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Twenty-Second Air Force

(Redirected from Western Transport Air Force)

Twenty-Second Air Force (22 AF) is a Numbered Air Force component of Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC). It was activated on 1 July 1993 and is headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia.

Twenty-Second Air Force
Shield of the Twenty-Second Air Force
Active18 February 1942 – 31 October 1946; 1 July 1948 – present (82 years, 10 months)[1]
Country United States
Branch United States Air Force
TypeNumbered Air Force
RoleProvide combat-ready reserve air forces[2]
Part of Air Force Reserve Command
HeadquartersDobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, U.S.
Engagements
World War II - American Theater[1]
Decorations
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award
Commanders
Current
commander		Maj Gen Melissa A. Coburn

In the event of mobilization, some of the Twenty-Second Air Force's subordinate units would come under the operational control (OPCON) of the Air Mobility Command's (AMC) 21st Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, headquartered at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, while others would come under OPCON of Air Education and Training Command's 19th Air Force at Randolph AFB, Texas.[needs update]

Mission

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22 AF is responsible for recruiting and training reservists and for maintaining subordinate units at the highest level of combat readiness. A by-product of training is to coordinate daily support of the active duty air force.

22 AF's wartime mission is to provide combat-ready airlift and support units and augments personnel requirements to Air Mobility Command in the United States.

Twenty-Second Air Force manages more than 25,000 Reservists and has 149 unit-equipped aircraft. Reserve crews in 22 AF fly the C-130 Hercules, including the WC-130 "Hurricane Hunter" aircraft, which are located at nine different Air Force Reserve wings. The wings, flying squadrons and support units are spread throughout nine states – from New York to Mississippi, Ohio and Minnesota, with its westernmost wing in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Units

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Locations of units assigned to the Twenty-Second Air Force, 2019

History

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Established as the Domestic Division, Air Corps Ferrying Command in the early days of World War II, the organization's mission was the transport of newly produced aircraft from points within the United States to Ports of Embarkation for shipment to Britain and other overseas Allies. In 1946, the organization was transferred to Air Transport Command and became, in essence, a military airline its Continental Division, managing transport routes within the United States.

When the USAF was created as a separate service in 1947, Military Air Transport Service was established to support the new Department of Defense, with responsibility for its support falling to the Department of the Air Force. Redesignated Western Transport Air Force (WESTAF), the organization managed all MATS operations from the Mississippi River west to the east coast of Africa until MATS was replaced by the Military Airlift Command in 1966. When MATS became MAC, WESTAF was redesignated 22d AF, with headquarters at Travis AFB, CA.

During the 1960s, Twenty-Second Air Force transports flew missions worldwide, supporting the efforts of the United States in Southeast Asia, Europe and other places around the world. In December 1974, the Twenty-Second Air Force absorbed Tactical Air Command's Twelfth Air Force C-130 Hercules tactical airlift operations.

On 29 March 1979, the Twenty-Second Air Force assumed responsibility for managing Military Airlift Command resources in the Pacific. For this mission, the unit provided a single commander for MAC airlift units in the Pacific theater; command and control of theater-assigned airlift forces for Pacific Air Forces; theater tactical airlift war planning and Pacific exercise planning; and aerial ports in the Pacific area to support the air movement of personnel, cargo, equipment, patients, and mail. The division participated in tactical exercises such as Team Spirit, Ulchi Focus Lens, and Capstan Dragon.

The unit was relieved from assignment to Military Airlift Command and assigned to Air Mobility Command on 1 June 1992. Activated the same day at Dobbins ARB, GA, with a change in assignment to the Air Force Reserve. It is under the peacetime command of Headquarters Air Force Reserve Command at Robins Air Force Base, GA.

Lineage

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Route map of the Western Transport Air Force, 1964
Continental Division, Air Transport Command
  • Established as the Domestic Wing, Air Corps Ferrying Command and activated on 18 February 1942
Redesignated Domestic Wing, Army Air Forces Ferry Command on 9 March 1942
Redesignated Domestic Wing, Army Air Forces Ferrying Command on 31 March 1942
Redesignated Ferrying Division, Air Transport Command on 20 June 1942
Redesignated Continental Division, Air Transport Command on 1 March 1946
Discontinued on 31 October 1946
Consolidated on 29 March 1979 with Twenty-Second Air Force as Twenty-Second Air Force[1]
Twenty-Second Air Force
  • Designated and organized as Continental Division, Military Air Transport Sservice on 1 July 1948
Redesignated Western Transport Air Force on 1 July 1958
Redesignated Twenty-Second Air Force on 8 January 1966
Consolidated on 29 March 1979 with Continental Division, Air Transport Command
Inactivated on 1 July 1993
Activated on 1 July 1993[1]

Assignments

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Components

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Continental Division, Air Transport Command

