August 24, 1970. Two Air Force crews complete the first nonstop
 transpacific helicopter flight as they land their Sikorsky HH-53Cs
 at Da Nang AB, South Vietnam, after a 9,000-mile flight from Eglin
 AFB, Fla. The helicopters were refueled in flight during the trip.
     November 21, 1970. A special task force of Air Force and Army
 volunteers makes a daring attempt to rescue American servicemen from
 the Son Tay prisoner-of-war camp twenty miles west of Hanoi.
     January 27, 1971. Navy Cmdr. D.H. Lilienthal sets a recognized
 class record for speed over a fifteen-to-twenty-five- kilometer
 course (turboprop aircraft) of 501.44 mph in a Lockheed P-3C Orion at
 NAS Patuxent River, Md. The record still stands.
     March 2, 1971. A policy is announced, which allows Air Force
 women who become pregnant to request a waiver to remain on active
 duty or to be discharged and return to duty within twelve months of
 discharge.
     March 8, 1971. Capt. Marcelite C. Jordan becomes the first woman
 aircraft maintenance officer after completion of the Aircraft Main-
 tenance Officer's School. She was previously an administrative
 officer.
     July 16, 1971. Jeanne M. Holm becomes the first female general
 officer in the Air Force.
     July 26, 1971. Apollo 15 blasts off with an all-Air Force crew:
 Col. David R. Scott, Lt. Col. James B. Irwin, and Maj. Alfred M.
 Worden. The mission is described as the most scientifically important
 and, potentially, the most perilous lunar trip since the first land-
 ing. Millions of viewers throughout the world watch as color-TV
 cameras cover Colonels Scott and Irwin exploring the lunar surface
 using a moon rover vehicle for the first time.
     September 3, 1971. President Richard Nixon dedicates the new US
 Air Force Museum building at Wright-Patterson AFB, Dayton, Ohio. A
 drive to raise private funds for the new museum building had begun
 in 1960.  October 1, 1971. CMSgt. Richard D. Kisling becomes the
 third Chief Master Sergant of the Air Force.
     October 26-November 4, 1971. Army CWO James K. Church sets a
 recognized turbine engine helicopter class record for altitude in
 horizontal flight (36,122 feet), Capt. B.P. Blackwell sets a record
 for altitude with 1,000-kilogram payload (31.165 feet), CWO Eugene
 E. Price sets two records for altitude with 2,000-kilogram and
 5,000-kilogram payloads (31,480 feet and 25,518 feet), and CWO
 Delbert V. Hunt sets a record for time-to-climb to 9,000 meters
 (five minutes, fifty-eight seconds) all in the same Sikorsky CH-54B
 Tarhe at Stratford, Conn. These records still stand.
     February 20, 1972. Lt. Col. Edgar Allison sets a recognized class
 record for great circle distance without landing (turboprop aircraft)
 of 8,732.09 miles, flying from Ching Chuan Kang AB, Taiwan, to Scott
 AFB, Ill., in a Lockheed HC-130. The record still stands.
     April 1, 1972. The Community College of the Air Force is estab-
 lished.
     April 12, 1972. Army Maj. John C. Henderson sets recognized tur-
 bine engine helicopter class time-to-climb records to 3,000 meters
 and 6,000 meters (one minute, twenty-two seconds and two minutes,
 fifty-nine seconds) in a Sikorsky CH-54B Tarhe at Stratford, Conn.
 The records still stand.
     April 27, 1972. Four Air Force fighter crews, releasing Paveway
 I "smart bombs," knock down the Thanh Hoa Bridge in North Vietnam.
 Previously, 871 conventional sorties resulted in only superficial
 damage to the bridge.
     May 10, 1972. Capt. Charles B. DeBellevue (WSO), flying with
 Capt. Richard S. Ritchie (pilot), in a McDonnell Douglas F-4D,
 records his first aerial kill. Captain DeBellevue, who would go on
 to be the leading American ace of the Vietnam War, recorded four of
 his victories with Captain Ritchie. Both airmen flew with the 555th
 Tactical Fighter Squadron.
     May 10-11, 1972. F-4 Phantoms from the 8th Tactical Fighter Wing
 drop "smart bombs" on the Paul Doumer Bridge, causing enough damage
 to keep this mile-long highway and rail crossing at Hanoi out of
 use. It will not be rebuilt until air attacks on North Vietnam cease
 in 1973.
     June 29, 1972. Capt. Steven L. Bennett attempts to assist a
 friendly ground unit being overrun near Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
 Captain Bennett strafes the North Vietnamese regulars with his Rock-
 well OV-10 Bronco but is hit by a SAM. Unable to eject because the
 parachute of his back-seater, a Marine artillery spotter, had been
 shredded by shrapnel, Captain Bennett ditches the aircraft in the
 Gulf of Tonkin. The observer escapes, but Captain Bennett is trapped
 and sinks with the wreckage. Captain Bennett is posthumously awarded
 the Medal of Honor.
     July 27, 1972. One month ahead of schedule, company pilot Irv
 Burrows makes the first flight of the McDonnell Douglas F-15A Eagle
 air-superiority fighter at Edwards AFB, Calif. The F-15 is the first
 USAF fighter to have a thrust-to-weight ratio greater than one-to-
 one, which means it can accelerate going straight up.
     August 28, 1972. Capt. Richard S. Ritchie, with his back-seater,
 Captain Charles B. DeBellevue, shoots down his fifth MiG-21 near
 Hanoi, becoming the Air Force's first ace since the Korean War.
 Two weeks later, Capt. DeBellevue also shoots down his fifth MiG.
     September 9, 1972. Capt. Charles B. DeBellevue (WSO), flying
 with Capt. John A. Madden, Jr. (pilot), in a McDonnell Douglas F-4D,
 shoots down two MiG-19s near Hanoi. These were the fifth and sixth
 victories for Captain DeBellevue, which made him the leading Amer-
 ican ace of the war. All of his victories came in a four-month
 period. Captain Madden would record a third kill two months later.
     November 4, 1972. Navy Cmdr. Philip R. Hite sets a recognized
 class record for distance in a closed circuit (turboprop aircraft)
 of 6,278.05 miles at NAS Patuxent River, Md., in a Lockheed RP-3D
 Orion. The record still stands.
 End of Part-29
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