1962
	13 January	First full-scale Operation Ranch Hand (defoliation) mission in Vietnam. It was aimed at defoliating the jungle canopy in areas occupied by Viet Cong troops.
	28 February	The first live ejection was made from a B-58A's escape-pod system while the aircraft was flying at 565 mph, at 20,000ft over Edwards AFB, CA.
	5 March	The Bendix Trophy was awarded to Captain Robert G Sowers for a record round trip in the B-85A (59-2458) between New York and Los Angeles in 4hr 41min 11.3sec.
	30 March	The USAF ordered a new version of the US Navy F4H/F-4B Phantom for close air support, designating it F-110A Spectre. This was soon changed to F-4C Phantom.
	30 August	A USAF Lockheed U-2E 'strayed' over the Soviet-occupied island of Sakhalin in the north west Pacific. This followed the discovery by a CIA U-2 of Soviet military movements on Cuba. The flight provoked sharp complaints from the Soviet authorities.
	6 October	Admiral Robert L. Dennison, The commander-in-chief of the Atlantic Command responsible for coordinating U.S. military activities and plans relating to Cuba, directs increased readiness to execute an invasion of Cuba. On October 1, he orders military units to increase their readiness posture to execute Oplan 312, an airstrike on Cuba. With the new orders, the pre-positioning of troops, aircraft, ships, and other equipment and supplies are directed to increase readiness to follow an airstrike with a full invasion of the island using one of two U.S. invasion plans known as Oplan 314 and Oplan 316.
	14 October	A USAF Lockheed U-2E of the 4080th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, piloted by Major Richard Heyser, obtained the first hard photographic evidence of the Soviet deployment of offensive missiles to Cuba.
	17-22 October	Seven U-2 flights were made each day over Cuba to monitor the build-up of Soviet intermediate-range ballistic missiles. Low altitude overflights were also made by McDonnell RF-101Cs, which confirmed about 40 bombers at Holguin and San Julian.
	20 October	President Kennedy meets with the full group of planning principals. He notes that the airstrike plan as presented is not a "surgical" strike but a massive military commitment that could involve heavy casualties on all sides. As if to underscore the scale of the proposed U.S. military attack on Cuba, one member of the JCS reportedly suggests the use of nuclear weapons, saying that the Soviet Union would use its nuclear weapons in an attack. President Kennedy directs that attention be focused on implementing the blockade option, calling it the only course of action compatible with American principles. The scenario for the full quarantine operation, covering diplomatic initiatives, public statements, and military actions, is reviewed and approved. Kennedy's address to the nation is set for October 22, at 7:00P.M.
	22 October	SAC battle staffs were placed on 24-hour alert duties. The B-47 Stratojet force was dispersed and the B-52 force went on actual airborne alert. All bombers and missiles were armed with nuclear weapons.
	22 October, 7:00PM	President Kennedy addresses the nation in a televised seventeen-minute speech. Announcing that "unmistakable evidence" has established the presence of Soviet MRBM and IRBM sites and nuclear capable bombers in Cuba, he states that as one of his "initial steps," a "strict quarantine on all offensive military equipment" is being put into effect. Kennedy further warns the Soviet government that the United States will "regard any nuclear missile launched from Cuba against any nation in the Western Hemisphere as an attack by the Soviet Union on the United States, requiring a full retaliatory response against the Soviet Union."
	24 October, 11:24AM	The ExComm (A group of advisers known as the Executive Committee of the U.S. National Security Council, created by President Kennedy on October 16, the first day of the crisis) meets to consider the situation in Cuba. Robert McNamara tells the group that Soviet ships approaching the quarantine line show no indications of stopping and that two Soviet ships, the Gagarin and the Komiles, are within a few miles of the line. Naval intelligence then reports that a Soviet submarine has moved into position between the two ships. McNamara states that the aircraft carrier USS Essex has been directed to make the first interception, and that antisubmarine tactics, including the use of small explosives, has been ordered to prevent the Soviet submarine from interfering with the blockade. According to Robert Kennedy , the president asks, "Isn't there some way we can avoid our first exchange with a Russian submarine--almost anything but that?" McNamara replies, "No, there's too much danger to our ships...Our commanders have been instructed to avoid hostilities if at all possible, but this is what we must be prepared for, and this is what we must expect." At 10:25A.M., a new intelligence message arrives and John McCone announces: "We have a preliminary report which seems to indicate that some of the Russian ships have stopped dead in the water." Dean Rusk leans over to McGeorge Bundy and says, "We're eyeball to eyeball and I think the other fellow just blinked." President Kennedy directs that no ship be intercepted for at least another hour while clarifying information is sought.
