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| Fourteenth Air Force | |
|---|---|
 Fourteenth Air Force emblem |
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| Active | March 1943 - September 1960 January 1966 - |
| Country | United States of America |
| Branch | United States Air Force |
| Role | operation support for AF space forces and commands |
| Part of | Air Force Space Command |
| Garrison/HQ | Vandenberg Air Force Base |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander |
Lt Gen Larry D. James |
| Notable commanders |
Claire Chennault |
The Fourteenth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force (NAF) of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It is a functional echelon dedicated to space systems operations, responsible for missile warning, space surveillance, and range operations for the Department of Defense, NASA, and commercial space launches. Fourteenth Air Force is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base. The Fourteenth Air Force is currently under the command of Lieutenant General Larry D. James. It serves as Air Forces Strategic, one of the air components of United States Strategic Command.
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After the United States entered World War II against the Japanese Empire, Fourteenth Air Force was established by the special order of President Roosevelt on 10 March 1943 as the United States Army Air Force combat command in China. It operated in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater and was popularly known as the Flying Tigers.
After World War II Fourteenth Air Force subsequently served Air Defense Command, Continental Air Command, and the Air Force Reserves (AFRES). In 1993, Fourteenth Air Force was transferred from AFRES to AFSPC.
With the United States entry into World War II against the Empire of Japan in December 1941, Claire Chennault, the commander of the American Volunteer Group (AVG) (known as the Flying Tigers) of the of the Chinese Air Force was called to Chungking, China, on 29 March 1942, for a conference to decide the fate of the AVG. Present at the conference were Chiang Kai-shek; his wife, Madame Chiang; Lt. Gen. Joseph W. Stilwell, commander of U.S. forces in China; and Colonel Clayton A. Bissell, who had arrived in early March. Bissell was General Henry H. ‘Hap’ Arnold's choice to be head of the China Air Task Force (CATF), the USAAF's planned combat organization in China to fight the Japanese.
As early as 30 December 1941, the U.S. War Department in Washington, D.C., had authorized the induction of the Flying Tigers into the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF). Chennault was opposed to inducting the Flying Tigers into the Army. Stilwell and Bissell made it clear to both Chennault and Chiang that unless the AVG became part of the U.S. Army Air Force, its supplies would be cut off. Chennault agreed to return to active duty but he made it clear to Stilwell that his men would have to speak for themselves.
Chiang Kai-shek finally agreed to let the AVG be inducted into the USAAF, after Stilwell promised to replace it with a complete fighter group that Chennault would command. Stilwell and Bissell wanted the AVG dissolved by April 30, 1942. Chennault, wanting to keep the Flying Tigers going as long as possible, proposed the group disband on July 4, when the AVG’s contracts with the Nationalist Chinese government expired. Stilwell and Bissell accepted.
Chennault returned to active duty in the USAAF on 15 April 1942. He was promoted eight days later, on April 23, from colonel to brigadier general. Chennault was told that he would have to be satisfied to command a ‘China Air Task Force’ of fighters and bombers. Its mission was to defend the air supply route over the Himalayan mountains between India and China–called the Hump–and to provide air support for Chinese ground forces. The task force would operate as part of the Tenth Air Force, stationed in India, which would control supplies, personnel and operations. Bissell, also newly promoted to brigadier general–senior to Chennault by one day–would command all American air units in China. Chennault would be a deputy commander, subject to Bissell’s orders.
The CATF had 51 fighters in July 1942–31 81A-1 and P-40C Tomahawks, and 20 P-40E Kittyhawks. Only 29 were flyable. The 81A-1s and P-40Cs were from the original 100 fighters China had purchased for use by the Flying Tigers; the P-40Es had been flown from India to China in May 1942. Both fighters were good medium-altitude day fighters, with their best performance between 15,000 and 18,000 feet, and they were excellent ground-strafing aircraft. Chennault also had seven B-25C Mitchell medium bombers, which came from India.
The AVG was inactivated in July 1942. Its personnel were offered USAAF commissions but not all of the AVG pilots accepted them. The rest of the AVG pilots became transport pilots in China, went back to America into civilian jobs, or rejoined the other military services and fought elsewhere in the war. An example was Major Pappy Boyington who rejoined the United States Marine Corps.
The American Volunteer Group became the 23rd Fighter Group. The three original Flying Tiger pursuit squadrons–1st (Adam and Eve, ‘the first pursuit’), 2nd (Panda Bears) and 3rd (Hell’s Angels)–became the 74th, 75th and 76th Fighter squadrons.
A fourth fighter squadron for the 23rd Group was obtained by subterfuge. In June and July 1942, Chennault got the Tenth Air Force in India to transfer the 16th Fighter Squadron, commanded by Major John Alison, to his main base in Kunming, China, to gain combat experience. When the last 16th Squadron Curtiss P-40E Kittyhawks arrived in Kunming in July 1942, Chennault took them into the CATF–and never returned them. The 11th Medium Bombardment Squadron, consisting of the seven B-25s flown in from India, made up the other half of Chennault’s command.
On 19 March 1943, the CATF was disbanded and replaced by the Fourteenth Air Force, with Chennault, now a major general, still in command. In the nine months of its existence, the China Air Task Force shot down 149 Japanese planes, plus 85 probables, with a loss of only 16 P-40s. It had flown 65 bombing missions against Japanese targets in China, Burma and Indochina, dropping 311 tons of bombs and losing only one B-25 bomber.
