Air Force, United States Department of the definition of Air Force, United States Department of the in the Free Online Encyclopedia.

Air Force, United States Department of the, military department within the U.S. Dept. of Defense (see Defense, United States Department of Defense, United States Department of, executive department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government relating directly to national security and military affairs.
..... Click the link for more information. ). The Air Force traces its roots to the founding of the Aeronautical Division of the Army Signal Corps (1907), variously renamed before becoming a separate service under the National Security Act of 1947. In 1949 the National Security Act Amendments made the Air Force a military department within the newly organized Department of Defense. The chain of command goes directly from the President to the Secretary of Defense to the Secretary of the Air Force. The Air Force played an important role in World War I (see William Mitchell Mitchell, William (Billy Mitchell), 1879–1936, American army officer and pilot, b. Nice, France. He enlisted (1898) in the U.S. army in the Spanish-American War and received a commission in the regular army in 1901, serving with the signal corps.
..... Click the link for more information. ; Eddie Rickenbacker Rickenbacker, Edward Vernon, 1890–1973, American war hero and airline executive, b. Columbus, Ohio. He became a car racing driver at 16 and set numerous speed records. In World War I he volunteered for the air service and became the leading U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. ) and World War II (see H. H. Arnold Arnold, Henry Harley, 1886–1950, American general, chief of the U.S. Army Air Forces (1942–46), known as "Hap" Arnold, B. Gladwyne, Pa., grad. West Point, 1907.
..... Click the link for more information. ; atomic bomb atomic bomb or A-bomb, weapon deriving its explosive force from the release of atomic energy through the fission (splitting) of heavy nuclei (see nuclear energy ). The first atomic bomb was produced at the Los Alamos, N.Mex.
..... Click the link for more information. ; James Harold Doolittle Doolittle, James Harold, 1896–1993, American aviator, b. Alameda, Calif. After serving in World War I as a flier he returned to school and earned a Sc.D. from MIT.
..... Click the link for more information. ). After World War II, the Air Force quickly grew in importance, becoming the cornerstone of President Eisenhower Eisenhower, Dwight David (ī`zənhou'ər), 1890–1969, American general and 34th President of the United States, b.
..... Click the link for more information. 's defense policy. The Air Force played a major part in the Korean War Korean War, conflict between Communist and non-Communist forces in Korea from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. At the end of World War II, Korea was divided at the 38th parallel into Soviet (North Korean) and U.S. (South Korean) zones of occupation.
..... Click the link for more information. , the Vietnam War Vietnam War, conflict in Southeast Asia, primarily fought in South Vietnam between government forces aided by the United States and guerrilla forces aided by North Vietnam.
..... Click the link for more information. , and numerous cold war cold war, term used to describe the shifting struggle for power and prestige between the Western powers and the Communist bloc from the end of World War II until 1989.
..... Click the link for more information. confrontations (see Berlin airlift Berlin airlift, 1948–49, supply of vital necessities to West Berlin by air transport primarily under U.S. auspices. It was initiated in response to a land and water blockade of the city that had been instituted by the Soviet Union in the hope that the Allies
..... Click the link for more information. , Cuban Missile Crisis Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962, major cold war confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union. After the Bay of Pigs Invasion , the USSR increased its support of Fidel Castro's Cuban regime, and in the summer of 1962, Nikita Khrushchev secretly decided to
..... Click the link for more information. ). Its control of long-range, land-based guided missiles guided missile, self-propelled, unmanned space or air vehicle carrying an explosive warhead. Its path can be adjusted during flight, either by automatic self-contained controls or remote human control.
..... Click the link for more information. and the strategic bombers gives the Air Force monopolies on two major components of U.S. nuclear strategy nuclear strategy, a policy for the use of nuclear weapons . The first atomic bombs were used in the context of the Allies' World War II policy of strategic bombing. Early in the cold war , U.S.
..... Click the link for more information. . It has the leading role in the military exploration of space and uses aircraft and satellites satellite, artificial, object constructed by humans and placed in orbit around the earth or other celestial body (see also space probe ). The satellite is lifted from the earth's surface by a rocket and, once placed in orbit, maintains its motion without further
..... Click the link for more information. to collect photo, video, and signal intelligence.

Bibliography

See L. Kennett, A History of Strategic Bombing (1982); M. Sherry, The Rise of American Air Power (1987); W. J. Boyne, Beyond the Wild Blue (1997).