	24 October, 5:15PM	A Defense Department spokesperson announces publicly that some of the Soviet Bloc vessels proceeding toward Cuba appear to have altered their course.
	26 October	SAC received its last Boeing B-52, an -H model and the last three B-58A Hustler supersonic bombers (67-2078/2080)
	27 October	A Lockheed U-2, flown by Major Rudolph Anderson, was shot down over Cuba by a Soviet SA-2 Guideline SAM, one of a large number deployed to the island to protect the Soviet intermediate-range SS-4 Sandal missiles.
	28 October	A message from Nikita Khrushchev , which effectively terminates the missile crisis, is broadcast on Radio Moscow. Khrushchev declares: "the Soviet government, in addition to previously issued instructions on the cessation of further work at the building sites for the weapons, has issued a new order on the dismantling of the weapons which you describe as 'offensive,' and their crating and return to the Soviet Union." Upon receiving Khrushchev 's message, President Kennedy issues a statement calling the decision "an important and constructive contribution to peace." Also agreed is that the Jupiter IRBMs from the U.S. will be removed from Turkey. In Havana, Fidel Castro , who was not consulted or informed of the decision beforehand, reportedly goes into a rage upon hearing of the Soviet move, cursing Khrushchev as "son of a bitch, bastard, asshole." A few days later, Castro will publicly state in a speech at the University of Havana that Khrushchev lacked "cojones" (balls). After meeting with high military leaders during the morning, Castro apparently goes to San Antonio Air Force Base himself in order to shoot down a U.S. low-altitude aircraft. However, U.S. planes do not pass over the base.
	29 October	Confirmation of the dismantling of the offensive missile sites on Cuba was received from photos taken by an RF-101 Voodoo.
	2 November	The crisis is not quite over yet. There are still Il-28 stationed on Cuba which Kennedy also regards as offensive weapons. Although the crisis had centered around the deployment of Soviet missiles, the United States uses several arguments to support its contention that the Il-28 bombers are also "offensive." At a meeting of the ExComm , Kennedy confirms that the United States will press for the removal of the IL-28 bombers currently stationed in Cuba. In other matters, Kennedy states that the quarantine must continue to be maintained but only by hailing all vessels entering the quarantine zone. He reconfirms orders to U.S. Navy vessels not to board Soviet Bloc ships.
	5 November	An aerial encounter between a U.S. reconnaissance aircraft and Cuban-based MiG fighters occurs. Although no shots are known to have been fired, U.S. policymakers express concern that the incident suggests that more attempts to intercept reconnaissance aircraft would be made in the future. Robert McNamara, proposes that the public not be informed of the incident, but that a diplomatic protest be made to the Soviet Union.
	8 November	A six-man CIA sabotage team dispatched as part of Task Force W blows up a Cuban industrial facility. The incident is never raised in U.S.-Soviet talks and remains unknown to most if not all members of the ExComm .
	9 November	The last of the ships removing Soviet MRBM missiles from Cuba leave the island. Six vessels, the Bratsk, Dvinogorsk, I. Polzunov, Labinsk, M. Anosov and Volgoles, have left Mariel since November 5, and two ships, the F. Kurchatov and the L. Komsomol depart from Casilda during this period. During the day, five of the ships are inspected at sea, with the Soviet ships pulling canvas covers off the missile transporters to allow U.S. ships to observe and photograph their contents. Assistant Secretary of Defense Arthur Sylvester later tells reporters that the "responsible people of this government are satisfied" that the ships are in fact carrying missiles.
	15 November	President Kennedy writes to Premier Khrushchev on the continuing IL-28 issue. His letter complains that the "three major parts of the undertakings on your side--the removal of the IL-28 's, the arrangements for verification, and safeguards against introduction--have not yet been carried out." During the day, Anatoly Dobrynin is informed that the IL-28 issue has "reached a turning point," and that unless the matter is resolved, the United States and Soviet Union will "soon find ourselves back in a position of increasing tension."
	19 November	Fidel Castro informs U Thant that the Cuban government will not object if the Soviet Union removes the IL-28 s from Cuba, thereby ending the crisis over the Soviet bombers.
	20 November	President Kennedy announces at a press conference, "I have today been informed by Chairman Khrushchev that all of the IL-28 bombers in Cuba will be withdrawn in thirty days...I have this afternoon instructed the Secretary of Defense to lift our naval quarantine." Kennedy suggests that because no on-site inspection has occurred, the preconditions for a U.S. non-invasion guarantee has not been met. Nonetheless, he states, "If all offensive weapons are removed from Cuba and kept out of the hemisphere in the future...and if Cuba is not used for the export of aggressive Communist purposes, there will be peace in the Caribbean."