United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa
U.S. Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa | ||
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Active | 19 January 1942 – present (82 years, 2 months) Detailed
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Country | Multirole helicopter HH-60G | |
Transport | C-21A, C-37A, C-130J | |
Tanker | KC-135R |
The United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA) is a United States Air Force (USAF) major command (MAJCOM) and a component command of both United States European Command (USEUCOM) and United States Africa Command (USAFRICOM).[5] As part of its mission, USAFE-AFAFRICA commands U.S. Air Force units pledged to NATO, maintaining combat-ready wings based from the United Kingdom to Turkey. USAFE-AFAFRICA plans, conducts, controls, coordinates and supports air and space operations in Europe, parts of Asia and all of Africa with the exception of Egypt to achieve U.S. national and NATO objectives based on taskings by the two combatant commanders.
USAFE-AFAFRICA is headquartered at
The command has more than 35,000 active duty personnel, Air Reserve Component personnel, and civilian employees assigned.[5]
Origins
The origins of USAFE can be traced to 19 January 1942, with the establishment of Eighth Air Force. Eighth Air Force was activated on 28 January at
Eighth Air Force controlled:
- VIII Bomber Command(Established 19 January 1942)
- Strategic bombardment using heavy, four-engined bombers.
- VIII Fighter Command (Established 19 January 1942)
- Provide fighter escort of heavy bombers
- VIII Air Support Command (Established 24 April 1942)
- Provide reconnaissance, troop transport, and tactical bombardment using twin-engine medium bombers.
- VIII Air Service Command (Established 1942, name changed to VIII Air Force Service Command by 1943)
- Service and logistical support.
On 22 February 1944, the Army Air Forces reorganized its commands in Europe. Eighth Air Force was redesignated as United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe (USSTAF) and VIII Bomber Command was redesignated as Eighth Air Force.
On 7 August 1945, USSTAF was redesignated as United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE). Its headquarters was relocated from
A major postwar mission for USAFE was
In March 1947, General
In 1945 IX Air Force Service Command was reassigned from
European Air Transport Service
The European Air Transport Service (EATS), built around the
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There were also EATS terminals and detachments at
Beginning of the Cold War
Uneasy peace
Concerned about the massive drawdown of USAFE and the
In preparation for the future, the British
Rotation of strategic bombers through Europe
Soviet activity in Eastern Europe unsettled the western allies. President
The United States also provided military aid to the
Berlin Airlift
The
In 1945 the Soviets, Americans, British and French divided Germany into occupation zones. Berlin, although in the Soviet zone, also was divided among the four powers. On 18 June 1948, the three Western sectors agreed on a new common German currency, coming into force on 20 June, that ended the use of occupation currency and introduced the Deutsche Mark. The Soviets considered this move a breach of agreements reached at the 1945 Potsdam Conference, which stated that Germany would be treated as one economic unit. In response to the currency reform action by the West, on 23 June the Soviets cut off electrical power to a large part of the western sectors of Berlin. The next day, 24 June the Soviet Union blocked western all road, rail and barge access through the Soviet occupation zone of Germany to the three Western-held sectors of Berlin, beginning the Berlin Blockade. The Soviets also now rejected western arguments of their occupation rights in Berlin, and legal claims to unimpeded use of the highways and railroads to the city.
