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1947
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9.18.1947
The United States Air Force becomes an independent branch of the United States armed forces.
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1948
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5.26.1948
The U.S. Congress passes Public Law 557 which permanently establishes the Civil Air Patrol as an auxiliary of the United States Air Force.
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7.8.1948
The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
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1950
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1952
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12.20.1952
United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
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1953
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6.18.1953
A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns near Tokyo, Japan killing 129. |
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1954
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10.27.1954
Benjamin O. Davis Jr. becomes the first African-American general in the United States Air Force.
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1958
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9.2.1958
United States Air Force C-130A-II is shot down by fighters over Yerevan in Armenia when it strays into Soviet airspace while conducting a sigint mission. All crew members are killed. |
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1959
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6.30.1959
A United States Air Force F-100 Super Sabre from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, crashes into a nearby elementary school, killing 11 students plus six residents from the local neighborhood.
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1962
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1966
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6.8.1966
One of the XB-70 Valkyrie prototypes is destroyed in a mid-air collision with a F-104 Starfighter chase plane during a photo shoot. NASA pilot Joseph A. Walker and United States Air Force test pilot Carl Cross are both killed. |
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1968
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11.26.1968
Vietnam War: United States Air Force helicopter pilot James P. Fleming rescues an Army Special Forces unit pinned down by Viet Cong fire and is later awarded the Medal of Honor.
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1969
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12.17.1969
Project Blue Book: The United States Air Force closes its study of UFOs, stating that sightings were generated as a result of "A mild form of mass hysteria, Individuals who fabricate such reports to perpetrate a hoax or seek publicity, psychopathological persons, and misidentification of various conventional objects."
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1975
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9.8.1975
Gays in the military: US Air Force Tech Sergeant Leonard Matlovich, a decorated veteran of the Vietnam War, appears in his Air Force uniform on the cover of '' Time'' magazine with the headline "I Am A Homosexual". He is later given a general discharge. |
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1994
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3.23.1994
A United States Air Force (USAF) F-16 aircraft collides with a USAF C-130 at Pope Air Force Base and then crashes, killing 24 United States Army soldiers on the ground. This later became known as the Green Ramp disaster. |
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4.14.1994
In a U.S. friendly fire incident during Operation Provide Comfort in northern Iraq, two United States Air Force aircraft mistakenly shoot-down two United States Army helicopters, killing 26 people. |
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6.24.1994
A United States Air Force B-52 aircraft crashes at Fairchild Air Force Base killing all four members of its crew. |
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8.23.1994
Eugene Bullard, The only black pilot in World War I, is posthumously commissioned as Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. |
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1995
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6.2.1995
United States Air Force Captain Scott O'Grady's F-16 is shot down over Bosnia while patrolling the NATO no-fly zone. |
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1996
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4.3.1996
A United States Air Force airplane carrying United States Secretary of Commerce Ron Brown crashes in Croatia, killing all 35 on board. |
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2008
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4.22.2008
The United States Air Force retires the remaining F-117 Nighthawk aircraft in service.
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