The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint Department of Defense combatant command responsible for U.S. security interests in 27 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia.
B-24 Liberator of the 376th Bomb Group taking off from a Libyan base, 1943
P-38 of the 370th Fighter Group on a wartime advanced landing strip
P-47D of the 406th Fighter Group on a wartime advanced landing strip
12th Army Group Ground-Air command team in April 1945 with Eisenhower, Spaatz, and Bedell Smith
A Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a type of organization in the United States Air Force that is subordinate to a major command (MAJCOM) and has assigned to it operational units such as wings, squadrons, and groups. A Component Numbered Air Force (C-NAF) has the additional role as an Air Force Component Command exercising command and control over air and space forces supporting a Unified Combatant Command. Unlike MAJCOMs, which have a management role, a NAF is a tactical organization with an operational focus, and does not have the same functional staff as a MAJCOM. Numbered air forces are typically commanded by a major general or a lieutenant general.
World War II Air Districts and Numbered Air Forces.
Image: Sixth Air Force Emblem (World War II)
Image: 25th Air Force Shield
Image: Eastern Air Defense Force patch