124-562: The Army Air Forces Tactical Center was a major command and military training organization of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II . It trained cadres from newly formed units in combat operations under simulated field conditions around which new combat groups would be formed. It was established as the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT) in 1942 and redesignated
248-933: A segregated basis. A flight training center was set up at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama . Despite the handicap—caused by the segregation policy—of not having an experienced training cadre as with other AAF units, the Tuskegee Airmen distinguished themselves in combat with the 332nd Fighter Group . The Tuskegee training program produced 673 black fighter pilots, 253 B-26 Marauder pilots, and 132 navigators. The vast majority of African-American airmen, however, did not fare as well. Mainly draftees , most did not fly or maintain aircraft. Their largely menial duties, indifferent or hostile leadership, and poor morale led to serious dissatisfaction and several violent incidents. Women served more successfully as part of
372-585: A "disturbing failure to follow through on orders". To streamline the AAF in preparation for war, with a goal of centralized planning and decentralized execution of operations, in October 1941 Arnold submitted to the WDGS essentially the same reorganization plan it had rejected a year before, this time crafted by Chief of Air Staff Brig. Gen. Carl A. Spaatz . When this plan was not given any consideration, Arnold reworded
496-476: A Chief of Air Staff and three deputies. This wartime structure remained essentially unchanged for the remainder of hostilities. In October 1944 Arnold, to begin a process of reorganization for reducing the structure, proposed to eliminate the AC/AS, Training and move his office into OC&R, changing it to Operations, Training and Requirements (OT&R) but the mergers were never effected. On 23 August 1945, after
620-538: A Zone of Interior "training and supply agency", but from the start AAF officers viewed this as a "paper" restriction negated by Arnold's place on both the Joint and Combined Chiefs, which gave him strategic planning authority for the AAF, a viewpoint that was formally sanctioned by the War Department in mid-1943 and endorsed by the president. The Circular No. 59 reorganization directed the AAF to operate under
744-566: A blueprint. After war began, Congress enacted the First War Powers Act on 18 December 1941 endowing President Franklin D. Roosevelt with virtual carte blanche to reorganize the executive branch as he found necessary. Under it, on 28 February 1942, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9082 , based on Marshall's recommendation and the work of McNarney's committee. The EO changed Arnold's title to Commanding General, Army Air Forces effective 9 March 1942, making him co-equal with
868-470: A change of mood at the War Department, and of dubious legality. By November 1941, on the eve of U.S. entry into the war, the division of authority within the Army as a whole, caused by the activation of Army GHQ a year before, had led to a "battle of memos" between it and the WDGS over administering the AAF, prompting Marshall to state that he had "the poorest command post in the Army" when defense commands showed
992-457: A complex division of administrative control performed by a policy staff, an operating staff, and the support commands (formerly "field activities" of the OCAC). The former field activities operated under a "bureau" structure, with both policy and operating functions vested in staff-type officers who often exercised command and policy authority without responsibility for results, a system held over from
1116-609: A controversial move, the AAF Technical Training Command began leasing resort hotels and apartment buildings for large-scale training sites (accommodation for 90,000 existed in Miami Beach alone). The leases were negotiated for the AAF by the Corps of Engineers, often to the economic detriment of hotel owners in rental rates, wear and tear clauses, and short-notice to terminate leases. In December 1943,
1240-429: A deleterious effect on operational training and threatened to overwhelm the capacity of the old Air Corps groups to provide experienced cadres or to absorb graduates of the expanded training program to replace those transferred. Since 1939 the overall level of experience among the combat groups had fallen to such an extent that when the demand for replacements in combat was factored in, the entire operational training system
1364-543: A detachment of the group was directed to bomb coastal defenses in France using radar, despite weather conditions that were ideal for visual bombing. Although crewmembers were not advised why radar bombing was directed, this mission was a test to determine if pathfinder operations would succeed if the weather over Normandy was foul when the invasion took place. Thereafter, the group would frequently use pathfinder techniques when clouds obscured its assigned targets. The group bombed
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#17327801693881488-720: A general autonomy within the War Department (similar to that of the Marine Corps within the Department of the Navy ) until the end of the war, while its commanders would cease lobbying for independence. Marshall, a strong proponent of airpower, understood that the Air Force would likely achieve its independence following the war. Soon after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, in recognition of importance of
1612-698: A major reorganization and consolidation on 29 March 1943. The four main directorates and seventeen subordinate directorates (the "operating staff") were abolished as an unnecessary level of authority, and execution of policies was removed from the staffs to be assigned solely to field organizations along functional lines. The policy functions of the directorates were reorganized and consolidated into offices regrouped along conventional military lines under six assistant chiefs of air staff (AC/AS): Personnel; Intelligence; Operations, Commitments, and Requirements (OC&R); Materiel, Maintenance, and Distribution (MM&D); Plans; and Training. Command of Headquarters AAF resided in
1736-403: A mission on 14 October 1943 when it braved assaults by enemy fighters to bomb the ball bearing plants at Schweinfurt . Once again, the group had the most accurate bombing results of the units attacking the target. Allied intelligence estimated that following the attack German ball bearing production was reduced by 50% and that it was six months before production was restored to its level before
1860-551: A mock "war theater" stretching roughly from Tampa to Titusville to Starke to Apalachicola in which war games were conducted. AAFSAT also had a bombing range at Ocala AAF , a service center at Leesburg AAF , and an air depot at Pinecastle Army Air Field . Due to a major reorganization of the Tactical Center and a change in the types of courses conducted by the institution, the Army Air Forces redesignated
