5 Things you probably didn’t know about the US Air Force
The US Air Force is not like other units of the army. Probably the most ‘unspoken’ of all the units, there are certain practices of the US Air Force that you probably didn’t know. Here’s a few of them.
- The USAF salute officers before sending them into a fight.
Pilots and officers put their lives on the line of fire supporting troops on the ground. Often, these troops are always from other branches, but the airmen who maintain and marshal those planes are enlisted.
- The USAF is unsure about if the warrant officer should be saluted
The reason for that is the Air Force doesn’t have warrant officers and hasn’t had them since 1992 when the last warrant officer, CWO4 Bob Barrow, retired. The last airman to become a warrant officer did it in 1959. So, there haven’t been anyone in recent times.
- Enlisting in the Air Force gets you halfway to a 2-year degree.
This is probably the most fascinating of all these. The USAF has its own accredited community college, one that accepts basic training as physical education credits and puts your Tech School training towards an associate degree. Once at your permanent duty station, you can either take general courses at the base education office or take free, unlimited CLEP tests to finish it off.
- The USAF doesn’t have ground combat troops.
While the Air Force has its Security Forces, all other units such as the special operations troops and combat arms instructors are most likely from other branches. Although airmen see combat all the time, it is only restricted to the air. Hence, there is no need for an infantry or anything like it.
- The Air Force trains hard… just not always to kill.
Although the make use of a lot of tactical gears, they are not really exposed to the kind of situations that warrant the use of such tactical gears. Aircraft maintainers, ammo troops, and pilots train relentlessly for years to make sure that kind of support is there when another unit calls for it. And they only offer air support with air strike.
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