Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command | |
---|---|
Bolling Field, District of Columbia | |
Motto(s) | "Peace is Our Profession" |
March | "Strategic Air Command March"[1] |
Commanders | |
Notable commanders | Gen Curtis LeMay |
Insignia | |
Shield (subdued) |
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile components of the United States military's strategic nuclear forces[2] from 1946 to 1992. SAC was also responsible for strategic reconnaissance aircraft; airborne command posts; and most of the USAF's aerial refueling aircraft.
SAC primarily consisted of the Second Air Force (2AF), Eighth Air Force (8AF) and the Fifteenth Air Force (15AF), while SAC headquarters (HQ SAC) included Directorates for Operations & Plans, Intelligence, Command & Control, Maintenance, Training, Communications, and Personnel. At a lower echelon, SAC headquarters divisions included Aircraft Engineering, Missile Concept,[3] and Strategic Communications.
In 1992, as part of an overall post-Cold War reorganization of the U.S. Air Force, SAC was disestablished as both a Specified Command and as a
In 2009, SAC was reactivated and redesignated as the Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). AFGSC eventually acquired all USAF bomber aircraft and the intercontinental ballistic missile force.[4]
Background
The Strategic Air Forces of the United States during
The
The
Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U.S. Air Force had begun by the fall of 1945, with the
Establishment and transfer to USAF
Strategic Air Command was originally established in the
SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel.[10] In addition to Bolling Field and, seven months later, Andrews Field, SAC also assumed responsibility for:
- Walker AFB), then home of the USAAF's sole nuclear-capable bomb wing, and
- Schilling AFB)
SAC also had seven additional CAF bases transferred on 21 March 1946 which remained in SAC through the 1947 establishment of the U.S. Air Force as an independent service. Those installations included:
- Castle Field, California (later Castle Air Force Base)
- Clovis AAF, New Mexico (later Cannon Air Force Base)
- Fort Worth AAF, Texas (later Carswell Air Force Base)
- Davis-Monthan Air Force Base)
- Rapid City AAF, South Dakota (later Ellsworth Air Force Base)
- MacDill Field, Florida (later MacDill Air Force Base)
- Mountain Home AAF, Idaho (later Mountain Home Air Force Base)
On 31 March 1946, the following additional installation was also assigned to SAC:
- Kirtland Field, New Mexico (later Kirtland Air Force Base)
Under the first SAC
With postwar demobilization still underway, eight of the ten assigned bomb groups were inactivated before the Eighth Air Force was assigned to SAC on 7 June 1946[12]
Despite the pressures of demobilization, SAC continued the training and evaluation of bomber crews and units still on active duty in the postwar Army Air Forces. Radar Bomb Scoring became the preferred method of evaluating bomber crews, with the last of 888 simulated bomb runs scored against a bombing site near San Diego, California during 1946, subsequently increasing to 2,449 bomb runs by 1947.[13][11] In the wake of the successful employment of air-dropped nuclear weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki to effectively end World War II, SAC became the focus of the nation's nuclear strike capability, to the extent that Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Publication 1259/27 on 12 December 1946 identified that, "...the 'air atomic' strategic air force should only come under the orders of the JCS."[5]
In addition to the strategic bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance. In 1946, SAC's reconnaissance aircraft inventory consisted of F-2 photo variants of the
In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven
Postwar budget and personnel cuts had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions. This continued to wear down SAC as a command and morale plummeted. As a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SAC's eleven groups were combat ready.[5] After the 1948 Bikini Atoll nuclear tests, the "Half Moon" Joint Emergency War Plan developed in May 1948[19] proposed dropping 50 atomic bombs on twenty Soviet cities,[16]: 68 with President Harry S. Truman approving "Half Moon" during the June 1948 Berlin Blockade,[16]: 68–9 (Truman sent B-29s to Europe in July).[20] SAC also ordered special ELINT RB-29s to detect improved Soviet radars and, in cooperation with the 51st Air Force Base Unit, SAC also monitored radioactive fallout from Soviet atomic testing on Novaya Zemlya.
