TheII Air Support Command is an inactiveUnited States Air Force unit. It was last assigned toThird Air Force atBiggs Field, Texas, as theII Tactical Air Division, where it was inactivated on 22 December 1945.
The command was organized in September 1941 as the2nd Air Support Command to control the tactical units of2d Air Force.
General Headquarters Air Force reorganized its four regional air districts asNumbered Air Forces in the spring of 1941. By the fall of that year, each of these had organized as a support command and three combat commands.[1]
In the summer of 1941 GHQ AF had decided to establish commands to direct itsair support mission in each numbered air force, plus one additional command reporting directly to GHQ AF. These commands would be manned from inactivatingwings, and would initially control only observation squadrons, which would be transferred from the control of the corps and divisions, although they would remain attached to these ground units.[2]2nd Air Force organized2nd Air Support Command atFort Douglas, Utah in September 1941, soon moving toWill Rogers Field, Oklahoma where it drewcadre and equipment from the20th Bombardment Wing, which was simultaneously inactivated.[3][2] New observation groups were formed, with acadre drawn fromNational Guard squadrons that had been mobilized in 1940 and 1941.[2]
However, by early 1942, the command's first commander, Hume Peabody, like two of the other commanders of air support commands had moved overseas, and similar demands led GHQ AF to believe it had little more than the "remnants" of the command remaining.[2] However, in May, theArmy Air Forces (AAF) reaffirmed that each of the continentalnumbered air forces would have an air support command and the command's manning was brought back up.[4]
The AAF determined that its continental air forces would specialize in their training operations and air support training would be assigned toThird Air Force.[4] As a result, in October of 1942, AAF directed that all but one of the observation groups assigned to the command were to be reduced to 50% strength with their personnel used to form newtow target squadrons, or transferred toheavy bomberOperational Training Unit (OTU)s orReplacement Training Unit (RTU)s.[5] Further, the command, now titled theII Air Support Command, was reassigned to Third Air Force in January 1943.[3]
In August 1943, the command was redesignated theII Tactical Air Division with the intent that the command would engage in combined training with army ground forces.[6]
The unit participated in various air-ground maneuvers, supported ground units in training, and put on air support demonstrations.
^Stephens, Maj Tonia (23 May 2017)."Factsheet 72 Air Base Wing (AFMC)". Air Force Historical Research Agency. Retrieved9 January 2022. (2nd Air Service Command [sic])
Cate, James L.; Williams, E. Kathleen (1948). "Prelude to War, Chapter 4, The Air Corps Prepares for War, 1939-41". In Craven, Wesley F.; Cate, James L. (eds.).The Army Air Forces in World War II(PDF). Vol. I, Plans and Early Operations. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.LCCN48003657.OCLC704158. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 18 February 2017. Retrieved17 December 2016.
United States
United States Army
United States Air Force
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
