Entr 565 the Military Culture

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OVERVIEW        

Although the Department of Defense is not always known as being the most innovative organization, I am choosing the organization I know the most about for this week’s assignment, that being the United States Air Force. The United States Air Force (USAF) was founded after World War II on the 18th of September 1947. While the Army Air Corp (its predecessor) had been around since 1907, the National Security Act of 1947 made the USAF a separate branch of service from the Army, Navy and Marine Corp.

        World War II placed the need for a superior Air Force at the forefront of defense priorities. General William “Billy” Mitchell and General Henry “Hap” Arnold are often considered the fathers or creators of the Air Force. These Generals along with other leaders (both military and congressional) saw a need for creating a separate branch of service whose sole focus was air and space. Being a branch of government under the Department of Defense, the Air Force does not possess an ownership structure. The sole purpose of the Air Force is to defend the United States citizens from foreign and domestic threats in air, space and cyberspace.

        After its founding, the Air Force grew rapidly due to the escalation of forces from the Cold War. The Air Force took on two of the three roles of the nuclear triad, assuming the responsibility for Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBMs) and nuclear bombardment. The structure of the Air Force is arranged based on two main functional areas, geographic and functional. There are essential geographic command areas such as Pacific Air Forces (PACAF) and US Air Forces Europe (USAFE). If a unit is not in a geographic command, then they are in a functional command. A few examples of this are Air Combat Command (ACC) which consists of fighter and attack aircraft or Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) which consists of special ops aircraft and air commandos. These commands are large and are each responsible for tens of thousands of airmen. Furthermore, there are thousands of government civilians in a single command as well.

        Within each command units follow a simple hierarchical structure. It starts with the command and then identifies Numbered Air Forces (NAFs) within that command. Within each NAF there are several wings (similar to a brigade in the army). Each wing has a few functional groups like a maintenance group that repairs the aircraft and an operations group that fly the missions. Within each group there are several squadrons that are the principle unit for spearheading the actual mission of the Air Force.

        As the United States is currently involved in several conflicts around the globe the Air Force is an integral part in fighting wars. While the Air Force’s mission is to protect and defend the United States we are also often used as a humanitarian force as well. My former units deployed to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina as well as Haiti after the 2010 earthquake. While our mission statement and core values are set in stone the way the Air Force is used is at the discretion of the President and Congress.