EIGHTH AIR FORCE
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(Redirected from 8th Air Force)
'Eighth Air Force' is a Numbered Air Force (NAF) of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and is one of three active-duty numbered air forces in Air Combat Command.
The Eighth Air Force's now commonly-accepted nickname, "The Mighty Eighth", derives from the title of British farmer and life-long Eighth Air Force historian Roger A. Freeman's seminal ''History of the U.S. 8th Army Air Force'' (Doubleday and Company, 1970). The Roger A. Freeman Eighth Air Force Research Center - Library and Archive was dedicated at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah, Georgia in 2007. (The military maintains its own museum, the Eighth Air Force Museum at Barksdale.)
The current Commander is Lieutenant General Robert Elder Jr., with Major General John Maluda as Vice-Commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Todd A. Kabalan as Command Chief Master Sergeant.
Eighth Air Force serves as the only information operations and bomber warfighting headquarters, employing decisive global air power for U.S. Joint Forces Command and U.S. Strategic Command and combatant commanders. The 8 AF commander is the Air Force Network Operations (AFNETOPS) and Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYCOM) commander. The 8 AF commander is also assigned as the Joint Functional Component Commander for Global Strike Integration (JFCC-GSI) under U.S. Strategic Command.
The command consists of more than 41,000 active-duty, Air National Guard and Reserve professionals operating and maintaining a variety of aircraft capable of deploying air power to any area of the world. This air power includes the heart of America’s heavy bomber force: the B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft. E-8C Joint STARS, EC-130H Compass Call, E-3C Sentry, several variants of the RC-135, and U-2S Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft round out the command’s lethal airpower arsenal.
Eighth Air Force is the first numbered air force to integrate information operations into a warfighting headquarters. The integration gives Eighth Air Force the ability to gain, exploit, and attack adversary information or information systems while defending friendly or coalition information and information systems from enemy attack.
★ HQ Eighth Air Force Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
★
★ 2nd Bomb Wing (B-52H)
★
★ 917th Wing (B-52H, A-10)
★
★ Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike and Integration
★ Off-Base Units
★
★ 5th Bomb Wing - Minot AFB, North Dakota (B-52H)
★
★ 9th Reconnaissance Wing - Beale AFB, California (U-2S) (RQ-4)
★
★ 55th Wing - Offut AFB, Nebraska (E-4B, EC-130, OC-135B, RC-135S/W,TC-135S/W,WC-135C/W)
★
★ 67th Network Warfare Wing - Lackland AFB, Texas
★
★ 116th Air Control Wing - Robins AFB, Georgia (E-8C)
★
★ 480th Intelligence Wing - Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
★
★ 509th Bomb Wing - Whiteman AFB, Missouri (B-2)
★
★ 552d Air Control Wing - Tinker AFB, Oklahoma (E-3B/C)
'Note:' the 116 ACW blends active-duty and Air National Guard members into a single unit.
During World War II, the Eighth Air Force was a United States Army Air Forces unit, which carried out daytime bombing operations in Western Europe from airfields in eastern England from 1942 through the end of the war in 1945.
On 2 January 1942 the order activating the Eighth Air Force was signed and the headquarters was formed at Savannah, Georgia on 28 January. The War Department in Washington, D.C. announced that U.S. ground forces were sent to Northern Ireland. On 8 January, the activation of 'U.S. Forces in the British Isles' (USAFBI) was announced, and 'VIII Bomber Command' (VIII BC) was established in England during February 1942. VIII BC was established at RAF Bomber Command Headquarters at High Wycombe on 22 February. Additional commands of the Eighth Air Force were the VIII Air Support Command and VIII Fighter Command.
During the war, the Eighth Air Force was headquartered in England at the Wycombe Abbey School for Girls, Buckinghamshire. The Eighth Air Force was commanded during World War II by Major General Carl A. Spaatz, Major General Ira C. Eaker, and Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle, the hero of the 1942 B-25 air raid on Tokyo and other cities in Japan. It later became the United States Air Forces in Europe.
On 4 July 1942, Independence Day, six American crews from the 15th Bombardment Group (Light) together with six RAF crews were despatched from RAF Swanton Morley, Norfolk, on a daylight sweep against four German airfields in the Netherlands. It was the first time American airmen had flown in American-built bombers against a German target, but although it was important historically, the raid was not an unqualified success. Two of the aircraft manned by Americans were shot down by what the RAF flight leader described as “the worst flak barrage in my experience.â€
In August 1942, the 92nd and 301st Bomb Groups arrived to join Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker's rapidly increasing air force. The 92nd was the first heavy bombardment group to successfully make a non-stop flight from Newfoundland to Scotland.
It took time to get the new groups ready for combat and training was lacking in many areas. Colonel Frank A. Armstrong, one of Eaker's original HO staff, was appointed CO of the 97th Bomb Group at Grafton Underwood at the end of July in place of Lieutenant Colonel Cousland and he set about re-shaping the group. By mid-August he had 24 crews ready for combat. Meanwhile, as arguments went on behind the scenes about whether bombing in daylight was possible over heavily defended targets in Europe or even that the Fortresses’ and Liberators’ bomb-carrying capacity and their armament would be enough, the first Fortresses strike of the war was scheduled for August 17, 1942.
At 15.00 hours six B-17Es took off from Polebrook and flew a diversionary raid on St. Omer. Briefing over at Underwood, Frank Armstrong boarded ''Butcher Shop'', which was piloted by Major Paul Tibbets and led eleven B-17s to the marshalling yards at Rouen Sotteville in northwestern France. Spaatz had felt confident enough to allow Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker to fly on the mission. He joined the crew of ''Yankee Doodle'', lead aircraft of the second flight of six. Over the Channel, the Fortresses were joined by their RAF escort of Spitfire Vs.
Visibility over the target was good and bombing was made from 23,000 feet. A few bombs hit a mile short of the target and one burst hit about a mile west in some woods but the majority landed in the assigned area. Several repair and maintenance workshops were badly damaged which temporarily put the German State Railway out of action.
From this humble beginning, the Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom increased the number of combat groups and it's scope of targets and missions. Eighth Air Force aircraft attacked naval targets in France against German U-Boats and combined with RAF Bomber Command with missions into Germany. Along with the heavy bomber groups, the Eighth Air Force developed its fighter component, with P-47s and P-51s flying escort missions deep into German airspace.