In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire an ever-increasing share of USAF infrastructure and the USAF associated budget. In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on
- Castle Air Force Base, California
- Patrick Air Force Base, Florida[22]
- Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico
- Carswell Air Force Base, Texas
- Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona
- Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota
- MacDill Air Force Base, Florida
- Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho
- Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico
- Loring Air Force Base, Maine
- McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey
- Fairchild Air Force Base, Washington
- Wendover Air Force Base, Utah
Those bases subsequently added to SAC in the United States included:[21]
- 1 July 1948: Topeka Air Force Base, Kansas (later Forbes Air Force Base)
- 1 October 1948: Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska
- 1 October 1948: Biggs Air Force Base, Texas
- 1 July 1947: Castle Air Force Base, California
- 21 March 1949: Bergstrom Air Force Base, Texas
- 1 May 1949: March Air Force Base, California
- 1 May 1949: Fairfield-Suisun AFB, California (later Travis Air Force Base)
- 1 November 1949: Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana[23]: 59
- 29 September 1950: Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia
- 1 November 1950: Ramey Air Force Base, Puerto Rico
- 1 February 1951: Chennault Air Force Base)
- 1 March 1951: Rickenbacker Air Force Base)
- 23 July 1951: George Air Force Base, California
- 1 August 1951: Sedalia Air Force Base, Missouri (later Whiteman Air Force Base)
- 1 September 1951: Pinecastle Air Force Base, Florida (later McCoy Air Force Base)
- 20 May 1952: Dow Air Force Base, Maine
- 5 January 1953: Homestead Air Force Base, Florida
- 15 February 1953: Loring Air Force Base, Maine
- 18 December 1953: Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana
- 1 February 1954: Lincoln Air Force Base, Nebraska
- 21 June 1954: Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma
- 1 February 1955: Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas
- 1 February 1955: Plattsburgh Air Force Base, New York
- 1 February 1955: Pease Air Force Base)
- 15 March 1955: Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base, Oklahoma
- 1 April 1955: Westover Air Force Base, Massachusetts
- 1 April 1955: Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi
- 15 April 1956: Abilene Air Force Base, Texas (later Dyess Air Force Base)
- 1 May 1956: Turner Air Force Base, Georgia
- 1 July 1956: Beale Air Force Base, California
- 1 April 1957: Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas
- 5 June 1957: Richard I. Bong Air Force Base, Wisconsin
(base never completed; declared excess 23 August 1960) - 1 September 1957: Grissom Air Force Base)
- 1 January 1958: Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
- 1 February 1958: Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming
- 1 April 1958: Eaker Air Force Base)
- 1 August 1958: Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan
- 1 January 1960: Larson Air Force Base, Washington
- 1 April 1960: Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana
- 1 July 1962: Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota
- 1 July 1963: Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota
- 1 January 1964: K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan
- 1 October 1968: Kincheloe Air Force Base, Michigan
- 1 July 1970: Griffiss Air Force Base, New York
- 1 July 1972: McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas
- 1 October 1979: SSNradar stations
In addition to bases under its operational control, SAC also maintained tenant wings at several bases under the control of other USAF MAJCOMs. These non-SAC bases with SAC tenants included:
- Amarillo AFB, Texas
- Eglin AFB, Florida
- Lowry AFB, Colorado
- Mather AFB, California
- Robins AFB, Georgia
- Seymour Johnson AFB, North Carolina
- Sheppard AFB, Texas
- Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio
SAC also often maintained a tenant presence at former SAC bases that the command subsequently transferred and relinquished to other MAJCOMs, to include but not limited to:
- Altus AFB, Oklahoma
- Laughlin AFB, Texas
- MacDill AFB, Florida
- Homestead AFB, Florida
- Travis AFB, California
Run-up to Korea and start of the Cold War
SAC transferred to the United States Air Force on 26 September 1947, concurrent with the latter's establishment as a separate military service. Units directly under SAC HQ included the 8AF and 15AF, as well as the
was subsequently assigned to SAC on 1 October 1947.Following the establishment of the U.S. Air Force, most SAC installations on U.S. territory were renamed as "Air Force Base" during late 1947 and into 1948, while non-U.S. installations were renamed as "Air Base".[25][26]
In May 1948, in an exercise versus
LeMay proposed that SAC should be able to deliver 80% of its weapons in one mission.
In November 1948, LeMay had SAC's headquarters and its command post moved from
In January 1949, SAC conducted simulated raids on
Given its global operating environment, SAC also opened its own survival school at
SAC also created Emergency War Plan 1–49 (EWP 1–49), which outlined the means for delivering 133 atomic bombs, "...the entire stockpile...in a single massive attack..." on 70 Soviet cities over a 30-day period.[35]
The first Soviet atomic bomb test occurred on 29 August 1949 and the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) subsequently identified SAC's primary objective was to damage or destroy the Soviet Union's ability to deliver nuclear weapons. The JCS further defined SAC's secondary objective was to stop any Soviet advances into Western Europe, and its tertiary objective was the previous EWP 1–49 industrial mission.
