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93-799: The Eleventh Air Force ( 11 AF ) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Joint Base Elmendorf–Richardson , Alaska. 11 AF plans, conducts, controls and coordinates air operations in accordance with the tasks assigned by the commander, Pacific Air Forces , and is the force provider for Alaskan Command , the Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and other unified commanders. The Commander, Eleventh Air Force, also serves as Commander, Alaskan Command , and as commander of

186-501: A Unified Combatant Command . Unlike MAJCOMs, which have a management role, a NAF is a tactical organization with an operational focus, and does not have the same functional staff as a MAJCOM. Numbered air forces are typically commanded by a major general or a lieutenant general . Numeric designations for Numbered Air Forces are written in full using ordinal words (e.g., Eighth Air Force), while cardinal numerals are used in abbreviations (e.g., 8 AF). Units directly subordinate to

279-574: A 50 km (31 mi) course around the water tower, the McCook Field water tower, and a pylon placed at New Carlisle . In June 1923, an Air Service TC-1 airship "was wrecked in a storm at Wilbur Wright Field" and by 1924, the field had "an interlock system" radio beacon using Morse code command guidance (dash-dot "N" for port, dot-dash "A" for starboard) illuminating instrument board lights. The Field Service Section at Wilbur Wright Field merged with McCook's Engineering Division to form

372-492: A B-17, 15 P-38s and 16 P-39s on the island. On 12 September, the first air attack from Adak, consisting of 12 B-24s, 14 P-38s and 14 P-39s, was launched under the command of Major John S. Chennault of the 343d Fighter Group . The attack was launched against Japanese positions on Kiska. The airfield on Adak was renamed " Davis Army Airfield " in honor of Colonel Everett S. Davis, the first Commander, Eleventh Air Force, killed in an aircraft accident on 28 November 1942. Throughout

465-612: A NAF were traditionally numbered 6XX (where XX is the NAF number). For example, the 609th Air Operations Center is a unit subordinate to the Ninth Air Force . This is no longer completely accurate, due to regular reorganization of Wings and Numbered Air Forces. Numbered air forces began as named organizations in the United States Army Air Corps before World War II. The first four NAFs were established as

558-585: A command level between major commands and air divisions . Although variations existed, and number air forces were often reassigned, this basic arrangement persisted throughout the Cold War . The role of numbered air forces changed in the 1990s during the Air Force reorganization initiated by Air Force Chief of Staff General Merrill McPeak . The goal of the reorganization was to "streamline, take layers out, flatten (Air Force) organizational charts, while at

651-542: A field headquarters was established at Fort Morrow Army Airfield , Port Heiden, Alaska , and planes of the 73d Bombardment Squadron were deployed at Fort Randall Army Airfield, Cold Bay and the 21st Bombardment Squadron at Fort Glenn Army Airfield, Umnak. Ladd Field near Fairbanks became a secondary major air base in Alaska. It was named after Major Arthur K. Ladd, killed in a flying accident near Dale, South Carolina on 13 December 1935. Unlike Elmendorf, Ladd Field came

744-534: A good fleet anchorage, a sheltered harbor and as was revealed later, a superlative site for quick construction of an airfield. The 807th Army Aviation Engineering Battalion set to work constructing a dike and draining the tidal flat between Kuluk Bay and the Sweeper Cove areas to create an airfield. Only ten days later engineers built a runway, and on 10 September the first aircraft, a B-18, landed at " Longview Army Airfield ". Three days later there were 15 B-24s,

837-607: A joint mission on 11 September 1943, when Eleventh Air Force dispatched eight B-24 Liberators and 12 B-25s . However the Japanese were alert and reinforced their defenses. 74 crew members in three B-24s and seven B-25 failed to return. Twenty two men were killed in action, one taken prisoner and 51 interned in Kamchatka , Russia. It had proven that the Kurile Islands could be attacked, but new methods had to be devised as

930-650: A mission to locate and attack the Japanese Fleet. Not until late July when United States intelligence reported with some certainty the departure of Hosogaya's fleet from the Bering Sea did the threat of invasion of the Alaskan mainland decline, allowing for the redeployment of many of the troops hastily assembled at Nome. On 30 August 1942, in the face of a howling gale, American Army troops went ashore on Adak Island , some 250 miles east of Kiska. Adak affords

1023-919: A peacetime restructuring in March 1946, the United States Army Air Forces were reorganized into three major operating commands: the Strategic Air Command (SAC), the Tactical Air Command (TAC), and the Air Defense Command (ADC). These commands reflected the basic air combat missions that evolved during the war, and each reported directly to General Carl Spaatz , the Commanding General, Army Air Forces. Numbered air forces served as an intermediate headquarters between these commands and

