F-15s and airmen of the 19th Fighter Squadron at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, on March 29 returned home from temporary duty assignments in Hawaii and Thailand to participate in the Cope Thaw and Cope Tiger exercises, respectively. These were the last deployments for the unit, which is slated for decommissioning later this year as part of the Air Force’s drawdown of more than 250 legacy fighters. The first of the squadron’s F-15 will depart Elmendorf for good in April and the final ones should leave by September. (Elmendorf photo caption by A1C Christopher Gross)
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.