United States Air Force

United States Air Force. Aim High…Fly, Fight, Win. , Conquest by Air , A fighter ace and Medal of Honor recipient, Captain Edward Vernon Rickenbacker commanded the skies in the U.S. Army Air Service during World War I. Commander of the 9th Squadron, Rickenbacker shot down 26 enemy planes/balloons becoming America's "Ace of Aces" when military aviation was new. , , Strategic air power was a key factor to victory in World War II. Nearly 2.4 million men and women served in the Army Air Forces. They were pilots, bombardiers, gunners, navigators, engineers, radio and radar operators, and many skilled technicians. Factories met the demand for 80,000 combat aircraft. , , The Sky’s No Limit , The modern Air Force was born in 1947 and soon met its first test in a Cold War crisis, Berlin Blockade. For over 15 months the USA delivered nearly two million tons of coal, food, and supplies. At times planes landed every 30 seconds. Thirty-one American airmen gave their lives for Berlin's freedom. , , "Aviation is proof that given the will, we have the capacity to achieve the impossible." , Eddie Rickenbacker , While maintaining its strike force capability the Air Force has embraced technological changes. The space age brought reconnaissance satellites, missile defense systems, and stealth technology. Global cyber security has expanded the Air Force's mission beyond air and space. , (captions) , 1 Eddie Rickenbacker sits in the cockpit of his Nieuport 28. 2 The crew of the Memphis Belle, 1943. The plane was one of the first Army Air Force B - 17 bombers to complete 25 missions with her crew intact. 3 A War Bonds poster featuring a Tuskegee Airman, 1943. The first African-American fighter pilots, the airmen defended bombers in the European Theater. 4 Betty Wall Strohfus, a member of the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP). During World War II, WASPs few military aircraft, in noncombat roles. Strohfus received two Congressional Gold Medals. 5 Eighth Air Force B-17s bombing railroad yards in Donauworth, Germany, 1945. , , 1 U.S. Air Force and Navy aircraft unload at Tempelhof Airport during the Berlin Airlift. 2 U.S. Air Force F-4C. Phantom I fighters refuel from a KC-135A Stratotanker over Vietnam, 1966, 3 An Air Force PJ (Pararescuer) Specialist talks to a U.S. military pilot (left) he helped rescue in southern Iraq, 2003. 4 The B-2 Spirit "Stealth' bomber is a multi-role aircraft capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. 5 A view inside the Global Strategic Warning and Space Surveillance System Center at Cheyenne Mountain Air Force Station, CO. The site provides continuous monitoring of the strategic missile warning systems to ensure a constant flow of information to the Defense Department, the President, and the military. , Courtesy the 303rd Bomb Group (“Hell’s Angels”). Photo by Ed Nored.