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1116-558: A route of small airfields that became known as the Northwest Staging Route . One of those airfields, Big Delta Army Airfield , southeast of Fairbanks, became Fort Greely. In mid-1942 the Imperial Japanese Navy laid plans to attack Alaska in conjunction with an attack on Midway Island in the central Pacific. The Japanese Northern Area Fleet's attacks on Dutch Harbor and Adak Island resulted in

1209-581: A seaborne invasion and the fighter squadrons provided air defense. Air Corps supply and fourth echelon maintenance was carried on at the Alaska Air Depot at Elmendorf, and the normal paper-work, customarily handled by a Service command, devolved upon the Eleventh Air Force Headquarters. Eleventh Air Force, sent between 24 August and 4 September 1945 two B-24 Liberators of the 28th BG flew reconnaissance overflights over

1302-587: A stationary aircraft carrier. These islands were taken without opposition, on 29 May. With Kiska cut off by the occupation of Attu, the Japanese made plans to evacuate the Aleutian Islands. Numerous sorties were made by the Japanese Fifth Fleet, based at Paramushiru , but finally on 28 July, under cover of a thick fog, destroyers were able to enter Kiska Harbor and remove all occupation troops. When American troops went ashore on 15 August,

1395-593: Is designated as Air Force Northern (AFNORTH) in its role as the air component of the United States Northern Command . Most C-NAFs have an Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) to provide command and control of air and space operations for the supported combatant commander. The table below lists current and historical numbered air forces of the US Air Force, their C-NAF designation (if applicable), their current shield and station, and

1488-687: The Alaskan Air Force at Elmendorf Field , Alaska Territory . it was initially part of the United States Army Air Forces . It provided air defense of Alaska during World War II and fought in the Aleutian Islands Campaign . It was re-designated as the Alaskan Air Command in late 1945, and became responsible for the air defense of Alaska. With the collapse of the Soviet Union , it was transferred to

1581-527: The Aleutian Islands Campaign . But because United States Naval intelligence had broken the Japanese naval cypher code, Admiral Nimitz, Commander-in-Chief Pacific Ocean Areas in Hawaii, learned of Japanese plans by 21 May 1942. As of 1 June 1942, United States military strength in Alaska stood at 45,000 men. On that day the XI Intercepter Command, activated earlier, in March, was redesignated

1674-547: The Materiel Division on 15 October 1926 ("moved to Wright Field when McCook Field closed in 1927"). The Air Service's "control station for the model airway"—which scheduled military flights of the Airways Section —moved to Wilbur Wright Field from McCook Field in the late 1920s (originally "at Bolling Field until 1925"). The Fairfield Air Depot formed when the leased area of Wilbur Wright Field and

1767-592: The Soviet Union that might also include the occupation of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea and of nearby Nome and its adjacent airfields on the Alaskan mainland. Supporting the possibility of an invasion of the Alaskan mainland were reports of a Japanese fleet operating in the Bering Sea. Three separate sightings placed an enemy fleet somewhere between the Pribilof and St. Lawrence Islands, suggesting that either an enemy raid on or an outright invasion of

1860-672: The War in Iraq ; and, with a more recent start, air refueling and other support in regard to the Yemeni Civil War . Source: Wilbur Wright Field Wilbur Wright Field was established in 1917 for World War I on 2,075 acres (840 ha) of land adjacent to the Mad River which included the 1910 Wright Brothers ' Huffman Prairie Flying Field and that was leased to the Army by

1953-549: The XI Fighter Command . However, Eleventh Air Force operational strength was small. It consisted of 10 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers and 34 B-18 Bolo medium bombers at Elmendorf Airfield, and 95 P-40 Warhawk fighters divided between Fort Randall AAF at Cold Bay and Fort Glenn AAF on Umnak. When the first inklings of a possible Japanese attack on the Aleutian Islands were known, the Eleventh Air Force

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2046-488: The 404th Bomb Sqdn. (28th BG) and 16 P-38s from the 54th Fighter Sqdn. (343d FG). March 1944 saw Eleventh Air Force bombers over the Kuriles on daylight armed reconnaissance missions. Not many, but a sufficient number to convince the Japanese that there were aircraft in the Aleutian Islands and that the Kuriles were in constant danger of air attack. During the crucial period, while other United States forces were advancing in

2139-621: The Air Force Combat Command in 1941. Several of the numbered air forces began as named air forces. Since World War II other named air forces have existed in both operational and support commands. Air Forces Iceland , and the Central, Eastern, Japan, and Western Air Defense Forces, have provided air defense capability. The USAF Special Operations Force controlled operational special forces. The Crew, Flying, and Technical Training Air Forces served Air Training Command both in

