Eleventh Air Force

Eleventh Air Force
Eleventh Air Force emblem Part of Pacific Air Forces
Active	15 January 1942
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Air Force
Part of	Pacific Air Forces/Alaskan Command
Garrison/HQ	Elmendorf Air Force Base
Engagements	World War II American Campaign (1941-1945)
Commanders
Current commander	Lieutenant General Dana T. Atkins

90th Fighter Squadron Lockheed Martin F-22A Block 30 Raptor 05-4105, 3d Wing, Elmendorf AFB

517th Airlift Squadron Boeing C-17A Lot XI Globemaster III 99-0168, 3d Wing, Elmendorf AFB

F-16 Aggressors, 354th Fighter Wing, Elelson AFB, Alaska

The Eleventh Air Force (11 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces (PACAF). It is headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska.

11 AF plans, conducts, controls and coordinates air operations in accordance with the tasks assigned by the commander, Pacific Air Forces, and is the force provider for Alaskan Command, the Alaska North American Aerospace Defense Command Region and other unified commanders.

Established on 28 December 1941 as the Alaskan Air Force at Elmendorf Field, Alaska Territory. 11 AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force in the American Theater of World War II, providing air defense of Alaska and engaging in combat operations primarily in the Aleutian Islands and Northern Pacific during the Aleutian Campaign.

During the Cold War, 11 AF provided air defense of Alaska and the northwestern region of North America.

11 AF is commanded by Lt. Gen. Dana T. Atkins. Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Robert W. Moore.

Overview

The commander of the Eleventh Air Force also serves as the commander of the joint, sub-unified Alaskan Command, and commander of the Alaskan North American Aerospace Defense Command Region. This mission is accomplished largely through the 611th Air Operations Group and the 611th Air Support Group. Together, they provide a network of critical air surveillance and command, control and communications functions necessary to perform tactical warning and attack assessment in defense of Alaska.

Units

Active duty

• 3d Wing
  The 3rd Wing is a United States Air Force unit stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. Its mission is to support and defend U.S. interests in the Asia-Pacific region and around the world by providing units who are ready for worldwide air power projection and a base that is capable of meeting PACOM's theater staging and throughput requirements.

• 354th Fighter Wing
  The 354th Fighter Wing is stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska. The wing's mission is to train and provide F-16C and Expeditionary Combat Support forces to combatant commanders anytime, anyplace, in support of U.S. national security objectives. As the US Air Force’s most northern operational wing, the 354th Fighter Wing also hosts Air Education and Training Command’s Arctic Survival School.

• 611th Air and Space Operations Center
  The 611th Air and Space Operations Center at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska consists of five squadrons and two numbered flights that develop plans, procedures and directives for the employment of Alaskan combat and support forces assigned to the 11th Air Force, PACAF and NORAD.

• 611th Air Support Group
  The 611th Air Support Group at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska consists of two squadrons that provides surveillance radars, arctic infrastructure including airfields, communications and worldwide ready EAF warriors for homeland defense, decisive force projection, and aerospace command and control in Alaska.

• Missile Defense Flight or Command Representative for Missile Defense
  Serves as the focal point for all issues related to Ground-based Midcourse Defense in Alaska, in support of Alaska Command, Alaska NORAD Region, and 11 AF.

• 11th Air Force/Alaska NORAD Region (ANR) Logistics Flight
  Provides a core group of logisticians to support Air Force and NORAD air operations throughout the theater, including manning the ANR Battlestaff and establishing logistics readiness centers when necessary.

Alaska Air National Guard

The 11th Air Force has two major units that are gained upon their activation. These units are part of the Alaska Air National Guard.

• 168th Air Refueling Wing
  The 168th Air Refueling Wing is an Air National Guard stationed at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and flies the KC-135R Stratotanker. The 168th also has taken over the missile defense mission at Clear Air Force Station with their 213th Space Warning Squadron.

• 176th Wing
  The 176th Wing is an Air National Guard unit operating out of Kulis Air National Guard Base in Anchorage, Alaska. The 176th is a multifaceted organization consisting of an airlift squadron, a complete pararescue package, as well as the 176th Air Control Squadron, which supports the Alaska NORAD Region with 24/7 operations and maintenance.

History

Military aircraft began to deploy to Alaska during the last half of 1940. To coordinate air activities there, the Alaskan Defense Command established the Air Field Forces, Alaskan Defense Command on May 29, 1941.

Origins

World War II emblem

Elmendorf Field, August 1941

18th Pursuit Squadron P-36 Hawks, Elmendorf, August 1941

Early in 1940, the question of air defense of the Alaska Territory came into the limelight when President Roosevelt pointed out in his message to Congress requesting funds for fortification of Guam and Wake Islands and other strategic points in the Pacific that airfields were needed in Alaska. The original request for $12,000,000 to be appropriated for the construction of Alaskan defenses was cut to $600,000, but still was sufficient to begin the construction of an air base at Anchorage, Alaska. Thus was begun the construction of Elmendorf Field 61°15′00″N 149°48′00″W, primary fourth-echelon base for all future Eleventh Air Force operations. Construction of the airfield began on 8 June when 25 locally hired men began clearing brush, the Army intending it to be a permanent airfield.

The first "troops" of the Alaskan Air Force advance echelon to arrive in Alaska included a six year-old Martin B-10 on 12 August 1940. On 12 December the Army designated the base Fort Richardson and flying field Elmendorf Field. The post was named for Brig Gen Wilds P. Richardson, former head of the Alaska Road Commission; the airfield and flying facilities were named Elmendorf Field in honor of Captain Hugh M. Elmendorf, killed in 1933 while flight testing an experimental fighter near Wright Field, Ohio.

The first Air Corps unit to be assigned to Alaska was the 18th Pursuit Squadron, which transferred to Elmendorf from Hamilton Field, California on 21 February 1941 with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks. The 23d Air Base Group was assigned shorty afterwards to provide base support. The 36th Bombardment Squadron arrived less than a month later from Lowry Field, Colorado, equipped with Douglas B-18 Bolo medium bombers.

