The United States Air Force, also known by its initials USAF, or more popularly as the Air Force, was a branch of the military of the United States of America on Earth.
History and specifics
The Air Force was the branch of the military that concentrated mainly on aerospace and related services. Originally, the Air Force was part of the United States Army, when it was known as the United States Army Air Corps. On September 18, 1947, the Air Force was created as a separate branch of the military. The Air Force used its own special rank structure for enlisted personnel, but the officer rank structure was based on that of the U.S. Army.
Roy Ritterhouse's 1953 concept sketch of a futuristic USAF space station inspired Benny Russell to begin writing about Deep Space 9. (DS9 episode & novelization: Far Beyond the Stars)
In the late 1960s, Captain John Christopher served as a fighter pilot in the Air Force. In July 1969, he was dispatched to intercept a large unidentified flying object that appeared over the United States. This object was the USS Enterprise, which had been slingshot nearly 300 years backwards in time. When the Enterprise tried to put a tractor beam on his fighter jet, Bluejay 4, it broke apart under the strain, and Christopher was beamed on board. Captain James T. Kirk and Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu then infiltrated an Air Force base to retrieve the photographs taken by the fighter's cameras. (TOS episode: "Tomorrow is Yesterday")
Unaware of Kirk's plans, Agents Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln, posing as Air Force officers, also infiltrated the same base in order to retrieve evidence of the Enterprise's presence in the past. (TOS - Star Trek: Assignment: Earth comic: "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow")
- USAF markings appeared on a rocket plane in the 1967 version of A Book to Color, third story. The USAF text was removed in the 1975 update of that story, but the Air Force's logo remained.
- See also: United States Armed Forces
Facilities
- Edwards Air Force Base [1], [2], [3]
- Langley Air Force Base [4]
- Luke Air Force Base [1]
- MacDill Air Force Base [1]
- Minot Air Force Base [4]
- Nellis Air Force Base [5]
- Offutt Air Force Base [1]
- Olmstead Air Force Base [1]
- Peterson Air Force Base [4]
- Roswell Air Force Base [1]
- Singleton Air Force Base [6] / Omaha Military Forces Base [7]
- Vandenberg Air Force Base [4]
- Whiteman Air Force Base [1], [4]
- Wright-Patterson Air Force Base [1]
Aircraft classes
Appendices
Connections
| Militaries of Earth | |
|---|---|
| Confederate States of America: | Army |
| Germany: | Luftwaffe • Schutzstaffel |
| United Kingdom: | Air Force • Navy |
| United States of America: | United States Armed Forces (Army • Navy • Army Air Corps • Air Force • Marine Corps) |
| United Earth: | Ground Forces • Navy • Military Assault Command Organization |
References
- TOS episode & Star Trek 2 novelization: Tomorrow is Yesterday
- DS9 episode & novelization: Far Beyond the Stars
- A Book to Color, third story (1967 version)
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 ST novel: From History's Shadow
- ↑ TOS - Strange New Worlds 8 short story: "Assignment: One"
- ↑ Star Trek: The Magazine Issue 9: "The 'Real' Starship Enterprise"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 TNG novel: Hearts and Minds
- ↑ Star Trek: The Experience - The Klingon Encounter
- ↑ TOS - Star Trek: Assignment: Earth comic: "Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow"
- ↑ ST reference: Star Fleet Technical Manual
External links
- United States Air Force article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
- United States Air Force article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.