Continental Air Command: Difference between revisions

Continental Air Command
Continental Air Command emblem
Active	1948 - 1968
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Major Command

Continental Air Command (ConAC) (1948–1968) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for administering the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.

After the end of World War II, the Truman Administration was determined to bring the Federal budget back into balance. An enormous deficit had built up, so expenditure was cut, resulting in relatively little money for the new United States Air Force to modernize its forces.^[1] What money was there, was allocated first to SAC for new B-50 Superfortress and B-36 Peacemaker intercontinental bombers, along with F-82 Twin Mustang fighter escorts. The appearance of the German jet aircraft during the war essentially made obsolete the prop-driven P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang fighters inherited by TAC. F-80 Shooting Star and F-84 Thunderjet jet aircraft, also developed during the war were put into production to replace them. ADC received the many training P-47 and P-51 fighters used at CONUS bases during the war, along with the already produced P-47N and P-51H long-range escort aircraft designed for use in the expected Invasion of Japan. In addition, large numbers of Northrup F-61C Black Widows, used for night fighter operations during the war found their way into ADC units.^[1]

Due to the limited budget, the new USAF was forced to extend procurement of these aircraft to just a few each year. As a result of limited budgets Continental Air Command (ConAC) was established on 1 December 1948 as a new major command. ConAC was the result of an effort by the new USAF to concentrate all fighter forces deployed within the continental United States to strengthen the air defense of the North American continent. ^[1]

With the establishment of ConAC, Tactical Air Command and Air Defense Command were reduced from major commands to operating agencies under ConAC. ConAC also had charge of all Air Force Reserve units because most of these forces were to be used in either air defense or tactical operations. Along with TAC and ADC, ConAC controlled the First, Fourth, Tenth and Fourteenth Air Forces. The Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces remained under TAC control, although they were assigned to ConAC.^[1]

In practice, ConAC was unworkable as the tactical air support mission was fundamentally different than the air defense mission. Units assigned to ConAC were dual-trained and in case of war, were expected to revert to their primary roles after the North American air defense battle was won. The Korean War gave a new emphasis to tactical air operations and resulted in the restoration of Tactical Air Command as a major air command on December 1, 1950 and relieved it from assignment to ConAC. TAC's mission would be to supply these tactical forces to FEAF and USAFE, and also be able to deploy its CONUS forces worldwide in response to Cold War threats by Communist China and the Soviet Union. In addition, the need to support the new NATO alliance meant that entire wings of aircraft would be deployed to Europe for tactical air defense.^[2]

The air defense mission, relegated to a secondary status in the postwar years, received much more attention as Cold War tensions heightened. Following the explosion of a Soviet nuclear weapon in August 1949, the Air Force issued requirements for an operational air defense system by 1952. The perceived threat of an airborne atomic attack by the Soviet Union with its Tu-4 copy of the B-29 or Tu-95 strategic bomber led to the separation of Air Defense Command from ConAC, and its reestablishment as an Air Force major command, effective 1 January 1951 to counter the perceived Soviet threat.^[2]

See: Air National Guard for ConAC History.

The 1950’s Air Force Reserve was also affected by fundamental legislation pertaining to the parent Air Force. Even after the Unification Act of September 1947 established the United States Air Force, much of the statutory authority upon which it operated still stemmed from various laws pertaining to the U.S. Army.^[3]

To clarify the situation and provide both services sounder legal bases from which to operate, Congress passed the Army and Air Force Authorization Act of 1949 which became law on 10 July 1950. The law stipulated that the Air Force of the United States would consist of the U.S. Air Force (the Regular Air Force), the Air National Guard of the United States, the Air National Guard when it was in the service of the United States, and the U.S. Air Force Reserve. The Air Force of the United States was to have an authorized strength of not more than seventy groups with separate Air Force squadrons, reserve groups, and whatever supporting and auxiliary and reserve units as might be required.^[3]

With the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950, it was necessary to deploy large numbers of tactical aircraft to Japan and South Korea.^[4]

*See 452d Bombardment Wing, 403d Troop Carrier Wing, and 437th Troop Carrier Wing articles for details of these reserve units activities during the Korean War.

