United States Air Force

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare and space warfare branch of the U.S. armed forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the United State military to be formed.

The USAF provides Global Vigilance, Global Reach, and Global Power, with 5,573 manned aircraft in service (3,990 USAF; 1,213 Air National Guard; and 370 Air Force Reserve); approximately 180 unmanned combat air vehicles, 2,130 air-launched cruise missiles, and 446 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The USAF has 327,452 personnel on active duty, 115,299 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 106,700 in the Air National Guard as of September 2008. In addition, the USAF employs 171,313 civilian personnel, and has 57,000 auxiliary members in the Civil Air Patrol.

The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force who oversees all administrative and policy affairs. The Department of the Air Force is a division of the Department of Defense, headed by the Secretary of Defense. The highest ranking military officer in the Department of the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force.

Contents
1 Mission
2 Search and rescue
3 Air sovereignty
4 Irregular warfare
5 Airlift
6 History
7 Recent history
8 Conflicts


Mission
According to the National Security Act of 1947 , which created the USAF:

In general the United States Air Force shall include aviation forces both combat and service not otherwise assigned. It shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The Air Force shall be responsible for the preparation of the air forces necessary for the effective prosecution of war except as otherwise assigned and, in accordance with integrated joint mobilization plans, for the expansion of the peacetime components of the Air Force to meet the needs of war.
§8062 of Title 10 US Code defines the purpose of the USAFas:

to preserve the peace and security, and provide for the defense, of the United States, the Territories, Commonwealths, and possessions, and any areas occupied by the United States;
to support national policy;
to implement national objectives;
to overcome any nations responsible for aggressive acts that imperil the peace and security of the United States.
The stated mission of the USAF today is to "fly, fight, and win in air, space, and cyberspace".

Search and rescue
See also: United States Air Force Rescue Coordination Center
The National Search and Rescue Plan designates the United States Coast Guard as the federal agency responsible for maritime search-and-rescue (SAR) operations, and the USAF as responsible for aeronautical SAR in the continental U.S. with the exception of Alaska.Both agencies maintain Joint Rescue Coordination Centers to coordinate this effort. To help the USAF with the vast amount of search and rescue operations, the USAF tasks the Civil Air Patrol -- the official United States Air Force Auxilliary—in many inland search and rescue missions.

Air sovereignty
The USAF, through the Air National Guard, is the lead agency to maintain control of America's airspace.

On 30 July 2009, Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, director of the Air National Guard said that "Technologies needed for the mission include an active, electronically scanned array radar (which can be used to detect small and stealthy air threats including cruise missiles), infrared search and track systems and beyond-line-of-sight communications".

On 14 September 2009, Gen. Norton A. Schwartz, chief of staff of the USAF, said that he hopes "to bring a combination of F-22, F-35, legacy aircraft, including upgraded F-15 and F-16 fighters, and unmanned aircraft to the [air sovereignty alert] ASA mission."
Even so, the USAF plans to retire up to 80% of their total force air sovereignty mission aircraft, which would leave no viable aircraft at 18 current air sovereignty sites after 2015. The GAO found that 17 of the 20 commanders of the ASA units "stated that the Air Force treats ASA operations as a temporary mission and has not provided sufficient resources."

[edit] Irregular warfare
In response to the conflicts in which the United States has been engaged since the end of the Cold War, on 1 August 2007, Air Force Doctrine Document 2-3 was released showing how air power could be used to support or defeat an insurgency.

In order to help support these missions the USAF is considering outfitting a counter-insurgency wing with small cheap ground support fighters that can also be used for training USAF and allied pilots in addition to counterinsurgency operations.

Airlift
The USAF provides both strategic and tactical airlift in support of wartime, peacetime, and humanitarian efforts of the Department of Defense.

The GAO found that Air Force plans should cover strategic airlift, but that it may fall short in providing tactical airlift in support of the United States Army.

History
Main article: History of the United States Air Force
The Army created the first antecedent of the USAF in 1907, which through a succession of changes of organization, titles, and missions advanced toward eventual separation 40 years later. The USAF became a separate military service on 18 September 1947, with the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947. The Act created the United States Department of Defense, which was composed of three subordinate departments, namely the Department of the Army, the Department of the Navy and a newly-created Department of the Air Force. Prior to 1947, the responsibility for military aviation was shared between the Army (for land-based operations), the Navy (for sea-based operations from aircraft carriers and amphibious aircraft), and the Marine Corps (for close air support of infantry operations).


Roundels that have appeared on US aircraft
1. 5/17-2/18 2. 2/18-8/19 3. 8/19-5/42
4. 5/42-6/43 5. 6/43-9/43 6. 9/43-1/47
7. 1/47-The predecessor organizations of today's USAF are:

Aeronautical Division, U.S. Signal Corps (1 August 1907 to 18 July 1914)
Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps (18 July 1914 to 20 May 1918)
Division of Military Aeronautics (20 May 1918 to 24 May 1918)
U.S. Army Air Service (24 May 1918 to 2 July 1926)
U.S. Army Air Corps (2 July 1926 to 20 June 1941) and
U.S. Army Air Forces (20 June 1941 to 17 September 1947)
Recent history
In 2007, the USAF undertook a reduction-in-force. Because of budget constraints, the USAF planned to reduce the service's size from 360,000 active duty personnel to 316,000. The size of the active-duty force in 2007 was roughly 64% of that of the USAF at the end of the Gulf War in 1991.However, the reduction was ended at approximately 330,000 personnel in 2008 to meet mission requirements. These same constraints have seen a sharp reduction in flight hours for crew training since 2005 and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower and Personnel directing Airmen's Time Assessments.

On 5 June 2008, Secretary of Defense Robert M. Gates, accepted the resignations of both the Secretary of the Air Force, Michael W. Wynne, and the Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force, Gen. T. Michael Moseley. Gates in effect fired both men for "systemic issues associated with declining Air Force nuclear mission focus and performance". This followed an investigation into two embarrassing incidents involving mishandling of nuclear weapons, and were also the culmination of disputes between the Air Force leadership and Gates.To put more emphasis on nuclear assets, the USAF established the nuclear-focused Air Force Global Strike Command on 24 October 2008.[28]

On 26 June 2009, the USAF released a force structure plan that cuts fighter aircraft and shifts resources to better support nuclear, irregular and information warfare. On 23 July 2009, The USAF released their Unmanned Aerial System Flight Plan, detailing UAV plans through 2047. One third of the planes that the USAF plans to buy in the future are to be unmanned.

Conflicts

The SR-71 Blackbird was a Cold war reconnaissance plane.
The F-117 Nighthawk was a stealth attack aircraft (retired from service on 22 April 2008).The United States has been involved in many wars, conflicts, and operations using military air operations. Air combat operations before, and since the official conception of the USAF include:

World War Ias Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
World War IIas United States Army Air Forces
Cold War
Korean War
Vietnam War
Operation Eagle Claw (1980 Iranian Hostage Rescue)
Operation Urgent Fury (1983 US Invasion of Grenada)
Operation El Dorado Canyon (1986 US Bombing of Libya)
Operation Just Cause (1989-1990 US Invasion of Panama)
Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm (1990-1991 Gulf War)
Operation Southern Watch (1992-2003 Iraq No-Fly Zone)
Operation Deliberate Force (1995 NATO bombing in Bosnia and Herzegovina)
Operation Northern Watch (1997-2003 Iraq No-Fly Zone)
Operation Allied Force (1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia)
Operation Enduring Freedom (2001-present Afghanistan War)
Operation Iraqi Freedom (2003-present Iraq War)