2232-472: The Air Force contribution to United States Space Command , in addition to its Northern Command and Continental NORAD roles. Contains components of the inactivated 24, and 25 AF's. Named Air Forces operate at the same level as Numbered Air Forces. General Headquarters Air Force, the first named air force of the United States Army 's air arm, began operations in 1935. The GHQ Air Force became

2325-612: The Air Search Group (Naval Fleet Air Wing Four). Overall command was vested in Vice Admiral Thomas Kinkaid , Commander, North Pacific Force , abbreviated to ComNorPacFor or ComNorPac. On 1 April, a plan to by-pass Kiska and capture Attu was presented to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was approved, and on 11 May, American troops went ashore on Attu. In a short and fierce battle, the Japanese garrison

2418-721: The Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region. The NORAD mission is accomplished largely through the PACAF Regional Support Center (PRSC), the 611th Air and Space Operations Center , and units of the Alaska Air National Guard (AK ANG). Together, they carry out air surveillance, and command and control forces that provide tactical warning and attack assessment in defense of Alaska. Established on 28 December 1941 as

2511-530: The Alaskan mainland was imminent, with Nome the likely objective. As a result, within thirty-six hours, Eleventh Air Force using commandeered civilian aircraft flew nearly 2,300 troops to Nome, along with artillery and antiaircraft guns and several tons of other equipment and supplies. Consolidated B-24 Liberator bombers of the 404th Bombardment Squadron were sent to the Air Transport Command Marks Army Airfield with

2604-578: The Aleutian Campaign and was built as American forces moved westward along the island chain. It started in Anchorage and went through Nannek Airfield then to Point Heiden, Cold Bay and along the Aleutian Islands until reaching Shemya and Attu Islands in 1944. These transport routes ferried personnel, along with high-value equipment and supplies that could not be shipped by normal cargo sealift. This eventually extended to Hokkaido, Japan after

2697-411: The Aleutian Campaign completed, the Eleventh Air Force had the following units reassigned to other combat areas between 20 August and 1 September: the 21st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 73d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 406th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) and the 407th Bombardment Squadron (Dive Bomber). More than a month before the unopposed landing on Kiska,

2790-502: The Aleutian Islands. Illustrative of the challenges omnipresent in Alaska, only 35 aircraft were lost in combat compared to 150 operational accidents. It was the highest American combat-to-accidental loss ratio for any theater in World War II. Weather was the prime culprit. The Eleventh Air Force accounted for approximately 60 Japanese aircraft, one destroyer, one submarine and seven transport ships destroyed by air operations. With

2883-475: The Aleutian air transport routes, and were manned by small housekeeping units; Annette Island Landing Field and Yakutat Landing Field assigned as sub bases to Elmendorf Field. The XI Bomber Command and XI Fighter Command disbanded per General Order 9, Headquarters, Eleventh Air Force, 25 February 1944. It took these actions due to the fact that only two bomber squadrons remained in the Eleventh Air Force and

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2976-618: The Aleutian theater for a short while, but their light landing gear was unsatisfactory for use on the rough fields and they were returned to the States. Tactically, the Eleventh Air Force was operating under the jurisdiction of the Navy, since Alaska was still in the situation of a "fleet-opposed invasion". The air arm, designated Task Force "X", was commanded by General Butler, and included the Air Striking Group (Eleventh Air Force) and

3069-801: The Army intending it to be a permanent airfield. The first "troops" of the Alaskan Air Force advance echelon to arrive in Alaska included a six-year-old Martin B-10 on 12 August 1940. On 12 December the Army designated the base Fort Richardson and flying field Elmendorf Field . The post was named for Brig Gen Wilds P. Richardson, former head of the Alaska Road Commission; the airfield and flying facilities were named Elmendorf Field in honor of Captain Hugh M. Elmendorf, killed in 1933 while flight testing an experimental fighter near Wright Field , Ohio. The first Air Corps unit to be assigned to Alaska

3162-749: The Army-owned land of the Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot merged soon after World War I. For an aerial war game of 1929, "Fairfield" was the headquarters of the Blue air force: a Blue "airdrome north of Dayton at Troy" was strafed on May 16 ("a raid on the airdrome at Fairfield" was later expected), "Dayton" was the May 21 take off site for a round-trip bomber attack on New York , and "target areas at Fairfield" were used for live bombing on May 25. A provisional division

3255-620: The Eleventh Air Force began a new phase of operations against the Japanese. On 10 July 1943, six Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells made the long flight to Paramushiru Island in the Kuriles and made the first direct attack on the Japanese home islands since the famous Doolittle raid in April 1942. From Alexai Point AAF on Attu, eight Mitchells of the 77th Bomb Squadron. (28th BG) struck Paramushiro bases principally. All returned safely. A week later, B-24 Liberator heavy bombers from Attu bombed