One of the immediate needs of the Active Duty Air Force was to was to assemble a tactical airlift force. In June 1950, the United States could count three troop carrier wings: the Regular Air Force’s 314th Troop Carrier Wing at Sewart AFB, Tennessee, and the mobilized 375th and 433d reserve wings at Donaldson AFB, South Carolina.^[5]

To fill the airlift void, six Air Force Reserve C-46 Commando wings were identified for mobilization in January 1951. On 28 March 1951, Tactical Air Command activated the Eighteenth Air Force at Donaldson AFB, South Carolina, immediately assigning to it the Reserve 314th and 375th Troop Carrier Wings. As the reserve wings came on active duty, they too joined the Eighteenth Air Force.^[5]

The 435th Troop Carrier Wing at Miami IAP, Florida, the 403d Troop Carrier Wing at Portland MAP, Oregon, and the 516th Troop Carrier Wing at Memphis MAP, Tennessee, were mobilized on 1 March, 1 April, and 16 April, respectively, while the 434th Troop Carrier Wing at Atterbury AFB Indiana, the 514th Troop Carrier Wing at Mitchel AFB, New York, and the 443d Troop Carrier Wing at Hensley Field, Texas, all came onto active service on 1 May.^[5]

Eighteenth Air Force was established and activated in March 1951 to discharge Tactical Air Command's troop carrier responsibilities. With the partial mobilization of the Air Force Reserve during the Korean War, Eighteenth Air Force assumed control of the reserve wings mobilized in 1951-the 435th, 516th, 434th, 514th, and 443d for their active duty tours. ^[5]

The reservists routinely trained in the troop carrier role, participated in several joint training exercises, and discharged the bulk of Tactical Air Command’s troop-carrying responsibilities to other agencies. Among the major joint training exercises in which the units participated were Exercise SOUTHERN PINE in August 1951, Operation SNOWFALL in January-February 1952, and Exercise LONG HORN in March 1952.^[5]

For one six-month period of its active duty tour, one of the reserve wings became something of a cold-weather outfit. In April 1952 the United States agreed to construct a weather station for Denmark a few hundred miles from the North Pole, a location inaccessible except by air. Ironically, the southernmost of the reserve wings, the 435th of Miami, drew the assignment to airlift the materials to the north country.^[5]

On 14 July 1952, the 375th Troop Carrier Wing was relieved from active military service,and the other five were relieved at various times between 1 December 1952, and 1 February 1953.^[5]

The necessity of a partial mobilization in July 1950 raised a number of perplexing problems which became more difficult as the war progressed through its first year. The fundamental problem centered around the fact that the Air Force, requiring a substantial augmentation of reserve manpower in a circumstance no planner had ever envisioned, needed individual replacements and augmentees, not entire organized units.^[5]

When the Korean War broke out, the Air Force’s immediate need was for individuals to raise active force units to their authorized wartime strengths. National policy required preparedness for a conflict in Europe, and the Air Force hesitated to withdraw manpower from the organized units of the Air Force Reserve and the Air National Guard, the only trained augmentation resource available. Therefore, discounting a handful of volunteers, the Air Force’s individual replacements to satisfy the demands of the first phase of the Korean War as well as the expansion requirements came from reserve units by using them as "filler" augmentees along with their equipment and aircraft.^[5]

For nearly a month after American troops went into Korea, the Air Force strove to meet burgeoning personnel requirements with volunteers, offering its reservists and guardsmen opportunities for either enlistment or voluntary recall to active duty. The Air Force’s first voluntary recall on 30 June 1950, sought communications and electronic officers, radar officers and specialists, telephone and radio operators and maintenance men, cryptographer operators and technicians, and wiremen and cablemen. Additional calls followed, and by 20 July ConAC had a consolidated recall requirement for almost 50,000 reservists. They included 2,000 pilots, 1,900 specialized observers, 4,326 nonrated officers, and 41,536 airmen.^[5]

By this time, it was obvious that the need for men could not be satisfied by the voluntary recall which had produced only rated officers. Therefore, by 19 July, President Truman had authorized involuntary recall of reservists for one year. ConAC directed its numbered air forces to select individuals from the Volunteer Air Reserve training program for assignment outside the command. Members of the command’s corollary units and its mobilization augmentees and designees could be called up to fill the command’s authorized vacancies. The mobilization augmentees of other commands could be recalled to fill any other vacancy in the Air Force. When feasible, corollary unit members were to be used to fill vacancies in their parent units. Members of the Volunteer Air Reserve could be recalled to fill a ConAC vacancy when Organized Air Reserve sources were unavailable, but no member of an organized reserve unit at a flying center was to be individually recalled.^[5]

The entry of the Chinese into the war in November 1950, the resultant proclamation of a national emergency, and the accompanying military buildup early in 1951 required the Air Force to turn to its individual reserve resources again. Still desiring to preserve the effectiveness of existing units while rapidly expanding its manpower base, the Air Force needed the reservists to fill critical skill shortages and provide cadre for new units in the expanding force. Even though restricted to the Organized Air Reserve, the involuntary recall of individuals in February and March 1951 was the heaviest of the war. ConAC recalled slightly more than 7,000 reservists in both February and March. About 4,000 were recalled in April, and the number leveled off thereafter at a slightly lower figure.^[5]

