Happy 75th Birthday U.S. Air Force!

Happy 75th birthday?United States Air Force!?The U.S. Air Force was officially established as a separate branch of the United States Armed Forces on 18 September 1947.?In the decades since it has established itself as the premiere Air Force!

Yet our Air Force's history and heritage goes back as far as 1909.?On August 2 of that year, the US Army Signal Corps purchased its first aircraft, the?Wright Model A.??In the 38 years hence, it went through a series of designations: Aeronautical Section, Signal Corps (1909); Aviation Section, Signal Corps (1914); United States Army Air Service (1918); United States Army Air Corps (1926), and United States Army Air Forces (1941).?The U.S. Air Force did not exist as a separate and independent military service organization until 1947.

WWII illustrated the value of air power, and the need to change the basic organization of the US Military Forces.?The result was the creation of a single Department of Defense with a strong Joint Chiefs of Staff with Army, Navy, and Air Force chiefs.?

The?National Security Act of 1947?was signed on July 26, 1947 by President?Harry S. Truman, which established the?Department of the Air Force, but...

but it was not until September 18, 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.

Let us all wish the US Air Force a very happy 75th birthday!