Wikipedia

Fourteenth Air Force

(Redirected from14th Air Force)

TheFourteenth Air Force(14 AF;Air Forces Strategic) was anumbered air forceof the United StatesAir Force Space Command(AFSPC). It was headquartered atVandenberg Air Force Base,California.

Fourteenth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic)
Shield of the Fourteenth Air Force
Active4 April 2008 – 20 December 2019 (as Fourteenth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic))
24 May 2007 – 4 April 2008 (as Fourteenth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic – Space))
1 July 1993 – 24 May 2007
1 December 1985 – 1 July 1993 (as Fourteenth Air Force)
8 October 1976 – 1 December 1985 (as Fourteenth Air Force (Reserve))
1 July 1968 – 1 October 1976 (as Fourteenth Aerospace Force)
20 January 1966 – 1 July 1968
24 May 1946 – 1 September 1960
5 March 1943 – 6 January 1946 (as Fourteenth Air Force)
(81 years, 8 months)[1]
CountryUnited States of America
BranchUnited States Air Force(18 September 1947 – 20 December 2019)
United States Army(Army Air Forces,5 March 1943 – 18 September 1947)
TypeNumbered Air Force
RoleProvidesspace forcesand serves as thespace componentforU.S. Strategic Command[2]
Part ofAir Force Space Command
U.S. Strategic Command
HeadquartersVandenberg Air Force Base,California, U.S.
Engagements
World War II - Asiatic-Pacific Theater [1]
Decorations
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award

Air Force Organizational Excellence Award[1]
Commanders
Notable
commanders		LTGClaire Chennault

The command was responsible for the organization, training, equipping, command and control, and employment of Air Force space forces to support operational plans and missions for U.S. combatant commanders and their subordinate components and was the Air Force Component to U.S. Strategic Command for space operations.

Established on 5 March 1943 atKunming,China, 14 AF was aUnited States Army Air Forcescombat air force activated in theAsiatic-Pacific Theaterof World War II. It primarily fought in China. After World War II Fourteenth Air Force subsequently servedAir Defense Command,Continental Air Command,and the Air Force Reserve (AFR).[3]

14 AF was commanded byMajor GeneralStephen N. Whiting.[when?]Its Command Chief Master Sergeant was Chief Master SergeantPatrick F. McMahon.[citation needed]&0[relevant?]

On 20 December 2019, the USAF's Fourteenth Air Force was redesignated as theUnited States Space Force'sSpace Operations Command(SPOC).[4]On 21 Oct 2020, Space Operations Command, HQ was redesignated back to Fourteenth Air Force and inactivated.

History

edit

World War II

edit

1st American Volunteer group

edit
See also:Flying Tigers

With the United States entry into World War II against the Empire of Japan in December 1941,Claire Chennault,the commander of theAmerican Volunteer Group(AVG) (known as theFlying Tigers) of theChinese Air Forcewas called toChongqing,China, on 29 March 1942, for a conference to decide the fate of the AVG. Present at the conference wereChiang Kai-shek;his wife,Soong Mei-ling;Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell,commander of all U.S. forces in theChina Burma India Theater;and ColonelClayton L. Bissell,who had arrived in early March. Bissell wasGeneral Henry H. 'Hap' Arnold'schoice to command the USAAF's proposed combat organization in China.[citation needed]

As early as 30 December 1941, the U.S. War Department in Washington, D.C., had authorized the induction of the Flying Tigers into the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF). Chennault was opposed to inducting the Flying Tigers into the Army. Stilwell and Bissell made it clear to both Chennault and Chiang that unless the AVG became part of the U.S. Army Air Force, its supplies would be cut off. Chennault agreed to return to active duty but he made it clear to Stilwell that his men would have to speak for themselves.[citation needed]

Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to induction of the AVG into the USAAF, after Stilwell promised that the fighter group absorbing the induction would remain in China with Chennault in command. With the situation in Burma rapidly deteriorating, Stilwell and Bissell wanted the AVG dissolved by 30 April 1942. Chennault, wanting to keep the Flying Tigers going as long as possible, proposed the group disband on 4 July, when the AVG's contracts with the Nationalist Chinese government expired. Stilwell and Bissell accepted.[citation needed]