Fifteen reserve wings were recalled on vaious dates between 10 March and 1 May and were inactivated at home stations after their personnel had been reassigned, the units being used as "Fillers" for active duty unit personnel and aircraft requirements. The breaking up of the reserve units upon mobilization evoked a flurry of protest from the reservists and from congressmen representing the states in which the units were located. Reserve unit members believed the Air Force had promised that they would serve together upon mobilization-indeed recruiters of the period had at least implied if not actually asserted as much.^[5]

In response, the Secretary of the Air Force Thomas K. Finletter, stated that the Chief of Staff had to have absolute flexibility to employ Air Reserve Forces units and individuals in the best interests of national defense. Moreover, he noted that Public Law 599, under whose authority all mobilization during the Korean War took place, specifically authorized the President to order reservists to active duty as individuals or as members of units, with or without their consent.^[5]

In the fall of 1951, the Air Force began releasing reservists from active duty.^[5]

Reflecting the attitude of most reservists, by 1951 Congress and the Department of Defense were dissatisfied with the disorder and inequities that had marked the recall of reservists to active military service as a result of the Korean War. Incomplete and outdated records of individual reservists had made administration of the recall difficult. Moreover, unable to call upon younger men who had never served, the nation had to send World War I1 veterans back to war. The Department of Defense requested universal military training legislation to provide the military services with a source of nonveterans. ^[6]

Thus motivated, Congress passed a series of laws in the first half of the 1950s to strengthen the reserve programs. President Truman approved H.R. 5426 as the Armed Forces Reserve Act of 1952 on July 9, 1952. ^[6]

In its final form, the new law appeared to most persons and organizations interested in reserve matters, the National Guard Association excepted, as a first concrete step in curing the ills of the national reserve program. It codified many existing laws, regulations, and practices; it gave the combat veteran some protection against being mobilized before others who had not served; and it removed several inequities of treatment of reservists. It was the first legislation ever passed that pertained exclusively to the reserve forces. ^[6]

At its center, the law established Ready, Standby, and Retired Reserve categories within each reserve component to define liability for call to active duty. ^[6]

• The Ready Reserve consisted of units or members who were liable for active duty in time of war, in time of national emergency declared by Congress or proclaimed by the President, or when otherwise authorized by law. ^[6]

• The Standby Reserve consisted of units or members both of the reserve components, other than members in the Retired Reserve, liable for active duty only in time of war or a national emergency declared by Congress or when otherwise authorized by law. Except in time of war, no unit or member of the Standby Reserve could be ordered to active duty unless the appropriate service secretary determined that adequate numbers of the required types of units or individuals of the Ready Reserve were not available. ^[6]

• Members of the Retired Reserve could be ordered to active duty involuntarily only in time of war or national emergency declared by Congress or when otherwise authorized by law. All other reservists not on the Inactive Status List Retired would be placed in the Ready Reserve. ^[6]

Influenced by the difficulties being created by the concurrent mobilization, the policies required that each service publish priorities for recall. As military conditions permitted, a reservist ordered to active federal service was to be allowed at least thirty days from the time he was alerted until he had to report for duty. ^[6]

When units or persons from the reserve forces were ordered to active military service during apartial mobilization, military departments were to assure the continued organization and training of reserve forces not yet mobilized. ^[6]

On 4 June 1951, Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Eugene M. Zuckert formed a committee under the chairmanship of the Air Force Reserve’s General Smith to examine the Air Reserve programs. General Smith was a reservist who had been associated with the Air Training Command during World War TI, had served on several of the Air Defense Command’s early reserve boards, and had been the first chairman of the Air Staff Committee on Reserve. Submitting a long-range plan for the Reserve Forces of the United States Air Force on 27 July. General Smith asserted that its adoption would provide a balanced reserve force by 1958.^[6]

The plan provided for 27 Air National Guard and 24 Air Force Reserve tactical wings, 6 Air Force Reserve flying training wings, and almost 1,300 Air Force Reserve nonflying units. This structure would accommodate 250,000 members and provide flying and combat crew training for 38,000 in wing and squadron aircraft. The plan was approved on 9 August. However, due to the recalls caused by Korea, the Air Force Reserve had no aircraft, and none would be available until July 1952. Upon mobilization in 1950 and 1951, Air Force Reserve units remaining intact had kept their aircraft, while aircraft belonging to the mobilized “filler” units had been redistributed.^[6]

With the post-Korean War expansion of the Air Force, on 24 November 1954, the Joint Mid-Range War Plan identified a D-Day requirement for fifty-one Air Reserve Forces wings. This was approved on 4 January 1955 by General Nathan Farragut Twining, USAF Chief of Staff. The contemporary Air Force Reserve of today began with General Twining's resultant statement:^[6]

