Air Force: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Air service branch of the U.S. military}}

{{United States Armed Forces sidebar}}

== History ==

{{main|History of the United States Air Force}}

The [[United States Department of War|U.S. War Department]] created the first antecedent of the U.S. Air Force, as a part of the U.S. Army, on 1 August 1907, which through a succession of changes of organization, titles, and missions advanced toward eventual independence 40 years later. In [[World War II]], almost 68,000 U.S. airmen died helping to win the war, with only the infantry suffering more casualties.<ref>Robert Pitta, Gordon Rottman, Jeff Fannell (1993). ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=ydRaKBTQ0AgC&pg=PA3 US Army Air Force (1)] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20160428174544/https://books.google.com/books?id=ydRaKBTQ0AgC&pg=PA3&dq=&hl=en |date=28 April 2016}}''. Osprey Publishing. p. 3. {{ISBN|1-85532-295-1}}</ref> In practice, the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] ([[USAAF]]) was virtually independent of the [[United States Army|Army]] during World War II, and in virtually every way functioned as an independent service branch, but airmen still pressed for formal independence.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Army Air Forces in World War II Volume VI: Men and Planes: Chapter 2 |url=http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/VI/AAF-VI-2.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171028090810/http://www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/AAF/VI/AAF-VI-2.html |archive-date=28 October 2017 |access-date=8 November 2017 |website= ibiblio.org}}</ref> The [[National Security Act of 1947]] was signed on 26 July 1947, which established the [[Department of the Air Force]], but it was not until 18 September 1947, when the first secretary of the Air Force, [[W. Stuart Symington]], was sworn into office that the Air Force was officially formed as an independent service branch.<ref>[http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104613/the-us-air-force.aspx "The Air Force Fact Sheet"] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20141208042018/http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/FactSheets/Display/tabid/224/Article/104613/the-us-air-force.aspx |date=8 December 2014}}. U.S. Air Force. Retrieved 30 December 2014.</ref><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20080512165955/http://www.intelligence.gov/0-natsecact_1947.shtml ''National Security Act of 1947'']. U.S. Intelligence Community, October 2004. Retrieved 14 April 2006.</ref>

On 22 October 2023, the USAF conducted its first-ever trilateral exercise with the [[South Korean Air Force|South Korean]] and [[JASDF|Japanese]] air forces near the Korean Peninsula.<ref>{{cite news |title=US, ROK, Japan hold first joint aerial drill despite North Korean warnings |url=https://www.nknews.org/2023/10/us-rok-japan-hold-first-joint-aerial-drill-despite-north-korean-warnings |publisher=NK News |date=October 23, 2023}}</ref> On 29 November 2023, a USAF [[Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey]] crashed in the Japan island of Yakushima killing 1 airman.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/us-military-plane-crashes-sea-japan-osprey-yakushima-rcna127129|title=At least 1 dead after U.S. military aircraft crashes into the sea near Japan|last=Yamamoto|first=Arata|date=November 29, 2023|website=[[NBC News]]|access-date=December 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/osprey-crash-japan-us-crew-missing-search-rescue-japanese-ask-ground-ospreys/|title=U.S. military confirms Osprey crash in Japan left at least 1 dead, says search for 7 continues|last=Palmer|first=Elizabeth|date=December 1, 2023|website=[[CBS News]]|access-date=December 1, 2023}}</ref>

=== Conflicts ===

The United States Air Force has been involved in many wars, conflicts and operations using military air operations. The USAF possesses the lineage and heritage of its predecessor organizations, which played a pivotal role in U.S. military operations since 1907:

* [[Pancho Villa Expedition|Mexican Expedition]]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Winged Shield, Winged Sword: A History of the United States Air Force |url=https://media.defense.gov/2010/Oct/06/2001329754/-1/-1/0/AFD-101006-029.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005050710/https://media.defense.gov/2010/Oct/06/2001329754/-1/-1/0/AFD-101006-029.pdf |archive-date=5 October 2017 |access-date=4 October 2017}}</ref> as [[Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps]]