USAF mobilization
After discussion of military options, the priority was given to supplying Berlin by air, as the Soviet blockade had little effect on the three Berlin air corridors. The Soviet Union did not initially interfere with the cargo aircraft flying the
On the morning of 26 June, two days after the blockade began, the first C-47 loaded with milk and medicine took off from Wiesbaden Air Base for
To increase USAFE's tactical air strength, in July 1948 75
In August 1948, 10 C-54s arrived in Germany to begin airlift service. In addition, civilian
Soviet reaction
After a few months it was clear to the Soviets that the Americans were succeeding in supplying the western sectors of Berlin with the minimal amount of supplies necessary to sustain it. Mock attacks by
The efforts of many hundreds of pilots and the many thousands of military and German civilians involved in the airlift kept the people of Berlin supplied. On one day, the Berlin Airlift delivered nearly 13,000 tons of provisions with almost 1,400 flights. So great was the stream of aircraft that an aircraft landed almost once a minute at one of the three western Berlin airfields. The continuous engine noise of the aircraft stream of heavy transports not only made an impression on the citizens of Berlin, but on the Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union came to realize that the blockade of Berlin would not achieve the desired political effect they wished. On 12 May 1949, the Soviet blockade was lifted. However airlift operated at a reduced level until the end of September to ensure adequate supplies were available in Berlin in case of a re-imposition of the blockade.[12]
1950s
Even with the
The USAF transferred thirteen combat wings from
Along with these new units from the United States, USAFE moved its forces in West Germany to the west of the
On 1 March 1954, Air Materiel Force, European Area was activated at Lindsey Air Station and assigned to USAFE. However, Air Materiel Command finally attained global responsibility for USAF logistics support, and AMF, European Area was transferred to it on 1 January 1956. As part of this realignment, HQ Spain Air Material Area was also reassigned to AMF, European Area.[14] AMC moved AMF European Area to Chateauroux Air Station in May 1958.
From 1954, USAFE built up a large training organization with the primary mission of training the new West German
In 1955, the force structure was as follows:
- Wiesbaden Air Base, FRG – HQ USAFE/7110th Air Base Group
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Erding, Landsberg, and Neubiberg Air Bases, although nominally under USAF control, were being used to train West German Luftwaffe pilots. When training was complete, the bases were turned over to West German control. The last of these bases were turned over by 1960. Erding Air Base was shared by USAFE interceptors briefly in the early 1970s.
, Greece, Turkey, Italy, and Spain.On 4 November 1956, Soviet troops invaded Hungary, after the
1960s
1961 Berlin Crisis
The 1961
When the Western allies objected to this proposed peace treaty, Khrushchev began speaking about restricting the West's aerial access to Berlin and preventing the entry of East Germans into the city. This possibility started an exodus of Germans from the eastern zone as they rushed to leave their sector and relocate in West Germany.
Departures snowballed from a few dozen refugees daily to a flow of 4,000 per day by August 1961. On the night of 12 August 1961 the Soviet backed East German government began erecting the Berlin Wall to prevent this flow of workers from communism, precipitating a new Cold War crisis that had been brewing for the previous twelve months. Berlin became a divided city. The response agreed to by the Kennedy Administration was to rapidly increase tactical airpower in Europe during the summer of 1961.
The Air Force responded with a two-phase deployment of reinforcements to Europe – the largest such overseas movement of aircraft since World War II. The first phase began on 5 September with
The second phase began with the movement of eleven
The primary combat mission of the STAIR STEP units was air superiority and offensive tactical air support operations using conventional munitions to defend West Germany if a war developed over Berlin access. Upon arrival in Europe their missions consisted of command inspections, theater flying training, air-ground close support operations, gunnery training, photo missions, and air defense alert duty. Though equipped with conventional weapons, the STAIR STEP F-84F and F-86H squadrons maintained their proficiency to deliver nuclear weapons by practicing toss bombing. By March 1962, the Berlin Crisis was subsiding and plans were being made for departure of the ANG wings from Europe. Units were to return all personnel, equipment, and aircraft to CONUS by 1 September 1962 for early release from active duty.
However, the Berlin Wall was built and a barbed wire fence with minefields extended the entire north–south length of a divided Germany. The wall effectively isolated East Germany for the next twenty-eight years. But the American, British, and French Zones still remained in Berlin and access to the city was not challenged again. TACK HAMMER and STAIR STEP forces had served their purpose; their rapid deployment to France had unequivocally demonstrated the United States' determination to defend Berlin.
Beginning about 1963 due to the Vietnam War, USAFE/NATO's total strength steadily declined, as the U.S. reduced forces in Europe to fight a limited war in Southeast Asia for ten years.
