| Tenth Air Force | |
|---|---|
 Shield of the Tenth Air Force | |
| Active | 1 December 1985 – present (as Tenth Air Force) 8 October 1976 – 1 December 1985 (as Tenth Air Force (Reserve)) 20 January 1966 – 31 December 1969 24 May 1946 – 1 September 1960 18 September 1942 – 6 January 1946 (as Tenth Air Force) 4 February 1942 – 18 September 1942 (as 10 Air Force) (83 years, 9 months)[1] |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Air Force (18 September 1947 – present) United States Army ( Army Air Forces, 4 February 1942 – 18 September 1947) |
| Type | Numbered Air Force |
| Role | Provide combat-ready reserve air forces toAir Combat Command,Air Force Global Strike Command,Pacific Air Forces,Air Education and Training Command,Air Force Special Operations Command, andAir Force Space Command |
| Part of |  Air Force Reserve Command |
| Headquarters | Carswell Air Reserve Station,Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.[1] |
| Engagements |  World War II - Asiatic-Pacific Theater |
| Decorations |  Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Commanding officer | Brig GenKevin J. Merrill |
| Command chief | CMSgt Christopher S. Bluto Jr. |
| Notable commanders | Lewis H. Brereton Clayton L. Bissell Howard C. Davidson |
TheTenth Air Force (10 AF) is a unit of theU.S. Air Force, specifically anumbered air force of theAir Force Reserve Command (AFRC). 10 AF is headquartered atNaval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base/Carswell Field (formerlyCarswell AFB), Texas.
The command directs the activities of 14,000 Air Force Reservists and 950 civilians located at 30 military installations throughout the United States. 10 AF is the AFRC numbered air force whose units and aircraft are primarily gained by the Combat Air Forces (CAF), specificallyAir Combat Command (ACC), with a smaller number also gained byAir Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC),Pacific Air Forces (PACAF),Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) andAir Education and Training Command (AETC). In addition, Tenth Air Force units fly satellites forAir Force Space Command (AFSPC) in support of the Department of Defense andNOAA.
Tenth Air Force was aUnited States Army Air Forces combat air force created for operations in India, Burma andIndochina during World War II in theChina Burma India Theater of operations. It was established at New Delhi, India, on 12 February 1942, around a nucleus of air force personnel newly arrived fromJava and the Philippines, under the command ofMajor General (later Lieutenant General) Louis Brereton. In the years since World War II, the 10th Air Force has served bothUS air defense under the formerAir Defense Command andAerospace Defense Command, andreserve training and readiness programs under the cognizance of theAir Force Reserve (AFRES) and theAir Force Reserve Command (AFRC).
The 10th Air Force is commanded by Brig Gen Kevin J. Merrill.
Tenth Air Force, located at Naval Air Station Fort Worth Joint Reserve Base, Texas, directs the activities of nearly 16,000 reservists and 636 civilians located at 31 military installations throughout the United States.The mission of Tenth Air Force is to exercise command supervision of its assigned Reserve units to ensure they maintain the highest combat capability to augment active forces in support of national objectives.
With approximately 60 full-time headquarters staff members, Tenth Air Force acts as the focal point for all matters pertaining to assigned Air Force Reserve units and individuals. With the assistance of 36 traditional reservists assigned, the headquarters monitors and provides assistance to all subordinate units to help resolve problem areas and more efficiently maintain unit combat readiness.
The headquarters is responsible for managing and supervising five fighter wings comprising eleven fighter squadrons and seven fighter groups; one rescue wing comprising six air rescue squadrons in two groups; one bomb wing; one airborne warning and control group; one special operations wing; one space wing comprising nine squadrons; one regional support group; and more than seventy non-flying units.
If mobilized, the flying units with custody of their own aircraft and their support elements would be gained byAir Combat Command (ACC),Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), andAir Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), with other units gained byAir Force Space Command (AFSPC),Air Education and Training Command (AETC),Air Mobility Command (AMC),United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE) andPacific Air Forces (PACAF). Tenth Air Force is the only Numbered Air Force that touches every Major Command in USAF with the exception of theAir Force Materiel Command (AFMC).
The flying organizations within Tenth Air Force include fighter units equipped with theF-16 Fighting Falcon andA-10 Thunderbolt II; air rescue units equipped with theHC-130 Hercules and theHH-60 Pave Hawk helicopter; a bomb wing equipped with theB-52 Stratofortress; a special operations unit equipped with the C-145A Skytruck and the U-28; fighter associate program groups embedded with active duty USAF wings and equipped with theF-22 Raptor,F-15E Strike Eagle andF-16 Fighting Falcon; an airborne warning and control associate unit equipped with theE-3 Sentry; and associate units flyingMQ-1 Predator,MQ-9 Reaper andRQ-4 Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicles. The 610th Regional Support Group at NAS Fort Worth JRB is responsible for the management of twelve geographically separated units throughout the United States.
