The operation that began in the US shortly after the 9/11 terrorist attacks has flown 46,300 sorties as of Aug. 1, according to data from 1st Air Force at Tyndall AFB, Fla. And, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command aircrews have flown the majority of those sorties. (For more about ONE, read “The Years of Noble Eagle.”
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.