French withdrawal from NATO's military structure
On 7 March 1966, French President Charles de Gaulle announced that France would withdraw from NATO's integrated military structure. He gave NATO forces one year (until 1 April 1967) to depart France. The United States Department of State, Department of Defense, and Air Force carefully managed the news about the American departure from France, and the attendant problems of an integrated NATO air defense for western Europe and the decrease in tactical airpower. However, the news media were focusing on Vietnam, so the removal of NATO forces from France went virtually unreported in the US.
During 1966–67 all USAF offices and facilities in France were closed and personnel and equipment moved to other NATO countries. The last USAFE activities were the 1630th Air Base Squadron at Orly Airport and the Paris Administration Office. Both were closed in June 1967. A C-47 variant, the
During 1967, the 49th TFW's three squadrons flew back to the US where they were stationed at
Although the withdrawal of USAFE forces from France was completed in 1967, it took until the mid-1970s until USAFE fully realigned its forces in Europe. Zweibrücken AB in West Germany and RAF Upper Heyford in England came under USAFE control within the next several years. Older reconnaissance and fighter aircraft were redeployed from France to Southeast Asia to supplement the U.S. Pacific Air Forces engaged in the Vietnam War.
USAFE in Spain
Before Spain joined NATO in 1982, the USAF had for many years used Spanish air bases. Initially used primarily by the Strategic Air Command, they were Morón Air Base, at Morón near Sevilla in southern Spain, and Torrejón Air Base at Torrejón near Madrid. The Spanish air bases were important for reinforcing USAFE via the southern Atlantic route. Aircraft that flew to Europe via Lajes Field in the Azores always made a refueling stop at Morón, and later at Torrejon as well. These bases also had American facilities for carrying out aircraft maintenance and repairs. Yet it was primarily the good weather that drew USAFE to Spain for weapons training, which at that time was still mainly held in Libya utilizing the ranges at Wheelus Air Base.
After June 1960, when SAC's
As the American-Libyan relationship worsened throughout the second half of the 1960s, a growing number of USAFE fighter-bomber squadrons in England and Germany went to Zaragoza and gunnery ranges in Spain for weapons training. Zaragoza later became an important weapons training site for the USAFE and was also visited by F-15 Eagle squadrons for "Dissimilar Air Combat Training". During these air combat training exercises, the F-15s often practiced against Spanish Air Force Dassault Mirage F-1 fighters.
In April 1966, the 16th Air Force was transferred from SAC to the USAFE, with USAFE taking control of the Spanish air bases at Zaragoza and Morón. Under USAFE, the Spanish bases became host to a growing number of deployments from CONUS. Morón received regular visits from Lockheed F-104C Starfighters of the 479th TFW from
During the mid-1960s, the 16th Air Force also gradually took over responsibility for all USAFE operations around the Mediterranean.
USAFE in Turkey
The U.S. Logistics Group (
In
In 1966, Senate majority leader
The cutbacks in forces in Turkey naturally had a major effect on TUSLOG. The headquarters in Ankara shrank to a fraction of its former size. On 9 September, it was inactivated as the 7217th Air Division and the next day reestablished as Detachment 1 of Headquarters, Sixteen Air Force.
1970s and 1980s
Changes continued through the early 1970s. Headquarters USAFE transferred from
In 1976, the new
This retraining was the joint responsibility of USAFE and
These Eagles were to be used primarily for ground crew familiarization in anticipation of the arrival of the 525th TFS's first F-15As. The 23 aircraft for this first operational squadron left Langley AFB on 27 April 1977 for a mass Atlantic crossing. Over the following months, the aircraft for two other squadrons (22nd TFS and 53rd TFS) arrived. The 36th TFW's full strength of 79 fully operational F-15As was reached in December 1977. Project Ready Eagle was completed in precisely one year.
However, after flying the F15A and F-15B for just 18 months, the USAFE exchanged these models for the newer F-15C and F-15D Eagles. In May 1980, the 32d flew five of its F-15A/B Eagles to
On 8 August 1985, a terrorist car bomb attack was made against Rhein-Main Air Base. Two Americans were killed and 23 people, including Germans, were injured.[citation needed] The blast was powerful caused debris and damage to the base including to 30 vehicles, trees and windows.
