Continental Air Forces


Continental Air Forces was a United States Army Air Forces major command, active from 1944-1946. It was tasked with combat training of bomber and fighter personnel, and for Continental United States air defense after the Aircraft Warning Corps and Ground Observer Corps were placed in standby during 1944. CAF conducted planning for the postwar United States general surveillance radar stations, and the planning to reorganize to a separate USAF was for CAF to become the USAF Air Defense Command On 21 March 1946, CAF headquarters personnel and facilities at Bolling Field, along with 1 of the 4 CAF Air Forces became Strategic Air Command. US Strategic Air Forces of WWII, e.g., Eighth Air Force and Fifteenth Air Force, transferred later to SAC. Most of the CAF airfields that had not been distributed to other commands when SAC activated were subsequently transferred to Air Defense Command, Tactical Air Command, and Air Materiel Command between March 1946 and March 1947.

Background

On 16 January 1941, four Air Districts were established. The air districts handled air defense, "organization and training of bomber, fighter and other units and crews for assignments overseas," and training maneuvers with the Army Ground Forces. The four districts were redesignated on 26 March 1941 as the 1st Air Force, 2nd Air Force, 3rd Air Force, & 4th Air Force

Activation

CAF was "activated 12 December 1944" at Andrews Field with "Brigadier General Eugene H. Beebe in command" and the "4 continental air forces" as components which consolidated the CONUS air defense mission under one command. In August 1945 CAF was assigned the AAF Radar Bomb Scoring mission for bomber training/evaluation when Mitchel Field's 63rd Army Air Force Base Unit transferred to CAF. CAF's air defense mission was documented "in AAF Regulation 20-1, dated 15 September 1945."
A plan "for developing Andrews Field as the headquarters of the Continental Air Forces" for September 1944 was enacted..
;Post-war radar network planning: After a June 1945 meeting with AAF headquarters about air defense, CAF recommended "research and development be undertaken on radar and allied equipment for an air defense system the future threat", e.g., a "radar range of 1,000 miles, at an altitude of 200 miles, and at a speed of 1,000 miles per hour"; but the Hq AAF Director of Operations responded that "until the kind of defense needed to counter future attacks could be determined, AC&W planning would have to be restricted to the use of available radar sets". CAF's January 1946 Radar Defense Report for Continental United States recommended the military characteristics of a post-war Air Defense System "based upon such advanced equipment," and the Plans organization of HQ AAF reminded "the command that radar defense planning had to be based on the available equipment."
Planning to reorganize for a separate USAF had begun by fall 1945 Simpson Board to plan "the reorganization of the Army and the Air Force". In January 1946 "Generals Eisenhower and Spaatz agreed on an Air Force organization the Strategic Air Command, the Air Defense Command, the Tactical Air Command, the Air Transport Command and the supporting Air Technical Service Command, Air Training Command, the Air University, and the Air Force Center."

Reorganization

The Continental Air Forces reorganization began by 31 January 1946 when Abilene Army Airfield was closed. On 16 October 1945 CAF's Muroc Field was transferred from CAF to Air Technical Service Command. Moody Army Airfield transferred to AAF Training Command on 1 November 1945. CAF's Bolling Field was assigned control of Andrews Field on 3 January 1946 and also Richmond Army Air Base on 2 February 1946.
Tyndall Field transferred quickly to Continental Air Forces on 28 Feb 46, then TAC, and the Air University. CAF had 13 bombardment groups transferred to its numbered air forces just before it was disestablished, e.g., 40th, 44th, the 93rd, 444th, 448th, 449th, 467th, 485th, and 498th. There was also the 58th Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy; and also active was the 73rd Bombardment Wing, Very Heavy.
Interceptor and radar network plans at CAF HQ were passed on to ADC. CAF installations reassigned on 21 March 1946 included Grandview transferred to the Army Division Engineers, Mitchel Field to ADC, and both Tyndall Field and Army Air Base, Knob Knoster, to TAC. After the HQ transfer to SAC on 21 March, numerous CAF airfields transferred to TAC, ADC, and AMC from 23 March 1946 to 16 March 1947:
Air Defense Command's first Cold War network was the Lashup Radar Network, which was replaced by the Permanent System that included an improved search radar, which had been recommended by CAF. CAF's studies for computerized Aircraft Warning and Control were developed into the 1950s Lincoln Transition System that became the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment.

Aftermath

Continental Air Forces was superseded by Strategic Air Command in 1946. In 1992 SAC was deactivated. On 7 August 2009 SAC was redesignated as Air Force Global Strike Command, and activated, that same day. In 2020 AFGSC retained the nuclear deterrence and nuclear strike mission.