U.S. Air Force The United States Air Force became a separate military organization in 1947 with the National Security Act of 1947 which created the Department of Defense. At the time there were only three (3) branches, the Army, Navy and the new Air Force. Prior to that military aviation was divided between the Army for land based operations and the Navy for sea based operations. The Army had operated aircraft since 1907 until the U.S. Air Force was created in 1947.

In the early years around WWI the famous Curtiss "Jenny" JN-4 was used to train thousands of pilots, and an incredible paper model of this famous aircraft can be found at The Paper Airplane Company. During this period aviation was part of the U.S. Signal Corps, eventually becoming the U.S. Army Air Corps by WWII. The Air Force came of age during WWII when Franklin D. Roosevelt called for a large air force for long range strategic bombing. At first the B-17 raids over Germany took huge losses until the introdcution of the P-51 Mustang which was faster than the German fighters and achieved aerial superiority for the Allies.

The "New" U S Air Force

The first test for the new U S Air Force came during the Cold War when the Communists cut off all road and air transportation to West Berlin. The USAF, along with the Royal Air Force, flew C-54 Skymasters and C-121 Constellations supplying the city with the Berlin Airlift. During the Korean War the Air Force flew F-86 Sabre jet fighters in support of MacArthur's drive to the Korean-Chinese border. This was followed by heavy involvement in the Vietnam War finally forcing North Vietnam into peace negotiations.

Next, the U S Air Force provided the bulk of air power during the first Gulf War in 1991, flying along the U.S. Navy and the RAF. In 1994 took part in a NATO action for the first time over Bosnia with strikes against the Bosnian Serbs. Later the USAF led air strikes against Serbia during the Kosovo War.

This was followd in 1991 by operations agains the Taliban in Afghanistan, operating from Diego Garcia, and opened air bases in Central Asia for the first time. In 2003 the USAF was deployed in the invasion of Iraq and continue to operate the Baghdad Airport and provide close air support to Coalition and Iraqi forces to eliminate insurgent activities.

The current status of the United States Air Force

The U S Air Force currently has about 352,000 personnel and 9,000 aircraft and is considered the larges and most technologically advanced modern air force in the world today. he stated mission of the USAF today is to "deliver sovereign options for the defense of the United States of America and its global interests  to fly and fight in Air, Space, and Cyberspace".