1.
Military organization
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Military organization or military organisation is the structuring of the armed forces of a state so as to offer military capability required by the national defense policy. In some countries paramilitary forces are included in an armed forces. Armed forces that are not a part of military or paramilitary organizations, such as insurgent forces, often mimic military organizations, the use of formalized ranks in a hierarchical structure came into widespread use with the Roman Army. These in turn manage Armed Services that themselves command combat, combat support and combat support formations. Within each departmental agency will be found administrative branches responsible for further agency business specialization work, in most countries the armed forces are divided into three or four Armed services, army, navy, and air force. Many countries have a variation on the model of three or four basic Armed Services. Some nations also organize their marines, special forces or strategic missile forces as independent armed services, a nations coast guard may also be an independent military branch of its military, although in many nations the coast guard is a law enforcement or civil agency. A number of countries have no navy, for geographical reasons, most smaller countries have a single organization that encompasses all armed forces employed by the country in question. Third-world armies tend to consist primarily of infantry, while first-world armies tend to have larger units manning expensive equipment and it is worthwhile to make mention of the term joint. In western militaries, a joint force is defined as a unit or formation comprising representation of power from two or more branches of the military. It is common, at least in the European and North American militaries, to refer to the blocks of a military as commands, formations. In a military context, a command is a collection of units and it is not uncommon for a nations services to each consist of their own command, but this does not preclude the existence of commands which are not service-based. A formation is defined by the US Department of Defense as two or more aircraft, ships, or units proceeding together under a commander. The formations only differ in their ability to achieve different scales of application of force to achieve different strategic, operational and tactical goals and it is a composite military organization that includes a mixture of integrated and operationally attached sub-units, and is usually combat-capable. Example of formations include, divisions, brigades, battalions, wings, formation may also refer to tactical formation, the physical arrangement or disposition of troops and weapons. Examples of formation in such usage include, pakfront, panzerkeil, testudo formation, any unit subordinate to another unit is considered its sub-unit or minor unit. It is not uncommon for unit and formation to be used synonymously in the United States, in Commonwealth practice, formation is not used for smaller organizations like battalions which are instead called units, and their constituent platoons or companies are referred to as sub-units. In the Commonwealth, formations are divisions, brigades, etc, different armed forces, and even different branches of service of the armed forces, may use the same name to denote different types of organizations
2.
Section (military unit)
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A section is a military sub-subunit. It usually consists of six and 20 personnel, and is usually an alternate name for, and equivalent to. As such two or more sections usually make up a platoon or an air force flight. However, in the French Army and in armies based on the French model, under the new structure of the infantry platoon, Australian Army sections are made up of eight men divided into two four-man fireteams. Each fireteam consists of a leader, a marksman with enhanced optics, a grenadier with an M203. Typical fire team structure, At the start of World War I, the Australian Army used a section that consisted of 27 men including the section commander, during World War II, a rifle section comprised ten soldiers with a corporal in command and a lance-corporal as his second-in-command. The corporal used an M1928 Thompson submachine gun, while one of the privates used a Bren gun, the other eight soldiers all used No.1 Mk.3 Lee–Enfield rifles with a bayonet and scabbard. They all carried two or three No.36 Mills bomb grenades, post–World War II, and during the Vietnam War, a rifle section consisted of ten personnel comprising, a command & scout group, a gun group and a rifle group. The British Army section now consists of eight soldiers made up of a Corporal as the section commander, three sections together form a platoon. In conventional warfare, the section is split into two four-man fireteams, commanded by the corporal and lance-corporal respectively. With the switch from.303 to 7. 62mm NATO in the 1950s until the introduction of 5.56 mm calibre weapons in the late 1980s, the section was typically divided into two groups, a rifle group and a gun group. The gun group was commanded by the section 2IC with an L1A1, and comprised the gunner with the GPMG and this organization was abandoned in favour of fireteams when 5.56 mm assault rifles and SAWs were introduced in the late 1980s. These were the L85 IW and the longer-barrelled L86 LSW, the firepower of the team has now been extended by the L110A1 LMG. The LSW is now used as a designated marksmans rifle. Each fire team has two IW, one with a grenade launcher, one LSW and one LMG. An infantry section now consists of, Charlie Fireteam, Corporal, rifleman, armed with an L85A25. 56mm rifle with 40mm underslung grenade launcher. Rifleman, armed with an L110A15. 56mm light machine gun, rifleman, armed with an L129A17. 62x51 mm sharpshooter rifle. Delta Fireteam, Lance Corporal, armed with an L85A25. 56mm rifle, rifleman, armed with an L85A25. 56mm rifle with 40mm underslung grenade launcher
3.
Flight (military unit)
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A flight is a military unit in an air force, naval air service, or army air corps. It is usually composed of three to six aircraft, with their aircrews and ground staff, or, in the case of a non-flying ground flight, no aircraft, in most usages, multiple flights make up a squadron. The flight is also a unit for intercontinental ballistic missiles. Foreign languages equivalents include escadrille, escuadrilla, esquadrilha and Schwarm, the use of the term flight to describe a collection of aircraft dates back to around 1912. Winston Churchill claimed to have invented the term while he was learning to fly with the Royal Navys embryonic air service. It has also suggested that the term was coined by technical sub-committee of the Committee of Imperial Defence which was examining the British air arrangements around the same time. More recently, however, it has become common for a flight to be led by a squadron leader—a formal rank distinct from a squadron commander—equivalent to a major or naval lieutenant commander. A flight is usually divided into two sections, each containing two to three aircraft, which share ground staff with the section, and are usually commanded by a flight lieutenant. The Royal Navys Fleet Air Arm, the Army Air Corps, in the Fleet Air Arm a flight could be as few as 1 helicopter operating from a smaller ship. An air force ground flight is equivalent to an army platoon and may be commanded by a flight lieutenant, flying officer, pilot officer. A flight is also a unit of guided missiles, such as surface-to-air missiles. The United States Air Force has three types of flights, numbered, alphabetic, and aircraft. A numbered flight is a unit with a base, wing, group, or Numbered Air Force mission, such as training or finance. Numbered flights are uncommon, and are only found in basic training facilities. In USAF flying squadrons, the flight also designates a tactical sub-unit of a squadron consisting of two or three elements, with each element consisting of two or three aircraft. The flight operates under the command of a flight leader. Five of these make up one missile squadron. The Air Force has a total of 45 ICBM missile flights, australian War Memorial,2005, RAAF, Structure
4.
Squadron (aviation)
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In most armed forces, two or more squadrons will form a group or a wing. Some air forces use the term squadrons for non-flying ground units. In contrast to United States Air Force units where flying squadrons are separate from supporting administrative and aircraft maintenance squadrons, in United States Marine Corps Aviation the nomenclature squadron is also used to designate all battalion-equivalent, aviation support organizations. These squadrons include, wing headquarters, tactical air command, air control, air support, aviation logistics, wing support, exceptions are USN helicopter mine countrmeasures squadrons, USMC composite medium tilt-rotor squadrons, heavy helicopter and light/attack helicopter squadrons, and Marine attack squadrons. Although part of U. S. naval aviation, United States Coast Guard aviation units are centered on an air station versus a squadron or group/wing organizational structure, the one exception to this is the Coast Guards Helicopter Interdiction Squadron, which is engaged primarily in counter-narcotics interdiction operations. In U. S. Army Aviation, flying units may be organized in battalions or squadrons reporting to an aviation brigade, an escadron is the equivalent unit in Frances Armée de lAir. It is normally subdivided into escadrilles of eight aircraft, in the Air Training Corps of the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations, a Squadron is a group of cadets who parade regularly. In the U. S. Civil Air Patrol, a squadron is the administrative unit. In the Swedish Air Force a helicopter squadron is a detachment from the Helicopter Wing
5.
Wing (military aviation unit)
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In military aviation, a wing is a unit of command. In most military services, a wing is a relatively large formation of planes. In Commonwealth countries a wing usually comprises three squadrons, with several wings forming a group, each squadron will contain around 20 planes. On its establishment in 1912, the British Royal Flying Corps was intended to be an inter-service, combined force of the British Army and Royal Navy. Given the rivalry existed between the army and navy, new terminology was used, in order to avoid marking the corps out as having an army or navy ethos. While the term wing had been used in the cavalry, its general use predominated. Accordingly, the wing, with its allusion of flight, was chosen as the term of subdivision and the corps was split into a Military Wing. Each wing consisted of a number of squadrons, by 1914, the naval wing had become the Royal Naval Air Service, and gained its independence from the Royal Flying Corps. The Royal Flying Corps was amalgamated with the Royal Naval Air Service in 1918, the RFC usage of wing was maintained in the new service. In most Commonwealth air forces, as well as some others, in these air forces a wing is inferior to a group. Originally all wings were commanded by a wing commander. From World War II onwards, operational flying wings have usually been commanded by group captains, a wing may also be used for non-flying units, such as the infantry forces of the RAF Regiment. Additionally, RAF stations are divided into wings. In 2006, expeditionary air wings were established at the RAFs main operating bases and these expeditionary air wings consist of the deployable elements of the main operating base and other supplementary forces. Expeditionary air wings may be subordinated to an air group. In the British Air Training Corps, a wing consists of a number of squadrons within a geographical area. In this context, a wing is inferior to a region which is made up of six wings, in all, there are 36 Air Training Corps wings in six regions within the United Kingdom, each of which is commanded by a RAFVR wing commander. The size of a wing follows US usage, it varies greatly, in the 1990s, the Canadian Forces Air Command altered the structure of those bases under its control, declaring them to be Wings under the overall control of 1 Canadian Air Division in Winnipeg
6.
Royal Air Force
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The Royal Air Force is the United Kingdoms aerial warfare force. Formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, following victory over the Central Powers in 1918 the RAF emerged as, at the time, the largest air force in the world. The RAF describe its mission statement as, an agile, adaptable and capable Air Force that, person for person, is second to none, and that makes a decisive air power contribution in support of the UK Defence Mission. The mission statement is supported by the RAFs definition of air power, Air power is defined as the ability to project power from the air and space to influence the behaviour of people or the course of events. Today the Royal Air Force maintains a fleet of various types of aircraft. The majority of the RAFs rotary-wing aircraft form part of the tri-service Joint Helicopter Command in support of ground forces, most of the RAFs aircraft and personnel are based in the UK, with many others serving on operations or at long-established overseas bases. It was founded on 1 April 1918, with headquarters located in the former Hotel Cecil, during the First World War, by the amalgamation of the Royal Flying Corps, at that time it was the largest air force in the world. The RAFs naval aviation branch, the Fleet Air Arm, was founded in 1924, the RAF developed the doctrine of strategic bombing which led to the construction of long-range bombers and became its main bombing strategy in the Second World War. The RAF underwent rapid expansion prior to and during the Second World War, under the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan of December 1939, the air forces of British Commonwealth countries trained and formed Article XV squadrons for service with RAF formations. Many individual personnel from countries, and exiles from occupied Europe. By the end of the war the Royal Canadian Air Force had contributed more than 30 squadrons to serve in RAF formations, additionally, the Royal Australian Air Force represented around nine percent of all RAF personnel who served in the European and Mediterranean theatres. In the Battle of Britain in 1940, the RAF defended the skies over Britain against the numerically superior German Luftwaffe, the largest RAF effort during the war was the strategic bombing campaign against Germany by Bomber Command. Following victory in the Second World War, the RAF underwent significant re-organisation, during the early stages of the Cold War, one of the first major operations undertaken by the Royal Air Force was in 1948 and the Berlin Airlift, codenamed Operation Plainfire. Before Britain developed its own nuclear weapons the RAF was provided with American nuclear weapons under Project E and these were initially armed with nuclear gravity bombs, later being equipped with the Blue Steel missile. Following the development of the Royal Navys Polaris submarines, the nuclear deterrent passed to the navys submarines on 30 June 1969. With the introduction of Polaris, the RAFs strategic nuclear role was reduced to a tactical one and this tactical role was continued by the V bombers into the 1980s and until 1998 by Tornado GR1s. For much of the Cold War the primary role of the RAF was the defence of Western Europe against potential attack by the Soviet Union, with many squadrons based in West Germany. With the decline of the British Empire, global operations were scaled back, despite this, the RAF fought in many battles in the Cold War period
7.
