The Air Force is a colorful guide to an elite military service that plays a key role in US overseas operations and US foreign policy. The US Air Force is the largest, best- trained and best-equipped air arm in the world today. Deployed in every theatre, it manages everything from intercontinental ballistic missiles to X-37 space planes to A-10 Thunderbolt tank killers. The USAF coordinates military space launches, airdrops of US Army paratroopers and carries out ground-attack missions against ISIS insurgents.
From bases across the world, including in the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany and continental United States, the USAF operates 5,600 aircraft of all types, including F-22 Raptors, F-15 and F-16 fighters. It deploys B-2, B-1 and B-52 strategic bombers, as well as C-5, C-17 and C-130 airlifters. The USAF was the first to fly fifth-generation fighters, and the first to commit to an all-stealth combat aircraft force, in the shape of 1700 F-35 Lightning II multirole combat aircraft.
The book includes photographs from World War I up to the present, with a particular focus on recruitment, weaponry and modern training methods, as well as the USAF on deployment across the globe today. Highly illustrated with more than 200 photographs, The Air Force is a colorful celebration of the world’s most powerful air arm.
Table of Contents:
1. The Modern Air Force
The Air Force has a presence in every part of the globe, offering the United States and its allies air mobility and air support where needed. The USAF is also heavily involved in delivering humanitarian aid to the world’s poor and troubled places.
2. Origins
The embryonic air force, as part of the American Expeditionary Force, played a key role in supporting US ground troops during World War I; In 1920, the Air Service became a branch of the Army and in 1926 was renamed the Army Air Corps.
3. World War II
During World War II, the USAAF developed into the world’s most powerful air force, a position it has maintained until this day. The USAAF’s hundreds of thousands of airmen were crucial in bringing Nazi Germany to its knees with a protracted bombing campaign that destroyed Germany’s industrial base. Aircraft such as the B-17 Flying Fortress, B-25 Mitchell Bomber and P-51 Mustang fighter became legendary as they ruled the skies over Europe and the Pacific.
4. From the Korean War to the Balkans
The US Air Force was a key component of the United States’ and NATO’s military strategy during the period of the Cold War and up to the end of the twentieth century, providing air support in Korea and Vietnam, as well as managing America’s ballistic missile arsenal in the protracted nuclear stand-off with the Soviet Union.
5. Training
United States Air Force Basic Military Training (also known as BMT or boot camp) is an eight-week program of physical and combat training required in order for an individual to become an enlisted Airman in the United States Air Force or member of the United States Space Force.
6. Aircraft
The United States Air Force maintains the largest, most technologically advanced aircraft anywhere in the world. These include the F-35 Lightning II multi-role stealth fighter, Lockheed U-2 high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft, the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber, the F-15E Strike Eagle – perhaps the world’s most effective multirole aircraft – and the Lockheed AC-130 ground attack aircraft.
7. 21st Century Conflicts
In the 21st century, the US Air Force deploys units to such areas as Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kosovo, and Bosnia for ongoing contingency operations. The USAF also provides extensive support to allies in operations throughout the world, such as the 2013 French campaign against guerrilla forces in Mali.
About the Author :
Jason C. Engle is a historian at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, OH.