Korean War
In July 1950, in response to combat operations on the Korean peninsula, SAC dispatched ten nuclear-capable bombers to
Initial SAC B-29 successes against North Korea in the summer of 1950 were countered by subsequent Soviet
Although experimented with prior to World War II, SAC refined aerial refueling to a fine art. SAC's in-flight refueling mission began in July 1952 when its
On 15 March 1953, a
Cold War and massive retaliation
SAC's first jet strategic bomber was the
Concern of a
In an effort to concurrently enhance it reconnaissance capabilities, SAC also received several
Since it was designed as a medium bomber, SAC's
Beginning in 1955, SAC also moved a portion of its bomber and aerial refueling aircraft to 24-hour alert status, either on the ground or airborne. By 1960, fully one third of SAC's bombers and aerial refueling aircraft were on 24-hour alert, with those crews and aircraft not already airborne ready to take off from designated alert sites at their respective bases within fifteen minutes. Bomber aircraft on ground alert were armed with nuclear weapons while aerial tanker aircraft were sufficiently fueled to provide maximum combat fuel offload to the bombers.[44]
Concurrent with this increased alert posture and in order to better hone strategic bombing skillsets, the 1955
Nuclear Bunkers, SAC Ground Alert, and transfer of SAC's Fighter-Escort Wings
It was described as the "Western Pentagon," specifically a, "...four-story, reinforced concrete and masonry office building..." above ground and a "...segregated, adjacent three-story below ground command post." This was the description of what would become Building 500 at
In 1957, SAC also constructed
Despite this investment in "hardened" headquarters and command and control facilities, the 1957 Gaither Commission identified, "...little likelihood of SAC's bombers surviving [a Soviet first strike] since there was no way to detect an incoming attack until the first [Soviet nuclear weapon] warhead landed."[51] As a result, SAC's bombers and tankers began sitting armed ground alert at their respective bases on 1 Oct 57.[52]
In another organizational change during this time period, SAC's fighter escort wings were transferred to Tactical Air Command (TAC) during 1957 and 1958.[53] Finally, during January 1958's Exercise Fir Fly, SAC "faker" aircraft (twelve B-47s) simulated bombing strikes against metropolitan areas and military installations in the United States defended by Air Defense Command's 28th Air Division.[54]
Nuclear missiles, aircrew readiness, airborne alert, and strategic reconnaissance
After an early 1961 development by SAC of a Radar Bomb Scoring (RBS) field kit for use in the
In 1961, following the
In 1962, SAC gained full control of the various "Q Areas" developed by
The solid fuel
In October 1962, an SAC BRASS KNOB mission U-2 piloted by Major
Throughout the early 1960s, the Kennedy Administration, under the aegis of Secretary of Defense McNamara, cancelled numerous SAC modernization programs. This included the Mach 3
Vietnam War and latter half of the Cold War
SAC's air war in Vietnam
After
On 23 May 1965, SAC B-52Fs began unarmed missions for radar mapping "...and later to test bombing with the assistance of ground homing beacons..."[73] SAC began saturation bombing[74] on 18 June 1965[75] (8000 tons per month in 1966)[76] and conducted Operation Arc Light missions from 1965 until the end of hostilities involving U.S. forces in 1973.[77]
All B-52F missions in 1965 were against targets in
By May 1967,[80] SACADVON had moved to Seventh Air Force headquarters[81] at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam to schedule and coordinate "...strikes for the 7th AF and MACV."[82] From a level of 161,921 military and 20,215 civilian assigned to SAC in June 1968, SAC lost 13,698 first term airmen from November 1968 to May 1969 in a three phase drawdown known as Project 693[75] to comply with Public Law 90-364.[83]
While conventional bombing, air refueling and strategic air reconnaissance operations in Southeast Asia increasingly occupied SAC's operational commitments, SAC's primary mission of nuclear deterrence continued to remain its primary focus. In 1969, "...SAC's B-52s and B-58s could carry B28, B41, B43, B53, and BA53 nuclear weapons" (SAC had 311 nuclear
On 18 March 1969, along the South Vietnamese border, SAC first bombed Cambodia (
In 1970, SAC deployed the
1972 saw the commencement of
By early 1973, offensive SAC air operations in Southeast Asia ceased and numerous SAC aircrewmen who had been shot down and captured as prisoners of war by North Vietnam were repatriated to the United States.