SS-20s pointing at Europe
By 1975, NATO had lost its strategic nuclear lead over the Soviet Union and with the introduction of the Soviet
NATO carried out its plans to station cruise missiles in Europe despite strong protests from the peace movements and heavy diplomatic pressure in the European Parliament. NATO's condition for not carrying out its plans was the Soviet Union's willingness to halt the deployment of mobile SS-20 nuclear missiles aimed at Europe and remove the missiles already deployed. In 1979, when the NATO decision was taken, the Soviet Union had 14 (1 operational) SS-20 launch sites. The eighty Soviet SS-20s located in the
The first General Dynamics
Disarmament talks between East and West resulted in a disarmament treaty being signed by Soviet Communist Party General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev and US President Ronald Reagan at the end of 1987 during Gorbachev's visit to the United States. The Soviet Union agreed to dismantle the SS-20s and the American cruise missiles were also to be withdrawn.
The historic
Post–Cold War era
USAFE never had to fight the Soviet Armed Forces and the Warsaw Pact states in Europe. The Soviet Union collapsed in 1990–91. The end of the Cold War saw a clamoring for a "peace dividend", and questions from many U.S. and Western European officials about the appropriate size and purpose of American military forces in Europe.
All U.S. and NATO allies' military forces experienced a series of changes over the next five years. USAFE shrunk from over 850 aircraft and 72,000 personnel scattered among 27 bases in 1990 to approximately 240 aircraft, 33,000 personnel, and six flying bases by the end of 1996. In July 1994, with President Clinton in attendance, the British, French, and American air and land forces in Berlin were inactivated in a ceremony on the Four Ring Parade field at
Iraq and Kuwait in the 1990s
With the onset of Operations
The command's air support was lethal.[18] For example, USAFE accounted for only 20 percent of the air-to-air assets in Desert Storm, but claimed half of the air-to-air kills.[19] More than 85,000 tons of munitions, including more than 35,000 bombs and 7,800 missiles, were built up in theatre. These were used in countless strike, interdiction and close air support missions.
USAFE activated aeromedical staging facilities and contingency hospitals, increasing available bed space 1,500 percent above normal peacetime operations. More than 9,000 patients, mostly suffering from noncombat-related illnesses and injuries, were evacuated to Europe. More than 3,000 were treated at USAFE medical facilities. Almost 7,600 patients were later air evacuated to the
After Desert Storm ended, Kurdish rebels and Iraqi forces continued fighting in northern
Operation Northern Watch (ONW) commenced on 1 January 1997 as the successor to Operation Provide Comfort. It was run by a Combined Task Force (CTF) charged with enforcing a no-fly zone above the 36th parallel in Iraq, with the United States, United Kingdom, and Turkey providing approximately 45 aircraft and more than 1,400 personnel. In addition to USAF airmen, the joint U.S. forces of some 1,100 U.S. personnel, included sailors, soldiers, and Marines, as well as sorties from every air arm of the U.S. armed forces. The USAF portion of ONW was primarily a USAFE operation, since all USAF assets participating operated out of Europe. The USAF portion of the mission was partially flown by rotational aircraft and units from Air Combat Command, Air Mobility Command, Pacific Air Forces, Air Force Special Operations Command, and Air Force Reserve Command, and Air National Guard units operationally-gained by them.
The original mandate from the Turkish government allowed the operation to continue for six months. Turkey subsequently approved two 6-month extensions, but indicated that it would not become a permanent mission. For the first year of the mission, northern Iraq was quiet, with no combat between Coalition aircraft and Iraqi forces.
From December 1998 to March 1999, U.S. and coalition aircraft over northern Iraq came under almost daily fire from Iraqi surface-to-air missile sites and anti-aircraft guns. These aircraft responded by bombing Iraqi air-defense sites which fired on them, utilizing laser-guided bombs as well as AGM-88 HARM missiles and AGM-130 long range air-to-surface missiles.
