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{{USAF infobox| image =F22A Raptor.jpg| fighters =1869| aircraft =3704| icbms =450| satellites =32| officers =64,580 (2009)| enlisted =261,273 (2009)| reserves = | cadets = | civilians =162,132 (2009)| ocs =United States Air Force Academy<br/>Colorado Springs, Colorado| bootcamp =Lackland Air Force Base<br/>San Antonio, Texas| secaf =Michael B. Donley | staff =General Norton A. Schwartz| vstaff =General Carrol H. Chandler| cmsaf =CMSAF James A. Roy }}The '''United States Air Force''' (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the [[United States]] armed forces. The USAF In general terms, the Air Force's role is mandated to defend the United States prepare and protect its interests through air train, and space power. Previously part of the [[United States Army]]when needed, fight the USAF was formed as a separate branch aerial aspects of the any military on September 18, 1947conflict the U.S. becomes involved in.
The USAF U.S. Air Force vision statement is the largest and the most technologically advanced air force in the world: "Global Vigilance, with about 6057 manned aircraft in service (4Reach,273 USAF; 1,313 Air National Guard; and 400 Power." The Air Force Reserve); approximately 160 Unmanned Combat Air Vehiclesmotto is "Integrity first, 2161 Air-Launched Cruise Missilesservice before self, and 1900 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles; and as of September 30, 2005, had 351,800 personnel on active duty, 122,750 excellence in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 106,800 in the Air National Guard. An additional 14,000 personnel were in the Standby Reserve and the Air Force employed 166,730 civilian personnelall we do."
Not all of the United States' military combat aircraft are operated by the USAF. The United States Army operates its own helicopters, mostly for support of ground combatants. The [[United States Navy|Navy]] is responsible for the aircraft operating on its aircraft carriers and Naval air stations, and the Marine Corps operates its own combat and transport aircraft. The [[United States Coast Guard|Coast Guard]] also maintains transport and search-and-rescue aircraft, which may be used in a combat and law enforcement role. All branches of the U.S. military operate helicopters.
The Air Force is managed by the [[Department of the Air Force ]] which is headed by the Secretary of the Air Force who heads administrative affairs. The Department of the Air Force is a division of the United States Department of Defense which is headed by the United States Secretary of Defense. The highest ranking military officer in the department is the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"!colspan=11| '''General Officers'''|- align=center|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"!'''Pay grade'''||O-11||O-10||0-9||O-8||O-7|- align=center||'''Rank insignia'''|| [[File:GENAIRFORCE.jpg|80px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer10.jpg|80px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer9.jpg|80px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer8.jpg|80px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer7.jpg|60px]]|- align=center||'''Title'''||'''General of the Air Force'''||'''General'''||'''Lieutenant General'''||'''Major General'''||'''Brigadier General'''|-|- align=center|-|colspan=5||} {| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"!colspan=11| '''Commissioned Officers'''|- align=center|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"!'''Pay grade'''||O-6||O-5||O-4||O-3||O-2||O-1 |- align=center||Insignia|| [[Image:DODOfficer6.JPG|90px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer5.JPG|60px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer4.JPG|60px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer3.JPG|60px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer2.JPG|30px]]|| [[Image:DODOfficer1.JPG|30px]] |- align=center||'''Title'''||'''Colonel'''||'''Lieutenant Colonel'''||'''Major'''||'''Captain'''||'''1st Lieutenant'''||'''2nd Lieutenant'''|- align=center|-|colspan=5||} ----{| style="border:1px solid #8888aa; background-color:#f7f8ff; padding:5px; font-size:95%; margin: 0px 12px 12px 0px;"|- bgcolor="#CCCCCC"!'''Pay grade'''||colspan=4|E-9||colspan=2|E-8||colspan=2|E-7||E-6||E-5||E-4||E-3||E-2||E-1|- align=center||Insignia|| [[Image:E9d USAF CMSAF.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF CMS.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E9a.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E9.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E8a.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E8.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E7a.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E7.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E6.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E5.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E4.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E3.png|65px]]|| [[Image:USAF E2.png|65px]]|| ''No Insignia'' |- align=center||Title|| Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force|| Command Chief Master Sergeant|colspan=2| Chief Master Sergeant<sup>1</sup>|colspan=2| Senior Master Sergeant<sup>1</sup>|colspan=2| Master Sergeant<sup>1</sup>|| Technical Sergeant|| Staff Sergeant|| Senior Airman|| Airman First Class|| Airman|| Airman Basic|} ==See Also==* [[World War II in the Air]]* [[Cold War]]* [[Vietnam War]]* [[Gulf War]]* USAF Lt. Col. [[Nutnfancy]] - American [[Oath Keepers|Oath Keeper]], [[Gun enthusiast]] - [[:Category:American Gun Rights Advocates|gun rights advocate]]* [[Air Force Office of Special Investigations]]
==External links==
* [http://www.airforce.com/ Official USAF Recruiting site]
[[Category:MilitaryUnited States Armed Forces]][[Category : Aviation]][[Category : Air Power]]
