Surgeon General of the United States Air Force
In September 1947 the combat elements of the Army Air Forces separated from the U.S. Army, forming the United States Air Force. But a few Air Force support functions, such as medical care, remained U.S. Army responsibilities for the next two years. Starting in 1948, the Air Force and the Air Surgeon, Maj. Gen. Malcolm C. Grow (1887-1960), began to convince the U.S. Army and the administration of President Harry S. Truman that the Air Force needed its own medical service. In the summer of 1949, Air Force General Order No. 35 established a medical service with the following officer personnel components: Medical Corps, Dental Corps, Veterinary Corps, Medical Service Corps, Air Force Nurse Corps, and Women’s Medical Specialist Corps.
Service number (United States Armed Forces)
Each branch of the military service had its own version of service numbers. In order by year of creation, these were:The following are the original service numbers which were first issued to United States military personnel:The original Air Force enlisted force was composed of personnel formerly of the United States Army Air Forces who continued to use their Army service numbers upon transfer to the Air Force in 1947. Thus, there is no established "first" enlisted service number of the U.S. Air Force since thousands of airmen simultaneously transferred into the Air Force on 18 September 1947.