<text id=00he1207><title>A Single Department</title>
<history>US Air Force: Events History</history>
<article><hdr>A Single Department</hdr><body>
<p>President Harry S. Truman finally got action. In a message to Congress on 19 December 1945, he asked for new legislation to establish a single Department of Defense under which the air arm would be co-equal with the other services. He synthesized several suggestions made in earlier reports, borrowing liberally from the JCS and the War Department, tossing in some Navy ideas, and blending the mix. The first attempt by Congress to produce the suggested bill failed when the Navy resisted. The service resented the fact that it would be in a minority position against the Army and Air Force, and that no longer would the Navy be regarded as the first line of defense.
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<p>Truman called in the Army and Navy Secretaries and told them to iron out their differences. They couldn't, so Truman put together a compromise and the Senate Committee revised the bill accordingly. The Navy still disliked and opposed the bill. It was never reported out of committee for a vote on the floor of the Senate.
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<p>By January 1947, when the Eightieth Congress began deliberations, a final version of the bill was ready. It, too, was subjected to the additions, modifications and deletions that are standard for any major legislation in Congress. What finally resulted was the National Security Act of 1947, and it became a law on 26 July that year. It established the single Department of Defense, and three military departments—Army, Navy and Air Force—under civilian control. It also established the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Resources Board.
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<p>The functions and roles of the three services were detailed in Executive Order 9877. The Air Force was, under its terms, to organize, train and equip air forces for a variety of operations, to develop weapons, tactics, technique, organization and equipment of Air Force combat and service elements, to provide missions and detachments for foreign service, to provide means to coordinate air defense among all services, and to assist the Army and Navy in their missions.
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<p>It took time to transfer authority from the Army to the Air Force, and to organize for action. Consequently, although the National Security Act took effect late in July it was not until 18 September 1947 that W. Stuart Symington was sworn in as the first Secretary of the Air Force. That date is the official birthday of the United States Air Force.
