SALVATION AIR FORCE was first formed in the spring of 1972 by Donnie Gossett (guitar, keyboards, vocal) with his cousin Leon Rogers (bass) and school mates Ron Stelting (drums, vocal) and Grant Dunning (guitar, flute, vocal). Within a few months Donnie and his brother, Michael Leon Gossett decided to reform the band using the same name along with school mate, Chuck Kenyon on drums as Chuck provided the drumming on their first album recorded by the Gossett family entitled WE ARE ONE. In the summer of 1972 the Gossett Brothers attended a music conference in Dallas called PRELUDE TO EXPLO where they met Larry Norman and played him their homemade recordings. Larry was particularly impressed with Donnie's hard rock version of his own song THE LAST SUPPER. As the band began to develop material, most of which was written by Donnie, they deemed they needed a fourth member and recruited Ken Halsey (piano, trumpet, vocal). Since Ken was also a songwriter they performed several of Ken's original compositions as well as a mainstay of songs written by Donnie. This chapter of the band had their debut in November 1972 opening for Larry Norman at the VINCENT MASSEY THEATRE for Larry's first appearance in Vancouver. The band continued to develop new material and play local concerts but then in the spring of 1973 Ken Halsey left the band (although stayed closely connected as he eventually married Donnie and Michael's sister, Jeanne Halsey).

In the summer of 1974 they played the LODESTONE FESTIVAL along with RON SALSBURY & THE JC POWER OUTLET and THE WAY. After making an impression on Dana Angle, leader of THE WAY, he offered to produce SALVATION AIR FORCE and secured studio time for them in Southern California. The band also played the prestigious PRAISE 74 FESTIVAL along with many significant artists of the time. In October 1974 SAF recorded their first single at BUDDY KING STUDIO in Huntington Beach, California, the home studio for the many bands of MARANATHA! MUSIC.

Then in April 1975 SAF headed out on their first nationwide tour playing the Canadian Prairies and the American Midwest. They played the prestigious ADAM'S APPLE in Fort Wayne, Indiana, home of Honeytree and PETRA. Their hard rock sound was welcomed in contrast to the softer sound of most of the west coast artists of the day. The Gossett Brother's sister, Judy Gossett , frequently sat in with the band in concert adding her vocal prowess, piano and percussion skills to the mix. Returning from their successful tour the band rolled their van when they encountered a freak snow storm in Wyoming. Stuck in the small town of Sheridan while they waited for their van to be repaired they requested to store their music gear in a nearby church. Not only did the Pastor Steve Smith agree to permit them to store their gear but also provided them lodging and an impromptu concert schedule in local parks, churches and schools. What seemed to be an ACCIDENT (the concluding song of SAF's set in those days) became a new state to tour.

The band continued to play in their home province of British Columbia, as well as Alberta, establishing a blend of rock, pop and gospel. Leon Rogers left the band to be replaced by Brian Loewen on guitar and vocal while Brian was still a high school student. The band presented their comedy and music to appreciative audiences hungry for spiritual rock and media. The band was also the first to sell t-shirts at their concerts in lieu of having an album. Since Brian had to return for his final year of high school, SAF left on their fall tour of 1975 through as a 3-piece (Donnie, Michael, Ron) and were occasionally supplemented by Judy. At the end of 1975 the Gossett Brothers decided that SAF would no longer be a steady line-up as before but would be the Gossett Brothers supplemented by sidemen and so Ron Stelting was no longer in the band (although he did return many times later).

 In January 1976 The Gossett Brothers spent the month recording their first album STRANGERS IN A STRANGE LAND at BUDDY KING STUDIO with Dana Angle producing once again. Dana suggested using the drummer for THE WAY, Alex MacDougall , for their sessions and thus began a long-standing relationship. Also supplementing the brothers were many of the finest musicians of that day including Al Perkins (formerly of Stephen Stills' MANASSAS), Mike Escalante (of PSALM 150 and ANDRAE CROUCH & THE DISCIPLES), Sandra Crouch, Nancy Short (of THE ARCHERS), Bruce Herring (of THE WAY) and Joy Strange Cull (of PARABLE). Sister Judy Gossett also provided both lead and backup vocal. Although SAF was primarily known as a rock band, the Gossett Brothers accepted the advice of the producer and engineer to have their first album as a mellow representation of their music. After a month the album was 80% complete but needed mixing and a few parts added. The Gossett Brothers left the album for Dana to complete in their absence but Dana was able to make little progress so in March 1976 Donnie relieved Dana of production responsibilities.

