space Operations Squadron is the first Reserve space unit activated.
January 3 President George H. W. Bush and President Boris Yeltsin of Russia conclude the second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II), which
eliminates all multiple, independently targeted reentry vehicles (MIRV), and reduces the number of nuclear weapons bombers can carry.
JANUARY 13 Over Iraq, Air Mobility
Command (AMC) transports convey forces to support SOUTHERN WATCH II, the no-fly zone near Kuwait and Saudi Arabia.
Air Force Major Susan J. Helms becomes the first U. S. military female in space when she enters orbit in the space shuttle Endeavor.
JANUARY 17 Over Iraq, an F-16 detects a MiG-23 and destroys it with an AIM-120 “Slammer” missile as it covers an F-4G Wild Weasel mission against Iraqi antiaircraft sites.
JANUARY 18 Over Iraq, F-4G Wild Weasels shoot back at an Iraqi missile site that fired upon them; F-16s also bomb an airfield whose antiaircraft gun had opened upon them.
In Zagreb, Croatia, a joint air operations cell arises to coordinate airlifting supplies by aircraft of the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Canada.
FEBRUARY 2 Air Force transports deliver medical and humanitarian aid to Zagreb, Croatia, as ethnic fighting in the former region of Yugoslavia intensifies. Operation provide promise will expand this effort with direct airdrops to Muslims fleeing a Serbian advance.
February 13-March 9 Operation
provide refuge commences as Air Mobility Command (AMC) transports fly supplies from Hawaii to Kwaja- lein Atoll to assist 535 Chinese sailors who defected after their vessel broke down.
FEBRUARY 19 The 64th Flying Train ing Wing introduces the new T-1A Jayhawk trainer to prospective student pilots.
FEBRUARY 28 Over eastern Bosnia, Operation provide promise continues as transports of the 435th Airlift Wing airdrop supplies to Muslim refugees fleeing Serb forces.
March 13-14 In Florida, the 301st Rescue Squadron dispatches helicopters to save 93 victims of heavy flooding brought about by a blizzard blanketing the Gulf Coast region.
March 31 Operation deny flight, a
no-fly zone over Bosnia, is established by the United Nations. It becomes effective on April 5 and is aimed at limiting Serbian use of airplanes in the Bosnian civil war.
April 19-24 In Siberia, aircraft of the
Russian and U. S. air forces conduct joint rescue operations for the first time.
May 17-29 Over Cambodia, Air Mobility Command (AMC) C-5s and C-151s fly 24 missions conveying UN troops to supervise the first free elections held since 1970.
JUNE 11 Over Somalia, AC-130 Spectre gunships participate in Operation CONTINUE HOpE by attacking Somali warlords who had shelled UN ground forces on June 5.
JUNE 14 At Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina, the first C-17A Globe – master IIIs are accepted by the 437th Airlift Wing. This is the first Air Force transport capable of hauling oversized cargo loads to relatively short, unprepared runways.
June 17 At Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota, Lieutenant Colonel Patricia Fornes assumes control of the 740th Missile Squadron, becoming the first woman to command a combat missile unit.
June 29 At Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, the prototype OC-135B aircraft flies for the first time, being designed to function over nations participating in the Open Skies Treaty.
July 1 The new Air Education and Training Command (AETC) absorbs the Air Training Command (ATC) and the Air University (AU).
The Twentieth Air Force, which controls and monitors daily operations of the intercontinental ballistic missile force, falls under the purview of the Air Force Space Command (AFSPACECOM).
At Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, the Fourteenth Air Force is assigned missile warning and space surveillance missions under the aegis of the Air Force Space Command (AFSPACE – COM).
July 5—12 In Macedonia, transports of the Air Mobility Command (AMC) deliver Army troops and their equipment from Germany to bolster UN peacekeeping efforts there.
July 11-AUGUST 1 In the Midwest a huge flood inundates eight states along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers. Air Force C-5 and C-141 transports deliver 800 tons of relief equipment, including 1 million empty sandbags, to assist the residents.
AUGUST 6 In Washington, D. C., Dr.
Sheila E. Widnall gains appointment as the secretary of the Air Force; she is the first woman to hold the position.
AUGUST 11—15 In Nepal, the 436th Airlift Wing dispatches three C-5 Galaxies to Nepal after floodwaters wash out several bridges; they convey 190 tons of bridge components made in England.
AUGUST 18 At White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, Air Force Space and Missile Center (SMC) personnel observe the first launch ofthe Delta Clipper Experimental (DC-X) vertical takeoff and landing rocket.
OCTOBER 1 At Barksdale, Louisiana, the 93rd Bomber Squadron becomes the first Air Force Reserve unit to employ B-52 bombers.
OCTOBER 2—4 In Bombay, India, the Air Mobility Command dispatches two C-5 Galaxies carrying 1,000 rolls of plastic sheeting, 950 tents, and nearly 19,000 five-gallon water containers for survivors of recent earthquakes.
OCTOBER 3—4 In Mogadishu, Somalia, Air Force pararescueman Technical Sergeant Tim Wilkerson rescues and treats five wounded U. S. Army Rangers; he receives the Air Force Cross.
OCTOBER 5—13 Over Mogadishu,
Somalia, Operation restore hope ii commences once Air Mobility Command (AMC) C-5s and C-141s deliver 18 Abrams tanks, 44 Bradley fighting vehicles, and 1,300 troops to bolster the American peacekeeping force.
OCTOBER 8 Over Bosnia, Operation
provide hope is the Air Force’s longest, most continuous airlift operation; it is surpassed only by the Berlin Airlift, 1948-1949.
NOVEMBER Lieutenant Colonel Betty Mul- lis takes control of the 336th Air Refueling
Squadron, becoming the first woman to command an Air Force Reserve unit.
December 2—13 At Cape Canaveral, Florida, the space shuttle Endeavor goes aloft under the command of Air Force Colonel Richard O. Covey. Its mission is to repair the $2 billion Hubble space telescope which is in need of a “contact lens” to correct its malformed main lens.
December 8 In accordance with the 1991 Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty, the Air Force begins destroying the first of 450 Minuteman II missile silos.
December 17 At Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, the first B-2A Spirit bomber, The Spirit of Missouri, deploys with the 393rd Bomb Squadron.