SEPTEMBER
U.S. Air Force History

Sept. 1
1971. An SR-71 from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., set a new world speed record for aircraft by flying between New York and London in one hour, 54 minutes, 56 seconds at an average speed of 1,806.96 mph.
1982. The U.S. Air Force Space Command was established to further consolidate Air Force operational space activities. As a major command it supports Air Force space operations, including satellite control and Department of Defense space shuttle flight planning, readiness, and command and control.
1968. U.S. Air Forces in Europe assumed control of Zweibrucken Air Base, Germany, from the Royal Canadian Air Force.
1966. Headquarters, U.S. Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center, was activated at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.
1953. The first jet-to-jet air refueling takes place between a Boeing KB-47 and a "standard" B-47.
1950. Strategic Air Command received its first KB-29P tanker. This aircraft used a flying boom system, a telescopic pipe that was lowered from the tanker, connected to a socket in the receiver aircraft. Fuel transfer was made with the aid of a pump. Prior to the delivery of this new aircraft, Strategic Air Command tankers were KB-29Ms equipped with British-developed hose refueling equipment. That system involved trailing a hose from the tanker to the receiver and transferring fuel by means of gravity.

Sept. 2
1945. On board the USS Missouri (BB-63), Japanese Foreign Minister Mamoru Shigemitsu and Chief of Staff Gen. Yoshijiro Umezu signed the instruments of surrender that ended World War II.

Sept. 3
1946. The first student enrolled in the Air War College and Air Command and Staff School at Craig Field, Ala. The first students enrolled in the Air Tactical School (later to become Squadron Officer Course, then Squadron Officer School) at Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla.

Sept. 4
1945. U.S. Army Air Force Maj. G. E. Cain set a Tokyo-to-Washington speed record of 31 hours, 25 minutes, when he delivered the film of the surrender ceremony to the United States.

Sept. 9
1967. Sgt. Duane D. Hackney was presented the Air Force Cross for bravery during the rescue of an Air Force pilot in Vietnam. He was the first living enlisted man to receive the award. Chief Hackney died in 1993 at age 46.
1959. The Atlas D missile became the Air Force's first operational Intercontinental Ballistic Missile after a successful launching from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif.

Sept. 10
1965. The Air Force Defense Meteorological Satellite Program weather satellite was launched.

Sept. 11
1953. The Sidewinder air-to-air missile made its first successful interception, sending an F-6F drone down in flames.

Sept. 12
1957. The North American Air Defense Command became functional. It was the first two-nation, all-service military organization to function on this continent.

Sept. 14
1814. When he saw the American flag was still flying at daybreak, Francis Scott Key wrote the poem, "The Star-Spangled Banner." The poem was printed in the Baltimore American Sept. 21, 1814 and was soon popularly sung to the music of the old English tune "Anacreon in Heaven." It became the official U.S. anthem in 1931.

Sept. 15
1981. Strategic Air Command received its first TR-1 reconnaissance aircraft. Built by the Lockheed-California Co., it was essentially an improved and enlarged version of the U-2 aircraft. It was designed to conduct day and night, all-weather reconnaissance operations at high altitudes (over 70,000 feet) in support of U.S. and allied air and ground forces. It had a single crewman.
1957. Wiesbaden Military Post, Germany, was created as the only post in Europe not under Headquarters U.S. European Command. The post included Wiesbaden Air Base, Lindsey Air Station and Camp Pieri. It not only supported Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe but also provided logistical support for the American Red Cross, United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, War Crimes teams, German Youth Activities and the Office of the U.S. High Commissioner for Germany.
1956. The Matador missile squadrons at Hahn, Bitburg and Sembach Air Bases, Germany, were collectively reassigned to the newly activated 701st Tactical Missile Wing, the first missile wing in the Air Force.
1948. Air Force Maj. Richard L. Johnson, flying a North American F-86, recaptured the world speed record for the United States, streaking over a 3-kilometer course at Muroc Air Force Base, Calif., at 670.981 mph.
1789. The U.S. Department of Foreign Affairs was officially redesignated Department of State. Thomas Jefferson was appointed to head the department but did not assume those duties until about six months later.

Sept. 15 - Oct. 15
Hispanic Heritage Month

Sept. 16
1978. Strategic Air Command completed the Department of Defense-directed program to transfer 128 KC-135s to the Air Reserve forces.
1978. First Lt. Patricia M. Fornes became the first female officer to perform Titan II missile alert duty.
1620. The Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England on its voyage to the New World.

Sept. 17
1959. An X-15 rocket plane was launched from a B-52 bomber. It was the first rocket-powered flight.
1908. Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge became America's, and the world's, first military aviation fatality. He was a passenger-observer in a biplane piloted by Orville Wright. The plane crashed, killing Lieutenant Selfridge and seriously wounding Mr. Wright. The plane was undergoing acceptance tests by the Army Signal Corps, Fort Meyer, Va. Selfridge Air Force Base, Mich., is named after the lieutenant.

Sept. 18
1965. The first AC-47 gunship was delivered to the Tactical Air Command, Forbes Air Force Base, Kan.
1947. The U.S. Air Force became a separate military service.
1947. W. Stuart Symington sworn in as the first secretary of the Air Force.

Sept. 20
POW/MIA Recognition Day

Sept. 22
1995. An Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft crashed on takeoff from Elmendorf Air Force Base, near Anchorage, Alaska, killing 24.
1950. Air Force Col. David Schilling made the first non-stop transatlantic flight in a jet aircraft, flying a Republic F-84E from Manston, England, to Limestone (later Loring) Air Force Base, Maine, in 10 hours, one minute. The trip required three in-flight refuelings.

Sept. 24
1987. The Air Force Thunderbirds fly for a crowd of 5,000 in Beijing. It had been nearly 40 years since a U.S. combat aircraft flew over and landed on Chinese soil.
1958. A Strategic Air Command KC-135 captured the official world weight-lifting record by lifting a payload of 78,089.5 pounds to an altitude of approximately one and one-quarter miles (2,000 meters). This broke the previous record of 44,214 pounds airlifted by a Russian TU-104A jet transport 18 days earlier. The KC-135 carried a load of nails, concrete block and steel plate.
1956. The first 10 jet pilots of the new German Air Force trained by U.S. Air Forces in Europe received their wings at Furstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany.
1929. 1st Lt. James H. Doolittle proved the possibility of instrument flying when he became the first pilot to take off and land entirely on instruments.

Sept. 25
1917. Frank Luke, Medal of Honor recipient and the United States' second leading Ace of World War I, enlisted in the Army as a private.

Sept. 26
1947. Gen. Carl Spaatz became the first chief of staff of the Air Force.
1789. John Jay became the first chief justice of the United States.

Sept. 28
1945. Headquarters U.S. Air Forces in Europe officially opened at U.S. Army Air Station 197, 13 Luisenstrasse, Wiesbaden, Germany.
1912. Corporal Frank S. Scott died in an airplane crash at College Park, Md. He was the first enlisted man to die in an aircraft mishap.

Sept. 29
1988. Launch of the space shuttle Discovery ends the long stand-down of the United States' manned space program in the wake of the Challenger disaster.
1976. The first Air Force women pilots entered undergraduate pilot training.