Sunday, March 13, 2011 10:30 AM Posted by ZAKIR{F}KHURRAM Labels: United States Air Force
United States Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States 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 September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947.It is the most recent branch of the U.S. military to be formed, as well as the world's most technologically sophisticated air force. The USAF articulates its core functions in its 2010 Posture Statement as Nuclear Deterrence Operations, Special Operations, Air Superiority, Global Integrated ISR, Space Superiority, Command and Control, Cyberspace Superiority, Personnel Recovery, Global Precision Attack, Building Partnerships, Rapid Global Mobility and Agile Combat Support.
As of 2009[update] the USAF operates 5,573 manned aircraft in service (3,990 USAF; 1,213 Air National Guard; and 370 Air Force Reserve);[5] approximately 180 unmanned combat air vehicles, 2,130 air-launched cruise missiles,and 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The USAF has 330,159 personnel on active duty, 68,872 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 94,753 in the Air National Guard as of September 2008. In addition, the USAF employs 151,360 civilian personnel,and has over 60,000 auxiliary members in the Civil Air Patrol,making it the largest air force in the world.
The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, and has the authority to conduct all of its affairs, subject to the authority, direction and control of the Secretary of Defense. The Department of the Air Force is a Military Department within the Department of Defense, and it includes all elements of the United States Air Force, i.e. the technical designation of the U.S. Air Force organization. The highest ranking military officer in the Department of the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force who exercises supervision over Air Force units, and serves as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Air Force combat forces are assigned, as directed by the Secretary of Defense, to the Combatant Commanders, and neither the Secretary nor the Chief of Staff have operational command authority over them.
Mission
According to the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 502), 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 USAF as:[9]
* 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".
Operational functions
The Air Force describes its mission in terms of 17 operational functions:[11]
* Strategic Attack – offensive action that most directly achieves national security objectives by affecting the adversary’s leadership, conflict-sustaining resources and strategy.
* Counter-air – operations to attain and maintain a desired degree of air superiority by the destruction, degradation, or disruption of enemy forces. Counter-air takes the form of both offensive counter air against enemy air and missile power at its source, and defensive counter-air against attacking enemy air and missiles over friendly territory.
* Counter-space – destruction, degradation or disruption of enemy space capability.
* Counter-land – air and space operations against enemy land forces, including air interdiction to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy the enemy’s surface military potential before it can be used effectively against friendly forces, and close air support to help friendly surface forces in contact with enemy forces.
* Counter-sea – tasks including sea surveillance, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, aerial minelaying, and air refueling in support of naval campaigns.
* Information Operations – actions taken to influence, affect, or defend information, systems, and/or decision-making, through influence, network warfare, and electronic warfare operations.
* Combat Support – capabilities, functions, activities, and tasks necessary to create and sustain air and space forces, including the procurement, maintenance, distribution, and replacement of personnel and materiel.
* Command and Control – exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission, including both process and systems.
* Airlift – transportation of personnel and materiel through the air.
* Air Refueling – in-flight transfer of fuel between tanker and receiver aircraft.
* Space-lift – delivery of satellites, payloads and materiel to space.
* Special Operations – airpower conducting unconventional warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, psychological operations, and counter-proliferation.
* Intelligence – product resulting from the collection, processing, integration, analysis, evaluation and interpretation of available information concerning foreign countries or areas.
* Surveillance and Reconnaissance – systematic observation of air, space, surface, or subsurface areas, places, persons, or things, by visual, aural, electronic, photographic, or other means. Surveillance is a continuing process, not oriented to a specific target, while reconnaissance looks for specific information and generally has a time constraint.
* Combat Search and Rescue – recovery of isolated personnel with rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.
* Navigation and Positioning – provision of accurate location and time of reference.
* Weather Services – environmental information, including both space environment and atmospheric weather.
Search and rescue
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 number of search and rescue operations, the USAF assigns units of the Civil Air Patrol — the official U.S. Air Force Auxiliary — in over 91% of 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 July 30, 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 September 14, 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 usable 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."
