Breaking Barriers! Air Force's 70th Birthday: March achievements
President Dwight Eisenhower (seated) shakes hands with Secretary of the Air Force Harold Talbott, April 1, 1954, after signing legislation authorizing the establishment of the U.S. Air Force Academy. Looking on (from left) are Congressman Karl Vinton, of Georgia; Gen. Nathan Twining, Air Force chief of staff; Congressman Dewey Short, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee; James Douglas, undersecretary of the Air Force, and Lt. Gen. Hubert Harmon, special assistant for the Academy. Harmon was the first superintendent of the U.S. Air Force Academy. (U.S. Air Force Academy)