Welcome
It's the United States Air Force's 70th anniversary and civil engineers have been there every step of the way. On this site we will be celebrating that partnership. The scrolling images above (and the images below) will take you to different eras in Air Force civil engineering and the side modules will introduce you to its leaders and some downloadable resources and souvenirs.
This site will updated and highlight new eras until we reach the Air Force's birthday on Sept. 18th, so please make sure you check back for new content.
Introduction
For as long as there have been military airfields, there have been military engineers dedicated to their design, construction, operation, maintenance and repair. Before the United States Air Force became a separate service in 1947, construction personnel working with the Army Quartermaster Corps and engineers assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers worked closely with the Air Service, the Army Air Corps and, eventually, the Army Air Forces. Although not aviators themselves, these military personnel formed a dedicated cadre of experts knowledgeable in the construction of airfields and associated facilities critical to supporting flying operations. This knowledge became particularly critical in times of war when military engineers were tasked to construct, on short notice, airfields in war zones to support critical missions. By World War II, this specialty branch of engineering was known as aviation engineering and became the basis for the civil engineering function that evolved when the Air Force became a separate service in 1947.
*the content above is an excerpt taken from Leading the Way.
Eras in Air Force Civil Engineering
1947-1959: History | Leader Biographies
1960-1974: History | Leader Biographies
1975-1990: History | Leader Biographies
1991-2000: History | Leader Biographies
2001-2012: History | Leader Biographies