Air force
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An air force, also known in some countries as an air army, is in the broadest sense, the national military organization that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nations armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an army, navy, or a marine corps. Typically, air forces are responsible for gaining control of the air, carrying out strategic and tactical bombing missions, Air forces typically consist of a combination of fighters, bombers, helicopters, transport planes and other aircraft. Many air forces are responsible for operations of the military space, intercontinental ballistic missiles. Some air forces may command and control other air defence assets such as artillery, surface-to-air missiles, or anti-ballistic missile warning networks. In addition to pilots, air forces have ground support staff who support the aircrew, however, some supporting personnel such as airfield defence troops, weapons engineers and air intelligence staff do not have equivalent roles in civilian organizations. Balloon or flying corps are not generally regarded as examples of an air force, however, with the invention of heavier-than-air craft in the early 20th century, armies and navies began to take interest in this new form of aviation as a means to wage war. The first aviation force in the world was the Aviation Militaire of the French Army formed in 1910, in 1911, during the Italo-Turkish War, Italy employed aircraft for the first time ever in the world for reconnaissance and bombing missions against Turkish positions on Libyan Territory. The Italian–Turkish war of 1911–1912 was the first in history that featured air attacks by airplanes, during World War I France, Germany, Italy, the British Empire and the Ottoman Empire all possessed significant forces of bombers and fighters. World War I also saw the appearance of senior commanders who directed aerial warfare, the British Royal Air Force was the first independent air force in the world. The RAF was founded on 1 April 1918 by amalgamation the British Armys Royal Flying Corps, on establishment the RAF comprised over 20,000 aircraft, was commanded by a Chief of the Air Staff who held the rank of major-general and was governed by its own government ministry. Over the following decades most countries with any military capability established their own independent air forces. The Canadian Air Force was formed at the end of World War I and it became the permanent Royal Canadian Air Force when it received the Royal title by royal proclamation on 1 April 1924. It did not however become independent of the Canadian Army until 1938 when its head was designated as Chief of the Air Staff. Similarly, the Royal New Zealand Air Force was established in 1923 as the New Zealand Permanent Air Force, other British-influenced countries also established their own independent air forces. For example, the Royal Egyptian Air Force was created in 1937 when Egyptian military aviation was separated from Army command, outside of the British Empire, the Finnish Air Force was established as a separate service on 4 May 1928 and the Brazilian Air Force was created in 1941. Both the United States Air Force and the Philippine Air Force were formed as a separate branches of their armed forces in 1947. The Israeli Air Force came into being with the State of Israel on 18 May 1948, the Japan Air Self-Defense Force was not established until 1954, in World War II Japanese military aviation had been carried out by the Army and Navy
8.
United States Air Force
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The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947. It is the most recent branch of the U. S. military to be formed, the U. S. Air Force is a military service organized within the Department of the Air Force, one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Air Force is headed by the civilian Secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the Secretary of Defense, the U. S. Air Force provides air support for surface forces and aids in the recovery of troops in the field. As of 2015, the service more than 5,137 military aircraft,406 ICBMs and 63 military satellites. It has a $161 billion budget with 313,242 active duty personnel,141,197 civilian employees,69,200 Air Force Reserve personnel, and 105,500 Air National Guard personnel. According to the National Security Act of 1947, which created the USAF and it shall be organized, trained, and equipped primarily for prompt and sustained offensive and defensive air operations. The stated mission of the USAF today is to fly, fight, and win in air, space and we will provide compelling air, space, and cyber capabilities for use by the combatant commanders. We will excel as stewards of all Air Force resources in service to the American people, while providing precise and reliable Global Vigilance, Reach and it should be emphasized that the core functions, by themselves, are not doctrinal constructs. The purpose of Nuclear Deterrence Operations is to operate, maintain, in the event deterrence fails, the US should be able to appropriately respond with nuclear options. Dissuading others from acquiring or proliferating WMD, and the means to deliver them, moreover, different deterrence strategies are required to deter various adversaries, whether they are a nation state, or non-state/transnational actor. Nuclear strike is the ability of forces to rapidly and accurately strike targets which the enemy holds dear in a devastating manner. Should deterrence fail, the President may authorize a precise, tailored response to terminate the conflict at the lowest possible level, post-conflict, regeneration of a credible nuclear deterrent capability will deter further aggression. Finally, the Air Force regularly exercises and evaluates all aspects of operations to ensure high levels of performance. Nuclear surety ensures the safety, security and effectiveness of nuclear operations, the Air Force, in conjunction with other entities within the Departments of Defense or Energy, achieves a high standard of protection through a stringent nuclear surety program. The Air Force continues to pursue safe, secure and effective nuclear weapons consistent with operational requirements, adversaries, allies, and the American people must be highly confident of the Air Forces ability to secure nuclear weapons from accidents, theft, loss, and accidental or unauthorized use. This day-to-day commitment to precise and reliable nuclear operations is the cornerstone of the credibility of the NDO mission, positive nuclear command, control, communications, effective nuclear weapons security, and robust combat support are essential to the overall NDO function. OCA is the method of countering air and missile threats, since it attempts to defeat the enemy closer to its source
9.
Unified combatant command
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A unified combatant command is a United States Department of Defense command that is composed of forces from at least two Military Departments and has a broad and continuing mission. These commands are established to provide command and control of U. S. military forces, regardless of branch of service, in peace. They are organized either on a basis or on a functional basis, such as special operations, power projection. UCCs are joint commands with specific badges denoting their affiliation, the creation and organization of the unified combatant commands is legally mandated in Title 10, U. S. Code Sections 161–168. The Unified Command Plan is updated annually in conjunction with the DoD fiscal year, as of September 2011, there are nine unified combatant commands as specified in Title 10 and the latest annual UCP. Six have regional responsibilities, and three have functional responsibilities, each time the Unified Command Plan is updated, the organization of the combatant commands is reviewed for military efficiency and effectiveness, as well as alignment with national policy. Each unified command is led by a combatant commander, who is a general or admiral. The chain of command for operational purposes goes from the President through the Secretary of Defense to the combatant commanders, in the European Theater, Allied military forces fell under the command of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Force. After SHAEF was dissolved at the end of the war, the American forces were unified under a single command, the Joint Chiefs of Staff continued to advocate in favor of establishing permanent unified commands, and President Harry S. Truman approved the first plan on 14 December 1946. Known as the Outline Command Plan, it would become the first in a series of Unified Command Plans, the original Outline Command Plan of 1946 established seven unified commands, Far East Command, Pacific Command, Alaskan Command, Northeast Command, the U. S. Atlantic Fleet, Caribbean Command, and European Command, however, on 5 August 1947, the CNO recommended instead that CINCLANTFLT be established as a fully unified commander under the broader title of Commander in Chief, Atlantic. The Army and Air Force objected, and CINCLANTFLT was activated as a command on 1 November 1947. A few days later, the CNO renewed his suggestion for the establishment of a unified Atlantic Command and this time his colleagues withdrew their objections, and on 1 December 1947, the U. S. Atlantic Command was created under the Commander in Chief, Atlantic, under the original plan, each of the unified commands operated with one of the service chiefs serving as an executive agent representing the Joint Chiefs of Staff. This arrangement was formalized on 21 April 1948 as part of a paper titled the Function of the Armed Forces. Northeast Command were disestablished under the Unified Command Plan of 1956–57, CONAD itself was disestablished in 1975. Although not part of the plan, the Joint Chiefs of Staff also created specified commands that had broad. Examples include the U. S. Naval Forces, Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, like the unified commands, the specified commands reported directly to the JCS instead of their respective service chiefs
10.
Major general (United States)
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In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and United States Air Force, major general is a two-star general-officer rank, with the pay grade of O-8. Major general ranks above brigadier general and below lieutenant general, a major general typically commands division-sized units of 10,000 to 15,000 soldiers. Major general is equivalent to the rank of rear admiral in the United States Navy. The United States Code explicitly limits the number of general officers that may be on active duty at any given time. The total number of active duty general officers is capped at 231 for the Army,61 for the Marine Corps, some of these slots are reserved or finitely set by statute. This promotion board then generates a list of officers it recommends for promotion to general rank and this list is then sent to the service secretary and the Joint Chiefs of Staff for review before it can be sent to the President, through the Secretary of Defense for consideration. The President nominates officers to be promoted from this list with the advice of the Secretary of Defense, the secretary, and if applicable. The President may nominate any eligible officer who is not on the recommended list if it serves in the interest of the nation, the Senate must then confirm the nominee by a majority vote before the officer can be promoted. Once confirmed, the nominee is promoted to rank on assuming a position of office that requires an officer to hold the rank. For positions of office that are reserved by statute, the President nominates an officer for appointment to fill that position, since the grade of major general is permanent, the rank does not expire when the officer vacates a two-star position. Tour length varies depending on the position, by statute, and/or when the officer receives a new assignment or a promotion, in the case of the Air National Guard, they may also serve as The Adjutant General for their state, commonwealth or territory. Other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement of general officers, all major generals must retire after five years in grade or 35 years of service, whichever is later, unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer. Otherwise, all officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense may defer a general officers retirement until the officers 66th birthday, because there are a finite number of General Officer positions, one officer must retire before another can be promoted. As a result, general officers typically retire well in advance of the age and service limits. The rank of general was abolished in the U. S. Army by the Act of March 16,1802. Major general has been a rank in the U. S. Army ever since, to address this anomaly, Washington was posthumously promoted by Congress to the rank of General of the Armies of the United States in 1976. The position of Major General Commanding the Army was entitled to three stars according to General Order No.6 of March 13,1861
11.
Lieutenant general (United States)
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In the United States Army, United States Marine Corps, and the United States Air Force, lieutenant general is a three-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-9. Lieutenant general ranks above major general and below general, Lieutenant general is equivalent to the rank of vice admiral in the other uniformed services. The United States Code explicitly limits the number of generals that may be concurrently active to 230 for the Army,60 for the Marine Corps. For the Army and Air Force, no more than about 25% of the active duty general officers may have more than two stars. Some of these slots can be reserved by statute, officers serving in certain intelligence positions are not counted against either limit, including the Deputy Director of the Central Intelligence Agency. The President may also add three-star slots to one if they are offset by removing an equivalent number from other services. Finally, all statutory limits may be waived at the presidents discretion during time of war or national emergency, the Superintendent of the United States Military Academy is almost always a U. S. Army lieutenant general, either upon appointment or shortly thereafter. The three-star grade goes hand-in-hand with the position of office to which it is linked, officers may only achieve three-star grade if they are appointed to positions that require the officer to hold such a rank. Their rank expires with the expiration of their term of office, the nominee must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate before the appointee can take office and thus assume the rank. The standard tour length for most lieutenant general positions is three years but some are set four or more years by statute, some statutory limits under the U. S. Code can be waived in times of national emergency or war. Three-star ranks may also be given by act of Congress but this is extremely rare, other than voluntary retirement, statute sets a number of mandates for retirement. Lieutenant generals must retire after 38 years of service unless appointed for promotion or reappointed to grade to serve longer, otherwise all general officers must retire the month after their 64th birthday. However, the Secretary of Defense can defer a three-star officers retirement until the officers 66th birthday, General officers typically retire well in advance of the statutory age and service limits, so as not to impede the upward career mobility of their juniors. Since there is a number of three-star slots available to each service. Additionally, lieutenant generals of all services serve as staff officers at various major command headquarters and The Pentagon. Currently, five women serve as lieutenant generals in the US Army, in theory, a general vacates their three or four-star rank at termination of their assignment unless placed in an equal ranking billet. Douglas MacArthur, who served as general and Army Chief of Staff. Even with the status, such officers are also almost always granted permanent retirement in the last grade they held with the satisfactory completion of at least two or three years in grade
12.
