How Did the Air Force Become the Air Force?

If you are in the Air Force or if you have any loved one in the Air Force, have you ever wondered how the Air Force came to be?

In my family, my grandfathers was a bombardier, my brother went to the Air Force Academy in Colorado, I even met my husband at McConnell Air Force Base. I have known several more individuals that were in the Air Force so I wanted to find out a little more about the Air Force.

Did you know that the United States Air Force is the youngest military branch formed to this day! It was formed after the airplane was created in the 20th century. This seems like a long time ago but it really wasn't.

The idea didn't just come from the airplane; it came from the Civil War. The Union Army used hot air balloons to spy on the Confederate troops movement. The U.S. Balloon Corps did this.

In 1906, the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Signal Corps was created. They were assigned to study the use of aircraft for military use. The assignment didn't last long. Their only plane, which was the entire fleet, crashed.

In 1907, the first Aero Squadron was formed and Curtiss Company built the military eight planes. All eight planes were used against the Mexican rebel Pancho Villa; two of the planes were lost due to weather and mechanical problems.

During the First World War, the Aeronautical Division separated from the Signal Corps and was called the U.S. Army Air Service. The reason for the separation and the name change was because the manufactures were behind in design and production of military planes compared to Europe.

Most U.S. pilots few British and French planes. Some of these planes were built in the U.S. but only if the manufactures had a license to build them; there wasn't many. The Air Service had a total of 7,889 planes at the height of the war.

After the war the Air Service dropped drastically but the military air tactics, design and strategy were being modernized. Production began again in 1939 because of the conflict in Europe. The Air Service was given more independence, while being part of the Army, in 1941. It was then restructured into the U.S. Army Air Force.

The Air Force played a very important role in World War Two; its advantage was crucial to allied victory in every part of the war. In 1944, the Army Forces hit an all time height with 78,757 aircrafts with 2,372,292 men.

In 1947 the U.S. military was reorganized again and the U.S. Army Air Force became the U.S. Air Force. This made the U.S. Air Force equal and independent branch of the U.S. military within the Department of Defense.

The Air Force played an important part in the United States nuclear arsenal. The Air Force had control of the ground-launch Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles and the nuclear bombs that were carried on the B-52 bombers.

Where I'm from, Wichita, Kansas, I can remember as a kid, seeing the tops of the missiles sticking out of the ground, out in the country. It was a weird sight. Wichita, Kansas was where the B-52 bomber was built. At McConnell AFB in Wichita, there is a B-52 bomber on display.

In 1982, the Air Force Space Command was created. This is an extension of the Air Force. There main function is to launch and operate, protect satellites for military use, including communication and weather.

Women were allowed to serve in certain combat roles in 1993. One of the roles they could do is fly fighter jets into combat. As of today the Air Force has over 100 female fighter pilots, over 6,000 aircrafts, about 350,000 active duty personnel and over 250,000 in the Air National Guard and Reserve.

Basically the Air Force is in charge of protecting the sky above your head and supporting our militaries ground troops. The Air Force has the most technologically advanced military aircraft in the world and relies heavily on it. In order to operate these highly technical planes the pilots have to have extensive training and a skilled crew behind them.

But, protecting the sky above your head isn't the only thing that the Air Force does. They transport troops and supplies from country to country; even base to base here is the United States. They conduct strategic bombings to destroy the enemy's factories, communications, supply lines and lots more.