China Air Task Force

edit

Chennault was recalled to active duty in the USAAF on 15 April 1942 in the grade of Major General. Chennault was told that he would have to be satisfied with command of aChina Air Task Forceof fighters and bombers as part of theTenth Air Force.Its mission was to defend the aerial supply operation over theHimalayan mountainsbetween India and China – nicknamedthe Hump– and to provide air support for Chinese ground forces. Bissell had been promoted to brigadier general with one day's seniority to Chennault in order to command all American air units in China as Stillwell's Air Commander (in August 1942 he became commanding general of the Tenth Air Force). Friction developed when Chennault and the Chinese government were disturbed by the possibility that Chennault would no longer control combat operations in China. However, when Tenth Air Force commanding general Lewis Brereton was transferred to Egypt on 26 June, Stillwell used the occasion to issue an announcement that Chennault would continue to command all air operations in China.

The CATF had 51 fighters in July 1942: 31 Curtiss 81A-1 (export Tomahawks) and P-40B Tomahawks, and 20 P-40E Warhawks. Only 29 were flyable. The 81A-1s and P-40Bs were from the original 100 fighters China had purchased for use by the Flying Tigers; the P-40E Warhawks had been flown from India to China in May 1942 as part of the23rd Fighter Group,attached to the AVG to gain experience and provide continuity to the takeover of operations of the AVG. Both fighters were good medium-altitude day fighters, with their best performance between 15,000 and 18,000 feet, and they were excellent ground-strafing aircraft.

The11th Bombardment Squadron(Medium), consisting of the seven B-25s flown in from India, made up the bomber section of Chennault's command. These seven B-25C Mitchells were the remnants of an original 12 sent from India. Four were lost on a bombing mission en route and a fifth developed mechanical problems such that it was grounded and used for spare parts.

The AVG was disbanded on 4 July 1942, simultaneous with the activation of the 23rd FG. Its personnel were offered USAAF commissions but only five of the AVG pilots accepted them. The remainder of the AVG pilots, many disgruntled with Bissell, became civilian transport pilots in China, went back to America into other jobs, or joined or rejoined the other military services and fought elsewhere in the war. An example was Fritz Wolf who returned to the Navy with the rank of Lieutenant, senior grade and assigned as fighter pilot instructor at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida.[5]

The 23rd Fighter Group with the 74th, 75th and 76th Fighter squadrons, its table of organization rounded out by the transfer of men and P-40s from two squadrons of the51st Fighter Groupin India. A fourth fighter squadron for the 23rd Group was obtained by subterfuge. In June and July 1942, Chennault got the Tenth Air Force to relocate the 51st FG's16th Fighter Squadron,commanded by MajorJohn Alison,to his main base in Kunming, China, to gain combat experience. Chennault took them into the CATF – and never returned them.

On 19 March 1943, the CATF was disbanded and its units made part of the newly activated Fourteenth Air Force, with Chennault, now a major general, still in command. In the nine months of its existence, the China Air Task Force shot down 149 Japanese planes, plus 85 probables, with a loss of only 16 P-40s. It had flown 65 bombing missions against Japanese targets in China, Burma and Indochina, dropping 311 tons of bombs and losing only one B-25 bomber.

The members of Fourteenth Air Force and the US press adopted the name Flying Tigers for themselves after the AVG's dissolution. Especially the 23d Fighter Group was often called by the same nickname.

Fourteenth Air Force

edit
Newly arrived Fourteenth Air Force B-24 Liberators on the line atKunming Wujiaba Airport,China on 6 September 1944.
14th Air Force B-24, China, c. 1944.

The Fourteenth Air Force official web site[6]says:

After the China Air Task Force was discontinued, the Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF) was established by the special order of PresidentRoosevelton 10 March 1943. Chennault was appointed the commander and promoted to Major General. The "Flying Tigers" of 14 AF (who adopted the "Flying Tigers" designation from the AVG) conducted highly effective fighter and bomber operations along a wide front that stretched from the bend of theYellow RiverandJinanin the north toIndochinain the south, fromChengduand theSalween Riverin the west to bothEastandSouth China Seasand the island of Formosa in the east. They were also instrumental in supplying Chinese forces through the airlift of cargo across "The Hump"in the China-Burma-India theater. By the end of World War II, 14 AF had achieved air superiority over the skies of China and established a ratio of 7.7 enemy planes destroyed for every American plane lost in combat. Over all, military officials estimated that over 4,000 Japanese planes were destroyed or damaged in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II. In addition, they estimated that air units in China destroyed 1,100,000 tons of shipping, 1,079 locomotives, 4,836 trucks and 580 bridges. The United States Army Air Forces credits 14 AF with the destruction of 2,315 Japanese aircraft, 356 bridges, 1,225 locomotives and 712 railroad cars.

