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Air Force GeneralO-10 General Officer, U.S. Air Force |
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Air Force Ranks » General Rank • Gen Pay • Gen Rank History • Promotion Information
History of the Air Force General Rank
A General is a General Officer in the United States Air Force at DoD paygrade O-10.
Upon the lieutenant general rank becoming a permanent rank in among the officers, the four-star general rank was created for the heads of each service. In general, the four star rank was reserved for the Chief of Staff of the Air Force. There was also a five-star rank reserved for wartime use but this has never been awarded in the Air Force. Today, there is still less than ten generals at any given time.
Want to learn more? Read about the Air Force's General rank on Military-Ranks.org.
History of the Air Force
The Air Force was founded in 1947, just after WWII. It was created using most of the existing Army Air Corps that had just made significant contributions to the war effort. The Air Force is the most technological of the branches, as well as the "most business-like" (least strict). There is a general concensus in the military that quality of life for servicemembers in the Air Force is highest. Just as the Army fights land wars and the Navy fights sea wars, the Air Force was originally envisioned to fight air wars. While wars in the past 70 years couldn't be fought with aircraft alone, the age of Drones and Artificial Intelligence may cause a paradigm shift where air-only wars are possible.