Far East Air Forces The beginnings of PACAF can be traced back to June 1944, when
Major General St. Clair Streett's
Thirteenth Air Force was added to Allied Air Forces,
South West Pacific Area. At approximately the same time,
Lieutenant General George Kenney created the
Far East Air Forces (FEAF) from his
Fifth Air Force headquarters, while the Advanced Echelon became the
Fifth Air Force under
Major General Ennis Whitehead, Sr. The
RAAF also formed the
Australian First Tactical Air Force under
Air Commodore Harry Cobby in October 1944, and when
General Douglas MacArthur became commander of all Army forces in the Pacific, the
Seventh Air Force was added as well. Far East Air Forces (FEAF) was activated on 3 August 1944, at
Brisbane,
Queensland,
Australia. FEAF (Provisional) had actually been created on 15 June 1944, and
Fifth Air Force assigned to it. FEAF was subordinate to the
U.S. Army Forces Far East and served as the headquarters of Allied Air Forces
Southwest Pacific Area. The creation of FEAF consolidated the command and control authority over
United States Army Air Forces (
USAAF) units widely deployed throughout the southwest Pacific in World War II. On 15 June 1945,
Fifth Air Force,
Clark Field, Luzon, Philippines;
Seventh Air Force, Hickam Field, Hawaii, USA; and
Thirteenth Air Force, Clark Field,
Luzon,
Philippines were assigned to FEAF to support combat operations in the Pacific. With the end of World War II in September 1945, the USAAF found its units deployed throughout the Pacific, from Hawaii to
India, from Japan to Australia, and based on a hundred island airstrips, along with bases in China and
Burma. A realignment of these forces was needed by the USAAF to better organize its forces in the Pacific for peacetime. On 6 December 1945, Far East Air Forces was redesignated
Pacific Air Command, United States Army (PACUSA), and its Air Forces were redeployed as follows: • Fifth Air Force: Assigned to Tokyo, Japan : Primary mission performing allied occupational assistance on the
Japanese Home Islands and the
Korean peninsula. • Seventh Air Force: Assigned to
Hickam Field, Hawaii : Returning to its prewar mission for the defense of the
Hawaiian Islands, including
Midway Island; the
Marshall Islands and other Central Pacific islands • Eighth Air Force: Assigned to
Kadena Army Air Base,
Okinawa : Defense of the
Ryukyu Islands, including
Iwo Jima • Thirteenth Air Force: Assigned to
Clark Field, Philippines : Defense of the Philippines,
New Guinea and the
Solomon Islands • Twentieth Air Force: Assigned to
Harmon Field,
Guam,
Mariana Islands : Reassigned to PACUSA 6 December 1945; provided a strategic deterrent for the entire
Western Pacific region With this realignment and reassignment of forces, PACUSA controlled and commanded all United States Army Air Forces in the Far East and Southwest Pacific, and all air forces were placed under one Air Force commander for the first time. In November 1945, the
509th Composite Group left
North Field on the island of
Tinian and was reassigned to
Roswell Army Air Field,
New Mexico, taking the
atomic bomb delivery capability of PACUSA to the United States. Shortly afterwards, Eighth Air Force was reassigned to the newly established
Strategic Air Command (
SAC) on 7 June 1946 and its strategic units reassigned to the
1st Bombardment Division. The major mission of PACUSA in the postwar years (1946–1950) was occupation duty in Japan and the demilitarization of the Japanese society in conjunction with the United States Army. In addition, PACUSA helped to support atomic bomb testing in the
Pacific Proving Grounds beginning with the
Operation Crossroads test on
Bikini Atoll in the
Marshall Islands in 1946. With the impending establishment of the
United States Air Force as an independent service later that year, PACUSA was redesignated
Far East Air Forces (FEAF) on 1 January 1947. On that same date, Seventh Air Force in Hawaii was inactivated with its organization absorbed by HQ, FEAF.
USAF established Coinciding with the establishment of the
United States Air Force (
USAF) as an independent service in September 1947, PACUSA/FEAF deployments to Korea prior to the 1948 partition of the country helped in the establishment of the
Republic of Korea (e.g.,
South Korea), along with the transfer of surplus military equipment and other aid to
French Indochina as well as aid to the
Nationalist Chinese during the
Chinese Civil War which resumed after the end of World War II (1945–1949).
Korean War On 25 June 1950, the armed forces of the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea (e.g.,
North Korea) invaded South Korea. On 27 June, the
United Nations Security Council voted to assist the South Koreans in resisting the invasion.
President Harry Truman authorized
General of the Army Douglas MacArthur (commander of the US occupying forces in Japan) to commit units to the battle. MacArthur ordered
General George E. Stratemeyer, CIC of FEAF, to attack attacking North Korean forces between the front lines and the
38th parallel.