Chinese-American Composite Wing

edit
"CACW" redirects here. For the 2016 Marvel film, seeCaptain America: Civil War.

In addition to the core Fourteenth Air Force (14AF) structure, a second group, theChinese-American Composite Wing(CACW), existed as a combined 1st Bomber, 3rd Fighter, and 5th Fighter Group with pilots from both the United States and the Republic of China. U.S. service personnel destined for the CACW entered the China theater in mid-July 1943. Aircraft assigned to the CACW included later series P-40 Warhawks (with the Nationalist Chinese Air Force blue sky and 12-pointed white sun national insignia, rudder markings, and squadron/aircraft numbering) and B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. In late 1944, USAAF-marked P-51 Mustangs began to be assigned to CACW pilots—first P-51B and C series followed by, in early 1945, D and K series. The latter were a reduced-weight versions sharing many of the external characteristics of the D series aircraft including the bubble canopy. All U.S. pilots assigned to the CACW were listed as rated pilots in Chinese Air Force and were authorized to wear the pilot's wings of both nations. One of the known Chinese pilots is CaptainHo Weng Tohof Singapore, the last known surviving Flying Tigers' member in Asia. Captain Ho flew the B-25 bomber, as part of the 1st Bomber Group.

Members of the 3rd FG were honored with a Distinguished Unit Citation (now Presidential Unit Citation) for a sustained campaign: Mission "A" in the late summer of 1944. Mission "A" halted a major Japanese ground offensive and resulted in the award of individual decorations for several of the group's pilots for the planning and execution of the mission.

Most CACW bases existed near the boundary of Japanese-Occupied China and one "Valley Field" existed in an area within Japanese-held territory. Specific field locations includedHanzhong,Ankang,Xi'an,Laohekou,Enshi,Liangshan,Baishiyi,Zhijiang,Hengyang,Guilin,Liuzhou,Zhanyi,Suichwan,andLingling.Today, the 1st, 3rd and 5th Groups of CACW are still operating in Taiwan, reorganized as 443rd, 427th and 401st Tactical Fighter Wings of theRepublic of China Air Force.[7]

World War II Units

edit

John Birch

edit

American missionaryJohn Birchwas recommended to Chennault for intelligence work byJimmy Doolittle,whom he had assisted when Doolittle's crew landed in China after theraid on Tokyo.Inducted into the Fourteenth on its formation, and later seconded to theOSS,he built a formidable network of Chinese informants to provide the Flying Tigers with intelligence on Japanese land and sea military positions and the disposition of shipping and railways. He was killed byChinese communistswhen he attempted to see a downed plane they had been assigned to guard ten days after the war ended, which led to him being chosen as the namesake of theJohn Birch Society.The incident is recounted in the memoir ofPaul Frillmann,China: The Remembered Life,who had started the war as the chaplain for the Flying Tigers.

Air Defense Command

edit

In March 1946, USAAF Chief GeneralCarl Spaatzhad undertaken a major re-organization of the postwar USAAF that had included the establishment of Major Commands (MAJCOM), who would report directly to HQ United States Army Air Forces. Continental Air Forces was inactivated, and Tenth Air Force was assigned to the postwarAir Defense Commandin March 1946 and subsequently toContinental Air Command(ConAC)in December 1948 being primarily concerned with air defense.

The command was re-activated on 24 May 1946 atOrlando Army Air Base (later, AFB),Florida. It was originally assigned to provide air defense over a wide region of the Southeast United States along the border of North Carolina, Tennessee, Arkansas and Oklahoma, including Texas south to theRio Grande.In addition to the command and control of the active Air Force interceptor and radar units in its region, it also became the command organization for the Air Force Reserve and state Air National Guard units.