Low level conflict over Northern Iraq continued up until the 2003 invasion of Iraq, although the number of incidents declined dramatically after 1999. The final ONW combat air patrol occurred on 17 March 2003 from Incirlik Air Base. Six weeks later, the operation concluded with an official stand down on 1 May 2003.[21] A grand total of 36,000 sorties were flown during Operation Northern Watch, and 40,000 personnel had been deployed at some point during the operation. USAFE also sent aircraft and personnel to help man Operation Southern Watch, operating from Saudi Arabia under Central Command Air Forces.[22]
Balkans operations
USAFE also provided air protection over the skies of
USAFE forces again mobilized in March 1999, when NATO intervened in Kosovo to halt a Yugoslav counter-insurgency targeting the Kosovo Liberation Army. USAFE forces provided air-support for Albanian fighters on the ground. Albanian refugees appeared after the beginning of hostilities. Efforts to find a diplomatic solution collapsed, resulting in Operation Allied Force–the NATO-led air war over Kosovo. The 78-day operation ended 20 June culminating in the withdrawal of Serb forces from Kosovo and the eventual return of refugees. USAFE's 3rd Air Force led Joint Task Force Shining Hope, established to assist the hundreds of thousands of refugees who left Kosovo because of war. USAFE continues to contribute to NATO-led forces promoting peace and stability in Kosovo.[24]
Afghanistan and Iraq
During the
USAFE airmen are engaged in a wide range of active U.S. military efforts in Europe and Africa, including realistic U.S. and NATO exercises and operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Somalia.
The 414th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron was activated at Incirlik Air Base in Turkey in October 2011.
On 20 April 2012, USAFAF was merged with USAFE to become United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). The merger was a result of
Operating units, 2022
As of March 2022, the Third Air Force had ten wings totalling over 32,000 personnel. Some of the major units assigned to USAFE-AFAFRICA are:[27]
Tenant Flying Units not part of USAFE-AFAFRICA:
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The United States Air Forces in Europe Band with its approximately 48 members is located on Ramstein Air Base, Germany.[31] In addition to its own units, the command is routinely augmented by rotational aircraft and personnel from Air Combat Command (ACC), Air Mobility Command (AMC), Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) and Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) units in the United States, as well as Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) and Air National Guard (ANG) units.
Air Forces Africa comprises two air expeditionary groups, both subordinate to the 435th Air Expeditionary Wing (435 AEW). The 449th Air Expeditionary Group (449 AEG) at Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti flies a multitude of missions for Combined Joint Task Force – Horn of Africa (CJTF-HOA). Among its subordinate units are the 75th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron (C-130) as well as pararescuemen from the 82nd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron which are rotated from rescue wings in the United States. The 60th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron flew UAVs from Djibouti from after 2010 until it was inactivated in 2015.[32]
The 409th Air Expeditionary Group (409 AEG) carries out surveillance and reconnaissance missions across the entire Africa Command area of responsibility, from multiple locations.[33] It is equipped with unmanned aerial vehicles.
Lineage, assignments, components
- Redesignated: from United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe to United States Air Forces in Europe on 7 August 1945
- Was a specified command of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, 22 January 1951 – 1 July 1956