It is my desire, therefore, that within budget limits and consistent with the policy of attaining and maintaining maximum combat capability within the 137 wing force, all pertinent Air Staff actions be directed specifically toward: fully equipping Reserve units with aircraft capable of carrying out the D-Day mission; provision of adequate facilities and full unit equipment; and supervision and inspection of training programs with an end toward reaching an acceptable degree of combat capability at the earliest practicable date.^[6]

The new mobilization requirement was for twenty-seven Air National Guard and twenty-four Air Force Reserve tactical wings. The latter included nine fighter-bomber, two tactical bombardment, and thirteen troop carrier units. ^[6]

• The fighter-bomber wings initially would have an air defense role under Air Defense Command and later a tactical fighter role. ^[6]

• The tactical bombardment and troop carrier wings would be assigned immediately to the Tactical Air Command. As General Twining often pointed out, airlift was one thing the Air Force needed on D-Day, and the thirteen Air Force Reserve wings would certainly add to the force’s mobility.^[6]

In addition to providing units to augment the active force for limited or full-scale war, by mid- 1955 the Air Force Reserve had a requirement to provide the Air Force with trained individuals in wartime to augment and replace the attrition in the active force. These personnel were to be recruited, matched against specific wartime requirements, and trained in specific skills.^[6]

Thus provided with an adequate framework of national policy and Department of Defense guidance, ConAC and the major air commands which would gain the Air Reserve Forces units and individuals upon mobilization began to develop the force into a combat-ready mobilization asset.^[6]

For the first time, the Air Force Reserve possessed no trainer aircraft, and the units did all their flying in tactical aircraft: B-26 Invader, F-80 Shooting Star, F-84 Thunderjet, C-46 Commando, and C-119 Flying Boxcar. Fighter-Bomber Wings were aligned to Air Defense Command. Tactical Bombardment and Troop Carrier Wings were aligned to Tactical Air Command.^[6][7]

Beginning in 1956 the Air Force Reserve flying unit program expanded to include air rescue squadrons equipped with the fixed-wing amphibious Grumman HU-16 Albatross aircraft. ConAC activated the following squadrons between 1956 and 1958.^[7]

• 301st Air Rescue Squadron, Miami International Airport, Florida
• 302d Air Rescue Squadron, Williams AFB, Arizona
• 303d Air Rescue Squadron, Long Beach Municipal Airport, California
• 304th Air Rescue Squadron, Portland International Airport, Oregon
• 305th Air Rescue Squadron, Selfridge AFB, Michigan

The 301st Air Rescue Squadron at Miami conducted the first reserve rescue in January 1957, recovering three airmen from the sea when two B-47 Stratojets collided off the coast of Cuba.^[7]

The Air Force Reserve’s aircrew training activities expanded when Headquarters USAF identified a requirement to train navigators to meet not only the Air Force's day-to-day needs, but also those of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet. Starting in January 1955, a ConAC program offered refresher and continuation academic and flying training to the navigators. As enrollment in the program reached 5,000 annually, ConAC established navigator replacement training squadrons at the site of each Air Force Reserve wing. Reservists took their monthly inactive duty training at these sites. The program initially employed TC-45 Expeditor and TC-47 Skytrain aircraft until T-29 Flying Classrooms became available.^[7]

The Air Force Reserve unit program had never been restricted to flying units, and in the mid-1950s nonflying support units proliferated. July 1956 saw nine aerial port operations squadrons in existence. ConAC activated thirteen air terminal squadrons in October 1956 and organized ten Air Force hospitals in April 1957.^[7]

Continental Air Command was responsible to conduct the active duty as well as the inactive duty training of the Air Reserve Forces units. Nevertheless, the gaining commands furnished the tactical doctrine and operating procedures and assistance in preparing training objectives and plans. Active duty training objectives that guided the summer training of the Air Force Reserve wings in 1955, 1956, and 1957 reflected the desires of the gaining commands.^[7]

Tactical Air Command wanted troop carrier units capable of participating in mass maneuvers and joint exercises involving two or more troop carrier wings in support of other Air Force and Army units.^[7]

As the Air Force Reserve troop carrier units acquired proficiency, they began to participate in the relief of domestic emergencies. In August 1955, reserve aircrews delivered chlorinated lime to New England for purifying the drinking water after an outbreak of typhoid fever, and in October reservists delivered tons of food and clothing to flood-stricken Tampico, Mexico, in the aftermath of Hurricane Janice.^[7]

In the summer of 1956 when it conducted an independent major airlift. In Operation SIXTEEN TON twelve Air Force Reserve troop carrier wings used their annual active duty training time to move U.S. Coast Guard equipment to the Caribbean. The reserve crews flew 164 missions on which they transported 856,715 pounds of cargo. No significant delays were experienced except for four days lost due to Hurricane Betsy, and no flying safety incidents were incurred.^[7]