The final Order of Battle of the VIII Bomber Command (1943) was:
'1st Bomb Division'
'Brampton Grange, Huntingdonshire'
Fighter groups were assigned to the administrative control of three wings, which were directed by VIII Fighter Command until 1945, when each wing was assigned to one of the three air divisions. The Order of Battle for VIII Fighter Command was:
'65th Fighter Wing'
'Dane Bradbury Private School, Saffron Walden'
'66th Fighter Wing'
'Sawston Hall, Nr. Cambridge'
'67th Fighter Wing'
'Walcot Hall, Nr. Stamford'
'Direct Reporting Units'
'6th Fighter Wing'
'RAF Atcham, Shropshire
(Transferred to Twelfth Air Force November 1942)'
'VIII Ground Air Support Command
51st Troop Carrier Wing
RAF Greenham Common, Berkshire
(Transferred to Twelfth Air Force November 1942)'
'VIII Air Service Command
3d Combat Bombardment Wing
RAF Earls Colne, Essex
(Transferred to Ninth Air Force October 1943)'
On January 4, 1944 the B-24s and B-17s in England flew their last mission as a subordinate part of VIII Bomber Command. The Fifteenth Air Force, established in Italy, and the Eighth were organized under a centralized headquarters,United States Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF), located at RAF Bushey Hall, a redesignation of the Eighth Air Force. VIII Bomber Command in turn was re-designated Eighth Air Force on February 22, 1944, and passed from existence.
General Carl Spaatz returned to England to command the USSTAF. Major General Jimmy Doolittle relinquished command of the Fifteenth Air Force to Major General Nathan F. Twining and took over command of the Eighth Air Force at RAF High Wycombe. Doolittle of course was well known to American airmen as the famous "Tokyo leader and former air racer. His directive was simple: `Win the air war and isolate the battlefield'.
Spaatz and Doolittle's plan was to use the US Strategic Air Forces in a series of co-ordinated raids. code-named Operation 'Argument' and supported by RAF night bombing, on the German aircraft industry at the earliest possible date.
By mid-1944, Eighth Air Force had reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people (it is estimated that more than 350,000 Americans served in Eighth Air Force during the war in Europe.) At peak strength, Eighth Air Force had forty heavy bomber groups, fifteen fighter groups, and four specialized support groups. It could and did often dispatch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and more than 1,000 fighters on a single mission to multiple targets.
Under USSTAF, the Eighth Air Force conducted the 'Big Week' offensive over Germany, attacking the Luftwaffe directly at its aircraft manufacturing plants. Eighth Air Force bombers flew missions deep into Germany and attacking Berlin with daylight bombing raids.
With the invasion of France in June 1944, Eighth Air Force heavy bomb groups conducted
tactical air attacks supporting Allied ground forces in the invasion area, supported the Airborne invasion of the Netherlands, and made direct strikes on German ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge.
These missions however, carried a high price. Half of the U.S. Army Air Force’s casualties in WW II were suffered by Eighth Air Force (more than 47,000 casualties, with more than 26,000 dead). Seventeen Medals of Honor went to Eighth Air Force personnel during the war. By war’s end, they had been awarded a number of other medals to include 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 442,000 Air Medals. Many more awards were made to Eighth Air Force veterans after the war that remain uncounted. There were 261 fighter aces in the Eighth Air Force during World War II. Thirty-one of these aces had 15 or more aircraft kills apiece. Another 305 enlisted gunners were also recognized as aces.
The last attack by Eighth Air Force bombers was made on April 25, 1945 with B-17s attacking the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, and B-24s attacking four rail complexes surrounding Hitler's mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden. Fifteenth Air Force attacked mountain passes between Germany and Austria to prevent German troops from escaping from Italy.
The final Order of Battle of the Eighth Air Force (1945):
'1st Air Division'
'Brampton Grange, Huntingdonshire'
'67th Fighter Wing'
'VIII Fighter Command'
'Walcot Hall, Nr. Stamford'
'Direct Reporting Units'
★ 482d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Alconbury
★ 495th Fighter Training Group RAF Atcham
★ 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) RAF Harrington
(became 492d Bombardment Group August 18, 1944)
'65th Fighter Wing'
'VIII Fighter Command'
'Dane Bradbury Private School, Saffron Walden'
'Direct Reporting Units'
★ 496th Fighter Training Group RAF Goxhill
'66th Fighter Wing'
'VIII Fighter Command'
'Sawston Hall, Nr. Cambridge'
★ 325th Photo Reconnaissance Wing (Hq: High Wycombe)
★
★ 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance)
RAF Mount Farm, RAF Chalgrove
★
★ 25th Bombardment Group (Reconnaissance) RAF Watton
★ 67th Reconnaissance Group RAF Membury (VIII Air Support Command)
Following the end of the war in Europe the United States began to demobilize most of United States Strategic Air Forces that it built up in Europe, and transfer some of it's combat units to the Pacific Theater. In Europe the aim was to maintain a small USAAF organization, exclusively for communication and transport purposes. On August 7, 1945, the word Strategic was removed from USSAFE, and the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) was established.
Eighth Air Force headquarters moved to Okinawa on July 16, 1945, being assigned to the U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces to train new bomber groups for combat against Japan. In the planned invasion of Japan, the mission of Eighth Air Force would be to conduct B-29 Superfortress raids from Okinawa.
Units assigned to Eighth Air Force in the Pacific were:
★ 301st Fighter Wing (Kadena Air Base) (P-47)
★
★ 410th Fighter Group
★
★ 413th Fighter Group
★
★ 506th Fighter Group
★
★ 507th Fighter Group
★ 316th Bombardment Wing (Kadena Air Base) (B-29)
★
★ 22d Bomb Group
★
★ 333d Bomb Group
★
★ 346th Bomb Group
'Note:' The 316th Bomb Wing did not arrive in Okinawa until September 1945.
The atomic bombings of Japan led to the Japanese surrender before Eighth Air Force saw action in the Pacific theater.
World War II proved what the proponents of air power had been championing for the previous two decades — the great value of strategic forces in bombing an enemy’s industrial complex and of tactical forces in controlling the skies above a battlefield. As a result, Eighth Air Force was incorporated into the new Strategic Air Command (SAC).
On June 7, 1946, Headquarters 8th AF moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida. That base assignment lasted until November 1, 1946, when SAC transferred the Eighth to Carswell AAF (formerly Fort Worth Army Air Field), Texas and the organization officially became part of SAC.