- Redesignated: United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa on 20 April 2012
Assignments
- European Theater of Operations United States Army, c. 18 June 1942
- European Command, 15 March 1947
- United States Air Force, 26 September 1947–present
Stations
- Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France, 26 September 1944
- Wiesbaden AB, Germany (Later West Germany), 28 September 1945 - 15 August 1953
- Lindsey AB (later, Lindsey AS), West Germany, 15 August 1953 - 14 March 1973
- Ramstein AB, West Germany (now Germany), 14 March 1973 – present
Components
Commands
- IX Air Service Command(later European Air Materiel Command): c. 15 August 1945 – 10 November 1947
- IX Air Defense Command (1945–46)
- European Aviation Engineer (Provisional): 22 December 1945 – 20 November 1946
- Headquarters, Command, USAFE (Provisional): 12 October 1946 – 1 July 1948
- 8th Interceptor (later, 8th Fighter; VIII Fighter): 1 February 1942 – 22 February 1944; 16 July 1945 – 20 March 1946
- 8th Air Force Base Command (later, 8th Air Force Service Command; VIII Air Force Service Command; Air Service Command, USSTAF: Air Technical Service Command in Europe): c. 9 June 1942 – 30 September 1945
- XII Tactical Air: 15 November 1945 – 10 November 1947
Task Forces
- Airlift (Provisional): 29 July-4 November 1948
- 1st Airlift: 14 October 1948 – 1 October 1949
- VIII Air Force Base (later, Base): 18 October 1943 – 1 March 1944; 30 September 1945 – 25 May 1946
Air Forces
- Third Air Force (later redesignated Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe)): 1 May 1951 – 1 November 2005; 1 December 2006–present
- Ninth Air Force: June 1944 – 2 December 1945
- Twelfth Air Force
- Attached 12 September-9 November 1942
- Assigned 7–31 August 1945; 21 January 1951 – 1 January 1958
- Fifteenth Air Force: 22 February 1944 – 15 September 1945
- Sixteenth Air Force: 15 April 1966 – 30 April 2008
- Seventeenth Air Force: 23 April 1953 – 30 September 1996; 1 October 2008 – 20 April 2012
Air Divisions
- 2d Air Division: 1 June 1949 – 20 January 1951; 15 April 1955 – 1 April 1962
- 3d Air Division: 23 August 1948 – 2 January 1949; 21 January-1 May 1951; 25 October 1953 – 1 March 1954. 40: c. 31 October 1945 – 20 December 1946
- 42d Air Division: 26 July-13 October 1945
- 65th Air Division: 1 July 1960 – 1 January 1965
- 86th Air Division: 1 July 1948 – 10 October 1949; 1 January 1958 – 15 November 1959; 1 July-1 September 1963; 20 May 1965 – 5 October 1968.
- 302d Air Division: 18 July-c. 8 December 1945
- 306th Air Division: 15 November 1959 – 1 April 1960
- 322d Air Division: 1 March-1 April 1954
- 7217th Air Division: 15 November 1959 – 9 September 1970
- 7499th Air Division: 29 July-5 September 1948 (Berlin Airlift Force)[34]
Services
- European Air Transport Service: 4 September 1945 – 20 December 1947
Groups
- 27th Fighter Group.
- others
List of commanders
No. | Commander | Term | |||
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Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Term length | |
1 | Lieutenant General John K. Cannon | 4 July 1945 | 14 August 1947 | 2 years, 41 days | |
- | Brigadier General John F. McBlain Acting | 14 August 1947 | 20 October 1947 | 67 days | |
2 | 20 October 1947 | 16 October 1948 | 362 days | ||
1 | Lieutenant General John K. Cannon | 16 October 1948 | 21 January 1951 | 2 years, 97 days | |
3 | General Lauris Norstad | 21 January 1951 | 27 July 1953 | 2 years, 187 days | |
4 | Lieutenant General William H. Tunner | 27 July 1953 | 1 July 1957 | 3 years, 339 days | |
5 | General Frank F. Everest | 1 July 1957 | 1 August 1959 | 2 years, 31 days | |
6 | General Frederic H. Smith Jr. | 1 August 1959 | 1 July 1961 | 1 year, 334 days | |
7 | General Truman H. Landon | 1 July 1961 | 1 August 1963 | 2 years, 31 days | |
8 | General Gabriel P. Disosway | 1 August 1963 | 1 August 1965 | 2 years, 0 days | |
9 | General Bruce K. Holloway | 1 August 1965 | 1 August 1966 | 1 year, 0 days | |