The members of Fourteenth Air Force and the US press adopted the name Flying Tigers for themselves after the AVG's dissolution. Especially the 23d Fighter Group was often called by the same nickname — they too were "Flying Tigers".
The Fourteenth Air Force official web site[2] says:
In addition to the core Fourteenth Air Force (14AF) structure, a second group: The Chinese-American Composite Wing, existed as a combined 1st Bomber, 3rd and 5th Fighter Groups with pilots from both the United States and the Republic of China. U.S. service personnel destined for the CACW entered the China theater in mid-July 1943. Aircraft assigned to the CACW included late-model P-40 Warhawks with the Nationalist Chinese Air Force 12-pointed star national insignia, rudder markings and squadron/aircraft numbering and B-25 "Mitchell" light bombers. In late 1944, USAAF-marked P-51 Mustangs began to be assigned to CACW pilots -- first, P-51B and C models, then, in early 1945, "D" and "K" model (sharing many of the external characteristics of the "D" model aircraft including the bubble canopy) reduced-weight versions. All U.S. pilots assigned to the CACW were listed as rated pilots in Chinese Air Force, and were authorized to wearing both nations' pilot's wings.
Most CACW bases existed near the boundary of Japanese-Occupied China, and one "Valley Field" existed in an area within Japanese-held territory. Specific field locations include Hanchung, Ankang, Hsian, Laohokow, Enshih, Liangshan, Peishyi, Chihkiang, Hengyang, Kweilin, Liuchow, Chanyi, Suichwan, and Lingling. Today, the 1st, 3rd and 5th Groups of CACW are still operating in Taiwan, reorganized as 443th, 427th and 401st Tactical Fighter Wings of the Republic of China Air Force . [3]
Campaigns India-Burma; China Defensive; China Offensive.[4]
Its headquarters while in China were Kunming from 10 March 1943 and Peishiyi, from 7 August to 15 December 1945.[4]
Commanders[4]:
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American missionary John Birch was recommended to Chennault for intelligence work by Jimmy Doolittle, whom he had assisted when Doolittle's crew landed in China after the raid on Tokyo. Inducted into the Fourteenth on its formation, and later seconded to the OSS, he built a formidable network of Chinese informants to provide the Flying Tigers with intelligence on Japanese land and sea military positions and the disposition of shipping and railways. He was shot by Chinese Communists 10 days after the war ended, which led to him being chosen as the namesake of the John Birch Society.
Fourteenth Air Force served as a Numbered Air Force during the Cold War years, supervising Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard activities.
The command was reactivated on 24 May 1946 at Orlando Army Air Base (later, AFB), Florida and assigned to Air Defense Command, then reassigned to Continental Air Command. Moved to Robins AFB, Georgia, in October 1949.
The mission of 14th AF was to administer Air Defense Command/Continental Air Command functions in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Puerto Rico, Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico. It supervised the air defense training of active duty units, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units. Continental Air Command later expanded the mission of 14 AF to include the equipping and combat preparation of units.
During the Korean War, 14 AF participated in the mobilization of Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units and individuals from its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base (AFB), Georgia. After the Korean War, the reserve wings of 14 AF participated in various airlift operations, such as Operation SIXTEEN TONS, Operation SWIFT LIFT and Operation READY SWAP. 14th AF was inactivated on September 1, 1960.
The command was reactivated on January 20, 1966, and assigned to Air (later, Aerospace) Defense Command. Organized on April 1, 1966, at Gunter AFB, Alabama. The reactivated 14 AF supported the North American Aerospace Defense Command Southern Region's air defense mission. Later, it provided for Aerospace Defense Command training, testing and evaluation missions.
14th AF moved without personnel or equipment to Colorado Springs, Colorado, on July 1, 1968, absorbing resources of 9th Aerospace Defense Division. Redesignated Fourteenth Aerospace Force on July 1, 1968. The 14th Aerospace Force was responsible for detecting foreign missile launches, tracking missiles and satellites in space, providing space vehicle launch services, maintaining a satellite data base of all man-made objects in space and performing anti-satellite actions. The 14th Aerospace Force also equipped, trained, administered and provided personnel to operate and maintain space surveillance, space defense and missile warning systems. Inactivated on October 1, 1976.
Redesignated Fourteenth Air Force (Reserve), and activated on October 8, 1976, at Dobbins AFB (later, ARB), Georgia, and assigned to Air Force Reserve where it managed airlift forces for Military Air Command and participated in such missions as Operation JUST CAUSE. Redesignated Fourteenth Air Force on December 1, 1985. Inactivated on July 1, 1993.
On 1 July 1993, 14 AF returned to its former space role and became a Numbered Air Force for Air Force Space Command, responsible for performing space operations. In 1997, 14 AF established the Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB in California for the 24-hour command and control of all space operations resources. In 2002, 14 AF became the Air Force space operational component of United States Strategic Command.
In 2005, 14 AF officially opened up its newly renovated operations center. The new command and control capabilities of the Joint Space Operations Center ensured unity of effort for all space capabilities supporting joint military operations around the globe.
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