Eighteenth Air Force
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Eighteenth Air Force is the only Numbered Air Force in Air Mobility Command and one of the largest NAFs in the United States Air Force. 18 AF was activated on 28 March 1951, inactivated on 1 January 1958,18 AF presents air mobility forces to combatant commanders through its role as Air Forces Transportation, the air component of United States Transportation Command. The 18 AF commander also acts as the Commander, Air Force Forces, and Joint Force Air Component Commander, the commands mobility aircraft include the C-5 Galaxy, KC-10 Extender, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules, and KC-135 Stratotanker. Operational support aircraft are the VC-25, C-21, C-20B, C-32A, C-37A, C-37B,18 AF has an assigned military and civilian workforce of more than 37,000 people. Units reporting to 18 AF include 11 wings and two stand alone groups, other AMC units assigned to 18th AF are, When the Army Air Forces reorganized in 1946, Tactical Air Command was established as one of its three major commands. The AAF IX Troop Carrier Command was inactivated as part of this reorganization and it was headquartered at Greenville Army Airfield, South Carolina. Third Air Force was inactivated on 1 November 1946 and TACs troop carrier mission was reassigned to Ninth Air Force which moved to Greenville. In 1947, many of TACs Troop Carrier Groups/Wings were assigned directly to Headquarters TAC with the rest to the Air Defense Commands Fourteenth Air Force reserve 302d Troop Carrier Wing, the command added a heavy wing in Fall 1951 and another in early 1953. In the spring of 1952,18 AF C-124 Globemasters were sent to Japan and by July 1952, the arrival of the C-124 introduced the aircraft loadmaster position to the troop carrier mission. As the Korean War wound down, C-119 Flying Boxcar crews from the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing began supporting French operations in Indochina, United States Air Force-supplied C-47 Skytrain and C-119s were placed on-loan to the French Air Force at Tourane Air Base. By early 1953, the wings were replaced by active duty wings organized, administered, equipped, trained. Augmented troop carrier forces in the Far East and Europe provided trained crews, the next year,18 AF C-119s from the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing airdropped supplies to besieged French paratroops at Dien Bien Phu, Indochina. Some 483rd personnel flew missions in a capacity and would play key roles in the troop carrier mission in later years. After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, 374th Troop Carrier Wing,18 AF also provided airlift support to other Air Force major commands and TAC organizations. 18 AF units supplemented Military Air Transport Service airlift when needed and transported U. S. Army and Air Force units for training and deployment. 18 AF also took deliveries of the Fairchild C-123 Provider, a twin-engine transport designed for operations into landing zones that had been only rudimentarily prepared. With these new aircraft,18 AF units rotated troop carrier units to Europe in support of NATO, the command was heavily committed to airlift operations in Arctic areas beginning in the Fall of 1952. Between 1955 and 1957, the command offloaded and airdropped equipment supporting the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line radar system across northern Canada
13.
United States Army Air Corps
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The United States Army Air Corps was the military aviation arm of the United States of America between 1926 and 1941. The USAAC was renamed from the earlier United States Army Air Service on 2 July 1926, the Air Corps became the United States Army Air Forces on 20 June 1941, giving it greater autonomy from the Armys middle-level command structure. The separation of the Air Corps from control of its combat units caused problems of unity of command that became more acute as the Air Corps enlarged in preparation for World War II. This was resolved by the creation of the Army Air Forces, the U. S. Army Air Service had a brief but turbulent history. In early 1926 the Military Affairs Committee of the Congress rejected all bills set forth before it on both sides of the issue. They fashioned a compromise in which the findings of the Morrow Board were enacted as law, while providing the air arm a five-year plan for expansion and development. The legislation changed the name of the Air Service to the Air Corps, thereby strengthening the conception of military aviation as an offensive, the Air Corps Act became law on 2 July 1926. Two additional brigadier generals would serve as assistant chiefs of the Air Corps, previous provisions of the National Defense Act of 1920 that all flying units be commanded only by rated personnel and that flight pay be awarded were continued. The Air Corps also retained the Prop and Wings as its branch insignia through its disestablishment in 1947, patrick became Chief of the Air Corps and Brig. Gen. James E. Fechet continued as his first assistant chief. The Air Corps Act of 2 July 1926 effected no fundamental innovation, the change in designation meant no change in status, the Air Corps was still a combatant branch of the Army with less prestige than the Infantry. The Air Corps Act gave authorization to carry out an expansion program. However, a lack of appropriations caused the beginning of the program to be delayed until 1 July 1927. The act authorized expansion to 1,800 airplanes,1,650 officers, none of the goals were reached by July 1932. Organizationally the Air Corps doubled from seven to fifteen groups, but the expansion was meaningless because all were seriously understrength in aircraft and pilots. Air Corps groups added 1927–1937 ¹Inactivated on 20 May 1937 ²Redesignated 17th Attack Group, 17th Bomb Group As units of the Air Corps increased in number, so did higher command echelons. The 1st Bomb Wing was activated in 1931, followed by the 3rd Attack Wing in 1932 to protect the Mexican border, the three wings became the foundation of General Headquarters Air Force upon its activation in 1935. In 1927 the Air Corps adopted a new scheme for painting its aircraft. The wings and tails of aircraft were painted yellow, with the words U. S
14.
United States Army Air Forces
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Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff. S. Army to control its own installations and support personnel, the peak size of the AAF during the Second World War was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft by 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943. By V-E Day, the Army Air Forces had 1.25 million men stationed overseas, in its expansion and conduct of the war, the AAF became more than just an arm of the greater organization. By the end of World War II, the Army Air Forces had become virtually an independent service and this contrast between theory and fact is. fundamental to an understanding of the AAF. Gen. Billy Mitchell that led to his later court-martial, a strategy stressing precision bombing of industrial targets by heavily armed, long-range bombers emerged, formulated by the men who would become its leaders. Since 1920, control of units had resided with commanders of the corps areas. Both were created in 1933 when a conflict with Cuba seemed possible following a coup détat. Activation of GHQ Air Force represented a compromise between strategic airpower advocates and ground force commanders who demanded that the Air Corps mission remain tied to that of the land forces. GHQ Air Force organized combat groups administratively into a force of three wings deployed to the Atlantic, Pacific, and Gulf coasts but was small in comparison to European air forces. Corps area commanders continued to control over airfields and administration of personnel. The expected activation of Army General Headquarters prompted Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall to request a study from Chief of the Air Corps Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold resulting on 5 October 1940 in a proposal for creation of an air staff, unification of the air arm under one commander, and equality with the ground and supply forces. Marshall implemented a compromise that the Air Corps found entirely inadequate, naming Arnold as acting Deputy Chief of Staff for Air but rejecting all organizational points of his proposal. GHQ Air Force instead was assigned to the control of Army General Headquarters, although the latter was a training and not an operational component, when it was activated in November 1940. A division of the GHQ Air Force into four air defense districts on 19 October 1940 was concurrent with the creation of air forces to defend Hawaii. The air districts were converted in March 1941 into numbered air forces with an organization of 54 groups. Marshall had come to the view that the air forces needed a simpler system, Arnold and Marshall agreed that the AAF would enjoy a general autonomy within the War Department until the end of the war, while its commanders would cease lobbying for independence. Marshall, a proponent of airpower, left understood that the Air Force would likely achieve its independence following the war
15.
First Air Force
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The First Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command. It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida and its primary mission is the air defense of the Contiguous United States, United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico. Its mission lineage can be traced to the Air Defense Command, during the war, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. First Air Force is commanded by Lieutenant General R. Scott Williams and its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sgt. The command has responsibility for ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the Contiguous United States, United States Virgin Islands. As the CONUS Region for NORAD, the bi-national North American Aerospace Defense Command, 1AF is also the designated air component for the United States Northern Command. USNORTHCOMs area of responsibility includes the continental United States, Alaska, Canada and Mexico, the command is unique in both its mission and composition. First Air Force has been an Air Combat Command organization since 1 June 1992 and its subordinate units are located throughout the continental United States. It was redesignated First Air Force on 9 April 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Northeast, AAFSC would eventually expand that mission to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean until the antisubmarine mission was taken over completely by the Navy in mid-1943. The First Air Force became predominantly a fighter OTU and RTU organization, most P-47 Thunderbolt fighter groups were trained by I Fighter Command, along with P-39/P-63 Airacobra groups, C-47 Skytrain and later C-46 Commando groups by I Troop Carrier Command. Air Defense Wings were also organized for the metropolitan areas along the northeast coast. By 1944 the likelihood of an air attack along the eastern seaboard was remote, and these air defense wings were reduced to paper units. By 1944, the vast majority of the USAAF was engaged in operations in various parts of the world, such as the Eighth Air Force in Europe. First Air Force Headquarters was located at Fort Slocum, New York, the command was originally assigned the region of the New England states, along with New York and New Jersey. The command was inactivated on 23 June 1958 for budgetary reasons, First Air Force was reactivated at Stewart Air Force Base, Newburgh, N. Y. on 20 January 1966 due to the inactivation of the ADC Air Defense Sectors. First Air Force assumed responsibility for the ADC 21st, 33d, 34th, 35th and it also was responsible for the air defense of Greenland, Iceland and parts of Canada. By July 1968, First Air Force had again assumed responsibility for the air defense of the eastern seaboard. On 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designated Aerospace Defense Command as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces, ADCOM reassigned the units under the inactivated First Air Force were reassigned primarily to the 20th, 21st or 23d Air Divisions
16.
Second Air Force
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The Second Air Force is a USAF numbered air force responsible for conducting basic military and technical training for Air Force enlisted members and support officers. In World War II the CONUS unit defended the Northwestern United States and Upper Great Plains regions and during the Cold War, was Strategic Air Command unit with strategic bombers and missiles. Elements of Second Air Force engaged in operations during the Korean War, Vietnam War. The Northwest Air District of the GHQ Air Force was activated on 19 October 1940 at McChord Field along with 3 other CONUS districts, the district was redesignated 2nd Air Force on 9 April 1941. 5th Bombardment Wing was assigned to Second Air Force up to 5 September 1941, on 11 December 1941, four days after the Pearl Harbor attack, 2d Air Force was placed under Western Defense Command. However, on 5 January 1942, it was returned to the Air Force Combat Command, from December 1941, 2d Air Force organized air defense for the northwest Pacific Ocean coastline of the United States and flew antisubmarine patrols along coastal areas until October 1942. It appears that immediately after 7 December 1941, only the 7th, 17th, 39th, as the Second Air Force it became predominantly the training organization of B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator heavy bombardment groups. Nearly all new heavy bomb groups organized after Pearl Harbor were organized and trained by Second Air Force OTU units, under the newly organized XX Bomber Command, B-29 aircraft were received from Boeings manufacturing plants and new combat groups were organized and trained. XX Bomber Command and the first B-29 groups were deployed in December 1943 to airfields in India for Operation Matterhorn operations against Japan, a football team made up of Second Air Force personnel defeated Hardin-Simmons University in the 1943 Sun Bowl. A third B-29 organization, XXII Bomber Command was formed by Second Air Force in August 1944, however the organization never got beyond forming Headquarters echelon and Headquarters squadron. Inactivated before any operational groups were assigned, as XX Bomber Command units were reassigned from India to the Marianas, the training of B-29 groups and replacement personnel continued until August 1945 and the end of the Pacific War. With the wars end, Second Air Force was inactivated on 30 March 1946, the command was reactivated on 6 June 1946 under Air Defense Command, at Fort Crook, Nebraska. During this period of the forces history its home base was redesignated Offutt Air Force Base, the Second Air Force assumed responsibility for the air defense of certain portions of the continental United States. In 1947, the 73d Bomb Wing was reactivated with the 338th and 351st Bomb Groups being assigned to it, the wing was assigned to Second Air Force. A third group, the 381st was added in 1948, however SAC was having enough difficulties keeping its front-line active duty bomb units in the air to maintain even minimal pilot proficiency in the late 1940s. The wing and its groups were all inactivated in 1949. The Second Air Force was also assigned the reserve 96th Bomb Wing, which was redesignated an air division. One of these groups was the 440th Troop Carrier Group and it was again inactivated on 1 July 1948
17.
