The Effect of the Air Force in World War II “We are going into the wild blue yonder, climbing high towards the sun, here they are zooming in to meet our thunder. , at home, boys, give them the gun, give them the gun. The preceding lines constitute the first part of the official song of the United States Air Force. The Air Force has played a huge role in all our wars past and present. But World War II was by far one of the first shining moments in Air Force history. The Air Force's effect on the war was immense: "The Navy can lose us the war, but only the Air Force can win it." » (Winston Churchill)On December 17, 1903, the very first powered flying machine, named Kitty Hawk, was successfully tested by the Wright brothers. Three and a half years later, on August 1, 1907, the U.S. Army Signal Corps formed the Army's First Aeronautical Division (History of the Air Force Part 1). During World War I, American aircraft were still very primitive compared to other nations; the most capable American pilots flew French planes because they were more advanced and more reliable than their own American planes. And thanks to the Army Reorganization Act of 1920 which made the Air Service a combat arm of the Army, and in 1926 the Air Corps Act was created and the Air Service changed its name to Air Corps July 2, 1926 (History of the Air Force Part 2). After Adolf Hitler started World War II by invading Poland, the Army Air Corps began steady growth, from twenty-six thousand and less than two thousand aircraft to eighty thousand and more aircraft. four million personnel. The United States realized that as an air power we were still far behind in terms of technology, so in an effort to compete with foreign powers... middle of paper ... the Allied Powers are gaining the war. The Air Corps became so large that after World War II, the United States Army Air Corps officially became the United States Air Force and became its own separate branch in September 1947 to allow the Army to concentrate on ground warfare and for the Air Force to concentrate entirely on air warfare. Works Cited “A Brief History.” www.tuskegeeairmen.org. Np 10 12 2013. The web. December 10, 2013 “History of the Air Force, part 1”. www.airforce.com. US Air Force, 3 12 2013. Web. December 3, 2013. “History of the Air Force, Part 2.” www.airforce.com. US Air Force, 4 12 2013. Web. December 4, 2013. “The Role of the USAAF.” » www.sr-71.org. Np,10 12 2013. The web. December 10, 2013 “The ten best fighters of World War II”. www.armedforcesmuseum.com. Np, 10 12 2013. Web. December 10, 2013.Vat, Dan. D-Day - The Greatest Invasion - The Story of a People. New York: Madison Press Books, 2003. Print.