Air Force History

The United States launched Operation Desert Shield Aug. 7, 1990, to defend Saudi Arabia from a possible Iraqi invasion and to liberate the recently invaded Kuwait. One deployment involved a 15-hour, 8,000-mile flight of 24 F-15C Eagles from the 71st Tactical Fighter Squadron, Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, to Dhahran, Saudi Arabia. The journey was made possible by 12 in-flight refuelings. 

In the first two weeks of Operation Desert Shield, the Air Force deployed six fighter wings to the area and Strategic Air Command increased refueling and reconnaissance flights over the region. 

Air Force History

Terrorists hijacked four U.S. airliners, crashing two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York and one into the Pentagon, on Sept. 11, 2001. Both towers and part of the Pentagon collapsed and more than 3,000 people died. Passengers aboard the fourth aircraft rushed hijackers and it crashed in a field in Pennsylvania instead of hitting another target. The Federal Aviation Administration grounded all airliners in the United States for several days and President George W. Bush announced a war on terrorism and initiated homeland defense efforts, including Operation Noble Eagle, which involved combat air patrols within the United States.
 
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld announced Sept. 27 that President Bush had given authority to certain military commanders to order the destruction of hijacked civilian airliners.

Operation Enduring Freedom started Oct. 7th with airstrikes against terrorist and Taliban targets in Afghanistan.

On March 19, 2003, just after 5:30 a.m., local Iraq time, U.S. forces fired a barrage of nearly 40 Tomahawk cruise missiles into Iraq, striking three targets around Baghdad. Coalition aircraft, including the F-117 Nighthawk, flew battlefield preparation air strikes that took out air defenses, communications infrastructure, leadership targets, and other military assets. The attack was the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom, the U.S.-led, multinational coalition effort to liberate the people of Iraq and depose Saddam Hussein and his regime from power. 

On May 1, 2003, major combat operations were declared over, however, Iraq remained unstable. Due to a lack of infrastructure and basic services for citizens, as well as ethnic and religious tensions among various groups, coalition forces found themselves facing an insurgency. 

On Dec. 13, 2003, former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein was captured in Operation Red Dawn, a joint effort by U.S. Special Operations forces. Making use of human intelligence sources, the U.S. forces tracked Hussein to a farm south of his hometown of Tikrit, where he was discovered hiding in a small “spider hole” on the farm.

Air Force History

President George W. Bush presided over a ceremony on Oct. 14, 2006, to dedicate the U.S. Air Force Memorial in Arlington, Virginia. An estimated 30,000 people attended the ceremony, which included a variety of Air Force aircraft flybys. The ceremony began a year-long commemoration of the Air Force’s 60th anniversary as a separate service. 

The MQ-9 Reaper flew its first operational mission in Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom, on Sept. 25, 2007. On Oct. 27, 2007, the Reaper conducted its first precision combat strike sortie against enemy combatants in Deh Rawod, Afghanistan, with a Hellfire missile.

A Bent Spear incident, meaning a serious nuclear weapons incident not involving a risk of detonation, occurred between  Aug. 29-30, 2007, when six nuclear-equipped missiles from Minot AFB, North Dakota, were mistakenly transported to Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, aboard a B-52 aircraft. 

A high-level investigation of the Bent Spear incident was completed and briefed to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates on Oct. 19, 2007. The Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans, and Requirements announced that several people would be relieved of their duties as a result of the investigation. 

The Air Force activated Global Strike Command on Aug. 7, 2009, at Barksdale AFB, to manage the service’s nuclear mission.

On Sept. 1, 2010, Operation Iraqi Freedom ended combat operations in Iraq. Operation New Dawn began, with the objective to advise Iraqi forces. 

The Air Force officially selected “Aim High ... Fly-Fight-Win” as its motto on Oct. 7, 2010.

Air Force History

President Barack Obama announced to the nation that the U.S. had conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden on May 2, 2011. On Oct. 21, 2011, President Obama announced the full withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq by year’s end. On Dec. 15, 2011, the DoD announced the official end of the U.S. military mission in Iraq. The last Air Force Operation New Dawn flight out of Iraq took place on Dec. 17, 2011, with 62 Airmen and approximately 60 media on board a C-17 Globemaster III, nicknamed the “Spirit of Golden Gate,” at Imam Ali Air Base, Iraq.

On Aug. 17, 2012, Air Force Space Command announced that the Space-Based Space Surveillance Block 10 satellite had achieved initial operational capability. The satellite was launched in September 2010 and operated 24/7 collecting metric and space object identification data for man-made orbiting objects, with a clear and unobstructed view of resident space objects orbiting Earth from its 390-mile altitude orbit. 

Operation Enduring Freedom ends on Dec. 31, 2014, and Operation Freedom's Sentinel begins. This marks the end of active combat operations by U.S. and NATO forces in Afghanistan and a strengthened focus on providing training and advisory support to the Afghan government and its military and security forces. The USAF increases its efforts to train and advise Afghan Air Force pilots and maintainers and to assist the Afghan Air Force with the transfer and procurement of aircraft. 

Air Force History

On Sep. 29, 2015, the Air Force opened six combat and special operations-related Air Force specialty codes to women, totaling over 4,000 positions formerly reserved for male Airmen. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter announced that all occupations and positions were open to women on Dec. 3, 2015,  and Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James signed the Air Force Implementation Plan for Full Integration of Women in the Air Force on Dec. 30, 2015, which included a timeline for recruiting, accessions, training and assignments, with implementation slated for Jan. 4, 2016. 

The campaign against the Islamic State group reached a major milestone as Iraqi troops and allied regional forces captured Raqqah on July 17, 2017, which ISIS had proclaimed as its capital of Syria. Three days later, Iraqi and allied forces liberated the city of Mosul. 

On Oct. 10, 2018, Hurricane Michael struck Northwest Florida and Tyndall AFB was devastated. Half of the buildings on base were destroyed or damaged beyond repair. Air Force leadership directed the rebuild of Tyndall AFB, with a projected future F-35 mission.