Third Air Force
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The Third Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa. Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany and it is responsible for all U. S. Air Forces in Europe and Africa operations and support activities in the U. S. European Command and U. S. Africa Commands areas of responsibility, during the war, its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Phillip L. Easton, the command directs all USAFE and AFAFRICA forces engaged in contingency and wartime operations in the United States European Command and United States Africa Command areas of responsibility. It also has a mission as the U. S. militarys primary liaison to the British government. Through the Partnership for Peace program, Third Air Force manages military contact, Third Air Force is also responsible for contingency planning and support of American security interests in Africa. It is composed of more than 25,000 military people, Third Air Force is assigned more than 200 aircraft, while tasked to provide support servicing to thousands of other transient aircraft that visit its bases each year. It was redesignated Third Air Force on 26 March 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Southeast and it moved to offices in downtown Tampa on 8 January 1941. MacDill Field was one of two major Army Air Corps bases established in the Tampa Bay area in the prior to World War II. Tampas Drew Field Municipal Airport, established in 1928 was leased by the Air Corps in 1940, a major expansion of the airport was initiated and Drew Army Airfield was opened in 1941. Two secondary Army Airfields, Brooksville Army Airfield and Hillsborough Army Airfield were built and opened in early 1942 to support the operations of MacDill. The Bonita Springs Auxiliary Field, located near Fort Myers provided an emergency landing field for MacDill. All of these came under the jurisdiction of Third Air Force. III Fighter Command, the arm, was headquartered at Drew Field. Third Air Force initially provided air defense for the southeastern United States and flew patrols along coastal areas of the Atlantic Ocean. Third Air Force primarily trained B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marauder medium bomber groups and A-20 Havoc, Third Air Force also provided support to the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics in Florida. Also by 1944, the majority of the Numbered Air Forces of the AAF were fighting in parts of the world, such as the Eighth Air Force in Europe. When the Army Air Forces reorganized in 1946, Tactical Air Command was established as one of its three major commands
18.
Fourth Air Force
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The Fourth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Reserve. It is headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, California,4 AF directs the activities and supervises the training of more than 30,000 Air Force Reservists. If called to duty,4 AFs ready reserve units would be assigned to Air Mobility Command. During the war, its mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces. 4 AF is commanded by Major General John C, Fourth Air Force is dedicated to ensuring its units and personnel are fully prepared to accomplish all assigned missions in support of national objectives. The sixty person staff consists of Traditional Reservists, Air Reserve Technicians and they direct the activities and supervise the equipping and training of more than 30,000 Air Force reservists in unit programs located across the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and Guam. Reservists from 4 AF units are deployed to Air Expeditionary units in combat areas of Central. It was redesignated Fourth Air Force on 26 March 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Southwest, during World War II Fourth Air Force was the primary air defense command for the West Coast. The command also flew antisubmarine patrols along coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico from after Pearl Harbor until October 1942, one of its primary fighter units was the 10th Fighter Wing at Hamilton Field, California. On 29 September 1942, Rice Municipal Airport located in the Desert Training Center was acquired by the IV Air Support Command, re-designated Rice AAF it was used to train pilots and crews of aircraft whose mission it was to support ground troops. The Fourth Air Force became predominantly a fighter OTU and RTU organization, most P-51 Mustang and P-38 Lightning groups were trained by Fourth Air Force primarily due to the proximity of their manufacturing plants in Southern California. Air Defense Wings were also organized for the metropolitan areas along the West Coast. By 1944 the likelihood of an air attack along the West Coast was remote, on 13 December 1944, First, Second, Third and Fourth Air Force were all were placed under the unified command of the Continental Air Forces. It was also responsible for training Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard personnel throughout the region, on 1 September 1960, Air Defense Command inactivated Fourth Air Force, transferring its reserve training mission to the Sixth Air Force Reserve Region. Fourth Air Force was re-activated on 20 January 1966 again at Hamilton AFB and its area of responsibility was essentially unchanged from its 1948 region. Subordinate organizations assigned by ADC were the 25th 26th and 27th Air Divisions, on 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designated Aerospace Defense Command as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces. ADCOM reassigned the units under the inactivated Fourth Air Force were reassigned primarily to the 25th and 26th Air Divisions. The command remained inactive until 8 October 1976, when it was activated as Fourth Air Force at McClellan Air Force Base, CA, Fourth Air Force has been a key component of the Air Force reserve ever since
19.
Fifth Air Force
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The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan and it is the U. S. Air Forces oldest continuously serving Numbered Air Force. The organization has provided 70 years of air power to the Pacific since its establishment in September 1941. Fifth Air Force is the Headquarters Pacific Air Forces forward element in Japan, in addition,5 AF is the air component to United States Forces Japan. First, it plans, conducts, controls, and coordinates air operations assigned by the PACAF Commander, Fifth Air Force maintains a level of readiness necessary for successful completion of directed military operations. To achieve this mission, Fifth Air Force maintains its deterrent force posture to protect both U. S. and Japanese interests, and conducts appropriate air operations should deterrence fail, Fifth Air Force is commanded by Lieutenant General Jerry P. Martinez. With its origins going back over a century to 1912, the command was established on 6 May 1941 as the Philippine Department Air Force at Nichols Field, Luzon. Fifth Air Force was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force in the Pacific Theater of World War II, engaging in combat operations primarily in the Southwest Pacific AOR. During World War II, Fifth Air Force units first engaged the Japanese during the Philippines Campaign, rearmed, it engaged the Japanese in New Guinea, the Dutch East Indies and then as part of the liberating forces in the Philippines Campaign. In the postwar era, Fifth Air Force was the primary USAF occupation force in Japan, the United States Army Philippine Department was established on 11 January 1911 in the Unincorporated Philippine Territory. Fifth Air Force traces its roots to the Philippines with the activation of the Air Office of the Philippine Department in March 1912, the First Company, 2d Aero Squadron, was activated at Fort William McKinley, Luzon, on 3 February 1916. This unit was a school, operating Martin S Hydro seaplanes. The unit operated under the Air Office until 15 October 1917, in 1917 outside Fort Stotsenburg, Luzon, construction began on a half-mile long dirt runway, hangars and other support facilities to bring the local army units into the air age. A permanent Army Air Service presence in the Philippines began in December 1919 with the activation of the 3d Aero Squadron at the facility, the unit was initially equipped with de Havilland DH-4 medium bombers. The next year it moved to the new Clark Field on 15 October 1920 where, combined with support units. Clark Field became the Army Air Corps headquarters overseas, and was the only American air base west of Hawaii, when workmen at Rockwell Field outside San Diego, California opened one of the crates, they found a motor with a remarkable history. Built in Detroit, it went to France, back to the United States, then to the Philippines, with that, the 1st Observation Group at Clark was re-designated as the 4th Observation, and later the 4th Composite Group. The 4th Composite would be the mainstay of United States air power in the Philippines until 1941, in addition to Clark Field, additional airfields at Kindley Field on Corregidor in Manila Bay, and one at Camp Nichols were constructed
20.
United States Air Forces Southern Command
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The United States Air Forces Southern Command is an inactive Major Command of the United States Air Force. It was headquartered at Albrook Air Force Base, Canal Zone, the command supported disaster relief to countries such as Guatemala, Jamaica, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, Panama and Colombia. It also assisted nations in Central and South America in purchases of United States military aircraft and trained their technicians in logistics, the first United States air units arrived in the Canal Zone in February 1917, with the 7th Aero Squadron being organized on 29 March at Ancon. It was equipped with Curtiss JN-4 Jennys and Curtiss R-3 and R-4 floatplanes, the squadron initially came under the control of Headquarters, U. S. During World War I, the 7th Aero was assigned to patrol for German U-Boats offshore of the Canal Zone under direction of Coast Defenses of Cristobal, a third airfield, Howard Field was built on the Canal Bruja Point Military Reservation, opening on 1 December 1939. Through all these redesignations it was part of the Caribbean Defense Command, the Caribbean Interceptor Command, was the Air Force component of the CIC until being inactivated and replaced by VI Interceptor Command. In early 1942 the Nazi Germanys Kriegsmarine, began anti-shipping operations using U-Boats in the Caribbean, the subs sank several tankers in the harbor at Sint Nicholaas, Aruba and even shelled an oil refinery on the island. Its important to note that the refineries at the island of Aruba and Curaçao possessed oil from wells in Venezuela and counted for one-third of the Allies supply of gasoline. The first wartime mission of the newly created Sixth Air Force was to perform operations in the Caribbean. Air bases were established along the western coast of South America, in Peru, Ecuador as well as in the Galápagos Islands, Panama, Guatemala and Costa Rica. In order to protect the vital Air Transport Command South Atlantic Air Route to Europe and North Africa, as most shipping in the Caribbean was not in defensive convoys, aerial surveillance of the area was crucial to their safety. With the end of the war, most of the wartime Caribbean air bases used for antisubmarine patrols were returned to authorities in late 1945 or early 1946. The Lend-Lease air bases from Great Britain, which were on 99-year leases were reduced to skeleton units and they were all closed for budgetary reasons in 1949. In the post Vietnam War drawdown of the USAF, the United States Air Forces Southern Command was inactivated in 1976 for budgetary reasons. afhra. af. mil/, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History, Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama, Office of Air Force History, armyAirforces. Com United States Air Forces Southern Command at US Air Force Historical Research Agency United States Air Forces Southern Command Factsheet
21.
Seventh Air Force
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United States Air Forces Korea and USAFK redirect here. The Seventh Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Pacific Air Forces and it is headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea. The commands mission is to plan and direct air component operations in the Republic of Korea and in the Northwest Pacific. It was assigned units engaging enemy forces in the Gilbert Islands, Marshall Islands, Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, and in the last major battle of the Pacific War, the Battle of Okinawa. Returning to its role in Hawaii after the war,7 AF became the primary USAF command. 7 AF is commanded by Lt. Gen. Thomas W. Bergeson, the Vice Commander is Brig Gen Kyle W. Robinson Command Chief Master Sergeant is Anthony W. Johnson. Since then, both as U. S. Air Forces Korea, under the joint U. S and it develops the total air campaign and reinforcement plans for ROK defense and sustains mission readiness of 117 operational units and 8,300 U. S. Air Force personnel. It operates in conjunction with United States Pacific Command, United Nations Command, U. S. Forces, Korea/Combined Forces Command and United States Forces Korea. Airplanes assigned to the 6th Aero Squadron consisted of three Curtiss N-9 seaplanes which were single-engine biplanes carrying a crew of two and capable of a top speed of 70 miles an hour. The first inter-island flight occurred in February 1919 and by 1920 inter-island flights were used for training purposes. Early in 1920 the 4th Observation Squadron arrived at Ford Island, known by then as Luke Field, also by this time, Luke Field was used jointly by the aerial forces of the Army and Navy. The year 1920 marked an advance in aviation in the Islands. The first night flight over Oahu took place on 30 June 1920, also air power began to take its place in the Hawaiian Departments military maneuvers. The first detachment of twenty men started clearing land south of Schofield Barracks for Wheeler Field in February 1922 and this Field was named for Major Sheldon H. Wheeler, who had assumed command of Luke Field in 1920 and was killed in an air accident in 1921. By June 1923, Wheeler boasted six 112x200 foot hangars, three used for housing shops and three others for planes, plus four hangars used as warehouses, and oil tanks holding 50,000 gallons. Tents and huts housed the men, the First commander of Wheeler Field was Major George E. Stratemeyer, who by 1941 was a brigadier general and Acting Chief of the Army Air Corps. The first known reforesting by plane was accomplished for the Department of Agriculture by a plane from Wheeler in 1926, the first non-stop Hawaiian flight from Oakland, California to Wheeler Field was made in June 1927 by L. J. Maitland and A. F. Hegenberger. The famous Dole flight also took place in 1927, with Art Goebel and Lt. W. V. Davis, USN, during the period from 1917 to 1931, the military air component in Hawaii grew to seven tactical squadrons and two service squadrons
22.
