A Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a type of organization in the United States Air Force that is subordinate to a major command (MAJCOM) and has assigned to it operational units such as wings, squadrons, and groups.AFI 38–101, Air Force Organization . 16 March 2011. A Component Numbered Air Force (C-NAF) has the additional role as an Air Force Component Command exercising command and control over air and space forces supporting a unified combatant command. Unlike MAJCOMs, which have a management role, a NAF is a tactical organization with an operational focus, and does not have the same functional staff as a MAJCOM.AFI 38-205, Manpower & Quality Readiness and Contingency Management . 18 June 2002. Numbered air forces are typically commanded by a major general or a lieutenant general.
Numeric designations for Numbered Air Forces are written in full using ordinal words (e.g., Eighth Air Force), while cardinal numerals are used in abbreviations (e.g., 8 AF).AFH 33-337, The Tongue and Quill . 1 August 2004. Units directly subordinate to a NAF were traditionally numbered 6XX (where XX is the NAF number). For example, the 609th Air Operations Center is a unit subordinate to the Ninth Air Force. This is no longer completely accurate, due to regular reorganization of Wings and Numbered Air Forces.
History
Numbered air forces began as named organizations in the United States Army Air Corps before World War II. The first four NAFs were established as the Northeast, Northwest, Southeast, and Southwest Air Districts on 19 October 1940 to provide air defense for the United States. These Air Districts were redesignated as the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Air Forces, respectively, on 26 March 1941. Over a year after the establishment of the United States Army Air Forces on 20 June 1941, the Arabic numerals were changed to the First, Second, Third, and Fourth Air Forces on 18 September 1942. Other organizations established during this period and that became Numbered air forces include the Philippine Department Air Force (became Fifth Air Force), the Panama Canal Air Force (became Sixth Air Force), the Hawaiian Air Force (became Seventh Air Force), and the Alaskan Air Force (became Eleventh Air Force). After World War II, the US Air Force continued to use both named and numbered air forces. While named air forces were used in both tactical and support roles, numbered air forces were generally employed only in tactical roles.
As part of a peacetime restructuring in March 1946, the United States Army Air Forces were reorganized into three major operating commands: the Strategic Air Command (SAC), the Tactical Air Command (TAC), and the Air Defense Command (ADC). These commands reflected the basic air combat missions that evolved during the war, and each reported directly to General Carl Spaatz, the Commanding General, Army Air Forces. Numbered air forces served as an intermediate headquarters between these commands and the operational wings and groups. Eleven of the sixteen wartime air forces remained. The Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces were assigned to SAC; the Third, Ninth, and Twelfth Air Forces were assigned to TAC; and the First, Second, Fourth, Tenth, Eleventh, and Fourteenth Air Forces were assigned to ADC. Second Air Force would later be transferred to SAC in 1949. The numbered air forces had both operational and administrative authority, and existed as a command level between major commands and air divisions. Although variations existed, and number air forces were often reassigned, this basic arrangement persisted throughout the Cold War.
The role of numbered air forces changed in the 1990s during the Air Force reorganization initiated by Air Force Chief of Staff General Merrill McPeak. The goal of the reorganization was to "streamline, take layers out, flatten (Air Force) organizational charts, while at the same time clarifying the roles and responsibilities of essential supporting functions." Numbered air forces were reorganized into tactical echelons focused on operations, and their administrative staff functions were eliminated. This reorganization also reduced the number of major commands, and eliminated the air divisions to place numbered air forces directly in command of operational wings.
The role of numbered air forces was again changed in 2006 with the implementation of the Component Air Force (C-NAF) concept.AFDD 2, Operations and Organization . 3 April 2007. Some numbered air forces have an additional mission as the Air Force Component Command exercising command and control over air and space forces supporting a unified combatant command. C-NAFs have a second designation to identify their role. For example, First Air Force, a numbered air force assigned to Air Combat Command, is designated as Air Force Northern (AFNORTH) in its role as the air component of the United States Northern Command.Factsheets : 1st AF Mission . Accessed 29 January 2011. Most C-NAFs have an Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) to provide command and control of air and space operations for the supported combatant commander.
