U.S. Air Force Celebrates Its 71st Birthday

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The U.S. Air Force said Sunday it flew a B-1B strateg
U.S. AIR FORCE
Katherine Rodriguez

The U.S. celebrated its 71st anniversary of the U.S. Air Force on Tuesday, commemorating the day when the government gave the Air Force its own military branch in 1947.

The Air Force tweeted out a video Wednesday commemorating the occasion, paying tribute to the American airmen who served over the years.

The U.S. Air Force became an independent military branch on September 18, 1947, after the government officially authorized a separate Air Force branch under the National Security Act of 1947.

The Air Force, which was born during peacetime in the years following World War II, currently has more than 50 bases in the U.S. and several bases in Europe and Asia.

President Donald Trump wrote a tweet Wednesday acknowledging the anniversary of the youngest of the nation’s three military branches.

“Happy birthday to our GREAT United States Air Force!” Trump tweeted.

Senators, government agencies, and different branches of the Air Force also penned celebratory tweets honoring the legacy of the Air Force:

Even the U.S. Embassy in London marked the occasion a day early with a celebratory cake:

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