The United States Air Force Memorial honors the service of the personnel of the United States Air Force and its heritage organizations. The Memorial is located in Arlington County, Virginia, on the former grounds of the Navy Annex near The Pentagon and Arlington National Cemetery. The Memorial is southwest of the intersection of Columbia Pike and South Joyce Street and is accessible from the north side of Columbia Pike. It was the last project of American architect James Ingo Freed (known for the design of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum) with the firm Pei Cobb Freed & Partners. History In January 1992, the Air Force Memorial Foundation was incorporated to pursue the development of a memorial that would honor the people in the United States Air Force. In December 1993, President Clinton signed authorizing the Air Force Memorial. 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. Fundraising and detailed designs began. Because the site was near the Marine Corps War Memorial, which is just north of the Carillon, various Marine groups were briefed on the plans; they voiced no objections. However, on 30 July 1997, Congressman Gerald B.H. Solomon (R-NY), a Marine veteran, introduced a bill to prohibit the construction of any monument, memorial, or other structure "within view" of the Marine Corps War Memorial. The Air Force Association organized support for the memorial on behalf of its membership and Air Force veterans, and the issue became a polarizing one between the services. On 16 September 1997, the Friends of Iwo Jima and Solomon filed for a injunction against the construction of the Air Force Memorial. The request was denied on 15 June 1998, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit then dismissed the appeal of that decision on 7 May 1999. 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. On 28 December 2001, President George W. Bush signed the Defense Authorization Bill, which included a rider directing the Department of Defense to make available to the Air Force Memorial Foundation up to of the Naval Annex property