Air Force, Department of the, is a military department within the Department of Defense of the United States government. It is located in Washington, D.C., and operates as Air Force headquarters. The department provides support for national and international policy by organizing, training, and equipping the Air Force. Its major divisions include the secretariat and the air staff.
The secretary of the Air Force, a civilian, heads the department under the direction of the secretary of defense, and ranks equally with the secretaries of the Army and Navy. The principal civilian aides to the secretary of the Air Force include an undersecretary and three assistant secretaries.
The chief of staff of the Air Force, a general, is the secretary’s chief military adviser. The chief of staff heads the air staff; supervises such members and units of the Air Force as are determined by the secretary; and is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, a military group that advises the U.S. President. A vice chief of staff assists the chief of staff.
Congress set up the department as an executive agency within the National Military Establishment in 1947. Before then, the Department of War controlled military aviation. In 1949, the Department of the Air Force became a military agency.
See also Air Force, United States ; Defense, Department of ; War, Department of .