1984-505: A multiplicity of branches and organizations, reduced the WDGS greatly in size, and proportionally increased the representation of the air forces members on it to 50%. In addition to dissolving both Army General Headquarters and the chiefs of the combat arms , and assigning their training functions to the Army Ground Forces, War Department Circular 59 reorganized the Army Air Forces, disbanding both Air Force Combat Command and
2108-580: A perception of resistance and even obstruction then by the bureaucracy in the War Department General Staff (WDGS), much of which was attributable to lack of funds, the Air Corps later made great strides in the 1930s, both organizationally and in doctrine. A strategy stressing precision bombing of industrial targets by heavily armed, long-range bombers emerged, formulated by the men who would become its leaders. A major step toward
2232-471: A proposal for creation of an air staff, unification of the air arm under one commander, and equality with the ground and supply forces. Arnold's proposal was immediately opposed by the General Staff in all respects, rehashing its traditional doctrinal argument that, in the event of war, the Air Corps would have no mission independent of support of the ground forces. Marshall implemented a compromise that
2356-589: A separate air force came in March 1935, when the command of all combat air units within the Continental United States (CONUS) was centralized under a single organization called the "General Headquarters Air Force" . Since 1920, control of aviation units had resided with commanders of the corps areas (a peacetime ground forces administrative echelon), following the model established by commanding General John J. Pershing during World War I. In 1924,
2480-685: A separate numbered unit. In preparation for this reorganization, the 9th Bombardment Group moved to Nebraska, where it was reassigned to Second Air Force to become a Boeing B-29 Superfortress unit. The 50th Fighter Group began to concentrate on training in preparation for deployment to the European Theater of Operations in March 1944, the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group continued its mission, but transferred to Fourth Air Force in California in January 1944. The transition to
2604-473: A standard of combat proficiency had barely surpassed the total originally authorized by the first expansion program in 1940. The extant training establishment, in essence a "self-training" system, was inadequate in assets, organization, and pedagogy to train units wholesale. Individual training of freshly minted pilots occupied an inordinate amount of the available time to the detriment of unit proficiency. The ever-increasing numbers of new groups being formed had
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#17327801693882728-458: A temporary, nonstandard, headquarters in August 1944. This provisional fighter wing was set up to separate control of its P-38 groups from its P-51 groups. This headquarters was referred to as "XV Fighter Command (Provisional)". Eight air divisions served as an additional layer of command and control for the vast organization, capable of acting independently if the need arose. Inclusive within
2852-539: The Air Corps Tactical School in 1940 in order to use its experienced personnel at headquarters , and in expanded training and tactical units. As a result, the responsibility for the development and change to tactics for Air Corps units was scattered among various Air Corps units. Moreover, no single element of the Air Staff or special committee was responsible for overseeing tactical doctrine for
2976-471: The Air Transport Command made deliveries of almost 270,000 aircraft worldwide while losing only 1,013 in the process. The operation of the stateside depots was done largely by more than 300,000 civilian maintenance employees, many of them women, freeing a like number of Air Forces mechanics for overseas duty. In all facets of the service, more than 420,000 civilian personnel were employed by
3100-604: The Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics (AAFSAT). The AAF determined this organization would conduct tactical development and training and provide tactical training for flyers who were preparing to deploy to theaters of operation. The commandant of AAFSAT was Brigadier General Hume Peabody, formerly the assistant commandant of the Air Corps Tactical School. The Fighter Command School became AAFSAT's Air Defense Department at once. The 91st Service Group at Fort Dix Army Air Field moved to Orlando and became
3224-526: The Army Service Forces , but the AAF increasingly exerted influence on the curricula of these courses in anticipation of future independence. African-Americans comprised approximately six per cent of this force (145,242 personnel in June 1944). In 1940, pressured by Eleanor Roosevelt and some Northern members of Congress , General Arnold agreed to accept blacks for pilot training, albeit on
3348-624: The Quartermaster Corps and then by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , because of a lack of familiarity with Air Corps requirements. The outbreak of war in Europe and the resulting need for a wide variety of facilities for both operations and training within the Continental United States necessitated comprehensive changes of policy, first in September 1941 by giving the responsibility for acquisition and development of bases directly to
3472-636: The United States Air Force announced selection of the Davis–Monthan Air Force Base , Arizona to support an LGM-25C Titan II missile wing. The 1 January 1962 organization of the 390th Strategic Missile Wing marked the first stand up of a Titan II wing. Although the wing was built up from scratch some of its initial cadre came from the 303d Bombardment Wing , a Strategic Air Command (SAC) Boeing B-47 Stratojet wing, also stationed at Davis–Monthan. The wing's initial task
3596-681: The United States Air Force 's first LGM-25C Titan II wing, becoming operational in March 1963. It earned honors as the best Titan II wing in Strategic Air Command (SAC) on five occasions, and in 1979 earned the Blanchard Trophy as SAC's best missile wing of any kind. It was inactivated in 1984 with the retirement of the Titan II from the United States intercontinental ballistic missile inventory. Just before
3720-615: The United States Air Force , James Robinson Risner and Charles E. Yeager . Air crew needs resulted in the successful training of 43,000 bombardiers , 49,000 navigators , and 309,000 flexible gunners, many of whom also specialized in other aspects of air crew duties. 7,800 men qualified as B-29 flight engineers and 1,000 more as radar operators in night fighters , all of whom received commissions. Almost 1.4 million men received technical training as aircraft mechanics, electronics specialists, and other technicians. Non-aircraft related support services were provided by airmen trained by
