The United States Air Force is still fairly young. The idea of an air force in general is still fairly new to the world.
It was not until the end of World War I that the United States decided to begin to develop their air force. Previous to that war other countries had begun to develop their air force, but they had not really decided to develop it.
As a result, the United States was not as effectively helpful to the Allied Forces upon entry as all involved would have like. However, America quickly built up their forces and the Allies won.
By the September of 1939, Adolf Hitler had invaded Poland and World War II started. At the beginning of World War II, the United States Air Corps only had 26,000 personnel and 2,000 planes in its ranks.
However, with the prospect of war, the United States quickly decided to work on increasing these numbers. By the 20th of June in 1941, the Departments of War officially created the Army Air Forces (AAF).
Right after this the Department of War made the Army Ground Forces as well. The Air Corps remained despite this new development and was used frequently.
Growth in both of these branches, the Air Corps and the Army Air Forces, continued steadily, but slowly. Then, The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on December 9, 1941.
This decimated the United States' tiny air force. Construction of planes grew very rapidly under the leadership of General Henry H. Arnold.
This was partly due to the fact that the United States had decided to enter the war after the Pearl Harbor attack. The Army Air Forces was given the majority of the task of developing and construction new planes quickly and rebuilding the aviation industry.
Their goal and task was to build the biggest air armada the world had yet seen. This armada was to include planes built for training, transport, pursuit, attack, reconnaissance and bombing.
During this time the C-47 Skytrain, the P-51 Mustang, the B-17 Flying Fortress, and the B-29 Superfortress were are designed and developed. It was not long before the Army Air Forces had 80,000 planes and 2.4 million employees under its command.
Its personnel were effectively divided into major commands, numbered air forces, air divisions, groups and squadrons. These planes and personnel were crucial to the fight all over the world and in a variety of different circumstances and environments.
American planes visited every part of the world and have fought in most of it as well. By the end of World War II, the American planes dominated the air field above Japan and Germany.
These planes were crucial to hindering and stopping these countries' war economies. While airplanes were not responsible for winning the war, they did make the win over Germany and Japan possible.
This was especially demonstrated when it was decided that two B-29s should drop the two atomic bombs on Japan in August of 1945. These two bombs, Nagasaki and Hiroshima, devastated Japan and brought the war to an end.
Right at the end of the war, the United States immediately began to demobilize its army. After reviewing the critical role that the Air Force had played in winning the war, it was decided that the Air Force should become an official and separate branch of war organizations with the Army and Navy.
This was declared on the 18th of September in 1947. Stuart Symington was the first Secretary of the Air Force with General Carl A. Spaatz as the Chief of Staff.
This allowed the Air Force to enjoy the benefits the Army received from the government in equipment, food, and so forth.
However, the food was less than desirable by many in the Army at the time. The MRE's that were distributed were often dubbed with nicknames such as "Mr. E", "Meals Rejected by Everyone", "Meals, Rarely Edible", "Meals Rejected by the Enemy", "Materials Resembling Edibles", and even "Meals Rejected by Ethiopians."
Since that time the MRE's have been improved and are much more edible. Some even come with heating supplies.
A month after the official declaration of status with the Army and Navy on October 14, 1947, the first plane to fly faster than the speed of sound took off. Its pilot was Chuck Yeagar.
He flew a Bell XS-1, which lead the way to a whole new type of planes. Supersonic planes are primary elements of the Air Force today.
Author Resource:-
Tommy Greene is an accomplished expert in in military history and family preparedness and has been giving seminars for over 15 years. He recommends that everyone haveMRE Meals in their emergency food storage.
Contact Info:
Tommy Greene
TommyGreene09@gmail.com
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