United States Air Force

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the aerial warfare branch of the United States Military. It is the largest and most technologically-advanced air force on Earth. Their dedicated college is the United States Air Force Academy.

“	Aim High ... Fly-Fight-Win	”
—USAF Motto

Fiction

Generation 1

Marvel Comics continuity

Events from the UK-only comic stories are in italics.

The Air Force would have several clashes against the Decepticon threat. In its first, as part of a general military assault on the newly-built Fortress Sinister, they were repulsed. Prisoner of War!

Soon after, Starscream attacked their secret base, Oregon Four-Alpha, with ease. The Enemy Within! Later, they encountered Jetfire and were beaten off again. Prime Time! Later still, they ran into other Decepticons and were driven off again. Plight of the Bumblebee!

Later again, USAF jets on a routine exercise got trashed by Cyclonus and Scourge for a laugh, though this time they did see off the Decepticons. Wrecking Havoc After that, it was a return to traditional values when the Air Strike Patrol seized MacDill Air Force Base with little resistance. Back from the Dead

In the 1990s, USAF forces were, yep, effortlessly beaten by the invading Decepticons. The Gathering Darkness

Unicron Trilogy

Cybertron cartoon

When Thundercracker violated US airspace, the USAF dispatched two jets to intercept him. They'd have been blown out of the sky if not for the timely arrival of Jetfire and his mates. Hidden

Later, when the Ancient Decepticon hordes covered the Earth, the Air Force launched a pre-emptive strike with unmanned droid planes. It didn't do much good, especially since they viewed the Autobots as enemy targets. Invasion

When three injured Autobots were in need of severe repairs, Colonel Franklin had them transported to an air base. The ground crew considered this their way of contributing against the black hole. Critical

Live-action film series

Movies

The six movies are the primary component of the live-action movie continuity family. Their events should be taken as canon for all other pieces of fiction listed below, unless otherwise specified.

Bumblebee film

When Blitzwing appeared on the scene, Agent Burns initially assumed he was an Air Force jet before B-127 corrected him. Bumblebee

Transformers film

Shortly after Captain Lennox and his team of US Army Rangers returned to the SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar, a mysterious MH-53 Pave Low helicopter entered the surrounding restricted airspace, heading straight for the base itself. Two USAF F-22 Raptors stationed at SOCCENT Qatar launched to intercept and escort the helicopter to the base. One of the pilots reported the helicopter's tail number was 4500X, which was also confirmed to be that of a helicopter which had been shot down months earlier in Afghanistan. When the helicopter touched down, it changed form, turning into a giant bipedal robot that attempted to hack into the US military network before destroying everything in its path, including all soldiers, armour and aircraft parked on the ground.

While the military and the government investigated the remains of SOCCENT Qatar and tried to discover who attacked them, Lennox's rangers wearily crossed the harsh Qatar desert to make their way to Mahfouz's village. Meanwhile on Air Force One, Tracy was asked to "wrangle up" some Ding Dongs for the President. Tracy expressed dissatisfaction at this order to a colleague, expecting more out of her Air Force career. As she entered the elevator for storage, she noticed a boombox sitting on the floor, so she took it below deck with her while she retrieved the President's snack cakes. Little did she know the boombox would turn out to be one of the hostile aliens, who proceeded to hack the military network using Air Force One's P.O.T.U.S. mainframe for the information the helicopter failed to retrieve while simultaneously uploading a virus onto the military network.

Back in Qatar, the Rangers were attacked by a giant mechanical scorpion deployed by the walking helicopter, causing a ragged retreat among the soldiers to find more defensible positions in the village. Captain Lennox and USAF Tech Sergeant Epps managed to call the Pentagon for help. A Predator UAV deployed to the site showed the brass what they were up against, so they ordered a nearby air base to launch two A-10 Thunderbolts to attack the mechanical scorpion, a manoeuvre coordinated between Tech Sergeant Epps and an E-3 Sentry AWACs flying overhead. When the A-10s failed to significantly damage the hostile creature, Epps called upon the AC-130 Spectre to "bring the rain" with its 105mm sabot rounds. The hail of powerful shells hurt the scorpion, forcing it to retreat.

After being evacuated from Qatar by the Air Force, Lennox's team investigated the broken-off tail of the scorpion aboard their C-17 transport plane, observing that the Spectre's sabot rounds had melted right through the creature's molecular regenerator armour. With this knowledge, Lennox ordered Epps to inform command that high-heat sabot rounds were effective weapons against the mysterious attackers. This information was received by their superiors shortly after the alien virus had spread around the world and shut down all forms of advanced communication, making it almost impossible for humanity to conduct an organised defense.

