Air Force & Space Force Almanac 2022

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

A comprehensive look at the Air Force and the Space Force, including people, equipment, budget, weapons systems, and more.

This Almanac was compiled by Amanda Miller, Aaron M.U. Church, and the staff of Air Force Magazine. We especially acknowledge the help of the Secretary of the Air Force Office of Public Affairs, Air Staff agencies, major commands, and reserve components in bringing up to date the comparable data from last year’s Almanac—The Editors.

Structure
DAF Personnel
DOD Personnel
Pay
Insignia of the Armed Forces
Awards and Decorations
Spending
Aircraft Inventory
U.S. Space Force
USAF Major Commands and Reserve Components
FOAS/DRUS/Civil Air Patrol
Wings
Leaders
Installations
Weapons & Platforms
Glossary

Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org

Air

Air & Space Forces Association

Missile Warning & Defense

Air Force Bringing Back William Tell Weapons Meet in March

Jan. 23, 2026

Air Combat Command will hold its distinguished William Tell Air-to-Air Weapons competition in March after it was postponed last year.

Congress Trims USAF’s Nuclear Spending in ’26 Spending Package

Jan. 23, 2026

Congress moved one step closer to passing a defense budget and avoiding another government shutdown Jan. 22 as the House passed a mammoth appropriations package. The spending package includes cuts in funding for the B-21 Raider bomber and the LRSO missile.

Golden Dome Czar Charts Two-Year Plan Focused on Command and Control, Interceptors

Jan. 23, 2026

The Pentagon’s Golden Dome Director said Jan. 23 his top priorities for the advanced homeland missile defense shield over the next two years are establishing a baseline command-and-control capability and integrating interceptors into that system.

Joint Force Air Component Commanders: Demand More of Our Cyber Forces

Jan. 23, 2026

In the U.S. military, cyber capability is undeniably important to joint warfighting, but cyber is still not fully recognized as a warfighting domain, co-equal to land, sea, air, and space. It isn’t because it’s not. But the day will come when the cyber domain becomes a co-equal domain and requires…

Vice Chief: Space Force Should Be Thinking About Cislunar ‘a Lot Right Now’

Jan. 22, 2026

The Space Force’s small size has limited its capacity to consider what role it will play in future operations on and around the moon. That needs to change, according to Vice Chief of Operations Gen. Shawn Bratton.

Coming Soon to Air Force Basic Training: Mock Airfields Complete with F-16, C-130s

Jan. 22, 2026

Second Air Force officials plan to inject more realism in Basic Military Training this year by building two mock airfields where Airmen will get hands-on training with real combat aircraft.

New ‘Bridge’ Air Force One from Qatar to Fly This Summer

Jan. 22, 2026

The Air Force has a name and expected delivery date for the Boeing 747 gifted by Qatar to the United States for presidential airlift: the “VC-25 bridge aircraft” now has an anticipated delivery no later than summer 2026.

SDA Awards First Contract to Take Old Satellites out of Orbit

Jan. 21, 2026

The Space Development Agency wants to launch hundreds of satellites into low-Earth orbit over the next few years—and thanks to a new contract, it now has a way to get rid of some when their service life is over.

Space Force Activates SOUTHCOM Component

Jan. 21, 2026

The Space Force celebrated the activation of its component under U.S. Southern Command in a Jan. 21 ceremony—though it did reveal the organization became operational Dec. 1, 2025, presumably meaning it contributed to Operation Absolute Resolve, the mission to capture Venezuelan president Nicolás Maduro and take him to the U.S. for trial.

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