14th Air Force
The record of the 14th Air Force in China remains one of the brightest pages in Army Air Force (AAF) history. In 1939, Claire L. Chennault, a retired Army Air Corps captain, accepted the gigantic task of reorganizing Chiang-Kai-Shek's Air Force. From the onset of the Sino-Japanese War, Chennault repeatedly called for U.S. aid to China in the form of airplanes. Despite opposition by Generals Marshall and Arnold, a secret executive order from President Roosevelt (April 1, 1941) permitted Chennault to recruit volunteers among active duty personnel. A group of volunteers, 100 pilots and 200 ground crew members formed the American Volunteer Group (AVG) and proceeded to Burma. At the same time, 100 crated P-40s rejected by the British as obsolete, were secretly sold and shipped to China. For 14 months in Toungoo, Burma the pilots were personally trained by Chennault, who knew how to elicit positive performances by both the pilots and the P-40 Tomahawks.
To enhance esprit de corps, aircraft noses were painted to symbolize the grinning mouth, flashing teeth, and evil eye of the tiger shark. Subsequently, newsmen used the tagline "Flying Tigers" which rapidly caught on worldwide. Fighting against numerically superior forces, the AVG compiled one of the greatest records of the war. Between December 18, 1941 and July 4, 1942, the AVG was officially credited with the destruction of 286 Japanese aircraft. In sharp contrast, the Flying Tigers had only eight pilots killed in action.
Upon expiration of the AVG contract, Chennault was recalled to active duty in the rank of Brigadier General as the AAF moved into China. The China Air Task Force and 23rd Fighter Squadron carried on as the Flying Tigers under the command of Brig Gen Chennault. Subsequently, as AAF numbers grew in China and a visit to Kunming by AAF Chief "Hap" Arnold in March 1943, the 14th Air Force was established by special order of the President. Chennault continued as the commander and was promoted to Major General. The Flying Tigers conducted effective fighter and bomber operations along a 5,000 mile front from Chunking and Cheng Tu in the west to Indo China in the south; from the Tibetan Plateau in Burma to the China Sea and Formosa in the east. The Tigers eventually grounded the Japanese Air Force as the war came to a close.
Chennault's record of achievements, unparalleled in the annals of World War II, boasted a courageous air strategist who produced a fighting force in spite of continuous obstacles. The man, a legend in his own time, was responsible for the destruction of more than 2,100 Japanese planes, the sinking of 2,135,489 tons of enemy shipping, and 59,450 enemy casualties.
After inactivation in January 1946, the reactivated 14th Air Force served Air Defense Command, Continental Air Command (CONAC) and the Reserve until 1960. Inactived for six years, the 14th became part of Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) in 1966. In 1968, the 14th was inactivated and on the same day assumed the functions of ADCOM's Ninth Aerospace Defense Division and became the 14th Aerospace Force (AEROF), the first command dedicated to space surveillance and tracking.
The 14 AEROF mission performed a major portion of the CONAC space defense responsibilities. The Space Defense Center located in Cheyenne Mountain and operated by the 14 AEROF served as a command post for a global network of electronic and optical sensors that detected, tracked, and identified all man-made objects orbiting the earth. The primary detection and tracking network was the USAF SPACETRACK system. Also turned over from AFSC to ADCOM, were the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System and the Sea Launched Ballistic Missile System with sites located around the world. The 14 AEROF also maintained the 10th Aerospace Defense Squadron which provided launch services for AFSC at Vandenberg AFB, with a subordinate unit at Johnston Island in the Pacific.
On 8 October, 1976, the 14 AEROF was redesignated as 14 AF (Reserve) at Dobbins AFB, Georgia where it managed airlift resources for the Military Air Command. Eventually, it was transferred from the Reserve to the Air Mobility Command fulfilling the same airlift mission. On July 1 1993, the 14th Air Force returned to its former space role and the Flying Tigers became a NAF for Air Force Space Command responsible for performing space operations.
As the only space NAF, the 14th Air Force mission is space operations including space launch from the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, satellite control, missile warning, space surveillance, with the overall goal of ensuring the warfighters are supported by the best space capabilities available. The 14th consists of two launch wings ( the 30th at Vandenberg AFB, CA and the 45th at Patrick AFB, FL and Cape Canaveral AS), one missile warning wing (21st at Peterson AFB, CO), and one satellite control wing (50th at Falcon AFB, CO). Originating in China in 1943, the Flying Tigers now act as the Air Force component of US Space Command. In Fall 1997, the 14th opened its permanent Space Operations Center (SOC) at Vandenberg AFB for the 24-hour command and control of all space operations resources. The Flying Tigers - a proud past and a brilliant future ...