Air Combat Command
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Air Combat Command (ACC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force. ACC is one of ten major commands (MAJCOMs), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HQ USAF).
ACC is headquartered at Langley Air Force Base Virginia. Its commander is General Ronald E. Keys.
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[edit] Mission
The mission of Air Combat Command is to be the primary force provider of combat airpower to America's warfighting commands. To support global implementation of national security strategy, ACC operates fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, battle-management and electronic-combat aircraft. Air Combat Command also provides command, control, communications and intelligence systems, and conducts global information operations.
As a force provider, ACC organizes, trains, equips and maintains combat-ready forces for rapid deployment and employment while ensuring strategic air defense forces are ready to meet the challenges of peacetime air sovereignty and wartime air defense.
ACC numbered air forces provide the air component to USCENTCOM and USSOUTHCOM.
Headquarters Air Combat Command also serves as the air component to the USNORTHCOM and USJFCOM. In addition, ACC augments forces to United States European Command, USPACOM, and the USSTRATCOM.
Air Combat Command consists of more than 109,000 active duty members and civilians (approximately 98,000 active duty members and more than 11,000 civilians). When mobilized, more than 63,000 members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with over 600 aircraft, are assigned to ACC. In total, ACC and ACC-gained units consist of more than 1,750 aircraft.
[edit] Units
Air Combat Command consists of four Numbered Air Forces and several Subordinate Units
- First Air Force (ANG), Tyndall AFB Florida
First Air Force provides surveillance and command and control for air defense forces for the continental United States in support of the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). Its component units are:- Southeast Air Defense Sector, Tyndall AFB Florida
- Northeast Air Defense Sector, Rome, New York
- Western Air Defense Sector, McChord AFB Washington
- 701st Air Defense Squadron, Tyndall AFB Florida
- 702nd Computer Systems Squadron, Tyndall AFB Florida
- 722nd Air Control Squadron, North Bay, Canada
- Eighth Air Force, Barksdale AFB Louisiana
Eighth Air Force provides command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR); long-range attack; and information operations forces to Air Force components and warfighting commands. Its component units are:- 2nd Bomb Wing (B-52H), Barksdale AFB Louisiana
- 5th Bomb Wing (B-52H), Minot AFB North Dakota
- 9th Reconnaissance Wing (U-2S) (RQ-4A) (T-38), Beale AFB California
- 55th Wing (E-4B, OC-135B, RC-135S/U/V/W, TC-135S/W, WC-135C/W), Offutt AFB Nebraska
- 67th Network Warfare Wing, Lackland AFB, Texas
- 70th Intelligence Wing, Fort George G. Meade Maryland
- 480th Intelligence Wing, Langley AFB Virginia
- 509th Bomb Wing (B-2A), Whiteman AFB Missouri
- 552nd Air Control Wing (E-3B/C), Tinker AFB Oklahoma
- 3rd Air Support Operations Group, Fort Hood Texas
- 819th RED HORSE Squadron, Malmstrom AFB Georgia
- 116th Air Control Wing (E-8C), Robins AFB Georgia
- 608th Air Communications Squadron, 608th Air Support Squadron, 608th Air Intelligence Squadron and 608th Air Operations Group, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
- Air Force Technical Applications Center, (AFTAC) Patrick AFB Florida
- National Air & Space Intelligence Center, Wright-Patterson AFB Ohio
- Ninth Air Force, Shaw AFB South Carolina
Ninth Air Force serves as the tactical air component for a 27-nation area within the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM) area of responsibility. Its component units are:- 1st Fighter Wing (F-15C/D, F-22A), Langley AFB Virginia
- 4th Fighter Wing (F-15E), Seymour Johnson AFB North Carolina
- 20th Fighter Wing (F-16D/CJ), Shaw AFB South Carolina
- 33rd Fighter Wing (F-15C/D), Eglin AFB Florida
- 5th Combat Communications Group, Robins AFB Georgia
- 18th Air Support Operations Group, Pope AFB North Carolina
- 820th Security Forces Group, Moody AFB Georgia
- 823rd RED HORSE Squadron, Hurlburt Field Florida
- 728th Air Control Squadron, Eglin AFB Florida
- 23rd Wing (HH-60, A/OA-10), Moody AFB Georgia
- 609th Air Communications Squadron, 609th Air Intelligence Group, 609th Air Operations Group and 609th Air Support Squadron, Shaw AFB South Carolina
