The U.S.Air Force

Thursday, June 1, 2017

 

• A Congressional Bill in 1947 birthed quadruplets: the branch of the military known as the Air Force was separated from the Army and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the National Security Council, and the Central Intelligence Agency were born together.
• Before the Air Force goes into an area, they send a special ops weather team to asses the environment. These "meteorologists" are trained to parachute, climb mountains, navigate through jungles, and use explosives. 
• Air Force One isn't the name of an aircraft. It is the designation for whichever aircraft is carrying the President.
• An "ace" is a pilot who has shot down 5 or more enemy aircraft. Joseph McConnell holds the record for the Air Force as a triple ace, having shot down 16 MiG fighters during the Korean War. And his record still stands.

 

• Presidents Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush served in the Air Force.
• It was Air Force Captain Chuck Yeager who first broke the sound barrier in 1947.
• The Air Force has an official band.
• The Air Force used scientific information from the flight of a bumble bee to create the F-117 fighter.
• Actor Jimmy Stewart flew in the Air Force. In fact, he rose to the rank of Brigadier General.
• Chuck Norris, Johnny Cash, George Carlin, Willie Nelson, Morgan Freeman, and Hunter S. Thompson are a few celebrities who were in the Air Force.

When I was in the U.S.O. in 1977 and in 1979, our band flew in several aircraft -- not that they were all Air Force. We flew in a "regular" helicopter (it looked a bit like the MH-6 Little Bird) and a chinook. We landed in Okinawa in a C-130 cargo plane. And there was a strange little transport plane in the Caribbean that had wings above the windows and pontoons. I remember being so thrilled to fly in something new -- and getting so motion sick in the process! It was so much fun!

Lord, it is so amazing to see all the many flying machines we have come up with over the years. Thank you for giving people the intelligence and creativity to devise them all. And for using the people and their birds to defend our country from the sky.