List of Air Forces Numbered The table below lists current and historical numbered air forces of the US Air Force, their C-NAF designation (if applicable), their current shield and station, and the major command (MAJCOM) to which they are currently assigned. Note that the lineage of some numbered air forces is continued by non-NAF organizations (e.g., the 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force continues the lineage of the Fifteenth Air Force). Boldface indicates a NAF or C-NAF that is currently active. Air Force Shield Station Major Command Comments First Air Force (Air Forces Northern) Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida Air Combat Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Northern Command and Continental NORAD Region. In May 2022, First Air Force was officially designated as "Air Forces Space" (AFSPACE), the Air Force contribution to United States Space Command, in addition to its Northern Command and Continental NORAD roles. Second Air Force Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi Air Education & Training Command Oversees all USAF non-flying technical training Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) Ramstein Air Base, Germany USAFE-AFAFRICA C-NAF supporting U.S. European Command and U.S. Africa Command Fourth Air Force March Air Reserve Base, California Air Force Reserve Command Air Force Reserve Command NAF for all AFRC C-5, C-17, KC-135, KC-10 and C-40 units operated by Air Mobility Command and supporting U.S. Transportation Command Fifth Air Force Yokota Air Base, Japan Pacific Air Forces Air component to United States Forces Japan Sixth Air Force Howard Air Force Base, Panama Redesignated United States Air Forces Southern Command in 1963. Inactivated in 1976. Seventh Air Force (Air Forces Korea) Osan Air Base, Korea Pacific Air Forces C-NAF supporting United States Forces Korea Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana Air Force Global Strike Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Strategic Command and is responsible for all USAF bombers Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina Air Combat Command Established in 1983 as United States Central Command Air Forces (USCENTAF); renamed United States Air Forces Central Command (USAFCENT) in 2009. Air component of United States Central Command, a regional unified command. Responsible for air operations (either unilaterally or in concert with coalition partners) and developing contingency plans in support of national objectives for USCENTCOM's 20-nation area of responsibility in Southwest Asia. Tenth Air Force Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (former Carswell Air Force Base), Fort Worth, Texas Air Force Reserve Command Air Force Reserve Command NAF for all Air Force Reserve Command B-52 units gained by Air Force Global Strike Command; all AFRC E-3, F-22, F-15C/D, F-15E, F-16, A-10, HC-130, HH-60, C-145, U-28, MQ-1, MQ-9 and RQ-4 units gained by Air Combat Command, Pacific Air Forces and Air Force Special Operations Command, and all AFRC T-6, T-1 and T-38 "Associate" flying training units in support of Air Education and Training Command; 10 AF also has oversight for a single AFRC space wing in support of Air Force Space Command Eleventh Air Force Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska Pacific Air Forces Air Component for Alaskan Command and Alaska NORAD Region. Administrative HQ for PACAF Wings not in 5th AF or 7th AF AORs. Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern) Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona Air Combat Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Southern Command Thirteenth Expeditionary Air Force Joint Base Pearl Harbor–Hickam, Hawaii Pacific Air Forces Provisional component of Pacific Air Forces since 2012. Fourteenth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) Vandenberg Air Force Base, California Air Force Space Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Strategic Command and was responsible for U.S. space forces. In December 2019, redesignated as the United States Space Force's Space Operations Command (SPOC) Fifteenth Air Force Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina Air Combat Command Redesignated 15th Expeditionary Mobility Task Force in 2003. Inactivated in 2012, 15 AF was reactivated on 20 August 2020 to consolidate the units of the Ninth Air Force and Twelfth Air Force to form a new numbered air force responsible for generating and presenting Air Combat Command's conventional forces. Sixteenth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland Air Combat Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Cyber Command Contains components of the inactivated 24, and 25 AF's. Seventeenth Expeditionary Air Force Ramstein Air Base, Germany USAFE-AFAFRICA Supporting United States Africa Command. Inactivated 19 July 2018, units and mission gained by Third Air Force. Eighteenth Air Force (Air Forces Transportation) Scott Air Force Base, Illinois Air Mobility Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Transportation Command Nineteenth Air Force Randolph Air Force Base, Texas Air Education & Training Command Oversees all USAF flying training, to include all undergraduate flight training and selected Formal Training Units (FTU) and Replacement Training Units (RTU) Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming Air Force Global Strike Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Strategic Command, oversees all USAF ICBMs Twenty-First Air Force McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey Air Mobility Command Redesignated 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force in 2003. Inactivated in 2012. Reactivated on 5 September, 2025. Twenty-Second Air Force Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia Air Force Reserve Command Air Force Reserve Command NAF for all AFRC C-130 and WC-130 units operated by Air Mobility Command and supporting U.S. Transportation Command Twenty-Third Air Force (AFSOC) Hurlburt Field, Florida Air Force Special Operations Command C-NAF supporting U.S. Special Operations Command. Inactivated in 2013. Twenty-Fourth Air Force (Air Forces Cyber) Lackland Air Force Base, Texas Air Combat Command Inactivated in 2019. Merged with 25 AF to create the 16 AF. Twenty-Fifth Air Force Lackland Air Force Base, Texas Air Combat Command Redesignated from Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency on 29 September 2014.McCullough, Amy, "ISR Agency Becomes 25th Air Force", Air Force Magazine: Journal of the Air Force Association, November 2014, Volume 97 No. 11, p. 22 Inactivated in 2019. Merged with 24 AF to create 16 AF
Named Named Air Forces operate at the same level as Numbered Air Forces. General Headquarters Air Force, the first named air force of the United States Army's air arm, began operations in 1935. The GHQ Air Force became the Air Force Combat Command in 1941. Several of the numbered air forces began as named air forces.Ravenstein, Charles A. (1996), The Organization and Lineage of the United States Air Force. United States Air Force Historical Research Center