A major problem was the training of personnel and the preparing of equipment for operation in the cold Alaskan climate. Mechanical things showed unusual behavior at 40 degrees below zero. Oil became almost solid, metal and rubber brittle and fractured easily. At the same time, Texas-trained pilots had to learn to fly in a country where sudden fogs could close out airports in less than 10 minutes and high-velocity "williwaws" could tear the wings off combat planes.

The first months activities of the new command were spent in reconnaissance for a rim of defense bases. The hub of this defense "wheel" was to be at Elmendorf Field near Anchorage. In the meantime, plans for the establishment of bases were moving slowly. Certain planned fields had to be constructed in summer, because the severe Alaskan frost in winter made construction impossible, but equipment for the construction of fields north of Nome and around Anchorage failed to arrive, and construction was postponed until the following summer. Construction had been completed, however, on two important coastal fields in Southeastern Alaska, Annette Army Airfield 55°02′13″N 131°34′21″W at Annette Island and Yakutat Army Airfield 59°30′31″N 139°39′35″W at Yakutat, and the first direct all-weather air route to Alaska from Seattle was open.

But an extremely fortunate accident took place in October 1941, which possibly changed the whole course of World War II in Alaska. Equipment for the construction of a CAA-DLA (Civil Aeronautics Authority-Defense Land Appropriation) airfield at McGrath, on the mainland, arrived too late to begin construction of the field, since the ground already had frozen up, and General Buckner requested and received permission to divert the equipment and men to Cold Bay on the Alaskan Peninsula and Otter Point on Umnak Island, to build 2 airfields for the defense of the Naval Base at Dutch Harbor. To conceal their purpose, both fields were organized as ostensible business enterprises concerned with fishing and canning. The two cover names were: "Blair Packing Company" and "Saxton & Company", whose peculiar canning equipment consisted of bull-dozers, power shovels and similar construction equipment. The top holding-company for these enterprises was the "Consolidated Packing Company" of Anchorage, known in military circles as the Alaskan Defense Command. Security was complete. Japanese intelligence never learned of the existence of these airfields and the Japanese tactical decisions were based on the assumption that their attack on Dutch Harbor would not be opposed by land based aircraft.

All through the winter if 1941-1942, men worked at the construction of these 2 air bases, and by Spring, two 5,000-foot airstrips were completed, one at Cold Bay (Fort Randall Army Airfield) 55°11′56″N 162°43′15″W, the other at Otter Point on Umnak (Fort Glenn Army Airfield) 53°22′39″N 167°53′31″W. Another vital factor in the construction of the Umnak field was the use of Pierced Steel Planking-matting. No other medium could have been used to build that runway in the time required, since Umnak has no natural construction material. The matting was laid over a graded gash in the tundra and set the pattern for the construction of future Aleutian runways.

World War II

LB-30 and B-17E of the 36th Bombardment Squadron at Unmnak (Fort Glenn AAF), June 1942. The B-17E (41-9126) was lost on 28 August 1942

Further information: Alaska World War II Army Airfields

Administratively speaking, the Eleventh Air Force also was born in that winter of 1941-42. First conceived as the Air Force, Alaskan Defense Command, it emerged as an integral unit as the Alaskan Air Force on 15 January 1942, and was redesignated the Eleventh Air Force on 5 February. In May 1942, a field headquarters was established at Fort Morrow Army Airfield 56°57′24″N 158°38′18″W, Port Heiden, Kodiak, Alaska and planes of the 73d Bombardment Squadron were deployed at Fort Randall Army Airfield, Cold Bay and the 21st Bombardment Squadron at Fort Glenn Army Airfield, Umnak.

Ladd Field 64°50′15″N 147°36′51″W near Fairbanks became a secondary major air base in Alaska. It was named after Major Arthur K. Ladd, killed in a flying accident near Dale, South Carolina on 13 December 1935. Unlike Elmendorf, Ladd Field came the jurisdiction of Ferrying Command, which was a part of the Lend-Lease Program. Through Lend-Lease, the United States transferred nearly 8,000 aircraft to the Soviet Union though Ladd Field during the course of World War II. The aircraft were flown into Ladd from Great Falls Airfield, Montana by American civilian aircrews; Soviet crews then flew the planes west through Nome (Marks Field) and on to Siberia. The pilots leaving Great Falls flew along a route of small airfields that became known as the Northwest Staging Route. These fields were located at intervals along the one-lane supply road that became the Alaskan Highway. One of those airfields, Big Delta Army Airfield, southeast of Fairbanks, became Fort Greely.

Aleutian Campaign

Further information: Aleutian Islands Campaign

11th Fighter Squadron on alert at Fort Glenn AAF June 1942

Before Japan entered World War II, its navy had gathered extensive information about the Aleutians, but it had no up-to-date information regarding military developments on the islands. Admiral Yamamoto provided the Japanese Northern Area Fleet, commanded by Vice-Admiral. Boshiro Hosogaya, with a force of 2 small aircraft carriers, 5 cruisers, 12 destroyers, 6 submarines, and 4 troop transports, along with supporting auxiliary ships. With that force, Hosogaya was first to launch an air attack against Dutch Harbor, then follow with an amphibious attack upon the island of Adak, 480 miles to the west. After destroying the American base on Adak (in fact, there was none at the time), his troops were to return to their ships and become a reserve for two additional landings: the first on Kiska, 240 miles west of Adak, the other on the Aleutian's westernmost island, Attu, 180 miles from Kiska.

