The organization was the first newly establishedNumbered Air Force (NAF) by the USAF afterWorld War II. It was activated in 1954 as a Joint Military Group to provide command and control of USAF activities in Spain, being designated a NAF in 1956. In 1957, 16 AF was realigned underStrategic Air Command (SAC) to provide command and control of SAC bases andB-47 Stratojet rotational units assigned and deployed to Spain andMorocco.
In 1966, after SAC withdrew its forces from Europe, 16 AF became part of theUnited States Air Forces in Europe, providing command and control ofUSAFE forces initially in Spain and North Africa, and later inItaly andTurkey until 2006. It later became a provisional Air Expeditionary Task Force under USAFE as part of theGlobal War on Terrorism.
Sixteenth Air Force (16 AF)'s original ancestor was the Joint United States Military Group, Air Administration (Spain), which was established on 20 May 1954. It was attached to the Joint U.S. Military Group, which oversaw implementation of the 1953 Spanish-American Defense Cooperation Agreement.
On 15 July 1956, Sixteenth Air Force was created when the Air Administration (Spain) was re-designated as Headquarters, 16 AF, and aligned directly under Headquarters, U.S. Air Force. ExistingSpanish Air Force bases nearMadrid,Sevilla, andZaragoza were expanded to accommodate the 16 AF. On 1 July 1957, the 16 AF was transferred toStrategic Air Command (SAC).[3] Its main operating bases in Spain were used for SACB-47 Stratojet rotational alert aircraft until April 1965.
In 1961, GeneralDavid Wade was dispatched to Torrejón, where he took command of SAC's 16th Air Expeditionary Task Force. He received his promotion to lieutenant general on 1 August 1963 and left Torrejón to assume command of SAC'sSecond Air Force with headquarters then atBarksdale Air Force Base inBossier City,Louisiana.[4]
Detachment 1, AFSOUTH, Naples, Italy. This detachment collected NATO data from AIRSOUTH/DEPCINCUSAFE-SOUTHERN AREA, a dual-hatted position, and provided the information to 16 AF. The Detachment also provided a U.S. liaison for wartime exercises, at PROTO.
7555th Tactical Training Squadron, atDecimomannu Air Base, Italy, supporting squadrons training at the Air Combat Maneuvering and Instrumentation Range (ACMI) to the West ofSardinia
7116th Tactical Control Flight, at Torrejón Air Base
The 401st FW moved from Spain toAviano AB, Italy, in May 1992 and was re-designated as the 31st FW in April 1994. It has two squadrons of F-16Cs. Headquarters, 16 AF moved to Aviano AB in August 1992.
During its time at Aviano AB, Sixteenth Air Force was the operational air force for USAF combat operations in theBalkans, supportingOperation Deny Flight, enforcing the U.N. ordered no-fly zone overBosnia. Sixteenth Air Force aircraft participated in the raid on the Bosnian-Serb held airfield atUdbina in November 1994. In the fall of 1995, 16 AF supportedOperation Deliberate Force, the U.N.-sanctioned/NATO executed attacks on Bosnian-Serb forces. In 1995, 16 AF supportedOperation Joint Endeavor, the NATO peacekeeping mission to the formerYugoslavia, through operations inCroatia,Hungary, andBosnia-Herzegovina.
The years 1996 through 1998 saw continued high operations in the 16 AF. It was the first U.S. Air Force organization to fully employ the Expeditionary Wing concept. The16th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force, consisting of the 16th and 31st Air Expeditionary Wings, was activated in support ofOperation Joint Guardian and its air component,Operation Deliberate Guard, engaging air power for peace enforcement operations inBosnia-Herzegovina. The 39th Air and Space Expeditionary Wing was activated in support ofOperation Northern Watch, engaging air power to enforce the no-fly zone over northernIraq.
Headquarters 16 AF formed the joint force air component command forOperation Silver Wake, the evacuation of Americans and allied non-combatants fromAlbania. The31st Fighter Wing was the firstF-16 Falcon unit to fly combat missions utilizing night vision goggles; wing aircraft provided close air support duringPope John Paul II's historic visit toSarajevo. Today the wing remains a major participant in support of Balkan air operations. The39th Wing atIncirlik AB, Turkey, deployed a flying ambulance surgical team toDhahran Air Base, Saudi Arabia in response to theKhobar Towers bombing. The wing assisted in the evacuation of 6,500 pro-U.S.Kurds from northern Iraq.
Beginning in March 1999, the 16th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force grew to ten air expeditionary wings and 480 Air Force aircraft in ten countries supportingOperation Allied Force, NATO's air campaign in the former Republic of Yugoslavia. Approximately 13,200 airmen, in addition to 32,000 airmen through Europe, deployed in support of the 78-day air campaign that led to Serbian withdrawal of forces from the province of Kosovo.
In 2005, the Sixteenth Air Force moved toRamstein AB, Germany to become USAFE's new Warfighting Headquarters. Its mission was to execute aerospace operations through expeditionary force command and control in support of theU.S. European Command and NATO. Supporting this mission, 16 AF planned and executed combat air operations in southern Europe and portions of the Middle East and northern Africa as an air component or joint task force headquarters. It supported approximately 11,000 Air Force and civilian members at two main operating bases, four support bases and other sites in Spain, France, Germany, Italy,Croatia, Kosovo,Bosnia-Herzegovina, Hungary,Macedonia, Greece, andTurkey, and conducted peacetime engagement throughout the region.
On 1 December 2006, the Sixteenth Air Force was inactivated at Ramstein AB and simultaneously reconstituted as the Sixteenth Air Expeditionary Task Force atIzmir Air Base, Turkey. It was replaced at Ramstein by theThird Air Force.
On 11 October 2019, Sixteenth Air Force (16 AF) was reactivated as the new Information Warfare (IW) Numbered Air Force (NAF), following the merger of theTwenty-Fourth andTwenty-Fifth Air Forces.
Air Combat Command consolidated and inactivated the Twenty-Fourth Air Force and Twenty-Fifth Air Force capabilities into a new organization under a single commander, who is responsible for providing information warfare capabilities to combatant commanders.
United States
Air Combat Command
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
United States Air Force cyber units
Strategic Air Command (SAC)