3844-612: The "new" AAFSAT as the Army Air Forces School on 1 June 1945, while the Tactical Center dropped the "Tactical" from its name and became the AAF Center. Following the end of World War II, in preparation for its post-war educational operations, the AAF moved the AAF School from Orlando to Maxwell Field, Alabama on 29 November 1945 and assigned it directly to Headquarters, AAF. Having lost its developmental function,
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3968-483: The 390th, who was a gunner and bombardier. He went on to become the only man in the Eighth Air Force to fly over 100 combat missions and one of the most decorated Enlisted men in the U.S. Air Force . He died in 1961 at the age of 41 and is buried at Arlington National Cemetery . The group was sometimes diverted from the strategic mission to fly interdiction and ground support missions. On 25 May 1944,
4092-414: The 50th Group's 81st Fighter Squadron , but by 1943 was concentrated in the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group . However, the AAF was finding that standard military units like these groups, based on relatively inflexible tables of organization not well adapted to the training mission. Accordingly, it adopted a more functional system in the spring of 1944 in which each base was organized into
4216-585: The AAF Center moved to Eglin Field in March 1946 and became the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command. The AAF Tactical Center medium and heavy bomber school unit from 31 October 1942 was the 9th Bombardment Group . In February 1943, a close air support school unit, the 415th Bombardment Group was added. The fighter school unit from 23 March 1943 was the 50th Fighter Group . Night Fighter training initially began with
4340-605: The AAF created a reserve pool that held qualified pilot candidates until they could be called to active duty, rather than losing them in the draft. By 1944, this pool became surplus, and 24,000 were sent to the Army Ground Forces for retraining as infantry , and 6,000 to the Army Service Forces . Pilot standards were changed to reduce the minimum age from 20 to 18, and eliminated the educational requirement of at least two years of college. Two fighter pilot beneficiaries of this change went on to become brigadier generals in
4464-502: The AAF for the first time in its history, and then in April 1942 by delegation of the enormous task by Headquarters AAF to its user field commands and numbered air forces. In addition to the construction of new permanent bases and the building of numerous bombing and gunnery ranges, the AAF utilized civilian pilot schools, training courses conducted at college and factory sites, and officer training detachments at colleges. In early 1942, in
4588-468: The AAF reached a war-time peak of 783 airfields in the Continental United States. At the end of the war, the AAF was using almost 20 million acres of land, an area as large as Massachusetts , Connecticut , Vermont , and New Hampshire combined. By the end of World War II, the USAAF had created 16 numbered air forces ( First through Fifteenth and Twentieth ) distributed worldwide to prosecute
4712-590: The AAF. The huge increases in aircraft inventory resulted in a similar increase in personnel, expanding sixteen-fold in less than three years following its formation, and changed the personnel policies under which the Air Service and Air Corps had operated since the National Defense Act of 1920. No longer could pilots represent 90% of commissioned officers. The need for large numbers of specialists in administration and technical services resulted in
4836-529: The Air Corps expanded from 15 to 30 groups by the end of the year. On 7 December 1941 the number of activated combat groups had reached 67, with 49 still within the Continental United States. Of the CONUS groups (the "strategic reserve"), 21 were engaged in operational training or still being organized and were unsuitable for deployment. Of the 67 combat groups, 26 were classified as bombardment: 13 Heavy Bomb groups ( B-17 Flying Fortress and B-24 Liberator ), and
4960-557: The Air Corps found entirely inadequate, naming Arnold as acting "Deputy Chief of Staff for Air" but rejecting all organizational points of his proposal. GHQ Air Force instead was assigned to the control of Army General Headquarters, although the latter was a training and not an operational component, when it was activated in November 1940. A division of the GHQ Air Force into four geographical air defense districts on 19 October 1940
5084-480: The Air Corps in October 1940 saw fifteen new general officer billets created. By the end of World War II, 320 generals were authorized for service within the wartime AAF. The Air Corps operated 156 installations at the beginning of 1941. An airbase expansion program had been underway since 1939, attempting to keep pace with the increase in personnel, units, and aircraft, using existing municipal and private facilities where possible, but it had been mismanaged, first by
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5208-490: The Air Corps mission remain tied to that of the land forces. Airpower advocates achieved a centralized control of air units under an air commander, while the WDGS divided authority within the air arm and assured a continuing policy of support of ground operations as its primary role. GHQ Air Force organized combat groups administratively into a strike force of three wings deployed to the Atlantic , Pacific, and Gulf coasts but
5332-597: The Air Corps still had only 800 first-line combat aircraft and 76 bases, including 21 major installations and depots. American fighter aircraft were inferior to the British Spitfire and Hurricane , and German Messerschmitt Bf 110 and 109 . Ralph Ingersoll wrote in late 1940 after visiting Britain that the "best American fighter planes already delivered to the British are used by them either as advanced trainers—or for fighting equally obsolete Italian planes in
5456-492: The Air Corps years. The concept of an "operating staff", or directorates, was modeled on the RAF system that had been much admired by the observer groups sent over in 1941, and resulted from a desire to place experts in various aspects of military aviation into key positions of implementation. However functions often overlapped, communication and coordination between the divisions failed or was ignored, policy prerogatives were usurped by
5580-458: The Air Corps". A lawyer and a banker, Lovett had prior experience with the aviation industry that translated into realistic production goals and harmony in integrating the plans of the AAF with those of the Army as a whole. Lovett initially believed that President Roosevelt's demand following the attack on Pearl Harbor for 60,000 airplanes in 1942 and 125,000 in 1943 was grossly ambitious. However, working closely with General Arnold and engaging
5704-596: The Air Corps, General Headquarters Air Force, and the ground forces' corps area commanders and thus became the first air organization of the U.S. Army to control its own installations and support personnel. The peak size of the AAF during World War II was over 2.4 million men and women in service and nearly 80,000 aircraft by 1944, and 783 domestic bases in December 1943. By " V-E Day ", the Army Air Forces had 1.25 million men stationed overseas and operated from more than 1,600 airfields worldwide. The Army Air Forces