Because United States Naval intelligence had broken the Japanese naval cypher code, Admiral Nimitz had learned by 21 May of Yamamoto's plans, including the Aleutian diversion, the strength of both Yamamoto's and Hosogaya's fleets, and that Hosogaya would open the fight on 1 June or shortly thereafter. As of 1 June 1942, United States military strength in Alaska stood at 45,000 men, with about 13,000 at Cold Bay (Fort Randall) on the tip of the Alaskan Peninsula and at two Aleutian bases: the naval facility at Dutch Harbor on Unalaska Island, 200 miles west of Cold Bay, and the recently built Fort Glenn Army Airfield 70 miles west of the naval station on Umnak Island. Army strength, less air force personnel, at those three bases totaled no more than 2,300, composed mainly of infantry, field and antiaircraft artillery troops, and a large construction engineer contingent, which had used in the construction of bases.

Eleventh Air Force consisted of 10 B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers and 34 B-18 Bolo medium bombers at Elmendorf Airfield, and 95 P-40 Warhawk fighters divided between Fort Randall AAF at Cold Bay and Fort Glenn AAF on Umnak.

When the first inklings of a possible Japanese attack on the Aleutians were known, the Eleventh Air Force was ordered to send out reconnaissance aircraft to locate the Japanese fleet reported heading toward Dutch Harbor and attack it with bombers, concentrating on sinking Hosogaya's 2 aircraft carriers. Once the enemy planes were removed, Naval Task Force 8 would engage the enemy fleet and destroy it. On the afternoon of 2 June a naval patrol plane spotted the approaching Japanese fleet, reporting its location as 800 miles southwest of Dutch Harbor. Eleventh Air Force was placed on full alert. Shortly thereafter bad weather set in, and no further sightings of the fleet were made that day.

Attack on Dutch Harbor

The Navy radio station at Dutch Harbor burning after the Japanese Attack, 4 June 1942

Captured Japanese Zero. It was captured intact by U.S. forces in July 1942 on Akutan Island, after the Dutch Harbor Attack and became the first flyable Zero acquired by the United States during the Second World War. It was repaired and made its first test flight in the U.S. on 20 September 1942

According to Japanese intelligence, the nearest field for land-based American aircraft was at Fort Morrow AAF on Kodiak, more than 600 miles away, and Dutch Harbor was a sitting duck for the strong Japanese fleet, carrying out a coordinated operation with a fleet that was to capture Midway Island.

Making use of weather cover, the Japanese first raided the Naval Base at Dutch Harbor on 3 June 1942. However, only half of the striking force reached their objective. The rest either became lost in the fog and darkness and crashed into the sea or returned to their carriers. Seventeen Japanese planes found the naval base, the first arriving at 0545. As the Japanese pilots looked for targets to engage, they came under intense antiaircraft fire and soon found themselves confronted by Eleventh Air Force fighters sent from Fort Glenn AAF on Umnak. Startled by the American response, the Japanese quickly released their bombs, made a cursory strafing run, and left to return to their carriers. As a result of their haste they did little damage to the base.

On 4 June the Japanese returned to Dutch Harbor. This time the enemy pilots were better organized and better prepared. When the attack finally ended that afternoon, the base's oil storage tanks were ablaze, part of the hospital was demolished, and a beached barracks ship was damaged. Although American pilots had finally located the Japanese carriers, attempts to destroy them proved fruitless. As bad weather again set in, all contact with the enemy fleet was lost.

In all, the Japanese raid claimed 43 U.S. lives, of which 33 were soldiers. Another 64 Americans were wounded. Eleven U.S. planes were downed, while the Japanese lost ten aircraft. During the two-day fight, Naval Task Force 8 had remained south of Kodiak Island, taking no part in the action. On 5 June, it received a report of enemy warships in the Bering Sea heading south toward Unalaska Island, which was interpreted to be a landing force intent upon seizing Dutch Harbor. While Task Force 8 entered the Bering Sea, Hosogaya's fleet moved south to join Yamamoto, who had just suffered the loss of his four large carriers at the Battle of Midway.

Japanese seizure of Kiska and Attu

Unable to lure the United States Navy surface ships into range of his battleships, Yamamoto ordered his fleet to return to Japan. Rather than have the Northern Area Fleet join him, Yamamoto now instructed Hosogaya to return to the Aleutians, execute his original mission, and thereby score a success to help compensate for the Midway disaster.

Forgoing the planned attack on Adak, Hosogaya moved directly to the western Aleutians, occupying Kiska on 6 June and Attu a day later. Kiska supported a small U.S. Naval station and a weather post; Attu was the site of a small village of Aleuts and another weather station. But neither island was satisfactory for the hasty construction of airfields. The Japanese encountered no opposition on either island, but the Japanese public was in fact told that this was a great victory.

Possible attack at Nome

By mid-June the Joint Chiefs of Staff theorized that the attack on the Aleutians and the occupation of its westernmost islands might be part of a holding action designed to screen a northward thrust by Japanese forces into Siberia's maritime provinces and the Kamchatka Peninsula. As a result of their concern about a possible Japanese attack upon the Soviet Union that might also include the occupation of St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea and of nearby Nome and its adjacent airfields on the Alaskan mainland.

Supporting the possibility of an invasion of the Alaskan mainland were reports of a Japanese fleet operating in the Bering Sea. Three separate sightings placed an enemy fleet somewhere between the Pribilof and St. Lawrence Islands, suggesting that either an enemy raid on or an outright invasion of the Alaskan mainland was imminent, with Nome the likely objective. As a result within thirty-six hours, Eleventh Air Force using commandeered civilian aircraft flew nearly 2,300 troops to Nome, along with artillery and antiaircraft guns and several tons of other equipment and supplies. B-24 Liberator bombers of the 404th Bombardment Squadron were sent to the Air Transport Command Marks Army Airfield with a mission to locate and attack the Japanese Fleet.

Not until late July when U.S. intelligence reported with some certainty the departure of Hosogaya's fleet from the Bering Sea did the threat of invasion of the Alaskan mainland decline, allowing for the redeployment of many of the troops hastily assembled at Nome.

