The Full Wiki



More info on Fourteenth Air Force

Fourteenth Air Force: Map
  
  

Wikipedia article:

Map showing all locations mentioned on Wikipedia article:


The Fourteenth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force (NAF) of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It is a functional echelon dedicated to space systems operations, responsible for missile warning, space surveillance, and range operations for the Department of Defensemarker, NASAmarker, and commercial space launches. Fourteenth Air Force is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Basemarker. The Fourteenth Air Force is currently under the command of Lieutenant General Larry D. James. It serves as part of the air components of United States Strategic Command.

Component wings and groups



History

After the United States entered World War II against the Japanese Empiremarker, Fourteenth Air Force was established by the special order of President Roosevelt on March 10, 1943 as the United States Army Air Force combat command in Chinamarker. It operated in the Chinamarker-Burmamarker-Indiamarker theater and was popularly known as the Flying Tigers.

After World War II Fourteenth Air Force subsequently served Air Defense Command, Continental Air Command, and the Air Force Reserves (AFRES). In 1993, Fourteenth Air Force was transferred from AFRES to AFSPC.

Lineage

  • Established as 1st American Volunteer Group (AVG) *, 20 Dec 1941
Disbanded on 4 Jul 1942
  • Established as China Air Task Force (CATF) **, 14 Jul 1942
Activated on 14 Jul 1942 absorbing equipment and personnel of 1st AVG
Inactivated on 19 Mar 1943
  • Established as Fourteenth Air Force on March 5, 1943
Activated on 19 Mar 1943 absorbing equipment and personnel of CATF
Inactivated on January 6, 1946
  • Activated on May 24, 1946
Inactivated on September 1, 1960.
  • Activated on January 20, 1966
  • Redesignated Fourteenth Aerospace Force on July 1, 1968.
Inactivated on October 1, 1976.
  • Redesignated Fourteenth Air Force (Reserve), and activated on October 8, 1976
  • Redesignated Fourteenth Air Force on December 1, 1985.
Inactivated on July 1, 1993.
  • Reactivated July 1, 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 the 1st AVG choosing to join the USAAF were absorbed into United States Army Air Forces China Air Task Force on 14 Jul 1942 as the 23d Fighter Group.
** Assigned to Tenth Air Force.

Assignments

Absorbed Resources of 9th Aerospace Defense Division


Components



Stations



World War II

China Air Task Force

With the United States entry into World War II against the Empire of Japan in December 1941, Claire Chennault, the commander of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) (known as the Flying Tigers) of the Chinese Air Force was called to Chungking, Chinamarker, on March 29, 1942, for a conference to decide the fate of the AVG. Present at the conference were Chiang Kai-shek; his wife, Madame Chiang; Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, commander of all U.S. forces in the China Burma India Theater; and Colonel Clayton A. Bissell, who had arrived in early March. Bissell was General Henry H. ‘Hap’ Arnold's choice to command the USAAF's proposed combat organization in China.

As early as December 30, 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.

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 April 30, 1942. Chennault, wanting to keep the Flying Tigers going as long as possible, proposed the group disband on July 4, when the AVG’s contracts with the Nationalist Chinese government expired. Stilwell and Bissell accepted.

Chennault was recalled to active duty in the USAAF on April 15, 1942. He was promoted eight days later, on April 23, from colonel to brigadier general. Chennault was told that he would have to be satisfied to command a China Air Task Force of fighters and bombers as part of the Tenth Air Force. Its mission was to defend the air supply route over the Himalayan mountainsmarker between Indiamarker and Chinamarker–called the Hump–and to provide air support for Chinese ground forces. Bissell, also newly promoted to brigadier general–senior to Chennault by one day-would command all American air units in China as Stillwell's Air Commander and later as 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 June 26, 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 81A-1 and P-40C Tomahawks, and 20 P-40E Kittyhawks. Only 29 were flyable. The 81A-1s and P-40Cs were from the original 100 fighters China had purchased for use by the Flying Tigers; the P-40Es had been flown from India to China in May 1942 as part of the 23rd Fighter Group, attached to the AVG to gain experience and provide continuity to absorption of the AVG into the AAF. 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. Chennault also had seven B-25C Mitchell medium bombers, out 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 in July 1942. Its personnel were offered USAAF commissions but only five of the AVG pilots accepted them. The remainder of the AVG pilots became civilian transport pilots in China, went back to America into other jobs, or rejoined the other military services and fought elsewhere in the war. An example was Major Pappy Boyington who rejoined the United States Marine Corps.

The American Volunteer Group was absorbed into the 23rd Fighter Group. The three original Flying Tiger pursuit squadrons–1st (Adam and Eve, ‘the first pursuit’), 2nd (Panda Bears) and 3rd (Hell’s Angels)–became the 74th, 75th and 76th Fighter squadrons.

A fourth fighter squadron for the 23rd Group was obtained by subterfuge. In June and July 1942, Chennault got the Tenth Air Force in India to transfer the 16th Fighter Squadron, commanded by Major John Alison, to his main base in Kunming, China, to gain combat experience. When the last 16th Squadron Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawks arrived in Kunming in July 1942, Chennault took them into the CATF–and never returned them. The 11th Medium Bombardment Squadron, consisting of the seven B-25s flown in from India, made up the other half of Chennault’s command.

On March 19, 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 — they too were "Flying Tigers".

Fourteenth Air Force

The Fourteenth Air Force official web site says:
After the China Air Task Force was discontinued, the Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF) was established by the special order of President Roosevelt on March 10, 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 the Yellow Rivermarker and Tsinanmarker in the north to Indochina in the south, from Chengtumarker and the Salween Rivermarker in the west to the China Sea and the island of Formosamarker 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. Overall, 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 Corps credits 14 AF with the destruction of 2,315 Japanese aircraft, 356 bridges, 1,225 locomotives and 712 railroad cars.