Shortly after touching down at Nellis AFB, Lennox's team were approached by agents of Sector Seven who ordered them to follow. They were taken to Hoover Dam where they met Secretary of Defense John Keller and an unusual assortment of other people, including Sector Seven agents Tom Banachek and Seymour Simmons. After learning of the evil aliens known as Decepticons and their quest to secure the ancient cube-like artifact called the AllSpark, the Dam was attacked by some of the evil aliens. Deciding to evacuate the Cube, Lennox decided to make a stand in nearby Mission City, but stated that they could not do so without support from the US Air Force. As they left to protect teenagers Sam Witwicky, Mikaela Banes and their friend alien Autobot car (which carried the Cube), Keller, Simmons, and computer experts Glen Whitmann and Maggie Madsen attempted to contact Nellis AFB for help. After defeating one of the hostile aliens, they managed to contact Nellis, which launched F-22 Raptors.

Worthless consumer models!

Arriving in Mission City, Lennox and his men saw what they thought was an F-22 from Nellis, but it was in fact the Decepticon known as Starscream! As the humans and their friendly alien Autobot allies fought off the ground-based Decepticons and attempted to protect Sam and the Cube, the Raptors from Nellis arrived to help the Rangers defeat that MH-53 Pave Low robot who destroyed SOCCENT Qatar. After doing so, they came under attack from Starscream, who hid amongst them in his F-22 disguise. After he destroyed several F-22s, Starscream was driven off by a counterattack, and now with the heat off of them, the remaining fighters attacked the Decepticon leader, Megatron. The combined attack by the Rangers and the Air Force Raptors damaged Megatron enough to slow him down, enabling Sam Witwicky to plug the Cube into Megatron's spark, killing him. Transformers

Revenge of the Fallen film

When General Morshower learned that NEST and the Autobots were engaged with the Decepticons in Egypt, he authorized Operation: Firestorm, whereby the available military assets in the region were to engage attacks on the Decepticons. Once the order was received, the waiting United States Navy vessels launched F/A-18s which acted as support for a squadron of F-16s and two B-1 bombers which conducted bombing runs on the Decepticons' position in Giza. After Sergeant Epps ordered them to target the area with the orange smoke, the F-16s launched an initial strike, taking out several Decepticons, with the B-1's finishing off the rest. After receiving word about a Decepticon doomsday weapon in the Great Pyramid of Giza, a squad of F-22s tried to target the device, but were blocked by The Fallen's telekinetic blockade, with one F-22 hitting a stone block and exploding. Fortunately, Optimus Prime, now equipped with Jetfire's powerful thrusters, was made of sterner stuff, and managed to destroy the weapon. Revenge of the Fallen

Dark of the Moon film

When Decepticons were reported in Chicago, several Predator B Drones were sent in to observe what was happening but were shot down by Decepticon ships. Later, a squadron of US Navy F/A-18 Hornets launched from a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier on the Atlantic coast were sent in but were also shot down by Decepticon ships. Dark of the Moon

IDW movie comics

In 2003, F-22 Raptor Bravo-Echo 96 was undergoing testing around the area of Nellis Air Force Base when the pilot saw a strange impact and moved to investigate. His fighter's form was scanned by the Decepticon Starscream, who then shot it out of the sky. He transformed into his new F-22 mode and left the burning wreckage behind. Movie Prequel #4

A few years later, Lieutenant M. Hardin led an F-22 squadron escorting a C-17 Globemaster III transport to the clandestine Sector Seven's secret Nevada facility, 80 miles from Hoover Dam. The C-17 unloaded its precious cargo—the deactivated form of Wreckage, a Decepticon left for dead by his compatriots after they leveled Sector Seven's base in Afghanistan. Alliance #1

Titan movie comics

In a divergent timeline, the Decepticons succeeded at Mission City and conquered the United States. The Air Force lost, badly, when the Decepticons took control of North America. Twilight's Last Gleaming, Part: 1

Two years later, after the Decepticons had both been knocked out and then come back to form the Decepticon Heartland, the homeless Autobots set up camp at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. They got a frosty reception. Hard Target

Shortly after, as the Autobots departed the base, Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C. fired a nuclear-tipped missile at them on orders from the brainwashed President. Revolution Part 1 Oh, sorry, I mean Bolling accidentally fired a "wayward test launch".

