1.2 Numbered Air Forces

Air Forces within the major commands:

Air Force	Location of Headquarters	Major Command and Commander
First Air Force	Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida	ACC
Second Air Force	Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi	AETC
Third Air Force	RAF Mildenhall, England	USAFE
Fourth Air Force	Robins Air Force Base, Georgia	AMC AFRC
Fifth Air Force	Yokota Air Base, Japan	PACAF
Seventh Air Force	Osan Air Base , Korea	PACAF
Eighth Air Force	Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana	ACC
Ninth Air Force	Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina	ACC
Tenth Air Force	Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base , Fort Worth, Texas	ACC AFRC
Eleventh Air Force	Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska	PACAF
Twelfth Air Force	Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona	ACC
Thirteenth Air Force	Andersen Air Force Base , Guam	PACAF
Fourteenth Air Force	Vandenberg Air Force Base, California	AFSPC
Sixteenth Air Force	Aviano Air Base , Italy	USAFE
Eighteenth Air Force	Scott Air Force Base, Illinois	AMC
Nineteenth Air Force	Randolph Air Force Base, Texas	AETC
Twentieth Air Force	F.E. Warren Air Force Base , Wyoming	AFSPC
Twenty-Second Air Force	Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia	AMC AFRC

Air forces are composed of two or more air divisions. Air divisions are composed of two or more wings.

1.3 Wings

Wing	Location	MAJCOM	Aircraft
2nd Bomb Wing (BW)	Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana	ACC	B-52H
5th Bomb Wing	Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota	ACC	B-52H
91st Space Wing	Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota		Minuteman III
149th Fighter Wing (FW)		Texas Air National Guard	F-16
15th Air Base Wing	Hickham Air Force Base, Hawaii	PACAF
18th Wing	Kadena Air Base, Japan	PACAF	F-15C
1st Fighter Wing	Langley Air Force Base, Virginia	ACC	F-15C
21st Space Wing	Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado	AFSPC	satellites
30th Space Wing	Vandenberg Air Force Base, California	AFSPC
319th Air Refueling Wing	Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota	AMC	KC-135
34th Training Wing	US Air Force Academy, Colorado		Officer Training
347th Rescue Wing	Moody Air Force Base, Georgia	ACC	HH-60 Pave Hawk
355th Wing	Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona	ACC	HH-60 Pave Hawk KC-130
36th Wing	Anderson Air Force Base , Guam	PACAF
375th Airlift Wing	Scott Air Force Base, Illinois	AMC
376th Air Expeditionary Wing	Bagram AB, Afghanistan	ACC
39th Wing	Incirlik AB, Turkey	ACC
42nd Air Base Wing	Maxwell Air Force Base , Alabama	AETC	C-130 Hercules
412th Test Wing	Edwards Air Force Base, California
436th Airlift Wing	Dover Air Force Base, Delaware	AMC	C-5 Galaxy
49th Fighter Wing	Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico	ACC	F-117
50th Space Wing	Schriever Air Force Base , Colorado	AFSPC	satellites
509th Bomb Wing	Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri	STRATCOM	B-2
552d Air Control Wing	Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma		AWACS
57th Wing	Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada	ACC
6th Air Mobility Wing (AMW)	MacDill Air Force Base, Florida	AMC	KC-135
60th Air Mobility Wing (AMW)	Travis Air Force Base , California	AMC	C-5B
62nd Air Wing (AMW)		AMC	C-17 Globemaster III
72nd Air Base Wing	Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma
90th Space Wing	F.E. Warren Air Force Base , Wyoming	AFSPC	Minuteman III ICBM
939th Rescue Wing	Portland, Oregon		HH-60 Pave Hawk KC-130
99th Air Base Wing	Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada	ACC
314th Airlift Wing	Little Rock Air Force Base. Arkansas	AETC	C-130 Hercules

Wings are composed of several groups with different functional responsibilities. Groups are composed of several squadrons, each of which has one major responsibility or flying one type of airfcraft. Squadrons are composed of two or more flights.

1.4 Other Air Force organizations

Wing	Location	Major Command and Commander
Air Force Institute of Technology	Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio
Air Warfare Center	Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada	ACC
Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center	Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma	AFMC
Air Mobility Warfare Center	Fort Dix, New Jersey

2 Brief history

For a detailed history, see United States Air Force--History .

In December 1906, the U.S. military began its relationship with aviation by authorizing Army Specification #486, which called for the creation of an aircraft for military usage. Just three years earlier, the Wright Brothers first experienced heavier-than-air flight, and they signed a contract with the Army on February 10, 1908.

In 1912, an Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps was created.

In 1917, upon the United States' entry into World War I, the U.S. Army Air Service was formed as part of the American Expeditionary Force (AEF). Major General Patrick Mason commanded the AEF air forces; his deputy was Major General Billy Mitchell. The Air Service provided tactical support for the U.S. Army, especially during the Battle of Saint-Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne offensives. Among the aces of the Air Service were Captain Eddie Rickenbacker and Frank Luke.

In 1926 the Air Service was reorganized as a branch of the Army and became the U.S. Army Air Corps (USAAC). During this period, the USAAC began experimenting with new techniques, including air-to-air refueling and the development of the B-9 and the Martin B-10, the first all-metal monoplane bomber, and new fighters. In 1937, the B-17 Flying Fortress made its first appearance. In a spectacular feat of navigation, three B-17s intercepted the Italian passenger liner Rex at sea.

In 1941, the Army Air Corps became the U.S. Army Air Force and the GHQ Air Force was redesignated the Air Force Combat Command. In the major military reorganization effective March 9, 1942, the newly designated Army Air Forces gained equal voice with the Army and Navy.

