April 5, 1990. The first launch of the Orbital Sciences Corp.
 Hercules Aerospace Pegasus air-launched space booster, the first
 all-new booster in two decades, is successfully carried out off
 the California coast.
     April 24, 1990. The space shuttle Discovery, with a crew of
 five, lifts off on the thirty-fifth mission in the shuttle program.
 The next day, astronaut Steven A. Hawley releases the Hubble Space
 Telescope, an on-orbit observatory with great scientific promise.
 Although the telescope gathers unprecedented images, it proves to
 be somewhat myopic (a two-micron-wide spherical aberration--less
 than the width of a human hair--is found) and will have to be re-
 paired on a 1993 shuttle flight.
     April 25, 1990. Boeing delivers the 200th reengined and upgrad-
 ed KC-135R tanker to the Air Force. It is delivered to the 340th
 Air Refueling Group at Altus AFB, Okla.
     April 30, 1990. USAF announces that Air Force Special Operations
 Command, the first new command since 1982, will be established by
 early summer. This component of the US Special Operations Command
 will be composed primarily of 23d Air Force assets.
     May 4, 1990. The Hughes/Raytheon AIM-120A Advanced Medium-Range
 Air-to-Air Missile (AMRAAM) passes its "final exam"demonstration of
 its ability to achieve multiple kills against multiple targets.
 There are three direct hits and a lethal near miss in the four-
 missile-vs.-four-target test near Eglin AFB, Fla.
     May 17, 1990. An Air Force crew from McGuire AFB, N.J., lands a
 Lockheed C-141B transport at Moscow's Sheremetievo Airport to deliver
 an inoperative MGM-31 Pershing II missile that will\ go into a museum
 in Moscow. The crew then picks up an inoperative Soviet SS-20 for
 display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.
     May 22, 1990. Air Force Special Operations Command is
 established.
     May 22, 1990. Company pilot Larry Walker and Air Force pilot
 Maj. Erwin Jenschke land the McDonnell Douglas NF-15B S/MTD test-
 bed in a mere 1,650 feet at the Air Force Flight Test Center at
 Edwards AFB, Calif. Pratt & Whitney two-dimensional, thrust-revers-
 ing engine nozzles are the main method of stopping the aircraft.
     June 1, 1990. SAC turns over the first pair of General Dynamics
 FB-111As to TAC. With one internal modification, the aircraft will
 be redesignated F-111Gs.
     June 22, 1990. The Northrop/McDonnell Douglas YF-23A Advanced
 Tactical Fighter prototype is rolled out in ceremonies at the ATF
 Combined Test Force Facility at Edwards AFB, Calif. It is powered by
 two Pratt & Whitney YF119-PW-100 engines. Northrop pilot Paul Metz
 will make the first flight August 27, 1990.
     July 1, 1990. Gen. Michael J. Dugan becomes Air Force Chief of
 Staff.
     July 11, 1990. Four Air National Guard F-16 pilots from the
 177th Fighter Interceptor Group at Atlantic City IAP, N.J., escort
 two Soviet MiG-29 fighters and an Il-76 transport in US airspace,
 flying from Kalamazoo, Mich., to Rockford, Ill., as part of the
 Soviet Union's first US air show tour.
     July 12, 1990. The last of fifty-nine Lockheed F-117A Stealth
 fighters is delivered to the Air Force in ceremonies at the com-
 pany's Palmdale, Calif., facility.
     July 13, 1990. Alaskan Air Command ceases to exist. The former
 command now becomes a numbered (11th) Air Force and is made part of
 Pacific Air Forces.
     July 24, 1990. SAC ends "Looking Glass," more than twenty-nine
 years of continuous airborne alert, as a Boeing EC-135C Airborne
 Command Post aircraft lands at Offutt AFB, Neb.
     August 1, 1990. CMSgt. Gary R. Pfingston becomes Chief Master
 Sergeant of the Air Force.
     August 7, 1990. The US begins Operation Desert Shield, the
 large-scale movement of US forces to the Middle East in response
 to Iraq's August 2 invasion of Kuwait and threat to Saudi Arabia.
     August 8, 1990. A C-141 carrying Airlift Control Element lands
 in Dhahran, the first USAF aircraft into the crisis zone. F-15s
 from 1st Tactical Fighter Wing, Langley AFB, Va., and elements of
 the 82d Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, N.C., arrive in Saudi Arabia.
 US AWACS aircraft augment Saudi AWACS orbiting over Saudi Arabia.
     August 17, 1990. For the first time, the first stage of the
 Civil Reserve Air Fleet is activated to increase the availability
 of airlift to the Middle East.
     August 21, 1990. By this date, one billion pounds of materiel
 have arrived in or are en route to Saudi Arabia. Six fighter wings
 are deployed, and SAC steps up refueling efforts and RC-135 recon-
 naissance flights in the area. By late August, more than 40,000
 reserve components of all services have been called up.
      August 23, 1990. The first of two Boeing VC-25A presidential
 transport aircraft is delivered to the 89th Military Airlift Wing
 at Andrews AFB, Md. The new aircraft, a modified 747-200B commer-
 cial transport, will replace the VC-137C aircraft currently used
 as "Air Force One."
     August 29, 1990. The Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics YF-22A
 ATF prototype is unveiled in ceremonies at Lockheed Plant 10 in
 Palmdale. This aircraft is powered by two General Electric YF120-
 GE-100 turbofan engines. Lockheed pilot Dave Ferguson makes the
 first flight of the YF-22 September 29, 1990.
     September 6, 1990. The US Postal Service issues a forty-cent
 postage stamp honoring Lt. Gen. Claire L. Chennault.
     September 18, 1990. Gen. John M. Loh becomes acting Air Force
 Chief of Staff.
     October 11, 1990. Rockwell pilot Ken Dyson makes the first
 flight of the Rockwell/MBB X-31A Enhanced Fighter Maneuverability
 (EFM) demonstrator at Air Force Plant 42. The flight lasts thirty-
 eight minutes.
 End of Part 36
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