United States response

Aerial reconnaissance of Kiska, 11 October 1942

B-24 Liberator of the 404th Bombardment Squadron in a revetment, 1942

A-24 Banshee Dive Bombers, used in attacks on Kiska and Attu by the 635th Bombardment Squadron (Dive)

P-39E Aircobra used by the 42d Fighter Squadron, deployed to Davis Army Airfield, Adak in October 1942

On 30 August 1942, in the face of a howling gale, American Army troops went ashore on Adak Island, some 250 miles east of Kiska. Adak affords a good fleet anchorage, a sheltered harbor and as was revealed later, a superlative site for quick construction of an airfield. The 807th Army Aviation Engineering Battalion set to work constructing a dike and draining the tidal flat between Kuluk Bay and the Sweeper Cove areas to create an airfield. 51°52′40″N 176°38′33″W Only ten days later engineers built a runway, and on 10 September the first aircraft, a B-18, landed at "Longview Army Airfield". Three days later there were 15 B-24s, a B-17, 15 P-38s and 16 P-39s on the island. On 12 September, the first air attack from Adak, consisting of 12 B-24s, 14 P-38s and 14 P-39s, was launched under the command of Major John S. Chennault of the 343d Fighter Group. The attack was launched against Japanese positions on Kiska. The airfield on Adak was renamed "Davis Army Airfield" in honor of Colonel Everett S. Davis, the first Commander, Eleventh Air Force, killed in an aircraft accident on 28 November 1942.

Throughout the winter of 1942-43, the Eleventh Air Force bombed Kiska and Attu whenever possible, although the flyers were extremely handicapped by the almost constant fog which covered the island. At the same time, the bases to the east of Adak were consolidated and built up. In October, the Field Headquarters of the Eleventh Air Force was closed at Kodiak and moved to Davis AAF.

On 11 January 1943, American Army troops went ashore on the unoccupied Amchitka Island, barely 75 statute miles from Kiska, and a month later, on 16 February, the first aircraft, a P-38 and a P-40, landed on Amchitka Army Airfield 51°22′37″N 179°15′23″E, a quickly-built airstrip. The first mission against Kiska was flown on 18 February.

By March, both medium and heavy bombers could make the short hop from Amchitka to Kiska and on good days, rare enough, crews flew as many as 4 and occasionally 6 sorties per day. It was said that the Japanese needed no air warning system on Kiska, because they could hear the Eleventh Air Force bombers warming up on Amchitka, and knew from the sound of the engines when the raids were taking off.

Throughout this period, the striking power of the Eleventh Air Force included only 3 squadrons of medium bombers, 3 squadrons of heavies and 4 squadrons of fighters. An additional squadron of P-39 Aircobras operated in the Aleutian theater for a short while, but their light landing gear was unsatisfactory for use on the rough fields and they were returned to the States.

Tactically, the Eleventh Air Force was operating under the jurisdiction of the Navy, since Alaska was still in the situation of a "fleet-opposed invasion". The air arm, designated Task Force "X", was commanded by General Butler, and included the Air Striking Group (Eleventh Air Force) and the Air Search Group (Naval Fleet Air Wing Four). Overall command was vested in Vice Admiral Thomas Kinkaid, Commander, North Pacific Force, abbreviated to ComNorPacFor or ComNorPac.

Recapture of Attu and Kiska

Main articles: Battle of Attu, Operation Cottage, and Battle of the Pips

On 1 April, a plan to by-pass Kiska and capture Attu was presented to the Joint Chiefs of Staff, was approved, and on 11 May, American troops went ashore on Attu. In a short and fierce battle, the Japanese garrison was wiped out, and on 29 May, the island was declared secure. The first plane, a hospital C-47, landed on a newly-completed runway at Alexai Point Army Airfield 52°48′51″N 173°17′51″E, Attu, on 7 June.

The operation against Attu also included the occupation of the Semichi Islands, an archipelago of 3 tiny bits of land some 35 miles east of Attu. The flattest of these, Shemya, was to be the site of the most important American air base for future operations. Barely 4 miles long and only 2 miles wide, Shemya Army Airfield 52°42′44″N 174°06′43″E became, literally, a stationary aircraft carrier. These islands were taken without opposition, on 29 May.

With Kiska cut off by the occupation of Attu, the Japanese made plans to evacuate the Aleutians. Captured documents reveal that the evacuation proceedings were first contemplated on 8 June, but clear weather prevented carrying out the plans. Numerous sorties were made by the Japanese Fifth Fleet, based at Paramushiru, but finally on 28 July, under cover of a thick fog, destroyers were able to enter Kiska Harbor and remove all occupation troops. When American troops went ashore on 15 August, the island was deserted, ending the Aleutian Campaign.

Six million pounds of bombs had been dropped on Kiska and Attu in Eleventh Air Force operations. The Japanese had been prevented from building an air field and from bringing in air reinforcements. Fighters, Zeros modified for water operation, later called Rufes, were shot out of the air as soon as they came up to give combat. Eleventh Air Force fighters and bombers had played an instrumental part in driving Japanese out of the Aleutians. Illustrative of the challenges omnipresent in Alaska, only 35 aircraft were lost in combat compared to 150 operational accidents. It was the highest American combat-to-accidental loss ratio for any theater in World War II. Weather was the prime culprit. The Eleventh Air Force accounted for approximately 60 Japanese aircraft, one destroyer, one submarine and seven transport ships destroyed by air operations.

With the Aleutian Campaign completed, The Eleventh Air Force had the following units reassigned to other combat areas between 20 August and 1 September: 21st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 36th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 73d Bombardment Squadron (Medium), 406th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) and 407th Bombardment Squadron (Dive Bomber).

Operations against Japan

B-24 Liberators of the 404th Bombardment Squadron conducting a raid on Paramushiru Island, Japan, 18 August 1943

B-25s Mitchells of the 77th Bombardment Squadron performing an Anti-Shipping Patrol in the North Pacific

More than a month before the unopposed landing on Kiska, the Eleventh Air Force began a new phase of operations against the Japanese. On 10 July 1943, 6 Eleventh Air Force B-25 Mitchells made the long flight to Paramushiru Island in the Kuriles and made the first direct attack on the Japanese home islands since the famous Doolittle raid in April 1942. From Alexai Point AAF on Attu, eight Mitchells of the 77th Bomb Squadron. (28th BG) struck Paramushiro bases principally. All returned safely.

