The Air Force celebrates its 70th Birthday this year. We can’t overlook this historic event.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein asked every Air Force installation to host one milestone birthday event in 2017 focusing on our innovation, heritage and how we've broken barriers over the years.

We’ve added a lot to the Air Force. Since 1954, nearly 50,000 newly-minted second lieutenants have graduated from the Air Force Academy with five officers -- including Goldfein -- going on to become chief of staff.  Our graduates do amazing things in the operational Air Force, but our cadets do amazing things here.

Consider this: we regularly rank in the U.S.’s annual Best College Rankings and place in the top three liberal arts colleges across the country. Seventy-seven Academy athletes are recipients of All-American honors. Our Office of Research is teeming with ideas from cadets’ advancing technology across the Defense Department and in the private and public sectors. We’re home to the Air Force’s only Airmanship Program, in which cadets hone their pilot and leadership skills.

The accomplishments of our cadets and graduates enhance the Air Force. This year, even before we settle on a date and the details for our milestone birthday event, we’d like to share our achievements with you on a weekly basis. Starting next week, we’ll replace our yearlong Contrails feature with notable historic endeavors.

We hope you’ve enjoyed our weekly Contrails feature but we think you’ll enjoy this new feature even more.