By 1949 with the establishment of theWestern Air Defense Force(WADF) andEastern Air Defense Force(EADF), the air defense mission of the command was transferred to primary to the EADF, leaving Fourteenth AF free to focus on its reserve training tasks. It was then reassigned toContinental Air Commandand moved toRobins AFB,Georgia, in October 1949.

During theKorean War,14 AF participated in the mobilization of Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units and individuals from its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia. After the Korean War, the reserve wings of 14 AF participated in various airlift operations, such as Operation SIXTEEN TONS, Operation SWIFT LIFT and Operation READY SWAP. 14 AF was inactivated on 1 September 1960.

Fourteenth Air Force was activated on 20 January 1966, atGunter AFB,Alabama as part of Air Defense Command with the inactivation of its organization of Air Defense Sectors. Its area of responsibility was essentially the same as its 1948 region, with its region shifted slightly west to include New Mexico. Eastern North and South Carolina were under the activated First Air Force.

On 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designatedAerospace Defense Command(ADCOM) as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces. The command was re designated as Fourteenth Aerospace Force on 1 July 1968 and moved toEnt AFB,Colorado, absorbing the resources of the9th Aerospace Defense Division.As part of ADCOM's new emphasis on defenses againstIntercontinental Ballistic Missiles(ICBMs) andSubmarine-launched ballistic missile(SLBMs), the mission of the 14th Aerospace Force was to detect foreign missile launches, track missiles and satellites in space, launch space vehicles, maintain a satellite data base of all man-made objects in space, and performing anti-satellite actions. Its former region of the southeast was reassigned to the 31st and 32d Air Divisions.

As the 14th Aerospace Force, the command supervised theBallistic Missile Early Warning System(BMEWS) network of Radars along theArctic Circle.Additional radars came under the command's control for the sole purpose of detecting, identifying, tracking and sending back toNORADdata on any SLBM. All man-made objects became numbers in theUSAF SPACETRACK networkoperated by the 14th Aerospace Force.

Air Force Reserve

edit

Budget reductions and reorganizations within ADCOM brought many changes and reductions in aerospace resources along with almost continual turmoil in the command structure of 14 AF during the 1970s. In 1976 the headquarters of the 14th Aerospace Force was inactivated, being moved toDobbins AFB,Georgia and activated as the Fourteenth Air Force (Reserve).

The mission of the command at Dobbins was changed to the supervision, management and support of Air Force Reserve airlift forces forMilitary Airlift Commandand participated in such missions asOperation Just Cause.It was again re-designatedFourteenth Air Forceon 1 December 1985, and inactivated on 1 July 1993.

Air Force Space Command

edit

On 1 July 1993, 14 AF returned to its former space role and became a Numbered Air Force forAir Force Space Command,responsible for performing space operations. In 1997, 14 AF established the Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB in California for the 24-hour command and control of all space operations resources. In 2002, 14 AF became the Air Force space operational component of United States Strategic Command.

As the Air Force's sole Numbered Air Force for space and its concurrent United States Strategic Command mission of Joint Space Operations, the operational mission of 14 AF included space launch from the east and west coasts, satellite command and control, missile warning, space surveillance and command and control of assigned and attached joint space forces. The overall mission was to control and exploit space for global and theater operations, thereby ensuring U.S. warfighters were supported by the best space capabilities available.

In 2005, 14 AF officially opened up its newly renovated operations center. The new command and control capabilities of theJoint Space Operations Centerensuredunity of effortfor all space capabilities supporting joint military operations around the globe.

On December 20, 2019, Air Force Secretary Barbara Barrett redesignated the 14 AF asSpace Operations Command(SPOC), part of the newly established U.S. Space Force.[8]On 21 Oct 2020, Space Operations Command, HQ was redesignated back to Fourteenth Air Force and inactivated.