Eleventh Air Force
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The Eleventh Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces. It is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson, Alaska, established on 28 December 1941 as the Alaskan Air Force at Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory. Re-designated as Alaskan Air Command in late 1945, the organization responsible for the atmospheric defense of Alaska during the Cold War. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, the organization was realigned under PACAF in 1990 and this mission is accomplished largely through the 611th Air and Space Operations Center, the 611th Air Support Group, and units of the Alaska Air National Guard. Together, they provide a network of air surveillance and command, control and communications functions necessary to perform tactical warning. 3d Wing The 3d Wing is a United States Air Force unit stationed at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson and its mission is to support and defend U. S. 354th Fighter Wing The 354th Fighter Wing is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The wings mission is to train and provide F-16C and Expeditionary Combat Support forces to combatant commanders anytime, anyplace, as the United States Air Force’s most northern operational wing, the 354th Fighter Wing also hosts Air Education and Training Command’s Arctic Survival School. The 11th Air Force has two units that are gained upon their activation. These units are part of the Alaska Air National Guard, 168th Air Refueling Wing The 168th Air Refueling Wing is an Air National Guard stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and flies the Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker. The 168th also has taken over the defense mission at Clear Air Force Station with their 213th Space Warning Squadron. 176th Wing The 176th Wing is an Air National Guard unit operating out of Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson in Anchorage, military aircraft began flying in Alaska in 1920 when the Black Wolf Squadron were flown from Mitchel Field, New York arrived at Nome on 24 August. The DeHavilland DH-4s had a profile of a Wolfs head painted on their sides. The aircraft flew up though British Columbia and stopped at Fairbanks on the way to Nome, in 1924, the around the world flight by the Army using Douglas World Cruisers also transited though Alaska. To coordinate air activities there, the Alaskan Defense Command established the Air Field Forces, thus was begun the construction of Elmendorf Field, primary fourth-echelon base for all future Eleventh Air Force operations. Construction of the airfield began on 8 June when 25 locally hired men began clearing brush, the first troops of the Alaskan Air Force advance echelon to arrive in Alaska included a six-year-old Martin B-10 on 12 August 1940. On 12 December the Army designated the base Fort Richardson and flying field Elmendorf Field, the first Air Corps unit to be assigned to Alaska was the 18th Pursuit Squadron, which transferred to Elmendorf from Hamilton Army Airfield, California on 21 February 1941 with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. The 23d Air Base Group was assigned shortly afterwards to provide base support, the 36th Bombardment Squadron arrived less than a month later from Lowry Field, Colorado, equipped with Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers. A major problem was the training of personnel and the preparing of equipment for operation in the cold Alaskan climate, mechanical things showed unusual behavior at 40 degrees below zero
23.
Strategic Air Command
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At a lower echelon, headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept, and Strategic Communications. In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of the U. S. Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U. S. Air Force had begun by the fall of 1945, with the Simpson Board tasked to plan. the reorganization of the Army, SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel. S. Air Force as an independent service, kenney, initial units reporting to the Strategic Air Command headquarters on 21 March 1946 included the Second Air Force, the IX Troop Carrier Command and the 73d Air Division. In addition to the bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance. An F-13 squadron, the F-13 later re-designated as the RB-29 Superfortress, was also established, SAC conducted routine aerial reconnaissance missions near the Soviet borders or near the 12-mile international waters limit, although some missions actually penetrated into Soviet airspace. The flight profiles of these missions—above 30,000 feet and in excess of 300 knots—made interception by Soviet air forces difficult until the Soviets 1948 introduction of the MiG-15 jet fighter. Project Nanook, the Cold War’s first Top Secret reconnaissance effort, used the first RB-29 missions for mapping and visual reconnaissance in the Arctic, later missions were Project LEOPARD along the Chukchi Peninsula, followed by Projects RICKRACK, STONEWORK, and COVERALLS. In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven B-29s capable at any one time of delivering them, unfortunately, postwar budget and personnel cuts had had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions. This continued to wear down SAC as a command and morale plummeted, as a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SACs eleven groups were combat ready. In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire a share of USAF infrastructure. In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on Limestone AAF, Maine, fort Dix AAF, New Jersey, Spokane AAF, Washington, and Wendover Field, Utah were also transferred to SAC between 30 April and 1 September 1947. Following establishment of the USAF as a service, SAC bases in the United States consisted of
24.
Tactical Air Command
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Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base and it was inactivated on 1 June 1992 and its personnel and equipment absorbed by Air Combat Command. Tactical Air Command was established to provide a balance between strategic, air defense, and tactical forces of the post–World War II U. S. Army Air Forces followed by, in 1947, the U. S. Air Force. In 1948, the Continental Air Command assumed control over air defense, tactical air, after two years in a subordinate role, Tactical Air Command was established as a major command. World War II showed the effectiveness of air power in supporting army ground forces. However, the demobilization in late 1945 meant that the huge air armada that had brought Germany to her knees. Following the end of World War II, Headquarters United States Army Air Forces had little funding and most wartime personnel had been released from active duty and returned to civilian life. Many USAAF aircraft were being sent to storage or scrapyards, although the tension with the Soviet Union meant that combat military air forces were still needed. The big questions were how large and what kind of forces, a major realignment of the USAAF was undertaken in early 1946. As part of the realignment, three major divisions within the Continental United States were formed, Strategic Air Command, Tactical Air Command. Each was given a specific responsibility, using assets prescribed to accomplish the assigned mission, Tactical Air Command was formed to command, organize, equip, train and administer assigned or attached forces. It was to plan for and participate in tactics for fighter, light bombardment and these included tactical fighters, tactical bombers, tactical missiles, troop carrier aircraft, assault, reconnaissance, and support units. TAC also planned for and developed the capability to deploy tactical striking forces anywhere in the world, during its existence, Tactical Air Command deployed personnel, material and/or aircraft to Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Europe and Australia in support of its prescribed mission. TACs original authorization was 25,500 officers and enlisted men, aircraft assets available consisted of propeller-driven North American P-51 Mustangs, Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and a handful of the new jet-powered Lockheed P-80 Shooting Stars. TAC was also given control of the Third Air Force, Ninth Air Force, on 18 September 1947, the United States Air Force was established as a separate military force, with TAC as one of its major commands. At the time, there was only one U. S. Air Forces in Europe tactical air unit available in Europe, TAC was called upon to send additional units and aircraft to Europe to reinforce the 86 FG. The 36th Fighter Group, flying Lockheed F-80B Shooting Stars, was transferred from Howard AFB in the Panama Canal Zone to Furstenfeldbruck Air Base near Munich. In addition to fighter aircraft, TAC also deployed available C-47 Skytrain transports to Europe, transferring them to USAFE
25.
Aerospace Defense Command
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Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Forces, responsible for continental air defence. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980 and its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was established in 1946, briefly inactivated in 1950, reactivated in 1951, and then redesignated Aerospace rather than Air in 1968. Its mission was to air defense of the Continental United States. It directly controlled all active measures, and was tasked to coordinate all passive means of air defense, the air districts established on 16 January 1941 before the Pearl Harbor attack. The four air districts also handled USAAF combat training with the Army Ground Forces and organization and training of bomber, fighter and other units, the USAAFs Aircraft Warning Corps provided air defense warning with information centers that networked an areas Army Radar Stations which communicated radar tracks by telephone. The AWC information centers also integrated visual reports processed by Ground Observer Corps filter centers, AWC information centers notified air defense command posts of the 4 continental air forces for deploying interceptor aircraft which used command guidance for ground-controlled interception. The USAAF inactivated the aircraft warning network in April 1944, Continental Air Forces was activated on 12 December 1944 with the four Air Forces as components to consolidate the CONUS air defense mission under one command. The Continental Air Forces reorganization began in 1945, when ground radar, the Distant Early Warning Line was first conceived—and rejected—in 1946. By 1948 there were only 5 AC&W stations, including the Twin Lights station in NJ that opened in June and Montauk NY Air Warning Station #3 --cf. SAC radar stations, e. g. at Dallas & Denver Bomb Plots. By the time ADC was inactivated on 1 July 1950, ADC had deployed the Lashup Radar Network with existing radars at 43 sites, in addition,36 Air National Guard fighter units were called to active duty for the mission. ADC was reinstated as a command on 1 January 1951 at Mitchel Air Force Base. The headquarters was moved to Ent Air Force Base in Colorado Springs on 8 January 1951 and it received 21 former ConAC active-duty fighter squadrons. ADC was also assigned the 25th, 26th 27th and 28th Air Divisions ADC completed the Priority Permanent System network for Aircraft Warning, gaps were filled by additional Federal Aviation Administration radar stations and the Ground Observation Corps. During the mid-1950s, planners devised the idea of extending the wall of powerful land-based radar seaward with Airborne early warning, the RC-121s, EC-121s and Texas Towers, it was believed, would contribute to extending contiguous east-coast radar coverage some 300 to 500 miles seaward. In terms of the air threat of the 1950s, this meant a gain of at least 30 extra minutes warning time of a bomber attack. ADCs Operation Tail Wind on 11–12 July tested its augmentation plan that required Air Training Command interceptors participate in an air defense emergency, a total of seven ATC bases actively participated in the exercise, deploying aircraft and aircrews and supporting the ADC radar net. As the USAF prepared to deploy the Tactical Air Command E-3 Sentry in the later 1970s, all remaining EC-121s were transferred to the Air Force Reserve, which formed the 79th AEWCS at Homestead Air Force Base, Florida in early 1976. Besides monitoring Cuban waters, these last Warning Stars also operated from NAS Keflavik, final EC-121 operations ended in September 1978
26.
Carl Andrew Spaatz
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Carl Andrew Tooey Spaatz was an American World War II general. As commander of Strategic Air Forces in Europe in 1944, he pressed for the bombing of the enemy’s oil production facilities as a priority over other targets. He became Chief of Staff of the newly formed United States Air Force in 1947. Born as Carl Andrew Spatz, he added the second a in 1937 at the request of his wife. The second a was added, as it was in the European branch of his family, to out the sound like ah. The result was intended to suggest a Dutch rather than a German origin, however, he was of German ancestry. Spaatz received his nickname Tooey at West Point because of his resemblance to another red-headed cadet named F. J. Toohey and he graduated as a second lieutenant of Infantry 12 June 1914, ranked 97th out of a class of 107. He was detailed to the Aviation Section, U. S. Signal Corps in Mexico on 8 June 1916 after earning his Junior Military Aviator rating, Spaatz served in the First Aero Squadron which was attached to General John J. Pershing during the Punitive Expedition. Spaatz was promoted to First Lieutenant on 1 July 1916 and to Captain on 15 May 1917, following Americas entry into World War I, Spaatz was sent with the American Expeditionary Forces in command of the 31st Aero Squadron. In this brief period, Spaatz shot down three planes and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, during the time he was promoted to the temporary rank of major on 17 June 1918. In early 1919, he was appointed to one of the three troupes of the U. S. Army Air Service Victory Loan Flying Circus. His group consisted of about twenty-five officers and fifty enlisted men and his airplanes included on the tour included five JN6 Jennies, five Fokker D VIIs, four RAE SE-5s and five Spad VIIs. The team gave promotional rides and flew aerial demonstrations across the Western and Southwestern United States from early April through mid-May 1919 to raise money to retire the World War I debt. He served in California and Texas and became assistant department air service officer for the Western Department in July 1919, Spaatz experienced the chaotic ups and downs in rank common to Regular officers in 1920, when the National Defense Act of 1920 reorganized the military. He first reverted to his permanent rank of captain of Infantry 27 February 1920 and this made him senior to a number of officers, including Henry H. Arnold, with greater longevity of service. He graduated from the Air Corps Tactical School, Langley Field, Virginia, in June 1925, later that year he testified for the defence at the court martial of Colonel Billy Mitchell. From May 8,1929, to October 29,1931, Spaatz commanded the 7th Bombardment Group at Rockwell Field, California, and he then served in the Office of the Chief of Air Corps and became chief of the Training and Operations Division. In August 1935, he enrolled in the Command and General Staff School at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, on 7 November 1939, Spaatz received a temporary promotion to colonel, and during the Battle of Britain in 1940, spent several weeks in England as a special military observer
27.
