<P> The first C - 5A was delivered to the USAF on 17 December 1969 . Wings were built up in the early 1970s at Altus AFB, Oklahoma; Charleston AFB, South Carolina; Dover AFB, Delaware; and Travis AFB, California . The C - 5's first mission was on 9 July 1970, in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . C - 5s were used to transport equipment and troops, including Army tanks and even some small aircraft, throughout the later years of the US action in Vietnam . In the final weeks of the war, prior to the Fall of Saigon, several C - 5s were involved in evacuation efforts . During one such mission a C - 5A crashed while transporting a large number of orphans, with over 140 killed . </P> <P> C - 5s have also been used to deliver support and reinforce various US allies over the years . During the Yom Kippur war in 1973, multiple C - 5s and C - 141 Starlifters delivered critical supplies of ammunition, replacement weaponry and other forms of aid to Israel, the US effort was named as Operation Nickel Grass . The C - 5 Galaxy's performance in Israel was such that the Pentagon began to consider further purchases . The C - 5 was regularly made available to support American allies, such as the British - led peacekeeper initiative in Zimbabwe in 1979 . </P> <P> On 24 October 1974, the Space and Missile Systems Organization successfully conducted an Air Mobile Feasibility Test where a C - 5A Galaxy aircraft air dropped an 86,000 lb Minuteman ICBM from 20,000 ft over the Pacific Ocean . The missile descended to 8,000 ft before its rocket engine fired . The 10 - second engine burn carried the missile to 20,000 ft again before it dropped into the ocean . The test proved the feasibility of launching an intercontinental ballistic missile from the air . Operational deployment was discarded due to engineering and security difficulties, though the capability was used as a negotiating point in the Strategic Arms Limitation Talks . Aircraft 69 - 0014, "Zero - One - Four" used in the test was retired to the Air Mobility Command Museum at Dover Air Force Base . </P> <P> The C - 5 has been used for several unusual functions . During the development of the secretive stealth fighter, the Lockheed F - 117 Nighthawk, Galaxies were often used to carry partly disassembled aircraft, leaving no exterior signs as to their cargo . The C - 5 remains the largest aircraft to operate in the Antarctic, capable of operating from Williams Field near McMurdo Station . The C - 5 Galaxy was a major supply asset in the international coalition operations in 1990 - 91 against Iraq in the Gulf War . C - 5s have routinely delivered relief aid and humanitarian supplies to areas afflicted with natural disasters or crisis; multiple flights were made over Rwanda in 1994 . </P>

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