"First Lady" remembered on AF birthday Published Sept. 8, 2014 By Tech. Sgt. Jasmin Taylor 919th Special Operations Wing public affairs DUKE FIELD, Fla. -- At first glance, the First Lady resembled all the other gunships assigned to the 919th Special Operations Group. She was different though. She was unique because she was the first production A-model C-130 Hercules manufactured by the then Lockheed-Georgia Company at Marietta, Georgia. She was christened by Georgia Governor Marvin Griffin with a bottle of Chattahoochee River water March 10, 1955. Initially, her tail number was LAC 3001. Air Force officials changed it to 33-129 and later to 53-129. The First Lady took to the air April 7, 1955 for the Air Force. Still deadly at age 31, she put rounds on target during Operation Just Cause in Panama in 1989 and flew over Haiti during Operation Uphold Democracy in 1994. According to the record books, the First Lady flew through withering anti-aircraft barrages and, although she was hit several times, always brought her crew home. In 1996, after 13,600 hours in the air around the world, she was retired and placed on static display at the USAF Armament Museum at Eglin AFB.