When the Decepticons launched a full assault the next day, the Air Force was hampered from responding by Presidential dictat and the presence of civilians. Revolution Part 2

The Veiled Threat

The Veiled Threat

Ask Vector Prime

Betty "Major Altitude" Altheimer attended the United States Air Force Academy, emerging as an experimental test pilot with an eye towards going into space. She would eventually achieve her goal as a member of NEST. Ask Vector Prime, 2015/08/31

Go-Bots comic

Following the introduction of Go-Bots into human society, the United States military employed them in the USAF. As Go-Bots' G-chip prevented them from bringing harm to humans, the military loosened their interpretation of the Asimov Laws to allow their Go-Bots to use lethal force if authorized by their operator. This wirelessly spread from Go-Bot to Go-Bot giving them a subconscious desire to do harm. Concurrently, businessman T. Coriander Banks had modified his own Go-Bots to have increased aggression to use them in gladiatorial combat. When the military coding reached these Go-Bots, they fled underground, the military sending Nick Burns and Leader-1 to track them down. Following these renegades defeating Burns and Leader-1, Go-Bots #1 the military was forced to fall back on low-tech hardware that the Go-Bots could not wirelessly hack. The antiquated air force was cut down by Fitor before Leader-1 arrived to save the few planes that remained. Go-Bots #2

Facilities

As part of the joint operational command, USAF planes and airmen were stationed at SOCCENT Forward Operations Base in Qatar alongside service personnel from the United States Army and the United States Marine Corps.

The USAF operated Nellis Air Force Base (AFB) in Clark County, Nevada. Captain Lennox's US Army Ranger team touched down at the base aboard their C-17 Globemaster III after being evacuated from Qatar. Shortly afterwards, Glen Whitmann and Secretary of Defense John Keller managed to contact the air base via Morse code to order them to provide fighter cover against the Decepticons.

• More information about Nellis Air Force Base on Wikipedia

Hardware

CV-22 Osprey

Someone's going to have a hard time explaining how they lost two of these babies.

The Bell Helicopter/Boeing Rotorcraft Systems CV-22 Osprey is a tiltrotor aircraft that combines the vertical takeoff, hover, and vertical landing qualities of a helicopter with the long range, fuel efficiency and speed characteristics of a turboprop aircraft. Its mission is to conduct long-range infiltration, exfiltration and resupply missions for special operations forces.

Two Ospreys out of SOCCENT Qatar transported Captain Lennox's Ranger unit back to the base after a mission.

• More information about the CV-22 Osprey on Wikipedia

A four-prop version of the Osprey was seen in Dark of the Moon.

At the time of filming, the two Ospreys featured in the movie were two of only three that the US Air Force had in its inventory.

F-22 Raptor

The Lockheed-Martin F-22 Raptor is an air-superiority fighter with stealth capabilities. It is the most advanced fighter aircraft in the world.

Two Raptors were launched to intercept and escort Blackout to SOCCENT. They were presumably destroyed when the Decepticon laid waste to the base.

Later, Secretary of Defense Keller successfully contacted the Air Force, and F-22 Raptors were launched to give air cover to the combined Ranger/Sector Seven/Autobot unit in Mission City. The second wave of Raptors took heavy damage when the Decepticon Starscream successfully infiltrated the group and destroyed four of the Raptors before being driven off. With the heat off their tails, the squadron participated in the destruction of Blackout and Megatron.

• More information about the F-22 Raptor on Wikipedia

MQ-9 Reaper

The General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-9 Reaper,also known as the Predator B, is an unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV) used for unmanned reconnaissance and combat.

After Lennox and Epps were able to get in touch with the Pentagon, an MQ-9 Reaper/Predator B UCAV was launched to investigate. Two years later the USAF sent three Predator Bs, one white UCAV with a turboprop, one black UCAV with a jet engine and one dark grey UCAV with a turboprop, to the northern coast of the Gulf of Aqaba.

• More information about the MQ-9 Reaper on Wikipedia

A-10 Thunderbolt II

It is being brought.

The Fairchild-Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II is a twin-engine, ground-attack aircraft designed to provide close air support (CAS) to ground forces by attacking tanks, armored vehicles, and other ground targets. It is also called the Warthog about as often as its official name, in and out of the United States Air Force.