Cold War
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The Cold War was a state of geopolitical tension after World War II between powers in the Eastern Bloc and powers in the Western Bloc. Historians do not fully agree on the dates, but a common timeframe is the period between 1947, the year the Truman Doctrine was announced, and 1991, the year the Soviet Union collapsed. The term cold is used there was no large-scale fighting directly between the two sides, although there were major regional wars, known as proxy wars, supported by the two sides. The Cold War split the temporary alliance against Nazi Germany, leaving the Soviet Union. The USSR was a Marxist–Leninist state ruled by its Communist Party and secret police, the Party controlled the press, the military, the economy and all organizations. In opposition stood the West, dominantly democratic and capitalist with a free press, a small neutral bloc arose with the Non-Aligned Movement, it sought good relations with both sides. The two superpowers never engaged directly in full-scale armed combat, but they were armed in preparation for a possible all-out nuclear world war. The first phase of the Cold War began in the first two years after the end of the Second World War in 1945, the Berlin Blockade was the first major crisis of the Cold War. With the victory of the communist side in the Chinese Civil War and the outbreak of the Korean War, the USSR and USA competed for influence in Latin America, and the decolonizing states of Africa and Asia. Meanwhile, the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 was stopped by the Soviets, the expansion and escalation sparked more crises, such as the Suez Crisis, the Berlin Crisis of 1961, and the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962. The USSR crushed the 1968 Prague Spring liberalization program in Czechoslovakia, détente collapsed at the end of the decade with the beginning of the Soviet–Afghan War in 1979. The early 1980s were another period of elevated tension, with the Soviet downing of Korean Air Lines Flight 007, the United States increased diplomatic, military, and economic pressures on the Soviet Union, at a time when the communist state was already suffering from economic stagnation. In the mid-1980s, the new Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev introduced the reforms of perestroika and glasnost. Pressures for national independence grew stronger in Eastern Europe, especially Poland, Gorbachev meanwhile refused to use Soviet troops to bolster the faltering Warsaw Pact regimes as had occurred in the past. The result in 1989 was a wave of revolutions that peacefully overthrew all of the communist regimes of Central, the Communist Party of the Soviet Union itself lost control and was banned following an abortive coup attempt in August 1991. This in turn led to the dissolution of the USSR in December 1991. The United States remained as the only superpower. The Cold War and its events have left a significant legacy and it is often referred to in popular culture, especially in media featuring themes of espionage and the threat of nuclear warfare
28.
Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force
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The Chief of Staff is typically the highest-ranking officer on active-duty in the U. S. Air Force unless the Chairman and/or the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are Air Force officers. The current Chief of Staff of the Air Force is General David L. Goldfein, the Chief of Staff may also perform other duties as assigned by either the President, the Secretary of Defense or the Secretary of the Air Force. The Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force, also a general, is the Chief of Staffs principal deputy. The Chief of Staff of the Air Force is a member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff as prescribed by 10 U. S. C, when performing his JCS duties the Chief of Staff is responsible directly to the Secretary of Defense. Like the other members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the CSAF is an administrative position, the CSAF is nominated for appointment by the President and must be confirmed via majority vote by the Senate. By statute, the CSAF is appointed as a four-star general, the Chief of Staff is also authorized to wear a special service cap with clouds and lightning bolts around the band of the hat. Prior to the creation of this position, General Henry H, arnold was designated first Chief of the Army Air Forces and Commanding General of the Army Air Forces during World War II. *Three former chiefs of staff would serve as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Brown served as the Chairman from July 1974 to June 1978, jones served as the Chairman from June 1978 to June 1982. The fourth Air Force officer to have served as the Chairman, myers, did not serve as Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Vice Chief of Staff of the United States Air Force Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Department of Defense Key Officials 1947–2015, washington DC, Office of the Secretary of Defense, Historical Office. HAF MISSION DIRECTIVE 1-4 - CHIEF OF STAFF OF THE AIR FORCE, washington DC, Secretary of the Air Force. Headquarters United States Air Force Key Personnel, washington DC, Air Force Historical Studies Office. Air Force History Support Office, Air Force Chiefs of Staff
29.
Merrill McPeak
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Merrill Anthony Tony McPeak is a retired 4 star General in the United States Air Force whose final assignment before retirement was as the 14th Chief of Staff of the Air Force from 1990 to 1994. For a while in 1993, McPeak served as Acting Secretary of the Air Force, before Sheila E. McPeak was born in Santa Rosa and he was commissioned through Air Force ROTC, and entered active duty in November of that year. He later earned a Master of Arts degree in international relations from George Washington University in 1974, after completing preflight and pilot training, McPeak flew fighter F-100 Super Sabre and F-104 Starfighter aircraft in operational squadrons in the United States and in the United Kingdom. Later he returned to the U. S. as a pilot and weapons officer at Luke Air Force Base. From December 1966 to December 1968, McPeak was assigned as a solo and lead pilot with the Thunderbirds. While with the Thunderbirds he performed in nearly 200 air shows in the U. S. upon completion of his tour with the Thunderbirds, he was assigned as an F-100 pilot with the 37th Tactical Fighter Wing at Phù Cát Air Base in South Vietnam. On February 1,1969, he was assigned to Project Commando Sabre, known as the Misty FACs, a specialized group of high speed forward air controllers trying to stop traffic down the Ho Chi Minh Trail. He became the commander of Commando Sabre on April 22,1969, and moved it to the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing at Tuy Hoa Air Base on May 1. Rotating out of his command on May 31,1969 after 98 missions, from 1970 to 1973, McPeak was an air operations staff officer for the Mideast Division at Headquarters USAF in Washington. After graduating from the National War College in 1974, he was named assistant deputy commander for operations for the 1st Tactical Fighter Wing at MacDill AFB, from 1975 to 1976, he was a military fellow with the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. In 1976, McPeak contributed an article to Foreign Affairs Journal expressing his views on the Israelis occupation of territories during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War, from 1978 to 1980, he was assistant chief of staff for current operations, Allied Air Forces Central Europe. 1980 and 1981 saw him flying the F-111E and commanding the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing, based at RAF Station Upper Heyford, United Kingdom. McPeak was chief of staff at USAFE headquarters from 1981 to 1982 and he returned to Headquarters USAF in 1985-87 as deputy chief of staff for programs and resources. In June 1987, McPeak moved to Bergstrom AFB, Texas in the roles of Commander. A year later he was named commander-in-chief of Pacific Air Forces PACAF and he was appointed Air Force Chief of Staff by President George H. W. Bush in October 1990, replacing the retiring General Michael Dugan. McPeak took over as Chief of Staff during the run-up for Operation Desert Shield, also, his tenure oversaw the merging of Air Training Command and Air University into Air Education and Training Command. McPeak pushed through major organizational change, aimed at streamlining and emphasizing operations, much of his tenure focused on elevating the status of flight operations, some say at the expense of support, or non-flying career fields. He also created the Air Force Expeditionary Wing concept, a fusion of combat forces and he also transferred several flying wing and space wing command billets to Brigadier Generals, even though previously these had been commanded by Colonels
30.
Air Combat Command
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Air Combat Command is one of ten Major Commands in the United States Air Force, reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force at the Pentagon. ACC is headquartered at Langley Field, Joint Base Langley–Eustis, Virginia and its commander is General Herbert Hawk Carlisle, with Major General Jerry D. Harris Jr. as Vice Commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Steve K. McDonald as the Command Chief Master Sergeant, in addition, ACC augments the forces of the United States European Command, United States Pacific Command and United States Central Command when needed. Air Combat Command consists of approximately 98,000 active duty members, in 2015, responsibility for the B-1 Lancer bomber fleet was also transferred from ACC to AFGSC. Air Combat Command was created 1 June 1992 after the inactivation of the Tactical Air Command, Strategic Air Command, furthermore, ACC had some KC-135 and KC-10 aerial refueling tankers and C-130 tactical airlift aircraft in its composite, reconnaissance, and certain other combat wings. In 1993, control of the ICBM force was transferred to the Air Force Space Command until transferred again to Air Force Global Strike Command on 1 Dec 2009. S, Air Force and the U. S. Navy. Historically, combat command was an air unit designation. During 1941 and early 1942, the air units of the War Department, formerly known as the GHQ Air Force. The AFCC was dissolved in the reorganization of the United States Army, effective 9 March 1942, not long after activation, ACC underwent organizational and mission changes. The first such change was the transfer of the combat search. With the realigning of search and rescue units, ACC gained additional resources, the formal transfer took place on 1 February 1993, when the Air Rescue Service was assigned to ACC. On 2 July of the year, the ARS was disestablished. The USAF Combat Rescue School was subsequently assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, one of the most significant changes for Air Combat Command resulted from an overhaul of flying training responsibilities. Following its activation, ACC was responsible for aircrew training, including initial weapon system. On 1 July 1993, the 58th and 325th Fighter Wings—F-16 and F-15 training units transferred from ACC to Air Education and Training Command. Concurrently, Luke AFB, Arizona, and Tyndall AFB, Florida, for which those respective wings were the host units, however, on 1 October 2012, both Tyndall AFB and the 325th Fighter Wing returned to the control of ACC. The next major change resulted from a fine-tuning of aerial refueling. From its activation, Air Combat Command had assumed ownership of some C-130 Hercules theater airlift assets and KC-10 Extender, there was historical precedent for the reassignment of C-130s to Air Combat Command
31.
United States Northern Command
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United States Northern Command is a Unified Combatant Command of the U. S. military tasked with providing military support for civil authorities in the U. S. It is the U. S. military command which, if applicable, USNORTHCOM was created on 25 April 2002 when President George W. Bush approved a new Unified Command Plan, following the September 11 attacks. USNORTHCOM went operational on 1 October 2002, the support that USNORTHCOM provides to civil authorities is legally limited by the Posse Comitatus Act, which sets some limits on the role of the U. S. military in civilian law enforcement. However, in case of emergency, natural or man-made. USNORTHCOM was established on 25 April 2002 when President George W. Bush approved a new Unified Command Plan, the commander of USNORTHCOM is responsible for theater security cooperation with Canada, Mexico, and The Bahamas. In May 2011, NORTHCOM was mobilized in the wake of the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico to provide air, ground, in October 2014, NORTHCOM took administrative control of Alaskan Command. Northern Command is concurrently Commander of the U. S. -Canadian North American Aerospace Defense Command, the two are co-located at Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs, Colorado. General Ralph Eberhart was the first CDRUSNORTHCOM, USNORTHCOM headquarters has approximately 1,200 uniformed and civilian members, and few permanent forces. Forces from all branches of the U. S. military may be assigned to the Command as needed to complete its mission, USNORTHCOM exercises command and control of two subordinate unified commands, four service component commands, and several standing Joint Task Forces. Fifth Army/ARNORTH, First Air Force/AFNORTH, United States Fleet Forces Command, uSNORTHCOMs Joint Task Forces include Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region, Joint Task Force-Civil Support, and Joint Task Force North. On 31 December 2012, Special Operations Command-North was activated, note, The National Defense Authorization Act of 2008 stipulates that at least one deputy commander of USNORTHCOM be a National Guard general officer unless the commander is already such an officer. Northern Command has created several classified concept plans that are intended to address the 15 National Planning Scenarios that NORTHCOM must be prepared to respond to, however the GAO found that the national strategy to defend the United States is several years out of date. NORTHCOM operates extensive domestic intelligence operations which both share and receive information from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies. The John Warner Defense Authorization Act of 2007 H. R.5122 effectively nullified the limits of the Insurrection Act when it was passed, however, on 1 October 2008, the 3rd Infantry Division’s 1st Brigade Combat Team was assigned to U. S. Northern Command, marking the first time a unit had been given a dedicated assignment to Northern Command. National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2012 NSPD-51 United States National Guard Colonel Cronen, Northern Command & Defense Support of Civil Authorities. Center for Army Lessons Learned Newsletter
32.