* [[World War II]]<ref name="autogenerated1" /> as [[United States Army Air Forces]]

* [[Cold War]]<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.afhistory.af.mil/FAQs/Fact-Sheets/Article/705059/the-us-air-force-during-the-cold-war/|title=The US Air Force During the Cold War|website=afhistory.af.mil|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.defense.gov/News/Inside-DOD/Blog/article/2062719/the-berlin-airlift-what-it-was-its-importance-in-the-cold-war/|title=The Berlin Airlift: What It Was, Its Importance in the Cold War|last=Lange|first=Katie|date=June 25, 2018|website=[[United States Department of Defense]]|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/0712coldwar/|title=End of the Cold War Air Force|last=Grant|first=Rebecca|date=July 1, 2012|website=Air & Space Forces Magazine|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Operation Eagle Claw]] (1980 Iranian hostage rescue)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2020/08/19/desert-one-documentary-chronicles-challenges-lessons-of-operation-eagle-claw/|title=Desert One documentary chronicles challenges, lessons of Operation Eagle Claw|last=Correll|first=Diane|date=August 19, 2020|website=MilitaryTimes.com|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.militarytimes.com/opinion/commentary/2020/04/24/this-is-what-special-ops-learned-40-years-ago-from-operation-eagle-claw/|title=This is what special ops learned 40 years ago from Operation Eagle Claw|last=Lamb|first=Richard|date=April 24, 2020|website=MilitaryTimes.com|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Operation Urgent Fury]] (1983 US invasion of Grenada)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.forces.net/usa/urgent-fury-operation-led-shake-us-military|title=Urgent Fury: the operation that led to a shake-up of the U.S. Military|date=October 26, 2021|website=forces.net|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.warhistoryonline.com/cold-war/urgent-fury-invasion-grenada.html?andro=1|title=Operation Urgent Fury: The 1983 US Invasion of Grenada|last=Budanovic|first=Nikola|date=May 8, 2018|website=War History Online|access-date=July 19, 2023}}</ref>

* [[United States invasion of Panama|Operation Just Cause]] (1989–1990 US invasion of Panama)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.military.com/history/how-operation-just-cause-us-invasion-of-panama-ousted-dictator.html|title=How Operation Just Cause, the US invasion of Panama, ousted a dictator|last=Stilwell|first=Blake|website=Military.com|date=31 January 2023 |access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Gulf War]] (1990–1991)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://nationalinterest.org/blog/reboot/why-us-air-force-dominated-gulf-war-196396|title=Why the U.S. Air Force Dominated in the Gulf War|last=Osborn|first=Kris|date=November 18, 2021|website=nationalinterest.org|access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Operation Southern Watch]] (1992–2003 Iraq no-fly zone)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://theaviationist.com/2015/02/17/the-story-of-one-of-the-largest-air-strikes-conducted-by-u-s-and-british-jets-in-iraq-during-osw/|title=The Story of one of the largest air strikes conducted by U.S. and British jets in Iraq during OSW|website=theaviationist.com|date=17 February 2015 |access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Operation Deliberate Force]] (1995 NATO bombing in Bosnia and Herzegovina)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/1097deliberate/|title=Operation Deliberate Force – Air & Space Forces Magazine|website=airandspaceforces.com|date=October 1, 1997|last=Tirpak|first=John|access-date=July 27, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Operation Desert Fox]] (1998 bombing of Iraq)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cfr.org/blog/operation-desert-fox-useful-comparison-bombing-iran|title=Is Operation Desert Fox a Useful Comparison for Bombing Iran?|last=Zenko|first=Micah|date=April 15, 2015|website=cfr.org|access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/analysis.htm|title=The Difference Was in the Details|last=Arkin|first=William|date=January 17, 1999|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/inatl/longterm/iraq/mmedia/statements121798.htm|title=Operation Desert Fox Strikes Again|date=December 17, 1998|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Operation Allied Force]] (1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.airandspaceforces.com/article/operation-allied-force-how-airpower-won-the-war-for-kosovo/|title=Operation Allied Force – Air & Space Forces Magazine|last=Sayers|first=William|date=April 16, 2019|website=Air & Space Forces Magazine|access-date=July 28, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Iraq War]] (2003–2011)<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.realcleardefense.com/articles/2017/09/21/the_us_air_forces_vital_role_in_iraq_and_afghanistan_112341.html|title=The U.S. Air Force's Vital Role in Iraq and Afghanistan|last=Muralidharan|first=Rathna|date=September 21, 2017|website=realcleardefense.com|access-date=July 29, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cfr.org/timeline/iraq-war|title=Timeline: The Iraq War|website=cfr.org|access-date=July 29, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Operation Inherent Resolve]] (2014–present: intervention against the [[Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant]])<ref>{{cite web|url=https://warontherocks.com/2021/08/from-forever-wars-to-great-power-wars-lessons-learned-from-operation-inherent-resolve/|title=From Forever Wars to Great Power Wars: Lessons Learned From Operation Inherent Resolve|last=Pettyjohn|first=Stacie|date=August 20, 2021|website=War on the Rocks|access-date=January 15, 2024}}</ref>

