U.S. Air Force Birthday, 1947

On August 1, 1907, the US Army Signal Corps established a small Aeronautical Division to take “charge of all matters pertaining to military ballooning, air machines, and all kindred subjects”, just 4 years after the Wright Brothers’ first flight.

Between 1909 and 1947, the U.S. Air Force did not exist as a separate and independent military service organization. It went through a series of designations: Aeronautical Section, Signal Corps (1909); Aviation Section, Signal Corps (1914); United States Army Air Service (1918); United States Army Air Corps (1926), and United States Army Air Forces (1941).

President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act on July 26, 1947, onboard the Presidential aircraft, a Douglas VC-54C named “Sacred Cow” which set the wheels in motion for the creation of a separate Air Force. The USAF became a separate service branch on Sept. 18, 1947, seven weeks later.