The Air Force in Facts and Figures ■ 2011 USAF Almanac Structure of the Force How the Air Force Is Organized There is considerable variation in how command, which has broad functional into 10 AEF “buckets of capability” the major commands and subordinate responsibilities. Major commands may operating in five pairs. units of the Air Force are organized. be divided into numbered air forces. Initially, combat air forces (CAF) This overview describes both the typical The fundamental unit of the working deployed for a 90-day AEF rotation, organization chain and USAF’s Air and Air Force is the wing. An objective with mobility air forces (MAF) and Space Expeditionary Force. wing contains an operations group, low-density, high-demand (LD/HD) The Department of Defense (DOD) which includes aircrews, intelligence forces operating on longer deployments is a Cabinet agency headed by the units, and others; a maintenance as needed. In 2004, USAF went to a Secretary of Defense. It was created group, which includes maintenance basic 120-day rotation, while LD/HD in 1947 to consolidate pre-existing squadrons; a mission support group, forces normally deployed for 180 days. military agencies—the War Department which includes such functions as civil (USAF’s LD/HD forces, including battle and the Navy Department. Subordinate engineers, logistics readiness, and management, battlefield airmen, and to DOD are the three military depart- security forces; and a medical group. reconnaissance assets, are in near ments (Army, Navy, and Air Force), Most airmen are assigned to a constant use and rotate more frequently each headed by a civilian Secretary. squadron, which may comprise sev- than most CAF and MAF elements.) The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) eral flights. In late 2008, USAF began employ- constitute the corporate military leader- In addition to these units, there are ing Tempo Bands (A-E) with different ship of DOD. The Chairman and vice others, including centers, field operating deployment-to-dwell ratios. For in- chairman of the JCS serve full time in agencies, and direct reporting units. stance, CAF forces in Tempo Band A their positions. The service Chiefs are deployed on a 1:4 ratio—four months the military heads of their respective Air and Space Expeditionary Force (120 days) deployed to 16 months services, although JCS responsibilities To relieve chronic optempo problems dwell time. The other bands operated take precedence. stemming from back-to-back opera- mostly on 180-day deployment cycles. The Department of the Air Force tions, the Air Force developed an ex- In 2010, USAF began moving Tempo is headed by the Secretary of the Air peditionary concept initially called the Band A forces into Tempo Band B, still Force, who is supported by a staff Expeditionary Aerospace Force. The utilizing a 1:4 ratio but on a 180-day called the Secretariat. The Chief of term EAF was supplanted by the term deployment period, thus standardizing Staff, USAF, heads the Air Staff, and the Air and Space Expeditionary Force the deployment time for most airmen. military heads of the major commands (AEF). The term AEF also refers to a The deploy-to-dwell ratio varies among report to the Chief of Staff. basic organizational unit. USAF groups the Tempo Bands: B at 1:4; C at 1:3; D Most Air Force units fall under a major its power projection and support forces at 1:2; and E at 1:1. ■ Current Air Force Leaders Date in Position Secretary of the Air Force Michael B. Donley Oct. 17, 2008 Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. Schwartz Aug. 12, 2008 Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force CMSAF James A. Roy June 30, 2009 38 AIR FORCE Magazine / May 2011 People 2011 USAF Almanac USAF Total Force (As of Sept. 30, 2010) Estimate FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Air Force active duty Officers 72,032 73,758 74,109 73,252 70,539 65,722 64,805 65,496 66,201 64,762 Enlisted 292,061 297,219 298,314 276,117 273,990 263,372 258,092 263,351 263,437 263,438 Cadets 4,158 4,085 4,193 4,327 4,424 4,401 4,482 4,561 4,558 4,000 Total Air Force active duty 368,251 375,062 376,616 353,696 348,953 333,495 327,379 333,408 334,196 332,200 Civilian personnel Direct hire (excluding technicians) 121,829 123,887 122,572 124,534 128,475 125,636 124,698 123,106 134,183 150,595 ANG technicians 20,319 20,906 21,703 22,731 21,997 22,409 22,353 22,391 22,657 22,731 AFRC technicians 8,288 8,287 9,538 9,407 9,427 9,127 8,857 9,147 10,068 10,782 Total Direct Hire 150,436 153,080 153,813 156,672 159,899 157,172 155,908 154,644 166,908 184,108 Indirect hire 6,353 6,337 6,575 6,571 6,833 6,212 6,515 6,346 6,564 6,072 Total civilian personnel 156,789 159,417 160,388 163,243 166,732 163,384 162,423 160,990 173,472 