5828-606: The Air Corps, which had been the statutory military aviation branch since 1926 and the GHQ Air Force, which had been activated in 1935 to quiet the demands of airmen for an independent Air Force similar to the Royal Air Force which had already been established in the United Kingdom . Although other nations already had separate air forces independent of their army or navy (such as the Royal Air Force and
5952-508: The Air Corps, while 82 per cent of enlisted members assigned to AAF units and bases had the Air Corps as their combat arm branch. While officially the air arm was the Army Air Forces , the term Air Corps persisted colloquially among the public as well as veteran airmen; in addition, the singular Air Force often crept into popular and even official use, reflected by the designation Air Force Combat Command in 1941–42. This misnomer
6076-602: The Air Service Department. 5th Interceptor Command moved from San Francisco and became the Interceptor Command School. The other two departments, Air Support and Bombardment were built up from scratch AAFSAT was organized into three directorates: Tactical Development, School Activities, and Demonstration Air Force, with three combat groups acting as both school units and demonstration air force units. The Directorate of School Activities
6200-496: The Army General Headquarters had the power to detach units from AFCC at will by creating task forces, the WDGS still controlled the AAF budget and finances, and the AAF had no jurisdiction over units of the Army Service Forces providing "housekeeping services" as support nor of air units, bases, and personnel located outside the continental United States. Arnold and Marshall agreed that the AAF would enjoy
6324-708: The Army's air elements. The field organizations primarily responsible for development of tactics and associated doctrine were the Army Air Force Board , the Air Defense Board, the Fighter Command School and the Army Air Forces Proving Ground . In addition, the splitting of existing combat groups into cadres for new groups had become impracticable as the number of new groups increased. At the entry of
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#17327801693886448-557: The General Staff planned for a wartime activation of an Army general headquarters (GHQ), similar to the American Expeditionary Forces model of World War I , with a GHQ Air Force as a subordinate component. Both were created in 1933 when a small conflict with Cuba seemed possible following a coup d'état but was not activated. The activation of GHQ Air Force represented a compromise between strategic airpower advocates and ground force commanders who demanded that
6572-617: The German Luftwaffe ), the AAF remained a part of the Army until a defense reorganization in the post-war period resulted in the passage by the United States Congress of the National Security Act of 1947 with the creation of an independent United States Air Force in September 1947. In its expansion and conduct of the war, the AAF became more than just an arm of the greater organization. By
6696-513: The Low Countries in May 1940, Roosevelt asked Congress for a supplemental appropriation of nearly a billion dollars, a production program of 50,000 aircraft a year, and a military air force of 50,000 aircraft (of which 36,500 would be Army). Accelerated programs followed in the Air Corps that repeatedly revised expansion goals, resulting in plans for 84 combat groups, 7,799 combat aircraft, and
6820-527: The Middle East. That is all they are good for." RAF crews he interviewed said that by spring 1941 a fighter engaging Germans had to have the capability to reach 400 mph in speed, fight at 30,000–35,000 feet, be simple to take off, provide armor for the pilot, and carry 12 machine guns or six cannons, all attributes lacking in American aircraft. Following the successful German invasion of France and
6944-488: The Office of Chief of the Air Corps (OCAC), eliminating all its training and organizational functions, which removed an entire layer of authority. Taking their former functions were eleven numbered air forces (later raised to sixteen) and six support commands (which became eight in January 1943). The circular also restated the mission of the AAF, in theory removing from it responsibility for strategic planning and making it only
7068-598: The States between June and August 1945. The unit's aircraft left from Framlingham on 25 and 26 June 1945. the ground echelon sailed from Greenock on the RMS ; Queen Elizabeth on 5 August 1945 and arrived in New York on 11 August, and its members were granted leave. The group moved at minimum strength to Sioux Falls Army Air Field , South Dakota on 12 August and was inactivated there on 28 August 1945. In April 1960,
7192-699: The United States . The AAF was a component of the United States Army , which on 2 March 1942 was divided functionally by executive order into three autonomous forces: the Army Ground Forces , the United States Army Services of Supply (which in 1943 became the Army Service Forces ), and the Army Air Forces. Each of these forces had a commanding general who reported directly to the Army Chief of Staff . The AAF administered all parts of military aviation formerly distributed among
7316-424: The United States into World War II on 7 December 1941, the Army Air Forces (AAF) had expanded to 67 groups from a pre-1939 total of 15, but approximately half were paper units just forming. The entry into the war meant an immediate significant increase in the numbers of new combat groups, expanding to 269 groups by the end of 1943. Headquarters USAAF originally intended that four tactical schools be developed across
7440-415: The United States, one each for air defense, air service, air support and bombardment. However "to save administrative costs and physical outlay" and to facilitate coordination between the schools, all four would be consolidated at a single location. Orlando Army Air Base , Florida was chosen 1 November 1942, primarily because it was already the location of Fighter Command School, which would be subordinated to
7564-493: The United States, the group moved to England, beginning combat operations in August. The group flew 300 combat missions and was twice awarded the Distinguished Unit Citation for its action in combat. Its last mission was on 20 April 1945. After V-E Day , the group returned to the United States, where it was inactivated in August 1945. The 390th Strategic Missile Wing was organized in January 1962 as
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#17327801693887688-545: The WAACs and WACs as AAF personnel, more than 1,000 as Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs), and 6,500 as nurses in the Army Air Forces, including 500 flight nurses. 7,601 "Air WACs" served overseas in April 1945, and women performed in more than 200 job categories. The Air Corps Act of July 1926 increased the number of general officers authorized in the Army's air arm from two to four. The activation of GHQAF in March 1935 doubled that number to eight and pre-war expansion of
