The Alaskan Air Command (AAC) is an inactive United States Air Force Major Command originally established in 1942 under the United States Army Air Forces. Its mission was to organize and administer the air defense system of Alaska, exercise direct control of all active measures, and coordinate all passive means of air defense. In addition, the command also supported Strategic Air Command elements operating through and around Alaska. It was redesignated Eleventh Air Force on 9 August 1990 and, concurrently, status changed from a major command of the United States Air Force to a subordinate organization of Pacific Air Forces.
History Establishment
Established on 18 December 1945 the end of World War II, assuming jurisdiction of former Eleventh Air Force, assets in the Alaska Territory. Headquartered at Davis Army Airfield on Adak, the initial mission of AAC was the consolidation of wartime Army Air Forces in Alaska and training of those forces remaining after demobilization. Its headquarters was moved back to Anchorage, and was re-established at Elmendorf Field on 1 October 1946.
As well as the reorganization of the command and control echelon in Alaska, the 343d Fighter Group at Shemya AAF was inactivated, replaced by the 57th Fighter Group in keeping with the Air Forces policy of retaining low-numbered units on active duty following the war. The 57th FG was equipped with 3 squadrons of very-long range P-51H Mustangs, originally designed for escort missions of B-29 Superfortresses during the war from the Mariana Islands to Japan and back. Two of its squadrons the 64th and 66th were located at Shemya; the 65th at Ladd Field, near Fairbanks. The 449th Fighter Squadron (All Weather) was activated at Davis AFB on 1 September 1947. It was equipped with P-61 Black Widows and assigned directly to Headquarters, AAC. The only other flying unit was the 54th Troop Carrier Squadron at Elmendorf Field.
Despite the wartime military campaign carried out in the Aleutian Islands, the archipelago was viewed as having little military value, other than refueling transport aircraft on the Great Circle Route from Japan. It was believed that Alaska was threatened more by Soviet bomber attacks across the polar regions. Shortly after the Japanese Capitulation, most airfields in the Aleutians were placed in a standby status. Headquarters, Alaskan Air Command was moved to Elmendorf Field on 1 October 1946. The Aleutian Sector was inactivated on 1 July 1947.
Following the National Security Act of 1947, the United States Air Force assumed control of the original Army Fort Richardson and Elmendorf Field, gaining full ownership of its facilities in 1951. The Alaskan Command, established 1 January 1947, and headquartered at Elmendorf, was a unified command under the Joint Chiefs of Staff, based on lessons learned during the war when a lack of coordinated effort hampered operations to drive the Japanese from the western Aleutian Islands of Attu and Kiska. Elmendorf officially became an Air Force base 28 March.
With tight Air Force budgets in the late 1940s, Amchatka AFB was placed in caretaker status in February 1949 and the 449th Fighter Squadron (All Weather) was moved from Davis AFB to Ladd AFB. Cape and Thornborough AFB were inactivated in January 1950; avis AFB was transferred to the Department of the Navy. With the exception of Shemya AFB, the Air Force had no active bases in the Aleutian Islands. Following the Armistice in Korea, Shimeya was declared surplus and inactivated on 1 July 1954.
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command established a significant presence in Alaska in the late 1940s, initially as a result of its strategic reconnaissance mission. The first efforts were in photo-reconnaissance and mapping, with very long-range B-29 Superfortress reconnaissance aircraft based at Ladd AFB. With growing tensions in US-Soviet relations, SAC explored the possibility of attacking Soviet targets via great circle routes over the North Pole as part of "Project Nanook". Ladd AFB, however, due to the geography of its location, was unsuitable for SAC's postwar B-36 Peacemaker bomber as well as the new jet B-47 Stratojet. Ladd, being sited next to the Chena River, could not have its runway expanded to meet the requirements for these new aircraft.
