JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
April 17, 2000 - A C-17 from Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. airlifted Polish soldiers and equipment from Strachowice Air Base, Poland to Mitrovica, Kosovo to augment NATO peace keeping forces in the Yugoslav province. In four days, Air Mobility Command moved 130 Polish troops and 205,000 pounds of equipment. A single C-17 Globemaster III, flown by several aircrews, performed the shuttle missions between Strachowice, Mitrovica, and Ramstein Air Base, Germany.
April 18, 1951 - An Aerobee research rocket flew a monkey into space, the first primate in space, from Holloman Air Force Base, N.M.
April 19, 1976 - Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld flew in the B-1. This was the first time a Secretary of Defense had flown in a test aircraft.
April 20, 1943 - Staging from Funafuti in Ellice Islands, Seventh Air Force B-24s attacked Tarawa for the first time.
April 21, 1960 - The U.S. Air Force retrieved the instrument capsule from a Titan that had flown 5,000 miles.
April 22, 1981 - The 81st Tactical Fighter Wing set an Air Force record by generating 533 sorties in a single day.
April 23, 1965 - The 1501st Airlift Training Wing at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., received the first operational C-141 Starlifter.