U.S. Air Force Academy

The establishment of the independent U.S. Air Force (USAF) on September 18, 1947, and its remarkable growth and transformation during the early years of the Cold War, led to the creation of the Air Force Academy in 1954. The profound challenges generated by the nuclear age propelled the air force onto center stage, and the need for an undergraduate institution to train aviation officers became acute. In a January 18, 1954, House of Representatives report (No. 1105), the Committee on Armed Services called the bill to establish the United States Air Force Academy “perhaps the most significant item in the present legislative program of the Department of Defense.” The House report argued that the nation was spending billions of dollars to purchase the best aircraft ...