Air and Space Operations Center
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This article is about Air and Space Operations Center in accordance with the United States Air Force command center. It should not be confused with the NATO Combined Air Operations Centre, an Air and Space Operations Center is a type of command center used by the United States Air Force. It is the agency of the Air Force component commander to provide command and control of air. In cases of allied or coalition operations in tandem with USAF or Joint air and space operations, an AOC is the senior element of the Theater Air Control System. The Joint Force Commander assigns a Joint Forces Air Component Commander to lead the AOC weapon system, if allied or coalition forces are part of the operation, the JFC and JFACC will be redesignated as the CFC and CFACC, respectively. Quite often the Commander, Air Force Forces is assigned the JFACC/CFACC position for planning and executing theater-wide air, if another service also provides a significant share of air and space forces, the Deputy JFACC/CFACC will typically be a senior flag officer from that service. There are five divisions in the AOC and these separate, but distinct, organizations fuse information that eventually becomes the Air Tasking Order. When conducting joint air and space operations, U. S, senior leadership oversight of the AOC is provided by USAF colonels and general officers and USN captains and flag officers. There were 2 further CAOCs with a static as well as a role, Uedem, Germany. The static CAOCs can support Allied air operations from their fixed locations, United States Air Force Theater Battle Management Core Systems Global Command and Control System Air Force Command and Control Integration Center
33.
Command and control
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Command generally refers to the ability to dominate an area of situation. There are several definitions of command and control, according to older versions of U. S. The term may refer to command and control systems within a military system. The 1988 NATO definition reads, Command and control is the exercise of authority, Canadian defence scientists Ross Pigeau and Carol McCann discuss the issues and uncertainties related to the definition of command & control in their article in the Canadian Military Journal. The book by Vassiliou et al, the US Department of Defense Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms. Defines command and control as, The exercise of authority and direction by a properly designated commander over assigned and attached forces in the accomplishment of the mission, however, this sentence is missing from the command and control entry for the edition As Amended Through 15 August 2014. Commanding officers are assisted in executing these tasks by specialized staff officers and these military staff are a group of officers and enlisted personnel that provides a bi-directional flow of information between a commanding officer and subordinate military units. The purpose of a staff is mainly that of providing accurate. The key application is that of decisions that effectively manage unit resources, while information flow toward the commander is a priority, information that is useful or contingent in nature is communicated to lower staffs and units. This term is also in use within the computer security industry. Here the term refers to the influence an attacker has over a computer system that they control. For example, a usage of the term is to say that attackers use command and control infrastructure to issue command. Advanced analysis of command and control methodologies can be used to identify attackers, associate attacks, there are a plethora of derivative terms which emphasise different aspects, uses and sub-domains of C2. These terms come with a plethora of associated abbreviations – for example, in addition to C2, command and control is often abbreviated as C2. Command, The exercise of authority based upon certain knowledge to attain an objective, control, The process of verifying and correcting activity such that the objective or goal of command is accomplished. Communication, Ability to exercise the necessary liaison to exercise effective command between tactical or strategic units to command, computers, The computer systems and compatibility of computer systems. Intelligence, Includes collection as well as analysis and distribution of information, Command and control centers are operated by a government or municipal agency. Various branches of the US military such as the US Coast Guard and Navy have command and they are also common in many large correctional facilities
34.
Tyndall Air Force Base
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Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located 12 miles east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall, the base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing of the Air Combat Command. The base is delineated as a place and had a resident population of 2,994 at the 2010 census. Tyndalls combat mission is performed by the 95th Fighter Squadron, Training for F-22 pilots is performed in the 43d Fighter Squadron and the 2d Fighter Training Squadron. The 325th Air Control Squadron trains air battle managers for assignment to combat Air Force units. From 1983 until 2010, training for F-15 Eagle pilots was performed at Tyndall AFB by the 1st, 2d, the 1 FS inactivated in 2006, while the 2 FS and 95 FS inactivated in May and September 2010, respectively. During this time, Tyndall also hosted training for F-15C/D maintenance personnel, the 95 FS was reactivated in September 2013 as part of the F-22 Raptor consolidation plan that moved the 7th Fighter Squadrons aircraft to Tyndall. The 2nd Fighter Training Squadron was activated in 2014 to perform T-38 adversary operations in support of the F-22 training mission, the 325th Fighter Wing is host to more than 30 tenant organizations located at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. The wing consists of the 325th Operations Group, 325th Maintenance Group, 325th Mission Support Group and it is also augmented by two Air Reserve Component units from the Air Force Reserve Command and the Air National Guard, respectively. The 44th Fighter Group of the Air Force Reserve Command is a unit of the 325 FW and. Otherwise, it operates at Tyndall as a unit of AFRCs 301st Fighter Wing at NAS JRB Fort Worth/Carswell Field. The 44 FG flies and maintains the F-22A Raptor in partnership with the 325 FW, headquarters, First Air Force at Tyndall is part of the Air Combat Command, ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the continental United States. Operationally-gained by ACC,1 AF is the only Numbered Air Force in the Air National Guard and is responsible for all Air National Guard F-15 and F-16 fighter units. The 53d Weapons Evaluation Group, is an Air Combat Command tenant organization that reports to the 53d Wing at nearby Eglin Air Force Base, the 53 WEG previously managed QF-4 Phantom II FSATSs, most of which were converted F-4E and F-4G aircraft. The 337th Air Control Squadron conducts Undergraduate Air Battle Manager Training at Tyndall AFB, Tyndall Field was opened on 13 January 1941 as a gunnery range. The airfield was named in honor of 1st Lt Frank Benjamin Tyndall, with the establishment of the United States Air Force in 1947, the facility was renamed Tyndall Air Force Base on 13 January 1948. In December 1940, a site determined that Flexible Gunnery School No.9 would be located 12 miles southeast of Panama City. On 6 May 1941, Army and local dignitaries held a ground breaking for the school
35.
Continental NORAD Region
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A combined First Air Force command post and CONR Air Operations Center perform the NORAD air sovereignty mission for the continental United States. One of four numbered air forces assigned to Air Combat Command, First Air Force plans, conducts, controls, coordinates and ensures air sovereignty, the best of Americas fighter inventory, the F-15 Eagle and the F-16 Fighting Falcon, are CONR’s primary weapons systems. First Air Force consists of 10 Air National Guard fighter wings, CONR is one of three NORAD regions. The two other Regions consist of the Canadian NORAD Region and the Alaskan NORAD Region, continental U. S. NORAD Region page @ NORAD. mil https, //fas. org/spp/military/docops/norad/ins10018. htm http, //www. 1af. acc. af. mil/
36.
Keesler Air Force Base
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Keesler Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Biloxi, a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. The base is named in honor of aviator 2d Lt Samuel Reeves Keesler, the base is home of Headquarters, Second Air Force and the 81st Training Wing of the Air Education and Training Command. The base has specialised in ground trade training since its opening in 1941, in early January 1941, Biloxi city officials assembled a formal offer to invite the United States Army to build a base to support the World War II training buildup. The War Department activated Army Air Corps Station No,8, Aviation Mechanics School, Biloxi, Mississippi, on 12 June 1941. Congress initially appropriated $6 million for construction at Biloxi and an additional $2 million for equipment, by the time the War Department allocated the funds in April 1941, the projected cost had risen to $9.6 million. On 14 June 1941, the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers awarded contracts totaling $10 million to build Biloxis technical training school, at the time, it was the most expensive government project to have been undertaken in the State of Mississippi. The first shipment of recruits arrived at Keesler Field on 21 August 1941, many stayed at Keesler to become airplane and engine mechanics, while others transferred to aerial gunnery or aviation cadet schools. The Tuskegee Airmen were trained at Keesler, in fact, more than 7,000 Black soldiers were stationed at Keesler Field by the autumn of 1943. These soldiers included pre-aviation cadets, radio operators, aviation technicians, bombardiers, Keesler continued to focus upon specialized training in Consolidated B-24 Liberator maintenance until mid-1944. Thereafter, the base expanded its curricula to train mechanics for other aircraft, basic training wound down very drastically after the end of World War II, and it was finally discontinued at Keesler on 30 June 1946. In late May 1947, the Radar School arrived on Keesler making it responsible for operating the two largest military technical schools in the United States. Thereafter, shrinking budgets forced the base to reduce its costs, the Airplane and Engine Mechanics School. In early 1949, the Radio Operations School transferred to Keesler from Scott Air Force Base, the last mechanics training courses had moved to Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, by November. In early 1956, Keesler entered the age by opening a ground support training program for the Atlas missile. In 1958, all control tower operator, radio maintenance, during the early 1960s, Keesler lost many of its airborne training courses but Keesler still remained the largest training base throughout the 1970s. This included limited flight training operations in the T-28 Trojan for South Vietnamese Air Force student pilots, there was quite a bit of damage when Hurricane Camille passed over Biloxi in 1969. Most of the Back Bay housing area was under water, Keeslers student load dropped to an all-time low after the Vietnam War ended. As a result, Air Training Command inactivated the USAF School of Applied Aerospace Sciences on 1 April 1977 and replaced it with the 3300th Technical Training Wing, which activated the same day
37.
Mississippi
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Mississippi /ˌmɪsᵻˈsɪpi/ is a state in the southern region of the United States, with part of its southern border formed by the Gulf of Mexico. Its western border is formed by the Mississippi River, the state has a population of approximately 3 million. It is the 32nd most extensive and the 32nd most populous of the 50 United States, located in the center of the state, Jackson is the state capital and largest city, with a population of approximately 175,000 people. The state is heavily forested outside of the Mississippi Delta area, before the American Civil War, most development in the state was along riverfronts, where slaves worked on cotton plantations. After the war, the bottomlands to the interior were cleared, by the end of the 19th century, African Americans made up two-thirds of the Deltas property owners, but timber and railroad companies acquired much of the land after a financial crisis. Clearing altered the Deltas ecology, increasing the severity of flooding along the Mississippi, much land is now held by agribusinesses. The states catfish aquaculture farms produce the majority of farm-raised catfish consumed in the United States, since the 1930s and the Great Migration, Mississippi has been majority white, albeit with the highest percentage of black residents of any U. S. state. From the early 19th century to the 1930s, its residents were mostly black, whites retained political power through Jim Crow laws. In 2010, 37% of Mississippians were African Americans, the highest percentage of African Americans in any U. S. state, since gaining enforcement of their voting franchise in the late 1960s, most African Americans support Democratic candidates in local, state and national elections. Conservative whites have shifted to the Republican Party, African Americans are a majority in many counties of the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta, an area of historic settlement during the plantation era. Since 2011 Mississippi has been ranked as the most religious state in the country, the states name is derived from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary. Settlers named it after the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi, in addition to its namesake, major rivers in Mississippi include the Big Black River, the Pearl River, the Yazoo River, the Pascagoula River, and the Tombigbee River. Major lakes include Ross Barnett Reservoir, Arkabutla Lake, Sardis Lake, Mississippi is entirely composed of lowlands, the highest point being Woodall Mountain, in the foothills of the Cumberland Mountains,807 feet above sea level. The lowest point is sea level at the Gulf coast, the states mean elevation is 300 feet above sea level. Most of Mississippi is part of the East Gulf Coastal Plain, the coastal plain is generally composed of low hills, such as the Pine Hills in the south and the North Central Hills. The Pontotoc Ridge and the Fall Line Hills in the northeast have somewhat higher elevations, yellow-brown loess soil is found in the western parts of the state. The northeast is a region of black earth that extends into the Alabama Black Belt. The coastline includes large bays at Bay St. Louis, Biloxi, the northwest remainder of the state consists of the Mississippi Delta, a section of the Mississippi Alluvial Plain
38.