3348-548: The Eleventh Air Force showed a record number of tons of bombs dropped. The B-25 Mitchell medium bombers, too, were playing their part in operations against the Kuriles. They had been kept on shipping alert since the abortive 11 September raid, but in May, two planes on a gasoline consumption test west of Attu, discovered and sank two armed Japanese trawlers. From that time on, the Mitchells, made sweeps against shipping when weather permitted, and by fall were bombing land targets in

3441-484: The Eleventh Air Force. One of General Johnson's first acts was the establishment of the Eleventh Air Force Instrument flying school and the promotion of an intensive training program in navigation and instrument flying, as well as the accelerated development of radio and navigation aids in the Aleutian Islands. Because of the tremendous advances brought about by intensive instrument training and

3534-498: The Japanese lost ten aircraft. During the two-day fight, Naval Task Force 8 had remained south of Kodiak Island, taking no part in the action. On 5 June, it received a report of enemy warships in the Bering Sea heading south toward Unalaska Island, which was interpreted to be a landing force intent upon seizing Dutch Harbor. While Task Force 8 entered the Bering Sea, Hosogaya's fleet moved south to join Yamamoto, who had just suffered

3627-452: The Kuriles and secured pictures of the Japanese installations, the first pictures taken of northern Japan home-island defenses. The next Kurile raid, carried out on 11 August, was a diversionary raid prior to the landings on Kiska. On this mission, the first plane was lost over the Kuriles and Lieutenant James C. Pottenger and his crew made a forced landing in Russia . These operations led to

3720-622: The Kuriles. Although Eleventh Air Force was engaged in combat during the Aleutian Campaign, the command also supported the Lend-Lease transport of aircraft though Alaska to the Soviet Union by Air Transport Command beginning in September 1942. Lend-Lease aircraft were ferried from Great Falls Army Air Base , Montana to Ladd Field by the 7th Ferrying Group (Later Alaskan Wing), ATC. The United States manufactured aircraft were turned over to Red Air Force pilots at Ladd Field, and from there

3813-473: The Kuriles. Each month's record showed planes turned back short of their targets, weather again protecting the Japanese. Often, too, B-24 Liberator bomb loads were dropped through the undercast by aid of the newly installed radar bombing equipment, a far cry from the timed runs made on the Kiska main camp area using the Kiska volcano as an initial point when the target was closed in. The record month, June 1945, for

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3906-784: The Miami Conservancy District. Logistics support to Wilbur Wright Field was by the adjacent Fairfield Aviation General Supply Depot established in January 1918 and which also supplied three other Midwest Signal Corps aviation schools. A Signal Corps Aviation School began in June 1917 for providing combat pilots to the Western Front in France, and the field housed an aviation mechanic's school and an armorer's school. On 19 June 1918, Lt. Frank Stuart Patterson at

3999-713: The North Kuril Islands to take photos of the Soviet occupation in the area. Soviet fighters intercepted and forced them away a foretaste of the Cold war that lay ahead. Americans planners had briefly contemplated an invasion of northern Japan from the Aleutian Islands during fall of 1943, but rejected that idea as too risky and impractical. They considered the use of Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, on Amchitka and Shemya Bases, but rejected that idea too. U.S. military maintained interest in these plans when they ordered

4092-769: The Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest Air Districts on 19 October 1940 to provide air defense for the United States. These Air Districts were redesignated as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Air Forces, respectively, on 26 March 1941. Over a year after the establishment of the United States Army Air Forces on 20 June 1941, the Arabic numerals were changed to the First , Second , Third , and Fourth Air Forces on 18 September 1942. Other organizations established during this period and that became Numbered air forces include

4185-530: The Pacific that airfields were needed in Alaska. The original request for $ 12,000,000 to be appropriated for the construction of Alaskan defenses was cut to $ 600,000, but still was sufficient to begin the construction of an air base at Anchorage, Alaska. Thus was begun the construction of Elmendorf Field, primary fourth-echelon base for all future Eleventh Air Force operations. Construction of the airfield began on 8 June when 25 locally hired men began clearing brush,

4278-770: The Philippine Department Air Force (became Fifth Air Force ), the Panama Canal Air Force (became Sixth Air Force ), the Hawaiian Air Force (became Seventh Air Force ), and the Alaskan Air Force (became Eleventh Air Force ). After World War II, the US Air Force continued to use both named and numbered air forces. While named air forces were used in both tactical and support roles, numbered air forces were generally employed only in tactical roles. As part of

