THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE MISSION. The air combat and service forces of the United States Air Force are organized, trained, and equipped for prompt and sustained combat operations in the air. The Air Force has primary responsibility for: defending the United States against air attack; gaining and maintaining air supremacy; defeating enemy air forces; controlling vital air areas; establishing local air superiority; formulating joint doctrines and procedures, in coordination with the other Armed Services, for the defense of the United States against air attack, and providing the Air Force units, facilities, and equipment required therefor; waging strategic air warfare; organizing and equipping Air Force units for joint amphibious and airborne operations; furnishing close combat and logistical air support to the Army; providing air transport for the Armed Forces except as otherwise assigned; providing Air Force units for land-based air defense; developing, in coordination with the other Armed Services, doctrines, procedures, and equipment for air defense from land areas; providing an organization capable of furnishing adequate, timely, and reliable intelligence for the Air Force; furnishing aerial photography for cartographic purposes; and developing, in coordination with the other Armed Services, tactics, techniques, and equipment of interest to the Air Force for amphibious operations, and doctrines, procedures, and equipment employed by Air Force units in airborne operations. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND. In a little over half a century, the Air Force has evolved from a minor experimental activity of the Army Signal Corps to one of the three Armed Services of the nation, coequal with the Army and Navy. The Period 1907-1941. On 1 August 1907 an Aeronautical Division, with one officer and two enlisted men, was established in the Office of the Chief Signal Officer, U. S. Army. The War Department opened bids for a "heavierthan-air flying machine" and on 10 February 1908 contracted with the Wright Brothers for an airplane costing $25,000. The plane was accepted on 2 August 1909, winning for the Wrights a bonus of $5,000 for exceeding the specifications by staying aloft more than one hour and attaining an average speed 21⁄2 miles per hour faster than the required 40 miles per hour. On 17 September 1908, before its acceptance, the plane had crashed; Lt. Thomas E. Selfridge, an observer who was aboard at the time, became the first fatality in the history of American military aviation. Beginning in 1911 several aviation schools were established. In July 1914 Congress created an Aviation Section in the Signal Corps, and earmarked $600,000 for aero development. The 1st Aero Squadron (organized on 5 March 1913) served in the "Punitive Expedition" in Mexico in 1916-17. Most of its obsolescent aircraft broke down in preliminary reconnaissance missions, but it achieved some positive results; for example, in taking the first air photographs made by our Army under field conditions. With the outbreak of World War I in Europe there was a growing interest in military aviation in the United States but it was not translated into combat capability. When we entered the war the Aviation Section could muster only 7 flying squadrons, 103 planes (none suited for combat), 131 officers including 112 qualified pilots, and 1,087 enlisted men. However, in July of 1917 Congress appropriated $640,000,000 to stimulate our airplane industry. In all, expenditures for aeronautics during the war totaled $868,100,671, and 2,925 planes were received in the Zone of Advance, 696 of which were manufactured in the United States. But it was not until April 1918 that the 1st Aero Squadron was assigned to combat duties. In September 1918 the greatest aggregation of airpower assembled up to that time was amassed under the operational command of the First Army, to assist in the reduction of the St. Mihiel salient and to aid in the Meuse-Argonne offensive. Col. William Mitchell led a fleet of 1,500 American, British, and French planes in a series of sharp attacks on German railway centers, communications, and troop concentrations. In a 24-hour period on Oc tober 9-10, 69 tons of bombs were dropped to stem an enemy counterattack in the Meuse-Argonne; this was the most noteworthy bombardment effort of the war. In May of 1918 President Wilson placed the training and operations of Army aviation under a Director of Military Aeronautics, and procurement and supply under a Bureau of Aircraft Production. These two components became known as the Air Service, U.S. Army. By 11 November 1918 the Air Service comprised 45 air squadrons with a combined complement of 767 pilots, 481 observers, 23 aerial gunners, and 740 planes. The air squadrons consisted of 20 fighter, 6 day bombardment, 1 night bombardment, and 18 Army or Corps observation. There were also 23 balloon companies which saw front line service. During World War I, Army aviators made some 13,000 pursuit flights, 6,600 observation flights, and 215 bombing missions. On these missions 275,000 pounds of explosives were dropped. Combat losses totaled 289 planes and 48 balloons, or less than half of the confirmed enemy losses of 781 planes and 73 balloons. On 4 June 1920 the Air Service formally became a combat arm of the Army. On 2 July 1926 Congress authorized the formation of the Army Air Corps, and created the post of Assistant Secretary of War for Air. During the early 1930's a large scale training program was undertaken. On 1 March 1935 the GHQ Air Force was established. It received its first B-17's ("Flying Fortresses") by August 1937. But as late as 1938, in spite of growing international tensions, there was no important build-up in our air strength. In 1939, however, large appropriations were made for the air arm, and orders from England and France further stimulated our aircraft industry. In May 1940 President Roosevelt called for an air strength of 50,000 planes. In June 1941 the Army Air Forces were created, under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold. On the eve of Pearl Harbor the Army's air arm consisted of 22,524 officers and 274,579 enlisted men. World