After receiving Captain Lennox's request for air support, the Pentagon ordered a nearby airbase to roll in Strike Package Bravo, two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs fitted with AGM-65 Maverick air-to-ground missiles, to give immediate support to Lennox's besieged unit. USAF Sergeant Epps coordinated with an E-3 Sentry AWACS to have the A-10s direct their fire upon the target in killbox one-alpha, which was indicated by flares and painted with laser guidance markers. Approaching the village, the two A-10s strafed the robotic scorpion with 30 mm rounds from their GAU-8 Avenger gatling guns. Causing no noticeable damage, the two planes followed up with their Maverick missiles, blowing up a lot of sand, but they missed. As a result, there was no appreciable effect on the mechanical beast. A pair of A-10 Thunderbolts later took part in mopping up the surviving Decepticons in the Negev desert following the missile strikes and carpet bombing.

• More information about the A-10 Thunderbolt II on Wikipedia

E-3 Sentry AWACS

Yes, I have a mushroom on my back. I have issues with it, okay?

The Boeing Integrated Defense Systems/Northrop Grumman E-3 Sentry is an Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) aircraft that provides all-weather surveillance, command, control and communications to the United States military.

After Captain Lennox established communications with the Pentagon, Tech Sergeant Epps coordinated with an E-3 Sentry to have fire directed upon Scorponok. The E-3's crew provided command and control to the pair of A-10 Thunderbolt IIs in Strike Package Bravo and the AC-130 Spectre gunship that attacked Scorponok. Two years later an E-3 Sentry was sent to the coast of the Gulf of Aqaba to coordinate Operation: Firestorm.

• More information about the E-3 Sentry on Wikipedia

Crew

• Michael Adams (AWACS Controller #1)
• Ron Henry (AWACS Controller #2)
• Benjamin Hoffman (AWACS Controller #3)
• Michael McNabb (AWACS Controller #4)
• Jason White (AWACS Controller #5)

Most of the crew of the E-3 Sentry seen in the movie are real crew of that particular aircraft. First Lieutenant Micheal McNabb (who played AWACS Controller #4) is a Transformers fan, and stated in an email to fansite TFW2005.com that director Michael Bay allowed them to come up with lines that they would really say to other aircraft in order to make the scenes as realistic as possible.

AC-130 Spectre

Sure, you bring your alien insect technology, and I'll bring...

The Lockheed/Boeing AC-130 Spectre gunship is a heavily armed ground-attack airplane. It is used for close air support, air interdiction, and force protection. Close air support roles include supporting ground troops, escorting convoys, and flying urban operations.

With the lack of significant damage to Scorponok by the two A-10 Thunderbolts of Strike Package Bravo, Tech Sergeant Epps called upon the biggest barrels the Air Force has: the 105mm M102 howitzer cannons of an AC-130 Spectre gunship. The Spectre pounded the Decepticon attack into the ground with a combination of 40 mm L60 Bofors cannon and 105mm sabot rounds, damaging Scorponok enough for it to retreat.

• More information about the AC-130 Spectre on Wikipedia

C-17 Globemaster III

The McDonnell Douglas/Boeing Integrated Systems C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft used for rapid strategic airlift of troops and cargo to main operating bases or forward bases anywhere in the world.

Several C-17 transports at SOCCENT Qatar were easily destroyed by Blackout during his attack on SOCCENT Qatar.

Over forty C-17s lifted off from an unspecified air base in response to the various attacks by the Decepticons. The media were not told of where the planes and their troops were going, as the government was being very quiet about what was going on.

A C-17 transported Captain Lennox's Ranger team from Qatar to the United States. While on board, a technician determined that the severed tail from Scorponok had a self-regenerating molecular armour. Lennox discovered that one of the AC-130 Spectre's high-heat sabot rounds managed to burn right through the armour, which gave them a weapon to use against the alien invaders. The C-17 eventually landed at Nellis AFB in Nevada, where Lennox's team disembarked.

• More information about the C-17 Globemaster III on Wikipedia

There was a scene that was cut from this part of the movie where Jorge Figueroa dies from the injuries he sustained during Scorponok's attack. A brief fragment of this was seen at the end of the December 2006 teaser trailer for the movie.

Notes

• The majority of the military base scenes in the 2007 Transformers movie were shot at Holloman Air Force Base in New Mexico. Additionally, serving off-duty airmen and personnel from Holloman were paid extras wages to play miscellaneous soldiers during Blackout's attack on SOCCENT Qatar, as well as to provide advice to the production.
• Joe Zieja served the air force prior to voice acting.

External links

• United States Air Force on the Wikipedia
• USAF Air Education and Training Command article on airmen at Atlus AFB appearing in Revenge of the Fallen