Air Combat Command

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Air Combat Command

Air Combat Command Emblem
Active 1 June 1992 - Current
Country United States of America
Branch United States Air Force
Type Major Command
Garrison/HQ Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
Nickname ACC

Air Combat Command (ACC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force. ACC is one of ten major commands (MAJCOMs), reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force (HQ USAF).

ACC is headquartered at Langley Air Force Base Virginia. Its commander is General John D. W. Corley, with Major General R. Mike Worden as Vice-commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Stephen C. Sullensas the Command Chief Master Sergeant.

Contents

[edit] Mission

The mission of Air Combat Command is to be the primary force provider of combat airpower to America's warfighting commands. To support global implementation of national security strategy, ACC operates fighter, bomber, reconnaissance, battle-management and electronic-combat aircraft. Air Combat Command also provides command, control, communications and intelligence systems, and conducts global information operations.

As a force provider, ACC organizes, trains, equips and maintains combat-ready forces for rapid deployment and employment while ensuring strategic air defense forces are ready to meet the challenges of peacetime air sovereignty and wartime air defense.

ACC numbered air forces provide the air component to USCENTCOM and USSOUTHCOM.

Headquarters Air Combat Command also serves as the air component to the USNORTHCOM and USJFCOM. In addition, ACC augments forces to United States European Command, USPACOM, and the USSTRATCOM.

Air Combat Command consists of more than 109,000 active duty members and civilians (approximately 98,000 active duty members and more than 11,000 civilians). When mobilized, more than 63,000 members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, along with over 600 aircraft, are assigned to ACC. In total, ACC and ACC-gained units consist of more than 1,750 aircraft.

[edit] Units

Air Combat Command consists of four Numbered Air Forces and several Subordinate Units

In addition, units from Air Force Reserve Command Tenth Air Force and numerous state Air National Guard units are allocated to Air Combat Command when activated to federal service.

[edit] History

Air Combat Command was created 1 June 1992 after the inactivation of the Tactical Air Command (TAC), Strategic Air Command (SAC) and Military Airlift Command (MAC).

[edit] Activation

Following the inactivation of SAC at Offutt AFB, Nebraska, a new unified command, the United States Strategic Command, was activated at Offutt, created to manage the combined strategic nuclear forces belonging to the Air Force and the Navy.

Upon activation, ACC assumed control of all fighter resources based in the continental United States, all bombers, reconnaissance platforms, battle management resources, and Intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs). Furthermore, ACC had some tankers and C-130s in its composite, reconnaissance, and certain other combat wings. In 1993 control of the ICBM force was transferred to the Air Force Space Command.

Historically, combat command was an earlier air unit designation. During 1941 and early 1942, the tactical air units of the War Department, formerly known as the GHQ Air Force, formed the Air Force Combat Command. The AFCC was dissolved in the reorganization of the United States Army, effective 9 March 1942, which created the United States Army Air Forces as a major and semi-independent component.

[edit] Mission Realignments

An B-2 Spirit bomber from the 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, Missouri refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker.
An B-2 Spirit bomber from the 509th Bomb Wing, Whiteman AFB, Missouri refuels from a KC-135 Stratotanker.
The F-117A Nighthawk Stealth fighter from the 49th Fighter Wing, 9th Fighter Squadron "Iron Knights," from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, flies a training mission over the New Mexico desert.
The F-117A Nighthawk Stealth fighter from the 49th Fighter Wing, 9th Fighter Squadron "Iron Knights," from Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico, flies a training mission over the New Mexico desert.
F-22A from the 1st Fighter Wing, 27th Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB Virginia being guided into place on the flightline.
F-22A from the 1st Fighter Wing, 27th Fighter Squadron, Langley AFB Virginia being guided into place on the flightline.
An E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System from Tinker AFB, Oklaholma.
An E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System from Tinker AFB, Oklaholma.
A maintenance crew prepares a Global Hawk for a test at Beale Air Force Base
A maintenance crew prepares a Global Hawk for a test at Beale Air Force Base

[edit] Combat Search and Rescue

Not long after activation, ACC underwent organizational and mission changes. The first such major change was the transfer of the combat search and rescue mission (CSAR) from Air Mobility Command to ACC. With the realigning of search and rescue units, ACC gained additional resources, as well as a new mission. The formal transfer took place on 1 February 1993, when the Air Rescue Service (ARS) was assigned to ACC. On 2 July of the same year, the ARS was redesignated the USAF Combat Rescue School and was assigned to the 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, Nevada.

[edit] Flight Training

One of the most significant changes for Air Combat Command resulted from an overhaul of flying training responsibilities. Following its activation, ACC was responsible for aircraft-specific aircrew training, including initial weapon system and continuation training. On 1 July 1993, the 58th and 325th Fighter Wings -- F-16 and F-15 training units transferred from ACC to Air Education and Training Command (AETC). Concurrently, Luke AFB, Arizona, and Tyndall AFB, Florida, for which those respective wings were the host units, also moved from ACC to AETC ownership.

