General Headquarters Air Force (GHQ AF) reorganized its four regional air districts as
Numbered Air Forces in the spring of 1941. By the fall of that year, each of these had organized as a support command and three combat commands. In the summer of 1941 GHQ AF had decided to establish commands to direct its
air support mission in each numbered air force, plus one additional command reporting directly to GHQ AF. These commands would be manned from inactivating
wings, and would initially control only observation squadrons, which would be transferred from the control of the corps and divisions, although they would remain attached to these ground units.
3rd Air Force organized
3rd Air Support Command at
Army Air Base, Savannah, Georgia in September 1941, where it drew its
cadre and equipment from the
17th Bombardment Wing, which was simultaneously inactivated. After the
attack on Pearl Harbor it also conducted
antisubmarine patrols. However, by early 1942, the command's first commander, Asa N. Duncan, like two of the other commanders of air support commands had moved overseas, and similar demands led GHQ AF to believe it had little more than the "remnants" of the command remaining. As a result, it was decided to disband the command. Its
headquarters were moved to
Drew Field, Florida on 1 March and it was disbanded there on 16 March 1942. == Lineage ==