- Twelfth Air Force, Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona
Twelfth Air Force serves as the air component to United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM). This responsibility includes significant involvement in battling illegal narcotics trafficking from several forward operating locations. Its component units are:- 7th Bomb Wing (B-1B), Dyess AFB Texas
- 27th Fighter Wing (F-16C/D), Cannon AFB New Mexico
- 28th Bomb Wing (B-1B), Ellsworth AFB South Dakota
- 49th Fighter Wing (F-117A, T-38, German F-4F, German Tornado), Holloman AFB New Mexico
- 355th Wing (A/OA-10), Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona
- 366th Fighter Wing (F-15C/D/E, F-16D/CJ), Mountain Home AFB Idaho
- 388th Fighter Wing (F-16C/D), Hill AFB Utah
- 1st Air Support Operations Group, Fort Lewis Washington
- 3rd Combat Communications Group, Tinker AFB Oklahoma
- 820th RED HORSE Squadron, Nellis AFB Nevada
- 726th Air Control Squadron, Mountain Home AFB Idaho
- 729th Air Control Squadron, Hill AFB Utah
- 612th Air Intelligence Group, Shaw AFB South Carolina
- 612th THeater Operation Group, 612th Air Operations Group and 612th Air Communications Squadron, Davis-Monthan AFB Arizona
- Subordinate Units
- 53rd Wing, Eglin AFB Florida
- 99th Air Base Wing, Nellis AFB Nevada
- Air Intelligence Agency, Lackland AFB Texas
In addition, units from Air Force Reserve Command Tenth Air Force and numerous state Air National Guard units are allocated to Air Combat Command when activated to federal service.
[edit] History
Air Combat Command was created 1 June 1992 by the merging of the Tactical Air Command (TAC), Strategic Air Command (SAC) and Military Airlift Command (MAC). A brief ceremony at Langley Air Force Base marked the inactivation of TAC and the activation of ACC. On the same day, Air Mobility Command (AMC) at Scott AFB, Illinois, came into being.
[edit] Activation
Following the inactivation of SAC at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, a new unified command, the United States Strategic Command, stood up at Offutt, created to manage the combined strategic nuclear forces belonging to the Air Force and the Navy.
Upon activation, ACC assumed control of all fighter resources based in the continental United States, all bombers, reconnaissance platforms, battle management resources, and Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Furthermore, ACC had some tankers and C-130s in its composite, reconnaissance, and certain other combat wings. In 1993 control of the ICBM force was transferred to the Air Force Space Command.
Historically, combat command was an earlier air unit designation. During 1941 and early 1942, the tactical air units of the War Department, formerly known as the GHQ Air Force, formed the Air Force Combat Command. The AFCC was dissolved in the reorganization of the United States Army, effective 9 March 1942, which created the United States Army Air Forces as a major and semi-independent component.
[edit] Mission Realignments
[edit] Combat Search and Rescue
Not long after activation, ACC underwent organizational and mission changes. The first such major change was the transfer of the combat search and rescue mission (CSAR) from Air Mobility Command to ACC. With the realigning of search and rescue units, ACC gained additional resources, as well as a new mission. The formal transfer took place on 1 February 1993, when the Air Rescue Service (ARS) was assigned to ACC. On 2 July of the same year, the ARS was redesignated the USAF Combat Rescue School and was assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada.
[edit] Flight Training
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 aircraft-specific aircrew training, including initial weapon system and continuation training. 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 (AETC). Concurrently, Luke AFB, Arizona, and Tyndall AFB, Florida, for which those respective wings were the host units, also moved from ACC to AETC ownership.
[edit] Tanker and Airlift
The next major organizational change resulted from a fine-tuning of aerial refueling and airlift resources. From its activation, Air Combat Command had assumed ownership of some C-130 Hercules theater airlift assets and KC-10 Extender and KC-135 Stratotankers. Just as ownership of overseas C-130 resources had already been transferred to USAFE and PACAF commanders, it was decided that all C-130s based in the CONUS would be under the control of ACC, while at the same time, almost all KC-135 tankers would be assigned to Air Mobility Command.
