Editing United States Air Force (section)

== Culture ==
{{stack|[[File:Air Force 74th Birthday 210917-F-LE393-0305.jpg|thumb|Various Air Force personnel pose during the Air Force's 74th birthday celebration at the Pentagon (17 September 2021).]]}}
The culture of the United States Air Force is primarily driven by pilots, at first those piloting bombers (driven originally by the [[Bomber Mafia]]), followed by fighters ([[Fighter Mafia]]).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Air Force Culture and Conventional Strategic Airpower |url=http://www.stormingmedia.us/01/0155/A015524.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629153840/http://www.stormingmedia.us/01/0155/A015524.html |archive-date=29 June 2011 |access-date=30 August 2010 |publisher=Stormingmedia.us}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Thompson |first=Mark |date=8 July 2013 |title=The Air Force's Future May Be in Drones, But Its Generals Won't Be |magazine=Time |url=https://nation.time.com/2013/07/08/the-air-forces-future-may-be-in-drones-but-its-generals-wont-be/ |url-status=live |access-date=8 July 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712020243/http://nation.time.com/2013/07/08/the-air-forces-future-may-be-in-drones-but-its-generals-wont-be/ |archive-date=12 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Worden |first=Michael |date=November 1997 |title=The Rise of the Fighter Generals |url=https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA338755.pdf |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230518165413/https://apps.dtic.mil/sti/pdfs/ADA338755.pdf |url-status=live |archive-date=18 May 2023 |access-date=12 March 2014 |website=dtic.mil |publisher=Air University Press}}</ref>

In response to a [[2007 United States Air Force nuclear weapons incident]], Secretary of Defense [[Robert Gates]] accepted in June 2009 the resignations of [[United States Secretary of the Air Force|Secretary of the Air Force]] [[Michael Wynne]] and [[Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force|Chief of Staff of the Air Force]] [[General (United States)|General]] [[T. Michael Moseley]]. Moseley's successor, General [[Norton A. Schwartz]], a former airlift and special operations pilot, was the first officer appointed to that position who did not have a background as a fighter or bomber pilot.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Barnes |first1=Julian E. |last2=Spiegel |first2=Peter |date=10 June 2008 |title=A different type of Air Force leader |work=Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-10-na-schwartz10-story.html |url-status=live |access-date=30 August 2010 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20230518165249/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2008-jun-10-na-schwartz10-story.html |archive-date=18 May 2023}}</ref> The Washington Post reported in 2010 that General Schwartz began to dismantle the rigid class system of the USAF, particularly in the officer corps.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Jaffe |first=Greg |date=27 February 2010 |title=Combat Generation: Drone operators climb on winds of change in the Air Force |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022703754_2.html |url-status=live |access-date=30 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120616001620/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/02/27/AR2010022703754_2.html |archive-date=16 June 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/06/25/you-can-call-2007-nuke-mishandling-an-embarrassment-but-dont-call-it-the-minot-incident/|title=You can call 2007 nuke mishandling an embarrassment, but don't call it the Minot incident|last=Losey|first=Stephen|date=2019-06-25|website=[[Air Force Times]]|access-date=2023-11-27}}</ref>

In 2014, following morale and testing/cheating scandals in the Air Force's [[Missile combat crew|missile launch officer]] community, Secretary of the Air Force [[Deborah Lee James]] admitted that there remained a "systemic problem" in the USAF's management of the nuclear mission.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Everstine |first=Brian |date=29 January 2014 |title=James: AF is addressing 'systemic' problem in nuclear force |url=http://www.airforcetimes.com/article/20140129/NEWS/301290017/James-AF-addressing-systemic-problem-nuclear-force |access-date=29 January 2014 |website=airforcetimes.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cnn.com/2014/03/27/us/air-force-cheating-investigation/index.html|title=9 Air Force commanders fired from jobs over nuclear missile test cheating|last=Botelho|first=Greg|date=March 27, 2014|website=[[CNN]]|access-date=2023-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2014/01/30/268880352/air-force-cheating-scandal-widens-to-92-nuclear-officers|title=Air Force Cheating Scandal Widens; 92 Nuclear Officers Linked|last=Memmott|first=Mark|date=January 30, 2014|website=[[NPR]]|access-date=2023-11-27}}</ref>

Daniel L. Magruder Jr. defines USAF culture as a combination of the rigorous application of advanced technology, individualism and progressive airpower theory.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Magruder |first=Daniel L. Jr. |year=2009 |title=The US Air Force and Irregular Warfare: Success as a Hurdle |url=http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/272-magruder.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304055349/http://smallwarsjournal.com/blog/journal/docs-temp/272-magruder.pdf |archive-date=4 March 2016 |access-date=15 October 2015 |website=Small Wars Journal}}</ref> [[Major General]] [[Charles J. Dunlap Jr.]] adds that the U.S. Air Force's culture also includes an [[egalitarianism]] bred from officers perceiving themselves as their service's principal "warriors" working with small groups of enlisted airmen either as the service crew or the onboard crew of their aircraft. Air Force officers have never felt they needed the formal social "distance" from their enlisted force that is common in the other U.S. armed services. Although the paradigm is changing, for most of its history, the Air Force, completely unlike its sister services, has been an organization in which mostly its officers fought, not its enlisted force, the latter being primarily a rear echelon support force. When the enlisted force did go into harm's way, such as crew members of multi-crewed aircraft, the close comradeship of shared risk in tight quarters created traditions that shaped a somewhat different kind of officer/enlisted relationship than exists elsewhere in the military.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Understanding Airmen: A primer for soldiers |url=http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20071031_art019.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120111091555/http://usacac.army.mil/CAC2/MilitaryReview/Archives/English/MilitaryReview_20071031_art019.pdf |archive-date=11 January 2012 |access-date=13 December 2011}}</ref>

