First entering service in 1960, the McDonnell F-4 Phantom I was designed as a U.S. Navy fleet defense fighter and was soon adopted by the U.S. Air Force as a fighter-bomber, while RF-4 Phantoms also proved capable high performance reconnaissance aircraft. The F-4 was the first multi-service aircraft, flying concurrently with the U.S. Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, and it also flew concurrently with the Blue Angels and the Thunderbirds demonstration teams. F-4 Phantoms served extensively in the Vietnam War, and RF-4s served as recently as Operation Desert Storm. YRF-4C Phantom II serial number 62-12201 was manufactured by McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, Missouri, as YRF-10A Spectre, redesignated RF-4C in 1963, gained by the U.S. Air Force on September 30, 1963, and retained by the manufacturer for its first flight. In January 1966 it went to General Electric at Lockbourne Air Force Base, Ohio, for J79 engine development; in December 1967 to General Electric at Edwards Air Force Base, California; in June 1972 to McDonnell Aircraft in St. Louis, with deployment to Eglin Air Force Base, Florida; and in June 1978 to Chanute Technical Training Center at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois, as GRF-4C. In May 1985 it was dropped from inventory by transfer to museum status. It is painted in a green generic camouflage scheme seen on U.S. Air Force F-4s during the Vietnam War.