In Europe, the USAAF began daylight bombing operations, over objections of the Royal Air Force planners on the Combined Chiefs of Staff. The US strategy involved flying bombers together, relying on the defensive firepower of a close formation. The tactic was only successful in part. American flyers took tremendous casualties during raids on the oil refineries of Ploiesti, Romania and the ball-bearing factories at Schweinfurt and Regensburg, Germany. When the P-51 Mustang, with its increased range, was introduced to combat, American combat losses dropped, and operations during Big Week in late winter of 1944 caused the Luftwaffe to lose experienced pilots.

In the Pacific theater, the USAAF used the B-29 Superfortress to launch attacks on the Japanese mainland from China. One of the major logisitical efforts of the war, "flying the Hump" over the Himalayas, took place. To carry both a bomb load and fuel and to bomb at high altitude through the jet stream affected the B-29's range. As soon as airbases on Saipan were captured in 1944, General Curtis LeMay changed strategy from high-level precision bombings to low-level incendiary bombings, aimed at destroying the distributed network of Japanese industrial manufacturing. Many Japanese cities suffered extensive damage. Tokyo suffered a firestorm in which over 100,000 persons died.

The B-29 was also used to drop one primitive nuclear weapon on each of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August 1945.

The United States Department of the Air Force was created when President Harry S. Truman signed the National Security Act of 1947. It became effective September 18, 1947, when Chief Justice Fred M. Vinson administered the oath of office to the first secretary of the Air Force, Stuart Symington.

In 1948, Communist authorities in Eastern Germany cut off road and air transportation to West Berlin. Military Airlift Command supplied the city during the Berlin airlift, using C-121 Constellation and the C-54 Skymaster. The Royal Air Force also played a significant role in flying tonnage into the city with Avro Yorks, Avro Tudors and Douglas Dakotas.

The Korean War saw the Far Eastern Air Force losing its main airbase in Kimpo, South Korea, and forced to provide close air support to the defenders of the Pusan pocket from bases in Japan. However, General Douglas B. MacArthur's landing at Inchon in September 1950 enabled the FEAF to return to Kimpo and other bases, from which they supported MacArthur's drive to the Korean- Chinese border. When the Chinese People's Liberation Army intervened in December, 1950, the USAF provided tactical air support. The introduction of the Soviet-made MiG-15 caused problems for the B-29s used to bomb North Korea, but the USAF countered the MiGs with the F-86 Sabre.

In 1954, the United States Air Force Academy opened in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Women first graduated from the USAFA in 1976.

The USAF played a significant role in the preparations for the 1991 Gulf War, and the use of USAF, U.S. Naval, and other Coalition air power damaged the Iraqi infrastructure and combat abilities for six weeks, before the ground phase of the war began.

After the war, the USAF took the lead role in maintaining "no-fly zones" over northern and southern Iraq until the 2003 U.S. invasion of Iraq.

USAF air power was also used in the 1996 NATO air operations over Bosnia, and the subsequent 1999 war with Yugoslavia over Kosovo.

2.1 Aircraft

The United States Air Force currently employs a designation and naming system to identify all aircraft type with distinct names. Until 1962, both the Army and Air Force maintained one system, while the US Navy maintained a separate system. In 1962, these were unified into a single system heavily reflecting the Army/Air Force method. For more complete information on the workings of this system, refer to United States Department of Defense Aerospace Vehicle Designations.

• A-10/OA-10 Thunderbolt II
• AC-130H/U Gunship
• B-1B Lancer
• B-2 Spirit
• B-52 Stratofortress
• C-5 Galaxy
• C-9A/C Nightingale
• C-17 Globemaster III
• C-20
• C-21A
• C-22B
• C-32
• C-37A
• C-141B Starlifter
• E-3 Sentry (AWACS)
• E-4B
• E-8C Joint Stars
• F-15 Eagle and F-15E Strike Eagle
• F-16 Fighting Falcon
• F-117A Nighthawk
• HC-130P/N
• HH-60G Pave Hawk
• KC-10A Extender
• KC-135 Stratotanker
• MC-130E/H Combat Talon I/II
• MC-130P Combat Shadow
• MH-53J/M Pave Low IIIE
• OC-135B Open Skies
• P-3C Orion
• RC-135 Rivet Joint
• RQ-1 Predator
• RQ-2 Pioneer
• RQ-3 Dark Star
• RQ-4 Global Hawk
• RQ-5 Hunter
• RQ-6 Outrider
• RQ-7 Shadow
• SR-71 Blackbird
• T-1A Jayhawk
• T-6A Texan II
• T-37 Tweet
• T-38 Talon
• T-43A
• U-2S
• UH-1N Huey
• VC-25A "Air Force One"
• WC-130 Hercules

3 Common badges

• Pilot Badge
• Navigator Badge
• Aircrew Badge
• Flight Surgeon Badge
• Speciality Badge
• Medical Badge
• Religious Pin

A full list of Air Force badges is displayed through the article Military badges of the United States

4 See also

• Comparative military ranks
• Civil Air Patrol
• Flight surgeon
• Evolutionary Air and Space Global Laser Engagement
• List of air forces
• List of U.S. Air Force bases

5 External links

• Official USAF website
• USAF History Support Office
• Air Force Historical Reseach Agency
• USAF Museum
• US military air bases by Global Security

List of Aircraft | Aircraft Manufacturers | Aircraft Engines | Aircraft Engine Manufacturers Airlines | Air Forces | Aircraft Weapons | Missiles | Timeline of aviation

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