Order of Battle, June 1950 Despite the post-World War II demobilization of United States armed forces, the
United States Air Force still had substantial forces in the Pacific to oppose the North Korean military. When the North Koreans crossed the 38th parallel on 25 June 1950, FEAF consisted of the following primary units*: •
Fifth Air Force (Japan) : Itazuke Air Base, Kyushu ::
8th Fighter-Bomber Wing/Group (F-80, F-82) :
Johnson Air Base, Honshu ::
3d Bombardment Wing/Group (B-26) : Nagoya Air Base, Honshu ::
347th Fighter All Weather Wing/Group (inactivated 24 June 1950) :
Tachikawa Air Base, Honshu ::
374th Troop Carrier Wing/Group (C-54) :
Yokota Air Base,
Honshu ::
35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing/Group (F-80, RF-80, F-82) : Misawa Air Base, Honshu ::
49th Fighter-Bomber Wing/Group (F-80) •
Twentieth Air Force (Okinawa and the Marianas) : Naha Air Base, Okinawa ::
51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing/Group (F-80, F-82) :
Kadena Air Base, Okinawa :: 31st Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, VLR** (RB-29) :
Andersen Air Force Base,
Guam ::
19th Bombardment Wing/Group (B-29) •
Thirteenth Air Force (Philippines) :
Clark Air Force Base,
Luzon ::
18th Fighter-Bomber Wing/Group (F-80) :: 21st Troop Carrier Squadron (C-54) :: 6204th Photo Mapping Flight (RB-17) At that time, the combat units of the FEAF were equipped with the
Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star jet fighter, the
North American F-82 Twin Mustang all-weather escort fighter, the
Douglas B-26 Invader light attack bomber, the Lockheed RF-80A Shooting Star tactical reconnaissance aircraft, and the
Boeing B-29 Superfortress heavy bomber. Support units were equipped with the
Douglas C-54 Skymaster cargo aircraft and the
Boeing RB-17 Flying Fortress, a former heavy bomber converted to photo mapping duties. FEAF personnel also trained, supported and flew with the fledgling
Republic of Korea Air Force (
ROKAF) under the
Bout One Project, primarily operating excess World War II-vintage
F-51D Mustang fighter aircraft transferred from USAF inventory, re-marked with ROKAF insignia, and operated in interdiction/ground attack and close air support roles. • Elements of the 2d and 3d Air Rescue squadrons, attached to FEAF by the
Military Air Transport Service (
MATS), were located at various bases where they could best perform emergency rescue services with their
SB-17 Flying Fortresses. The 512th and 514th Weather Reconnaissance Squadrons of the 2143d Air Weather Wing were located at Yokota Air Base, Japan, and Andersen Air Force Base, Guam. All USAF units engaged in combat during the Korean War were under the overall command of Far East Air Forces. • The 31st Photo Reconnaissance Squadron was a
Strategic Air Command unit, attached to FEAF for operations. On 29 June 1950, the unit began flying combat missions over the Korean Peninsula in their
RB-29 Superfortresses to provide FEAF Bomber Command with target and bomb-damage assessment photography. In response to the threat posed by the introduction of Soviet-built (and often Soviet-manned)
MiG-15 jet fighters into the
Korean People's Air Force (KPAF), USAF F-80 and F-82 units were later re-equipped with the
North American F-86 Sabre jet fighter between December 1951 and Spring 1953. Eventually, these USAF F-86 units would establish a kill ratio of 10:1 versus their KPAF adversaries. During the
Korean War (1950–1953), alongside the U.S. Navy and small allied contingents, FEAF's Fifth Air Force bore the brunt of the coalition air combat operations.
Cold War at
Hamilton AFB, California being prepared to load a
Lockheed F-104 Starfighter being transported to Formosa, 1958. With the 1953 Korean Armistice, the deployed SAC and
TAC units to Japan and Korea were gradually withdrawn, and returned to the United States.
