--- title: "The Air Force fight song just became completely gender-neutral" description: "\"These new lyrics speak more accurately to all we do, all that we are and all that we strive to be as a profession of arms.\"" date: "2020-05-29" modified: "2020-05-29" authors: - name: "David Roza" job_title: "YouTube Writer/Editor" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/david-roza/" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-fight-song-gender-neutral/" categories: - "Air Force" - "Military Branches" - "News" tags: - "women in military" --- # The Air Force fight song just became completely gender-neutral ![]() The Air Force made its fight song completely gender-neutral on Friday, in a move that Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said is meant to capture the role women play in the modern service. “These new lyrics speak more accurately to all we do, all that we are and all that we strive to be as a profession of arms,” Goldfein said [in a statement]() on Friday. “They add proper respect and recognition to everyone who serves and who has served.” The changes come three months after the general announced [initial tweaks]() to the song’s third verse. The new changes announced Friday bring the rest of the song in line. “I also know with absolute certainty and clarity that these changes are about adding to, not subtracting from, who we are,” Goldfein said. “Changing the lyrics in no way diminishes the history and accomplishments of men or dilutes our eternal gratitude for their sacrifice and bravery.” Below are the complete new lyrics, with changes emphasized in bold: Off we go into the wild blue yonder, Climbing high into the sun; Here they come zooming to meet our thunder, **At ‘em now**, Give 'em the gun! Down we dive, spouting our flame from under, Off with one helluva roar! We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force! (Verse II) Brilliant minds fashioned a crate of thunder, Sent it high into the blue; **Valiant hands** blasted the world asunder; How they lived God only knew! **Boundless souls** dreaming of skies to conquer Gave us wings, ever to soar! With scouts before and bombers galore. Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force! (Verse III) Here's a toast to the host Of those who love the vastness of the sky, To a friend we send a message of the **brave who serve on high**. We drink to those who gave their all of old, Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold. A toast to the host of those we boast, the U.S. Air Force! (Verse IV) Off we go into the wild sky yonder, Keep the wings level and true; If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder Keep the nose out of the blue! **Fly to fight**, guarding the nation's border, We'll be there, followed by more! In echelon we carry on. Oh, nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force! And here are what the lyrics [used to be](), at least as of 2007: Off we go into the wild blue yonder, Climbing high into the sun; Here they come zooming to meet our thunder, At 'em boys, Give 'er the gun! (Give 'er the gun now!) Down we dive, spouting our flame from under, Off with one helluva roar! We live in fame or go down in flame. Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force! Minds of men fashioned a crate of thunder, Sent it high into the blue; Hands of men blasted the world asunder; How they lived God only knew! (God only knew then!) Souls of men dreaming of skies to conquer Gave us wings, ever to soar! With scouts before And bombers galore. Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force! Here's a toast to the host Of those who love the vastness of the sky, To a friend we send a message of his brother men who fly. We drink to those who gave their all of old, Then down we roar to score the rainbow's pot of gold. A toast to the host of men we boast, the U.S. Air Force! Off we go into the wild sky yonder, Keep the wings level and true; If you'd live to be a grey-haired wonder Keep the nose out of the blue! (Out of the blue, boy!) Flying men, guarding the nation's border, We'll be there, followed by more! In echelon we carry on. Hey! Nothing'll stop the U.S. Air Force! Goldfein said in February that the change is long overdue. A graduate of the Air Force Academy, he pointed out that the other service academies, Annapolis and West Point, updated their songs to be gender neutral in [2004]() and [2008](), respectively. “It is time for us to change,” he said at the time. An interesting fact: the Air Force song is actually older than the service itself. In 1938, before the Air Force was even its own branch of the military, Liberty magazine sponsored a contest where readers could submit ideas for what should be the official song of the Army Air Corps. At the last minute, a musician and amateur pilot named Robert Crawford (who purchased a plane for himself so he could get to his concert gigs more easily), sent in “Off We Go,” which the selection committee — made up of Army Air Corps wives, according to the [Library of Congress]() — unanimously selected as the best in the bunch. Through the decades, even as more and more women served in the Air Force, the song still seemed to recognize the achievements of only male airmen. Until today, that is. ## Author David Roza writes scripts about military news for the Task & Purpose YouTube channel, and he also writes articles about military pay, benefits, health care, child care, culture, and other personnel topics on a freelance basis. Roza previously covered the Air Force and Space Force for Task & Purpose from 2019 to 2023 and for Air & Space Forces Magazine from 2023 to 2025. In the course of that reporting, he has set off a ‘Hollywood explosion’ with Air Force bomb techs, turned the (unarmed) keys of a nuclear missile bunker, hovered over the Nevada desert on an Air Force rescue helicopter, and got the best sleep of his life on the floor of a C-17 over the central Pacific. Share tips and story ideas with David at [david.roza@teamrecurrent.io]()