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United States Air Force facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts
Seal of the United States Department of the Air Force.svg

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. It was a part of the United States Army until September 18, 1947. The USAF is the largest and most of technologically advanced air force in the world. It has thousands of aircraft in service including bombers, fighter aircraft, transports and other kinds, and hundreds of Intercontinental ballistic missiles. Hundreds of thousands of men and women are on active duty in the Air Force and others are in the Reserves and the United States National Guard.

Uniforms

The first USAF dress uniform, in 1947, was dubbed and patented "Uxbridge blue" after "Uxbridge 1683 blue", developed at the former Bachman-Uxbridge Worsted Company. The current service dress uniform, which was adopted in 1994, consists of a three-button coat with decorative pockets, matching trousers, and either a service cap or flight cap, all in Shade 1620, "Air Force blue" (a darker purplish-blue). This is worn with a light blue shirt (shade 1550) and shade 1620 herringbone patterned necktie. Silver "U.S." pins are worn on the collar of the coat, with a surrounding silver ring for enlisted airmen. Enlisted airmen wear sleeve rank on both the jacket and shirt, while officers wear metal rank insignia pinned onto the epaulet loops on the coat, and Air Force blue slide-on epaulet loops on the shirt. USAF personnel assigned to base honor guard duties wear, for certain occasions, a modified version of the standard service dress uniform that includes silver trim on the sleeves and trousers, with the addition of a ceremonial belt (if necessary), service cap with silver trim and Hap Arnold Device (instead of the seal of the United States worn on the regular cap), and a silver aiguillette placed on the left shoulder seam and all devices and accoutrements.

The Airman Combat Uniform (ACU) in the Operational Camouflage Pattern (OCP) replaced the previous Airman Battle Uniform (ABU) on 1 October 2018.

Awards and badges

In addition to basic uniform clothing, various badges are used by the USAF to indicate a billet assignment or qualification-level for a given assignment. Badges can also be used as merit-based or service-based awards. Over time, various badges have been discontinued and are no longer distributed.

Training

U.S. Air Force Buttstroke
U.S. Air Force trainee demonstrating a butt stroke on a strike dummy as part of Basic Military Training.

All enlisted Airmen attend Basic Military Training (BMT) at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas for 7+12 weeks. Individuals who have prior service of over 24 months of active duty in the other service branches who seek to enlist in the Air Force must go through a 10-day Air Force familiarization course rather than enlisted BMT, however prior service opportunities are severely limited.

Officers may be commissioned upon graduation from the United States Air Force Academy, upon graduation from another college or university through the Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (AFROTC) program, or through the Air Force Officer Training School (OTS). OTS, located at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama since 1993, in turn encompasses two separate commissioning programs: Basic Officer Training (BOT), which is for officer candidates for the Regular Air Force and the Air Force Reserve; and the Academy of Military Science (AMS), which is for officer candidates of the Air National Guard.

The Air Force also provides Commissioned Officer Training (COT) for officers of all three components who are direct-commissioned into medicine, law, religion, biological sciences, or healthcare administration. COT is fully integrated into the OTS program and today encompasses extensive coursework as well as field exercises in leadership, confidence, fitness, and deployed-environment operations.

Air Force Fitness Test

USAF PT Uniform
USAF Airmen training at Lackland AFB

The US Air Force Fitness Test (AFFT) is designed to test the abdominal circumference, muscular strength/endurance and cardiovascular respiratory fitness of airmen in the USAF. As part of the Fit to Fight program, the USAF adopted a more stringent physical fitness assessment; the new fitness program was put into effect on 1 June 2010. The annual ergo-cycle test which the USAF had used for several years had been replaced in 2004. In the AFFT, Airmen are given a score based on performance consisting of four components: waist circumference, the sit-up, the push-up, and a 1.5-mile (2.4 km) run. Airmen can potentially earn a score of 100, with the run counting as 60%, waist circumference as 20%, and both strength tests counting as 10% each. A passing score is 75 points. Effective 1 July 2010, the AFFT is administered by the base Fitness Assessment Cell (FAC), and is required twice a year. Personnel earning a score over 90% may test once a year. Additionally, only meeting the minimum standards on each one of these tests will not get you a passing score of 75%, and failing any one component will result in a failure for the entire test.

