how old is the air force

The United States Air Force (USAF) was officially established as an independent branch of the U.S. military on September 18, 1947, as a result of the National Security Act of 1947. This marked the separation of the Air Force from the U.S. Army and established the Air Force as a distinct military service equal to the Army and Navy. As of today, August 21, 2025, the Air Force is 77 years old. Before becoming a separate branch, its origins trace back to earlier military aviation organizations starting from 1907 under the U.S. Army, including the Army Air Corps and the Army Air Forces during World War II. But the formal independent Air Force began in 1947.