Image of the Air Force wings with the museum name underneath

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  • Peacekeeper Rail Garrison Car

    On Dec. 19, 1986, the White House announced President Ronald Reagan's approval to develop a rail system for basing part of the Peacekeeper Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) force. To increase survivability of this force, 50 Peacekeepers would be deployed in existing Minuteman silos and 50

  • Maj. Don S. Gentile

    "One man Air Force."- Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower upon presenting the Distinguished Flying Cross to Capt. Don S. Gentile in April 1942Don Gentile (Dominic Salvatore Gentile) was born near the museum in Piqua, Ohio, on Dec. 6, 1920. He learned to fly in high school, and in 1941, he enlisted in the RAF.

  • Eagle Squadrons

    On the other side of the world, Americans flocked in droves to British and Canadian recruiting stations. Approximately 15,000 joined the Royal Air Force and Royal Canadian Air Force where, as a rule, they were assimilated into various flying units.The exception was the famed Eagle Squadrons which,

  • RAF Alert Shack

    The dispersal, or Royal Air Force alert shack, sat at the end of a runway and sheltered pilots standing alert waiting to defend the area from enemy attack. It was boring duty and one pilot claimed to have counted every board and nail in the flimsy building. Pulling alert was like an actor waiting to

  • RAF Accumulator Trolley (Battery Start Cart)

    These trolleys were a common sight at airfields around Britain during World War II. Both the Royal Air Force and U.S. Army Air Forces made use of battery carts to provide additional starting power for the piston engines of their combat aircraft. This particular trolley is equipped with an attached

  • Flight Training on the Eve of WWII

    During the Depression of the 1930s, the number of pilots the U.S. Army Air Corps trained decreased until in 1937 only 184 graduated from advanced pilot training. Facing resurgent German militarism and an aggressive Japanese military in 1939, the Air Corps planned to graduate 4,500 pilots in the

  • AAF Established

    With the expansion of the Army's air arm, it became increasingly evident that there was an urgent need for closer cooperation between its two independent elements, the Air Corps (responsible for materiel and training functions) and the Air Force Combat Command (responsible for operational

  • Hitler’s Juggernaut

    Hitler's juggernaut invaded Poland on Sept. 1, 1939, and another World War began. The rapidity with which Poland fell to the invaders, largely due to the Luftwaffe, had a stunning effect upon many Americans. What little lethargy remained was shattered in April-June 1940 when Norway, Holland, Belgium

  • Air Corps Expands

    The decaying military situation in Europe emphasized the need for urgency within the United States. In May 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called for production of 50,000 military planes a year, a tremendous increase from the 1,800 produced in 1938. Various Air Corps expansion programs were

  • Strengthening the Air Corps

    Fortunately for the U.S., President Franklin D. Roosevelt realized the dominant role played by Hitler's Luftwaffe in European international relations, and on Jan. 12, 1939, he delivered a special message to Congress calling for strengthening of the Air Corps. Congress then authorized $300 million