SAC aircraft used during the
.Post-Vietnam, 1970s budget cuts, 1980s renewal, and the Cold War redux
During the Vietnam War, due to the escalating costs of combat operations in Southeast Asia, SAC was required to close several SAC bases, consolidate other bases, or transfer several bases to other MAJCOMs, other services, or the Air Reserve Component in order to remain within budgetary constraints. This included:
- Altus AFB(transferred to MAC, later to AETC)
- Bergstrom AFB (transferred to TAC, then ACC until BRAC closure in 1993)
- Columbus AFB(transferred to ATC, now AETC)
- Clinton-Sherman AFB (closed)
- Dow AFB (closed; portion transferred to ANG as Bangor ANGB)
- Hunter AFB (transferred to US Army as Hunter AAF)
- Larson AFB (closed)
- Lincoln AFB (closed; portion transferred to ANG as Lincoln ANGB)
- Little Rock AFB(transferred to TAC, later MAC, now AMC)
- Mountain Home AFB(transferred to TAC, now ACC)
- Turner AFB (transferred to USN as NAS Albany in 1968, closed 1975)
With the Vietnam War draw-down following the Paris Peace Treaty in 1973, reduced defense budgets forced SAC to inactivate several more wings, close still more bases in CONUS and Puerto Rico, transfer still additional bases to other MAJCOMS or the Air Reserve Component, and retire older B-52B, B-52C, B-52E and B-52F aircraft:
- Davis-Monthan AFB(transferred to TAC, now ACC)
- Forbes AFB(closed; portion transferred to ANG as Forbes ANGB)
- Glasgow AFB (closed)
- Kincheloe AFB(closed)
- Naval Training Center Orlando McCoy Annex until its BRAC-directed closure in 1999)
- Ramey AFB(closed; portion transferred to USCG as CGAS Borinquen)
- Rickenbacker AFB(closed; portion transferred to ANG as Rickenbacker ANGB)
- Westover AFB (transferred to AFRES, now AFRC, as Westover ARB)
- Wright-Patterson AFB(tenant SAC presence departed and transferred to Beale AFB; base remained with AFLC, now AFMC)
In 1973, the
By 1975, SAC's manned bomber strength included several hundred B-52D, B-52G, B-52H and FB-111A aircraft,[39] and "...SAC's first major exercise in 23 years" was Exercise Global Shield 79.[85] As for the ICBM force, SAC reached a peak strength of 1000 Minuteman II and III and 54 Titan II ICBMs on active status before seeing reductions and retirements through a combination of obsolescing systems and various arms reduction treaties with the Soviet Union.[86]
By 1977, SAC had been pinning its hopes for a new manned strategic bomber in the form of the
On 1 December 1979, SAC assumed control of the
In 1981, SAC received a new air refueling tanker aircraft to supplement the aging
The
On 22 November 1988, the
End of the Cold War and Operation Desert Storm
SAC reorganization at the end of the Cold War began as early as 1988 when the Carlucci Commission planned the closure of:
- AFRESKC-135A air refueling group; and
- Pease Air Force Base, New Hampshire, a SAC base with an FB-111A and KC-135E bomb wing and a SAC-gained ANGKC-135A air refueling wing
The closures were the beginning of a post-Cold War process that would later become known as
Concurrently, the Pease AFB bomber/tanker wing would lose its FB-111 aircraft and transfer to
Additional closures and divestments of SAC bases would continue throughout the late 1980s and early 1990s, accelerating even more so as a result the
- Altus AFB(tenant SAC presence disestablished and transferred to AMC, later AETC)
- Barksdale AFB(transferred to ACC, now AFGSC)
- Beale AFB(transferred to ACC)
- Carswell AFB(transferred to USN as NAS JRB Fort Worth per BRAC)
- AFRES (later AFRC) HQ 10th Air Force, an ACC-gained AF Reserve fighter wing, and an AMC-gained ANG airlift wing remain
- Castle AFB(closed by BRAC)
- Dyess AFB(transferred to ACC, now AFGSC)
- Eaker AFB(closed by BRAC)
- Ellsworth AFB(transferred to ACC, now AFGSC)
- Fairchild AFB(transferred to AMC)
- F. E. Warren AFB(transferred to ACC, then AFSPC, now AFGSC)
- Grand Forks AFB(transferred to AMC, now ACC)
- Griffiss AFB(closed by BRAC)
- AFMC Rome Air Development Center and ANG Northeast Air Defense Sector HQ remain
- Grissom AFB(transferred to AFRC as Grissom ARB)
- K. I. Sawyer AFB(closed by BRAC)
- Loring AFB(closed by BRAC)
- Malmstrom AFB(transferred to AMC, then AFSPC, now AFGSC)
- March AFB(transferred to AFRC as March ARB per BRAC)
- McConnell AFB(transferred to AMC)
- Minot AFB(transferred to ACC, now AFGSC)
- Offutt AFB(transferred to ACC)
- Plattsburgh AFB(closed by BRAC)
- Robins AFB(tenant Regular AF SAC presence disestablished; base remains an AFMC installation with ACC and ACC-gained ANG flying wings)
- Seymour Johnson AFB(TAC base transferred to ACC; tenant SAC presence disestablished and SAC-gained tenant AF Reserve presence transferred to AFRC, now gained by AMC)
- Whiteman AFB(transferred to ACC, now AFGSC)
- Wurtsmith AFB (closed by BRAC)
On 1 July 1989, the
Following Operation Desert Storm, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the de facto end of the Cold War, President George H. W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney directed SAC to take all bomber and refueling aircraft and Minuteman II ICBMs off of continuous nuclear alert on 27 September 1991[88] and placing said aircraft on quick reaction ground alert.[89]
The 31 May 1992 major reorganization of the USAF organizational structure subsequently disestablished SAC, moving its bomber, reconnaissance and aerial command post aircraft and all SAC ICBMs, along with all
Land-based ICBMs were later transferred from ACC to
In 2009, the entire land-based USAF ICBM force and that portion of the USAF manned bomber force that was still nuclear-capable, e.g., the
Commemoration and new commands
The SAC Museum located adjacent to Offutt AFB was moved in 1998[91] to a site near Ashland, Nebraska and renamed as the Strategic Air and Space Museum in 2001.