Air Education & Training Command
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Air Education and Training Command was established 1 July 1993, with the realignment of the former Air Training Command and the extant Air University. It is one of the U. S. Air Forces ten major commands and reports to Headquarters, AETC is headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, Texas. Its commander is Lieutenant General Darryl Roberson, with Lieutenant General Douglas H. Owens as vice commander and Chief Master Sergeant Gerardo Tapia, more than 48,000 active duty and Air Reserve Component members and 14,000 civilian personnel make up AETC. The command has responsibility for approximately 1,600 aircraft, AETCs mission is to recruit, train and educate Airmen to deliver air power for America. AETCs mission begins with the Air Force Recruiting Service, an AETC activity also headquartered at Randolph AFB, Texas. Recruiters in more than 1,000 offices worldwide recruit the men and women needed as both enlisted airmen and commissioned officers to meet the demands of the U. S. Air Force. AFRS recruitment of commissioned officers is limited to 4-year college/university graduates via Air Force Officer Training School, the first stop for all Regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command enlisted personnel is Basic Military Training at Lackland AFB, Texas. More than 36,000 new airmen will complete this recently lengthened eight-and-a-half-week program each year, a recently established technical training institute at Fort Sam Houston, Texas, also conducts training in several medical career fields. Each base is responsible for a portion of formal technical training airmen require to accomplish the Air Force mission. 2 AF also conducts specialized training for military working dogs and dog handlers at Lackland AFB, Texas, for the entire Department of Defense and the Federal Aviation Administration. Additionally, the Inter-American Air Forces Academy at Lackland AFB hosts more than 160 courses in aviation specialties, taught in Spanish, the Air Education and Training Command, along with the USAF Academy, are responsible for teaching these principles throughout the Air Force. When AETC was established in 1993, Nineteenth Air Force was also established as a numbered air force to 2 AF within AETC. On 12 July 2012,19 AF was temporarily inactivated for budgetary reasons in an effort to gain efficiencies, Air Force pilot candidates begin their flying careers with Initial Flight Screening at Pueblo Memorial Airport, Colorado. S. Air Force Academy, Air Force ROTC and Air Force OTS and this program was terminated on 25 July 2013 with the graduation of the final USAF student pilot from primary training at NAS Whiting Field. S. Air Force and various European air forces, during the primary phase, students master contact, instrument, low-level and formation flying. After the primary phase of SUPT and ENJJPT, student pilots elect one of three advanced training tracks based on their class standing and those qualified for fighter or bomber assignments are assigned to the fighter/bomber track and train in the T-38 Talon at the SUPT and ENJJPT bases. Following completion of the track, graduates will be assigned to the A-10, F-15 Eagle, F-15E Strike Eagle, F-16, F-22 and F-35, B-1. NOTE, The U-2 is not an option for new graduates of the Fighter/Bomber track, prospective U-2 pilots must be qualified in another fighter, bomber, reconnaissance or mobility aircraft before applying to fly the U-2
39.
Ramstein Air Base
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Ramstein Air Base is a United States Air Force base in Rhineland-Palatinate, a state in southwestern Germany. It serves as headquarters for the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa, Ramstein is located near the town of Ramstein-Miesenbach, in the rural district of Kaiserslautern. The Air Base is used to coordinate and execute most of the United States global drone program, the east gate of Ramstein Air Base is about 10 miles from Kaiserslautern. Other nearby civilian communities include Ramstein-Miesenbach, just outside the bases west gate, the host unit is the 86th Airlift Wing, commanded by Brigadier General Patrick X. Mordente. The 86th Airlift Wing is composed of six groups,27 squadrons and its mission is the operation and maintenance of airlift assets consisting of C-130Js, C-20s, C-21s, C-40B and C-37A Gulfstream aircraft throughout Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Also at Ramstein is the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing, which focuses on base-support responsibilities within the KMC and it is composed of five groups and 20 squadrons. The wing provides rapid mobility and agile combat support for military operations, the commander of the 435th AGOW is Colonel Andra V. P. The new 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing stood up on 4 September 2008, the current commander of the 521st AMOW is Colonel Thomas Cooper. Ramsteins wings are assigned to the headquarters 3rd Air Force also based at Ramstein AB, Ramstein AB is part of the Kaiserslautern Military Community, where more than 54,000 American service members and more than 5,400 US civilian employees live and work. U. S. organizations in the KMC also employ the services of more than 6,200 German workers, Air Force units in the KMC alone employ almost 9,800 military members, bringing with them nearly 11,100 family members. There are more than 16,200 military, U. S. civilian, while the KMC remains the largest U. S. community overseas at 53,000 people, the defense drawdown continues to shape its future. Due to the departure of other main operating installations, more than 100 geographically separated units receive support from Ramstein, Ramstein Air Base also served as temporary housing for the United States mens national soccer team during the 2006 World Cup. There is often a Summer Camp to Ramstein from British CCF, the construction of the air base was a project designed and undertaken by the French Army and the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers from 1949 to 1952. The area was a swamp that had to be built up by two meters, trainloads of earth were moved over the line and spread over the bases current area to raise it to its current level. Once the ground was level, building construction began, Landstuhl Air Base on the south side and Ramstein Air Station on the north. From 1948 to the opening of the bases in 1953 it was the largest one spot construction site in Europe employing over 270,000 Europeans at one time. A part of the autobahn to the west of Mannheim. The airstrip was used by the advancing U. S. Army Air Forces during the final months of World War II
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U.S. European Command
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The United States European Command is one of nine Unified Combatant Commands of the United States military, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany. Its area of focus covers 21,000,000 square miles and 51 countries and territories, including Europe, Russia, Greenland, the Commander of the United States military EUCOM simultaneously serves as the Supreme Allied Commander, Europe within NATO—an intergovernmental military alliance. During the Gulf War and Operation Northern Watch, EUCOM controlled the forces flying from Incirlik Air Base, prior to 1952, the title European Command referred to a single-service, United States Army command. The first unified command in the European area was established by the Joint Chiefs of Staff on 1 August 1952, European Command, it was established to provide unified command and authority over all U. S. forces in Europe. Prior to 1 August 1952, the U. S. Air Force, U. S. Navy, in line with the creation of the joint-service European Command, the Army command in Europe was redesignated U. S. Army Europe on 1 August 1952. The unified command structure was born of the need to address changes wrought not only by Americas rapid post-war demobilization, questions arose over the U. S. commitment to the defense of Western Europe against the Soviet Union. In 1949 the allies established the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, in 1952 the area of responsibility included continental Europe, the United Kingdom, North Africa and Turkey. The AOR was subsequently expanded to include Southwest Asia as far east as Iran, in early 1951, NATO established Allied Command Europe and the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe. General Dwight D. Eisenhower was called from retirement to become the first Supreme Allied Commander Europe, the United States sent massive reinforcements to Europe designed to deter the Soviet Union. From 1950 to 1953 United States military personnel in Europe grew from 120,000 to over 400,000, United States Air Forces in Europe grew from three groups with 35,000 personnel to eleven wings with 136,000 personnel. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean doubled to more than 40 warships, the Army activated the 10th Special Forces Group at Fort Bragg in 1952 and deployed it to Bad Tölz in November 1953 for unconventional warfare missions in the Soviet Bloc countries. To provide for national command within NATO and to control this build-up of forces. Because the senior United States commander would continue as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, Eisenhower returned to the United States just as the new command was established. The first United States Commander-in-Chief Europe was General Matthew Ridgway, former commander of Eighth Army and his deputy was General Thomas T. Handy, commander of United States Army, Europe. Headquarters EUCOM initially shared the I. G, farben Building in Frankfurt, Germany, with Headquarters United States Army, Europe. By 1953 over 400,000 U. S. troops were stationed in Europe, in 1954, the headquarters moved to Camp des Loges, a French Army base west of Paris and a short distance from SHAPE. There, EUCOM prepared plans for the defense of Western Europe within the NATO framework against the Soviet Union, EUCOM used the Military Assistance Program to help its NATO partners build their military capabilities, including after 1955 the German Bundeswehr. In 1955, EUCOM established a Support Operations Command Europe, soon renamed Support Operations Task Force Europe for special operations missions, in 1961, EUCOM began operating an airborne command post, Operation Silk Purse
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United States Africa Command
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The United States Africa Command is one of nine unified combatant commands of the United States Armed Forces, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. It is responsible for U. S. military operations and military relations with 53 African nations and its area of responsibility covers all of Africa except Egypt, which is within the area of responsibility of the United States Central Command. U. S. AFRICOM headquarters operating budget was $276 million in fiscal year 2012, the Commander of U. S. AFRICOM reports to the Secretary of Defense. Ambassadors continue to be the diplomatic representative for relations with host nations. In 2007, the White House announced, will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa, Africa Command will enhance our efforts to bring peace and security to the people of Africa and promote our common goals of development, health, education, democracy, and economic growth in Africa. General Carter F. Ham said in a 2012 address at Brown University that U. S. strategy for Sub-Saharan Africa is to strengthen democratic institutions, prior to the creation of AFRICOM, responsibility for U. S. A U. S. military officer wrote the first public article calling for the formation of a separate African command in November 2000 and these locations, along with Camp Lemonnier in Djibouti, would form the basis of AFRICOM facilities on the continent. The website Magharebia. com was launched by USEUCOM in 2004 to provide news about North Africa in English, French, when AFRICOM was created, it took over operation of the website. Information operations of the United States Department of Defense was criticized by the Senate Armed Forces Committee, the site was closed down in February 2015. This program builds upon the former Pan Sahel Initiative, which concluded in December 2004 and focused on weapon and drug trafficking, previous U. S. military activities in Sub-Saharan Africa have included Special Forces associated Joint Combined Exchange Training. Letitia Lawson, writing in 2007 for a Center for Contemporary Conflict journal at the Naval Postgraduate School, in mid-2006, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld formed a planning team to advise on requirements for establishing a new Unified Command for the African continent. In early December, he made his recommendations to President George W. Bush, on, Defense Secretary Robert Gates announced to the Senate Armed Services Committee that President George W. Bush had given authority to create the new African Command. U. S. Navy Rear Admiral Robert Moeller, the director of the AFRICOM transition team, arrived in Stuttgart, on 1 October 2008, the command separated from USEUCOM and began operating on its own as a full-fledged combatant command. The territory of the consists of all of the African continent except for Egypt. Most of Africa was transferred from the United States European Command with the Horn of Africa, responsibility for U. S. military operations in the islands of Madagascar, the Comoros, the Seychelles and Mauritius was transferred from the United States Pacific Command. The AFRICOM headquarters is located at Kelley Barracks, an urban facility near Stuttgart, Germany. It was reported in June 2007 that African countries were competing to host the headquarters because it would bring money for the recipient country, however, of all the African nations, only Liberia has publicly expressed a willingness to host AFRICOMs headquarters. The U. S. declared in February 2008 that AFRICOM would be headquartered in Stuttgart for the foreseeable future, nigeria announced it will not allow its country to host a base and opposed the creation of a base on the continent
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