Eighteenth Air Force (18 AF) is one of two Numbered Air Forces (NAF) in Air Mobility Command (AMC) and one of the largest NAFs in the United States Air Force. Eighteenth Air Force was activated on 28 March 1951, inactivated on 1 January 1958, and re-activated on 1 October 2003. It is headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.
Overview As one of AMC's numbered air forces, 18 AF ensures readiness and sustainment of approximately 33,000 active duty, Air Force Reserve, and civilian Airmen at 12 wings. With more than 400 aircraft, Eighteenth Air Force supports AMC's worldwide mission of providing rapid global mobility to America's armed forces through airlift, aerial refueling, and aeromedical evacuation.
The command's mobility aircraft include the C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III, C-130 Hercules, KC-46 Pegasus, and KC-135 Stratotanker. Operational support aircraft are the VC-25 (Boeing 747 / Air Force One), C-21, C-20B (Gulfstream III), C-32A (Boeing 757) , C-37A (Gulfstream V) , C-37B (Gulfstream 550) and C-40B (Boeing 737) .
18 AF has an assigned military and civilian workforce of more than 33,000 personnel.
Units Units reporting to 18 AF include 9 wings.
Other AMC units assigned to 18 AF are:
Airlift Wings 62d Airlift Wing, C-17A Joint Base Lewis-McChord (McChord AFB), Washington 89th Airlift Wing, VC-25A (Air Force One), C-20B (Gulfstream III), C-32A (Boeing 757), C-37A (Gulfstream V), C-40B (Boeing 737) Joint Base Andrews (Andrews AFB), Maryland 317th Airlift Wing, C-130J Dyess AFB, Texas
Air Mobility Wings 60th Air Mobility Wing, C-5M, C-17A, KC-46A Travis AFB, California 375th Air Mobility Wing, C-21, C-40, KC-135R Scott AFB, Illinois
Air Refueling Wings 22d Air Refueling Wing, KC-135R, KC-46A McConnell AFB, Kansas 92d Air Refueling Wing, KC-135R Fairchild AFB, Washington
Air Mobility Operations Wings 521st Air Mobility Wing Ramstein Air Base, Germany
Air Base Groups 627th Air Base Group Joint Base Lewis-McChord (McChord AFB), Washington
618th Air Operations Center Formerly under 18 AF, now directly under AMC, the 618th Air Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center), located at Scott AFB, serves as the organization's air operations center, planning and directing tanker and transport aircraft operations around the world. It is stationed at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. The 618 AOC (TACC) is responsible for planning, scheduling, and tracking aircraft performing airlift, aerial refueling, and aeromedical evacuation operations around the world. It serves as an Air Operations Center (AOC) for AMC, executing missions assigned by the United States Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM).Brockhoff, Justin. "618th Tanker Airlift Control Center enables Air Mobility Command's global reach." Air Mobility Command. 4 March 2009. Accessed 28 January 2011.
The 618 AOC (TACC), initially known as TACC, became operational on 1 April 1992. Air mobility leadership sought to simplify the execution of the worldwide mobility mission. They created a highly efficient organization to centralize command and control operations that previously resided within numbered air forces and airlift divisions. TACC was redesignated as the 618 TACC on 1 April 2007, and remained under that designation until being renamed the 618 AOC (TACC) on 30 August 2010.Brockhoff, Justin. "618th Tanker Airlift Control Center redesignated as 618th Air Operations Center (Tanker Airlift Control Center)." 618th AOC (TACC) home page. 30 August 2010. Accessed 28 January 2011. AMC extensively reorganized the 618 AOC in 2020 and reassigned it from 18 AF to the AMC Directorate of Operations, Strategic Deterrence, and Nuclear Integration (AMC/A3).
History
Origins When the Army Air Forces (AAF) reorganized in 1946, Tactical Air Command (TAC) was established as one of its three major commands. The AAF IX Troop Carrier Command (TCC) was inactivated as part of this reorganization and Third Air Force was reassigned to TAC to control the troop carrier units formerly part of IX TCC. It was headquartered at Greenville Army Airfield, South Carolina. The C-46 Commando and C-47 Skytrain were the primary troop carrier aircraft, but surplus C-54 Skymasters that had been originally purchased for the Air Transport Command (ATC) were made available for troop carrier use.
Third Air Force was inactivated on 1 November 1946 and TAC's troop carrier mission was reassigned to Ninth Air Force which moved to Greenville. In 1947, many of TAC's Troop Carrier Groups/Wings were assigned directly to Headquarters TAC with the rest to the Air Defense Command's Fourteenth Air Force reserve 302d Troop Carrier Wing. The theater troop carrier mission was expanded rapidly during the Korean War when many of these reserve units were called into active service and assigned directly to HQ TAC.
Cold War Eighteenth Air Force was established and activated 28 March 1951 to discharge Tactical Air Command's (TAC) troop carrier responsibilities. The organization became operational on 1 June 1951 at Donaldson AFB, South Carolina and initially assumed control of nine medium C-119 Flying Boxcar troop carrier wings (314th, 375th, 403d, 433d, 434th, 435th, 443d, 514th and 515th), seven of which were Air Force Reserve wings called to active duty during the Korean War.