During April 1957, Operation SWIFT LIFT reserve troop carrier units used inactive duty training periods to airlift personnel and cargo for the Tactical Air Command. Each Air Force Reserve troop carrier squadron provided one aircraft with crew in continuous support of the requirement. In addition to providing training for the reserve crews, SWIFT LIFT moved considerable high-priority cargo for the Air Force, saving significant amounts in transportation and procurement dollars.^[7]

In the summer of 1958, reserve units initiated Operation READY SWAP, an open-ended airlift in which they transported aircraft engines between Air Materiel Command depots.^[7]

In August 1954, the 514th Troop Carrier Wing C-119 Flying Boxcars dropped troops during a joint maneuver with the 82d Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, in the first reserve paradrop during a joint Army/Air Force exercise. Then, at the suggestion of the Tactical Air Command, five of the Air Force Reserve troop carrier wings culminated their 1956 active duty training by participating in the joint exercise Operation PINE CONE. This was the first large-scale exercise to combine Air Force Reserve and active forces.^[7]

Air Defense Command required fighter-bomber wings capable of supportting augmented tactical squadrons operating independently of the parent wing after mobilization and tactical squadrons capable of performing continuous air defense operations for indefinite periods. The command would also have to refine its interceptor techniques and perform realistic interceptor exercises.

On 1 July 1956, the the 319th Fighter-Bomber Wing at Memphis Municipal Airport began standing F-84E runway alert under operational control of the 20th Air Division, joining Air National Guard units as part of the Air Defense Command’s defense network.^[7]

During the first half of 1955, the Air Force began detaching Air Force Reserve squadrons from their parent wing locations to separate sites. The concept offered several advantages: communities were more likely to accept the smaller squadrons than the large wings; separate squadron operations would ensure the training of the squadron as the basic Air Force unit, without the confusion of group and wing being superimposed upon squadrons; and the location of separate squadrons in smaller population centers would facilitate recruiting and manning.^[7]

Most Continental Air Command Reserve wings controlled two or three squadrons of aircraft. ConAC began transferring individual squadrons to installations located throughout the United States. Initially, the command detached troop carrier squadrons from Andrews AFB, Maryland, to Byrd Field, Virginia; from Portland IAP, Oregon, to Paine AFB, Washington; and from Miami IAP to Orlando AFB, Florida. In time, the detached squadron program proved successful in attracting additional participants to the Air Force Reserve and producing combat-ready units.^[7]

By August 1957, the Defense Department had instructed the Air Force to reduce its fiscal 1958 budget to $17.9 billion, nearly a billion less than the service had requested in April. ConAC's 24 Air Reserve wings never had their 72 authorized squadrons. In July 1957, they comprised 55 tactical squadrons and another 17 to be activated at detached locations within the next 4 years. In face of reduced budgets, the Defense Department guidance made it perfectly clear they would never be available, and the Air Reserve Forces combined force of 96 units would be reduced.^[7]

The Secretary of the Air Force approved the 1957-1961 reserve flying wing program on 20 September 1957. The World War II-era B-26 Invader and C-46 Commando aircraft would be retired. The flying program would consist of 15 troop carrier wings comprising 45 squadrons, all equipped with C-119 Flying Boxcars received from active duty units, and 5 air rescue squadrons equipped with SA-16s. At the end of fiscal year 1959, the Air Force Reserve flying force consisted of forty-five troop carrier and five air rescue squadrons. ^[7]

Air Defense Command concluded that the number of Air Reserve Forces fighter-bomber units then at hand greatly exceeded the commands’ requirements for air defense augmentation. It was recommended that the entire Air Reserve Forces air defense fighter program be given to the Air National Guard and the troop carrier program, to the Air Force Reserve. The Air Force Reserve program had evolved into a concept and form that would carry it through the next ten years.^[7]

Several major re-organizations occurred in Continental Air Command in the early 1960s. The first occurred on 1 September 1960 with the establishment of Air Reserve Regions to replace the Numbered Air Forces. The Reserve Regions were geographically based, each with a regional commander in control of units within it's zone of operations.^[8]

World War II had left the city of Berlin 100 miles deep within East German territory, controlled by the Soviet Union, and divided into Soviet, British, French, and United States zones of occupation, administered under local agreements which did not guarantee Western access to the city. Responding to a series of Soviet actions in 1948, the three western allies consolidated their zones and formed the city of West Berlin. For fifteen years the western powers maintained a tenacious hold on West Berlin under periodic harassment of the Soviets.^[8]