10 | General Maurice A. Preston | 1 August 1966 | 1 August 1968 | 2 years, 0 days | |
11 | General Horace M. Wade | 1 August 1968 | 1 February 1969 | 184 days | |
12 | General Joseph R. Holzapple | 1 February 1969 | 1 September 1971 | 2 years, 212 days | |
13 | General David C. Jones | 1 September 1971 | 1 July 1974 | 2 years, 303 days | |
14 | 1 July 1974 | 1 September 1975 | 1 year, 62 days | ||
15 | General Richard H. Ellis | 1 September 1975 | 1 August 1977 | 1 year, 334 days | |
16 | General William J. Evans | 1 August 1977 | 1 August 1978 | 1 year, 0 days | |
17 | General John W. Pauly | 1 August 1978 | 1 August 1980 | 2 years, 0 days | |
18 | General Charles A. Gabriel | 1 August 1980 | 1 July 1982 | 1 year, 334 days | |
19 | General Billy M. Minter | 1 July 1982 | 1 November 1984 | 2 years, 123 days | |
20 | General Charles L. Donnelly Jr. | 1 November 1984 | 1 May 1987 | 2 years, 181 days | |
21 | General William L. Kirk | 1 May 1987 | 12 April 1989 | 1 year, 346 days | |
22 | 12 April 1989 | 26 June 1990 | 1 year, 75 days | ||
23 | General Robert C. Oaks | 26 June 1990 | 29 July 1994 | 4 years, 33 days | |
24 | General James L. Jamerson | 29 July 1994 | 17 July 1995 | 353 days | |
25 | General Richard E. Hawley | 17 July 1995 | 4 April 1996 | 262 days | |
26 | General Michael E. Ryan | 4 April 1996 | 6 October 1997 | 1 year, 185 days | |
- | Lieutenant General William J. Begert Acting | 6 October 1997 | 5 December 1997 | 60 days | |
27 | General John P. Jumper | 5 December 1997 | 13 January 2000 | 2 years, 39 days | |
28 | General Gregory S. Martin | 13 January 2000 | 12 August 2003 | 3 years, 211 days | |
29 | General Robert H. Foglesong | 12 August 2003 | 6 December 2005 | 2 years, 116 days | |
30 | General William T. Hobbins | 6 December 2005 | 10 December 2007 | 2 years, 4 days | |
31 | 10 December 2007 | 9 January 2008 | 30 days | ||
32 | General Roger A. Brady | 9 January 2008 | 13 December 2010 | 2 years, 338 days | |
33 | 13 December 2010 | 31 July 2012 | 1 year, 231 days | ||
34 | General Philip M. Breedlove | 31 July 2012 | 10 May 2013 | 283 days | |
- | Lieutenant General Noel T. Jones Acting | 10 May 2013 | 2 August 2013 | 84 days | |
35 | General Frank Gorenc | 2 August 2013 | 11 August 2016 | 3 years, 9 days | |
36 | General Tod D. Wolters | 11 August 2016 | 1 May 2019 | 2 years, 263 days | |
37 | General Jeffrey L. Harrigian | 1 May 2019 | 27 June 2022 | 3 years, 57 days | |
38 | General James B. Hecker | 27 June 2022 | Incumbent | 1 year, 296 days |
See also
- Outline of the U.S. Air Force in Europe at the end of the Cold War
- United States Air Force in France
- United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
- Strategic Air Command in the United Kingdom
- List of joint US-Bulgarian military bases
Notes
- ^ a b c d "United States Air Forces in Europe (USAF) > Air Force Historical Research Agency > Display".
- ^ "About Us".
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 April 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ "BRIEF HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCES IN EUROPE (USAFE)".
- ^ a b c "Factsheets : Fact Sheet: Usafe-Afafrica". Usafe.af.mil. Retrieved 21 April 2014.
- ^ "Account Suspended". usaaf.net. Archived from the original on 11 February 2009.
- ^ See also Eduard Mark, The United States Air Force and European Security, Air Force History and Museums Program, 1999, 31.
- ^ See Daso, Dik Alan. 2002. "Focus: The Shaft of the Spear – Operation LUSTY: The US Army Air Forces' Exploitation of the Luftwaffe's Secret Aeronautical Technology, 1944–45". Airpower Journal. 16, no. 1: 28.
- ^ Eduard Mark, The United States Air Force and European Security, Air Force History and Museums Program, 1999, 32.
- ISBN 1-85310-075-7
- ^ Intrusions, Overflights, Shootdowns and Defections During the Cold War and Thereafter.
- ^ The Berlin Airlift Factsheet Archived 4 February 2015 at the Wayback Machine. Air Force Historical Support Division, posted 9/8/2015.