In response to a [[2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident]], Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] accepted in June 2009 the resignations of [[United States Secretary of the Air Force|Secretary of the Air Force]] [[Michael Wynne]] and the [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff of the Air Force]] [[General (United States)|General]] [[T. Michael Moseley]]. Moseley's successor, General [[Norton A. Schwartz]], a former airlift and special operations pilot, was the first officer appointed to that position who did not have a background as a fighter or bomber pilot.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Julian E. |last2=Spiegel |first2=Peter |date=10 June 2008 |title=A different type of Air Force leader |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-10-na-schwartz10-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=30 August 2010 |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20170525180517/http://articles.latimes.com/2008/jun/10/nation/na-schwartz10 |archive-date=25 May 2017}}</ref> The Washington Post reported in 2010 that General Schwartz began to dismantle the rigid class system of the USAF, particularly in the officer corps.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jaffe |first=Greg |date=27 February 2010 |title=Combat Generation: Drone operators climb on winds of change in the Air Force |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022703754_2.html |url-status=live |access-date=30 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616001620/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022703754_2.html |archive-date=16 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/06/25/you-can-call-2007-nuke-mishandling-an-embarrassment-but-dont-call-it-the-minot-incident/|title=You can call 2007 nuke mishandling an embarrassment, but don't call it the Minot incident|last=Losey|first=Stephen|date=2019-06-25|website=[[Air Force Times]]|access-date=2023-11-27}}</ref>

Daniel L. Magruder Jr. defines USAF culture as a combination of the rigorous application of advanced technology, individualism and progressive airpower theory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magruder |first=Daniel L. Jr. |year=2009 |title=The US Air Force and Irregular Warfare: Success as a Hurdle |url=http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/272-magruder.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055349/http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/272-magruder.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=15 October 2015 |website=Small Wars Journal}}</ref> [[Major General]] [[Charles J. Dunlap Jr.]] adds that the U.S. Air Force's culture also includes an [[egalitarianism]] bred from officers perceiving themselves as their service's principal "warriors" working with small groups of enlisted airmen either as the service crew or the onboard crew of their aircraft. Air Force officers have never felt they needed the formal social "distance" from their enlisted force that is common in the other U.S. armed services. Although the paradigm is changing, for most of its history, the Air Force, completely unlike its sister services, has been an organization in which mostly its officers fought, not its enlisted force, the latter being primarily a rear echelon support force. When the enlisted force did go into harm's way, such as crew members of multi-crewed aircraft, the close comradeship of shared risk in tight quarters created traditions that shaped a somewhat different kind of officer/enlisted relationship than exists elsewhere in the military.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Understanding Airmen: A primer for soldiers |url=http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20071031_art019.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111091555/http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20071031_art019.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2012 |access-date=13 December 2011}}</ref>

