The aerial force is the youngest of the fighting forces which comprise modern armies. The dream of flight is a dream which has accompanied humanity for thousands of years , from the mythological stories of Icarus and Daedalus, whose beeswax coated wings were melted by the heat of the sun, through Leonardo da Vinchi who envisioned flying crafts similar to helicopters, and on to the beginning of the twentieth century, when the Wright brothers succeeded in flying over a distance of several hundred meters. Today, after less than a hundred years have passed, manned flight to space is routine, and one such flight will even be joined in the year 2001 by the first IAF astronaut. The IAF is as old as the state of Israel. In these years the IAF has won for itself a place of honor in the community of aerial forces around the world. owing to its military achievements in Israelis’ wars and in the periods between them, but not only there. The tradition and legacy of the IAF is rooted in the vision of the country’s leaders and founders of the Airforce which saw even at the beginning of the road the importance of air supremacy as a cornerstone of the independence of a nation in its homeland. In order to achieve that supremacy, the IAF was given the right to mobilize the best of the youth into its ranks and equip itself with the most advanced technologies, and these along with the unique spirit of the Airforce, a spirit of camaraderie , initiative, achievement, the pursuit of excellence as well as a family environment, have brought the IAF to where it is today. The IAF is a world of professions and roles, in the fields of maintenance, engineering, computers, intelligence, control, operations and administration, which enable the fighters to carry out their missions in training and combat. However, the individual is the foundation of the capabilities of the IAF, and the people who comprise the Airforce provide it with its actual qualitative edge. Constant renewal, a derivative of human and technological progress, will continue to offer new challenges, at the center of which we see outer space as both a challenge and a sphere were our presence is crucial in the modern age. The achievements of the IAF were accompanied by the heavy price of the brothers in arms whom we lost in the course of the IAF’s existence in training and combat. Our fallen and missing comrades have paved our way, and have given us the privilege of continuing to carry the banner of the IAF forever. We shall remember them and embrace their families to our hearts. The IAF will continue to be a central pillar of security and peace, a focus of human quality, technological progress and operational abilities. “Because this music cannot be stopped”.

Dan Haloutz, Major General Commander-in-Chief of the IAF