110TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION 
H. CON. RES. 207 
CONCURRENT RESOLUTION 
Whereas President Harry S. Truman signed the National Se-
curity Act of 1947 on July 26, 1947, to realign and reor-
ganize the Armed Forces and to create a separate De-
partment of the Air Force from the existing military 
services; 
Whereas the National Security Act of 1947 was enacted on 
September 18, 1947;
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Whereas the Aeronautical Division of the United States Army 
Signal Corps, consisting of one officer and two enlisted 
men, began operation under the command of Captain 
Charles DeForest Chandler on August 1, 1907, with the 
responsibility for ‘‘all matters pertaining to military bal-
looning, air machines, and all kindred subjects’’; 
Whereas in 1908, the Department of War contracted with the 
Wright brothers to build one heavier-than-air flying ma-
chine for the United States Army, and accepted the 
Wright Military Flyer, the world’s first military airplane, 
in 1909; 
Whereas United States pilots, flying with both allied air 
forces and with the Army Air Service, performed admi-
rably in the course of World War I, participating in pur-
suit, observation, and day and night bombing missions; 
Whereas pioneering aviators of the United States, including 
Mason M. Patrick, William ‘‘Billy’’ Mitchell, Benjamin 
D. Foulois, Frank M. Andrews, Henry ‘‘Hap’’ Arnold, 
James ‘‘Jimmy’’ H. Doolittle, and Edward ‘‘Eddie’’ Rick-
enbacker, were among the first to recognize the military 
potential of air power and courageously forged the foun-
dations for the creation of an independent arm for air 
forces in the United States in the decades following 
World War I; 
Whereas on June 20, 1941, the Department of War created 
the Army Air Forces (AAF) as its aviation element and 
shortly thereafter the Department of War made the AAF 
co-equal to the Army Ground Forces; 
Whereas General Henry H. ‘‘Hap’’ Arnold drew upon the in-
dustrial prowess and human resources of the United 
States to transform the Army Air Corps from a force of
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22,400 men and 2,402 aircraft in 1939 to a peak war-
time strength of 2.4 million personnel and 79,908 air-
craft; 
Whereas the standard for courage, flexibility, and intrepidity 
in combat was established for all Airmen during the first 
aerial raid in the Pacific Theater on April 18, 1942, 
when Lieutenant Colonel James ‘‘Jimmy’’ H. Doolittle 
led 16 North American B–25 Mitchell bombers in a joint 
operation from the deck of the naval carrier USS Hornet 
to strike the Japanese mainland in response to the Japa-
nese attack on Pearl Harbor; 
Whereas President Harry S. Truman supported organizing 
air power as an equal arm of the military forces of the 
United States, writing on December 19, 1945, that air 
power had developed so that the responsibilities and con-
tributions to military strategic planning of air power 
equaled those of land and sea power; 
Whereas on September 18, 1947, W. Stuart Symington be-
came the first Secretary of the newly formed and inde-
pendent United States Air Force (USAF), and on Sep-
tember 26, 1947, General Carl A. Spaatz became the 
first Chief of Staff of the USAF; 
Whereas the Air National Guard was also created by the Na-
tional Security Act of 1947 and has played a vital role 
in guarding the United States and defending freedom in 
nearly every major conflict and contingency since its in-
ception; 
Whereas on October 14, 1947, the USAF demonstrated its 
historic and ongoing commitment to technological innova-
tion when Captain Charles ‘‘Chuck’’ Yeager piloted the 
X–1 developmental rocket plane to a speed of Mach 1.07,
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becoming the first flyer to break the sound barrier in a 
powered aircraft in level flight; 
Whereas the USAF Reserve, created April 14, 1948, is com-
prised of Citizen Airmen who steadfastly sacrifice per-
sonal fortune and family comfort in order to serve as 
unrivaled wingmen of the active duty USAF in every de-
ployment, mission, and battlefield around the globe; 
Whereas the USAF operated the Berlin Airlift in 1948 and 
1949 to provide humanitarian relief to post-war Germany 
and has established a tradition of humanitarian assist-