4371-523: The South Pacific, the Japanese were forced to keep much-needed aircraft, in the Kuriles and Hokkaido as defense against possible attack from the North. Operations against Northern Japan became the new mission of the Eleventh Air Force, and it was being successfully carried out. Except for July 1944, when the weather was especially bad, each month of 1944 showed a steady increase in operations against

4464-481: The Soviet pilots would fly to Marks Army Airfield, near Nome as a final refueling and maintenance stop on-route to Uel'kal' , Siberia . From Siberia, the aircraft were flown westward across the Soviet Union (Uelkal-Krasnoyarsk route) to the combat areas in Russia for use against Nazi forces. Eleventh Air Force aircraft were also ferried up the NWSR, with the aircraft being flown to Elmendorf from RCAF Station Whitehorse . More than 8,000 airplanes were delivered over

4557-412: The Yukon, and onwards to Fairbanks on 19 Aug. and finally Nome on the 23rd. They started their return trip on the 31st, landing Mitchel Field on 20 Oct. 1920 after 112 flying hours. In 1924, the around the world flight by the Army using Douglas "World Cruiser"s also transited though Alaska. However, the first permanently based military aircraft began to deploy to Alaska during the last half of 1940 after

4650-427: The air and on the ground. Pacific Air Force/FEAF (Rear) controlled both operational and support forces of Far East Air Forces . Air Materiel Force, European Area, and Air Materiel Force, Pacific Area, on the other hand, served primarily as logistics support establishments. Since 2001 United States Air Forces Central has supervised U.S. Air Force elements engaged in the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021) ; since 2003 for

4743-461: The air defense of the Territory of Alaska. Numbered Air Force A Numbered Air Force ( NAF ) is a type of organization in the United States Air Force that is subordinate to a major command (MAJCOM) and has assigned to it operational units such as wings, squadrons, and groups. A Component Numbered Air Force ( C-NAF ) has the additional role as an Air Force Component Command exercising command and control over air and space forces supporting

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4836-696: The airfield was testing machine gun/propeller synchronization when a tie rod failure broke the wings off his Airco DH.4 M while diving from 15,000 ft (4,600 m). Also in 1918, McCook Field near Dayton between Keowee Street and the Great Miami River began using space and mechanics at Wilbur Wright Field. Following World War I, the training school at Wilbur Wright Field was discontinued. Training units assigned to Wilbur Wright Field Combat units trained at Wilbur Wright Field Service units trained at Wilbur Wright Field   1923 records for speed, distance, and endurance were set by an April 16 Fokker T-2 flight from Wilbur Wright Field which used

4929-401: The approaching Japanese fleet, reporting its location as 800 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor. Eleventh Air Force was placed on full alert. Shortly thereafter bad weather set in, and no further sightings of the fleet were made that day. The first aerial bombing of the American continent during World War II took place on 3 and 4 June 1942, when two Japanese raids were made on the Dutch Harbor in

5022-480: The breakout of World War II in Europe and tensions began to deteriorate with Japan. To coordinate air activities there, the Alaskan Defense Command established the Air Field Forces, Alaskan Defense Command on 29 May 1941. Early in 1940, the question of air defense of the Alaska Territory came into the limelight when President Roosevelt pointed out in his message to Congress requesting funds for fortification of Guam and Wake Islands and other strategic points in

5115-510: The city of Unalaska, Alaska . While the first did little damage, the second destroyed the base's oil storage tanks, part of the hospital, and damaged a beached barracks ship. Although American pilots had finally located the Japanese carriers, attempts to destroy them proved fruitless. As bad weather again set in, all contact with the enemy fleet was lost. In all, the Japanese raid claimed 43 U.S. lives, of which 33 were soldiers. Another 64 Americans were wounded. Eleven U.S. planes were downed, while

5208-487: The construction of fields north of Nome and around Anchorage failed to arrive, and construction was postponed until the following summer. Construction had been completed, however, on two important coastal fields in southeastern Alaska, Annette Army Airfield at Annette Island and Yakutat Army Airfield at Yakutat , and the first direct all-weather air route to Alaska from Seattle was open. An extremely fortunate accident took place in October 1941, which possibly changed

5301-453: The construction of these two air bases, and by spring, two 5,000-foot airstrips were completed, one at Cold Bay ( Fort Randall Army Airfield ), the other at Otter Point on Umnak ( Fort Glenn Army Airfield ). Another vital factor in the construction of the Umnak field was the use of perforated steel matting . No other medium could have been used to build that runway in the time required, since Umnak has no natural construction material. The matting