War II. During the war the AAF expanded to a strength of 2,400,000 officers and enlisted personnel, almost 80,000 aircraft, and 243 combat groups. It fought a global war which carried its combat and service forces to every corner of the earth. The following summarizes very briefly the activities of its principal components: with Tenth Air Force. Operated British forces in India to protect the "Hump" supply route to China. Fourteenth Air Force. Supported the Chinese Army on a 5,000-mile front. Fifth Air Force. Based on Australia. it supported our defensive and offensive operations in New Guinea. Seventh and Thirteenth Air Forces. The Seventh, after losing most of its planes in the Pearl Harbor attack, was rebuilt; it participated in the Battle of Midway, the Guadalcanal Campaign, and other central Pacific island operations. Units of it were formed into the Thirteenth Air Force. Eleventh Air Force. Furnished vital air support in the Aleutian Islands operations. Ninth Air Force. Supported Allied operations in North Africa, Sicily, and Italy; its headquarters was moved to the United Kingdom in October 1943 and its units were assigned to the Twelfth Air Force. Twelfth Air Force. Supported American ground troops in the North African campaign; ultimately destroyed German air power in northwest Africa. Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces. In August 1942 the Eighth began the strategic bombing of Germany. In May 1943 the Combined Chiefs of Staff adopted the plan for the Combined Bomber Offensive, a concerted AngloAmerican operation. It was carried out. as a sustained day and night offensive against the German industrial economy. by the Eighth Air Force, the Fifteenth Air Force (established in Italy in November 1943), and the RAF Bomber Command. Aircraft, oil, other industries, and the German transportation net progressively felt the weight of the crescendo of Allied bombing. By the middle of April 1945 there were no more major targets of this type left, and the strategic air war came to a halt. The strategic air forces also effectively supported Allied ground operations. Operations Against Japan. In the last year of the war, large scale bombing operations were carried out in the Far East. The XX Bomber Command began such attacks, against Japan and other Asian targets, in June of 1944. Beginning in November the Twentieth Air Force attacked Japan with B-29's. Beginning in March 1945 low-level firebomb campaigns devastated most of Japan's largest cities and industries. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and three days later on Nagasaki ended Japanese resistance. Period 1946-50. The Department of the Air Force, and the United States Air Force as an independent Armed Service within the Department, were established by the National Security Act of 1947. Concurrently with postwar demobilization the Air Force began rebuilding around the revolutionary technological developments of World War II-the atomic bomb, the jet engine, and the guided missile. With its funds held to a minimum, it concentrated on keeping the Strategic Air Command combatready and capable of swift atomic retaliation, in order to deter aggression during the unstable postwar years. Among the technological achievements of this period were the jet fighters Lockheed F-80 and Republic F-84; the Convair heavy bomber B-36; the B-45 four-jet bomber; the B-50, an improved version of the B-29; and the Bell X-1, the AAF's first rocket-propelled plane, in which Captain Charles E. Yeager became the first American pilot to penetrate the "sound barrier." On 1 June 1948 the air transport services of the Navy and Air Force were merged into the Military Air Transport Service ("MATS"), under overall Air Force supervision. An outstanding achievement of this period was "Operation Vittles," the Berlin Airlift. On 21 June 1948 the Russians clamped a land blockade on Berlin, and the inhabitants of that city became dependent upon airlift for the necessities of life. USAF aircraft went into action immediately. Within five days largescale operations began, the daily haul often rising to over 6,000 tons. By the end of 1948 the combined U. S.-British airlift had exceeded 700,000 tons, or more than the total flown over the Hump in Asia in World War II. On 12 May 1949 the Russians lifted the land blockade; thereafter the airlift was gradually reduced, ending on 30 September 1949. In 15 months the American airlift planes, including Navy transports, had carried 1,783,836 tons of supplies into Berlin. Korean War. When the North Korean forces crossed the 38th Parallel our Far East Air Forces had a total of about 1,172 aircraft. Augmentation began promptly, and the UN forces soon gained mastery of the air. Up to October 1950 some 39,000 enemy soldiers (about a third of the strength of the original attacking force of ten divisions) were killed by air attack, which also accounted for about three-quarters of the enemy tanks destroyed. After the Chinese Communists entered the war, air power again proved its effectiveness. Estimated damage to the enemy from air attacks, in the period November 1950 -June 1951, was 117,000 uniformed personnel killed, and 13,000 vehicles, 2,600 freight cars, 250 locomotives, 1,315 gun positions, 296 tanks, and over 80,000 troop and supply shelters destroyed. Restricted to moving supplies at night, the enemy could not mass enough strength for a successful offensive. Against the Russian-built MIG-15 jets the UN air forces were most effective, destroying an estimated 840 MIG's with a loss of less than a tenth as many planes. After armistice negotiations started, continuous and effective pressure on the enemy from the air was maintained until the official end of the conflict on 27 July 1953. Post-Korean Period. This has been marked by revolutionary changes in aircraft design, by the progressive development of missiles, and by the establishment of an increasingly effective system of continental defense and oversea bases. THE AIR FORCE TODAY. Aircraft. The following tables show the characteristics of the principal USAF aircraft which are currently operational. (Continued on page 437) 3 By the B-29 ENOLA GAY of the Twentieth Air Force on 6 August 1945, |