Other organizations include combat air operations, medical, civil engineer, combat logistics, communications, security forces, aerial port, intelligence and aeromedical units. Additionally, the Reserve portion of the Air National Guard/Air Force Reserve Test Center (AATC), which conducts operational test and evaluation of fighter equipment and improvements, is directly assigned to Tenth Air Force.
Reservists from 10th Air Force units are routinely deployed to Air Expeditionary units in combat areas of Central and Southwest Asia as part of theOverseas Contingency Operation.
Operational units of Tenth Air Force are:[2]
Tenth Air Force Squadrons, Flights, and Operational Locations are also stationed at:
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Tenth Air Force was constituted on 4 February 1942 and activated on 12 February, built up around a nucleus of air force personnel newly arrived fromJava and the Philippines, under the command of Maj. Gen.Lewis H. Brereton. It had its headquarters at New Delhi. Components of the air force moved to India over a three-month period from March to May 1942. It was responsible for creating, operating and safeguarding the India-China Ferry, more commonly known as theHump airlift, between 8 April and 1 December 1942, first with its Assam-Burma-China Command until 16 July, then the India-China Ferry Command until 1 December, when jurisdiction for the airlift passed to theAir Transport Command.
The Tenth Air Force initially provided control of all USAAF combat operations in theChina Burma India Theater under theater commander Lt. Gen.Joseph Stilwell.
Under GeneralClayton Bissell's re-organization of the Tenth Air Force, five commanders reported to him: Brigadier GeneralCaleb V. Haynes ran the India Air Task Force, created 8 October 1942, Brig. Gen.Claire Chennault ran theChina Air Task Force, created 4 July 1942 to replace theAmerican Volunteer Group, Robert F. Tate ran the India–China Ferry Command, Robert C. Oliver ran the Tenth's service arm and Francis M. Brady operated the largeair base at Karachi.[3] Haynes's task force assembled three bomber groups: the7th Bombardment Group, the51st Fighter Group and the341st Bombardment Group (Medium). On paper were more squadrons not yet prepared for war—some had no aircraft, some had too little training and some were bare cadres.[3]
In March 1943, the China Air Task Force was dissolved and its components made part of the newFourteenth Air Force, activated in China under Chennault.[4] In July 1943,Howard C. Davidson succeeded Bissell as commanding general.[5] The Tenth operated in India and Burma as part of the AlliedEastern Air Command until it moved to China late in July 1945.[4]
The Tenth Air Force conducted offensive strategic bombing operations in Burma and Thailand and supported Allied ground efforts with close air support and operations against Japanese communications and supply installations. After the end of the war in China, the command headquarters departed from Shanghai on 15 December 1945, being attached toArmy Service Forces atFort Lawton, Washington, where the last personnel were demobilized and the command inactivated, being returned to HQ USAAF on 6 January 1946.
In March 1946, USAAF Chief GeneralCarl Spaatz had undertaken a major re-organization of the postwar USAAF that had included the establishment of Major Commands (MAJCOM), who would report directly to HQ United States Army Air Forces. Continental Air Forces was inactivated, and Tenth Air Force was assigned to the postwarAir Defense Command in March 1946 and subsequently toContinental Air Command (ConAC) in December 1948 being primarily concerned with air defense.
The command was re-activated on 24 May 1946 atBrooks Field (later, Brooks AFB), Texas. It moved toOffutt AFB, Nebraska, 1 July 1948;Fort Benjamin Harrison (later, Benjamin Harrison AFB), Indiana, 25 September 1948. It was originally assigned to provide air defense over a wide region from Kentucky to Montana; from the Four Corners of southwest Colorado to the Northeast tip of Minnesota, north of the borders of New Mexico, Oklahoma, Arkansas and Tennessee.
The56th Fighter Wing atSelfridge AFB, Michigan, joined Tenth Air Force on 1 December 1948, transferring in from SAC'sFifteenth Air Force.
In addition to the command and control of the active Air Force interceptor and radar units in its region, it also became the command organization for the Air Force Reserve and state Air National Guard units. By 1949 with the establishment of theWestern Air Defense Force (WADF) andEastern Air Defense Force (EADF), the air defense mission of the command was transferred to WADF, leaving Tenth AF free to focus on its reserve training tasks.
Moved toSelfridge AFB, Michigan, 16 January 1950 where for the next decade it concentrated on air reserve training throughout the decade. On 1 July 1960, the Fifth Air Force Reserve Region was formed atSelfridge AFB. The Fifth Air Force Reserve Region was one of five Reserve regions and became operational on 1 September 1960, under the control ofContinental Air Command (CAC), as a result, Tenth Air Force was discontinued, and inactivated, on 1 September 1960.