The USAF has decided to accept "moderate risk" for the air sovereignty mission as well as deep strike and close air support, under optimistic assumptions for F-35 production.The GAO found that the Air Force used dated material to provide these reports to the Congress.
The Defense Department has used USN and USMC aircraft for the Air Sovereignty Mission and may do so in the future.
Irregular warfare
In response to the conflicts in which the United States has been engaged since the end of the Cold War, on August 1, 2007, Air Force Doctrine Document 2-3 was released showing how air power could be used to support or defeat an insurgency.[22]
To support these missions, the USAF considered outfitting a counter-insurgency wing with small, ground attack aircraft that can also be used for training USAF and allied pilots in addition to counterinsurgency operations.[23] However the 2010 QDR shifted the future light fixed-wing aircraft to the Air Force’s 6th Special Operations Squadron to be used to train allied forces.[24]
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.[25]
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 Air Force came of age in World War II. Almost 68,000 U.S airmen died helping to win the war, only the infantry suffered more enlisted casualties.In practice, the USAAF was virtually independent of the Army during World War II, but officials wanted formal independence. The USAF became a separate military service on September 18, 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 (August 1, 1907 to July 18, 1914)
* Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps (July 18, 1914 to May 20, 1918)
* Division of Military Aeronautics (May 20, 1918 to May 24, 1918)
* U.S. Army Air Service (May 24, 1918 to July 2, 1926)
* U.S. Army Air Corps (July 2, 1926 to June 20, 1941) and
* U.S. Army Air Forces (June 20, 1941 to September 17, 1947)
Recent history
Since 2005, the USAF has placed a strong focus on the improvement of Basic Military Training (BMT). While the intense training has become longer it also has shifted to include a deployment phase. This deployment phase, now called the BEAST, places the trainees in a surreal environment that they may experience once they deploy. While the trainees do tackle the massive obstacle courses along with the BEAST, the other portions include defending and protecting their base of operations, forming a structure of leadership, directing search and recovery, and basic self aid buddy care. During this event, the Military Training Instructors (MTI) act as mentors and enemy forces in a deployment exercise.
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 June 5, 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.[33] To put more emphasis on nuclear assets, the USAF established the nuclear-focused Air Force Global Strike Command on 24 October 2008.
On June 26, 2009, the USAF released a force structure plan that cuts fighter aircraft and shifts resources to better support nuclear, irregular and information warfare.[35] On July 23, 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.
In recent years the USAF has fumbled several high profile aircraft procurement projects, such as the failure to make the case for the Next-Generation Bomber, the failure to control costs on the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the decade of failures on the KC-X program. Winslow Wheeler has written that this pattern represents "failures of intellect and -- much more importantly -- ethics."[38]
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 I[39] as Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
* World War II[39] as 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 Persian 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 (2003–2010 Iraq War)
Humanitarian operations
The USAF has also taken part in numerous humanitarian operations. Some of the more major ones include the following:[40]
* Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles), 1948-1949
* Operation Safe Haven, 1956-1957
* Operations Babylift, New Life, Frequent Wind, and New Arrivals, 1975
* Operation Provide Comfort, 1991
* Operation Sea Angel, 1991
* Operation Provide Hope, 1992–1993
* Operation Unified Assistance, December 2004 - April 2005
* Operation Unified Response, January 14, 2010–present
Organization
Main articles: Organizational structure and hierarchy of the United States Air Force and Department of the Air Force structure
Administrative organization
The USAF is one of three service departments, and is managed by the civilian Department of the Air Force. Guidance is provided by the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) and the Secretary's staff and advisors. The military leadership is the Air Staff, led by the Chief of Staff.
USAF direct subordinate commands and units are the Field Operating Agency (FOA), Direct Reporting Unit (DRU), and the currently unused Separate Operating Agency.
The Major Command (MAJCOM) is the superior hierarchical level of command. Including the Air Force Reserve Command, as of September 30, 2006, USAF has ten major commands. The Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a level of command directly under the MAJCOM, followed by Operational Command (now unused), Air Division (also now unused), Wing, Group, Squadron, and Flight.