A week later, B-24 Liberator heavy bombers from Attu bombed the Kuriles and secured pictures of the Japanese installations, the first pictures taken of northern Japan home-island defenses. The next Kurile raid, carried out on 11 August, was a diversionary raid prior to the landings on Kiska. On this mission, the first plane was lost over the Kuriles and Lieutenant James C. Pottenger and his crew made a forced landing in Russia.

These operations led to a joint mission on 11 September 1943, when Eleventh Air Force dispatched eight B-24 Liberators and 12 B-25s. However the Japanese were alert and reinforced their defenses. 74 crew members in three B-24s and seven B-25 failed to return. Twenty two men were killed in action, one taken prisoner and 51 interned in Kamchatka, Russia. It had proven that the Kurile Islands could be attacked, but new methods had to be devised as the raid lost Eleventh Air Force lost over half its offensive striking power. No more combat missions were flown in 1943.

Several changes took place following the occupation of Kiska. The Eleventh Air Force became a component of Task Force "Y", still under Navy jurisdiction. Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher was named ComNorPac and Major General Davenport Johnson relieved General Butler as commander of the Eleventh Air Force. One of General Johnson's first acts was the establishment of the Eleventh Air Force Instrument flying school and the promotion of an intensive training program in navigation and instrument flying, as well as the accelerated development of radio and navigation aids in the Aleutians. Because of the tremendous advances brought about by intensive instrument training and the increased aids to navigation and radio, planes that formerly were grounded by weather, were now flying regular schedules. Troop Carrier Command and Air Transport Command planes were operating in the Aleutians with airline regularity.

During the winter of 1943-44, the burden of operations against the Kuriles was carried by Navy Consolidated PBY Catalinas and Lockheed Ventura of Fleet Air Wing Four. They carried small bomb loads and their primary objective was the securing of night photographs. In November 1943 a second airfield, Casco Cove Army Airfield 52°49′52″N 173°10′29″E was constructed on Attu for long-range bombing operations.

Eleventh Air Force implemented aother bombing mission against northern Kurils on 5 February 1944, when it attacked with six B-24s from the 404th Bomb Sqdn. (28th BG) and 16 P-38s from the 54th Fighter Sqdn. (343d FG). March 1944 saw Eleventh Air Force bombers over the Kuriles on daylight armed reconnaissance missions. Not many, but a sufficient number to convince the Japanese that there were aircraft in the Aleutians and that the Kuriles were in constant danger of air attack. During the crucial period, while other United States forces were advancing in the South Pacific, the Japanese were forced to keep much-needed aircraft, in the Kuriles and Hokkaido as defense against possible attack from the North.

Operations against Northern Japan became the new mission of the Eleventh Air Force, and it was being successfully carried out. Except for July 1944, when the weather was especially bad, each month of 1944 showed a steady increase in operations against the Kuriles. Each month's record showed planes turned back short of their targets, weather again protecting the Japanese. Often, too, B-24 Liberator bomb loads were dropped through the undercast by aid of the newly-installed radar bombing equipment, a far cry from the timed runs made on the Kiska main camp area using the Kiska volcano as an initial point when the target was closed in. The record month, June 1945, for the Eleventh Air Force showed a record number of tons of bombs dropped.

The B-24 Mitchell medium bombers, too were playing their part in operations against the Kuriles. They'd been kept on shipping alert since the abortive 11 September raid, but in May, 2 planes on a gasoline consumption test west of Attu, discovered and sank 2 armed Japanese trawlers. From that time on, the Mitchells, made sweeps against shipping when weather permitted, and by fall were bombing land targets in the Kuriles.

Drawdown and Alaskan Air Command

Army Air Forces Alaskan Air Command Emblem

Dedication of the Aleutians Campaign Memorial on 5 June 1952 at Dutch Harbor, Alaska

1944 also saw a drastic reduction in the personnel of the Eleventh Air Force. Fort Glenn AAF and Fort Randall AAF were reduced to the status of gasoline stations for the Aleutian air transport routes, and were manned by small housekeeping units; Annette Island Landing Field and Yakutat Landing Field assigned as sub bases to Elmendorf Field. The XI Bomber Command and XI Fighter Command disbanded per General Order 9, Headquarters, Eleventh Air Force, 25 February 1944.

It took these actions due to the fact that only two bomber squadrons remained in the Eleventh Air Force and the need to reduce the number of personnel. The 28th Bombardment Group on Shemya and the 343d Fighter Group at Alexai Point AAF, Attu, assumed the responsibilities of the two commands. The 404th Bombardment Squadron was responsible for conducting night reconnaissance missions over the Kuriles and flying a daily weather reconnaissance flights. The 77th Bombardment Squadron was held in readiness to repel a sea borne invasion and the fighter squadrons provided air defense. Air Corps supply and fourth echelon maintenance was carried on at the Alaska Air Depot at Elmendorf, and the normal paper-work, customarily handled by a Service command, devolved upon the Eleventh Air Force Headquarters.

Eleventh Air Force, sent between August 24 and September 4, 1945 two B-24s of the 28th BG flew reconnaissance overflights over the North Kuril Islands to take photos of the Soviet occupation in the area. Soviet fighters intercepted and forced them away a foretaste of the Cold war that lay ahead.

Americans planners had briefly contemplated an invasion of northern Japan from Aleutians during fall of 1943, but rejected that idea as too risky and impractical. They considered the use of Boeing B-29 Superfortresses, on Amchitka and Shemya Bases, but rejected that idea too. U.S. military maintained interest in these plans when they ordered the expansion of bases in the western Aleutians, and major construction began on Shemya for a possible invasion of Japan via the Northern route in 1945.