On 6 January 1961 Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev vowed to “eradicate the splinter from the heart of Europe”, but he he also agreed to meet the new U.S. President, John F. Kennedy in Vienna, Austria, in June, implying that he would take no action on the status of Berlin until after their meeting. The June meeting between President Kennedy and Premier Khrushchev did not go well and intensified the tension over West Berlin. On 25 July, President Kennedy went to the nation with his program on the Berlin crisis. He told the people that the U.S. right to be in West Berlin and its commitment to the city had to be defended if the Soviets attempted to curtail them unilaterally. Among other actions announced, Kennedy stated that he initially intended to recall a number of Air Force Reserve air transport squadrons and Air National Guard tactical fighter squadrons, but that he would call others if needed. Congress gave the President the requested powers on 1 August 1961, authorizing him to order reserve units and individual reservists involuntarily to active duty for not more than twelve consecutive months.^[8]

Shortly thereafter, the crisis in West Berlin escalated. Despite legal and psychological obstacles, thousands of East Berliners were streaming daily into West Berlin, seeking freedom in the West and, in the process, draining the depressed economy of East Germany. The communists responded on August 13 by sealing off the border between East and West Berlin, first with a fence and then with a concrete wall topped with barbed wire. Buildings along the border were also incorporated into the barrier by closing their apertures with bricks.^[8]

On 25 August with the Wall acquiring greater permanence as each day passed and amid rumors that the Soviets were about to resume atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons which had been halted in 1958, President Kennedy approved Defense Department plans to order Army, Navy, and Air Force Reserve and National Guard units to active duty with 76,542 men. These included five Air Force Reserve C-124 Globemaster II squadrons. On 1 October 1961, as their gaining command, the Tactical Air Command mobilized the C-124 units, which had been alerted on 1 September and the Air Reserve Records Center recalled 2,666 filler personnel for the mobilized Reserve and Guard units. In all, 5,613 Air Force Reservists came on extended active duty for the Berlin Crisis.^[8]

Of all the Air Force Reserve troop carrier units, the five groups activated and assigned to the mobilized 435th and the 442d Troop Carrrier Wings were the least prepared for active duty because they had just begun converting from C-119s to C-124s. The Air Force Reserve 77th Troop Carrier Squadron received its first C-124A at Donaldson AFB, South Carolina, about the time that President Kennedy took office in January 1961. Its five C-124 squadrons were organized on 8 May not a month before the President’s meeting with Khrushchev in Vienna. Whether the units were ready or not, the President needed C-124 troop carrier units for the transatlantic movement of personnel and equipment to Europe for NATO reinforcement if necessary, and the reserve units were the only available augmentation.^[8]

The 442d Troop Carrier Wing, attained combat readiness on 1 March 1962. Thereafter, the wing participated in a wide variety of missions and exercises directed by the Tactical Air Command, and it conducted extensive overwater training on flights to Hawaii, Newfoundland, Bermuda, and the Azores.^[8]

The 435th Troop Carrier Wing became combat-ready in January 1962. Its crews flew missions that took them to England, South America, Iceland, California, and points between.^[8]

In December 1961, President Kennedy wanted to return all the recalled reservists to inactive status as soon as possible without having to call up others to replace them. At the same time, he thought it advisable to maintain the strength of the US. Army in Europe at essentially the existing level for some time to come. He also wanted to maintain strong Army forces in strategic reserve in the United States ready to deploy to Europe or any other threatened area. The Air Force released the 435th and 442d Troop Carrier Wings from active military service on 27 August 1962. President Kennedy, who had so urgently needed their numbers and presence a year earlier saluted them:^[8]

On your return to civilian life, I wish to convey my personal appreciation for the contribution that you have made to the defense of this Nation during the past year. I am keenly aware that your active duty has involved inconvenience and hardships for many individuals and families. For the fortitude with which these difficulties have been borne, I am deeply grateful.^[8]

Although not recalled to extended active duty, about one hundred reservists from the Air Force Reserve’s five Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadrons voluntarily came on active duty to provide rescue coverage for deployment of the jet fighters from the mobilized Air National Guard units to Europe. Four crews and SA-16 aircraft were stationed at Goose AFB, Labrador, and four at Prestwick Airport, Scotland, to reinforce coverage of the northern route; additionally, two crews deployed with their aircraft to Eglin AFB, Florida, to provide against the contingency that bad weather might necessitate a southerly crossing.^[8]

By 22 August 1962, when the Air Force released the reservists it had mobilized in October 1961, a second crisis had arisen to involve other Air Force Reserve units. The focus of the new problem was Cuba, where a revolution had installed Fidel Castro as president. The Castro government soon placed itself in the communist group of nations, and relations between the new republic and the United States deteriorated. On 3 January 1961. President Dwight D. Eisenhower broke off diplomatic relations with the Castro government of Cuba, protesting against “a long series of harassments, baseless accusations, and vilification. On the night of 17 April, a force of about 1,500 Cuban emigres supported by the United States landed at the Bay of Pigs in the fruitless expectation of inspiring an uprising against Castro.

