Established in the United States during World War II to be the Army Air Forces air component of
Operation Torch in 1942, Twelfth Air Force initially moved to England for training, then participated in the invasion of North Africa. It engaged in tactical operations for the remainder of the war in the Mediterranean. Since World War II, Twelfth Air Force has subsequently served both in Europe and later the United States. The Twelfth Air Force serves as the Air Force component to the United States Southern Command.
Lineage • Established as
Twelfth Air Force, and activated, on 20 August 1942 : Inactivated on 31 August 1945 • Activated on 17 May 1946 : Discontinued on 1 July 1950 • Organized and activated on 21 January 1951 : Redesignated as
Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) on 29 February 2008
Assignments •
Army Air Forces, 20 August 1942 – 31 August 1945 •
Tactical Air Command, 17 May 1946 – 1 December 1948 •
Continental Air Command, 1 December 1948 – 1 July 1950 •
United States Air Forces in Europe, 21 January 1951 – 1 January 1958 •
Tactical Air Command, 1 January 1958 – 1 June 1992 •
Air Combat Command, 1 June 1992 – present
Major components World War Two Units USAF Air Divisions •
42d Air Division, 1–8 January 1958 •
44th Air Division, 12 January – 27 June 1949 •
307th Air Division, 12 January – 27 June 1949 •
309th Air Division, 12 January – 27 June 1949 •
310th Air Division, 12 January – 27 June 1949 • USAF Southern Air Division, 1 January 1976 – 1 January 1989 : Redesignated: 830th Air Division, 1 January 1989 – 15 February 1991 : Redesignated:
Air Forces Panama, 15 February 1991 – 11 February 1992 •
831st Air Division, 1 January 1958 – 20 April 1971; 1 December 1980 – 31 March 1991 •
832d Air Division, 1 January 1958 – 20 April 1971; 1 December 1980 – 31 March 1991 •
833d Air Division, 1 December 1980 – 15 November 1991 •
834th Air Division, 1 January 1958 – 1 April 1959; 31 January 1972 – 1 December 1974 •
835th Air Division, 23 July 1964 – 30 June 1971 •
836th Air Division, 1 January 1981 – 1 May 1992 •
838th Air Division, 1 July 1963 – 24 December 1969 •
839th Air Division, 1 July 1963 – 9 November 1964
Stations •
Bolling Field, Washington, D.C., 20–28 August 1942 • England, 12 September – 22 October 1942 •
Algeria, 9 November 1942 •
Tunisia, 10 August 1943 • Italy, 5 December 1943 – 31 August 1945 •
March Field, California, 17 May 1946 •
Brooks AFB, San Antonio, Texas, 1 January 1949 – 1 July 1950 •
Wiesbaden AB,
West Germany, 21 January 1951 •
Ramstein AB,
West Germany, 27 April 1953 •
Connally AFB, Waco, Texas, 1 January 1958 •
Bergstrom AFB, Austin, Texas August 1968 •
Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona, 1 October 1992–present
World War II during the
1940s. The origins of Twelfth Air Force are traced back to a series of mid-1942 Allied planners' meetings to develop a strategy for the invasion of
French North Africa (
Operation Torch). Because this extensive operation required a new organization to provide enough manpower and equipment, activation plans were prepared simultaneously with the invasion strategy. On 20 August 1942, Twelfth Air Force was activated at
Bolling AAF, Maryland. On 23 September 1942, Brigadier General
Jimmy Doolittle formally assumed command with Colonel
Hoyt Vandenberg as chief of staff. Barely four months after it was conceived, 12th AF made its first contributions to World War II. When D-Day for the invasion of North Africa (Operation Torch) arrived on 8 November 1942, 12th AF was organized Initially, 12th AF was a composite organization containing both strategic heavy bombardment groups; and tactical light and medium bombardment, fighter-bomber, and fighter groups. Based in French Morocco and Algeria after Operation Torch, it became very important for 12th AF to coordinate and cooperate with the Royal Air Force which had been fighting in North Africa for two years. Such Allied cooperation was a major concern of American President
Franklin D. Roosevelt, British Prime Minister
Winston Churchill, and their staffs at the
Casablanca Conference in January 1943 where they created the
Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) with Air Chief Marshal Sir
Arthur Tedder as Air Commander-in-Chief. For planning of the
Tunisian campaign, Tedder's MAC headquarters were adjacent to those of his immediate superior, the Supreme Allied Commander, General
Dwight D. Eisenhower at Algiers, Algeria soon after the new Allied air force reorganization took effect on 18 February 1943. The
Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) under Lieutenant General
Carl Spaatz was the largest component of MAC and its organization was based on the 'tri-force' model (
No. 205 Group 'strategic',
No. 201 Group 'coastal', and
Air Headquarters Western Desert 'tactical') indicated above. Thus the three major combat commands of NAAF were: •
Northwest African Strategic Air Force (NASAF) under Major General
James Doolittle •
Northwest African Coastal Air Force (NACAF) under Air Vice-Marshal
Hugh Lloyd •
Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) under
Arthur Coningham. In keeping with the MAC priority of encouraging USAAF-RAF cooperation, Air Vice-Marshal
James Robb was named Spaatz's deputy commander of NAAF and he handled operations. Additionally, the following new units were assigned to NAAF: •
Northwest African Air Service Command (NAASC) under Major General
Delmar H. Dunton •
Northwest African Training Command (NATC) under Brigadier General
John K. Cannon •
Northwest African Photographic Reconnaissance Wing (NAPRW) under the president's son, Colonel
Elliott Roosevelt •