- ^ The Air Force in the Cold War, 1945-60: Birth of a New Defense Paradigm. Stephen L. McFarland, Airpower Journal, 1996.
- ^ General orders from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. 1 March 1956. 3084th Aviation Depot Group, Stony Brook Air Force Station.
- ^ Starting from scratch establishing the Bundesluftwaffe as a modern Air Force, 1955–1960, Air Power History, 22 June 2003.
- ^ Gary Leiser, HQ TUSLOG: A Brief History, HQ TUSLOG, Ankara, Turkey, revised October 1987.
- ^ See Gordon W. Rudd, 'Humanitarian Intervention: Assisting the Iraqi Kurds in Operation Provide Comfort, Center for Military History, 1991, 22–29.
- Office of the Secretary of Defense (Public Affairs)-DPL (OSD(PA)-DPL), 1993, p. 96
- ^ "US Air-to-Air Victories during the Operation Desert Storm". Archived from the original on 17 June 2013. Retrieved 13 February 2015.
- ^ Operation Northern Watch: 1999 Events. global security.org
- ^ a b "Operation Northern Watch". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "Operation Southern Watch". globalsecurity.org. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ Eduard Mark, 1999, 50.
- ^ "USAFE Enlisted Heritage - Celebrating our enlisted past while looking to our future!".
- ^ a b c "USAFE Enlisted Heritage - Celebrating our enlisted past while looking to our future!". usafeenlistedheritage.org. Retrieved 21 September 2021.
- ^ "17th Air Force stands down, AFAFRICA mission carries on". U.S. Air Forces in Europe Public Affairs. Archived from the original on 26 May 2012. Retrieved 1 May 2012. and http://www.stripes.com/news/17th-air-force-inactivated-after-3-busy-years-1.175031
- ^ "Third Air Force". www.usafe.af.mil. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ "Units".
- ^ Rumbaugh, Devin M. (3 April 2019). "496th ABS realigns under 65th ABG". Ramstein Air Base. Retrieved 11 March 2022.
- ^ "406th Air Expeditionary Wing". United States Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
- ^ www.usafeuropeband.af.mil – About Us
- ^ "Air Forces Monthly". Stamford, Lincolnshire, England: Key Publishing Ltd. January 2016. p. 17.
{{cite magazine}}
: Cite magazine requires|magazine=
(help) - ^ "Factsheets : U.S. Air Forces Africa". Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 1 January 2016.
- ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 February 2015. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
References
- This article includes content from United States Air Forces In Europe website, which as a work of the U.S. Government is presumed to be a public domain resource. That information was supplemented by:
- Endicott, Judy G. (1999) Active Air Force wings as of 1 October 1995; USAF active flying, space, and missile squadrons as of 1 October 1995. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. CD-ROM.
- Fletcher, Harry R (1993). Air Force Bases, Vol. II, Air Bases Outside the United States of America (PDF). Washington, DC: Center for Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-53-6.
- Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1.
- Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
- Rogers, Brian (2005). United States Air Force Unit Designations Since 1978. Hinkley, UK: Midland Publications. ISBN 1-85780-197-0.
- "17th may be reactivated for Africa missions". Air Force Times, 19 November 2007
- Eduard Mark, The United States Air Force and European Security, Air Force History and Museums Program, 1999
Further reading
- Simon Duke, U.S. Military Forces and Installations in Europe, Oxford University Press for SIPRI, 1989.
- Larry Tart and Robert Keefe, 'The Price of Vigilance: Attacks on American Surveillance Aircraft,' Ballantine Books, ISBN 0-8041-1911-2, 2001
- Michael L. Petersen, 'Maybe you had to be there: The SIGINT on Thirteen Soviet shootdowns of U.S. Reconnaissance Aircraft, Cryptologic Quarterly, National Security Agency
- http://www.talkingproud.us/Military/Military/AirborneRecce.html – U.S. reconnaissance aircraft shootdowns during the Cold War
- Cees Steijger (1991), A History of USAFE, Voyageur, ISBN 1-85310-075-7