Master Robert M. Graves, 49th Wing superintendent,

Master Robert M. Graves, 49th Wing superintendent, welcomes a new airman to Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., Sept. 18, while spreading the word of the U.S. Air Force Birthday. "The Air Force core values are the pillars upon which my life has always been based on," said Graves. "I truly believe the core values create an atmosphere of honesty and respect which the Air Force is based upon." On Sept. 18, 1947, the U.S. Air Force was officially recognized as an independent military service, leaving behind its former role, the U.S. Army Air Corps. This year marks 67 years of the USAF leading the world in air superiority, space and cyberspace. "The future of our nation is forever bound up in the development of Air Power," Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell, United States Army Air Service. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. E'Lysia Wray/Released)