On 1 September 1962, the Soviets announced a new treaty with Cuba under which the island country was to receive Soviet arms and technicians “to resist the imperialists’ ‘threats". With a large segment of the U.S. press and many congressmen urging the administration to act, President Kennedy accepted renewed standby mobilization authority from Congress. The second joint resolution within fourteen months authorized the President to mobilize any unit or member of the Ready Reserve for no more than twelve consecutive months. The resolution gave the administration the same options as the 1961 resolution had to strengthen the active forces by extending tours of duty.

Headquarters Continental Air Command and its reserve troop carrier wings became involved in the Cuban missile crisis at 17:42 12 October, a typical Friday, about an hour after the headquarters’ quitting time. Headquarters Tactical Air Command needed Air Force Reserve help to airlift cargo from as yet undetermined points all over the United States. The operation was to begin the next morning, when specific requirements and destinations would be furnished, and it would be completed by Monday, 15 October. Talking around a classified subject over an open telephone line restricted the flow of information, but, assured by Headquarters Tactical Air Command that the mission was valid and vital, Lt. Col. W. L. Spencer, Chief of the ConAC Current Operations Division, committed the Air Force Reserve troop carrier force. In the end, 80 C-119s flew 1,232 hours that weekend carrying materiel into Key West Naval Air Station and Homestead AFB, Florida. The buildup of military forces in the southeast United States had begun.

Much of the buildup was carried out under the cover of PHIBRIGLE6X2 , a major amphibious exercise conducted in the Southeast United States and Caribbean. The exercise obsured the initial military preparations related to the Cuban crisis.

On 16 October, President Kennedy reviewed aerial photographs showing that the Soviets were installing offensive missiles in Cuba. Ordering daily reconnaissance flights over the island, President Kennedy and his advisers met regularly to consider military options while he mustered diplomatic support around the world. On the evening of October 22, explaining to the nation and the world that U.S. policy demanded the withdrawal of the missiles, the President declared that he would quarantine all offensive military equipment under shipment to Cuba. He directed the armed services to be prepared for any eventuality and reinforced the U.S. post at Guantanamo Bay.

Air Force Reserve airlift support of the Tactical Air Command continued at an exceptionally high rate. ConAC increased its normal daily aircraft support to the Tactical Air Command from ten to twenty-five. Between October 20 and 28, Air Force Reserve C-l19s, C-l23s, and C-124s delivered cargo and military personnel into the southeast and flew priority missions for Air Force Logistics Command, Air Force Systems Command, and Air Defense Command. Having watched the President’s telecast the night before, reserve troop carrier wing officials were not surprised on 16:00 23 October when Headquarters ConAC directed them to activate their command posts and operate them around the clock, seven days a week. The command posts did not have to be elaborate, but someone had to be on duty at all times who was in immediate contact with key personnel of the wing.

On 27 October the Soviet Union said it would remove its missiles from Cuba and offer a nonaggression pledge to Turkey if the United States would remove its missiles from Turkey and offer a nonaggression pledge to Cuba. With invasion plans for Cuba already in the final planning stages, Secretary of Defense McNamara stated at the White House Executive Committee that additional reserve units were necessary to meet invasion plans and that it would also put some pressure on the Soviets. President Kennedy approved McNamara’s recommendation to mobilize 24 Air Force Reserve troop carrier squadrons-about 14,000 reservists and 300 planes. This was the flashpoint of the crisis. At the White House, President Kennedy ordered the twenty-four troop carrier squadrons of the Air Force Reserve to active duty. They would be necessary for an invasion. He had not abandoned hope, but what hope there was now rested with Khrushchev’s revising his course within the next few hours. The official recall message came in from Headquarters USAF at 02:23 28 October. The message ordered one C-123 and seven C-119 troop carrier wings along with six aerial port squadrons to extended active duty at 09:00 28 October 1962 for no more than twelve consecutive months. The mobilized Air Force Reserve units brought 14,220 people and 422 aircraft on active duty on 28 October.

About the time the mobilized troop carrier wings came on active military service at 0900 the White House received a new message from Premier Khrushchev. Conciliatory in tone and accepting President Kennedy’s terms, it promised removal of the missiles and verification of the fact by the United Nations. Although this definitely relieved the crisis, the President decided that US. ships would stay on station and that the recalled Air Force Reserve units would remain on active duty pending satisfactory United Nations arrangements. Not until 20 November, therefore, did President Kennedy announce that he was lifting the quarantine and that the mobilized air reserve units would be released before Christmas. On 22 November the Air Force directed the Tactical Air Command to release the units at midnight, 28 November. The last reservists were relieved from active service on 29 December.

