In the 1950s Tactical Air Command (TAC0 developed the Composite Air Strike Force (CASF) concept, a mobile rapid-deployment strike concept designed to respond to "brush fire" conflicts around the world. A CASF included fighter bomber aircraft for both conventional and nuclear attack missions, as well as transport, tanker, and tactical reconnaissance assets. TAC composite air strike forces were intended to augment existing combat units already in place as part of U.S. Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), the U.S. Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), or the Alaskan Air Command (AAC). The first deployment of the Composite Air Strike Force took place in July 1958 in response to an imminent coup d'etat in Lebanon. TAC scrambled forces across the Atlantic to Turkey, where their presence was intended to force an end to the crisis. A similar CASF was deployed in response to conflicts between China and Taiwan in 1958. The Tactical Air Command (TAC) was a command of the United States Air Force charged with battlefield-level (tactical) air combat, including light bombardment, close air support of ground troops, interdiction of enemy forces, and air transport of ground troops. ... Combatants United States Insurgency Strength 8,509 U.S. Army soldiers 5,670 USMC marines U.S. Sixth Fleet Casualties Four dead (Three by accident, one from hostile fire) Operation Blue Bat was the name given to the 1958 operation in which the United States intervened in the Lebanon crisis. ...

In 1961 Robert McNamara organized the United States Strike Command to integrate CASF efforts with those of the Strategic Army Corps. In 1961 the United States Strike Command (STRICOM) was established at MacDill AFB as a unified command with integrated personnel from all branches of the military capable of responding to global crisis. ... The Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) is a U.S. Army command with a mission of high readiness. ...