1966
	7 January	Delivery of the first Lockheed SR-71 was made to an operational unit, the 4200th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing at Beale, CA.
	17 January	A SAC B-52G Stratofortress from Seymour Johnson AFB, NC, returning from a ten-hour patrol of the Soviet border with four 1.5 megaton thermonuclear weapons on board, collided with a Boeing KC-135A from which it was refuelling. Both aircraft crashed near Palomares in Spain.
	11 February	SAC retired its last two Boeing B-47E Stratojets, the final bomber variants of the type in service. Other B-47s continued after modification for specialist roles.
	7 March	French President, Charles de Gaulle, announced that he was taking his country out of NATO and requested the withdrawal from French soil of all non-national military forces. This affected a number of USAFE units based in France.
	10 March	An A-1E Skyraider of the 1st Air Commando Squadron landed on the A Shau airstrip, to rescue a downed pilot collague, after it had been overrun by North Vietnamese troops. The pilot of the A-1E, Major Bernard Fisher, was awarded the Medal of Honor in January 1967, for this action.
	12 March	After a two-month search, a 1.5 megaton nuclear bomb that had fallen from the wreckage of the B-52 and KC-135 that had collided over Spain on 17 January was finally located in the sea. The other three had been found on land. The 5,000lb, ten foot-long bomb was retrieved from a depth of 2,500ft, five miles off the coast.
	1 April	Modified 'Big Belly' B-52D Stratofortresses of the 28th and 454th Bombardment Wings were flown on subsequent Arc Light operations over Vietnam. Some 450 sorties per month were flown, reaching 600 per month by the end of the year.
	29 June	Strategic targets in Hanoi and Haiphong, North Vietnam were attacked by USAF aircraft for the first time, namely F-105 Thunderchiefs from the 355th and 388th Tactical Fighter Wings.
	3 September	Substantial numbers of new MiG-21 fighters were encountered by US pilots over North Vietnam. Operating from five bases in the Hanoi area, which could not be attacked, the MiGs forced the F-4C Phantoms to divert from their primary strike mission in order to fly counter-air operations.
	October	During a nine-day battle against regular NVA forces in the Suoi Da area, tactical aircraft flew 2,500 sorties including 487 immediate requests for close air support. In addition, 330 tactical airlift sorties delivered 8,900 tons of cargo and airlifted 11,400 men.