7812-430: The air forces and to avoid binding legislation from Congress, the War Department revised the army regulation governing the organization of Army aviation, AR 95–5. Arnold assumed the title of Chief of the Army Air Forces , creating an echelon of command over all military aviation components for the first time and ending the dual status of the Air Corps and GHQ Air Force, which was renamed Air Force Combat Command (AFCC) in
7936-473: The air forces, commands and divisions were administrative headquarters called wings to control groups (operational units; see section below). As the number of groups increased, the number of wings needed to control them multiplied, with 91 ultimately activated, 69 of which were still active at the end of the war. As part of the Air Service and Air Corps, wings had been composite organizations, that is, composed of groups with different types of missions. Most of
8060-481: The annual addition to the force of 30,000 new pilots and 100,000 technical personnel. The accelerated expansion programs resulted in a force of 156 airfields and 152,125 personnel at the time of the creation of the Army Air Forces. In its expansion during World War II, the AAF became the world's most powerful air force. From the Air Corps of 1939, with 20,000 men and 2,400 planes, to the nearly autonomous AAF of 1944, with almost 2.4 million personnel and 80,000 aircraft,
8184-568: The attack. The group participated in the intensive Allied attacks on the German aircraft industry during Big Week , from 20 to 25 February 1944, when it bombed aircraft factories, instrument plants and aircraft depots. Other strategic missions included attacks on marshalling yards at Frankfurt , bridges at Cologne , petroleum facilities at Zeitz , factories at Mannheim , naval installations at Bremen and synthetic oil refineries at Merseburg . In January 1944 Sergeant Hewitt ‘Buck’ Dunn joined
8308-522: The capacity of the American automotive industry brought about an effort that produced almost 100,000 aircraft in 1944. The AAF reached its wartime inventory peak of nearly 80,000 aircraft in July 1944, 41% of them first line combat aircraft, before trimming back to 73,000 at the end of the year following a large reduction in the number of trainers needed. The logistical demands of this armada were met by
8432-430: The capitulation of Japan, realignment took place with the complete elimination of OC&R. The now five assistant chiefs of air staff were designated AC/AS-1 through -5 corresponding to Personnel, Intelligence, Operations and Training, Materiel and Supply, and Plans. Most personnel of the Army Air Forces were drawn from the Air Corps. In May 1945, 88 per cent of officers serving in the Army Air Forces were commissioned in
8556-472: The coast near Caen fifteen minutes before the D-Day landings in Normandy on 6 June 1944. It attacked enemy artillery in support of ground forces during Operation Cobra , the breakout at Saint-Lô in late July 1944. In August 1944, the group attacked a Focke-Wulf aircraft factory at Rumia (Rahmel), Poland, landing at Mirgorod in Ukraine. After flying a mission against a synthetic oil production facility at Trzebinia , Poland, (returning to Mirgorod),
8680-455: The commanders of GHQ Air Force and the Air Corps, Major Generals Frank M. Andrews and Oscar Westover respectively, clashed philosophically over the direction in which the air arm was moving, exacerbating the difficulties. The expected activation of Army General Headquarters prompted Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall to request a reorganization study from Chief of the Air Corps Maj. Gen. Henry H. Arnold resulting on 5 October 1940 in
8804-404: The commanding generals of the new Army Ground Forces and Services of Supply , the other two components of the Army of the United States . The War Department issued Circular No. 59 on 2 March that carried out the executive order, intended (as with the creation of the Air Service in World War I) as a wartime expedient to expire six months after the end of the war. The three components replaced
8928-622: The conduct of all aspects of the air war in every part of the world, determining air policy and issuing orders without transmitting them through the Army Chief of Staff. This "contrast between theory and fact is...fundamental to an understanding of the AAF." The roots of the Army Air Forces arose in the formulation of theories of strategic bombing at the Air Corps Tactical School that gave new impetus to arguments for an independent air force, beginning with those espoused by Brig. Gen. Billy Mitchell that led to his later court-martial . Despite
9052-437: The contractor turned site 570-2 over to SAC for operational use. Its first missile did not arrive at Davis–Monthan until 27 November 1962 and was installed in its silo twelve days later, although it would be 31 March 1963 before the wing would accept its first Titan II complex. The 570th Squadron became operational on 13 June and the 571st on 30 November, when the 18th and final wing Titan II went on alert. The 390th became
9176-625: The creation of the Air Service Command on 17 October 1941 to provide service units and maintain 250 depots in the United States; the elevation of the Materiel Division to full command status on 9 March 1942 to develop and procure aircraft, equipment, and parts; and the merger of these commands into the Air Technical Service Command on 31 August 1944. In addition to carrying personnel and cargo,
9300-634: The creation of the Army Air Forces, caused an immediate reassessment of U.S. defense strategy and policy. The need for an offensive strategy to defeat the Axis Powers required further enlargement and modernization of all the military services, including the new AAF. In addition, the invasion produced a new Lend lease partner in Russia, creating even greater demands on an already struggling American aircraft production. An offensive strategy required several types of urgent and sustained effort. In addition to
9424-448: The development and manufacture of aircraft in massive numbers, the Army Air Forces had to establish a global logistics network to supply, maintain, and repair the huge force; recruit and train personnel; and sustain the health, welfare, and morale of its troops. The process was driven by the pace of aircraft production, not the training program, and was ably aided by the direction of Lovett, who for all practical purposes became "Secretary of
9548-469: The direct control of Headquarters Army Air Forces. At the end of 1942 and again in the spring of 1943 the AAF listed nine support commands before it began a process of consolidation that streamlined the number to five at the end of the war. These commands were: "In 1943 the AAF met a new personnel problem, to which it applied an original solution: to interview, rehabilitate, and reassign men returning from overseas. [To do this], an AAF Redistribution Center