At first, the postwar Eighth Air Force had to rely heavily upon World War II airplanes, as there was insufficient funding available to re-equip the Air Force completely with a new generation of aircraft. However, it was believed that a strong strategic air arm would deter a possible aggressor from attacking the United States for fear of massive retaliation with nuclear weapons. For that reason, from 1946 through 1949, what little money became available was used to buy new planes for SAC.
Initially, Eighth Air Force under SAC consisted of the following:
★ 58th Bombardment Group
Activated at Fort Worth AAF Texas on May 9, 1946.
★ 7th Bombardment Group
Activated at Fort Worth AAF Texas on October 1, 1946.
★ 43rd Bombardment Group
Activated at Davis-Monthan AAF Arizona on October 4, 1946.
★ 27th Fighter Wing
Activated at Kearney AAF Nebraska on July 27, 1947.
Both Davis-Monthan and Fort Worth Army Airfields were B-29 training bases during World War II, and the Eighth Air Force Bomb Groups were simply activated at the same field and on the same day as the original Army Air Force Continental Air Forces training bomb groups were inactivated. The assets of the former training units were simply assigned to Eighth Air Force. This was largely so that the Air Force could perpetuate the names of groups that that had distinguished themselves in World War II. These bomb wings were drastically undermanned and under equipped. At the close of 1946, they shared only a handful of operational bombers, all B-29 Superfortresses.
The Eighth Air Force was specifically charged with the atomic mission, and the 7th Bomb Group at Fort Worth AAF was modifying their aircraft to carry the atomic bomb. However only the 509th Composite Group at North Field Tinian in the Marianas had the capability to drop nuclear weapons.
Several events in the late 1940s reversed the drawdown of United States strategic forces. The 1948 Berlin Crisis and the outbreak of the Cold War caused the United States to deploy SAC's B-29 bomber force back to the United Kingdom and West Germany. Communist victories in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 meant that the United States would have to expand SAC to address these potential threats both in Europe as well as Asia.
As a result, Eighth Air Force spent its first decade in the continental U.S. building up its strategic capabilities. By 1950, the Eighth Air Force consisted of the following units:
During the Korean War, only the 27th Fighter Wing deployed to Asia. After the 1953 Cease Fire, on 13 June 1955 SAC moved Headquarters 8th AF to Westover AFB, Massachusetts, where it transitioned to the jet age and commanded all SAC bases in the eastern United States.
Within a few years, B-47 medium and B-52s heavy bombers replaced the Eighth’s older B-29, B-50, and B-36 bombers. The Eighth’s weapons inventory also changed to include KC-135 air refuelers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (the Atlas, Titan I and Titan II, and all Minuteman models.)
At the same time, aerial refueling techniques were improved to the extent that Eighth Air Force bombers could still reach targets in Europe and Asia even if overseas bases were destroyed by an enemy attack. To reduce the risk to its bomber fleet in the United States, Eighth Air Force began dispersing its planes to a large number of bases across the United States so as not to have too many concentrated at a single location.
In 1965, Eighth Air Force entered combat again, this time in Southeast Asia. At first, the Eighth deployed its B-52 bomber and KC-135 tanker units from the U.S. to operating bases in Guam, Okinawa and Thailand. Then in April 1970, SAC moved the Eighth without personnel or equipment to Andersen AFB Guam, absorbing resources of the 3d Air Division. At Anderson, the Eighth took over the direction of all bombing and refueling operations in Southeast Asia. The intensive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong during 11days in December 1972, known as 'LINEBACKER II', was but one highlight of those war years. Importantly, the Eighth’s bombing effectiveness influenced the North Vietnamese to end hostilities. With the end of combat in Southeast Asis, the Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to Barksdale AFB Louisiana on January 1, 1975, absorbing the resources of Second Air Force.
In the 1980s, the Eighth participated in several key operations such as running the tanker task force for URGENT FURY in 1983 and directing all air refueling operations for EL DORADO CANYON in 1986 and JUST CAUSE in 1989.
The Eighth’s units played a key role in the 42-day Gulf War in 1991. An Eighth Air Force unit, the 2d Bomb Wing, spearheaded the air campaign by dispatching B-52s from Barksdale to launch conventional air-launched cruise missiles against Iraqi targets. Eighth Air Force bomb wings, stationed in the Persian Gulf region, also attacked Iraq’s Republican Guard forces and numerous key strategic targets, while other units provided air refueling and tactical reconnaissance throughout the conflict. As a headquarters, the Eighth had another important role in victory over Iraqi forces—operating the logistics supply and air refueling bridge between the U. S. and gulf region.
Fifteen months after Operation Desert Storm, the Air Force reorganized. Eighth Air Force was relieved from assignment to Strategic Air Command and assigned to the new Air Combat Command (ACC) on 1 June 1992.
Under ACC, Eighth Air Force provides command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR); long-range attack; and information operations forces to Air Force components and warfighting commands. Eighth Air Force trains, tests, exercises and demonstrates combat-ready forces for rapid employment worldwide.
Eighth Air Force also provides conventional forces to U.S. Joint Forces Command and provides nuclear capable bombers, specified Global Strike assets, and C2ISR capabilities to U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). Eighth Air Force also supports STRATCOM's Joint Force Headquarters - Information Operations and serves as the command element for Air Force wide computer network operations.
Under ACC, the Eighth received control over active duty, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard units in the central U. S. and two overseas locations. Then in January 1994, ACC reorganized Eighth Air Force as a general purpose Numbered Air Force (NAF) with a warfighting mission to support the U.S. Joint Forces and U.S. Strategic Commands. Support to the latter command included the operation of Task Force 204 (bombers).
Since 1994, the Eighth has participated in a string of contingency operations, such as the 1996 Operation 'DESERT STRIKE' against Iraq, the 1998 Operation 'DESERT FOX' against Iraq, which featured the B-1B in its combat debut, and 1999 Operation 'ALLIED FORCE' against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which involved the B-2A Spirit in its first combat. The 'ALLIED FORCE' campaign also marked the Eighth’s return to Europe and the participation of U.S. bombers in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) first combat operation. Altogether, the Eighth’s bombers flew 325 sorties to drop over 7 million pounds of ordnance on enemy targets in that campaign.
In 2000, the Air Force decided to integrate information operations into Eighth Air Force. The integration process started on 1 February 2001, when the Air Force realigned the Air Intelligence Agency (AIA) under ACC and assigned the 67th Information Operations Wing and the 70th Intelligence Wing to the Eighth. The reorganization transformed the Eighth into the only information operations and bomber NAF in the Air Force. For the Mighty Eighth, that change heralded an interesting future, one that bring further restructuring, different aircraft systems, and a new challenging mission to the NAF.
While posturing itself for that mission change, the Eighth also supported Operation 'ENDURING FREEDOM' against terrorists in Afghanistan, and NOBLE EAGLE for the homeland defense of America. Throughout the first six months of ENDURING FREEDOM, the Mighty Eighth’s bombers were instrumental in the destruction of key targets and illusive enemy forces in Afghanistan. With each step through 2002, the Eighth continues to add more feats to its growing legacy.
★ Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike (US Strategic Command)
★ United States Air Forces in Europe
★ United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
★ Strategic Air Command
★ Air Combat Command
★ Air Force Cyber Command
★ Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
★ The Mighty Eighth, Freeman, Roger A., , , , 1970, ISBN 0-87938-638-X
★ The Mighty Eighth War Diary, Freeman, Roger A., , , , 1990, ISBN 0-87938-495-6
★ Freeman, Roger A., Airfields Of The Eighth, Then And Now, 1978
★ Eighth Air Force official website
★ USAF Fact Sheets: Eighth Air Force History
★ Establishment of the Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom
★ Eighth Air Force Museum
★ WWII Bomb Groups - European Theater of Operations (ETO)
★ The Ruhr - one of the main target of the 8th USAAF in Europe, 1943-1945
★ Complete fulltext of: Maurer Maurer, ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II'', Office of Air Force History, 1983 online and keyword searchable
'Eighth Air Force' is a Numbered Air Force (NAF) of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, and is one of three active-duty numbered air forces in Air Combat Command.
The Eighth Air Force's now commonly-accepted nickname, "The Mighty Eighth", derives from the title of British farmer and life-long Eighth Air Force historian Roger A. Freeman's seminal ''History of the U.S. 8th Army Air Force'' (Doubleday and Company, 1970). The Roger A. Freeman Eighth Air Force Research Center - Library and Archive was dedicated at the Mighty Eighth Air Force Museum in Savannah, Georgia in 2007. (The military maintains its own museum, the Eighth Air Force Museum at Barksdale.)
The current Commander is Lieutenant General Robert Elder Jr., with Major General John Maluda as Vice-Commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Todd A. Kabalan as Command Chief Master Sergeant.
Mission
Eighth Air Force serves as the only information operations and bomber warfighting headquarters, employing decisive global air power for U.S. Joint Forces Command and U.S. Strategic Command and combatant commanders. The 8 AF commander is the Air Force Network Operations (AFNETOPS) and Air Force Cyber Command (AFCYCOM) commander. The 8 AF commander is also assigned as the Joint Functional Component Commander for Global Strike Integration (JFCC-GSI) under U.S. Strategic Command.
The command consists of more than 41,000 active-duty, Air National Guard and Reserve professionals operating and maintaining a variety of aircraft capable of deploying air power to any area of the world. This air power includes the heart of America’s heavy bomber force: the B-2 Spirit and B-52 Stratofortress aircraft. E-8C Joint STARS, EC-130H Compass Call, E-3C Sentry, several variants of the RC-135, and U-2S Dragon Lady reconnaissance aircraft round out the command’s lethal airpower arsenal.
Eighth Air Force is the first numbered air force to integrate information operations into a warfighting headquarters. The integration gives Eighth Air Force the ability to gain, exploit, and attack adversary information or information systems while defending friendly or coalition information and information systems from enemy attack.
Units
★ HQ Eighth Air Force Barksdale AFB, Louisiana
★
★ 2nd Bomb Wing (B-52H)
★
★ 917th Wing (B-52H, A-10)
★
★ Joint Functional Component Command for Global Strike and Integration
★ Off-Base Units
★
★ 5th Bomb Wing - Minot AFB, North Dakota (B-52H)
★
★ 9th Reconnaissance Wing - Beale AFB, California (U-2S) (RQ-4)
★
★ 55th Wing - Offut AFB, Nebraska (E-4B, EC-130, OC-135B, RC-135S/W,TC-135S/W,WC-135C/W)
★
★ 67th Network Warfare Wing - Lackland AFB, Texas
★
★ 116th Air Control Wing - Robins AFB, Georgia (E-8C)
★
★ 480th Intelligence Wing - Langley Air Force Base, Virginia
★
★ 509th Bomb Wing - Whiteman AFB, Missouri (B-2)
★
★ 552d Air Control Wing - Tinker AFB, Oklahoma (E-3B/C)
'Note:' the 116 ACW blends active-duty and Air National Guard members into a single unit.
History
World War II
B-17 Flying Fortresses Over Europe during World War II
During World War II, the Eighth Air Force was a United States Army Air Forces unit, which carried out daytime bombing operations in Western Europe from airfields in eastern England from 1942 through the end of the war in 1945.
On 2 January 1942 the order activating the Eighth Air Force was signed and the headquarters was formed at Savannah, Georgia on 28 January. The War Department in Washington, D.C. announced that U.S. ground forces were sent to Northern Ireland. On 8 January, the activation of 'U.S. Forces in the British Isles' (USAFBI) was announced, and 'VIII Bomber Command' (VIII BC) was established in England during February 1942. VIII BC was established at RAF Bomber Command Headquarters at High Wycombe on 22 February. Additional commands of the Eighth Air Force were the VIII Air Support Command and VIII Fighter Command.
During the war, the Eighth Air Force was headquartered in England at the Wycombe Abbey School for Girls, Buckinghamshire. The Eighth Air Force was commanded during World War II by Major General Carl A. Spaatz, Major General Ira C. Eaker, and Lieutenant General Jimmy Doolittle, the hero of the 1942 B-25 air raid on Tokyo and other cities in Japan. It later became the United States Air Forces in Europe.
On 4 July 1942, Independence Day, six American crews from the 15th Bombardment Group (Light) together with six RAF crews were despatched from RAF Swanton Morley, Norfolk, on a daylight sweep against four German airfields in the Netherlands. It was the first time American airmen had flown in American-built bombers against a German target, but although it was important historically, the raid was not an unqualified success. Two of the aircraft manned by Americans were shot down by what the RAF flight leader described as “the worst flak barrage in my experience.â€
July 1942 - January 1944
In August 1942, the 92nd and 301st Bomb Groups arrived to join Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker's rapidly increasing air force. The 92nd was the first heavy bombardment group to successfully make a non-stop flight from Newfoundland to Scotland.
It took time to get the new groups ready for combat and training was lacking in many areas. Colonel Frank A. Armstrong, one of Eaker's original HO staff, was appointed CO of the 97th Bomb Group at Grafton Underwood at the end of July in place of Lieutenant Colonel Cousland and he set about re-shaping the group. By mid-August he had 24 crews ready for combat. Meanwhile, as arguments went on behind the scenes about whether bombing in daylight was possible over heavily defended targets in Europe or even that the Fortresses’ and Liberators’ bomb-carrying capacity and their armament would be enough, the first Fortresses strike of the war was scheduled for August 17, 1942.
At 15.00 hours six B-17Es took off from Polebrook and flew a diversionary raid on St. Omer. Briefing over at Underwood, Frank Armstrong boarded ''Butcher Shop'', which was piloted by Major Paul Tibbets and led eleven B-17s to the marshalling yards at Rouen Sotteville in northwestern France. Spaatz had felt confident enough to allow Brigadier General Ira C. Eaker to fly on the mission. He joined the crew of ''Yankee Doodle'', lead aircraft of the second flight of six. Over the Channel, the Fortresses were joined by their RAF escort of Spitfire Vs.
Visibility over the target was good and bombing was made from 23,000 feet. A few bombs hit a mile short of the target and one burst hit about a mile west in some woods but the majority landed in the assigned area. Several repair and maintenance workshops were badly damaged which temporarily put the German State Railway out of action.
From this humble beginning, the Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom increased the number of combat groups and it's scope of targets and missions. Eighth Air Force aircraft attacked naval targets in France against German U-Boats and combined with RAF Bomber Command with missions into Germany. Along with the heavy bomber groups, the Eighth Air Force developed its fighter component, with P-47s and P-51s flying escort missions deep into German airspace.
VIII Bomber Command
The final Order of Battle of the VIII Bomber Command (1943) was:
'Brampton Grange, Huntingdonshire'
★ ★ 1st Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Bassingbourn) ★ ★ 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Bassingbourn ★ ★ 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Ridgewell ★ 40th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Thurleigh) ★ ★ 92d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Bovingdon, RAF Alconbury, RAF Podington ★ ★ 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Chelveston ★ ★ 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Thurleigh ★ 482d Bombardment Group (Pathfinder) RAF Alconbury (transferred Composite Command February 1944) | ★ ★ 41st Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Molesworth) ★ ★ 303d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Molesworth ★ ★ 379th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Kimbolton ★ ★ 384th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Grafton Underwood ★ 94th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Polebrook) ★ ★ 351st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Polebrook ★ ★ 401st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Deenethorpe |
'Ketteringham Hall, Norfolk'
★ ★ 2d Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Hethel) ★ ★ 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Hethel ★ ★ 445th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Tibenham ★ 14th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Shipdham) ★ ★ 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Shipdham ★ ★ 392d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Wendling | ★ ★ 20th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Hardwick) ★ ★ 93d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Hardwick ★ ★ 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Bungay ★ ★ 448th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Seething |
'Elveden Hall, Suffolk'
★ ★ 4th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Bury St. Edmunds) ★ ★ 94th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Bassingbourn, RAF Earls Colne, RAF Bury St. Edmunds ★ ★ 447th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Rattlesden ★ ★ 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Great Ashfield ★ 13th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Horham) ★ ★ 95th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Horham ★ ★ 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Thorpe Abbotts ★ ★ 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Framlingham | ★ ★ 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Snetterton Heath) ★ ★ 96th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Grafton Underwood, RAF Andrews Field RAF Snetterton Heath ★ ★ 388th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Knettishall |
VIII Fighter Command
Fighter groups were assigned to the administrative control of three wings, which were directed by VIII Fighter Command until 1945, when each wing was assigned to one of the three air divisions. The Order of Battle for VIII Fighter Command was:
'Dane Bradbury Private School, Saffron Walden'
★ ★ 4th Fighter Group RAF Debden, RAF Bushey Hall ★ 56th Fighter Group RAF Kings Cliffe, RAF Horsham St. Faith RAF Halesworth, RAF Boxted ★ 355th Fighter Group RAF Steeple Morden | ★ ★ 361st Fighter Group RAF Bottisham, RAF Little Walden ★ 479th Fighter Group RAF Wattisham |
'Sawston Hall, Nr. Cambridge'
★ ★ 55th Fighter Group RAF Wormingford ★ 78th Fighter Group RAF Duxford ★ 339th Fighter Group RAF Fowlmere | ★ ★ 353d Fighter Group RAF Raydon ★ 357th Fighter Group RAF Leiston |
'Walcot Hall, Nr. Stamford'
★ ★ 20th Fighter Group RAF Kings Cliffe ★ 352d Fighter Group RAF Bodney ★ 356th Fighter Group RAF Martlesham Heath | ★ ★ 359th Fighter Group RAF East Wretham ★ 364th Fighter Group RAF Honington |
★ ★ 350th Fighter Group RAF Bushey Hall, RAF Duxford | ★ 496th Fighter Group RAF Atcham ★ 495th Fighter Group RAF Goxhill |
'RAF Atcham, Shropshire
(Transferred to Twelfth Air Force November 1942)'
★ ★ 1st Fighter Group RAF Goxhill, RAF Kirton In Lindsey, RAF Ibsley ★ 31st Fighter Group RAF Atcham, RAF Westhampnett | ★ 14th Fighter Group RAF Atcham |
51st Troop Carrier Wing
RAF Greenham Common, Berkshire
(Transferred to Twelfth Air Force November 1942)'
★ ★ 60th Troop Carrier Group RAF Chelveston , RAF Aldermaston ★ 62d Troop Carrier Group RAF Keevil | ★ 64th Troop Carrier Group RAF Ramsbury |
3d Combat Bombardment Wing
RAF Earls Colne, Essex
(Transferred to Ninth Air Force October 1943)'
★ ★ 322d Bombardment Group (Medium) RAF Bury St. Edmunds, RAF Andrews Field ★ ★ 323d Bombardment Group (Medium) RAF Horham, RAF Earls Colne | ★ ★ 386th Bombardment Group (Medium) RAF Snetterton Heath, RAF Boxted, RAF Great Dunmow ★ ★ 387th Bombardment Group (Medium) RAF Chipping Ongar |
United States Strategic Air Forces (1944 - 1945)
On January 4, 1944 the B-24s and B-17s in England flew their last mission as a subordinate part of VIII Bomber Command. The Fifteenth Air Force, established in Italy, and the Eighth were organized under a centralized headquarters,United States Strategic Air Forces (USSTAF), located at RAF Bushey Hall, a redesignation of the Eighth Air Force. VIII Bomber Command in turn was re-designated Eighth Air Force on February 22, 1944, and passed from existence.
General Carl Spaatz returned to England to command the USSTAF. Major General Jimmy Doolittle relinquished command of the Fifteenth Air Force to Major General Nathan F. Twining and took over command of the Eighth Air Force at RAF High Wycombe. Doolittle of course was well known to American airmen as the famous "Tokyo leader and former air racer. His directive was simple: `Win the air war and isolate the battlefield'.
Spaatz and Doolittle's plan was to use the US Strategic Air Forces in a series of co-ordinated raids. code-named Operation 'Argument' and supported by RAF night bombing, on the German aircraft industry at the earliest possible date.
By mid-1944, Eighth Air Force had reached a total strength of more than 200,000 people (it is estimated that more than 350,000 Americans served in Eighth Air Force during the war in Europe.) At peak strength, Eighth Air Force had forty heavy bomber groups, fifteen fighter groups, and four specialized support groups. It could and did often dispatch more than 2,000 four-engine bombers and more than 1,000 fighters on a single mission to multiple targets.
B-17 Flying Fortresses from the 398th Bombardment Group fly a bombing run to Neumunster, Germany, on April 13, 1945. On May 8, Germany surrendered, and Victory in Europe Day was declared.
Under USSTAF, the Eighth Air Force conducted the 'Big Week' offensive over Germany, attacking the Luftwaffe directly at its aircraft manufacturing plants. Eighth Air Force bombers flew missions deep into Germany and attacking Berlin with daylight bombing raids.
With the invasion of France in June 1944, Eighth Air Force heavy bomb groups conducted
tactical air attacks supporting Allied ground forces in the invasion area, supported the Airborne invasion of the Netherlands, and made direct strikes on German ground forces during the Battle of the Bulge.
These missions however, carried a high price. Half of the U.S. Army Air Force’s casualties in WW II were suffered by Eighth Air Force (more than 47,000 casualties, with more than 26,000 dead). Seventeen Medals of Honor went to Eighth Air Force personnel during the war. By war’s end, they had been awarded a number of other medals to include 220 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 442,000 Air Medals. Many more awards were made to Eighth Air Force veterans after the war that remain uncounted. There were 261 fighter aces in the Eighth Air Force during World War II. Thirty-one of these aces had 15 or more aircraft kills apiece. Another 305 enlisted gunners were also recognized as aces.
The last attack by Eighth Air Force bombers was made on April 25, 1945 with B-17s attacking the Skoda armaments factory at Pilsen in Czechoslovakia, and B-24s attacking four rail complexes surrounding Hitler's mountain retreat at Berchtesgaden. Fifteenth Air Force attacked mountain passes between Germany and Austria to prevent German troops from escaping from Italy.
The final Order of Battle of the Eighth Air Force (1945):
'Brampton Grange, Huntingdonshire'
★ ★ 1st Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Bassingbourn) ★ ★ 91st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Bassingbourn ★ ★ 381st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Ridgewell ★ ★ 398th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Nuthampstead ★ 40th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Thurleigh) ★ ★ 92d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Podington ★ ★ 305th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Chelveston ★ ★ 306th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Thurleigh | ★ ★ 41st Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Molesworth) ★ ★ 303d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Molesworth ★ ★ 379th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Kimbolton ★ ★ 384th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Grafton Underwood ★ 94th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Polebrook) ★ ★ 351st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Polebrook ★ ★ 401st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Deenethorpe ★ ★ 457th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Glatton |
'VIII Fighter Command'
'Walcot Hall, Nr. Stamford'
★ ★ 20th Fighter Group RAF Kings Cliffe ★ 352d Fighter Group RAF Bodney ★ 356th Fighter Group RAF Martlesham Heath | ★ ★ 359th Fighter Group RAF East Wretham ★ 364th Fighter Group RAF Honington |
★ 482d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Alconbury
★ 495th Fighter Training Group RAF Atcham
★ 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) RAF Harrington
(became 492d Bombardment Group August 18, 1944)
'Ketteringham Hall, Norfolk'
★ ★ 2d Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Hethel) ★ ★ 389th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Hethel ★ ★ 445th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Tibenham ★ ★ 453d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Old Buckenham ★ 14th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Shipdham) ★ ★ 44th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Shipdham ★ ★ 392d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Wendling ★ ★ 492d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF North Pickenham (Withdrawn August 1944) ★ ★ 491st Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Metfeld, RAF North Pickenham (August 1944 - July 1945) | ★ ★ 20th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Hardwick) ★ ★ 93d Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Hardwick ★ ★ 446th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Bungay ★ ★ 448th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Seething ★ ★ 489th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Halesworth (May-November 1944) ★ 96th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Horsham St. Faith) ★ ★ 458th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Horsham St. Faith ★ ★ 466th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Attlebridge ★ ★ 467th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Rackheath |
'VIII Fighter Command'
'Dane Bradbury Private School, Saffron Walden'
★ ★ 4th Fighter Group RAF Debden ★ 56th Fighter Group RAF Boxted ★ 355th Fighter Group RAF Steeple Morden | ★ ★ 361st Fighter Group RAF Little Walden ★ 479th Fighter Group RAF Wattisham |
★ 496th Fighter Training Group RAF Goxhill
'Elvden Hall, Suffolk'
★ ★ 4th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Bury St. Edmunds) ★ ★ 94th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Bury St. Edmunds ★ ★ 447th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Rattlesden ★ ★ 486th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Sudbury ★ ★ 487th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Lavenham ★ 13th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Horham) ★ ★ 95th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Horham ★ ★ 100th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Thorpe Abbotts ★ ★ 390th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Framlingham | ★ ★ 45th Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Snetterton Heath) ★ ★ 96th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Snetterton Heath ★ ★ 388th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Knettishall ★ ★ 452nd Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Deopham Green ★ 93d Combat Bombardment Wing (Hq: Mendlesham) ★ ★ 34th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Mendlesham ★ ★ 385th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Great Ashfield ★ ★ 490th Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Eye ★ ★ 493rd Bombardment Group (Heavy) RAF Debach |
'VIII Fighter Command'
'Sawston Hall, Nr. Cambridge'
★ ★ 55th Fighter Group RAF Wormingford ★ 78th Fighter Group RAF Duxford ★ 339th Fighter Group RAF Fowlmere | ★ ★ 353d Fighter Group RAF Raydon ★ 357th Fighter Group RAF Leiston |
'Direct reporting units'
★ 325th Photo Reconnaissance Wing (Hq: High Wycombe)
★
★ 7th Photographic Group (Reconnaissance)
RAF Mount Farm, RAF Chalgrove
★
★ 25th Bombardment Group (Reconnaissance) RAF Watton
★ 67th Reconnaissance Group RAF Membury (VIII Air Support Command)
Eighth Air Force In The Pacific Theater
Following the end of the war in Europe the United States began to demobilize most of United States Strategic Air Forces that it built up in Europe, and transfer some of it's combat units to the Pacific Theater. In Europe the aim was to maintain a small USAAF organization, exclusively for communication and transport purposes. On August 7, 1945, the word Strategic was removed from USSAFE, and the United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) was established.
Eighth Air Force headquarters moved to Okinawa on July 16, 1945, being assigned to the U.S. Army Strategic Air Forces to train new bomber groups for combat against Japan. In the planned invasion of Japan, the mission of Eighth Air Force would be to conduct B-29 Superfortress raids from Okinawa.
Units assigned to Eighth Air Force in the Pacific were:
★ 301st Fighter Wing (Kadena Air Base) (P-47)
★
★ 410th Fighter Group
★
★ 413th Fighter Group
★
★ 506th Fighter Group
★
★ 507th Fighter Group
★ 316th Bombardment Wing (Kadena Air Base) (B-29)
★
★ 22d Bomb Group
★
★ 333d Bomb Group
★
★ 346th Bomb Group
'Note:' The 316th Bomb Wing did not arrive in Okinawa until September 1945.
The atomic bombings of Japan led to the Japanese surrender before Eighth Air Force saw action in the Pacific theater.
Strategic Air Command
World War II proved what the proponents of air power had been championing for the previous two decades — the great value of strategic forces in bombing an enemy’s industrial complex and of tactical forces in controlling the skies above a battlefield. As a result, Eighth Air Force was incorporated into the new Strategic Air Command (SAC).
On June 7, 1946, Headquarters 8th AF moved without personnel or equipment to MacDill AAF, Florida. That base assignment lasted until November 1, 1946, when SAC transferred the Eighth to Carswell AAF (formerly Fort Worth Army Air Field), Texas and the organization officially became part of SAC.
Martin-Omaha B-29-40-MO Superfortress Serial 44-27353 of the 509th Bomb Wing, Walker AFB, 1948. During World War II, 353 flew on both Atomic Bomb missions (6 August, 9 August) as an instrument aircraft monitoring the nuclear explosions.
Strategic Air Command 8th Air Force North American F-82E "Twin Mustangs" of the 27th Fighter Wing on the flightline of Kearney Air Force Base, Nebraska, 1948. Serials 46-322 and 46-332 are identifiable.
At first, the postwar Eighth Air Force had to rely heavily upon World War II airplanes, as there was insufficient funding available to re-equip the Air Force completely with a new generation of aircraft. However, it was believed that a strong strategic air arm would deter a possible aggressor from attacking the United States for fear of massive retaliation with nuclear weapons. For that reason, from 1946 through 1949, what little money became available was used to buy new planes for SAC.
Initially, Eighth Air Force under SAC consisted of the following:
★ 58th Bombardment Group
Activated at Fort Worth AAF Texas on May 9, 1946.
★ 7th Bombardment Group
Activated at Fort Worth AAF Texas on October 1, 1946.
★ 43rd Bombardment Group
Activated at Davis-Monthan AAF Arizona on October 4, 1946.
★ 27th Fighter Wing
Activated at Kearney AAF Nebraska on July 27, 1947.
Both Davis-Monthan and Fort Worth Army Airfields were B-29 training bases during World War II, and the Eighth Air Force Bomb Groups were simply activated at the same field and on the same day as the original Army Air Force Continental Air Forces training bomb groups were inactivated. The assets of the former training units were simply assigned to Eighth Air Force. This was largely so that the Air Force could perpetuate the names of groups that that had distinguished themselves in World War II. These bomb wings were drastically undermanned and under equipped. At the close of 1946, they shared only a handful of operational bombers, all B-29 Superfortresses.
The Eighth Air Force was specifically charged with the atomic mission, and the 7th Bomb Group at Fort Worth AAF was modifying their aircraft to carry the atomic bomb. However only the 509th Composite Group at North Field Tinian in the Marianas had the capability to drop nuclear weapons.
Several events in the late 1940s reversed the drawdown of United States strategic forces. The 1948 Berlin Crisis and the outbreak of the Cold War caused the United States to deploy SAC's B-29 bomber force back to the United Kingdom and West Germany. Communist victories in the Chinese Civil War in 1949 and the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950 meant that the United States would have to expand SAC to address these potential threats both in Europe as well as Asia.
As a result, Eighth Air Force spent its first decade in the continental U.S. building up its strategic capabilities. By 1950, the Eighth Air Force consisted of the following units:
★ ★ Carswell AFB, Texas ★ ★ 7th Bombardment Group (B-36) ★ ★ 11th Bombardment Group (Paper Unit - Not activated until February 16, 1951 with B-36s) ★ Biggs AFB, Texas ★ ★ 97th Bombardment Group (B-29) ★ Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona ★ ★ 43d Bombardment Group (B-29, B-50) | ★ ★ Walker AFB, New Mexico ★ ★ 509th Bombardment Group (B-29, B-50) ★ Chatham AFB, Georgia ★ ★ 2d Bombardment Group (B-29, B-50) ★ Bergstrom AFB Texas ★ ★ 27th Fighter Wing (F-82) |
During the Korean War, only the 27th Fighter Wing deployed to Asia. After the 1953 Cease Fire, on 13 June 1955 SAC moved Headquarters 8th AF to Westover AFB, Massachusetts, where it transitioned to the jet age and commanded all SAC bases in the eastern United States.
Eighth Air Force Boeing B-47E-50-LM (S/N 52-3363) in flight.
Eighth Air Force Boeing B-52D-70-BO (S/N 56-0582) being refueled by Boeing KC-135A-BN (S/N 55-3127).
Within a few years, B-47 medium and B-52s heavy bombers replaced the Eighth’s older B-29, B-50, and B-36 bombers. The Eighth’s weapons inventory also changed to include KC-135 air refuelers and intercontinental ballistic missiles (the Atlas, Titan I and Titan II, and all Minuteman models.)
At the same time, aerial refueling techniques were improved to the extent that Eighth Air Force bombers could still reach targets in Europe and Asia even if overseas bases were destroyed by an enemy attack. To reduce the risk to its bomber fleet in the United States, Eighth Air Force began dispersing its planes to a large number of bases across the United States so as not to have too many concentrated at a single location.
In 1965, Eighth Air Force entered combat again, this time in Southeast Asia. At first, the Eighth deployed its B-52 bomber and KC-135 tanker units from the U.S. to operating bases in Guam, Okinawa and Thailand. Then in April 1970, SAC moved the Eighth without personnel or equipment to Andersen AFB Guam, absorbing resources of the 3d Air Division. At Anderson, the Eighth took over the direction of all bombing and refueling operations in Southeast Asia. The intensive bombing of Hanoi and Haiphong during 11days in December 1972, known as 'LINEBACKER II', was but one highlight of those war years. Importantly, the Eighth’s bombing effectiveness influenced the North Vietnamese to end hostilities. With the end of combat in Southeast Asis, the Eighth Air Force moved without personnel or equipment to Barksdale AFB Louisiana on January 1, 1975, absorbing the resources of Second Air Force.
In the 1980s, the Eighth participated in several key operations such as running the tanker task force for URGENT FURY in 1983 and directing all air refueling operations for EL DORADO CANYON in 1986 and JUST CAUSE in 1989.
The Eighth’s units played a key role in the 42-day Gulf War in 1991. An Eighth Air Force unit, the 2d Bomb Wing, spearheaded the air campaign by dispatching B-52s from Barksdale to launch conventional air-launched cruise missiles against Iraqi targets. Eighth Air Force bomb wings, stationed in the Persian Gulf region, also attacked Iraq’s Republican Guard forces and numerous key strategic targets, while other units provided air refueling and tactical reconnaissance throughout the conflict. As a headquarters, the Eighth had another important role in victory over Iraqi forces—operating the logistics supply and air refueling bridge between the U. S. and gulf region.
Air Combat Command
Fifteen months after Operation Desert Storm, the Air Force reorganized. Eighth Air Force was relieved from assignment to Strategic Air Command and assigned to the new Air Combat Command (ACC) on 1 June 1992.
Under ACC, Eighth Air Force provides command and control, intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance (C2ISR); long-range attack; and information operations forces to Air Force components and warfighting commands. Eighth Air Force trains, tests, exercises and demonstrates combat-ready forces for rapid employment worldwide.
Eighth Air Force also provides conventional forces to U.S. Joint Forces Command and provides nuclear capable bombers, specified Global Strike assets, and C2ISR capabilities to U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM). Eighth Air Force also supports STRATCOM's Joint Force Headquarters - Information Operations and serves as the command element for Air Force wide computer network operations.
B-2 of the Eighth Air Force 509th Bomb Wing
Under ACC, the Eighth received control over active duty, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard units in the central U. S. and two overseas locations. Then in January 1994, ACC reorganized Eighth Air Force as a general purpose Numbered Air Force (NAF) with a warfighting mission to support the U.S. Joint Forces and U.S. Strategic Commands. Support to the latter command included the operation of Task Force 204 (bombers).
Since 1994, the Eighth has participated in a string of contingency operations, such as the 1996 Operation 'DESERT STRIKE' against Iraq, the 1998 Operation 'DESERT FOX' against Iraq, which featured the B-1B in its combat debut, and 1999 Operation 'ALLIED FORCE' against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which involved the B-2A Spirit in its first combat. The 'ALLIED FORCE' campaign also marked the Eighth’s return to Europe and the participation of U.S. bombers in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s (NATO) first combat operation. Altogether, the Eighth’s bombers flew 325 sorties to drop over 7 million pounds of ordnance on enemy targets in that campaign.
In 2000, the Air Force decided to integrate information operations into Eighth Air Force. The integration process started on 1 February 2001, when the Air Force realigned the Air Intelligence Agency (AIA) under ACC and assigned the 67th Information Operations Wing and the 70th Intelligence Wing to the Eighth. The reorganization transformed the Eighth into the only information operations and bomber NAF in the Air Force. For the Mighty Eighth, that change heralded an interesting future, one that bring further restructuring, different aircraft systems, and a new challenging mission to the NAF.
While posturing itself for that mission change, the Eighth also supported Operation 'ENDURING FREEDOM' against terrorists in Afghanistan, and NOBLE EAGLE for the homeland defense of America. Throughout the first six months of ENDURING FREEDOM, the Mighty Eighth’s bombers were instrumental in the destruction of key targets and illusive enemy forces in Afghanistan. With each step through 2002, the Eighth continues to add more feats to its growing legacy.
See also
★ Joint Functional Component Command for Space and Global Strike (US Strategic Command)
★ United States Air Forces in Europe
★ United States Air Force in the United Kingdom
★ Strategic Air Command
★ Air Combat Command
★ Air Force Cyber Command
References
★ Maurer Maurer, Air Force Combat Units Of World War II, Office of Air Force History, 1983
★ The Mighty Eighth, Freeman, Roger A., , , , 1970, ISBN 0-87938-638-X
★ The Mighty Eighth War Diary, Freeman, Roger A., , , , 1990, ISBN 0-87938-495-6
★ Freeman, Roger A., Airfields Of The Eighth, Then And Now, 1978
External links
★ Eighth Air Force official website
★ USAF Fact Sheets: Eighth Air Force History
★ Establishment of the Eighth Air Force in the United Kingdom
★ Eighth Air Force Museum
★ WWII Bomb Groups - European Theater of Operations (ETO)
★ The Ruhr - one of the main target of the 8th USAAF in Europe, 1943-1945
★ Complete fulltext of: Maurer Maurer, ''Air Force Combat Units Of World War II'', Office of Air Force History, 1983 online and keyword searchable
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