today in Air Force History

March 17, 1911 The first Curtiss airplane bought by the Army Signal Corps.

March 17, 1958 Vanguard I, the second U.S. satellite to go into orbit, launched from Cape Canaveral.

March 17, 1967 The U.S. and Thai governments announced that U.S. Air Force units in Thailand were flying missions against North Vietnam.

March 17, 1971 Jane Leslie Holley becomes the first woman commissioned through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps program. She graduated from Auburn University, Ala.

March 17, 1981 At Long Beach, Calif., the Douglas Aircraft Company turned over the first KC-10 Extender to Lt. Gen. Edgar S. Harris, the Eighth Air Force commander. He flew it to Barksdale AFB, La., for testing with the 4200th Test and Evaluation Squadron.

March 17, 1997 Air Force Special Operations Command provided a joint task force with MC-130 aircraft and MH-53 helicopters to evacuate U.S. citizens and other foreigners from Zaire due to an outbreak of civil unrest. By late March, the special operation effort had moved 532 passengers in 57 missions. To assist, Air Mobility Command dispatched C-5s, C-17s, C-141s and KC-135s. By April 17, AMC had flown 115 missions, carrying 1,200 passengers and 2,400 short tons of cargo. --Air Force