The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. Initially born as the United States Army Air Corps, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on September 18, 1947. It was the last branch of the U.S. military to be formed.
The USAF is the largest and most technologically advanced air force in the world, with about 5,778 manned aircraft in service (4,093 USAF; 1,289 Air National Guard; and 396 Air Force Reserve); approximately 156 Unmanned Combat Air Vehicles, 2,130 Air-Launched Cruise Missiles, and 450 Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. The USAF has 328,439 personnel on active duty, 74,000 in the Selected and Individual Ready Reserves, and 106,000 in the Air National Guard. In addition, the Air Force employs 168,900 civilian personnel including indirect hire of foreign nationals.
In 2007, the USAF implemented a large Reduction-in-Force (RIF). Because of budget constraints, the USAF planned to reduce the service's size from 360,000 active duty personnel, to 316,000. The size of the active-duty force in 2007 is roughly 64% of that of the USAF at the end of the Gulf War in 1991. However, the reduction was ended at approximately 330,000 personnel in 2008 to meet mission requirements.