ance in responding to natural disasters and needs across 
the world; 
Whereas the USAF announced a policy of racial integration 
in the ranks of the USAF on April 26, 1948, 3 months 
prior to a Presidential mandate to integrate all military 
services; 
Whereas in the early years of the Cold War, the USAF’s ar-
senal of bombers, such as the long-range Convair B–58 
Hustler and B–36 Peacemaker, and the Boeing B–47 
Stratojet and B–52 Stratofortress, under the command 
of General Curtis LeMay served as the United States’ 
preeminent deterrent against Soviet Union forces and 
were later augmented by the development and deploy-
ment of medium range and intercontinental ballistic mis-
siles, such as the Titan and Minuteman developed by 
General Bernard A. Schriever; 
Whereas the USAF, employing the first large-scale combat 
use of jet aircraft, helped to establish air superiority over 
the Korean peninsula, protected ground forces of the 
United Nations with close air support, and interdicted
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enemy reinforcements and supplies during the conflict in 
Korea; 
Whereas after the development of launch vehicles and orbital 
satellites, the mission of the USAF expanded into space 
and today provides exceptional real-time global commu-
nications, environmental monitoring, navigation, precision 
timing, missile warning, nuclear deterrence, and space 
surveillance; 
Whereas USAF Airmen have contributed to the manned 
space program of the United States since the program’s 
inception and throughout the program’s development at 
the National Aeronautics and Space Administration by 
dedicating themselves wholly to space exploration despite 
the risks of exploration; 
Whereas the USAF engaged in a limited campaign of air 
power to assist the South Vietnamese government in 
countering the communist Viet Cong guerillas during the 
Vietnam War and fought to disrupt supply lines, halt 
enemy ground offensives, and protect United States and 
Allied forces; 
Whereas Airmen were imprisoned and tortured during the 
Vietnam War and, in the valiant tradition of Airmen held 
captive in previous conflicts, continued serving the United 
States with honor and dignity under the most inhumane 
circumstances; 
Whereas, in recent decades, the USAF and coalition partners 
of the United States have supported successful actions in 
Panama, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, 
and many other locations around the globe; 
Whereas Pacific Air Forces, along with Asia-Pacific partners 
of the United States, ensure peace and advance freedom
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from the west coast of the United States to the east coast 
of Africa and from the Arctic to the Antarctic, covering 
more than 100 million square miles and the homes of 2 
billion people in 44 countries; 
Whereas the United States Air Forces in Europe, along with 
European partners of the United States, have shaped the 
history of Europe from World War II, the Cold War, Op-
eration Deliberate Force, and Operation Allied Force to 
today’s operations, and secured stability and ensured 
freedom’s future in Europe, Africa, and Southwest Asia; 
Whereas, for 17 consecutive years beginning with 1990, Air-
men have been engaged in full-time combat operations 
ranging from Desert Shield to Iraqi Freedom, and have 
shown themselves to be an expeditionary air and space 
force of outstanding capability ready to fight and win 
wars of the United States when and where Airmen are 
called upon to do so; 
Whereas the USAF is steadfast in its commitment to field a 
world-class, expeditionary air force by recruiting, train-
ing, and educating its Total Force of active duty, Air Na-
tional Guard, Air Force Reserve, and civilian personnel; 
Whereas the USAF is a trustworthy steward of resources, de-
veloping and applying technology, managing professional 
acquisition programs, and maintaining exacting test, 
evaluation, and sustainment criteria for all USAF weap-
on systems throughout such weapon systems’ life cycles; 
Whereas, when terrorists attacked the United States on Sep-
tember 11, 2001, USAF fighter and air refueling aircraft 
took to the skies to fly combat air patrols over major 
United States cities and protect families, friends, and