SAF fulfilled concert commitments with Chuck Kenyon back on drums along with sister Judy on vocal and percussion and singer Wendy McRitchie. Donnie also hired Alex MacDougall and his brother, Beau MacDougall to complete the new chapter of SAF for their spring tour of 1976 opening shows for Honeytree across Canada. Ron Stelting's younger brother, Rick Stelting also joined the band on sound for the tour and was frequently involved in technical roles with SAF. Donnie was also been bitten by the recording bug and began to record in his own facility and to develop his skills as a recording producer and engineer.

The Gossett Brothers immediately left on their fall tour of 1976 across the Midwest U.S. starting in Chicago with Brian Loewen on guitar and vocal (finally out of high school) and Brian's friend, Kevin Ault on drums. Sister Judy also played with the band for most of the tour. They opened for Randy Stonehill in Columbus, Ohio at the UNIVERSITY OF OHIO and for Terry Talbot in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania. However, the Gossett Brothers became quite discouraged by touring without an album that was released to the public. They made a decision to avoid further touring until their album was released.

 The Gossett Brothers returned to the Pacific Northwest expecting their album to be released any day. In the meantime they held off on all touring only playing one concert in 1977 which broadcast live by radio. They also continued writing and recording their own material in their own studio which was growing by the day. Although Michael had written a few songs, Donnie had written 95% of the material up until this point but now Michael began to express himself as a writer, first by writing his own ballad SEEKER IN THE SHADOWS and then co-writing over 100 songs with Donnie. The Gossett Brothers now expressed themselves not only as the band SALVATION AIR FORCE but also as GOSSETT BROTHERS STUDIO. They began to have some of their friends like Sherman Andrus (of ANDRAE CROUCH & THE DISCIPLES, THE IMPERIALS, ANDRUS BLACKWOOD & COMPANY), Reba Rambo, Jim Gilbert and Beau MacDougall to record their compositions in their own studio. Various artists like B. J. Thomas began to express interest in their material.

Aware that the Gossett Brothers had amassed an unusually large amount of recorded tracks (whereas few artists had their own studio and facility to create such volume in those days) Larry Norman suggested the next release be what he called a Bootleg-style album even as Larry had released several of his own albums -- as underground basement tapes of the avant garde and obscure. Larry reviewed dozens of tapes and selected what he believed were the best track list but the Gossett Brothers hated his selection -- deeming it as novelty and not how they wanted to represent themselves as their art and expression became more sophisticated. Instead they proposed an album entitled PASSING GLANCES with new renditions of their best material from the second half of the 1970s. SAF only played twice in 1978 with one of the performances as the headliner for the LODESTONE 78 FESTIVAL.

The Gossett Brothers continued to record the PASSING GLANCES tracks as well as writing and recording new material as inspiration hit which it so frequently did in those days. With PASSING GLANCES 50% complete the Gossett Brothers decided to release their own underground album only on cassette of the completed PASSING GLANCES tracks and various other songs entitled PRAYER WARRIORS ON PARADE. This album was not commercially available and sent out to their friends as a preview of their upcoming official release. However, the response to PRAYER WARRIORS was much more positive than anything SAF had produced before. PRAYER WARRIORS had more of an edge inspired by the new wave/punk music movement of the day and featured songs such AVENIDA ALABANZA, POLARIZED, STRANGERS and AT THE BORDER.

While still completing PASSING GLANCES, SAF continued to write and record new material and released a second underground album within six months of PRAYER WARRIORS called NOT SLEEP MUSIC which was even more warmly received than PRAYER WARRIORS. 1980 also marked more than 5 years of agreement the Gossett Brothers committed to in 1974 and so Michael became engaged. It also became evident that though the band had matured and developed into an artistic presence the days of SAF were drawing to a close.

Although the band had actively toured nationally during the mid-1970s the band only played a few concerts during the second half of the 1970s. They scheduled one final concert a week before Michael got married called SEARCHLIGHT 1980. To commemorate the concert Donnie hastily assembled a third underground album of material from 1977-1978 entitled ZERO AVENUE.

In 2003 SALVATION AIR FORCE has produced a documentary DVD of the history of the band entitled BEHIND THE NOT SLEEP MUSIC . The latest album project from SAF is a new studio album entitled THE LAST FLIGHT released in 2006 as 12 newly written and recorded songs to reflect the 21st Century perceptions of the Gossett Brothers. SAF reformed in 2007 as Donnie on guitar and vocal, along with his brother Michael on bass and vocal, Mike Kent on keyboards and vocal, Ron Peters on vocal, Jim Bugg on sax, and vocal and Jon Brotherton on drums.

The latest video project for SALVATION AIR FORCE is a parody/tribute to the mentor, the late Larry Norman entitled APRIL BLUES.