9672-620: The directorates, and they became overburdened with detail, all contributing to the diversion of the directorates from their original purpose. The system of directorates in particular handicapped the developing operational training program (see Combat units below), preventing establishment of an OTU command and having a tendency to micromanage because of the lack of centralized control. Four main directorates—Military Requirements, Technical Services, Personnel, and Management Control—were created, each with multiple sub-directorates, and eventually more than thirty offices were authorized to issue orders in
9796-447: The dormant struggle for an independent United States Air Force. Marshall had come to the view that the air forces needed a "simpler system" and a unified command. Working with Arnold and Robert A. Lovett , recently appointed to the long-vacant position of Assistant Secretary of War for Air, he reached a consensus that quasi-autonomy for the air forces was preferable to immediate separation. On 20 June 1941, to grant additional autonomy to
9920-596: The end of 1964, the 390th underwent the first operational readiness inspection for a Titan II unit. On 25 March 1965, the 390th performed the first operational launch test of one of its Titan IIs at Vandenberg Air Force Base , California in Operation Arctic Sun. More tests followed. Competing in SAC's first missile competition, Project Curtain Raiser, in 1967, the 390th won the first "best crew" trophy. The wing
10044-571: The end of World War II, the Army Air Forces had become virtually an independent service. By regulation and executive order, it was a subordinate agency of the United States Department of War (as were the Army Ground Forces and the Army Service Forces) tasked only with organizing, training, and equipping combat units and limited in responsibility to the continental United States. In reality, Headquarters AAF controlled
10168-555: The establishment of an Officer Candidate School in Miami Beach, Florida , and the direct commissioning of thousands of professionals. Even so, 193,000 new pilots entered the AAF during World War II, while 124,000 other candidates failed at some point during training or were killed in accidents. The requirements for new pilots resulted in a massive expansion of the Aviation Cadet program, which had so many volunteers that
10292-682: The famous iconic " Why We Fight " series, as an animated map graphic of equal prominence to that of the Army and Navy. The Air Corps at the direction of President Roosevelt began a rapid expansion from the spring of 1939 forward, partly from the Civilian Pilot Training Program created at the end of 1938, with the goal of providing an adequate air force for defense of the Western Hemisphere. An initial "25-group program", announced in April 1939, called for 50,000 men. However, when war broke out in September 1939
10416-465: The first aircraft arrived on 13 July 1943. The ground echelon left for Camp Shanks , New York the same day and sailed on the SS James Parker on 17 July 1943, and arrived at Liverpool on 27 July. The group was reunited at its permanent station, RAF Framlingham , a few days later. The group was the last of the "second wind" heavy bombardment groups that reinforced VIII Bomber Command in
10540-563: The first operational Titan II wing in the Air Force the following day. With a requirement to keep all 18 wing missiles on alert status , maintenance personnel initially worked extremely long hours, particularly until the end of 1964, when the Davis–Monthan launch sites became the first Titan II sites to install dehumidifier equipment that eased corrosion problems within the silos under Project Green Jug. Additional modifications increased missile reliability, survivability, and reaction time. By
10664-494: The following year. In addition to its training function, the school also developed as a tactical doctrine development center, assuming the functions formerly assigned the Air Corps Tactical School . In June 1946, the center became the Army Air Forces Proving Ground Command . As the threat of entry of the United States into World War II increased, the United States Army decided to close
10788-466: The force array. In the first half of 1942 the Army Air Forces expanded rapidly as the necessity of a much larger air force than planned was immediately realized. Authorization for the total number of combat groups required to fight the war nearly doubled in February to 115. In July it jumped to 224, and a month later to 273. When the U.S. entered the war, however, the number of groups actually trained to
10912-660: The ground forces by March 1942. In the spring of 1941, the success in Europe of air operations conducted under centralized control (as exemplified by the British Royal Air Force and the German Wehrmacht 's military air arm, the Luftwaffe ) made clear that the splintering of authority in the American air forces, characterized as " hydra -headed" by one congressman, had caused a disturbing lack of clear channels of command. Less than five months after
11036-615: The group attacked airfields in Romania, landing in Italy. On its return to Feltwell, the group attacked a French airfield, suffering no losses to the three-legged mission. The 390th cut German supply lines during the Battle of the Bulge between December 1944 and January 1945. On 14 January 1945, during an attack on targets near Berlin , a low squadron of the group's aircraft were separated from
11160-446: The group were the first from bombardment groups to be assigned to Eighth Air Force to attend the Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics at Orlando Army Air Base , Florida, where comprehensive training, based on the Army Air Forces ' combat experience, was conducted. The 390th's Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses began their flights overseas on 4 July, taking the northern ferry route from Iceland to Prestwick Airport , Scotland, where
11284-472: The heaviest losses of the three groups in the lead wing. This was a shuttle mission, with the bombers recovering at Twelfth Air Force bases in North Africa, although a group aircraft was one of the first two American planes to make emergency landings in neutral Switzerland. The group received a Distinguished Unit Citation for the mission. The 390th was awarded a second Distinguished Unit Citation for
11408-521: The main attacking formation because of supercharger problems with the lead aircraft, making them easy targets for German fighters, which shot down all eight Flying Fortresses in the formation. This was the highest loss the 390th suffered on a single mission during the war. The group attacked airfields of the Luftwaffe to support Operation Varsity , the airborne assault across the Rhine, in March 1945. On 5 April 1945, Master Sergeant Hewitt Dunn became