[edit] Tanker and Airlift

The next major organizational change resulted from a fine-tuning of aerial refueling and airlift resources. From its activation, Air Combat Command had assumed ownership of some C-130 Hercules theater airlift assets and KC-10 Extender and KC-135 Stratotankers. Just as ownership of overseas C-130 resources had already been transferred to USAFE and PACAF commanders, it was decided that all C-130s based in the CONUS would be under the control of ACC, while at the same time, almost all KC-135 tankers would be assigned to Air Mobility Command.

There was historical precedent for the reassignment of C-130s to Air Combat Command. During the earliest days of Tactical Air Command (TAC), the command had carried out the "tactical" or combat airborne aspect of airlift operations, leaving the "strategic" or aerial resupply mission to Military Air Transport Service (a precursor of AMC). The tactical airlift mission included logistical airlift, airborne operations, aeromedical evacuation, and air support for special operations. This division of the airlift mission continued until 1 December 1974, when TAC transferred its CONUS-based tactical airlift units, including ANG and Reserve units, to Military Airlift Command (MAC). MAC gained the overseas units from theater commands on 31 March 1975.

On 1 October 1993, all AMC C-130s were transferred to ACC and all ACC KC-135 tankers except those at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, which supported the fighter and bomber aircraft of the composite wing stationed there, transferred to AMC. The command also kept two KC-135s at Offutt AFB Nebraska and Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota, transferred to AMC on 1 October 1993, with McConnell AFB, Kansas, and Fairchild AFB, Washington, transferring in January and July, respectively, 1994.

[edit] Operational Deployments

In Southwest Asia, Air Combat Command provided active duty and reserve component forces for Operations Desert Storm and Southern Watch to deter Iraqi aggression. In October 1994, ACC also demonstrated its ability to react quickly to the buildup of Iraqi troops near the border of Kuwait. In addition, ACC, from its inception, has provided indispensable support to counter-drug operations, including Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS), reconnaissance and fighter aircraft, as well as radar and connectivity assets.

Participation in humanitarian operations has also been a recurring theme. Air Combat Command supported the humanitarian efforts of the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), deploying active duty and air reserve component forces to Provide Promise and Deny Flight in Eastern Europe and Operation Provide Comfort out of Incirlik AB, Turkey. Provide Promise offered humanitarian relief airlift support to the city of Sarajevo, while Deny Flight enforced the "no-fly" zone against Serb air attacks on Bosnian civilians. Operation Provide Comfort, another humanitarian operation, also provided relief to Kurdish inhabitants of northern Iraq who had undergone fierce repression by the Iraqi government.

In addition, ACC supported United States Atlantic Command's humanitarian relief to Haitian refugees associated with Operation GTMO at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. Similarly, the command supported Operation Safe Haven and the processing of Cuban refugees during the latter part of the summer of 1994. Across the Atlantic, Air Combat Command units participated in Operation Restore Hope, largely an Air Mobility Command humanitarian operation intended to provide food for Somalia. Also, ACC regular and gained C-130 Air National Guard units deployed to Uganda and Kenya to participate in Support Hope. This operation, conducted by the United States European Command, comprised part of the United Nations effort to provide humanitarian relief to victims of the civil war in Rwanda.

In keeping with its global responsibilities, ACC initiated a series of "Global Power" missions in 1993. ACC's bomber wings are required to perform out-of-CONUS training flights to demonstrate the capability to perform their "quick reaction" worldwide mission. On one of the global power missions, two B-1 Lancer aircraft of the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota, set a B-1 flying time record on the first leg of their round-the-world flight, 11-13 August 1993. The following year, two B-52s from the 2d Bomb Wing, Barksdale AFB, Louisiana, circumnavigated the globe in 47.2 hours, the longest jet aircraft flight in history.

[edit] Global War On Terrorism

Air Combat Command units flew operational missions during the 2002 Operation Enduring Freedom - Afghanistan (OEF-A) and the 2003 invasion of Iraq, Operation Iraqi Freedom.

The task of developing a comprehensive listing of ACC units present in Iraq, Afghanistan and other combat areas is particularly difficult as the events of 11 September 2001 and the Global War on Terrorism has made such an effort significantly difficult. The USAF seeks to improve operational security (OPSEC) and to deceive potential enemies as to the extent of American operations, therefore a listing of which units deploying where and when is unavailable.

However, it is certain that ACC units are actively flying combat missions currently over both Afghanistan and Iraq.

See Aerospace Expeditionary Forces of the United States Air Force

[edit] MAC/SAC/TAC Units Merged into Air Combat Command 1992


Current Air Combat Command Bases

  • Military Airlift Command
    • 314th Airlift Wing
      Little Rock AFB, AR
      BRAC Inactivated 31 Aug 1993

[edit] Aircraft of Air Combat Command

[edit] See also

Military of the United States Portal

[edit] References

Much of this text in an early version of this article was taken from pages on the Air Combat Command website, which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource.

Additional references are:

  • Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
  • Martin, Patrick (1994). Tail Code: The Complete History of USAF Tactical Aircraft Tail Code Markings. Schiffer Military Aviation History. ISBN 0887405134.
  • Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, England: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.

[edit] External links

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