The first Global Positioning Satellite signal from space occurred on Feb. 22, 1978, writes Col. David Madden, GPS Wing Commander at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., in a Feb. 22 statement. Madden notes that the GPS Block 1 satellites, launched between 1978 and Oct. 9, 1985 “paved the way for an operational system that has revolutionized the way we go to war.”
The United States Air Force is flying less than historic norms and funding for acquisition and readiness is on a path to further hollow out this too small and old force to that is incapable of sustaining an enduring combat air campaign.
