Formation and Early History
The United States Air Force Band is the youngest of the military bands based in Washington, D.C. Its military life began on 24 September 1941, with the formation of the Bolling Army Air Forces Band under the sponsorship of Lieutenant L.P. Holcomb, commanding officer of the Air Base Group at Bolling Field.
Alf Heiberg served as the Band's first commander and led the group from 1941 to 1944. The first ensemble consisted only of four players, but by the end of 1942 expanded to a total of 100 musicians. The group began to travel throughout the United States, performing at fairs and athletic events.
To identify band members in uniform, Heiberg designed a cap emblem using the pilots' wings with a superimposed musical lyre. This symbol has remained the emblem of The United States Air Force Band throughout its history.
In 1944, George S. Howard was named Commander and Conductor, a position he held for 20 years. Late in 1944, he took the Band on its first international tour; the group performed in England and France while the Royal Air Force Band toured the United States. This was the first tour for The Army Air Forces Band that included sites outside continental North America.
Following World War II, all but five of the band members left for civilian life. However, because of the program's success during the war, Howard was asked to remain in command of the Band and was charged with reorganizing it to serve in peacetime functions. He immediately embarked on a recruiting program to return the group to its original size, and the total manpower strength was increased to 115.
The Symphony Orchestra was instituted during this reorganization and was the first group of its kind in any military band organization. The Symphony Orchestra ultimately supplied players not only for the Strolling Strings (now known as The Air Force Strings) but for the Concert Band, which, under Howard's direction, included cellists.
The Band truly became The United States Air Force Band in 1947 when the Army Air Forces were officially designated as the United States Air Force. All units of the organization assumed the official "Air Force" title.
Read more about this topic: United States Air Force Band
Famous quotes containing the words formation, early and/or history:
“Those who were skillful in Anatomy among the Ancients, concluded from the outward and inward Make of an Human Body, that it was the Work of a Being transcendently Wise and Powerful. As the World grew more enlightened in this Art, their Discoveries gave them fresh Opportunities of admiring the Conduct of Providence in the Formation of an Human Body.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)
“The setting sun is reflected from the windows of the alms-house as brightly as from the rich man’s abode; the snow melts before its door as early in the spring. I do not see but a quiet mind may live as contentedly there, and have as cheering thoughts, as in a palace.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“What you don’t understand is that it is possible to be an atheist, it is possible not to know if God exists or why He should, and yet to believe that man does not live in a state of nature but in history, and that history as we know it now began with Christ, it was founded by Him on the Gospels.”
—Boris Pasternak (1890–1960)