Is "USAF" Correct?

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Francis X. Kranick, Jr. - 27 Dec 2005 02:50 GMT

"The Air Force is the youngest of all U.S. military services. Its birth
date is September 18, 1947. On that day, the National Security Act
became law. Signed by President Harry Truman, it set up the National
Military Establishment, which was renamed the Department of Defense
(DOD) in 1949."

    Thus starts my post on this... I saw the Modeling Madness webpage
review http://modelingmadness.com/scotts/decals/euro/euro48104.htm on
"Euro Decals 48104: Occupation USAF in Germany". No dates are provided
on the Mustang or Thunderbolt units to serve postwar but it was my
understanding the U.S.A.A.F. changed to USAF in 1947, as stated above,
stolen from website that popped up when I Googled 'USAF history'.

    So, would these Euro decals be correct? When did our occupying forces
leave? Wouldn't the USAF have been applied in late 1947 at least?

    Just wondering...

Frank Kranick

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Al Superczynski - 27 Dec 2005 03:48 GMT

>I saw the Modeling Madness webpage
>review http://modelingmadness.com/scotts/decals/euro/euro48104.htm on
>"Euro Decals 48104: Occupation USAF in Germany". No dates are provided
>on the Mustang or Thunderbolt units to serve postwar...

Well, it does say that the F-47Ds are shown as marked after 1947,
implying that the P-51Ds were as marked immediately postwar (also
implied by the squadron/aircraft codes being painted on the wings).

>...but it was my understanding the U.S.A.A.F. changed to USAF in 1947, as stated above,
>stolen from website that popped up when I Googled 'USAF history'.

That's correct. The sheet's title is somewhat misleading since
the P-51Ds featured weren't technically 'USAF' but 'USAAF' aircraft.

> So, would these Euro decals be correct?

The decals are fine as is.

>When did our occupying forces leave?

The then West Germany became fully sovereign in May of 1955 at
which time West Germany joined NATO and US forces there became subject
to a SOFA (Status Of Forces Agreement) as NATO troops, ending their
status as occupation forces.

>Wouldn't the USAF have been applied in late 1947 at least?

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if not even all of the national
insignias had been updated by adding the red stripe before then. I'm
not sure when the 'USAF' wing markings started being used but they
weren't _officially_ sanctioned until 1955 (!) although they obviously
were in widespread use well before then.

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Al Superczynski, MFE, IPMS/USA #3795, continuous since 1968

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Mad-Modeller - 27 Dec 2005 06:16 GMT

Technically I think the sheet's authors are wrong to use the USAF in
the title. Only the P-47s appeared to be in USAF markings. The first
one with the 'FE' buzz number is definitely in the Air Force because
P-47s would still have a 'PE' buzz. Thus, it's an F-47. Also the red
stripe in the bar insignia came in around the same year as the Air
Force.
Most of those Mustangs are in WWII-style finishes.

Bill Banaszak, MFE Sr.

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Model Forum / General / Models / December 2005

Is "USAF" Correct?