ABOUT US

ABOUT US/President's Message

Welcome to the Air Force Historical Foundation!  Whether you have a direct connection to the Air Force or are simply interested in military aviation, I hope you will find a home here and will return often.  Even better, join us while you’re at our site – check out the budget-friendly introductory one year membership – and thereby get access to the growing number of member-only features we offer as well as news of the Foundation’s several projects (see “About Us” for details).  As a member you will also receive our quarterly magazine, Air Power History, a fountain of well researched and superbly written articles about the heritage of the US Air Force and its several predecessors.

You may be surprised to learn that the Air Force is over 100 years old.  It’s true that we’ve been an independent service only since 1947, but in 1907, less than four years after the Wright brothers made their historic first flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Army established a small division in the Signal Corps dedicated to aviation.  And from this modest beginning came a fitful but constant growth of air – and later, space and cyberspace – power resulting in today’s incredible national security asset.

So there’s a lot to look back on and to learn from.  Fortunately, the Foundation has been active in recording and analyzing the history of the Air Force for almost 55 years.  That’s a lot of accumulated insight, and we mean to make it all accessible to our members by transferring the thousands of articles from our entire magazine collection to our website where they will be easily searchable.

But that’s not all.  We also have in mind to expand the website in other creative and helpful ways.  To find out what’s in store, stay tuned by revisiting the site and becoming a member of the Foundation.  I guarantee you won’t regret your connection, and by being a part of the team, you will be hastening the installation of ever more exciting benefits of membership. 

Welcome!  Enjoy!  Learn!

Michael A Nelson, Lt Gen, USAF (Ret)
President and Chairman of the Board
December 2007

For Lt Gen Nelson’s full take on the importance of preserving Air Force history, read the latest entry to his editorial column, Debriefing.