Chinese-American Composite Wing

In addition to the core Fourteenth Air Force (14AF) structure, a second group: The Chinese-American Composite Wing, existed as a combined 1st Bomber, 3rd and 5th Fighter Groups 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 late-model P-40 Warhawks with the Nationalist Chinese Air Force 12-pointed star national insignia, rudder markings and squadron/aircraft numbering and B-25 "Mitchell" light bombers. In late 1944, USAAF-marked P-51 Mustangs began to be assigned to CACW pilots – first, P-51B and C models, then, in early 1945, "D" and "K" model (sharing many of the external characteristics of the "D" model aircraft including the bubble canopy) reduced-weight versions. All U.S. pilots assigned to the CACW were listed as rated pilots in Chinese Air Force, and were authorized to wearing both nations' pilot's wings.

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 include Hanchung, Ankang, Hsian, Laohokow, Enshih, Liangshan, Peishyi, Chihkiang, Hengyang, Kweilin, Liuchow, Chanyi, Suichwan, and Lingling. Today, the 1st, 3rd and 5th Groups of CACW are still operating in Taiwan, reorganized as 443th, 427th and 401st Tactical Fighter Wings of the Republic of China Air Force.

Campaigns

Campaigns India-Burma; China Defensive; China Offensive.

Command

Its headquarters while in China were Kunmingmarker from March 10, 1943 and Peishiyi, from August 7 to December 15, 1945.

Commanders:

World War II Units





  • 312th Fighter Wing
    Constituted as 312th Fighter Wing, March 7, 1944.
    Reassigned to United States, December 1945.



  • Chinese-American Composite Wing (Provisional) (1943–1945)
    • 3d Fighter Group (P-40, P-51)
      • 7th Fighter Squadron
      • 8th Fighter Squadron
      • 28th Fighter Squadron
      • 32d Fighter Squadron
    • 5th Fighter Group (P-40, P-51)
      • 17th Fighter Squadron
      • 26th Fighter Squadron
      • 27th Fighter Squadron
      • 29th Fighter Squadron
    • 1st Bombardment Group (Medium) (B-25)
      • 1st Bombardment Squadron
      • 2d Bombardment Squadron
      • 3d Bombardment Squadron




An Intelligence Operation

American missionary John Birch was recommended to Chennault for intelligence work by Jimmy Doolittle, whom he had assisted when Doolittle's crew landed in China after the raid on Tokyo. Inducted into the Fourteenth on its formation, and later seconded to the OSS, 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 shot by Chinese Communists 10 days after the war ended, which led to him being chosen as the namesake of the John Birch Society.

Cold War

Fourteenth Air Force served as a Numbered Air Force during the Cold War years, supervising Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard activities.

The command was reactivated on May 24, 1946 at Orlando Army Air Base marker, Florida and assigned to Air Defense Command, then reassigned to Continental Air Command. Moved to Robins AFBmarker, Georgia, in October 1949.

The mission of 14th AF was to administer Air Defense Command/Continental Air Command functions in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. It supervised the air defense training of active duty units, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units. Continental Air Command later expanded the mission of 14 AF to include the equipping and combat preparation of units.

During the Korean 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. 14th AF was inactivated on September 1, 1960.

The command was reactivated on January 20, 1966, and assigned to Air Defense Command. Organized on April 1, 1966, at Gunter AFBmarker, Alabama. The reactivated 14 AF supported the North American Aerospace Defense Command Southern Region's air defense mission. Later, it provided for Aerospace Defense Command training, testing and evaluation missions.

14th AF moved without personnel or equipment to Colorado Springsmarker, Colorado, on July 1, 1968, absorbing resources of 9th Aerospace Defense Division. Redesignated Fourteenth Aerospace Force on July 1, 1968. The 14th Aerospace Force was responsible for detecting foreign missile launches, tracking missiles and satellites in space, providing space vehicle launch services, maintaining a satellite data base of all man-made objects in space and performing anti-satellite actions. The 14th Aerospace Force also equipped, trained, administered and provided personnel to operate and maintain space surveillance, space defense and missile warning systems. Inactivated on October 1, 1976.

Redesignated Fourteenth Air Force (Reserve), and activated on October 8, 1976, at Dobbins AFBmarker (later, ARB), Georgia, and assigned to Air Force Reserve where it managed airlift forces for Military Air Command and participated in such missions as Operation JUST CAUSE. Redesignated Fourteenth Air Force on December 1, 1985. Inactivated on July 1, 1993.

Post-Cold War

On July 1, 1993, 14 AF returned to its former space role and became a Numbered Air Force for Air 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.

In 2005, 14 AF officially opened up its newly renovated operations center. The new command and control capabilities of the Joint Space Operations Center ensured unity of effort for all space capabilities supporting joint military operations around the globe.

See also



References

Notes

  1. Fourteenth Air Force official website
  2. Fourteenth Airforce History Information presented on DefenseLINK is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified
  3. Wing to Wing Air Combat in China, 1943–1945, Molesworth, Carl Orion Books, New York 1990 ISBN0-517-57568-X
  4. Air Force Combat Units of World War II - Part 8 See References Maurer
  5. Transferred from the Tenth Air Force

Bibliography

  • Maurer, Maurer. Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama: Office of Air Force History, 1983. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
  • Rust, Kenn C. and Stephen Muth. Fourteenth Air Force Story...in World War II. Temple City, California: Historical Aviation Album, 1977. ISBN 0-911852-20-8.
  • 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.


External links




Embed code:






Got something to say? Make a comment.
Your name
Your email address
Message