Aircraft inventory

The U.S. Air Force has a total force of 5,217 aircraft as of June 2021. Of these, 4,131 are in active service. Until 1962, the Army and Air Force maintained one system of aircraft naming, while the U.S. Navy maintained a separate system. In 1962, these were unified into a single system heavily reflecting the Army and Air Force method. For more complete information on the workings of this system, refer to United States military aircraft designation systems.

Officer Ranks

US DoD
pay grade
Special grade O-10 O-9 O-8 O-7 O-6 O-5 O-4 O-3 O-2 O-1
NATO code OF-10 OF-9 OF-8 OF-7 OF-6 OF-5 OF-4 OF-3 OF-2 OF-1
Insignia US-O11 insignia.svg US-O10 insignia.svg US-O9 insignia.svg US-O8 insignia.svg US-O7 insignia.svg US-O6 insignia.svg US-O5 insignia.svg US-O4 insignia.svg US-O3 insignia.svg US-O2 insignia.svg US-O1 insignia.svg
Service dress uniform (Class A) US Air Force O11 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O10 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O9 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O8 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O7 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O6 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O5 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O4 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O3 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O2 shoulderboard.svg US Air Force O1 shoulderboard.svg
Service uniform (Class B) US Air-force O10 class b.svg US Air-force O9 class b.svg US Air-force O8 class b.svg US Air-force O7 class b.svg US Air-force O6 class b.svg US Air-force O5 class b.svg US Air-force O4 class b.svg US Air-force O3 class b.svg US Air-force O2 class b.svg US Air-force O1 class b.svg
Mess dress uniform US Air-force O11 mess.svg US Air-force O10 mess.svg US Air-force O9 mess.svg US Air-force O8 mess.svg US Air-force O7 mess.svg US Air-force O6 mess.svg US Air-force O5 mess.svg US Air-force O4 mess.svg US Air-force O3 mess.svg US Air-force O2 mess.svg US Air-force O1 mess.svg
Title General of the Air Force General Lieutenant general Major general Brigadier general Colonel Lieutenant colonel Major Captain First lieutenant Second lieutenant
Abbreviation GAF Gen Lt Gen Maj Gen Brig Gen Col Lt Col Maj Capt 1st Lt 2d Lt


Warrant officers

The Air Force warrant officer ranks, while authorized by law, are not used.

Enlisted airmen

US DoD pay grade Special E-9 E-8 E-7 E-6 E-5 E-4 E-3 E-2 E-1
NATO code OR-9 OR-8 OR-7 OR-6 OR-5 OR-4 OR-3 OR-2 OR-1
Insignia USAF SEAC.svg E9d USAF CMSAF.svg USAF Senior Enlisted Advisor for the National Guard Bureau.svg E9c USAF CCMS.svg E9b USAF 1STSGT3.svg E9a USAF CMSGT.svg E8b USAF 1STSGT2.svg E8a USAF SMSGT.svg E7b USAF 1STSGT1.svg E7a USAF MSGT.svg E6 USAF TSGT.svg E5 USAF SSGT.svg E4 USAF SAM.svg E3 USAF AM1.svg E2 USAF AM.svg No insignia
Title Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chief of the National Guard Bureau Command Chief Master Sergeant Chief master sergeant Senior master sergeant Master sergeant Technical sergeant Staff sergeant Senior Airman Airman First Class Airman Airman basic
Abbreviation SEAC CMSAF SEANGB CCC/CCM CMSgt SMSgt MSgt TSgt SSgt SrA A1C Amn AB


Images for kids

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Fuerza Aérea de los Estados Unidos para niños

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