Cultural and career issues in the U.S. Air Force have been cited as one of the reasons for the shortfall in needed [[Unmanned combat aerial vehicle|UAV]] operators.<ref>{{Cite web |title=US Air Force Lacks Volunteers To Operate Drones |url=http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130821/DEFREG02/308210013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20130821133601/http://www.defensenews.com/article/20130821/DEFREG02/308210013 |url-status=dead |archive-date=21 August 2013 |access-date=1 April 2015 |website=Defense News}}</ref> In spite of demand for UAVs or drones to provide round the clock coverage for American troops during the Iraq War,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Whitlock |first=Craig |date=13 November 2013 |title=Drone combat missions may be scaled back eventually, Air Force chief says |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/drone-combat-missions-may-be-scaled-back-eventually-air-force-chief-says/2013/11/13/470deda4-4c97-11e3-b692-e722f1795169_story.html |url-status=live |access-date=14 May 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728015335/http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/drone-combat-missions-may-be-scaled-back-eventually-air-force-chief-says/2013/11/13/470deda4-4c97-11e3-b692-e722f1795169_story.html |archive-date=28 July 2014}}</ref> the USAF did not establish a new career field for piloting them until the last year of that war and in 2014 changed its RPA training syllabus again, in the face of large aircraft losses in training,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Wasserbly |first=Daniel |date=12 May 2014 |title=AUVSI 2014: USAF looking to refine RPA training regime, reduce accidents |work=IHS Jane's 360 |publisher=IHS |url=http://www.janes.com/article/37833/auvsi-2014-usaf-looking-to-refine-rpa-training-regime-reduce-accidents |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514073050/http://www.janes.com/article/37833/auvsi-2014-usaf-looking-to-refine-rpa-training-regime-reduce-accidents |archive-date=14 May 2014}}</ref> and in response to a GAO report critical of handling of drone programs.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Cox |first=Matthew |date=24 April 2014 |title=Air Force Criticized for Mismanaging Drone Program |work=military.com |publisher=Monster |url=http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/04/24/air-force-criticized-for-mismanaging-drone-program.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140728074035/http://www.military.com/daily-news/2014/04/24/air-force-criticized-for-mismanaging-drone-program.html |archive-date=28 July 2014}}</ref> Paul Scharre has reported that the cultural divide between the USAF and US Army has kept both services from adopting each other's drone handling innovations.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Scharre |first=Paul |date=29 July 2014 |title=How to Lose the Robotics Revolution |work=warontherocks.com |publisher=Texas National Security Review |url=http://warontherocks.com/2014/07/how-to-lose-the-robotics-revolution/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140729203250/http://warontherocks.com/2014/07/how-to-lose-the-robotics-revolution/ |archive-date=29 July 2014}}</ref>

Many of the U.S. Air Force's formal and informal traditions are an amalgamation of those taken from the [[Royal Air Force]] (e.g., dining-ins/mess nights) or the experiences of its predecessor organizations such as the [[U.S. Army Air Service]], [[U.S. Army Air Corps]] and the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]]. Some of these traditions range from "Friday Name Tags" in flying units to an annual "Mustache Month".<ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.airandspaceforces.com/leaked-air-force-memo-bigger-mustaches-are-coming/|title=Leaked Air Force Memo: Bigger Mustache's Are Coming|last=Hadley|first=Greg|date=May 20, 2022|website=[[Air & Space Forces Magazine]]|access-date=2023-11-27}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2019/03/04/mustache-march-olds-mustache-is-just-a-sliver-of-his-story/|title=Mustache March: Robin Old's mustache is just a silver of his story|last=Losey|first=Stephen|date=March 4, 2019|website=[[Air Force Times]]|access-date=November 27, 2023}}</ref> The use of [[Challenge coin|"challenge coins"]] dates back to World War I when a member of one of the aero squadrons bought his entire unit medallions with their emblem,<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 September 2012 |title=A Brief History of Challenge Coins |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/12630/brief-history-challenge-coins |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180124222827/http://mentalfloss.com/article/12630/brief-history-challenge-coins |archive-date=24 January 2018 |access-date=24 January 2018}}</ref> while another cultural tradition unique to the Air Force is the "[[roof stomp]]", practiced by Airmen to welcome a new commander or to commemorate another event, such as a retirement.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.uso.org/stories/1497-7-air-force-facts-for-the-service-s-67th-birthday|title=7 Air Force Facts for the service's 67th birthday|date=September 18, 2014|website=[[United Services Organization]]|access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://theaviationist.com/2021/01/25/name-tags-and-roof-stomping-at-edwards-air-force-base/|title=Tales from the Cockpit: Name Tags And Roof Stomping At Edwards AFB|last=Consoli|first=Fabio|date=January 25, 2021|website=The Aviationist|access-date=2023-11-28}}</ref>