The Air Force Reserve did absolutely all that was asked of it between October 13 and December 29, 1962. It augmented the active force in assembling materiel in the southeastern comer of the country. When the President thought he might need an invasion force and the Department of Defense mobilized Air Force Reserve troop carrier units as essential to the task, they responded quickly and were prepared to do their part. Then, individual crew members stayed on to help redeploy the assembled force. The mobilization of Air Force Reserve troop carrier units played a part in persuading Premier Khrushchev that the United States was serious about getting those missiles out of Cuba. A London Times editorial of December 23, declared:

Looking back over that fateful week, some officials are disposed to believe that the mobilization of 24 troop carrying squadrons finally persuaded Mr. Khrushchev that war would be inevitable if the missiles were not withdrawn

Following the mobilizations in 1961 and 1962 for the Berlin Crisis and the Cuban Missile Crisis, Continental Air Command realized that it was unwieldy to mobilize an entire wing unless absolutely necessary.

Their original Table of Organization for each Wing was a wing headquarters, a troop carrier group, an Air Base Group, a maintenance and supply group, and a medical group. In 1957, the troop carrier group and maintenance and supply groups were inactivated, with their squadrons reassigned directly to the wing headquarters - despite the fact that many wings had squadrons spread out over several bases due to centers of population. In 1963, the wings were again reorganized. Troop Carrier Groups were activated at every base that held a ConAC troop carrier squadron, with each group comprising a material squadron, a troop carrier squadron, a tactical hospital or dispensary, and a combat support squadron. Each troop carrier wing consisted of 3 or 4 of these groups. By doing so, ConAC could facilitate the mobilization of either aircraft and aircrews alone, aircraft and minimum support personnel (one troop carrier group), or the entire troop carrier wing.

While these troop carrier groups have been redesignated several times through the decades with changes in missions and aircraft (the Air Force Reserve Command now operates several different types of aircraft, not all of which are transports), many still exist and today are designated as Wings.

Continental Air Command was inactivated on 1 August 1968 and was replaced by the Air Force Reserve (AFRES). AFRES was initially a field operating agency, later redesignated Air Force Reserve Command on 17 February 1997 and status changed from a field operating agency to a major command of the United States Air Force.

Continental Air Command was disestablished on 21 September 1984. CONAC installations, many of which are still active today as Air Force Reserve or Air National Guard installations, included:

• Established as Continental Air Command, and organized, on December 1, 1948

Inactivated on August 1, 1968

Disestablished on September 21, 1984^[9]

Agencies^[9]

• Air Defense Command, 1 December 1948 - 1 July 1950
• Tactical Air Command, 1 December 1948 - 1 December 1950

Air Forces^[9]

• First Air Force, 1 December 1948-23 June 1958
• Fourth Air Force, December 1948-1 September 1960
• Ninth Air Force*, 1 December 1948 - 1 December 1950
• Tenth Air Force, 1 December 1948 - 1 September 1960
• Twelfth Air Force*, 1 December 1948 - 1 December 1950
• Fourteenth Air Force, 1 December 1948 - 1 July 1968

* Tactical Air Command NAFs

Regions^[9]

• First Air Force Reserve Region: 1 September 1960-1 August 1968

(Stewart AFB, NY) Responsible for the training of all Air Force Reservists in the six New England states, New York and New Jersey

• Second Air Force Reserve Region: 1 September 1960-24 June 1966

(Andrews AFB, MD) Responsible for the training of all Air Force Reservists in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia. Inactivated 24 June 1966, merged into First Region.

• Third Air Force Reserve Region: 1 September 1960-1 August 1968

(Dobbins AFB, GA) Responsible for the training of all Air Force Reservists in Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, Tennessee, and North and South Carolina.

• Fourth Air Force Reserve Region: 1 September 1960-1 August 1968

(Randolph AFB, TX) Responsible for the training of all Air Force Reservists in Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and New Mexico.

• Fifth Air Force Reserve Region: 1 September 1960-1 August 1968

(Selfridge AFB, MI) Responsible for the training of all Air Force Reservists in Michigan, Wisconsin, Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota

• Sixth Air Force Reserve Region: 1 September 1960-1 August 1968

(Hamilton AFB, CA) Responsible for the training of all Air Force Reservists in California, Arizona, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Idaho, Montana, Washington and Oregon

• Mitchel AAF (Later AFB), New York, 1 December 1948^[9]
• Robins AFB, Georgia, 1 April 1961 - 1 August 1968

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Cantwell, Gerald (1987), Citizen Airmen, A History of the Air Force Reserve, 1946-1994. Washington, D.C.: Air Force History and Museums Program: GPO, 1997 ISBN: 0-16049-269-6

• The Continental Air Defense Collection at the United States Army Center of Military History