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The US Air Force 9th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was established at Fairfield-Suisun AFB, California on April 25th, 1949. After flying a wide variety of reconnaissance aircraft, including the RB-17, RB-29 and B-36, the Squadron was equipped with the legendary SR-71 Blackbird in 1966 shortly after moving to its present day home of Beale AFB, California. Its west-coast location provided an ideal launching point for many long-distance SR-71 missions over Southeast Asia during the Vietnam conflict in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Wing eventually retired the SR-71 but, incredibly, the Air Force decided to re-activate three SR-71s in the late 1990s due to increasing tensions in the Middle East and North Korea. Aircraft #61-7967 was the second Blackbird to be returned to active duty but the re-activation was short-lived. The SR-71 program was permanently brought to an end in 1998 and #61-7967 is currently on display at the 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale AFB, Louisiana.