Page 4 - Luke AFB Thunderbolt, Sept. 1 2017

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National Security Act births AF
With the stroke of a pen, President Har- ry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 on Sept. 18, 1947.
The Act created the National Military Establishment – later renamed the De- partment of Defense – and created the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of the U.S. military.
The signing began a three-year transi- tion period in which soldiers became air- men and army air fields became air force bases.
Before that, the responsibility for mili- tary aviation was divided between the U.S. Army for land-based operations and the U.S. Navy for sea-based operations.
And while we celebrate the 70th anni- versary of the creation of the U.S. Air Force on Sept. 18, the history of U.S. military aviation can be traced back to 1907, when the U.S. Army created the Aeronautical Division, Signal Corps.
World War I and between wars
In 1917, upon the United States’ entry into World War I, the first major U.S. avia- tion combat force was created when an Air Service was formed as part of the American
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Expeditionary Force. Maj. Gen. Mason Pat- rick commanded the Air Service of the AEF; his deputy was Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell.
These aviation units, some of which were trained in France, provided tactical sup- port for the U.S. Army, especially during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse- Argonne offensives.
Concurrent with the creation of this combat force, the U.S. Army’s aviation establishment in the United States was removed from control of the Signal Corps and placed directly under the United States Secretary of War. An as- sistant secretary was created to direct the Army Air Service, which had dual responsibilities for development and procurement of aircraft, and raising and training of air units. With the end of the First World War, the AEF’s Air Service was dissolved and the Army Air Service
in the United States largely demobilized.
Courtesy photo
With the stroke of a pen, President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947 on Sept. 18, 1947.
Courtesy photo
A C-54 lands at Templehof during Berlin Airlift. Pierced steel runway matting could not stand up to the heavy usage and an improved runway had to be built.
In 1920, the Air Service became a branch of the Army and in 1926 was renamed the Army Air Corps. During this period, the Air Corps began experimenting with new techniques, including air-to-air refueling and the development of the B-9 and the Martin B-10, the first all-metal monoplane bombers, and new fighters.
Technology
During World War I, aviation technology developed rapidly; however, the Army’s re- luctance to use the new technology began to make airmen think that as long as the Army controlled aviation, development would be stunted and a potentially valuable
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