Our roots

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Sarah Hall-Kirchner
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  "I am faithful to a proud heritage, a tradition of honor, and a legacy of valor," is a line that resonates in the voices of American Airmen as they recite the Airman's Creed.

This proud heritage, which the U.S. Air Force was built upon, began long before 2007, when the Airman's Creed was written.

Long before the first controlled, powered and sustained flight in Dec. 1903, air services in the U.S. military first recorded a successful balloon reconnaissance mission in 1861.

In 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps added an Aeronautical Division and received its first airplane in 1909.

Early Army Airmen experimented with various aircraft from then on and formed the first operational unit, the 1st Aero Squadron, in Dec. 1913.

Just before World War I began, in July 1914, the Aeronautical Division of the Army became the Aviation Section of the Signal Corps with hopes to improve America's flying capabilities.

The United States entered WWI in April 1917 and found that other nations had engineered far superior aircraft. During WWI, many Airmen fought in Europe as distinguished pilots, but had to fly in aircraft belonging to other nations.

Driven to catch up to European nations in aviation technology, President Woodrow Wilson created the Army Air Service in May 1918 under the War Department.

When armistice was reached just six months later and WWI ended, there were more than 19,000 officers and 178,000 enlisted men in the Air Service which had turned out 11,754 aircraft.

After the war, most of the personnel and planes assigned to the Air Service were taken away due to demobilization. The size of the force decreased dramatically to around 30,000 personnel and around 2,000 aircraft.

The Army kept the Air Service as a combat arm under the Army Reorganization Act of 1920 and changed its name, once again, in 1926 to the Army Air Corps.

As the threat of the United States entering World War II loomed, the Department of War established two separate air services. One, the Army Air Forces, became an aviation element equal to the Army Ground Forces on June 20, 1941. The other, the Air Corps, remained a combat arm to the Army.

After the attack on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese on December 7, 1941, the United States entered WWII and the Army Air Forces expanded quickly. The AAF's inventory included training, transport, pursuit, attack, reconnaissance and bomber aircraft.

By the end of WWII, Army Air Forces units dominated the skies over the Axis powers and stopped their war economies in their tracks.

The war was won by air and ground power, but air power made it possible for the allies' total victory over the Axis powers.

Our air superiority was proven outright in August 1945 when two B-29s dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

Just as after WWI, the military was demobilized and made smaller after WWII; however, because the Army Air Forces and the Army Air Corps had proven their worth through wartime achievements and future potential, the U.S. Air Force won its independence as a branch of the armed forces on September 18, 1947.

As the Air Force grew, the branch began to focus on science and technology, along with air power, with a Research and Development program.

Over time, the Air Force has developed modernized aircraft and weapons systems, as well as expanding its role in air, space and cyberspace.

Without the past, from our roots in reconnaissance and observation during the Civil and Spanish-American Wars in hot-air balloons, innovations, like the F-22 Raptor, may not have been possible.

Today's Air Force has a vision of adapting with the times in technology and infrastructure so that it can be more influential and effective than ever before.

The mission of the United States Air Force is to fly, fight, and win ... in air, space, and cyberspace. The vision of Global Vigilance, Reach, and Power, hopes to help the organization achieve its mission.

The Air Force relies on every member's commitment to three values: Integrity first, Service before self, and Excellence in all we do.

New Airmen are expected to learn the Airman's Creed at basic military training to instill the values of the warrior's ethos into the Air Force of tomorrow:

I am an American Airman.
I am a warrior.
I have answered my nation's call.

I am an American Airman.
My mission is to fly, fight and win.
I am faithful to a proud heritage,
A tradition of honor,
And a legacy of valor.

I am an American Airman.
Guardian of Freedom and Justice,
My Nation's sword and shield,
Its sentry and avenger.
I defend my country with my life.

I am an American Airman:
Wingman, leader, warrior.
I will never leave an Airman behind,
I will never falter,
And I will not fail.