Is The Air Force Right For You?

U.S. Air Force: History and where it is now?

The U.S. Air Force is one of the highest ranking branches of the military we have to offer, it is also the newest branch of the military there is starting way back in September 8th, 1947, with the implementation of the NSA of 1947 (National Security Act of 1947), let’s get started with a little background information. It all started when the Wright brothers made the first engine powered flying aircraft December 17, 1903. It took a while before the U.S. military really started to take notice of the airplanes, and wanting to use them at all. When the U.S. decided they wanted to start using airplanes the first person they called was the Wright brothers, and on August 20th, 1908 the Air Force started to get ready for their first flight. The flight happened the same year on September 9th, that date is also the same day the first casualty happened in the Air Force. It started out as the perfect day for the test flight, with the sun shining and a little bit of a tailwind, they felt like nothing could go wrong. Orville Wright was going to test the plane with Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge so he could get the feeling of what flying was like and he could train the pilots once they started mass producing the planes.Wikipedia stated that, “As Orville climbed into the aircraft and Lt. Selfridge followed Orville did not realize one of the flaps had a piece of garbage stuck in it, and that was the beginning of the fateful journey”. That day was the first casualty in the U.S. Air Force, Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge died as the flap jammed when Orville Wright was trying to land the aircraft and nose dived into the ground, Orville walked away with only a broken arm. They decided the planes were too unpredictable so they got rid of the idea and they went back to being a part of the navy for sea operations and army for over-land operations until WW1.

WW1 in 1917 was the first time planes were going to be used for war, but they needed training and planes to even think about starting the program back up. Most trained in France and a few men were drafted who flew planes for crops so they a little experience. The planes had already advanced enough to where they were trustworthy behind the hands of an experienced pilot, these pilots were called “aces”. These pilots were recruited for one mission during WW1 and that was providing tactical support for the U.S. army during the battle of Saint-Mihiel. The program was once again shut down for about 3 years until they brought it back as its own branch in the army, they were named the Army Air Corps (AAC).This branch started experimenting new techniques for flying including air-air refueling, and building the first all metal monoplane bombers. The new B-9’s and Martin B-10’s were lighter, faster, and could carry a much larger payload compared to its predecessors. After WW1 the War Department of the U.S. tried to take the AAC away again and stop innovation for all of it. The American people we too fascinated with the program and aviation to let the War Department let the idea go again, so General Billy Mitchell fought to keep it open and even sought to take over the guarding of the coast from the navy because he claimed his planes could sink battleships anyday. Wikipedia states, “ Mitchell lost his self-control in 1925 when he accused the Navy in a press release of ‘incompetency, criminal negligence and almost treasonable administration of the national defense.’ He received the highly publicized court martial he wanted, and was allowed to expound his theory that air power alone would suffice to win the next big war. He was convicted, and resigned. He became a popular hero and public opinion forced the War Department to strengthen the Air Corps.”.

The Air Corps was able to pull off a few things to spark the government interest, but they always seemed to be overshadowed by famous people like Amelia Earhart, who was the first female to fly solo over the Atlantic Ocean, or Charles Lindbergh, who flew the longest flight start at Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York all the way over to Le Bourget Field in Paris France. In 1934 President Franklin Roosevelt, while fighting with the airline industry, decided to suddenly turn the delivery of airmail over to the Air Corps. Multiple crashes by inexperienced Air Corps pilots in extremely basic planes with poor navigation gear showed how fragile the new service was, and killed its claims that in wartime it could perform miracles. Roosevelt however, had become a firm believer in air power and had behind him both public opinion and Congress. When the starting process began in the of spring 1940 Roosevelt was as energetic as anyone in expanding the air role calling for 50,000 planes a year, and sending the best new models to Britain for its war against the Luftwaffe.

The Air Force focuses on 7 main areas of Aerospace Superiority beginning with the ability to control what moves through air and space with the freedom of action. Information Superiority which is the ability to control and exploit information to our nation’s advantage ensures decision dominance. Global Attack is the ability to engage adversary targets anywhere, anytime, holds any adversary at risk. Precision Engagement helps with the ability to deliver desired effects with minimal risk and collateral damage, denies the enemy sanctuary. Rapid Global Mobility gets its job done with the ability to rapidly position forces anywhere in the world, ensures unprecedented responsiveness. Agile Combat Support is the ability to sustain flexible and efficient combat operations is the foundation of success. The bottom line is that The Air Force is focused on flying. There are also plenty of other opportunities to do though. If you like flying or working with flight systems & technology, the Air Force may be for you.

The U.S. Air Force had a FY (fiscal year) for 2015 at 312,980 active airman, 67,100 reservists, and 105,000 guardsman. Between the active and reserve parts it holds 5,433 aircraft in total active inventory (TAI), 54 fighter squadrons. In the active area they only kept 54 combat coded squadrons. The Air Force has actually began to become smaller due to the retiring of old aircrafts, and that they want quality over quantity. It has shrank the tactical aircraft squadrons to only 26 compared to the 133 active squadrons during Operation Desert Storm. The Air Force is currently trying to rebuild itself back up again by retiring the old F-35 and replacing them with a much more cheap, faster, lighter, and smaller F-35A, these F-35A’s will be able the bring the capacity of the Air Force back up again because they can build so many in such a short time and cheaper process. The Air Force is currently sitting at marginal for capability and readiness but very strong at capacity due to the 2 MRC levels and keeps getting stronger and stronger every year. I believe that the U.S. Air Force is the strongest controller in the air compare to any country and it will always be that due to America being as great as it is currently.