The Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) is a Direct Reporting Unit of the United States Air Force. AFDW oversees Air Force operations in the Washington, D.C. region (also known as the "National Capital Region" or "NCR").
As a Direct Reporting Unit, AFDW is directly subordinate to the Chief of Staff, Headquarters, United States Air Force, and serves as the Air Force service component to the JFHQ-NCR. AFDW was originally headquartered on Bolling Air Force Base, but changed to Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington (JBA-NAFW).
History
Background AFDW originates back to the post-World War II era when Bolling Field Command was established on 15 December 1946. Bolling Field Command absorbed functions from various support organizations in the Washington, D.C. vicinity.Air Force Historical Research Agency, Headquarters Command, USAF , 10 January 2008 It was redesignated Headquarters Command, USAF, on 17 March 1958. When Headquarters Command, USAF, inactivated on 1 July 1976, many of its functions passed to Military Airlift Command.
Establishment The Air Force District of Washington was constituted and activated on . Due to declining defense budgets, it was inactivated on 15 July 1994.
The unit was reactivated on 7 July 2005, to realign the Air Force command structure in the National Capital Region with the other military services and to improve Air Force support to Joint Force Headquarters – National Capital Region (JFHQ-NCR).
Mission AFDW oversees two wings and one group on JBA-NAFW: the 11th Wing, the 316th Wing and the 844th Communication Group. The 844th Communications Group have a specialized communications mission and serve as the central communications support group for the Air Force in the National Capital Region (NCR). The 316th Wing fulfills duties as the host base organization of Joint Base Andrews, while also supporting AFDW requirements. AFDW also supports airmen in more than 33,000 Airmen in over 200 locations in 108 countries.
AFDW serves as the Air Force service component for coordination purposes to JTF-NCR and the supporting command to Joint Task Force National Capital Region. JTF-NCR has an emergency or major event operation 'mobilization' function as Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. Under the Joint Task Force NCR (JTF-NCR), the 320th Air Expeditionary Wing (320 AEW) activates and becomes the Air Force service component of JTF-NCR. The Commander of AFDW serves as the Commander, 320 AEW. Air Force Mission Directive 13 delineates missions and assigned duties applicable to AFDW in both its worldwide Air Force service role and its JTF-NCR Air Force service component role.
Component units Air Force District of Washington comprises the following wings and major units.
Headquarters
Headquarters Air Force District of Washington (Joint Base Andrews, Maryland)
Permanent units
11th Wing (Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling, Washington, D.C.) US Air Force Band US Air Force Chaplaincy (Arlington National Cemetery) US Air Force Honor Guard 316th Wing (Joint Base Andrews) – UH-1N Iroquois 844th Communications Group (Joint Base Andrews)
Expeditionary units
320th Air Expeditionary Wing (Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling)
Decorations Air Force Organizational Excellence Awards 1 October 1985 – 30 June 1987 1 November 1991 – 31 October 1993 7 July 2005 – 31 December 2006
List of commanders CommanderTermPortraitNameTook officeLeft officeTerm length
See also United States Army Military District of Washington Naval District Washington
References
↑ Air Force Historical Research Agency, Headquarters Command, USAF Archived 18 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine, 10 January 20081 2 "Air Force District of Washington (USAF)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. United States Air Force. 11 December 2025.↑ "Factsheets : Air Force District of Washington". afdw.af.mil. Archived from the original on 27 May 2016. Retrieved 11 July 2016.↑ "Units". Air Force District of Washington. US Air Force. Archived from the original on 28 December 2006. Retrieved 3 January 2022. Attribution:
External links
Official AFDW website