5394-637: The control of PACAF in 1990 and reduced to the status of a Numbered Air Force . Military aircraft began flying in Alaska in 1920 when the Black Wolf Squadron , or The Alaska Flying Expedition , made The New York to Nome Flight . Capt. St. Clair Streett commanded 7 men in 4 DH-4s as they took off from Mitchel Field on 17 July 1920. Each plane had a black profile of a Wolf's head painted on their sides. The trip organizer, Billy Mitchell wanted to establish an airway to Alaska and Asia. The 9349 mile round trip route included flying west to North Dakota, then north through Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia,

5487-407: The defense of the Naval Base at Dutch Harbor . To conceal their purpose, both fields were organized as ostensible business enterprises concerned with fishing and canning. The two cover names were: "Blair Packing Company" and "Saxton & Company", whose peculiar canning equipment consisted of bulldozers, power shovels and similar construction equipment. The top holding-company for these enterprises

5580-430: The end of the war, the route becoming part of the Great Circle Route from Japan to the United States. Much of the transport along the routes were an airline responsibility, with Northwest Airlines and Western Airlines operating the routes under contract. 1944 also saw a drastic reduction in the personnel of the Eleventh Air Force. Fort Glenn AAF and Fort Randall AAF were reduced to the status of gasoline stations for

5673-555: The expansion of bases in the western Aleutian Islands, and major construction began on Shemya for a possible invasion of Japan via the Northern route in 1945. The real nature of the Aleutian Islands the value of the Eleventh Air Force to America was known but not confirmed until 3 September 1945. On that day, a C-54 piloted by Major G. E. Cain, filed a flight plan at Atsugi Airdrome, near Tokyo, Honshū, Japan. Twelve hours later, he landed at Adak, refueled and took off for Seattle. He landed in Washington after 31 hours of flying time, with

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5766-403: The first motion pictures of the Japanese surrender the previous day. The Aleutian Islands, on the Great Circle route from North America to the Orient may not have fulfilled their hope of becoming the "Northern Highway to Victory," but they were established as an air transport route, vital during the early years of the Cold War before long-distance air transports were developed. With the end of

5859-503: The increased aids to navigation and radio, planes that used to be grounded by weather, were now flying regular schedules. Troop Carrier Command and Air Transport Command planes were operating in the Aleutian Islands with airline regularity. In November 1943 a second airfield, Casco Cove Army Airfield was constructed on Attu for long-range bombing operations. Eleventh Air Force carried out another bombing mission against northern Kurils on 5 February 1944, when it attacked with six B-24s from

5952-431: The island was deserted, ending the Aleutian Campaign. Six million pounds of bombs had been dropped on Kiska and Attu in Eleventh Air Force operations. The Japanese had been prevented from building an air field and from bringing in reinforcements. 'Rufe' seaplane fighters were shot out of the air as soon as they came up to give combat. Air Force fighters and bombers had played an instrumental part in driving Japanese out of

6045-468: The jurisdiction of Ferrying Command , which was a part of the Lend-Lease Program. Through Lend-Lease, the United States transferred nearly 8,000 aircraft to the Soviet Union though Ladd Field during the course of World War II. The aircraft were flown into Ladd from Great Falls Airfield , Montana by American civilian aircrews; Soviet crews then flew the planes west through Nome ( Marks Field ) and on to Siberia . The pilots leaving Great Falls flew along

6138-412: The location of the Materiel Division of the Air Corps and a key logistics center and in 1935, quarters were built at Patterson Field which in 1939 still "was without runways...heavier aircraft met difficulty in landing in inclement weather." Wright Field retained the land west of the Huffman Dam and became the research and development center of the Air Corps. Engineering and flight activities of

6231-423: The loss of his four large carriers at the Battle of Midway . By mid-June the Joint Chiefs of Staff theorized that the attack on the Aleutian Islands and the occupation of its westernmost islands might be part of a holding action designed to screen a northward thrust by Japanese forces into Siberia 's maritime provinces and the Kamchatka Peninsula . As a result of their concern about a possible Japanese attack upon

6324-407: The major command (MAJCOM) to which they are currently assigned. Note that the lineage of some numbered air forces is continued by non-NAF organizations (e.g., the 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force continues the lineage of the Fifteenth Air Force). Boldface indicates a NAF or C-NAF that is currently active. In May 2022, First Air Force was officially designated as "Air Forces Space" (AFSPACE),

6417-415: The need to reduce the number of personnel. The 28th Bombardment Group on Shemya and the 343d Fighter Group at Alexai Point AAF, Attu, assumed the responsibilities of the two commands. The 404th Bombardment Squadron was responsible for conducting night reconnaissance missions over the Kuriles and flying a daily weather reconnaissance flights. The 77th Bombardment Squadron was held in readiness to repel