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States 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 September 18, 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947.It is the most recent branch of the U.S. military to be formed, as well as the world's most technologically sophisticated air force. The USAF articulates its core functions in its 2010 Posture Statement as Nuclear Deterrence Operations, Special Operations, Air Superiority, Global Integrated ISR, Space Superiority, Command and Control, Cyberspace Superiority, Personnel Recovery, Global Precision Attack, Building Partnerships, Rapid Global Mobility and Agile Combat Support.
As of 2009[update] the USAF operates 5,573 manned aircraft in service (3,990 USAF; 1,213 Air National Guard; and 370 Air Force Reserve);[5] approximately 180 unmanned combat air vehicles, 2,130 air-launched cruise missiles,and 450 intercontinental ballistic missiles. The USAF has 330,159 personnel on active duty, 68,872 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 94,753 in the Air National Guard as of September 2008. In addition, the USAF employs 151,360 civilian personnel,and has over 60,000 auxiliary members in the Civil Air Patrol,making it the largest air force in the world.
The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who is appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, and has the authority to conduct all of its affairs, subject to the authority, direction and control of the Secretary of Defense. The Department of the Air Force is a Military Department within the Department of Defense, and it includes all elements of the United States Air Force, i.e. the technical designation of the U.S. Air Force organization. The highest ranking military officer in the Department of the Air Force is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force who exercises supervision over Air Force units, and serves as a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Air Force combat forces are assigned, as directed by the Secretary of Defense, to the Combatant Commanders, and neither the Secretary nor the Chief of Staff have operational command authority over them.
Mission
According to the National Security Act of 1947 (61 Stat. 502), 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 USAF as:[9]
* 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".
Operational functions
The Air Force describes its mission in terms of 17 operational functions:[11]
* Strategic Attack – offensive action that most directly achieves national security objectives by affecting the adversary’s leadership, conflict-sustaining resources and strategy.
* Counter-air – operations to attain and maintain a desired degree of air superiority by the destruction, degradation, or disruption of enemy forces. Counter-air takes the form of both offensive counter air against enemy air and missile power at its source, and defensive counter-air against attacking enemy air and missiles over friendly territory.
* Counter-space – destruction, degradation or disruption of enemy space capability.
* Counter-land – air and space operations against enemy land forces, including air interdiction to divert, disrupt, delay, or destroy the enemy’s surface military potential before it can be used effectively against friendly forces, and close air support to help friendly surface forces in contact with enemy forces.
* Counter-sea – tasks including sea surveillance, anti-ship and anti-submarine warfare, aerial minelaying, and air refueling in support of naval campaigns.
* Information Operations – actions taken to influence, affect, or defend information, systems, and/or decision-making, through influence, network warfare, and electronic warfare operations.
* Combat Support – capabilities, functions, activities, and tasks necessary to create and sustain air and space forces, including the procurement, maintenance, distribution, and replacement of personnel and materiel.
* Command and Control – exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission, including both process and systems.
* Airlift – transportation of personnel and materiel through the air.
* Air Refueling – in-flight transfer of fuel between tanker and receiver aircraft.
* Space-lift – delivery of satellites, payloads and materiel to space.
* Special Operations – airpower conducting unconventional warfare, direct action, special reconnaissance, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, psychological operations, and counter-proliferation.
* Intelligence – product resulting from the collection, processing, integration, analysis, evaluation and interpretation of available information concerning foreign countries or areas.
* Surveillance and Reconnaissance – systematic observation of air, space, surface, or subsurface areas, places, persons, or things, by visual, aural, electronic, photographic, or other means. Surveillance is a continuing process, not oriented to a specific target, while reconnaissance looks for specific information and generally has a time constraint.
* Combat Search and Rescue – recovery of isolated personnel with rotary- and fixed-wing aircraft.
* Navigation and Positioning – provision of accurate location and time of reference.
* Weather Services – environmental information, including both space environment and atmospheric weather.
Search and rescue
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 number of search and rescue operations, the USAF assigns units of the Civil Air Patrol — the official U.S. Air Force Auxiliary — in over 91% of 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 July 30, 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 September 14, 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 usable 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."