Organizations commemorating SAC include the Strategic Air Command Veterans Association, the SAC Society, the B-47 Stratojet Association, the B-52 Stratofortress Association, the FB-111 Association, the SAC Airborne Command Control Association, the Association of Air Force Missileers, the SAC Elite Guard Association[92] and the Strategic Air Command Memorial Amateur Radio Club.[93] After the Cold War, SAC histories included a 1990 almanac and a 2006 organizational history.[94]
In 2009, the
Lineage
- Established as Continental Air Forces on 13 December 1944[96]
- Redesignated: Strategic Air Command on 21 March 1946[96]
- Replaced as a specified command by a new unified combatant command, USSTRATCOM), on 1 June 1992;[97]concurrently disestablished as a USAF major command (MAJCOM) same date
- Components
|
|
- Overseas components
SAC also maintained bomber, tanker, and/or reconnaissance aircraft assets at the former
SAC also conducted operations from
See also
References
- ^ Williams, Clifton (27 August 2014). "Strategic Air Command March". Spotify. Retrieved 25 January 2022.
- ISBN 9780850451634.
- ^ "Alliant Techsystems Names Blalock to Head New Colorado Springs Field Marketing Office" (news release). ATK.com. 9 December 1997. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
Chief, Missile Concept Division, Headquarters, Strategic Air Command
- ^ "Fact Sheet: Air Force Global Strike Command". afhra.af.mil. 17 July 2009. Archived from the original (news release) on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 19 June 2015.
- ^ Charles A. Lindberghto inspect six SAC bases. Lindbergh spent more than one thousand hours in the air with SAC crews. His September 1948 report cited low standards of professionalism, poor morale, low proficiency, personnel disruptions, and command training policies that "seriously interfered with training in the primary mission of the atomic squadrons."5
- ISBN 978-184603-247-9.
- ^ ISBN 978-1-4379-2131-1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 December 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2013., to prepare a definitive plan for the reorganization of the Army and the Air Force that could be effected without enabling legislation and would provide for the separation of the Air Force from the Army.
In November 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower became Army Chief of Staff. One of General Eisenhower's first actions was to appoint a board of officers, headed by Lieutenant General W. H. Simpson
- ^ History of Strategic Air Command: Chapter III Operations and Training (Report). Vol. Historical Study No. 61. Historical Division, SAC Office of Information. c. 1957. Archived from the original (partial transcript at AlternateWars.com) on 2 October 2013. Retrieved 27 September 2013. Following are the bases assigned on 21 March:
- Abilene Army Air Field, Texas
- Alamogordo Army Air Field, New Mexico
- Andrews Field, Maryland
- Arlington Auxiliary #4
- Avon Park Army Air Field, Florida
- Bolling Field, Washington, D. C. ,
- Caddo Mills Auxiliary #1
- Cash, Texas, Auxiliary #2
- Castle Field, California
- Center Auxiliary #2, Parma, New Mexico
- Chico Army Air Field, California
- Clovis Army Air Field, New Mexico
- Davis-Monthan Field, Arizona
- Deming Army Air Field, New Mexico
- Dow Field, Maine
- Fairmont Army Air Field, Nebraska (sub-base of Grand Island Army Air Field, Nebraska)
- Fort Sumner Army Airfield, New Mexico
- Fort Worth Army Air Field, Texas
- Geiger Field, Washington
- Gowen Army Air Field, Idaho
- Grand Island Army Air Field, Nebraska
- Great Bend Army Air Field, Kansas
- Greensboro-Highpoint Army Air Field, North Carolina
- Greensboro Oversea Replacement Depot (ORD), North Carolina
- Grenier Army Air Field, New Hampshire
- Harvard Army Air Field, Nebraska
- Headquarters Area, Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Kearney Army Air Field, Nebraska
- Kearns Oversea Replacement Depot (ORD), Utah
- Kirtland Army Air Field, New Mexico
- La Junta Army Air Field, Colorado
- Las Animas Auxiliary #2, Colorado
- MacDill Army Air Field, Tampa, Florida
- Majors Field, Texas
- McCook Army Air Field, Nebraska
- Mountain Home Army Air Field, Idaho
- Oscoda Army Air Field, Michigan
- Peterson Field, Colorado
- Pratt Army Air Field, Kansas
- Pueblo Army Air Base, Colorado
- Rapid City Army Air Field, South Dakota
- Richmond Army Air Base, Virginia
- Rocky Ford Auxiliary #1, Colorado
- Roswell Army Air Base, New Mexico
- Roswell Auxiliary #3, New Mexico,
- Salt Lake City Army Air Field, Utah
- Selfridge Army Air Field, Michigan
- Seymour-Johnson Field, North Carolina
- Sioux City Army Air Field, Iowa
- Sioux Falls Army Air Field, South Dakota
- Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Salina, Kansas
- South Auxiliary #1, Deming, New Mexico
- South Sulphur Auxiliary #3, Texas
- Tonopah Army Air Field, Nevada
- Walla Walla Army Air Field, Washington.