11532-550: The name of the commanding general. Among the headquarters directorates were Technical Services, Air Defense, Base Services, Ground-Air Support, Management Control, Military Equipment, Military Requirements , and Procurement & Distribution. A "strong and growing dissatisfaction" with the organization led to an attempt by Lovett in September 1942 to make the system work by bringing the Directorate of Management Control and several traditional offices that had been moved to
11656-666: The new organization took place on 14 April 1944. With a ground school at Orlando Army Air Base , Florida, presenting a two-week academic course, AAFSAT also taught a two-week field course utilizing eleven training airfields in Florida representing all conditions likely to be found in combat, from bare fields to prepared bomber air bases having 10,000-foot (3,000 m) runways . [REDACTED] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces ( USAAF or AAF )
11780-402: The new organization. The AAF gained the formal "Air Staff" long opposed by the General Staff, and a single air commander, but still did not have equal status with the Army ground forces, and air units continued to report through two chains of command. The commanding general of AFCC gained control of his stations and court martial authority over his personnel, but under the new field manual FM-5
11904-487: The only person to fly 100 combat missions with Eighth Air Force. The 390th Bombardment Group flew its last combat mission on 20 April 1945. In over 300 missions, they dropped more than 19,000 tons of bombs. They lost 176 aircraft and 714 airmen were killed in action. The unit claimed the destruction of 342 enemy aircraft. The group dropped food supplies to the Dutch during the week prior to V-E Day . The 390th redeployed to
12028-479: The operating staff, including the Air Judge Advocate and Budget Officer, back under the policy staff umbrella. When this adjustment failed to resolve the problems, the system was scrapped and all functions combined into a single restructured air staff. The hierarchical "command" principle, in which a single commander has direct final accountability but delegates authority to staff, was adopted AAF-wide in
12152-399: The operation, titled Rivet Cap, missiles were removed and shipped to Norton Air Force Base , California, where they were refurbished and stored. Demolition began at missile complex 570-7 on 30 November 1983. In January 1984, the Air Force consolidated the 390th Group and the 390th Wing into a single unit. In May the last Titan II at Davis–Monthan came off alert status, and at the end of July
12276-961: The operational command was designated by the Roman numeral of its parent numbered air force. For instance, the Eighth Air Force listed the VIII Bomber Command and the VIII Fighter Command as subordinate operational commands. Roman numbered commands within numbered air forces also included "support", "base", and other services commands to support the operational units, such as the VIII Air Force Service and VIII Air Force Composite Commands also part of Eighth Air Force during its history. The Tenth and Fourteenth Air Forces did not field subordinate commands during World War II. Fifteenth Air Force organized
12400-524: The proposal the following month which, in the face of Marshall's dissatisfaction with Army GHQ, the War Plans Division accepted. Just before Pearl Harbor, Marshall recalled an Air Corps officer, Brig. Gen. Joseph T. McNarney , from an observer group in England and appointed him to chair a "War Department Reorganization Committee" within the War Plans Division, using Arnold's and Spaatz's plan as
12524-442: The rejection of Arnold's reorganization proposal, a joint U.S.-British strategic planning agreement ( ABC-1 ) refuted the General Staff's argument that the Air Corps had no wartime mission except to support ground forces. A struggle with the General Staff over control of air defense of the United States had been won by airmen and vested in four command units called "numbered air forces", but the bureaucratic conflict threatened to renew
12648-488: The rest Medium and Light groups ( B-25 Mitchell , B-26 Marauder , and A-20 Havoc ). The balance of the force included 26 Pursuit groups (renamed fighter group in May 1942), 9 Observation (renamed Reconnaissance ) groups, and 6 Transport (renamed Troop Carrier or Combat Cargo ) groups. After the operational deployment of the B-29 Superfortress bomber, Very Heavy Bombardment units were added to
12772-524: The role of the Army Air Forces, Arnold was given a seat on the Joint Chiefs of Staff , the planning staff that served as the focal point of American strategic planning during the war, in order that the United States would have an air representative in staff talks with their British counterparts on the Combined Chiefs . In effect the head of the AAF gained equality with Marshall. While this step
12896-472: The summer of 1943 to arrive in England. It operated chiefly against strategic objectives. The 390th began combat on 12 August 1943. Only five days later, on 17 August, the group attacked the Messerschmitt aircraft complex at Regensburg , achieving the highest accuracy of any of the groups sent against the target. Near the target area, the group was attacked by twin engine German fighters and suffered
13020-494: The war, plus a general air force within the continental United States to support the whole and provide air defense. The latter was formally organized as the Continental Air Forces and activated on 15 December 1944, although it did not formally take jurisdiction of its component air forces until the end of the war in Europe. Half of the numbered air forces were created de novo as the service expanded during
13144-461: The war-time Army Air Forces. The AAF was willing to experiment with its allotment from the unpopular Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAACs) and became an early and determined supporter of full military status for women in the Army ( Women's Army Corps or WACs). WACs serving in the AAF became such an accepted and valuable part of the service they earned the distinction of being commonly (but unofficially) known as "Air WACs". Nearly 40,000 women served in
13268-630: The war. Some grew out of earlier commands as the service expanded in size and hierarchy (for example, the V Air Support Command became the Ninth Air Force in April 1942), and higher echelons such as United States Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF) in Europe and U.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific became necessary to control the whole. Within numbered air forces, operational commands were created to divide administrative control of units by function (eg fighters and bombers). The numbering of
13392-515: The wing was inactivated, the Air Force consolidated the group and the wing into a single unit. The unit was first activated on 26 January 1943 at Geiger Field Washington as the 390th Bombardment Group , with the 568th 569th 570th and 571st Bombardment Squadrons assigned as its original squadrons. The group did not begin to fill its ranks until early the following month. The group trained at Geiger until June 1943 when it moved to Great Falls Army Air Base , Montana. Senior officers of