Twentieth Air Force was inactivated on 1 March 1955, leaving FEAF with two Air Forces, the Fifth in Japan and the Thirteenth in the Philippines, although units were maintained on Guam and Okinawa. The question of "
Matsu and
Quemoy" became an issue in the
1960 American Presidential election when
Richard Nixon accused
John F. Kennedy of being unwilling to commit to using nuclear weapons if the People's Republic of China invaded the Nationalist outposts. By 1960, PACAF maintained a combat-ready deterrent force of some 35 squadrons, operating from 10 major bases in a half-dozen countries. As the American effort in Southeast Asia increased, TAC permanently reassigned entire wings of aircraft from CONUS bases to PACAF and increased the number of rotated tactical fighter and reconnaissance squadrons on rotating Temporary Duty (TDY) commitments to PACAF bases in Vietnam and Thailand, along with units to South Korea, Japan and the Philippines. On a daily basis, flight crews would hurl themselves and their planes at targets across the area of operations over the skies of
North and
South Vietnam. • Japan (Fifth Air Force) • South Korea (Fifth Air Force) • Philippines (Thirteenth Air Force) • Taiwan (Thirteenth Air Force) • South Vietnam (Seventh Air Force) • Thailand (Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force) In 1962, PACAF activated the
2d Air Division to be the main warfighting organization in South Vietnam. As the conflict escalated,
Seventh Air Force was activated on 1 April 1966, replacing 2d Air Force. PACAF units in
Thailand were under the command of
Thirteenth Air Force beginning in 1964, then in 1973 a joint Seventh/Thirteenth Air Force headquarters was established in Bangkok to direct PACAF forces in Thailand operating in Indochina (until 15 August 1973), and Thailand until the final USAF withdrawal from Southeast Asia in the beginning of 1976. By 1970, direct PACAF involvement the war was winding down as the conflict was being increasingly turned over to the South Vietnamese under the process known as
Vietnamization. Units from the Republic of Vietnam Air Force (VNAF) took on more and more combat to defend their nation while PACAF tactical air strength was being reduced as several air bases were turned over to the VNAF. Combat aircraft of PACAF flew their last strikes in
Cambodia 15 August 1973, writing the final chapter to the long and costly history of active American participation in the
Indochina War. The
Paris Peace Accords of 1973 ended PACAF's use of South Vietnamese bases, and by 1976 bases in Thailand were turned over to the Thai government. In 1979, normalization of relations with the People's Republic of China also led to the withdrawal of PACAF personnel from
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base,
Republic of China (Taiwan). In 2023, The first Royal Australian Air Force Deputy Commander took up position alongside the USAF Command Chain.
Lineage • Established as
Far East Air Forces (Provisional) on 31 July 1944 : Reestablished:
Far East Air Forces on 3 August 1944 : Activated on 3 August 1944 : Redesignated:
Pacific Air Command, United States Army, on 6 December 1945 : Redesignated:
Far East Air Forces on 1 January 1947 : Redesignated
Pacific Air Forces on 1 July 1957
Assignments • Southwest Pacific Area, 3 August 1944 • US Army Forces, Pacific, 6 December 1945 •
United States Air Force, 26 September 1947 –
Present Historical Operational Components Commands • Far East Air Forces Bomber Command, Provisional: 8 July 1950 – 18 June 1954 • Far East Air Forces Combat Cargo Command, Provisional: 20 August 1950 – 25 January 1951 • Far East (later, Pacific) Air Service Command, later
Far East Air Materiel Command (from 1 January 1947) later, Far East Air Logistics Force): 18 August 1944 – 1 October 1955.
Force • Japan Air Defense: 1 March 1952 – 1 September 1954
Air Forces •
Fifth Air Force : 3 August 1944 –
Present •
Seventh Air Force : 14 July 1945 – 1 January 1947; 5 January 1955 – 1 July 1957; 1 April 1966 – 30 June 1975; 8 September 1986 –
Present •
Eighth Air Force: 6 December 1945 – 7 June 1946 •
Eleventh Air Force: 9 August 1990 –
Present •
Thirteenth Air Force: 3 August 1944 – 1 June 1955; 1 July 1957 – 28 September 2012 •
Twentieth Air Force: 6 December 1945 – 1 March 1955
Air Divisions •
1st Bombardment Division (later: 1st Air Division): 7 June 1946 – 1 December 1948 •
2d Air Division: 10 September – 10 October 1962; 8 July 1965 – 1 April 1966 •
17th Air Division. 17 1 July 1975 – 1 January 1976 •
85th Air Division: 11 May 1945 – 1 September 1945 •
91st Air Division: 8 August 1944 – 27 January 1946 •
314th Air Division: 18 May 1951 – 1 March 1952 •
315th Air Division: 25 January 1951 – 15 April 1969 •
326th Air Division: 1 July 1957 – 15 February 1989 •
327th Air Division: 26 January – 8 February 1966
Wings •
8th Tactical Fighter Wing: 18 June – 8 July 1964 •
18th Fighter Wing: 1 December 1948 – 16 May 1949 •
19th Bombardment Wing: 16 May – 17 October 1949 •
27th Fighter-Escort Wing: attached, 19–29 November 1950 and 6–13 October 1952 •
35th Tactical Fighter Wing: 14 March – 8 April 1966 •
322d Troop Carrier Wing: 30 December 1944 – 15 February 1946
Stations •
Brisbane, Australia, 3 August 1944 •
Hollandia,
New Guinea, 16 September 1944 •
Leyte, Philippines, 7 February 1945 •
Tolosa, Leyte, Philippines, 17 February 1945 •
Fort William McKinley,
Leyte, Philippines, 20 March 1945 • Tokyo, Japan, 17 May 1946 • Fuchu AS, Japan, 13 May 1956 •
Hickam AFB, Hawaii, 30 June 1957 –
Present •
Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan, 8 January 1954 – April 1979 == Commanders, Pacific Air Forces ==