Continental Air Command: Difference between revisions
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Revision as of 14:48, 28 January 2007
| Continental Air Command | |
|---|---|
| File:Conac.gif Emblem of Continental Air Command | |
| Active | 1946 - 1968 |
| Country | United States |
| Branch | United States Army Air Forces (1946-1947) United States Air Force (1947 - 1984) |
| Type | Major Command |
Continental Air Command (CONAC) (1948 - 1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, known collectively as the Air Reserve Forces.
History
In 1947 the United States Congress provided the necessary legislation to create a Department of the Air Force and established the United States Air Force as a separate service equal to the Army and the Navy in the nation's military establishment. Earlier, on 21 March 1946, General Carl Spaatz, Commanding General of the United States Army Air Forces had undertaken a major re-organization that had included the establishment of three new combat commands in the United States. These were:
- Strategic Air Command (soon known everywhere as SAC), to provide a long-range striking force capable of bombardment operations in any part of the world
- Air Defense Command (ADC), to defend the United States against attack from the air
- Tactical Air Command (TAC), to support the operations of ground forces.
On 1 December 1948 TAC and ADC were reduced from major commands to operating commands when they were assigned to the Continental Air Command (ConAC) which assumed jurisdiction over North American continental air defense. Continental Air Command also had charge of all Air Force reserve units because most of these forces were to be used in either air defense or tactical operations.
Numbered Air Forces assigned to CONAC were:
Two years later, on 1 December 1950, the Air Force reestablished Tactical Air Command as a major command and removed it from assignment to CONAC. Air Defense Command, inactivated on 1 July 1950, was reestablished as a major command on 1 January 1951 when CONAC ceased to handle the nation's air defense mission.
After January 1951, CONAC remained responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, known collectively as the Air Reserve Forces. When inactivated on 1 August 1968 CONAC was replaced by Air Force Reserve, now a major command of the United States Air Force
Continental Air Command was disestablished on 21 September 1984