6510-455: The operational wings and groups. Eleven of the sixteen wartime air forces remained. The Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces were assigned to SAC; the Third, Ninth, and Twelfth Air Forces were assigned to TAC; and the First, Second, Fourth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Fourteenth Air Forces were assigned to ADC. Second Air Force would later be transferred to SAC in 1949. The numbered air forces had both operational and administrative authority, and existed as

6603-433: The principle of safe fog flying) was moved to Wright Field by the end of 1931. Materiel Division ’s Fog Flying Unit under 1st Lt. Albert F. Hegenberger used the equipment for blind landings. Patterson Field named for Frank Stuart Patterson was designated on 6 July 1931 as the area of Wright Field east of Huffman Dam (including Fairfield Air Depot, Huffman Prairie, and Wright Field's airfield). Patterson Field became

6696-404: The raid lost Eleventh Air Force over half its offensive striking power. No more combat missions were flown in 1943. Several changes took place following the occupation of Kiska. The Eleventh Air Force became a component of Task Force "Y", still under Navy jurisdiction. Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher was named ComNorPac and Major General Davenport Johnson relieved General Butler as commander of

6789-510: The route. Most were Bell Airacobras and Kingcobras, along with A-20s, B-25s and C-47s. ATC personnel were based at Edmonton as well as other Canadian bases. A lesser-known part of the aircraft ferrying mission for ATC pilots was search and rescue for Ferrying Command pilots and crews who were forced down in the remote wilderness. The ATC Alaska Wing was equipped with a number of single-engine C-64 "Norseman" light transports, which were equipped alternatively with pontoons, skis and wheels, depending

6882-436: The same time clarifying the roles and responsibilities of essential supporting functions." Numbered air forces were reorganized into tactical echelons focused on operations, and their administrative staff functions were eliminated. This reorganization also reduced the number of major commands, and eliminated the air divisions to place numbered air forces directly in command of operational wings. The role of numbered air forces

6975-665: The school year 1927-28 at Wright Field, which had the Army Air Corps Museum in Building 12. By November 1930, "the laboratory at Wright Field" had planes fitted as flying laboratories" (e.g., B-19 "flying laboratory" with "8-foot tires"), and the equipment of the 1929 Full Flight Laboratory (closed out by the Daniel Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion of Aeronautics , which had established

7068-541: The season. The C-64s were used to resupply stations along the Canadian pipeline as well as for search and rescue work. ATC also developed two transport routes to Alaska during the war to support Eleventh Air Force. The first was from McChord Field , near Seattle, Washington north along the British Columbia coastline to Annette Island, then to Yakutat and into Elmendorf AFB. The second was developed to support

7161-491: The southwest (now part of Riverside ). The combined area was named Wright Field to honor both Wright Brothers. A new installation with permanent brick facilities was constructed to replace McCook Field and was dedicated on October 12, 1927. The transfer of 4,500 tons of engineering material, office equipment and other assets at McCook Field to Wright Field began on March 25, 1927, and was 85% complete by June 1 after moving 1,859 truckloads. "The Engineering School shut down for

7254-419: The training of personnel and the preparing of equipment for operation in the cold Alaskan climate. Mechanical things showed unusual behavior at 40 degrees below zero. Oil became almost solid, metal and rubber brittle and fractured easily. At the same time, Texas-trained pilots had to learn to fly in a country where sudden fogs could close out airports in less than 10 minutes and high-velocity "williwaws" could tear

7347-761: The two installations after the designation of Patterson Field included numerous aviation achievements and failures prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor : The Army Air Forces Technical Base was formed on December 15, 1945, when Wright Field, Patterson Field, Dayton Army Air Field in Vandalia and Clinton County AAF in Wilmington merged. After the USAF was created, the base was renamed Air Force Technical Base in December 1947 and Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in January 1948.. The former Wright Field became Area B of

7440-452: The unoccupied Amchitka Island, barely 75 statute miles from Kiska, and a month later, on 16 February, the first aircraft, a P-38 and a P-40, landed on Amchitka Army Airfield , a quickly-built airstrip. The first mission against Kiska was flown on 18 February. By March, both medium and heavy bombers could make the short hop from Amchitka to Kiska and on good days, rare enough, crews flew as many as four and occasionally six sorties per day. It

7533-590: The war, many of the small air bases in the Aleutian Islands closed permanently, and postwar emphasis turned to training. Air Transport Command transferred Ladd Field to the Eleventh Air Force on 1 November. On 15 December 1945, The Army reorganized its organization in Alaska. Eleventh Air Force, which was under the jurisdiction of the Army Western Defense Command , headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco since its establishment in 1941,