The real nature of the Aleutians the value of the Eleventh Air Force to America was known but not confirmed until 3 September 1945. On that day, a C-54 piloted by Major G.E.Cain, filed a flight plan at Atsugi Airdrome, near Tokyo, Honshū, Japan. Twelve hours later, he landed at Adak , refueled and took off for Seattle. He landed in Washington after 31 hours of flying time with the first motion pictures of the Japanese surrender the previous day.

The Aleutian Islands, on the Great Circle route from North America to the Orient may not have fulfilled their hope of becoming the "Northern Highway to Victory," but they were established as an air transport route, vital during the early years of the Cold War before long-distance air transports were developed.

With the end of the war, many of the small air bases in the Aleutians closed permanently, and postwar emphasis turned to training. Air Transport Command transferred Ladd Field to the Eleventh Air Force on 1 November. On 15 December 1945, The Army reorganized it's organization in Alaska. Eleventh Air Force, which was under the jurisdiction of the Army Western Defense Command, headquartered at the Presidio of San Francisco since it's establishment in 1941, was transferred to the jurisdiction of the United States Army Air Forces.

Under the USAAF, it was re-designated as Alaskan Air Command, and headquartered at Adak Field, the headquarters of the former Eleventh Air Force. Alaskan Air Command was established at the same Major Command echelon as the other overseas combat commands, the United States Air Forces in Europe, Far East Air Forces and Caribbean Air Command, with its mission being the atmospheric defense of the Territory of Alaska.

Pacific Air Forces

An F-15E Strike Eagle and an F-22 Raptor fly over the coast of Prince William Sound, Alaska. Both aircraft are from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, 2007

A KC-135 Stratotanker from the Alaska Air National Guard's 168th Air Refueling Wing flies in formation with two A-10 Thunderbolt IIs from the 355th Fighter Squadron over Alaska. The three aircraft assigned to Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, flew in formation for the last time due to the deactivation of the 355th FS

With the activation of the Alaskan Command in 1989, the next logical step was to place its air component (AAC) under the Pacific Air Forces. By reorganizing from AAC to a Numbered Air Force, the Air Force was able to reduce its administrative manpower requirements during a period of massive reoragnization and down-sizing throughout the Air Force. On 9 August 1990, the Alaskan Air Command was redesignated the 11th Air Force once again and assigned as a Numbered Air Force (NAF) under United States Pacific Air Forces.

The early 1990s marked a period of major organizational mission changes and force modernization. The 11th Air Force was reorganized as an objective Numbered Air Force during 1992-1993 and its headquarters reduced to but 100 authorizations.

Its major units also changed. At Elmendorf AFB the 21st Tactical Fighter Wing was inactivated and was replaced by the 3rd Wing transferred from Clark AB in December 1991 due to the destruction of Clark AB by the Mount Pinatubo eruption. The F-15E Strike Eagle-equipped 90th Fighter Squadron was added as were the 517th Airlift Squadron (C-130Hs and C-12Fs) and the 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron (E-3B).

There were also significant changes at Eielson AFB. The A-10 Thunderbolt II assigned to the 18th Fighter Squadron were replaced with F-16C Fighting Falcons in 1992 and an OA-10A squadron was activated. Eielson AFB became home of the Cope Thunder training exercise series and the Alaskan range complex was greatly expanded and improved to accommodate not only Cope Thunder but other joint training requirements as well. Finally, in keeping with Air Force Chief of Staff guidance to retain the most illustrious units, the 343rd Wing, a veteran of the Aleutian Campaign, was inactivated in August 1993. The 354th Fighter Wing was activated in its place.

Other changes during the period included upgrading the 11th Tactical Air Control Group to the 11th Air Control Wing (11 ACW) at Eareckson AS in January 1992. During yet another reorganization, the wing subsequently inactivated 1 July 1994 with the closure of the station. It was replaced by three smaller groups directly subordinate to the Eleventh Air Force; the 611th Air Operations Group, 611th Logistics Group and the 611th Air Support Group.

Eleventh Air Force also accomplished the daunting drawdown of the forward operating bases at Galena Airport, King Salmon Airport and Eareckson Air Force Station (Shemya Island), in a two-year period of time, 1993–1995, reflecting cost savings derived from the end of the Cold War. The stations, however, remain in a standby status, their facilities being maintained by civilian contractors.

The mission of the Eleventh Air Force moved inexorably from statically defending Alaska against a bomber threat to committing its forces to worldwide deployment. The shift from a Major Command to an Objective Numbered Air Force was among the most drastic reorganizations undertaken anywhere in the Air Force. Air Force personnel in Alaska are also fully integrated into the Air and Space Expeditionary Force deployment cycles, supporting operations as part of the Global War on Terrorism.

Alaskan NORAD Region

see Alaska Radar System for a list of the AN/FPS-117 radar sites.

see North Warning System for the former DEW Line sites in Alaska

Emblem of the Alaskan NORAD Region

Alaska NORAD Region

Battle Control System – Fixed (BCS-F) display.

The responsibilities for aerospace warning and aerospace control for North America are assigned to NORAD through the binational NORAD agreement. The Alaskan NORAD Region (ANR) is one of three NORAD regions responsible for the execution of the aerospace warning and aerospace control missions. ANR conducts these missions 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Eleventh Air Force is the United States Air Force component of ANR. Coordinating with the Canadian Forces Air Command, Both 11th AF and the Canadian Forces provide active duty forces to the Alaskan Air and Space Operations Center. National Guard forces provide manning for the Alaskan Air Defense Sector to maintain continuous surveillance of Alaskan airspace with Alaskan Radar System long and short-range radars.

Under Alaskan Air Command, aerospace forces were built up in the 1950s and 1960s in response to a long range bomber threat. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, concern shifted to the strategic ballistic missile threat and active air defenses were reduced.

The appearance of a strategic cruise missile threat once again prompted a build up of air defense capabilities. The Alaska NORAD Region Operations Control Center (ROCC), operated by U.S. and Canadian personnel, became operational in 1983 at Elmendorf AFB which receives and analyses surveillance radar data from the sites in the Alaska Radar System (ARS) to determine range, direction altitude speed and whether or not the objects are friendly or hostile.

