United States Air Force

I

Introduction

United States Air Force, the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for conducting military operations in air and space. The United States Air Force was formed from the Army Air Corps in 1947. The Air Force plays a critical role in the defense of the United States through control of air and space. The Air Force deploys aircraft to fight enemy aircraft, bomb enemy targets, provide reconnaissance, and transport soldiers for the other armed services. The Air Force also maintains most of the country’s nuclear forces, including a fleet of strategic bombers that carry nuclear weapons and land-based nuclear missiles. In addition, the Air Force launches and maintains a wide variety of military satellites.

There are approximately 368,000 airmen (the term for both men and women soldiers) in the U.S. Air Force, including about 4,000 cadets at the United States Air Force Academy near Colorado Springs, Colorado. About one of every five members of the Air Force is an officer. There are more than 150,000 civilians working for the Department of the Air Force, with another 181,000 Air Reserve and Air National Guard personnel.

II

Organization

The U.S. Air Force is under the control of the United States Department of the Air Force, which is led by the secretary of the air force, a civilian. Within the Air Force there are nine major commands, organized on a functional basis in the United States and by geographic location overseas. Each major command is led by a four-star general and is comprised of numbered air forces (NAFs), which in turn are made up of air divisions (ADs), and two nonnumbered air forces, which are based overseas.

The organization of operational Air Force units beneath each command varies widely, depending on the type of squadron (combat, air transport, or maintenance), aircraft, and mission. The squadron is the basic organizational unit. The number of aircraft in a squadron depends on the squadron’s purpose. There are generally 10 to 20 aircraft in a bomber squadron, 18 to 24 in a fighter squadron, and 8 to 16 in a transport squadron. Four or more squadrons form a wing, which usually includes separate operations, logistics, and support groups. Two or more wings form a division, and two or more divisions make a numbered air force.

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Almost the entire Air Force—active force, reserve force, and air national guard—is divided into ten Aerospace Expeditionary Forces (AEFs). Each AEF is on call (ready for immediate deployment) for 90 days every 15 months, and at least two of the ten AEFs are on call at any one time. Each AEF, with 10,000 to 15,000 personnel, consists of about 90 multirole fighter and bomber aircraft, 31 refueling aircraft, and 13 aircraft for missions involving surveillance (systematically observing people, places, or things), reconnaissance (missions specifically intended to obtain information about an enemy), and electronic warfare (the use of special electronics to jam enemy communications and to cloak U.S. forces from detection by the enemy).

III

Aircraft and Weapons

Two fighters—the F-15 Eagle and F-16 Fighting Falcon—make up the backbone of the U.S. Air Force’s attack force. The Air Force uses modified versions of these planes to maintain control of the air by attacking and destroying enemy fighters and enemy antiaircraft capabilities, and for ground attack duties. The Air Force also has a much smaller number of the F-117 Nighthawk stealth fighters, designed to elude enemy radar and air defenses. The Air Force assigns its top pilots to fly its fighters. The Air Force is overseeing the development of a new airplane, the F-22, to replace the F-15 and F-16. The F-22 was expected to perform both air superiority and ground attack missions and was scheduled to begin replacing the F-15 and F-16 in 2005. See also Fighter Aircraft.

The Air Force maintains a fleet of about 180 long-range bombers. Eighty-five of the bombers are the aging H model of the B-52 Stratofortress, a plane first introduced in 1961. The Air Force also has 75 of the more modern B-1 Lancer and 21 of the B-2 Spirit stealth bomber. Air Force bombers can carry nuclear or conventional air-launched cruise missiles (ALCM) and a wide variety of other weapons, such as the Joint Direct Attack Munition (JDAM), a satellite-guided precision bomb. See Bomber Aircraft; Smart Bomb; Bomb.

The Air Force has a large fleet of planes for strategic airlift (carrying troops, equipment, and supplies thousands of kilometers without landing or refueling). The newest strategic airlift plane is the C-17 Globemaster, which can carry about 70,000 kg (about 160,000 lb). In 2004 the Air Force had 120 of these planes and planned to expand the fleet to 180 C-17s. The Air Force also maintains a fleet of about 50 C-5 Galaxies, which can carry more than 90,000 kg (about 200,000 lb) of cargo, and about 80 C-141 Starlifters, which can carry about 30,900 kg (about 68,100 lb) or 200 passengers. The Starlifter can also be reconfigured to carry more than 100 wounded soldiers. For carrying cargo and troops shorter distances, the Air Force relies primarily on the C-130 Hercules, which can carry a cargo of about 20,000 kg (about 44,000 lb) over a distance of more than 3,600 km (more than 2,200 mi).