7626-536: The whole course of World War II in Alaska. Equipment for the construction of a CAA-DLA (Civil Aeronautics Authority-Defense Land Appropriation) airfield at McGrath , on the mainland, arrived too late to begin construction of the field, since the ground already had become frozen, and General Buckner requested and received permission to divert the equipment and men to Cold Bay on the Alaskan Peninsula and Otter Point on Umnak Island , to build two airfields for

7719-433: The wings off combat planes. The first months activities of the new command were spent in reconnaissance for a rim of defense bases. The hub of this defense "wheel" was to be at Elmendorf Field near Anchorage. In the meantime, plans for the establishment of bases were moving slowly. Certain planned fields had to be constructed in summer, because the severe Alaskan frost in winter made construction impossible, but equipment for

7812-501: The winter of 1942–1943, the Eleventh Air Force bombed Kiska and Attu whenever possible, although the flyers were extremely handicapped by the almost constant fog which covered the island. At the same time, the bases to the east of Adak were consolidated and built up. In October, the Field Headquarters of the Eleventh Air Force was closed at Kodiak and moved to Davis AAF. On 11 January 1943, American Army troops went ashore on

7905-593: Was "assembled at Dayton" on May 16, 1931, for maneuvers in which "Maj. Henry H. Arnold , division G-4 (Supply), had stocks at Pittsburgh; Cleveland; Buffalo; Middletown, Pennsylvania; Aberdeen, Maryland; and Bolling Field to service units as they flew eastward." The depot remained active until 1946. In 1924, the city of Dayton purchased 4,500 acres (1,821 ha), the portion of Fairfield Air Depot leased in 1917 for Wilbur Wright Field, along with an additional 750 acres (300 ha) in Montgomery County to

7998-578: Was again changed in 2006 with the implementation of the Component Air Force (C-NAF) concept. Some numbered air forces have an additional mission as the Air Force Component Command exercising command and control over air and space forces supporting a Unified Combatant Command . C-NAFs have a second designation to identify their role. For example, First Air Force , a numbered air force assigned to Air Combat Command ,

8091-542: Was laid over a graded gash in the tundra and set the pattern for the construction of future Aleutian runways. Administratively speaking, the Eleventh Air Force also was born in that winter of 1941–1942. First conceived as the Air Force, Alaskan Defense Command , it emerged as an integral unit as the Alaskan Air Force on 15 January 1942, and was redesignated the Eleventh Air Force on 5 February. In May 1942,

8184-427: Was ordered to send out reconnaissance aircraft to locate the Japanese fleet reported heading toward Dutch Harbor and attack it with bombers, concentrating on sinking Hosogaya's two aircraft carriers. Once the enemy planes were removed, Task Force 8/ North Pacific Force of the Navy, under Rear-Admiral Robert A. Theobald , would engage the enemy fleet and destroy it. On the afternoon of 2 June a naval patrol plane spotted

8277-450: Was said that the Japanese needed no air warning system on Kiska, because they could hear the Eleventh Air Force bombers warming up on Amchitka, and knew from the sound of the engines when the raids were taking off. Throughout this period, the striking power of the Eleventh Air Force included only three squadrons of medium bombers, three squadrons of heavies and four squadrons of fighters. An additional squadron of P-39 Airacobras operated in

8370-402: Was the 18th Pursuit Squadron , which transferred to Elmendorf from Hamilton Army Airfield , California on 21 February 1941 with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks . The 23d Air Base Group was assigned shortly afterwards to provide base support. The 36th Bombardment Squadron arrived less than a month later from Lowry Field , Colorado, equipped with Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers. A major problem was

8463-478: Was the "Consolidated Packing Company" of Anchorage, known in military circles as the Alaskan Defense Command. Security was complete. Japanese intelligence never learned of the existence of these airfields and the Japanese tactical decisions were based on the assumption that their attack on Dutch Harbor would not be opposed by land-based aircraft. All through the winter of 1941–1942, men worked at

8556-614: Was transferred to the jurisdiction of the United States Army Air Forces . Under the USAAF, it was re-designated as Alaskan Air Command ' on 18 December 1945, without any change in headquarters location. Alaskan Air Command was established at the same Major Command echelon as the other overseas combat commands, the United States Air Forces in Europe , Far East Air Forces and Caribbean Air Command , with its mission being

8649-601: Was wiped out, and on 29 May, the island was declared secure. The first plane, a hospital C-47, landed on a newly completed runway at Alexai Point Army Airfield , Attu, on 7 June. The operation against Attu also included the occupation of the Semichi Islands , an archipelago of three tiny bits of land some 35 miles east of Attu. The flattest of these, Shemya , was to be the site of the most important American air base for future operations. Barely four miles long and only two miles wide, Shemya Army Airfield became, literally,

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