Portal:United States Air Force
 The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. Initially part of the United States Army as the Army Air Corps, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947. It was the last branch of the US military to be formed. The USAF is one of the largest and most technologically advanced air forces in the world, with about 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, 2130 Air-Launched Cruise Missiles, and 450 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles; and has 330,159 personnel on active duty, 68,872 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 94,753 in the Air National Guard. In addition, the Air Force employs 151,360 civilian personnel. The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force who heads administrative 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. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. Photo credit: Staff Sergeant Jocelyn Rich, 3 August 2009. USAF photo. A Tactical Air Control Party during an exercise in Germany.
photo source: USAF Public Affairs Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.  Operation Varsity was the airborne component of Operation Plunder, the allied invasion of Germany on 24 March 1945. A total of 1,702 aircraft and 1,320 gliders, including C-46 Commandos, C-47 Skytrains, C-54 Skymasters, CG-4 Wacos, Airspeed Horsas, and General Aircraft Hamilcar dropped 16,607 members of the British 6th Airborne Division and American 17th Airborne Division. The operation was successful in establishing a bridgehead across the Rhine River aiding a wider Allied advance. 
Service considering retrofitting late-model C-130's with new engines Summary: The U.S. Air Force is interested in procuring commercial off-the-shelf engines to replace antiquated propulsion systems on C-130 aircraft. At a technology summit in Arlington, Virginia, General Philip Breedlove told of the service's efforts to follow up on the successes of the C-130J upgrade with commercially available fuel efficient engines. Breedlove says the prioritization of use of C-130J's in inter-theater operations for cost savings has tied up logistics. The C-130 also suffers from performance and maintenance issues that have led to the cancellation of the FCS Manned Ground Vehicles program that was unable to fall within weight parameters while maintaining protection requirements. While enhancing the current generation of aircraft, the Air Force is also heading an initiative to develop fuel efficient technologies for the next generation of propulsion systems. the ADaptive Versatile ENgine Technology program seeks to develop an engine that is 30% more efficient than the F119 or F135 engines that power the F-35 Lightning II and F-22 Raptor fifth-generation stealth fighter aircraft. The Versatile, Affordable, Advanced Turbine Engines and Highly Efficient Embedded Turbine Engine programs are also being pursued to develop propulsion technologies for sub-sonic military aircraft. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.  The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is an American four-engine heavy bomber aircraft developed for the US Army Air Corps (USAAC). Competing against Douglas and Martin for a contract to build 200 planes, the Boeing entry outperformed both the other competitors and more than met the Air Corps' expectations. Although Boeing lost the contract due to the prototype's crash, the Air Corps was so impressed with Boeing's design that they ordered 13 B-17s. The B-17 Flying Fortress went on to enter full-scale production and was considered the first truly mass-produced large aircraft, eventually evolving through numerous design advancements, from B-17A to G. The B-17 was primarily employed in the daylight precision strategic bombing campaign of World War II against German industrial and civilian targets. The United States Eighth Air Force based in England and the Fifteenth Air Force based in Italy complemented the RAF Bomber Command's nighttime area bombing in Operation Pointblank, to help secure air superiority over the cities, factories and battlefields of Western Europe in preparation for Operation Overlord. The B-17 also participated, to a lesser extent, in the War in the Pacific. From its pre-war inception, the USAAC touted the aircraft as a strategic weapon; it was a potent, high-flying, long-ranging bomber capable of unleashing great destruction yet able to defend itself. With the ability to return home despite extensive battle damage, its durability, especially in belly-landings and ditchings, quickly took on mythic proportions. Stories and photos of B-17s surviving battle damage widely circulated, boosting its iconic status. Despite an inferior range and bombload compared to the more numerous B-24 Liberator, a survey of Eighth Air Force crews showed a much higher rate of satisfaction in the B-17. With a service ceiling greater than any of its Allied contemporaries, the B-17 established itself as a superb weapons system, dropping more bombs than any other US aircraft in World War II. Of the 1.5 million tonnes of bombs dropped on Germany, 500,000 were dropped from B-17s. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. General George Lee Butler was commander in chief, U.S. Strategic Command, and the last commander of Strategic Air Command. General Butler was born in 1939 at Fort Benning, Georgia, and graduated in 1957 from Washington-Lee High School in Arlington, Virginia. He earned a bachelor of science degree from the United States Air Force Academy in 1961 and a master's degree in international affairs from the University of Paris in 1967. He completed Squadron Officer School in 1964, Air Command and Staff College in 1970, and Armed Forces Staff College in 1974. The general was commissioned in June 1961 and received undergraduate pilot training at Williams Air Force Base, Arizona, followed by basic instructor school at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. He then flew as an instructor pilot in T-33s and also served as an academic instructor at Craig Air Force Base, Alabama, from March 1963 to December 1964. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found. ... that Operation Flaming Dart, was a series of 148 sorties flown on 7 and 11 February 1965? The missions were carried out by units flying F-105 Thunderchief aircraft deployed to Da Nang Air Base. The first wave of 49 sorties targeted a North Vietnamese Army base near Dong Hoi. Viet Cong forces responded by bombing a hotel housing U.S. personnel which in turn led to the second wave of 99 sorties. The second wave was directed at Viet Cong logistics and command and control structures near the Demilitarized Zone. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'Module:Box-header/colours' not found.
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