14th Air Force's component wings and groups in 2019 were:

Lineage

edit
  • Established asChina Air Task Force (CATF) **,14 July 1942
Activated on 14 July 1942 absorbing equipment and personnel of the1st American Volunteer Group
Inactivated on 19 March 1943
  • Established asFourteenth Air Forceon 5 March 1943
Activated on 19 March 1943 absorbing equipment and personnel of theChina Air Task Force (CATF)
Inactivated on 6 January 1946
  • Activated on 24 May 1946
Inactivated on 1 September 1960.
  • Activated on 20 January 1966
  • RedesignatedFourteenth Aerospace Forceon 1 July 1968.
Inactivated on 1 October 1976.
  • RedesignatedFourteenth Air Force (Reserve),and activated on 8 October 1976
  • RedesignatedFourteenth Air Forceon 1 December 1985.
Inactivated on 1 July 1993.
  • Activated 1 July 1993

* Authorized as a "Special Air Unit" by President Roosevelt in 1941 and equipped with United States equipment, however not officially affiliated with the United States military. The 1st American Volunteer Group was formally disbanded on 4 July 1942. Each member was offered a commission in the United States Army Air Forces. Some accepted the offer, once again put on their American uniforms, and remained in China. Others later returned to the ranks of the Army, Navy, or Marine Corps but fought in other areas of the world. Eighteen accepted offers to fly for the China National Aviation Corporation. The equipment and those members of the1st AVGchoosing to join the USAAF were absorbed into United States Army Air Forces China Air Task Force on 14 July 1942 as the 23rd Fighter Group.
** Assigned to Tenth Air Force.

Assignments

edit
Absorbed Resources of9th Aerospace Defense Division

Components

edit

Air Divisions

edit

Wings

edit

Groups

edit
Reassigned from 9th Aerospace Defense Division, 1 July 1968
Stationed atVandenberg AFB,California
Inactivated on 1 November 1979
Reassigned from 71st Missile Warning Wing, 30 April 1971
Stationed atThule Air Base,Greenland
Reassigned to21st Air Division,1 October 1976

Squadrons

edit

Stations

edit

List of commanders

edit
No. Commander Term
Portrait Name Took office Left office Duration
n
Lieutenant General
William L. Shelton		4 April 20089 December 2008249 days
n
Lieutenant General
Larry D. James		9 December 200821 January 20112 years, 43 days
n
Lieutenant General
Susan Helms		21 January 201131 January 20143 years, 10 days
n
Lieutenant General
John W. Raymond		31 January 201414 August 20151 year, 195 days
n
Lieutenant General
David J. Buck		14 August 20151 December 20172 years, 109 days
n
Major General
Stephen N. Whiting		1 December 201720 November 20191 year, 354 days
n
Major General
John E. Shaw		20 November 201920 December 201930 days

See also

edit

Notes

edit
  1. ^abTransferred from theTenth Air Force

References

edit
  1. ^abc"Fourteenth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (AFSPC".Air Force Historical Research Agency.
  2. ^"14th Air Force".www.vandenberg.af.mil.
  3. ^"Air Force Reserve Command".www.afrc.af.mil.
  4. ^Chiles, Cody (27 December 2019)."14th Air Force Redesignated as Space Operations Command".Space Operations Command Public Affairs.Retrieved1 January2020.
  5. ^Wolf, Rick."Wolf biography".The Flying Tigers – American Volunteer Group – Chinese Air Force.
  6. ^Fourteenth Airforce HistoryInformation presented on DefenseLINK is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified
  7. ^Wing to Wing Air Combat in China, 1943–1945,Molesworth, Carl Orion Books, New York 1990ISBN0-517-57568-X
  8. ^McCullough, Amy (30 December 2019)."14th Air Force Redesignated as Space Operations Command".Air Force Magazine.Retrieved31 December2019.
  9. ^"Fourteenth Air Force official website".Archived fromthe originalon 21 April 2013.

Sources

edit
  • Cornett, Lloyd H. and Johnson, Mildred W.A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 – 1980,Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
  • Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History.ISBN0-89201-092-4.
  • Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Hon
  • Rust, Kenn C. and Stephen Muth.Fourteenth Air Force Story...in World War II.Temple City, California: Historical Aviation Album, 1977.ISBN0-911852-20-8.
  • Author unknown.This is the Fourteenth Air Force.Mitchell AIr Force Base, New York: Office of Information Services, Continental Air Command, 1957.
  • Author unknown.A Short History of the 14th Air Force Flying Tigers, 1943–1959.Robins Air Force Base, Georgia: Headquarters Fourteenth Air Force (CONAC), 1959.

This article incorporatespublic domain materialfrom theAir Force Historical Research Agency

edit

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Fourteenth_Air_Force&oldid=1252436793"