The Air Force also has deployed and begun to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). The Predator UAV can linger over a designated geographic area for many hours to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance, and to direct other forces to strike targets; it also can carry the Hellfire laser-guided precision missile. The larger Global Hawk UAV can fly higher and longer than the Predator and cover more territory.

The Air Force maintains a large arsenal of nuclear-tipped intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). About 500 of the missiles in this inventory are LGM-30 Minuteman missiles, which can carry up to three warheads (the explosive core of a missile). When fully armed with three warheads, the Minuteman has a total destructive force of about 1 megaton (the equivalent of 1 million U.S. tons of TNT) and is more than 60 times as powerful as the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan, in 1945. The Air Force also has about 50 LGM-118 Peacekeeper (MX missiles), which can carry up to ten warheads, with a total destructive force of about 3 megatons. Under the START II (second Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty) arms control agreement of 1993, the United States was required to arm the Minuteman with only one 300-kiloton warhead per missile—equal to about 300,000 U.S. tons of TNT. The treaty also required the United States to retire the Peacekeeper (MX missile) system completely by 2004. The U.S. Senate ratified START II in 1996, but the Russian Duma (national legislature) did not approve the treaty. In 2002 the United States and the Russian Federation agreed to the Strategic Offensive Reduction Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Moscow, which requires a reduction in the number of deployed strategic nuclear weapons on each side from about 6,000 each to a level between 1,700 and 2,200 weapons each by 2012. See also Strategic Arms Limitation Talks.

IV

Strategic Importance

The official mission of the United States Air Force is “to defend the United States through control and exploitation of air and space” as part of the nation’s joint military capabilities, which also include the U.S. Army, Navy, and Marines. To fulfill that mission, the Air Force operates systems in the air, in space, and on the ground. The Air Force has modified its strategy of defense through the years and is evolving from an “air and space” force to one placing more emphasis on space-based operations. In addition to its core role of controlling the skies over combat zones and bombing enemy targets, the Air Force has a vital role in transporting American forces to conflicts. The other armed forces, particularly the Army, depend on this airlift capability to get soldiers and equipment into battle quickly, giving the United States an edge over the fighting forces of many other countries.

Another key role for the Air Force is strategic nuclear deterrence. The Air Force maintains bomb wings and missile wings that are capable of delivering nuclear weapons anywhere in the world. The Air Force controls about 60 percent of the nation's nuclear force, with the rest controlled by the Navy.

To protect America’s borders, the Air Force also keeps fighter-interceptors assigned to home defense commands in both the active-duty and Air National Guard forces. The Air Force's role in deterrence and national defense extends far beyond America's borders, however. There are about 60,000 airmen serving in every corner of the world; slightly over half of them serve in Europe. The largest European bases fall under the command of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), one of the Air Force’s two nonnumbered air forces. The air force bases (AFB) under USAFE are Ramstein and Spangdahlem AFB in Germany; İncirlik AFB in Turkey; Royal Air Force (RAF) Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, in England; and Aviano AFB in Italy. In Asia, the United States maintains two bases in South Korea, three in Japan, and one on the island of Guam. All of these, as well as bases in Alaska, belong to Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), the Air Force’s second nonnumbered air force. In the Persian Gulf region the Air Force has major bases at Al Jabar in Kuwait and at Prince Sultan air base in Saudi Arabia.

Most of these bases were established during the Cold War, a period after World War II (1939-1945) in which the United States and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) vied for global dominance. The end of the Cold War in 1991 left the United States as the only military and economic superpower, and the Air Force continues to maintain many of its Cold War-era bases as a means of ensuring U.S. military dominance. In addition to their strategic value, the bases make it much easier for the Air Force to conduct humanitarian relief operations, peacekeeping and deterrent missions, drug smuggling interception, and other operations with U.S. allies.

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