"First, I want to provide information in a single unclassified source for United States Air Force (USAF) personnel who have the opportunity to engage China’s People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) in military diplomacy either in China or in the U.S. and for anyone else who is looking at the PLAAF for multiple reasons. Second, I want to write about the five things I care the most about, which are PLAAF organizational structure, personnel (officer/cadre corps and enlisted force), education, training, and military diplomacy. As can be seen, this book does not address weapons and equipment, which is covered in detail in other sources. Although it is crucial to grasp the military capabilities of the PLAAF embodied by its hardware, it is equally important to understand the six components discussed in this book. Although I have written some material in the past about the PLAAF’s strategy, theory, and “doctrine,” it has not been one of my primary focuses. Therefore, I invited Cristina Garafola to write that chapter and to provide valuable input throughout the entire book. Third, I believe it is important to have not only a snapshot of where the PLAAF is today but to understand how it got there from the beginning in 1949. This, in turn, helps provide a basis for making predictions about what the PLAAF will look like at its 80th birthday in November 2029. Fourth, when one does engage the PLAAF face-to-face or examines it from an analytical perspective, it is important to look at the PLAAF through a PLAAF lens, not through a USAF lens. Specifically, the PLAAF and USAF are not organized the same way and, even though they might use the same terms, the concepts are oftentimes completely different. For example, a USAF flight squadron normally has about 15-25 aircraft, while a PLAAF flight squadron has only five aircraft. And, most importantly, as will be shown in this book, the PLA, like every other Chinese government entity or state-owned enterprise, is organized based on a g