United States Air Force

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces. The US Air Force was initially formed as a section of the United States Army on August 1, 1907, and later established as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947 due to the passing of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest of the U.S. Armed Forces (ahead of the U.S. Space Force), fourth in order of precedence, and one of the eight U.S. uniformed services.

The US Air Force's core missions are air superiority, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control. The mission of the U.S. Air Force is stated succinctly as, "to fly, fight and win .... in air, space, and cyberspace."

The Department of the Air Force is one of three departments structured within the Department of Defense, with management by the Secretary of the Air Force and Secretary of Defense.

The Air Force has 330,678 active duty, 64,873 officers and 265,805 enlisted members as of September 30, 2021. Air Force has 12,534 pilots, 3,232 navigators and 1,324 air battle managers in the grade of lieutenant colonel and below, but does not include Guard, Reserve or Air Force Academy members.

There are eleven major commands, each holding their own Air Force Base (AFB) in parts of the US and internationally.

The Air Force first began in 1907 as the Aeronautical Division of the U.S. Signal Corps; it was in "charge of all matters pertaining to military ballooning, air machines and all kindred subjects."The Aeronautical Division did not purchase its first plane until September 1908. The plane was purchased from the Wright Brothers for the price of $25,000. As the U.S. entered into WWI, the newly named Air Service became a full fledged section, conducting air operations and combat actions. It was re-designated as the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1926.

The Air Corps grew to 20,000 planes by the 1930s and continued to grow through the pressure and demands of WWII. In 1941, the Air Corps was again re-designated as the Army Air Forces. On July 26, 1947, with the passing of the National Security Act of 1947, the Army Air Force became its own separate branch of uniformed services, the United States Air Force.