Northwest African Troop Carrier Command (NATCC) initially under
Colonel Ray Dunn and later under Brigadier General
Paul Williams. Lieutenant General
Lewis Brereton's
9th Air Force was assigned to
RAF Middle East although its 12th Bombardment (B-25Cs) and 57th Fighter (P-40Fs) Groups formed a
Desert Air Task Force detached to NATAF's Western Desert Air Force under Air Vice-Marshal
Harry Broadhurst who replaced Coningham when he was promoted to NATAF commander. The 12th AF, the largest air force ever assembled soon after its inception several months earlier, ceased to exist in the new MAC organizational structure. As an operational organization, the 12th AF simply disappeared when its groups were distributed among the various new NAAF commands. The only remaining reference to the 12th AF among these commands was Major
General Edwin House's
XII Air Support Command which along with Broadhurst's Western Desert Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Sir
Laurence Sinclair's
Tactical Bomber Force, and Air Vice-Marshal Sir
Kenneth Cross'
No. 242 Group, became part of Coningham's NATAF. Later, XII Air Support Command became even less obvious when it was detached to No. 242 Group. The curious status of the 12th AF in February 1943 is illustrated by the quotation below taken from the official history "One of the admittedly minor problems of the reorganization concerned the status of the Twelfth Air Force. Its units, personnel, and equipment having been transferred entirely to NAAF on February 18, both on paper and in actuality the Twelfth seemed to have vanished. At his last staff meeting, on February 22, Doolittle expressed the opinion that once such matters as courts-martial had been wound up, the "skeleton" of the Twelfth--"the name only"--would have either to be returned to the States for a reincarnation or be decently interred by War Department order. Spaatz put the question to Eisenhower and, receiving answer that Headquarters, Twelfth Air Force, would be continued as the administrative headquarters for the U.S. Army elements of NAAF, he took command of the Twelfth on March 1. As commander, however, he had no staff as such, it being assumed that AAF officers named to the NAAF staff had been automatically placed in equivalent positions in the Twelfth. Actually, all administrative functions were carried on by NAAF and the half-existence of the Twelfth served mainly to mystify all but a few headquarters experts." Although the 12th AF was essentially unrecognized in the official Allied air force organization (MAC), it was of course, still a major entity in the USAAF. But even the U.S. Army Air Forces World War II Combat Chronology 1941–1945, recorded its daily chronology entries under "NAAF" rather than "12th AF" between 1 March and 1 September 1943. The U.S.
Ninth Air Force retained its identity in MAC (and in the USAAF Combat Chronology) even though it was officially a sub-command of
RAF Middle East Command and most of its groups were assigned to other operational commands such as NATAF after the February reorganization of the Allied air forces. On 22 August 1943, the Ninth Air Force's 12th and 340th Bombardment Groups, and its 57th, 79th, and 324th Fighter Groups were transferred to the 12th AF. This change coincided with the transfer of the 9th AF from the
MTO to the
European Theater of Operations (ETO). On 1 September 1943 all administrative functions of USAAF elements of NAAF were transferred to the appropriate Twelfth AF organizations: HQ NAAF to HQ Twelfth AF, NASAF to XII Bomber Command, NATAF to XII Air Support Command, NACAF to XII Fighter Command, NAASC to XII AFSC, NAAF TCC to XII Troop Carrier Command (Provisional), NWPRW to Photographic Reconnaissance Wing (Provisional), and NATC to XII Training Command (Provisional) but operational control remained with NAAF. The following units were subordinate to the Twelfth Air Force prior to their transfer to the
Fifteenth Air Force.
Active Duty •
355th Wing (
Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) –
A-10C Thunderbolt II,
HC-130J Combat King II,
HH-60G Pave Hawk •
366th Fighter Wing (
Mountain Home AFB, Idaho) –
F-15E Strike Eagle •
388th Fighter Wing (
Hill AFB, Utah) –
F-35A Lighting II •
432nd Air Expeditionary Wing (
Creech AFB, Nevada) –
MQ-9A Reaper,
RQ-170A Sentinel •
474th Air Expeditionary Group (Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona) •
552nd Air Control Wing (
Tinker AFB, Oklahoma) –
E-3B/C/G Sentry Air Force Reserve •
301st Fighter Wing (
NAS Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas) –
F-16C/D Fighting Falcon •
419th Fighter Wing (
Hill AFB, Utah) – F-16C/D Fighting Falcon
Air National Guard •
114th Fighter Wing (
Joe Foss Field ANGS, South Dakota) – F-16C/D Fighting Falcon •
115th Fighter Wing (
Truax Field ANGB, Wisconsin) – F-16C Fighting Falcon and
RC-26B Condor •
124th Fighter Wing (
Gowen Field ANGB, Idaho) –
A-10C Thunderbolt II •
129th Rescue Wing (
Moffett Federal Airfield, California) – HC-130J Combat King II and HH-60G Pave Hawk •
132nd Wing (
Des Moines ANGB, Iowa) –
MQ-9A Reaper •
138th Fighter Wing (
Tulsa ANGB, Oklahoma) – F-16C/D Fighting Falcon •
140th Wing (
Buckley Space Force Base, Colorado) – F-16C Fighting Falcon •
142nd Fighter Wing (
Portland ANGB, Oregon) –
F-15C/D Eagle •
144th Fighter Wing (
Fresno ANGB, California) – F-15C/D Eagle •
148th Fighter Wing (
Duluth ANGB, Minnesota) – F-16C Fighting Falcon •
163rd Attack Wing (
March ARB, California) – MQ-9A Reaper •
183rd Fighter Wing (
Capital Airport ANGS), Illinois)
Direct Reporting Units • 820th
Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Squadron (
Nellis AFB, Nevada) == List of commanders ==