The United States Air Force (USAF) turns seventy-five on Sunday. On September 18, 1947, Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in to become Stuart Symington as First Secretary of the Air Force, officially establishing a new branch of the US Army. General Carl A. Spaatz became the first USAF Chief of Staff eight days later, on September 26, 1947.
The origins of the USAF lie in a decision made just four years after the Wright brothers conducted the world’s first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. In 1907, the US Army Signal Corps created the Air Force Division and entrusted it with “responsibility for all matters relating to military aviation, aircraft machinery and all related subjects.” With the advancement of aviation technology, the army’s air force grew. The independent military arm became virtually inevitable after the Army’s Air Force became the US Army’s Autonomous Command in 1942, and then expanded significantly throughout the remainder of World War II. On July 26, 1947, President Harry Truman signed the 1947 National Security Act aboard the Presidential Sacred Cow and set the formation of the United States Air Force in motion.
With the development of technology, the range of the air force also increased. On September 1, 1982, he established the Air Force Command (AFSC) to oversee military operations in space. This responsibility included not only the monitoring of ballistic missile launches around the world and the deployment of military assets into space for all services, but also the development and operation of a range of satellite communication systems. As space grew in importance as a military domain, so did calls to make air force space assets its own service, just as aviation itself grew out of the army. This vision was realized on December 20, 2019, when the United States Space Force (USSF) was established. Twenty-three air force units across the country were combined to form it, and Air Force General John W. “Jay” Raymond became the first chief of space operations. The air force’s influence on the much smaller USSF continues – they handle 75% of the logistics work for the new branch.
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The U.S. Air Force has 329,476 active personnel, 69,200 reserve personnel, 106,700 National Air Force personnel, and 149,482 civilian personnel. The service has over 5,100 manned aircraft. These planes come in the form of about forty different airframes, from the B-2 stealth bomber, to the F-35 jet fighter, to the VC-25, which is better known as the Air Force One. Nineteen airmen were awarded the Medal of Honor.
I asked Colonel Erin Staine-Pyne, an air force officer who spent a year as a visiting military member on David Rockefeller’s CFR study program, to recommend reading to people who want to learn more about the Air Force. Here’s what it suggests:
Winston Groom, Airmen: Eddie Rickenbacker, Jimmy Dolitte, Charles Lindbergh, and the Epic Age of Flight (2013). The groom skillfully interweaves the amazing stories of three air force legends during the great age of flying. Charles Lindbergh, Eddie Rickenbacker and Jimmy Doolittle are remarkable heroes, each of whom has faced shocking challenges and demonstrated undeniable courage to achieve amazing aerial feats.
Keith O’Brien, Fly Girls: How Five Brave Women Resisted All Adversity and Made Aviation History (2018). You might think that the history of aviation is purely masculine, but you are very wrong. O’Brien tells the compelling stories of five amazing aviators: Florence Klingensmith, Ruth Elder, Amelia Earhart, Ruth Nichols and Louise Thaden as they fought sexism for a chance to race planes. Earhart once explained, “If and when you knock on the door, it would be good to take an ax with you; you may have to break through.
Robert Coram, Boyd: The Fighter Pilot Who Changed the Art of War (2002). Coram says Colonel John Boyd may be the most underrated hero in all of US military history. Boyd wrote a fighter tactics manual and changed the way planes were designed and operated. Some credit him with America’s decisive victory in the Gulf War. As an aviator he was difficult and offensive, but also a patriot who loved his country and sacrificed his personal success for the good of the nation.
Ben Rich and Leo Janos, Skunk Works: Personal Memories of My Lockheed Years (1994). Rich led Lockheed Martin’s advanced design department, known as “Skunk Works,” during the last sixteen years of the Cold War. One of his distinctive achievements was the development of the F-117 stealth fighter. Skunk Works is his intriguing behind-the-scenes recollection of the advancement of the air force’s top secret technologies. It highlights the impressive engineering achievements, the exciting and dangerous world of test pilots, and gives an insight into the military-industrial complex.
Colonel Staine-Pyne also recommended two movies to watch:
Transformers (2007). Transformers is a Hollywood blockbuster about two robot races that escape their doomed planet and come to Earth in search of a power source. But the best part of the movie is that it shows the amazing community of US Air Force Special Operations. The Air Force Combat Controller are aviators on the battlefield who specialize in fire support, air traffic control, and communication in secret or raw locations. They are the underestimated heroes of the war in Iraq and Afghanistan and deserve recognition for their service and dedication. Plus, the movie is action-packed with just the right amount of humor and fantastic special effects.
Last full measurement (2019). The Last Full Measure chronicles the efforts of Pentagon employee Scott Huffman and many veterans to receive the Medal of Honor for William H. Pitsenbarger. Pitsenbarger was an air force rescuer who saved more than sixty downed soldiers and pilots during the Vietnam War. On April 11, 1966, he decided to leave his rescue helicopter to help wounded soldiers on the ground under heavy fire when others refused to go. After saving many lives, he was ordered to take the last helicopter away. He refused and sacrificed his own life in one of the bloodiest battles of the war. Pits is the perfect American aviator and a true hero.
If you want to learn more about the US Air Force, Colonel Staine-Pyne also recommended the museum:
The National Museum of the United States Air Force. If you’re in Dayton, Ohio, take some time to visit the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. The museum is the oldest and largest military aviation museum in the world with over 360 planes and missiles, including the Memphis Belle, a Boeing B-17 famous for the number of bombing missions it carried out during World War II. You can also see a Boeing B-29 Superfortress dropping an atomic bomb on Nagasaki. My favorite exhibition is the Space Gallery, which houses the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo spacecraft.
Sinet Adous and Margaret Gach helped with the preparation of this post.