- ^ a b Boyne, Walter J (1997), Beyond The Wild Blue: A History of the United States Air Force 1947–1997, New York: St. Martin's Press
- ^ Adams, Chris (2005). Inside The Cold War; A Cold Warrior's Reflections (Report) (3rd printing ed.). Air University Press. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ^ a b c Horstead, Terry L. (9 November 1983). Historical Summary: Radar Bomb Scoring, 1945–1983 (PDF) (Report). Barksdale AFB, Louisiana: Office of History, 1st Combat Evaluation Group. Retrieved 29 March 2022.
With the activation of the 8th Air Force the demand for radar bomb scoring training increased greatly. The 263rd was relieved from assignment to 15th Air Force and assigned directly to Headquarters Strategic Air Command.
- ^ Broyhill, Marvin T. "SAC History: This section is still under development". Strategic-Air-Command.com. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
Startup – 1944 – 1946. SAC is formed. Assigned 15th Air Force. First 10 Bomb Groups. 8 inactivated.
- ^ Herring, G. B. (Jr.) (19 May 1966). "TBD". Laurel Leader Call. Laurel, Mississippi. Retrieved 11 July 2012.
Radar bomb scoring began in 1946 with 888 bomb releases for the year against a site in the[verification needed] San Diego
- ASIN B0006EZ8GQ.
- ^ "Cold War Story, Chapter 2, The Need to Know-Cold War Aerial Recon Begins, Page 4 of 5 Pages". rb-29.net. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ JSTOR 1894674.
- S2CID 154782339.
- ^ Richard Kohn and Joseph Harahan, eds., Strategic Air Warfare: An Interview with Curtis E. LeMay, Leon W. Johnson, David A. Burchinal, and Jack J. Catton (Washington, DC: OAFH, 1988), 93.
- ^ "Half Moon". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ French Morocco, in early December 1951, completing their 5,000-mile training flight from Carswell Air Force Base ... SAC built approximately 50 to 60 of its second generation bomber maintenance hangars at approximately 46 Air Force installations in the U.S. and internationally between 1952 and 1955
- ^ ISBN 0-912799-53-6. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
- ^ "Patrick AFB - Cape Canaveral Air Base". strategic-air-command.com. Retrieved 23 June 2017.
- ^ Geiger Field transferred to Strategic Air Command as of 15 September. [ATC also] transferred a Geiger subpost, Fort George E. Wright, to Strategic Air Command on 16 July. (the fort had SAC's RBS Detachment Dby 1950.)
- ^ Strategic Air Command (organizational chart), Fall 1947, Accessed 2013-08-14 (published in Mixer, Ronald E (1999). The Genealogy of the Strategic Air Command. Battermix.)
- ^ "Borinquen Field Renamed in 1948 - Ramey Air Force Base Historical Association". Archived from the original on 2 November 2014. Retrieved 2 November 2014.
- ^ "Joe McCusker's Air Force Base List". airforcebase.net. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ a b Schaffel, Kenneth (1991). The Emerging Shield: The Air Force and the Evolution of Continental Air Defense, 1945–1960. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. Archived from the original on 13 November 2005.
- ^ B-47 StratojetAssociation. Retrieved 9 July 2012.
- ^ ISBN 9781403971357.
- ^ ISSN 0028-792X. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ISBN 0-912799-59-5.
- ^ a b c d Baugher, Joseph F. "Welcome to Joe Baugher's Home Page!". JoeBaugher.com. Individual aircraft/model pages: B-2A, B-47, B-36, B-52 (B-52D)
- ^ "Kirtland AFB, New Mexico". Military Facilities: Air Force Bases. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
- ^ Stives, Brian (5 November 2010). "Global Strike Challenge – A legacy of excellence". Eighth Air Force Public Affairs. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ISBN 9781558495869. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ Taegu AB, South Korea. Less than two months later, fearful that Chinese ground forces would overrun United Nations jet bases in South Korea, Fifth Air Force withdrew the 27th FEW to Japan. The wing continued combat operations from Japan until the 136th FBW replaced it in late June 1951.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ S2CID 154529784.
- ^ "History of aerial refueling: Fueling the fighters". af.mil. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ ISBN 1-575100-52-5.
- ISBN 9780816850235. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ^ Joint Chiefs of Staff summary[specify] (cited by Schaffel p. 194)
- ^ House of Commons of Canada transcript (quoted by Schaffel, p. 251—speaker not identified). Note: Massive retaliation was "espoused publicly in January 1954 by Eisenhower's Secretary of State, John Foster Dulles" (Schaffel p. 194)
- ^ ISBN 0-88740-661-0.
- ^ http://www.jeromegoolsby.net/military/sacstats.htmlkept[dead link]
- ^ "7th Bombardment Wing Operations, Carswell AFB, 1955–1958". 7bwb-36assn.org. Archived from the original on 6 October 2012. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ^ "Fairchild Wing To Get Trophy in Bomb Tests" (Google news archive). Spokane Daily Chronicle. 2 May 1955. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
- ^ 1957 | 1525 | Flight Archive. FlightGlobal. (18 October 1957). Retrieved 2013-09-18.
