[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 160 (Thursday, November 13, 1997)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E2385-E2386]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    GOLDEN LEGACY, BOUNDLESS FUTURE

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. SAXBY CHAMBLISS

                               of georgia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, November 13, 1997

  Mr. CHAMBLISS. Mr. Speaker, the United States had just come out of 
two world wars and was on the brink of a new era. The future was 
boundless. The military had discovered the value of a new technology, a 
technology that demanded a new branch of our Armed Forces. Fifty years 
ago, on September 18, 1947, Stuart Symington took the oath of office as 
the first Secretary of the U.S. Air Force, thus the beginning of a 
golden legacy.
  For the last 50 years, the men and women of the Air Force have 
carried on the dreams and vision of millions of aviators who have gone 
before them. It is for these aviators that I would like to take this 
opportunity to not only recognize this golden anniversary, but to thank 
those who have helped us come this far. It is hard to believe in 
today's skies where our planes fly over Bosnia, Iraq, Korea, and the 
world that the first aviation occurred 89 years ago.
  The Air Force roots go deeper than the National Security Act of 1947. 
They extend all the way back to 1907. That year the Army Signal Corps 
formed an aeronautical division. In 1908 the first military aviation 
flight occurred at Fort Myer, VA, just miles from this very spot. The 
Wright Brothers delivered their first plane to the aeronautical 
division that next year. On July 18, 1914, Congress ordered the Army to 
establish an aviation section of the Signal Corps. A few weeks later, 
Europe erupted into World War I.
  In response to criticism of the American aircraft effort, President 
Woodrow Wilson created the Army Air Service and placed it directly 
under the War Department on May 24, 1918. By the time of the armistice 
in November 1918, the Air Service had grown to more than

[[Page E2386]]

19,000 officers and 178,000 enlisted men. American industry had turned 
out 11,754 aircraft.
  It took World War II to prove the importance of air power to the 
defense of our Nation. In 1920, the Army Reorganization Act made the 
Air Service a combatant arm of the Army. The Air Corps Act of 1926 
adopted the name of the Army Air Corps. Two years after Hitler launched 
World War II by invading Poland, the War Department created the Army 
Air Forces as its aviation element. By the last year of the war, the 
quantity and quality of Army Air Forces aircraft and airman dominated 
the skies over both Germany and Japan, all but paralyzing their war 
economies.
  Based on the Army Air Force's wartime achievements and future 
potential, the U.S. Air Force won its independence. The National 
Security Act of 1947 created the U.S. Air Force as a separate branch of 
the armed services. This secured the Air Force's full partnership with 
the Army, Navy, and the Marine Corps. The creation of the Air Force 
signaled America's commitment to the dominance of the skies. And I am 
proud to report that commitment is being honored today in skies all 
around the world.
  From that first military flight in 1908, what has come from now a 
golden legacy is moving toward a boundless future. This future knows no 
limits, as it moves toward new horizons. As the 20th century has worn 
on, our military focus has increasingly shifted into a third 
dimension--the vertical. This is the realm of air and space forces. 
When we dominate the third dimension we control both the horizontal and 
vertical battlefield. In conflict, superiority is not enough: air and 
space dominance must be our objective. It is with these challenges in 
mind, that the Air Force commemorates its 50th anniversary looking 
firmly to the future while remembering the lessons and achievements of 
the past. In this spirit, we honor the sacrifices and contributions the 
brave men and women of the Air Force have made.
  In commemoration of this anniversary, the Air Force has been busy 
indeed. The Air Force launched several events to celebrate its first 50 
years on September 18, highlighted by the Air Forces Annual Convention 
in Washington. The U.S. Postal Service issued the first Air Force 
stamp. That same day, a wreath was placed at the Tomb of the Unknown 
Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery. And the Air Force proudly 
dedicated its site of the Air Force Memorial at Arlington while the 
President led a cake cutting ceremony at the Pentagon. In communities 
all over this great Nation, local Air Force associations sponsored road 
races, participated in school festivals, and other community 
activities. I am proud to say that I and many of my fellow members of 
the Congress participated in the many events to help celebrate this 
momentous anniversary. It is my honor to further recognize the U.S. Air 
Force, and on behalf of the Congressional Air Power Caucus and the U.S. 
Congress, I wish the Air Force God's speed as it presses on toward it 
boundless future.

                          ____________________