Tenth Air Force was reactivated on 20 January 1966, atRichards-Gebaur AFB, Missouri as part of Air Defense Command with the inactivation of its organization of Air Defense Sectors. Its area of responsibility was the central region of the United States east of the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River and the northern peninsula of Michigan.
On 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re-designatedAerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces. Tenth Air Force's second period of service was short lived, however, and the command was again inactivated as the result of a major ADCOM reorganization on 31 December 1969 of the First Fourth, Tenth Air Forces and several Air Divisions. This reorganization was the result of the need to eliminate intermediate levels of command in ADCOM driven by budget reductions and a perceived lessening of the need for continental air defense against attacking Soviet aircraft.
ADCOM reassigned the units under the inactivated Tenth Air Force primarily to the 14th, 23d and 24th Air Divisions.
Continental Air Command was discontinued on 1 August 1968, and was replaced by Headquarters Air Force Reserve, located atRobins AFB, Georgia. In July 1969, the Fourth Region moved fromRandolph AFB toEllington AFB, near Houston, Texas. On 31 December 1969, the five regions were merged into three. The responsibilities of the Fourth and Fifth Regions were consolidated into the new Central Air Force Reserve Region. Eastern Region became responsible for the First and Second Region areas, the Sixth Region became the Western Region. This change increased the area of responsibility of Central Region from five states to 14, ranging from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. As a result of these consolidations, Tenth Air Force was again inactivated on 31 December 1969.
When Air Force operations were phased out of Ellington AFB, Central Region Headquarters moved toBergstrom AFB in Austin, Texas on 10 March 1976. The Air Force Reserve's entire intermediate management structure was then realigned effective 8 October 1976; and the Reserve Regions were inactivated and succeeded by the currently activated Tenth Air Force. Redesignated Tenth Air Force (Reserve) on 24 September 1976, the unit activated in the Reserve on 8 October 1976 at Bergstrom AFB, Texas, assigned to Air Force Reserve. It was redesignated Tenth Air Force on 1 December 1985.
As a result, the unit assumed command over allTactical Air Command-gained andStrategic Air Command-gained Air Force Reserve units regardless of geographic location. With the inactivation of TAC and SAC in 1992, Tenth Air Force today is responsible for command supervision of fighter, bomber, rescue, airborne warning and control, special operations, flying training, combat air operations battle staff, and space reserve units.
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| No. | Commander | Term | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Portrait | Name | Took office | Left office | Term length | |
| 1 |  | Major General Roger P. Scheer | 1 December 1985 | 1 November 1986 | 335 days |
| 2 |  | Brigadier General William B. McDaniel | 1 November 1986 | 6 July 1987 | 247 days |
| 3 |  | Brigadier General John J. Closner III | 6 July 1987 | 5 July 1989 | 1 year, 364 days |
| 4 |  | Brigadier General Robert A. McIntosh | 5 July 1989 | 1 December 1990 | 1 year, 149 days |
| 5 |  | Major General David R. Smith | 1 December 1990 | February 1998 | ~7 years, 62 days |
| 6 |  | Major General John A. Bradley | February 1998 | 4 March 2002 | ~4 years, 31 days |
| 7 |  | Major General David E. Tanzi | 4 March 2002 | 20 January 2005 | 2 years, 322 days |
| 8 |  | Major General Allan R. Poulin | 20 January 2005 | 24 December 2005 | 338 days |
| 9 |  | Major General Richard C. Collins | 24 December 2005 | 3 June 2007 | 1 year, 161 days |
| 10 |  | Major General Thomas R. Coon | 3 June 2007 | May 2009 | ~1 year, 332 days |
| 11 |  | Major General Frank J. Padilla | May 2009 | 5 November 2011 | ~2 years, 188 days |
| 12 |  | Major General William B. Binger | 5 November 2011 | 18 October 2014 | 2 years, 347 days |
| 13 | .jpg) | Major General Richard W. Scobee | 18 October 2014 | 1 May 2017 | ~2 years, 195 days |
| 14 |  | Major General Ronald B. Miller | 1 May 2017 | 10 May 2019 | ~2 years, 9 days |
| 15 |  | Major General Brian K. Borgen | 10 May 2019 | 4 June 2021 | 2 years, 25 days |
| 16 | .jpg) | Major General Bryan P. Radliff | 4 June 2021 | 4 August 2023 | 2 years, 61 days |
| 17 |  | Major General Regina A. Sabric | 4 August 2023 | 8 June 2025 | 1 year, 308 days |
| 18 | .jpg) | Brigadier General Kevin J. Merrill | 8 June 2025 | Incumbent | 164 days |
This article incorporatespublic domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
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