ALAMOGORDO DAILY NEWS and http://allthingsaero.com/military-aviation/events/article-how-d-you-get-that-shot-f-117-silver-stealth-anniversary ROYALTY -- The F-117A stealth fighter itself was the recipient of honor Friday during a silver anniversary reception for the aircraft. Everyone involved in its creation, maintenance and flight were recognized for their participation. (Elva K. sterreich/Daily News) ARTICLE Holloman commemorates F-117's long history Alamogordo Daily News By Elva K. Osterreich, News Editor Article Launched:10/29/2006 12:00:00 AM MDT Click photo to enlarge ROYALTY -- The F-117A stealth fighter itself was the recipient of... (Elva K. sterreich/Daily News) The living history of the stealth F-117A came alive Friday at Holloman Air Force Base as people poured in from around the country to spend time together, sharing memories and camaraderie. Many of those associated with the F-117A and its development were on hand at Holloman's Heritage Park to watch 25 of the planes roar overhead in formation. Later, there was a reception in one of the base hangars. The occasion was the 25th year since the first F-117 stealth came into being. Current 49th Fighter Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Dave "Fingers" Goldfein, aka Bandit 703, is new to the command. But he said he is very proud to be part of that history. "I've been in awe and have admired this country," Goldfein said. "The appointment to come here is a dream come true." Goldfein is still in training as an F-117A pilot. He will be the last one to complete the program, earning him the title of "The Last Bandit." "My intent is to be done (with the training) by Christmas," he said. "We are fully combat ready and eventually I will be fully qualified as a mission leader." Goldfein said it is critical he be prepared as a mission leader in the sky if he expects the men to follow him on the ground. "I need to be fully credible," Advertisement Click Here! he said. Despite its age and pending retirement, the F-117A is still combat capable, Goldfein said. "They got a lot of legs left in them," he said. "Until I'm relieved of this duty, we're ready." Before the F-117A was an F-117A, it was a top secret Air Force project, kept out of the public eye. One of the visitors to Friday's event was Bob Bird, the man in charge of keeping the secret from the beginning. In 1976, Air Force Special Agent Bird ordered to keep a project quiet, and he became security director for one of the biggest secrets in the Air Force. "I was told I was going to travel a lot and keep silent," Bird said. "I had to keep Congress, 122 companies and the Pentagon quiet." Bird said people he would have to brief on the security of the project couldn't believe the success in keeping the secret. For four years, Bird kept the security blanket over everything until he was assigned to elsewhere. He remembers an early model of a stealth plane when it was tested on a pole at White Sands in 1977, the first time the project came to New Mexico. The model was so effective it couldn't be seen by radar. He helped expand the base at Tonopah Test Range where the F-117A project was carried on in secret in the early 1980s. "I'm just really proud of what they did," Bird, a retired lieutenant colonel, said of the history he is part of. The F-117A came out of the closet in 1988 and saw its first combat mission in 1989 as it launched out of Tonopah to attack Rio Hato, Panama. Bandit 261, Capt. Greg Feest, led the charge. In 1991, Feest, now a major, led the attack again in Iraq. The F-117A flew more than 1,250 sorties and delivered more than 2,000 tons of bombs during the first Iraq war. During Operation Southern Watch in 1992, the F-117A was used to make a political point when Saddam Hussein began to challenge the limits of the no-fly zone established after Desert Shield/Storm. Desert Strike was an operation launched in 1996 to back up diplomatic efforts against Iraq after some initial cruise missile strikes. Two Air Force records were set; the longest single seat fighter deployment sortie in miles 7,990 nautical miles; and the longest single seat fighter deployment sortie in hours 18 hours and 12 minutes. In 1999, Operation Allied Force took 12 F-117As to Italy and German in support of the 78-day NATO operation in Yugoslavia. It was during this operation that the first F-117A was shot down. Lt. Col. Dave Zelko was brought down over Serbia on March 27 of that year. The second Iraq war, in 2003, launched the F-117As from a location in Southwest Asia, with two F-117As dropping 2,000 pound precision-guided munitions on intelligence service headquarters and a Republican Guard facility in Baghdad. The 12 deployed F-117As flew more than 100 combat sorties. Today, the F-117A is awaiting a well-earned retirement from service. Looking forward, another stealth aircraft, although not of the same type as the F-117A, is coming to Holloman. "We are leaning way forward on the F-22," Goldfein said. With the F-22, the top procurement program in the Air Force is coming to Holloman, Goldfein said. And the top future combat system is coming to Fort Bliss in El Paso. The programs will integrate combat systems on the ground with a common network. "We're going to build them together, right here," Goldfein said. "This is a really exciting time for the Southwest." ------------------- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockheed_F-117_Nighthawk The Lockheed F-117 Nighthawk is a single-seat, twin-engine stealth ground-attack aircraft formerly operated by the United States Air Force (USAF). A product of Lockheed Skunk Works and a development of the Have Blue technology demonstrator, the F-117 was the first operational aircraft to be designed around stealth technology. The maiden flight for the type was conducted in 1981, and it achieved initial operating capability status in October 1983. The F-117 was "acknowledged" and revealed to the world in November 1988.[4] The F-117 was widely publicized for its role in the Persian Gulf War of 1991. It was commonly referred to as the "Stealth Fighter", although it was a strictly ground-attack aircraft. The F-117 also saw combat in Yugoslavia; during which the only aircraft of the type to be lost in combat was shot down by a surface-to-air (SAM) battery on 27 March 1999. The Air Force retired the F-117 on 22 April 2008,[2] primarily because of the fielding of the F-22 Raptor[5] and the impending introduction of the multirole F-35 Lightning II.[6] Sixty-four F-117s were built, 59 of which were production versions with five demonstrators/prototypes. =============== http://www.fas.org/man/dod-101/sys/ac/f-117.htm Federation of American Scientists ================= http://www.airforce-technology.com/projects/f117/ ============== http://articles.latimes.com/2008/apr/23/business/fi-stealth23 Last flight ceremony.