This particular aircraft served with the U.S. Air Force through the 1960's at the height of the Cold War. In 1961 it deployed during the Cuban Missile Crisis. In 1962 it set the altitude and speed record for an operational F-104C while stationed in Hahn, Germany with the 479th Tactical Fighter Wing, reaching 92,000 feet at a speed of 2.5 Mach. It later served in Viet Nam providing cover for air combat missions.