History of the Air Force

Considering that the Air Force is the latest military service in the United States, it has had a significant impact in the limited time it has been there, it has similarly been able to grow in several areas of the country in terms of its use. The Air Force is composed of individuals that are confident, composed and competent making the Air Force become the most effective aerospace force. Getting to this point, the Air Force has had successful period from a meager start.

In the year 1907, the United States Army set up a section in Aeronautical that was supposed to take responsibility for every issue that was related to military ballooning, air facilities among others. This section was issued to two military officers; however one of them backed out for some reason leaving it to an individual.

Not long, the Wrights Brothers were contracted to construct a plane that would be used by the military and train them on how to use it. Three pilots were recruited to take part in the training, however two of them were sent back to their prior tasks after they crashed a plane (Hearn, 16). The training process which was located in Maryland was shifted to Texas where the remaining pilot had to go on with the training with the help of the Wrights Brothers. This went on till 1911 where the training had a single pilot and a plane.

Three years later, the training program got assistance; the US lost its control over the aeronautics and dropped in military air programs. The United States was not persuaded, prior to World War 1, to help Europeans in the air services.

Later in the same year, the congress formulated a policy that was to provide the military in the aviation section acknowledgment and place it on a rigid ground. The act provided the aviation with a slot in the law and order that 60 officer and 260 people are included. Nevertheless, the vital air portion had to be formed as seen at the time when the first Aero Squadron escorted General Pershing to the border in Mexico in search of Pancho Villa; the last eight aircrafts that they had lasted six weeks; six of them destroyed and could not be revamped while the other two were condemned and done away with (MacFarland, 8). The only option that was left was for the 1st Aero to use short mail flights with perfect weather as a consideration.

With the start of World War 1, the Europeans took control of the aviation industry strongly. The industry which was supposed to be for exploration fast became a tool that led to rivalry between countries and war in the air began. The Germans came up with a synchronizing gear so as to allow the bullets in the gun to go through the rotating blades were a great success.

With the declaration of war between US and German and joined the First World War, there were just 35 pilots and no aircraft that was viable for use in war. Ultimately, noting that there is a great desire for air supremacy, the Congress provides $640 million to the military air force team.

The first American flyers that were used in combat were French pilots, however, by 1917; the 94th and 95th military began making rounds in the lines. A year later, the aeronautical were done away with from the Signal Corps and set up a different department and later that year, 1500 aircrafts were equipped for a massive war to Germany (MacFarland, 11). Even though the war started distressingly spontaneous, the United States pilots displayed their ability in engaging in war with their rivals (Hearn, 11). At the end of the war, there were 45 squadrons in operation with 767 pilots. The men had 781 rival planes from a total of 904 and 75 balloons from a total of 123.

In the process of the war, the air force engages with the navy, though it made a step in being an independent arm of the military in 1926.

The moment the Japanese sparked war by attacking the Pearl Harbor in 1941, the air force was used for defence again, here it rapidly organized and went on the attack. With this engagement, the United States Air Force ran riot on the enemy lines. They attacked Germany until it decided to give in and directed the last but severe blow to Japan.

Lastly, in 1947, the Air Force was upgraded to be the United States Air Force the same as the Navy in the waters and the Army on dry land. With the termination of the war, the United States started the reconstruction of the Air Force for peace to prevail in the form of Strategic Air Command (MacFarland, 10). The Tactical arm was still in operation and worked successfully in Korea and Vietnam, while the ability of the Air Force was seen prior to the Berlin Airlift.

In the process of the Cold War, the Air Force was an important component of the US fire power. With the Navy being in control of water nuclear facilities, the Air Force Space Command was formed. This was charged with formation, management and safeguard of the satellite for intelligence services, communication and weather coordination.

In 1967, the airman grades, positions and addressing modes were altered so as to advance its grade to E-4; the Airman, Airman First Class, and Sergeant while the others stayed unaltered. The terms of pay and level of skills required were needed for promotion to take place, two years later the board decided to use standardized clothes for the Air Force; black chevrons with color stripes and white jacket. This went on to change over a period of years.

In 1993, the US military legislation was altered so as to make it possible for women to get involved in combat duties; this involved flying the aircrafts. At the start of 2006, the Air Force has close to 6000 aircrafts with about 600,000 staff. By 2003, the number of females that were integrated into the Air Force was about 100 pilots; which is 2% of the general pilots in the military’s Air Force.

Functions of the Air Force

The Air Force is charged for the organization of the effective prosecution of military processes. In this department, it is charged with providing support to the ground troops (Trest, 6). The most common duties include:

• The organization, training, equips and offer services to forces for tactical air and missile fighting.
• The Air Force offer, train and facilitate a combined space operations.
• The department offers support to special operations.
• It offers transportation services for the armed forces and manages communication services.

The Air Force department of the military has over the years transformed in terms of their attire, the equipment used and skills. With the advancement of technology, the department has been able to reach far and wide in terms of tackling enemy lines and has been able to bring about mass destruction with just a click of a button (Macfarland, 11). Their services have similarly composed of humanitarian services. This department is bound to continue developing as time passes by.

Work Cited

Hearn, C. Air Force: An Illustrated History: the U.S. Air Force from 1907 to the 21st Century.     New York: Zenith Imprint, 2008, Press. MacFarland, S. A Concise History of the U.S. Air Force. Washington: Government Printing   Office, 1997, Press. Trest, W. Air Force Roles and Missions: A History. Washington: Government Printing Office,             1998, Press.