The major components of the U.S. Air Force, as of 28 August 2015, are the following:<ref name="estab">{{Cite web |title=2007 USAF Almanac: Major Commands |url=http://www.afa.org/magazine/may2007/0507majcoms.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216020100/http://www.afa.org/magazine/may2007/0507majcoms.pdf |archive-date=16 February 2008 |access-date=9 February 2008 |publisher=AIR FORCE Magazine}}</ref>

* Active duty forces

* [[Air Force Reserve Command]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104473/air-force-reserve-command/|title=Air Force Reserve Command > Air Force > Fact Sheet Display|website=United States Air Force|access-date=November 28, 2023}}</ref>

* [[Air National Guard]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104546/air-national-guard/|title=Air National Guard > Air Force > Fact Sheet Display|website=United States Air Force|access-date=November 28, 2023}}</ref>

The USAF, including its Air Reserve Component (e.g., Air Force Reserve + Air National Guard), possesses a total of 302 flying squadrons.<ref name="orgsize">{{Cite web |title=2007 USAF Almanac: USAF Squadrons By Mission Type |url=http://www.afa.org/magazine/may2007/0507structure.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071201002047/http://www.afa.org/magazine/may2007/0507structure.pdf |archive-date=1 December 2007 |access-date=9 February 2008 |publisher=AIR FORCE Magazine}}</ref>

* [[Boeing B-52 Stratofortress|B-52H Stratofortress]]<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.defensenews.com/air/2023/01/09/how-to-re-engine-a-b-52-and-make-a-new-bomber-fleet/|title=How to re-engine a B-52 and make a new bomber fleet|last=Losey|first=Stephen|date=January 9, 2023|website=Defense News|access-date=August 1, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.defensenews.com/air/2024/02/12/the-new-b-52-how-the-air-force-is-prepping-to-fly-century-old-bombers/|title=The new B-52: How the Air Force is prepping to fly century old bombers|last=Losey|first=Stephen|date=February 12, 2024|website=[[Defense News]]|access-date=February 12, 2024}}</ref>

<!-- Only bomber types IN operational service should be listed here.  

  These lists are only for aircraft currently in USAF service. -->

* [[Lockheed MC-130|MC-130J Commando II]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2022/09/22/air-force-plans-more-tests-of-amphibious-armed-mc-130j-airlifter/|title=Air Force plans more tests of amphibious armed MC-130J airlifter|last=Cohen|first=Rachel|date=September 22, 2022|website=[[Air Force Times]]|access-date=November 25, 2023}}</ref>

[[File:MQ-9 Reaper UAV (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper|MQ-9]] [[unmanned aerial vehicle]]]]

<!-- These lists are only for aircraft currently in USAF service. -->

[[File:WC-130J Hercules of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron.jpg|thumb|A WC-130J Hercules from the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron]]

These aircraft are used to study meteorological events such as hurricanes and typhoons.

* [[Boeing WC-135 Constant Phoenix|WC-135C and WC-135W Constant Phoenix]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.defensenews.com/smr/nuclear-triad/2018/04/25/air-force-to-start-transforming-tankers-into-wc-135-nuke-sniffers-this-year/|title=Air Force to start transforming tankers into WC-135 'nuke sniffers' in FY19|last=Insinna|first=Valerie|date=April 25, 2018|website=Defense News|access-date=November 27, 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104494/wc-135-constant-phoenix/|title=WC-135 Constant Phoenix > Air Force > Fact Sheet Display|website=United States Air Force|access-date=November 27, 2023}}</ref>

<!-- These lists are only for aircraft currently in USAF service. -->