| Nineteenth Air Force | |
|---|---|
Nineteenth Air Force emblem Part of Air Education and Training Command |
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| Active | 8 July 1955 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Part of | Air Education and Training Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Randolph Air Force Base |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Major General Mark S. Solo [1] |
The Nineteenth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base and belonging to the Air Education and Training Command. It is responsible for managing all flying training in AETC.
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Formed after World War II, Nineteenth Air Force had no units or aircraft permanently assigned. Its mission was planning and carrying out force protection and rapid response. Made up of temporarily assigned fighter, reconnaissance and airlift assets, Nineteenth Air Force responded to the 1958 Lebanon crisis, when the United States sent in forces to sustain a pro-Western government after a conflict in Iraq threatened to spill across the border.
The next time the Nineteenth girded its forces was during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, when the United States blockaded Cuba to prevent ships from the Soviet Union from docking and forced the removal of Soviet missiles from the island.
In 1968, the Nineteenth responded to North Korea's seizure of the USS Pueblo. Negotiations, not force, won the release of the captured sailors, though the Pueblo remains in North Korea. Following the United States' withdrawal from Southeast Asia in 1973, Nineteenth Air Force was inactivated 2 July 1973 as part of an Air Force effort to streamline its organizational structure.
It reactivated at Randolph Air Force Base in 1993 under Air Education and Training Command.
Nineteenth Air Force conducts flying training and follow-on training for most United States Air Force aircrew. Units include the 12th, 14th, 47th, and 71st Flying Training Wings, as well as the 325th Fighter Wing.
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