- ^ Haugland, Vern (31 October 1957). "90 SAC Planes to H-Bomb 3 Target Cities Off Map". The Milwaukee Sentinel. Archived from the original on 24 January 2013. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- Public Broadcasting System (SAC mission Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Response Time Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, War Plans Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine, End of the Cold War Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine)
- ^ "Mt. Holyoke Timeline: 1950–1974". chronos-historical.org/mtholyoke. Chronos-Historical.org. Retrieved 30 August 2013.
- Air Force Space Command". Guardian Magazine...funded Air Force newspaper. Vol. 5, no. 6 (Special Anniversary Edition). Peterson Air Force Base. p. 6.
- ^ Narducci, Henry M (1 April 1988). Strategic Air Command and the Alert Program: A Brief History (PDF) (Report). Offutt Air Force Base: Office of the Historian, Headquarters Strategic Air Command. Retrieved 8 September 2013.
- ^ Boyd, Robert J (1988). SAC's fighter planes and their operations. Office of the Historian, Headquarters Strategic Air Command (Supt. of Docs, U.S. G.P.O.).
- ^ a b Preface by Buss, L. H. (Director) (1 November 1959). North American Air Defense Command and Continental Air Defense Command Historical Summary: January–June 1959 (Report). Directorate of Command History: Office of Information Services.
- ^ Clark, Major Rita F. (1 May 1990). SAC Missile Chronology 1939–1988 (PDF) (Report). Office of the Historian, HQ. SAC, Offutt AFB. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
Creation of the new command was achieved by redesignating Headquarters Continental Air Forces ... 1958...1 January Headquarters SAC established the Office of Assistant CINCSAC (SAC MIKE) at Inglewood, California. This position was designated to serve as an extension of Headquarters SAC and was responsible for working closely with the Air Force Ballistic Missile Division ... 1958...17 June The Air Force accepted delivery of the first Titan I ICBM from the Martin Company, formerly the Glenn L Martin Aircraft Company. ... 1959...8 June First SAC launch of a Quail missile. The launch took place over the Eglin Gulf Test Range. ... 1961...4 August Work was completed on all three Titan I ICBM complexes at the 724th Strategic Missile Squadron, Lowry AFB, Colorado, and they were turned over to the Strategic Air Command by the Army Corps of Engineers. ... 1961 ... 7 December Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara canceled the Mobile Minuteman development program. ... 1966 ... 1 July Headquarters SAC organized a special agency, Ballistic Missile Evaluation (BME), to evaluate and make formal reports to the Joint Chiefs of Staff on the reliability and capability of the various SAC ICBM weapon systems. ... 1966...3–7 April The Strategic Air Command conducted its first missile combat competition. ... 17 April The first attempted launch of a Minuteman II ICBM by means of the Airborne Launch Control System (ALCS) ... 1969 ... 29 July The first flight-test of the SRAM was successful. The missile, launched from a B-52H, flew down the White Sands Missile Range and impacted in the target area. ... 1973 ... 9 January Operational testing and Evaluation (OT&E, nicknamed Bullet Blitz) of the SRAM from B-52 aircraft began at Holloman AFB, New Mexico.
- ^ Condit, Kenneth W. (1992) [1971 classified vol]. "Chapter 4: The Weapons Revolution and Service Functions". The Joint Chiefs of Staff and National Policy: 1955–1956 (Report). Vol. VI of History of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Washington, DC: Historical Office, Joint Staff. (Condit's footnote 41 on p. 294 cites:
JCS Hist Div, Chronology of Significant Events and Decisions Relating to the U.S. Missile and Earth Satellite Development Programs (1957), p. 76 and passim. Semiannual Report of the Secretary of Defense, 1 Jan-30 Jun 58, pp. 283–284.) - Secretary of Defense(9 September 1959), handwritten memorandum to the President (typewritten record at Eisenhower Archives with 6/19/79 date at top)
- Quick Kick."
- ^ "Jet Bombers To Descend Near Alto For Series of Mock Air Attacks" (UniSv of Tennessee archives). The Cherokeean. Rusk, Texas. 28 December 1961. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
Strategic Air Command will begin flying missions on 1 Jan. against simulated targets near Greenville, Miss. They will use a low-level entry point near Alto. ... Low level bombing and navigation training has been conducted against fixed sites under the code name "Oil Burner" since November 1959... The RBS train will carry about 65 Air Force personnel. ... The RBS Express...has 10 cars...consisting of existing U.S. Army stock from the Odgen General Depor
- ^ History of the Strategic Air Command, 1 January 1960 – 30 June 1960 (Report). Headquarters, Strategic Air Command. p. 135. (quotation and citation from Evolution of U.S. Strategic Command and Control and Warning: Part 2)
- ^ Adams, Chris (2001). Ideologies in Conflict; A Cold War Docu-Story (Report). Writers' Showcase. Retrieved 15 September 2013.
