From the NFRW Armed Services Committee
By Christine Benedict, New York
From their inception 75 years ago, the U.S. Air Force and Department of the Air Force have excelled at keeping pace with rapid changes in technology and in the demands placed on the Air Force’s five core missions: air superiority; global strike; rapid global mobility; intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance; and command and control.
Innovation, fueled by Airmen, is their heritage. Airmen continue to push technological and cultural boundaries that make America the leader in airpower and space power. Innovation is an integral part of how they train and employ their squadrons, develop their capabilities, and continue to move toward an even more effective Air Force.
They are the world’s greatest Air Force because of those who have gone before them, particularly those who weren’t afraid to break barriers. Empowered Airmen is the competitive edge they have over their adversaries and the reason they are the world’s greatest Air Force.
There is a long list of military firsts that have emerged from Air Force investments, from stealth aircraft nearly invisible to radar, to precision-guided munitions that can strike targets with surgical accuracy while minimizing risk to civilians. The next generation of hypersonic weapons, capable of flying more than five times the speed of sound, owe their existence to a legacy of Air Force research investments stretching back to the 1950s.
There are enduring lessons to be drawn from the Air Force’s origin story and deliberate focus on research. In an age when there is unfortunate public skepticism about the value of government-led projects, the return on investment has been profound. The first American astronauts to orbit the Earth did so on Air Force rockets – more fitting, because many of NASA’s astronauts have come from the USAF, including the only women to have commanded Shuttle missions, Colonels Eileen Collins and current NASA Deputy Administrator Pamela Melroy.
Happy Birthday to the U.S. Air Force!