The United States Department of the Air Force (DAF) is one of the three military departments within the Department of Defense of the United States of America. The Department of the Air Force was formed on September 18, 1947, per the National Security Act of 1947 (codified into Title 10 of the United States Code) and it is the military department within which the United States Air Force and the United States Space Force are organized.
 Seal of the U.S. Department of the Air Force | |
| Agency overview | |
|---|---|
| Formed | September 18, 1947 |
| Preceding agency | |
| Headquarters | The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia, U.S. |
| Employees | 330,159 Regular Air Force 151,360 Civilians 68,872 Air Force Reserve 94,753 Air National Guard |
| Annual budget | $222.3B (FY2022) |
| Agency executives | |
| Parent agency | U.S. Department of Defense |
| Child agencies | |
The Department of the Air Force is headed by the Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/OS), a civilian, who has the authority to conduct all of its affairs, subject to the authority, direction and control of the Secretary of Defense. The Secretary of the Air Force's principal deputy is the Under Secretary of the Air Force (SAF/US). Their senior staff assistants in the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force are five Assistant Secretaries for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics, Financial Management & Comptroller, Installations, Environment & Energy, Manpower & Reserve Affairs, Space Acquisition & Integration and a General Counsel. The highest-ranking military officers in the department, and senior military advisers to the secretary, are the Chief of Staff of the Air Force and Chief of Space Operations.
By direction of the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of the Air Force assigns Air Force and Space Force units – apart from those units performing duties enumerated in 10 U.S.C. § 9013 unless otherwise directed – to the combatant commands. Only the Secretary of Defense and the President have the authority to approve a transfer of forces between combatant commands.[1]
Proposed redesignations
editAs the Department of the Aerospace Force
editIn 1981, Congressman Ken Kramer introduced legislation to rename the Department of the Air Force as the Department of the Aerospace Force, along with renaming the United States Air Force as the United States Aerospace Force, to reorient the service and department from an air force to an aerospace force. The legislation would also have established a space command within the Aerospace Force and renamed the Air National Guard to the Aerospace National Guard. The legislation was cosponsored by Representatives G. William Whitehurst, Ike Skelton, and Robin Beard of the United States House Committee on Armed Services.[2] Although the legislation was supported by General James E. Hill, who commanded North American Aerospace Defense Command and Aerospace Defense Command, the Air Force did not support the name change and the legislation did not pass.[3]
As the Department of the Air and Space Forces
edit
Following the United States Space Force's establishment, calls have been made for the Department of the Air Force to rename itself the Department of the Air and Space Forces to acknowledge the Space Force, similar to calls made for the Department of the Navy to rename itself the Department of the Navy and Marine Corps. SpaceNews reported that a proposed name change was considered in 2018 and in 2019 the Air Force Association also called for renaming the department.[4][5] In 2022, the Air Force Association renamed itself the Air & Space Forces Association, internally acting on its proposal to reflect the Space Force in the organization's name.[6] In a 2021 article in the Space Force Journal, two Space Force officers also proposed a name change for the department.[7]
Congress has also proposed a variety of name changes within the Department of the Air Force to recognize the Space Force's establishment, including a 2022 proposal by the U.S. Senate to rename the Air National Guard to the Air and Space National Guard and 2020 proposal to rename the Airman's Medal the Air and Space Force Medal, mirroring the Navy and Marine Corps Medal.[8][9]
Organizational structure
editThe Department of the Air Force is divided into the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, which is led by the United States Secretary of the Air Force, the Air Staff which is led by the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and the Space Staff which is led by the Chief of Space Operations.[10]
The Department of the Air Force consists of the United States Air Force and United States Space Force.
Headquarters Department of the Air Force
editSecretariat
edit
Office of the Secretary of the Air Force
- SAF/OS – Secretary of the Air Force
- SAF/US – Under Secretary of the Air Force
- SAF/IA – DUSAF for International Affairs
- SAF/MG – DUSAF for Management
- SAF/AQ – ASAF for Acquisition, Technology & Logistics
- SAF/FM – ASAF for Financial Management & Comptroller
- SAF/IE – ASAF for Installations, Environment & Energy
- SAF/MR – ASAF for Manpower & Reserve Affairs
- SAF/SA – Director for Air Force Studies and Analysis
- SAF/SQ – ASAF for Space Acquisition and Integration
- SAF/AA – Administrative Assistant to the Secretary
- SAF/AG – Auditor General of the Department of the Air Force
- SAF/CN - Chief Information Officer of the Air Force
- SAF/GC – General Counsel of the Department of the Air Force
- SAF/IG – Inspector General of the Department of the Air Force
- SAF/LL – Legislative Liaison
- SAF/PA – Director of Public Affairs
- SAF/SB – Director of Small Business Programs
- SAF/US – Under Secretary of the Air Force
Service staffs
edit
|
|
Service branches
editBudget
editThe Department of Defense claims the 2019 Department of the Air Force budget is as follows:[11]
| Air Force Base + OCO + Emergency | FY 2018 | FY 2019 Request | Delta
FY19 - FY18 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Military Personnel | 35,607,366 | 38,954,308 | +3,346,942 |
| Operation and Maintenance | 58,191,005 | 61,407,391 | +3,216,386 |
| Procurement | 45,654,160 | 50,541,275 | +4,887,115 |
| RDT&E | 28,198,426 | 40,492,614 | +12,294,188 |
| Military Construction | 2,191,451 | 2,303,699 | +112,248 |
| Family Housing | 333,500 | 395,720 | +62,220 |
| Revolving and Management Funds | 63,533 | 77,644 | +14,111 |
| Total | 170,239,441 | 194,172,651 | +23,933,210 |
*$ in thousands
Numbers May Not Add Due to Rounding
See also
editNotes and references
edit- ^ 10 U.S.C. § 162
- ^ "Hearing on H.R. 5130 Aerospace Force Act Before the Investigations Subcommitee of the Committee on Armed Services, House of Representatives, Ninety-seventh Congress, Second Session, May 19, 1982". 1983.
- ^ Agrawal, Raj; Brooks, Aaron (Spring 2022). "One Team, One Fight The Department of the Air and Space Forces" (PDF). Air&Space Operations Review.
- ^ "Space Force proposal could create a broader military department for both air and space". 30 November 2018.
- ^ "Fighting and Winning in Space with Our New U.S. Space Force | Air Force Association".
- ^ "AFA Rebrands to Become the Air & Space Forces Association | Air & Space Forces Association".
- ^ Bender, Bryan (2021-07-23). "The FAA's top space official outlines progress". Politico.
- ^ Cohen, Rachel S. (29 December 2021). "Congress turns down a Space National Guard again, but Space Force isn't giving up". Air Force Times.
- ^ Cohen, Rachel S. (23 July 2020). "House, Senate Approve Defense Authorization Bills". Air & Space Forces Magazine.
- ^ "Air Force Senior Leaders". Retrieved on 14 December 2017
- ^ "FY2019_Budget_Request_Overview_Book.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved 2018-10-29.