- ^ "Fact Sheets : RB-47H Shot Down : RB-47H Shot Down". Archived from the original on 29 October 2007. Retrieved 29 October 2007.
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Although LeMay had designated Deputy Commanders in other theaters (SACX-Ray, Zebra, Victor, Yoke, and Oboe) ... [Looking Glass] has authority when the National Command Authority is no longer there to push the button."63 ... SAC released balloons equipped with cameras in Norway, England, and Turkey, and retrieved them off the coast of Japan and Alaska... By presidential decree on 8 September 1955, Eisenhower announced that the ICBM would become America's chief focus in terms of the military arsenal.94
- ^ a b Pike, John (24 July 2011). "Strategic Air Command". Global Security. Retrieved 28 November 2011.
- ^ [full citation needed]"title tbd" (PDF). Ed-Thelen.org.
- ^ A Survey and Summary of Mathematical and Simulation Models as Applied to Weapon System Evaluation (Report). Aeronautical Systems Division, USAF. December 1961. Retrieved 13 September 2011.
the Phase II and Phase III NORAD SAGE/ Missile Master [program] employing SAC and ADC aircraft [under] the NORAD Joint Test Force stationed at Stewart AFB.
(cites Miller 1961) - ^ [full citation needed]"title tbd" (PDF). Archived from the original (AtlasMissileSilo.com pdf file) on 21 September 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013. pdf p. 17
- ^ a b c d "Air Force Fact Sheets" (search page). USAF website.: KC-10, KC-135, LGM-118A Peacekeeper Archived 23 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine, SA-2 SAM Archived 4 April 2013 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "the nuclear information project: the airborne alert program". nukestrat.com. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
- ^ Fisher, Lt Col David R.; Roig-Compton, Captain Aida E. (1 May 1990) [rewritten from 1976 report]. From Snark to Peacekeeper: A Pictorial History of Strategic Air Command Missiles (PDF) (Report). Office of the Historian, HQ. SAC, Offutt AFB. NE. 1990. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
Project "Added Effort", the Air Force nickname for the programmed phaseout of all first-generation ICBMs, began on 1 May 1964 when the first Atlas D's were taken off alert at the 576th Strategic Missile Squadron, Vandenberg AFB, California. ... SAC bubmitted a requirement to the Air Staff on 12 February 1959 calling for the first mobile Minuteman unit to be operational no later than January 1973....tests to be conducted, nicknamed "Operation Big Star." ... The Mobile Minuteman concept, Operation Big Star, test train rolls through the mountains of Utah in 1960.
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Operational Concept of BUGLE NOTE
- ^ Senate Armed Services Committee) on 13 July 2013. Retrieved 30 August 2013..
COMBAT SKYSPOT radar...controlled all Operation MENU missions
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- ^ Oronogo, Missouri. It was the second detachment of the 1CEG to be inactivated in 1968.100 ... Scoring activity stopped on 15 December, the equipment was moved,105 and the detachment inactivated on 25 January.106 The other two reductions were Detachments 3 and 19, 3902nd Support Squadron, at Altus and Homestead AFBs, where Manpower Evaluation Teams were no longer required. ... 100. Det 13, Ellisville, Miss, discontinued 2 Jun 68; Hist SAC, Jan–Jun 68, pp. 14–17.
- ISBN 9780891411895.
By June [1966], after a year in the war zone, B-52s were dropping 8000 tons of bombs monthly in saturation raids on South Vietnam
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The attack of February 24, 1968, killed 1 of the 1CEG personnel, while wounding 4 (myself among them.) Sgts Rose and Norman Thomas of SAC ADVON were also killed.
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- Advanced Manned Strategic Aircraft(AMSA) ... McNamara test, 25 Jan 66, House Subcte No 2, HCAS, Hearing: Department of Defense Decision to Reduce the Number and Types of Manned Bombers in the Strategic Air Command, 6084.
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Further reading
- Clark, Rita F.; Herman F. Martin (1988). Strategic Air Command: Unit Mission and History Summaries. Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.: Office of the Historian, Headquarters Strategic Air Command. at alternatewars.com.
- Deaile, Melvin G. (2007). Always at War: Organizational Culture in Strategic Air Command, 1946–62. Transforming War. Annapolis, Md.: Naval Institute Press. OCLC 1085029166.
- Hopkins, J.C.; Goldberg, Sheldon A. (1986). The Development of the Strategic Air Command, 1946–1986: The Fortieth Anniversary History. Office of the Historian, HQ. SAC.
- Peace...Is Our Profession: Alert Operations and the Strategic Air Command, 1957–1991 (PDF) (Report). Offut Air Force Base, Neb.: Office of the Historian, Headquarters Strategic Air Command. 7 December 1991. Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 August 2016.
External links
- Air Force Special Film Project 1236, "SAC Command Post" is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive