14th Air Force
Emblem of the 14th Air Force
Active:	10 March 1943
Country:	United States
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Branch:	United States Air Force
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Command structure:	Air Force Space Command
Current commander:
Garrison/HQ:	Vandenberg Air Force Base
Ceremonial chief:
Colonel of the Regiment:
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Identification symbol:	{{{identification_symbol}}}
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Notable battles or wars:
Notable commanders:	{{{notable_commanders}}}
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The United States Fourteenth Air Force, also 14th Air Force (14 AF), is a Numbered Air Force (NAF) of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It is a functional echelon dedicated to space systems operations, responsible for missile warning, space surveillance, and range operations for the Department of Defense, NASA, and commercial space launches. Fourteenth Air Force is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base. Image File history File links 14th_Air_Force_emblem. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... The United States Air Force (or USAF) is the aerospace branch of the United States armed forces and one of the seven uniformed services. ... Air Force Space Command emblem Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is a major command of the United States Air Force with headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, USA. It was created on September 1, 1982. ... Vandenberg Air Force Base is a base with a spaceport, located in Santa Barbara County, California. ... A battle honour is an official acknowledgement to recognize a military units achievements in specific wars or operations. ... Air Force Space Command emblem Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) is a major command of the United States Air Force with headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, USA. It was created on September 1, 1982. ... The United States Department of Defense, abbreviated as DoD or DOD and sometimes called the Defense Department, is a civilian Cabinet organization of the United States government. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Vandenberg Air Force Base is a base with a spaceport, located in Santa Barbara County, California. ...

Fourteenth Air Force operated in the China-Burma-India (CBI) theater during World War II as the Flying Tigers and subsequently served Air Defense Command, Continental Air Command, and the Air Force Reserves (AFRES). In 1993, Fourteenth Air Force was transferred from AFRES to AFSPC. China Burma India Theater (CBI) was the name used by the United States Army for its forces in China, Burma, India during World War II. Well-known US units in this theater included the Flying Tigers, transport and bomber units flying the Hump, the engineers who built Ledo Road, and... Combatants Allies: Poland, British Commonwealth, France/Free France, Soviet Union, United States, China, and others Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, Japan, and others Casualties Military dead: 17 million Civilian dead: 33 million Total dead: 50 million Military dead: 8 million Civilian dead: 4 million Total dead: 12 million World War II... This article concerns the American Volunteer Group, a World War II unit usually known as the Flying Tigers. For other uses of the term see Flying Tigers (disambiguation). ... ...

Component wings and groups

• 614th Space Operations Group, operates Joint Space Operations Center
• 21st Space Wing, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California
• 45th Space Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Florida
• 50th Space Wing, Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado
• 460th Space Wing, Buckley Air Force Base, Colorado^[1]

https://www. ... Peterson Air Force Base (Peterson AFB) is a base of the United States Air Force located in El Paso County, Colorado near Colorado Springs. ... Official language(s) English Capital Denver Largest city Denver Area  - Total   - Width   - Length    - % water  - Latitude  - Longitude Ranked 8th 104,185 sq mi  269 837 km² 280 miles  451 km 380 miles  612 km 0. ... Vandenberg Air Force Base is a base with a spaceport, located in Santa Barbara County, California. ... Official language(s) English Capital Sacramento Largest city Los Angeles Area  Ranked 3rd  - Total 158,302 sq mi (410,000 km²)  - Width 250 miles (400 km)  - Length 770 miles (1,240 km)  - % water 4. ... Patrick Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located near Cocoa Beach, Florida, USA. Patrick Air Force Base is home to the 45th Space Wing. ... Official language(s) English Capital Tallahassee Largest city Jacksonville Area  Ranked 22nd  - Total 65,794 sq mi (170,451 km²)  - Width 162 miles (260 km)  - Length 497 miles (800 km)  - % water 17. ... The 50th Space Wing (50 SW) is a wing of the United States Air Force under the major command of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). ... Schriever Air Force Base, a base of the United States Air Force, is located approximately 10 miles east of Peterson AFB near Colorado Springs, Colorado. ... Buckley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located east of Denver, Colorado. ...

World War II

The Fourteenth Air Force was constituted on 5 March 1943 and activated in China on 10 March. It served in combat against the Japanese, operating primarily in China, until the end of the war. It moved to the U.S. over two the months of December 1945 and January 1946. The Fourteenth was inactivated on 6 January 1946.^[2] March 5 is the 64th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (65th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ... January 6 is the 6th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ...

After the Japan and the United States entered World War II the American Volunteer Group (AVG) known as the Flying Tigers were incoporated into the USAAF. Claire Chennault their commander was reinstated into the USAAF as a colonel, promoted to brigadier and later major general as commander of the U.S. Army's Fourteenth Air Force. After July 14 1942, the AVG was replaced by the 23d Fighter Group. Only five pilots accepted commissions in China. However, US pilots and US press went on using the name Flying Tigers after the AVG's dissolution. Especially the 23d Fighter Group was often called by the same nickname — they too were "Flying Tigers". Most AVG pilots became transport pilots in China, went back to America into civilian jobs, or rejoined the military services and fought elsewhere in the war. This article concerns the American Volunteer Group, a World War II unit usually known as the Flying Tigers. For other uses of the term see Flying Tigers (disambiguation). ... Maj. ... The 23d Fighter Group directs the flying and maintenance operations for the USAFs largest A/OA-10 fighter group, consisting of two combat-ready A/OA-10 squadrons, an operational support squadron, and a maintenance squadron. ...

The Fourteenth Air Force official web site^[3] says:

After the China Air Task Force was discontinued, the Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF) was established by the special order of President Roosevelt on 10 March 1943. Chennault was appointed the commander and promoted to Major General. The "Flying Tigers" of 14 AF (who adopted the "Flying Tigers" designation from the AVG) conducted highly effective fighter and bomber operations along a wide front that stretched from the bend of the Yellow River and Tsinan in the north to Indochina in the south, from Chengtu and the Salween River in the west to the China Sea and the island of Formosa in the east. They were also instrumental in supplying Chinese forces through the airlift of cargo across "The Hump" in the China-Burma-India theater. By the end of World War II, 14 AF had achieved air superiority over the skies of China and established a ratio of 7.7 enemy planes destroyed for every American plane lost in combat. Overall, military officials estimated that over 4,000 Japanese planes were destroyed or damaged in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II. In addition, they estimated that air units in China destroyed 1,100,000 tons of shipping, 1,079 locomotives, 4,836 trucks and 580 bridges. The United States Army Air Corps credits 14 AF with the destruction of 2,315 Japanese aircraft, 356 bridges, 1,225 locomotives and 712 railroad cars.

FDR redirects here. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... The factual accuracy of this article is disputed. ... Jinan (Simplified Chinese: 济南; Traditional Chinese: 濟南; pinyin: Jìnán; Wade-Giles: Chi-nan) is the capital and a sub-provincial city of Shandong province in China. ... Indochina, or the Indochinese Peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. ... Chengdu (Chinese: 成都; pinyin: Chéngdū; Wade-Giles: Cheng-tu) is the capital of Sichuan province and a sub-provincial city, located in southwest China, and bordering Tibet. ... Salween River Delta, October 1994 The Salween River (also spelled Salwin) rises in Tibet, after which it flows through Yunnan, where it is known as the Nujiang river (Chinese: 怒江; Pinyin: Nù Jiāng), although either name can be used for the whole river. ... The China Sea can refer to the: South China Sea, or East China Sea This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Formosa is a placename which comes from Latin formosa (*formous, meaning beautiful). Other Iberian Romance versions are hermosa. ... The Hump was the name given by Allied pilots to the eastern end of the Himalayan Mountains over which they flew from India to China to resupply the Flying Tigers and the Chinese Government of Chiang Kai-shek. ...

Campaigns

Campaigns India-Burma; China Defensive; China Offensive.^[2]

Command

Its headquarters while in China were Kunming from 10 March 1943 and Peishiyi, from 7 August to 15 December 1945.^[2] Kunming (Chinese: 昆明; Hanyu Pinyin: ; Wade-Giles: Kun-ming) is the capital of Yunnan province, China with a population estimated on 1,055. ... March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... August 7 is the 219th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (220th in leap years), with 146 days remaining. ... December 15 is the 349th day of the year (350th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1945 (MCMXLV) was a common year starting on Monday (the link is to a full 1945 calendar). ...

Commanders^[2]:

• Major General Claire Chennault from 10 March 1943 until 10 August 1945;
• Major General Charles B. Stone III from 10 August until 31 December 1945.

March 10 is the 69th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (70th in leap years). ... 1943 (MCMXLIII) was a common year starting on Friday (the link is to a full 1943 calendar). ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... August 10 is the 222nd day of the year (223rd in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... December 31 is the 365th day of the year (366th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ...

Groups

• 68th Fighter Wing. Activated in China on 3 Sep 1943. Redesignated 68th Composite Wing in Dec 1943
  • 51st Fighter Group: 1943-1945.
  • 341st Bombardment Group (Medium) 1943-1945^[4][5]
    • 11th Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
    • 22nd Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
    • 490th Bombardment Squadron (Medium) "Burma Bridge Busters"
    • 491st Bombardment Squadron (Medium)
• 69th Bombardment Wing. Activated in China on 3 Sep 1943. Redesignated 69th Composite Wing in Dec 1943.
  • 23rd Fighter Group^[4]
• 312th Fighter Wing: activated in China on 1 March 1944
  • 33rd Fighter Group: 1944.
  • 81st Fighter Group: 1944-1945.
  • 311th Fighter Group: 1944-1945.

• 308th Bombardment Group later the 314th Troop Carrier Group
• 476th Fighter Group: Assigned but never equipped.
• 402d Bombardment Group (Medium): Assigned but never equipped.

Intelligence

American missionary John Birch was recommended to Chennault for intelligence work by Jimmy Doolittle, whom he had assisted when Doolittle's crew landed in China after the raid on Tokyo. Inducted into the Fourteenth on its formation, and later seconded to the OSS, he built a formidable network of Chinese informants to provide the Flying Tigers with intelligence on Japanese land and sea military positions and the disposition of shipping and railways. He was shot by Chinese Communists 10 days after the war ended, which led to him being chosen as the namesake of the John Birch Society. John Morrison Birch (May 8, 1918–August 25, 1945) was an American Military Intelligence Officer and a Baptist Missionary in World War II who was murdered by armed supporters of the Communist Party of China. ... General Jimmy Doolittle at 8th Air Force HQ, 1945. ... Combatants United States Japan Commanders James H. Doolittle N/A Strength 16 B-25 Mitchells N/A Casualties 3 dead, 8 POWs (4 would die in captivity) about 50 dead, 400 injured Lt. ... The Office of Strategic Services (OSS) was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime (but not direct) precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency. ... The John Birch Society (JBS) is an ultra-conservative, Americanist organization founded in 1958 to fight what it saw as growing threats to the Constitution of the United States, especially a perceived communist infiltration, and to promote the free-enterprise system. ...

See also

• South-East Asian Theatre of World War II
• Burma Campaign
• Operation Ichi-Go
• RAF Third Tactical Air Force

The South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was the name given to the campaigns of the Pacific War in India, Burma, Thailand, Malaya and Singapore. ... The Burma Campaign was a campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II. It was fought primarily between Commonwealth, Chinese and American forces against the Empire of Japan. ... This article needs to be wikified. ... The RAF Third Tactical Air Force (Third TAF), which was formed in south Asia in December 1943, was one of three tactical air forces formed by the Royal Air Force during World War II. Third TAF was formed shortly after the establishment of South East Asia Command to provide close...

References

• Maurer, Maurer "Air Force Combat Units of World War II", Pub USAF, Reprinted 1986 (first pub 1961)

External links

• Fourteenth Air Force official website
• Annals of the Flying Tigers
• Fourteenth Air Force in China 1943 - 1945
• 14th Air Force

Footnotes

1. ↑  Fourteenth Air Force official website
2. ↑ ^{a b  c} Air Force Combat Units of World War II - Part 8 See References Maurer
3. ↑  Fourteenth Airforce History Information presented on DefenseLINK is considered public information and may be distributed or copied unless otherwise specified
4. ↑  ^a Transferred from the Tenth Air Force
5. ↑  The 341st Bomb Group usually functioned as if it were two groups and for a time as three. Soon after its activation in September 1942, 341st Bomb Group Headquarters and three of its squadrons the 22nd, 490th and 491st, and were stationed and operating in India under direction of the Tenth Air Force, while the 11th squadron was stationed and operating in China under direction of the "China Air Task Force", which was later reorganized and reinforced to become the Fourteenth Air Force. Fourteen months later the Group Headquarters along with 22nd and the 491st squadrons joined the 11th squadron under the command of the Fourteenth Air Force. However most of the 490th "Burma Bridge Busters" remained under the command of Major-General Howard Davidson's Tenth Air Force. Still later the 11th Squadron and a detachment of the 491st operated for a time under the East China Task Force.^[6]
6. ↑ Life and Times of the 341st Bomb Group: Forward