Fourteenth Air Force
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| 14th Air Force | |
|---|---|
 Emblem of the 14th Air Force |
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| Active | 10 March 1943 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Part of | Air Force Space Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Vandenberg Air Force Base |
The United States Fourteenth Air Force, also 14th Air Force (14 AF), 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 Defense, NASA, and commercial space launches. Fourteenth Air Force is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The 14th Air Force is currently under the command of Major General William L. Shelton.
Fourteenth Air Force operated in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater during World War II as the Flying Tigers and 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.
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[edit] Component wings and groups
- 614th Space Operations Group, operates Joint Space Operations Center
- 21st Space Wing, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
- 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
- 45th Space Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida
- 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado
- 460th Space Wing, Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado
[edit] History
[edit] World War II
The Fourteenth Air Force was constituted on 5 March 1943 and activated in China on 10 March. It served in combat against the Japanese, operating primarily in China, until the end of the war. It moved to the U.S. over the two months of December 1945 and January 1946. The 14th Air Force was inactivated on 6 January 1946.
After the Japan and the United States entered World War II the American Volunteer Group (AVG) known as the Flying Tigers were incorporated into the USAAF. Claire Chennault their commander was reinstated into the USAAF as a colonel, promoted to Brigadier General and later Major General as commander of the U.S. Army's Fourteenth Air Force. After July 14 1942, the AVG was replaced by the 23d Fighter Group. Only five pilots accepted commissions in China. However, US pilots and US press went on using the name Flying Tigers after the AVG's dissolution. Especially the 23d Fighter Group was often called by the same nickname — they too were "Flying Tigers". Most AVG pilots became transport pilots in China, went back to America into civilian 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 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 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 the Yellow River and Tsinan in the north to Indochina in the south, from Chengtu and the Salween River in the west to the China Sea and 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. 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.
[edit] Campaigns
Campaigns India-Burma; China Defensive; China Offensive.[2]
[edit] Command
Its headquarters while in China were Kunming from 10 March 1943 and Peishiyi, from 7 August to 15 December 1945.[2]
Commanders[2]:
- Major General Claire Chennault from 10 March 1943 until 10 August 1945;
- Major General Charles B. Stone III from 10 August until 31 December 1945.
[edit] Groups
- 68th Fighter Wing. Activated in China on 3 Sep 1943. Redesignated 68th Composite Wing in Dec 1943
- 51st Fighter Group: 1943-1945.
- 341st Bombardment Group (Medium) 1943-1945
- 11th Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
- 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
- 490th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) "Burma Bridge Busters"
- 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
- 69th Bombardment Wing. Activated in China on 3 Sep 1943. Redesignated 69th Composite Wing in Dec 1943.
- 23rd Fighter Group[4]
- 312th Fighter Wing: activated in China on 1 March 1944
- 33rd Fighter Group: 1944.
- 81st Fighter Group: 1944-1945.
- 311th Fighter Group: 1944-1945.
- 308th Bombardment Group later the 314th Troop Carrier Group
- 476th Fighter Group: Assigned but never equipped.
- 402d Bombardment Group (Medium): Assigned but never equipped.
[edit] 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.
[edit] See also
- South-East Asian Theatre of World War II
- Burma Campaign
- Operation Ichi-Go
- RAF Third Tactical Air Force
[edit] References
- Maurer, Maurer "Air Force Combat Units of World War II", Pub USAF, Reprinted 1986 (first pub 1961)
[edit] External links
- Fourteenth Air Force official website
- Annals of the Flying Tigers
- Fourteenth Air Force in China 1943 - 1945
- 14th Air Force
- Night Fighter by J R Smith
[edit] Footnotes
- ↑ Fourteenth Air Force official website
- ↑ a b c Air Force Combat Units of World War II - Part 8 See References Maurer
- ↑ Fourteenth Airforce History Information presented on DefenseLINK is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified
- ↑ a Transferred from the Tenth Air Force
- ↑ The 341st Bomb Group usually functioned as if it were two groups and for a time as three. Soon after its activation in September 1942, 341st Bomb Group Headquarters and three of its squadrons the 22nd, 490th and 491st, and were stationed and operating in India under direction of the Tenth Air Force, while the 11th squadron was stationed and operating in China under direction of the "China Air Task Force", which was later reorganized and reinforced to become the Fourteenth Air Force. Fourteen months later the Group Headquarters along with 22nd and the 491st squadrons joined the 11th squadron under the command of the Fourteenth Air Force. However most of the 490th "Burma Bridge Busters" remained under the command of Major-General Howard Davidson's Tenth Air Force. Still later the 11th Squadron and a detachment of the 491st operated for a time under the East China Task Force.
- ↑ Life and Times of the 341st Bomb Group: Forward
