The history of powered flight pioneered by the Wright Brothers 100 years ago at Kitty Hawk spawned a new era for the world. In little more than half of that Century of Flight, in less than a lifetime, America has witnessed the development of the finest air and space force in the world.
America’s Air Force was forged in the skies of World War I and tempered in the fire of conflict during World War II under the War Department. Congress chartered the Air Force as a separate service in 1947 and its evolution continued during the Korean War and Vietnam conflict.
Today, the importance of air and space is even more crucial, and your Air Force is leading the way to meet every new challenge. The successes of such operations as Desert Storm, Allied Force in Kosovo, Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraqi Freedom, confirm that dominating air and space can ensure victory over our adversaries.

Today’s Airmen routinely operate in a vast expanse of air and space the Wrights and other early pioneers only dreamed of. About two-thirds of our uniformed people serve full-time on active duty while one third work through the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard.
The Air Force of the 21st Century relies far more on its Reserve components than the other services. For example, the Air National Guard shoulders over half of the total tactical airlift mission, which air drops supplies and troops to locations around the world. The Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve together perform more of the aerial refueling mission than the active force. On airfields all over the world the active, Reserve and Guard forces work seamlessly side by side every day.

These challenges encourage innovation and adaptation in the realms of air, space and cyberspace. Every day we ask: What works? What doesn’t work? How can we adapt and become better? Over time, experiments and innovation lead to dramatic improvements – often a transformation.
Many fruits of transformation are being seen in new equipment and new ways to use our existing equipment and weapons in operations around the globe. From the Wright Flyer to the F/A-22 Raptor fighter jet, America continues to pioneer cutting-edge technology, and its Airmen remain champions of innovation.

Another fundamental change is taking place in how we fight and conduct deployed operations. America’s Air Force, our sister services and our coalition partners operate today as members of a joint US and coalition military team each presenting specific capabilities to an overall combatant commander. The Air Force also has the lead role in becoming the eyes and ears of the war fighter, presenting and processing information for the entire team in unprecedented ways. We continue to develop tools to jointly project air and space power anywhere in the world.