<text id=00he2203><title>Drug Hunts Within the Service</title>
<history>US Air Force: Events History</history>
<article><hdr>Drug Hunts Within the Service</hdr><body>
<p>The introduction of random testing for drugs (in 1979) transformed the US armed forces. Instead of mirroring the problems of society at large, the military created refuge from them where a man or woman could pursue a career solely on merit. By enforcing 'zero tolerance' for drugs and combating crime, the 'all volunteer' military emerged from its early failings more robust than ever. The crisis of the comic books passed and the quality of personnel shot upward.
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<p>Meanwhile, new jet fighters wrought a revolution. The chief of staff wanted to inculcate a warrior spirit and to discourage blue-suiters from adopting a bureaucrat mentality. Ryan hung posters at every base which read "The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly and fight, and don't you ever forget it." And the F-15 and F-16 were just the tools he needed. They offered the highest thrust-to-weight ratio of any warplanes ever in operation with the USAF. The F-16 introduced fly-by-wire controls and a unique, highly responsive sidestick controller. Unlike previous warplanes, both were so powerful that they could accelerate while flying straight up. Both were very maneuverable in an age when maneuvering was becoming the key to any dogfight carried out at close quarters.
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<p>The new jets were stronger than the men in their cockpits. They could routinely maneuver at 9 gravity-forces (9g), which was more than most human brings could handle for more than brief periods. The F-15 and F-16 suffered mysterious, fatal crashes before medics discovered the new phenomenon called G-LOC, or gravity-induced loss of consciousness. The typical fighter pilot had always been a top physical specimen in his early 20s but 40- and even 50-year-old colonels had also stayed current in fast jets. There were fewer of the older generation in the new fighters. The revolution was also to bring digital instruments, HOTAS (hands on throttle and stick) flying in which a pilot could keep his head up by getting vital information through a head-up display, and much-improved navigation.