13516-404: The wings of World War II, however, were composed of groups with like functions (denoted as bombardment , fighter , reconnaissance , training , antisubmarine , troop carrier , and replacement ). The six support commands organized between March 1941 and April 1942 to support and supply the numbered air forces remained on the same chain of command echelon as the numbered air forces, under
13640-622: Was a remarkable expansion. Robert A. Lovett, the Assistant Secretary of War for Air, together with Arnold, presided over an increase greater than for either the ground Army or the Navy, while at the same time dispatching combat air forces to the battlefronts. "The Evolution of the Department of the Air Force" – Air Force Historical Studies Office The German invasion of the Soviet Union , occurring only two days after
13764-628: Was activated, it only became official in July, when the school became the AAF Tactical Center. It was reassigned from the center directly to Headquarters, AAF in October 1943.although the commandant of the center remained a member of the board. In October 1943, AAFSAT was reorganized and became the Army Air Forces Tactical Center . A "new" AAFSAT was organized as one of the center's subordinate units. The first group receiving AAFSAT training to deploy overseas
13888-542: Was also used on official recruiting posters (see image above) and was important in promoting the idea of an "Air Force" as an independent service. Jimmy Stewart , a Hollywood movie star serving as an AAF pilot, used the terms "Air Corps" and "Air Forces" interchangeably in the narration of the 1942 recruiting short " Winning Your Wings " . The term "Air Force" also appeared prominently in Frank Capra 's 1945 War Department indoctrination film " War Comes to America " , of
14012-581: Was concurrent with the creation of air forces to defend Hawaii and the Panama Canal . The air districts were converted in March 1941 into numbered air forces with a subordinate organization of 54 groups. The likelihood of U.S. participation in World War II prompted the most radical reorganization of the aviation branch in its history, developing a structure that both unified command of all air elements and gave it total autonomy and equality with
14136-457: Was created in June 1941 to provide the air arm greater autonomy in which to expand more efficiently, to provide a structure for the additional command echelons required by a vastly increased force, and to end an increasingly divisive administrative battle within the Army over control of aviation doctrine and organization that had been ongoing since the creation of an aviation section within the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1914. The AAF succeeded both
14260-498: Was established on 7 August 1943, and given command status on 1 June 1944. as the AAF Personnel Distribution Command. This organization was ordered discontinued, effective 30 June 1946." The primary combat unit of the Army Air Forces for both administrative and tactical purposes was the group , an organization of three or four flying squadrons and attached or organic ground support elements, which
14384-488: Was named the best Titan II wing in the Air Force at these competitions, which became known as "Olympic Arena." in 1969, 1970, 1974 and 1977. These awards were capped in 1979, when the wing was awarded the Blanchard Trophy as the best missile wing in SAC. In October 1981, President Ronald Reagan announced that as part of the modernization of strategic missiles the Titan II was to be retired by 1 October 1987. Site deactivation began at Davis–Monthan on 1 October 1982. During
14508-502: Was never officially recognized by the United States Navy , and was bitterly disputed behind the scenes at every opportunity, it nevertheless succeeded as a pragmatic foundation for the future separation of the Air Force. Under the revision of AR 95–5, the Army Air Forces consisted of three major components: Headquarters AAF, Air Force Combat Command, and the Air Corps. Yet the reforms were incomplete, subject to reversal with
14632-621: Was responsible for the four functional departments. The school officially opened 12 November 1942. An important component was the Army Air Forces Board, which supervised developmental projects. This board also assigned developmental projects to AAFSAT's departments, and had two subordinate boards, the Air Defense Board and, after April 1943, the AAF Equipment Board. Although the Board had been operating before AAFSAT
14756-464: Was small in comparison to European air forces. Lines of authority were difficult, at best, since GHQ Air Force controlled only operations of its combat units while the Air Corps was still responsible for doctrine, acquisition of aircraft, and training. Corps area commanders continued to exercise control over airfields and administration of personnel, and in the overseas departments, operational control of units as well. Between March 1935 and September 1938,
14880-421: Was the 390th Bombardment Group in July 1943, based in England with the Eighth Air Force . By September 1945, the AAF Center had trained 54,000 personnel and the cadres of 44 bombardment groups . During 1943-1945 the AAF Tactical Center operated a combat simulation facility in Florida. Units and airfields were established throughout an 8,000-square-mile (21,000 km) area of north central Florida designated
15004-404: Was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and de facto aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II (1941–1947). It was created on 20 June 1941 as successor to the previous United States Army Air Corps and is the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force , today one of the six armed forces of
15128-460: Was the rough equivalent of a regiment of the Army Ground Forces . The Army Air Forces fielded a total of 318 combat groups at some point during World War II, with an operational force of 243 combat groups in 1945. The Air Service and its successor the Air Corps had established 15 permanent combat groups between 1919 and 1937. With the buildup of the combat force beginning 1 February 1940,
15252-506: Was threatened. 390th Bombardment Group The 390th Strategic Missile Wing was an intercontinental ballistic missile organization of the United States Air Force . Part of Strategic Air Command , it was stationed at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base , Arizona. The wing was first organized as the 390th Bombardment Group in January 1943 and equipped with the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress . After training in
15376-486: Was to supervise the construction of launch silos and command and control facilities for its Titans. Its two component squadrons were the 570th and the 571st Strategic Missile Squadrons. Launcher locations for the 570th Squadron were at Oracle , Three Points , Rillito (4 silos), and Oracle Junction, Arizona (3 silos). The 571st's silos were located at Benson (2 silos), Mescal , Pantano , Continental (2 silos), Palo Alto, and Three Points, Arizona . On 31 March 1963,
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