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Sectors
Long Beach Municipal Airport, California
Replaced by 556th AAF Base Unit (6th Ferrying Group), 31 March 1944 – 1 December 1946
Wayne County Airport, Michigan
Replaced by 553d AAF Base Unit (3d Ferrying Group), 31 March 1944 – 15 January 1946
Hensley Field, Texas
Replaced by 555th AAF Base Unit(5th Ferrying Group), 31 March 1944 – 9 August 1946
Nashville Municipal Airport, Tennessee
Replaced by 554th AAF Base Unit (4th Ferrying Group), 31 March 1944-c. December 1945
Logan Field, New Castle Army Air Field, Delaware
Replaced by 552d AAF Base Unit (2d Ferrying Group), 31 March 1944 – 31 December 1945
Boeing Field, Washington, Gore Field, Montana
Replaced by 557th AAF Base Unit (7th Ferrying Group), 31 March 1944 – 14 December 1945[note 1]
  • Central Sector, Air Transport Command, 25–31 March 1944
  • Western Sector, Air Transport Command, 25–31 March 1944
  • Eastern Sector, Air Transport Command, 25–31 March 1944[3]
Wings
  • 23d AAF Ferrying Wing (later North Atlantic Wing, Air Transport Command), Ferrying Command, 20 Jun 1942 – 1 Sep 1943
Presque Isle Army Air Field, Maine
Atkinson Field, Georgetown, British Guiana
Hamilton Field, California
  • 26th AAF Ferrying Wing (later Africa Middle East Wing, Air Transport Command), 27 Jun 1942 – 30 Sep 1943
Payne Airfield, Cairo, Egypt
  • 27th AAF Ferrying Wing (later Caribbean Wing, Air Transport Command), 19 Jun 1942 – 16 Oct 1943
  • Foreign Wing, Ferrying Command, 28 Feb – 19 Jun 1942
  • Domestic Transportation Wing, Air Transport Command, 27 Nov 1944 – 15 Jan 1945
  • Central Ferrying Wing, Air Transport Command, 22 Oct 1944 – 10 Mar 1945
  • Western Ferrying Wing, Air Transport Command, 22 Oct 1944 – 10 Mar 1945
  • Eastern Ferrying Wing, Air Transport Command, 22 Oct 1944 – 10 Mar 1945[3]
Groups
  • 2d Ferrying Group (see Northeast Sector, Air Corps Ferrying Command)
  • 3d Ferrying Group (see Detroit Sector, Air Corps Ferrying Command)
  • 4th Ferrying Group (see Nashville Sector, Air Corps Ferrying Command)
  • 5th Ferrying Group (see Midwest Sector, Air Corps Ferrying Command)
  • 6th Ferrying Group (see California Sector, Air Corps Ferrying Command)
  • 7th Ferrying Group (see Northwest Sector, Air Corps Ferrying Command)
  • 20th Ferrying Group, 3 Feb 1943 – 31 March 1944
Nashville Municipal Airport, Tennessee
Replaced by 558 AAF Base Unit (20th Ferrying Group), 31 Mar 1944 – 9 Apr 1946
  • 21st Ferrying Group, 17 Nov 1943 – 31 March 1944
Palm Springs Army Airfield, California
Replaced by 560 AAF Base Unit (21st Ferrying Group), 31 Mar 1944 – 20 May 1946
  • 33d Ferrying Group, 4 Mar 1943 – 31 Mar 1944
Fairfax Field, Kansas
Replaced by 569 AAF Base Unit (33d Ferrying Group), 31 Mar 1944 – 15 Apr 1945[3]

Twenty-Second Air Force

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Divisions

Wings

Groups

Squadrons

  • 16th Air Transport (later 1254 Air Transport) Squadron, 1 Sep 1948 – 12 Mar 1951
  • 1726th Air Transport Squadron (Special), 1 Oct 1948 – 23 Apr 1949
  • 1737th Ferrying Squadron, 24 Sep 1950 – 16 Jul 1951
  • Air Transport Squadron (VR-3), USN, 1 Oct 1948-c. Dec 1948, 1 Dec 1949 – 1 Jul 1957.

Stations

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List of commanders

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No. Commander Term
Portrait Name Took office Left office Term length
-Major General
Robert A. McIntosh		1 July 19931 November 19941 year, 123 days
-Major General
James E. Sherrard III		1 November 199417 January 199577 days
-Brigadier General
Joseph McNeil		17 January 19956 August 1995201 days
-Brigadier General
Michael R. Lee		6 August 199511 January 19982 years, 158 days
-Major General
James E. Sherrard III		11 January 199825 September 1998257 days
-Major General
John J. Batbie Jr.		25 September 19987 May 20001 year, 225 days
-Major General
James D. Bankers		7 May 200011 March 20065 years, 308 days
-Major General
Martin M. Mazick		11 March 20064 April 20093 years, 24 days
-Major General
James T. Rubeor		4 April 200916 September 20112 years, 165 days
-Major General
Wallace W. Farris Jr.		16 September 2011October 2013~2 years, 15 days
-Major General
Mark A. Kyle		October 2013July 2014~273 days
-Major General
Stayce Harris		July 2014November 2017~2 years, 38 days
-Major General
John P. Stokes		8 August 2016[4]November 2017~1 year, 85 days
-Major General
Craig L. La Fave		November 201710 July 2021~1 year, 267 days
-Major General
John P. Healy		26 July 2019[5]10 July 20211 year, 349 days
-Major General
Bret C. Larson		10 July 2021[6]2 April 20231 year, 266 days
-Major General
Melissa A. Coburn		2 April 2023[7]Incumbent1 year, 261 days

References

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Notes

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Explanatory notes
  1. ^ In an apparent typographical error, Kane gives the assignment date for these sectors as beginning on 28 February. But see Administrative History, pp. 64-66.
Citations
  1. ^ a b c d e Kane, Robert B. "Twenty-Second Air Force (AFRC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved 5 September 2022.
  2. ^ "About Us". 22af.afrc.af.mil.
  3. ^ a b c Kane, Factsheet, Twenty-Second Air Force for assignment information only.
  4. ^ "22 AF Change of Command". dobbins.afrc.af.mil.
  5. ^ "Healy takes command of 22nd Air Force". Dobbins Air Reserve Base.
  6. ^ "Larson Takes Command of Reserve's 22nd Air Force". 13 July 2021.
  7. ^ "Coburn takes command of 22nd Air Force". 4 April 2023.

Bibliography

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

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