by In one of those weirdly appropriate coincidences, today is both the birthday of the US Air Force and the Complementary Spouse. I say appropriate because the Complementary Spouse’s father was an Air Force captain serving as a weather officer when she was born.
The US Air Force was “born” on September 18, 1947 with the implementation of the National Security Act of 1947. This act was a major restructuring of the nation’s military post-WWII. It created the Department of Defense, established the Department of the Air Force as a sub-department, created the Central Intelligence Agency, and established the National Security Council. The Army Air Forces became the United States Air Force.
As a side note, retired Air Force Lt. Col. Dick Cole, the last of the Doolittle Raiders, passed away this April. He had served as Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot in the No. 1 B-25 bomber. He was 103.
So best wishes and a big thank you to all who served in the USAF on this the Air Force’s 72nd birthday.
In the good natured ribbing that goes on between the branches of the military, we Zombies (Army) refer to the fly boys as the “Air Farce”.
Happy Birthday in the Wild Blue Yonder