The Alaska ROCC enjoins state-of-the-art air defense systems and cutting-edge computer technology to significantly increase surveillance and identification capabilities, and better protect the nation's airways from intrusion and attack. It is fully integrated with the E-3A Airborne early warning and control (AEW&C) system. It employs NORAD contingency suites, and Battle Control System-Fixed (BCS-F) displays. A next-generation air sovereignty system, BCS-F fuses data from airborne, ground and naval elements and civil air traffic sensors into an integrated air picture. This allows commanders to surveil and monitor the airspace above, beyond and within U.S. and Canadian borders, providing a major component for homeland defense. It also incorporates a newly-developed situational awareness system that gives ANR unprecedented tools and technology to assist state and local responders in dealing with natural disasters.

The ARS consists of minimally attended AN/FPS-117 radar sites which were established between 1984 and 1985 at the former manned surveillance and Ground Control Intercept sites of Alaskan Air Command, first activated in the 1950s. Elements of the 1985 North American Air Defense Modernization program followed. Flexible and graduated alert concepts were introduced in the 1990s.

The ANR provides an ongoing capability to detect, validate, and warn of any aircraft and/or cruise missile threat in its area of operations that could threaten North American security. By maintaining surveillance of Northwest Canadian and U.S. airspace, ANR is able to determine what goes on in and near North American airspace 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Aerospace control requires capabilities to intercept, shadow, escort, divert, direct landings, and if necessary, use force utilizing interceptors and other means up to and including the destruction of airborne objects.

Lineage

• Established as Air Force, Alaska Defense Command, 17 October 1941

General Order 51: HQ, Alaska Defense Command

• Established as Alaskan Air Force* on 28 December 1941

War Department Letter: Activation of Air Corps Unit, AG 320.2

Activated on 15 January 1942

General Order 3, HQ Alaskan Defense Command

Redesignated 11th Air Force on 5 February 1942

Redesignated Eleventh Air Force on 18 September 1942

Redesignated Alaskan Air Command on 18 December 1945

Assumed Major Command Status 18 December 1945

Redesignated Eleventh Air Force on 9 August 1990

Headquarters Pacific Air Forces Special Order GA-44, 1 August 1990

Became subordinate organization to Pacific Air Forces, 9 August 1990

Note: Organization not to be confused with "Eleventh Air Force" established on 13 May 1946. Activated on June 13, 1946 at Olmsted Field, Pennsylvania, and assigned to Air Defense Command. Inactivated on 1 July 1948.

.* Under authority from Western Defense Command, the Alaska Defense Command replaced the Air Field Forces, Alaskan Defense Command, with the Air Force, Alaskan Defense Command, on October 17, 1941. Neither the Air Field Forces nor the Air Force, Alaskan Defense Command, were legitimate War Department establishments and must be classified in the same category as provisional units, although the term "provisional" was never used in connection with them.

The War Department activated the Alaskan Air Force to manage the buildup of the Army Air Forces in Alaska and replacing the Air Force, Alaskan Defense Command.

Assignments

• Alaska Defense Command, 17 October 1941
• Western Defense Command, 15 December 1941-18 December 1945
• Pacific Air Forces, 9 August 1990 – Present

Stations

• Elmendorf Airfield, Alaska, 15 January 1942
• Davis Army Airfield, Adak, Alaska, August 1943-18 December 1945
• Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, 9 August 1990 – Present

Combat support airfields

• Naknek Army Airfield. King Salmon Used briefly as a medium bomber base by the 406th Bomb Squadron

58°40′36″N 156°38′57″W

• Marks Army Airfield, Nome Used for B-24s and some P-39s, but primarily was used by Ferrying Command for Lend-Lease aircraft transfers to Russia

64°30′44″N 165°26′43″W

• Big Delta Army Airfield, Fort Greely Briefly used by both the 28th Composite Group and 343d Fighter Group as a headquarters base

63°59′42″N 145°43′12″W

World War II combat units

Commands

• XI Bomber Command

Constituted 4 March 1943

Activated on 19 March 1943

Inactivated on 31 March 1944

Longview Army Airfield, Adak, 19 March 1941

Amchitka Army Airfield, 24 June 1943

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 4 September 1943

Shemya Army Airfield, 3–31 March 1944

• IX Fighter Command

Constituted as XI Interceptor Command, 8 March 1942

Activated on 15 March 1942

Re-designated as IX Fighter Command, 1 May 1942

Inactivated on 31 March 1944

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 15 March 1942

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 12 September 1943-31 March 1944

Groups

• 28th Composite (later Bombardment) Group

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 13 February 1941

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 14 March 1943

Shemya Army Airfield, 26 February 1944-20 October 1945

• 343d Fighter Group

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 11 September 1942

Fort Glenn Army Airfield, 1 September 1942

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 3 December 1942

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 1 March 1943

Alexai Point Army Airfield, Attu, 22 January 1944

Shemya Army Airfield, 5 October 1945-15 August 1946

Squadrons

• 36th Bombardment Squadron (Medium, later Heavy) (B-18, B-17E)

28th Composite Group, 1 February 1940-19 October 1943

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 31 March 1941

Big Delta Army Airfield (ATC), Fort Greeley, 9 February 1942-28 May 1943

Operated from: Fort Glenn, Fort Morrow, Adak, Amchitka AAF, 4 June 1942-1 May 1943

Amchitka Army Airfield, 4 May 13 September 1943

Operated from: Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 1 June-4 August 1943

• 404th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) (B-24)

28th Composite Group

Air echelon attached, 12 July 1942

Squadron assigned 21 September 1942

Eleventh Air Force, 20 October 1945-5 January 1947

Barksdale Field, Louisiana

Deployed to: Ladd Army Airfield (ATC), Fairbanks, 12 July 1942

Deployed to: Marks Army Airfield (ATC), Nome, 18–25 July 1942

Will Rogers Field, Oklahoma

Deployed to: Fort Glenn Army Airfield, Umnak, 24 August 1942

Fort Lewis, Washington, 30 August-10 September 1942

Deployed to: Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 13 September 1942

