Air Force Reserve 68th Birthday Celebration

  • Published
  • By Air Force Reserve Command Public Affairs
  • Air Force Reserve Command
Robins Air Force Base, Ga. --  Happy birthday! As we celebrate the 68th birthday of the Air Force Reserve this April, please reflect upon your admirable service to our communities and nation. Our theme for this year’s celebration is “stationed locally, serving globally.”

The Air Force Reserve was created as a separate component on April 14, 1948, when the Army Air Corps Reserve was transferred to the Air Force. The Air Force Reserve lineage dates back 100 years to when Reserve Airpower was established in the National Defense Act of 1916.

But history is constantly in the making as the old adage goes, and you are doing so each day as a combat-ready force composed of about 70,000 Citizen Airmen stationed locally in over 66 communities throughout the United States and overseas and serving globally for every Combatant Command in air, space and cyberspace.

Our Air Force Reserve mission is to provide combat-ready forces to fly, fight and win. You provide the speed, precision, lethality and payload of airpower through some 30 aircraft types to fulfill our combatant commander requirements. You also offer agile combat support, space operations and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities day in and day out. Be proud of your innovation, experience and strengths as part of our Total Force team.

Innovation is in our DNA and it comes from the diverse experiences you bring to the mission. In the words of Jackie Cochran, the award-winning Citizen Airman pilot and director of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilot Program, “I might have been born in a hovel but I am determined to travel with the wind and stars.” And in the words of Ronald Reagan, former Citizen Airman and 40th President of the United States, “While I take inspiration from the past, like most Americans, I live for the future.”

Let us continue our proud heritage as innovators, community members, and Citizen Airmen. Thank you for answering the call of duty and contributing to the best air force in the world. Happy birthday Air Force Reserve!