There was historical precedent for the reassignment of C-130s to Air Combat Command. During the earliest days of Tactical Air Command (TAC), the command had carried out the "tactical" or combat airborne aspect of airlift operations, leaving the "strategic" or aerial resupply mission to Military Air Transport Service (a precursor of AMC). The tactical airlift mission included logistical airlift, airborne operations, aeromedical evacuation, and air support for special operations. This division of the airlift mission continued until 1 December 1974, when TAC transferred its CONUS-based tactical airlift units, including ANG and Reserve units, to Military Airlift Command (MAC). MAC gained the overseas units from theater commands on 31 March 1975.
On 1 October 1993, all AMC C-130s were transferred to ACC and all ACC KC-135 tankers except those at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, which supported the fighter and bomber aircraft of the composite wing stationed there, transferred to AMC. The command also kept two KC-135s at Offutt AFB Nebraska and Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, transferred to AMC on 1 October 1993, with McConnell AFB, Kansas, and Fairchild AFB, Washington, transferring in January and July, respectively, 1994.
[edit] Operational Deployments
In Southwest Asia, Air Combat Command provided active duty and reserve component forces for Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch to deter Iraqi aggression. In October 1994, ACC also demonstrated its ability to react quickly to the buildup of Iraqi troops near the border of Kuwait. In addition, ACC, from its inception, has provided indispensable support to counter-drug operations, including Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), reconnaissance and fighter aircraft, as well as radar and connectivity assets.
Participation in humanitarian operations has also been a recurring theme. Air Combat Command supported the humanitarian efforts of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), deploying active duty and air reserve component forces to Provide Promise and Deny Flight in Eastern Europe and Operation Provide Comfort out of Incirlik AB, Turkey. Provide Promise offered humanitarian relief airlift support to the city of Sarajevo, while Deny Flight enforced the "no-fly" zone against Serb air attacks on Bosnian civilians. Operation Provide Comfort, another humanitarian operation, also provided relief to Kurdish inhabitants of northern Iraq who had undergone fierce repression by the Iraqi government.
In addition, ACC supported United States Atlantic Command's humanitarian relief to Haitian refugees associated with Operation GTMO at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. Similarly, the command supported Operation Safe Haven and the processing of Cuban refugees during the latter part of the summer of 1994. Across the Atlantic, Air Combat Command units participated in Operation Restore Hope, largely an Air Mobility Command humanitarian operation intended to provide food for Somalia. Also, ACC regular and gained C-130 Air National Guard units deployed to Uganda and Kenya to participate in Support Hope. This operation, conducted by the United States European Command, comprised part of the United Nations effort to provide humanitarian relief to victims of the civil war in Rwanda.
In keeping with its global responsibilities, ACC initiated a series of "Global Power" missions in 1993. ACC's bomber wings are required to perform out-of-CONUS training flights to demonstrate the capability to perform their "quick reaction" worldwide mission. On one of the global power missions, two B-1 Lancer aircraft of the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, set a B-1 flying time record on the first leg of their round-the-world flight, 11-13 August 1993. The following year, two B-52s from the 2d Bomb Wing, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, circumnavigated the globe in 47.2 hours, the longest jet aircraft flight in history.
[edit] Global War On Terror
Air Combat Command units flew operational missions during the 2002 Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan (OEF-A) and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom.
The task of developing a comprehensive listing of ACC units present in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat areas is particularly difficult as the events of 11 September 2001 and the Global War on Terrorism has made such an effort significantly difficult. The USAF seeks to improve operational security (OPSEC) and to deceive potential enemies as to the extent of American operations, therefore a listing of which units deploying where and when is unavailable.
However, it is certain that ACC units are actively flying combat missions currently over both Afghanistan and Iraq.
See Aerospace Expeditionary Forces of the United States Air Force
[edit] MAC/SAC/TAC Units Merged into Air Combat Command 1992
Current Air Combat Command Bases
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[edit] Aircraft of Air Combat Command
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[edit] See Also
- First Air Force
- Eighth Air Force
- Ninth Air Force
- Twelfth Air Force
- Tactical Air Command
- Strategic Air Command
[edit] References
Much of this text in an early version of this article was taken from pages on the Air Combat Command website, which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource.
Additional references are:
- Endicott, Judy G., USAF Active Flying, Space, and Missile Squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Office of Air Force History
- Martin, Patrick, Tail Code: The Complete History Of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings, 1994
- Rogers, Brian, United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978, 2005