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 21 September 1942

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 22 May 1943

Operated from: Amchitka Army Airfield, 4 June 1943

Shemya Army Airfield, 26 February 1944-5 July 1947

• 73d Bombardment Squadron (Medium) (B-18, B-26, B-25)

28th Composite Group, 3 May 1941-6 October 1943

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 14 March 1941

Detachment operated from Fort Randall, Fort Glenn, Adak and Amchitka AAF, 1942, 1943

Fort Glenn Army Airfield, Umnak, April 1943

Amchitka Army Airfield, 1 Jun3-30 August 1943

• 77th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) (B-18, B-26, B-25)

28th Composite Group, 2 January 1942

Eleventh Air Force, 20 October-5 November 1945

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 29 December 1942

Operated from: Fort Glenn Army Airfield, Umnak, 30 May 1942

Operated from: Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 20 May 1942

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 12 December 1942

Operated from Alexai Point Army Airfield, Attu, 22 July 1943

Amchitka Army Airfield, 11 September 1943

Alexai Point Army Airfield, Attu, 11 February 1944-19 October 1945

• 406th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) (B-18, B-26, B-25)

41st Bombardment Group

Attached to 28th Composite Group, 1 June 1942-31 October 1943

Operated from: Elmendorf, Yakutat, Naknek, Fort Morrow AAF, June–November 1942

Elmendorf Army Airfield, November 1942-October 1943

Operated from: Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 25 July-13 August 1943

• 635th Bombardment Squadron (Dive) (A-24)

407th Bombardment Group

Drew Field, Florida

Operated from: Amchitka Army Airfield, 19 July-15 August 1943

• 11th Fighter Squadron (P-40, P-38)

Provisional Interceptor Command, 2 January 1942

28th Composite Group, 2 February 1942

XI Fighter Command, 7 June 1942

343d Fighter Group, 11 September 1942-15 August 1946

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 29 December 1941

Detachment at: Amchitka Army Airfield, 27 March-17 May 1943

Detachment at: Shemya Army Airfield, 11 August 1945-15 August 1946

• 18th Fighter Squadron (P-40, P-38)

28th Composite Group, 24 February 1941

XI Fighter Command, 7 June 1942

343d Fighter Group 11 September 1942-15 August 1946

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 21 February 1941

Big Delta Army Airfield, Fort Greeley, 18 April-3 November 1942

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 6 December 1942

Amchitka Army Airfield, 15 February 1943

Casco Cove Army Airfield, Attu, 28 March 1944

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 6 November 1945

• 344th Fighter Squadron (P-40, P-38)

343d Fighter Group, 10 October 1942-15 August 1946

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 10 October 1942

Detachment at: Fort Randall Army Airfield, 12 November 1942

Fort Randall Army Airfield, 25 December 1942

Fort Glenn Army Airfield, Umnak, 8 march 23 May 1943

Detachment at Amchitka Army Airfield, May–July 1943

Detachment at Alexai Point Army Airfield, Attu, 12 June–December 1943

Shemya Army Airfield, 25 June 1943-15 August 1946

• 54th Fighter Squadron (P-40, P-43, F-5, P-38)

55th Fighter Group

Attached to XI Fighter Command, 31 May-11 September 1941

343d Fighter Group, 11 September 1942-21 March 1946

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 31 May-24 August 1942

Detachment at: Fort Randall Army Airfield, 6 June-31 July 1942

Detachment at: Fort Glenn Army Airfield, 6 June-19 September 1942

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 31 August 1942

Amchitka Army Airfield, 12 March 1943

Shemya Army Airfield, 18 October 1943

Casco Cove Army Airfield, Attu, 20 November 1943-8 March 1946

• 42d Fighter Squadron (P-39E)

Deployed from 54th Fighter Group

Fort Morrow Army Airfield, Kodiak, 12 June 1942

Davis Army Airfield, Adak, 10 September-12 December 1942

• 56th Fighter Squadron (P-39)

Deployed from 54th Fighter Group, 20 June-21 December 1942

Marks Army Airfield (ATC), Nome, 20 June-20 October 1942

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 23 October-21 December 1942

• 57th Fighter Squadron (P-39)

Deployed from 54th Fighter Group, 20 June-1 December 1942

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 20 June-30 September 1942

Fort Morrow Army Airfield, Kodiak, 30 September-1 December 1942

• 42d Troop Carrier Squadron (C-47)

Eleventh Air Force, 2 May 1942

Attached to: IX Air Force Service Command (Provisional), 21 June-8 August 1942

IX Air Force Service Command, 8 August 1942

Attached to: Troop Carrier Group (Provisional), 1 July 1943-6 March 1944

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 2 May 1942-18 February 1944

• 54th Troop Carrier Squadron (C-47)

XI Air Force Service Command, 15 November 1942

Eleventh Air Force, 10 October 1944-5 March 1949

Elmendorf Army Airfield, 15 November 1942-5 March 1949

See also

• Joint Task Force-Alaska
• Alaska World War II Army Airfields

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-89201-092-4.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947-1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• Chloe, John Hale, (1984), Top Cover for America. the Air Force in Alaska. 1920-1983, Pictorial Histories Publishing Company, ISBN 0-933126-47-6

External links

• Eleventh Air Force Factsheet
• 11th Air Force, Elmendorf AFB, AK
• Alaskan Command, Elmendorf AFB, AK
• 3d Wing, Elmendorf AFB, AK
• 354th Fighter Wing, Eielson AFB, AK
• 611th Air Operations Group, Elmendorf AFB, AK
• 611th Air Support Group, Elmendorf AFB, AK
• 353d Combat Training Squadron, Eielson AFB, AK
• Det 1 353rd Combat Training Squadron, Elmendorf AFB, AK
• 168th Air Refueling Wing, Eielson AFB, AK
• 176th Wing, Kulis ANGB, AK