In 1994, the National Capital Memorial Advisory Commission approved a site next to Marshall Drive and State Route 110, down the hill from the Netherlands Carillon, known as Arlington Ridge.

On 16 September 1997, the Friends of Iwo Jima and Solomon filed for a injunction against the construction of the Air Force Memorial.

But the cost of litigation and the opposition of prominent Marine veterans in Congress convinced the Foundation to move the Memorial to its present site, at the east end of Columbia Pike, on the grounds of Fort Myer just south of Arlington National Cemetery.

The keynote address was delivered by President Bush, a former F-102 Delta Dagger pilot with the Texas Air National Guard.

[3] To all who have climbed sunward and chased the shouting wind, America stops to say: your service and your sacrifice will be remembered forever, and honored in this place by the citizens of a free and grateful nation.

Only three of the four contrails are depicted, at 120 degrees from each other, as the absent fourth suggests the missing man formation traditionally used at Air Force funeral flyovers.

[6] At the transition between concrete and hollow steel portions, dampers provide aerodynamic stability and dissipate wind sway energy.

South of the approach, before the inscription wall, stand four 8-foot-tall (2.4 m) bronze statues representing the United States Air Force Honor Guard, sculpted by Zenos Frudakis.

This name listed was that of Colonel William "Billy" Mitchell, and it was removed due to a clerical error in actual Medal of Honor recipients in a Congressional Report published in 1979.

The act cited directs that "a gold medal" be struck and presented in recognition of Mitchell's pioneer service and foresight.

"[9] In addition to receiving over 350,000 visitors throughout the year, the Air Force Memorial is host to more than 300 military ceremonies, weddings, funerals, and other special events.