The command added a heavy (C-124 Globemaster) wing, the 62nd Troop Carrier Wing, in Fall 1951 and another in early 1953, the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing.
In the spring of 1952, 18 AF C-124 Globemasters were sent to Japan and by July 1952, C-124s from the 22nd Troop Carrier Squadron were flying missions in South Korea. The arrival of the C-124 introduced the aircraft loadmaster position to the troop carrier mission. As the Korean War wound down, C-119 Flying Boxcar crews from the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing began supporting French operations in Indochina. United States Air Force-supplied C-47 Skytrain and C-119s were placed "on-loan" to the French Air Force at Tourane Air Base.
By early 1953, the Air Force Reserve wings were replaced by active duty wings organized, administered, equipped, trained, and prepared for combat by 18 AF. Augmented troop carrier forces in the Far East and Europe provided trained crews and replacement personnel to units in the Korean War.
The next year, 18 AF C-119s from the 483rd Troop Carrier Wing (and flown by civilian crews employed by Civil Air Transport) airdropped supplies to besieged French paratroops at Dien Bien Phu, Indochina. Some 483rd personnel flew missions in an unofficial capacity and would play key roles in the troop carrier mission in later years. After the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, 374th Troop Carrier Wing and TAC C-124s airlifted wounded French soldiers out of Indochina to Japan.
The command also took part in joint exercises and provided support for airborne paratroop training all the while working to improve communications capabilities and to advocate for the inclusion of medical air evacuation in joint exercises. 18 AF also provided airlift support to other Air Force major commands and TAC organizations.
The advent of the jet age saw TAC with a new mission, as it became the focal point for a new military philosophy based on the rapid deployment of heavily armed fighter/bomber units and Army airborne and light infantry units to overseas "trouble spots" before conflicts could escalate into full-scale war. 18 AF units supplemented Military Air Transport Service (MATS) airlift when needed and transported U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force units for training and deployment.
The Korean War illustrated the need for a medium transport capable of operating from dirt airstrips, which led to the development of several new transport aircraft, including the delivery of the jet-prop powered C-130 Hercules at the end of 1956. 18 AF also took deliveries of the Fairchild C-123 Provider, a twin-engine transport designed for assault operations into rudimentary landing zones.
With the advent of the C-130, TAC established the Composite Air Strike Force, commonly known as a CASF, which was centered on troop carrier C-130s supplemented by MATS aircraft to deliver personnel and cargo at a moment's notice to support TAC fighter/bombers at overseas destinations. With these new aircraft, 18 AF units rotated troop carrier units to Europe in support of NATO.
The command was heavily committed to airlift operations in Arctic areas beginning in the Fall of 1952. Between 1955 and 1957, the command offloaded and airdropped equipment supporting the construction of the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line) radar system across northern Canada. Helicopters of the 310th Troop Carrier Squadron, operating from two icebreakers, provided support airlift to the U.S. Navy in the HIRAN (High Precision Air Navigation) project in January 1956. The command provided airlift and airlift expertise to the U.S. Navy in the Antarctic Operation Deep Freeze I and II, establishing a base at the South Pole. Crews of the 63rd Troop Carrier Wing performed the first airdrop at the South Pole in October 1956. A combat controller of the 1st Aerial Port Squadron performed the first parachute jump at the South Pole in November 1956 (in order to determine the necessary corrections for ongoing airdrops of equipment). 18 AF also provided airdrop and air-land support to Alaskan Air Command and Northeast Air Command, from March to early June 1957 in order to establish similar sites on ice islands in north polar regions.
The command was also instrumental in the development of the aerial port concept, including techniques and equipment for loading troop carrier aircraft and the airdrop of cargo.
18 AF Airmen also developed the Air Force "pathfinder" combat controller capability to establish ground-to-air communications and navigation aids at jump sites and to select landing sites. They also carried out fixed-wing assault missions using C-123 aircraft for landing on small unimproved landing areas. The command organized the first rotary assault group in the U.S. Air Force before losing the mission to the U.S. Army and served as an advisory body for reserve troop carrier wings. Finally, the command was also heavily involved in the testing of new aerial delivery equipment, equipment and techniques for dropping paratroops and cargo, and navigation devices to determine the point of release.
A realignment of Troop Carrier forces in 1957 led to the reassignment of 18 AF's C-124 wings to MATS and its headquarters was moved to James Connally AFB, Texas on 1 September. At the same time, Donaldson AFB was turned over to MATS (along with the C-124s and 63d TCW assigned there). At Connally AFB, the command gained responsibility for TAC's day fighter, fighter-bomber, and aerial tanker operations on western U.S. bases.
18 AF was inactivated effective 1 January 1958 due to budgetary reasons, and its units were reassigned to Twelfth Air Force (which had been reassigned from U.S. Air Forces Europe at Ramstein Air Base, West Germany to James Connally AFB).
Air Mobility Command 18 AF was reactivated on 1 October 2003 as part of an overall AMC reorganization. Born from the consolidation of AMC's 15th and 21st Air Forces under the leadership of Maj Gen Bill Essex, AMC'S director of plans and programs, the command had a modest restart. By the time Lt Gen William Welser III was finally confirmed as commander a mere two months after reactivation, the 18 AF headquarters staff numbered 30 (of which more than half was the legal office).