The USAF has decided to accept "moderate risk" for the air sovereignty mission as well as deep strike and close air support, under optimistic assumptions for F-35 production.The GAO found that the Air Force used dated material to provide these reports to the Congress.
The Defense Department has used USN and USMC aircraft for the Air Sovereignty Mission and may do so in the future.
Irregular warfare
In response to the conflicts in which the United States has been engaged since the end of the Cold War, on August 1, 2007, Air Force Doctrine Document 2-3 was released showing how air power could be used to support or defeat an insurgency.[22]
To support these missions, the USAF considered outfitting a counter-insurgency wing with small, ground attack aircraft that can also be used for training USAF and allied pilots in addition to counterinsurgency operations.[23] However the 2010 QDR shifted the future light fixed-wing aircraft to the Air Force’s 6th Special Operations Squadron to be used to train allied forces.[24]
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.[25]
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 Air Force came of age in World War II. Almost 68,000 U.S airmen died helping to win the war, only the infantry suffered more enlisted casualties.In practice, the USAAF was virtually independent of the Army during World War II, but officials wanted formal independence. The USAF became a separate military service on September 18, 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 (August 1, 1907 to July 18, 1914)
* Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps (July 18, 1914 to May 20, 1918)
* Division of Military Aeronautics (May 20, 1918 to May 24, 1918)
* U.S. Army Air Service (May 24, 1918 to July 2, 1926)
* U.S. Army Air Corps (July 2, 1926 to June 20, 1941) and
* U.S. Army Air Forces (June 20, 1941 to September 17, 1947)
Recent history
Since 2005, the USAF has placed a strong focus on the improvement of Basic Military Training (BMT). While the intense training has become longer it also has shifted to include a deployment phase. This deployment phase, now called the BEAST, places the trainees in a surreal environment that they may experience once they deploy. While the trainees do tackle the massive obstacle courses along with the BEAST, the other portions include defending and protecting their base of operations, forming a structure of leadership, directing search and recovery, and basic self aid buddy care. During this event, the Military Training Instructors (MTI) act as mentors and enemy forces in a deployment exercise.
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 June 5, 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.[33] To put more emphasis on nuclear assets, the USAF established the nuclear-focused Air Force Global Strike Command on 24 October 2008.
On June 26, 2009, the USAF released a force structure plan that cuts fighter aircraft and shifts resources to better support nuclear, irregular and information warfare.[35] On July 23, 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.
In recent years the USAF has fumbled several high profile aircraft procurement projects, such as the failure to make the case for the Next-Generation Bomber, the failure to control costs on the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor and the decade of failures on the KC-X program. Winslow Wheeler has written that this pattern represents "failures of intellect and -- much more importantly -- ethics."[38]
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 I[39] as Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps
* World War II[39] as 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 Persian 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 (2003–2010 Iraq War)
Humanitarian operations
The USAF has also taken part in numerous humanitarian operations. Some of the more major ones include the following:[40]
* Berlin Airlift (Operation Vittles), 1948-1949
* Operation Safe Haven, 1956-1957
* Operations Babylift, New Life, Frequent Wind, and New Arrivals, 1975
* Operation Provide Comfort, 1991
* Operation Sea Angel, 1991
* Operation Provide Hope, 1992–1993
* Operation Unified Assistance, December 2004 - April 2005
* Operation Unified Response, January 14, 2010–present
Organization
Main articles: Organizational structure and hierarchy of the United States Air Force and Department of the Air Force structure
Administrative organization
The USAF is one of three service departments, and is managed by the civilian Department of the Air Force. Guidance is provided by the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) and the Secretary's staff and advisors. The military leadership is the Air Staff, led by the Chief of Staff.
USAF direct subordinate commands and units are the Field Operating Agency (FOA), Direct Reporting Unit (DRU), and the currently unused Separate Operating Agency.
The Major Command (MAJCOM) is the superior hierarchical level of command. Including the Air Force Reserve Command, as of September 30, 2006, USAF has ten major commands. The Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a level of command directly under the MAJCOM, followed by Operational Command (now unused), Air Division (also now unused), Wing, Group, Squadron, and Flight.
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