190,180 Air National Guard Officers (Selected Reserve) 13,928 13,700 13,633 13,672 13,782 13,992 14,115 14,326 14,389 15,838 Enlisted (Selected Reserve) 98,143 94,437 93,189 92,758 91,876 92,162 93,564 94,870 93,287 90,862 Total ANG 112,071 108,137 106,822 106,430 105,658 106,154 107,679 109,196 107,676 106,700 Air Force Reserve Command Officers (Selected Reserve) 17,295 16,804 16,723 16,676 16,678 16,199 15,169 14,753 14,560 15,588 Enlisted (Selected Reserve) 59,337 57,950 58,599 59,126 57,397 54,083 52,396 53,233 55,559 55,612 Total AFRC Selected Reserve 76,632 74,754 75,322 75,802 74,075 70,282 67,565 67,986 70,119 71,200 Officers (Individual Ready Reserve) 10,275 9,280 9,912 9,942 11,356 13,018 13,633 12,833 11,692 11,392 Enlisted (IRR) 30,820 27,724 27,095 31,377 33,548 36,831 35,668 30,349 28,863 27,482 Total AFRC IRR 41,095 37,044 37,007 41,319 44,904 49,849 49,301 43,182 40,555 38,874 Total AFRC 117,727 111,758 112,329 117,121 118,979 120,131 116,866 111,168 110,674 110,074 Total Ready Reserve 229,798 219,895 219,151 223,551 224,637 226,285 224,545 220,364 218,350 216,774 Armed Forces Manpower Trends, End Strength in Thousands (As of Sept. 30, 2010) Estimate FY02 FY03 FY04 FY05 FY06 FY07 FY08 FY09 FY10 FY11 Active duty military Air Force 368 375 377 354 349 334 327 333 334 332 Army 487 499 500 493 505 522 544 553 566 569 Marine Corps 174 178 178 180 180 187 199 203 202 202 Navy 383 382 373 363 350 338 332 329 328 329 Total 1,412 1,434 1,428 1,390 1,384 1,381 1,402 1,418 1,430 1,432 Guard and Reserve (Selected Reserve) Air National Guard 112 108 107 106 106 106 108 109 108 107 AFRC 77 75 75 76 74 71 68 68 70 71 Army National Guard 351 351 343 333 346 353 360 358 362 358 Army Reserve 207 212 204 189 190 190 197 205 205 205 Marine Corps Reserve 40 41 40 40 40 39 38 39 39 40 Naval Reserve 88 88 83 76 71 70 68 67 65 66 Total 875 875 852 820 827 829 839 846 849 847 Direct-hire civilian (full-time equivalents) Air Force 150 153 154 157 160 157 156 155 167 184 Army 207 206 208 213 220 221 230 247 260 250 Navy/Marine Corps 184 186 183 179 174 176 178 186 195 196 Defense agencies 108 104 105 105 104 105 108 115 120 126 Total 649 649 650 654 658 659 672 703 742 756 40 AIR FORCE Magazine / May 2011 Active Duty Airmen by Rank USAF airmen in Hachinoe, Japan, dig (As of Sept. 30, 2010) through debris in the earthquake- and Rank Men Women Total tsunami-damaged region. Officers General 12 0 12 Lieutenant General 40 1 41 Major General 93 11 104 Brigadier General 144 14 158 Colonel 3,261 429 3,690 Rachel Martinez SSgt. USAF photo by Lieutenant Colonel 8,971 1,319 10,290 Major 11,893 2,502 14,395 Captain 18,653 4,944 23,597 First Lieutenant 5,477 1,632 7,109 Second Lieutenant 5,294 1,511 6,805 Total 53,838 12,363 66,201 Enlisted Chief Master Sergeant 1 0 1 of the Air Force Chief Master Sergeant 2,339 269 2,608 Senior Master Sergeant 4,514 694 5,208 Master Sergeant 22,420 4,025 26,445 Technical Sergeant 33,704 8,144 41,848 Staff Sergeant 55,623 14,549 70,172 Senior Airman 39,028 10,267 49,295 Airman First Class 42,094 10,368 52,462 Airman 5,095 1,130 6,225 Airman Basic 7,673 1,500 9,173 Total 212,491 50,946 263,437 Academy Cadets 3,592 966 4,558 Total Personnel 269,921 64,275 334,196 Number and Percentage of Active Duty Airmen by Gender 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 Officers Male 55,474 126,014 125,136 89,156 86,714 57,204 53,838 Percentage 97.3% 97.2% 96.4% 91.3% 86.7% 82.9% 81.3% Female 1,532 3,675 4,667 8,493 13,331 11,819 12,363 Percentage 2.7% 2.8% 3.6% 8.7% 13.3% 17.1% 18.7% Total Officers 57,006 129,689 129,803 97,649 100,045 69,023 66,201 Enlisted Male 350,489 679,412 652,559 399,517 374,385 231,620 212,491 Percentage 98.9% 99.2% 98.6% 86.8% 86.0% 80.8% 80.7% Female 3,782 5,651 8,987 60,803 60,803 55,011 50,946 Percentage 1.1% 0.8% 1.4% 13.2% 14.0% 19.2% 19.3% Total Enlisted 354,271 685,063 661,546 460,320 435,188 286,631 263,437 Cadets Male 0 1,949 4,144 3,907 3,817 3,617 3,592 Percentage 0% 100% 100% 88.6% 87.3% 84.6% 78.8% Female 0 0 0 504 553 658 966 Percentage 0% 0% 0% 11.4% 12.7% 15.4% 21.2% Total Cadets 0 1,949 4,144 4,411 4,370 4,275 4,558 Active Duty Airmen by Region Regions 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010 US and its territories 341,999 633,255 564,701 445,876 418,004 291,241 277,123 Europe 24,531 104,899 72,937 76,788 69,296 32,901 30,963 East Asia and Pacific 36,850 50,751 140,063 32,273 33,581 22,049 12,649 Africa, Near East, South Asia 1,491 11,160 608 674 376 8,972 891 Western Hemisphere 6,266 14,106 5,348 2,211 2,356 345 339 Other 140 581 7,692 147 11,620 146 12,231 Total 411,277 814,752 791,349 557,969 535,233 355,654 334,196 Note: Airmen deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq are included in home station regions or under other.