SAC chose to expand Ladd's former World War II Air Transport Command satellite field, known as "Mile 26" due to its distance from Fairbanks. The airfield's jurisdiction had been transferred from ATC to Eleventh Air Force on 1 November 1945, but had remained a satellite of Ladd Field, and was in a standby status. Mile 26, later known as Eielson AFB had its runway lengthened to 14,500 feet and a major construction project was undertaken to expand and build new support facilities at the base in the late 1940s. The new runway at Eielson was the longest runway in North America at the time. Its planned usage was to support SAC deployments of its intercontinental bombers closer to the Soviet Union for possible attacks over the Arctic. The first use of Eielson was by the SAC 97th Bombardment Group, deployed from Smoky Hill AAB, Kansas in November 1947. The group departed in March 1948, with the 5010th Air Base Wing being activated by AAC as a permanent host unit for Eielson, supporting deployed SAC units from the CONUS. Other SAC units followed and Eielson hosted B-29, B-36, B-47 and B-50 wings, which were placed on alert there and ready to strike on a moment's notice. These deployments lasted until 1963. Eielson also hosted deployed KC-97s, and later KC-135s tanker aircraft.
SAC activated its provisional 4157th Combat Support Group (later Strategic Wing) at Eielson in July 1956 to support additional B-47 Wing deployments to Alaska in addition to 4158th Strategic Wing to support RC-135 electronic intelligence (ELINT) operations from Elmendorf on 1 July 1960. The 4158th SW provided host station support functions for SAC wing and support elements deployed to Elmendorf during deployments from United States bases, primarily weather reconnaissance flights used for long range detection of Soviet Soviet atomic explosions with RC-135 operations. The 4158th SW inactivated in 1966 when SAC moved out of Elmendorf.
The 4157th Strategic Wing was replaced at Eielson by the 6th Strategic Wing in March 1967. The 6th SW remained stationed at Eielson until being inactivated on 1 September 1992 as part of the reorganization of the USAF command structure after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Cold War The outbreak of the Cold War in 1948 caused a major buildup of air defense forces in Alaska, as the airspace over the Arctic and Alaska was believed by Air Force planners to be the "Front Line" in case of an armed conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union for the North American continent.
Alaskan Air Command was initially divided into two air defense sectors – Aleutian and Yukon. The defense of the Yukon sector was initially directed from Ladd AFB, near Fairbanks, Alaska. In 1950, the 11th Air Division (11th AD) was activated at Ladd, replacing the Yukon Sector; the 10th Air Division (10th AD) at Elmendorf AFB, replacing the Aleutian Sector.
The 10th AD was responsible for the Aircraft Control and Warning (Radar) stations in southern Alaska and for the 64th, 65th and 66th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons which were assigned directly to the division after the 57th FIG was inactivated in April 1953. King Salmon Airport (AFB) was used as a Forward Operating Base (FOB) for the interceptors of the 66th FIS. King Salmon (formerly the Eleventh Air Force Naknek AAF) began being used as a FOB in 1948
The 11th AD was responsible for the Radar stations north of the Alaska Range to the northern coast along the Arctic Ocean and for the 449th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron based at Ladd AFB. Galena Airport (AFB) was also used as a forward operating base for the interceptors beginning in 1951. Prior to that the 449th had used Marks AFB at Nome, but Nome was deemed too close to the Soviet border and the interceptors were pulled back in order for them to have more reaction time on intercept alerts.
Alaska's air defenses greatly expanded during 1945–1955 period. The United States built an extensive aircraft control and warning (AC&W) system along Alaska's coast and interior. The Alaskan segment of the Distant Early Warning Line (DEW Line) was built, and later the DEW Line was extended to the Aleutian Islands. The White Alice Communications System tied the network together.
By 1957, Alaskan Air Command had reached its peak strength with over 200 fighter interceptors assigned to six Air Defense squadrons in addition to Strategic Air Command elements operating through and around Alaska, and performing other operational support missions as directed by the Commander-in-Chief, Alaskan Command HQ and Headquarters USAF. AAC maintained Fifteen major air force bases, Eighteen aircraft control and warning sites and 12 DEW Line locations provided early warning and fighter direction. AAC's assigned strength was 20,687.
Defense Department budget reductions in the second half of the Eisenhower Administration began a steady decline in AAC, along with the Soviet switch from a bomber force to an intercontinental missiles as its major offensive weapon. The introduction of the F-102 Delta Dagger in 1958 to upgrade AAC's interceptor force meant a reduction of the number of squadrons from six to three.
Reductions in Alaskan Air Command forces continued in 1959. In September the Air Force informed AAC that Ladd AFB had been selected along with other bases in the United States for closure. The closure would mean the reassignment of forces at Ladd to nearby Eielson AFB and also some to Elmendorf due to economic necessities. In addition, it was justified that the short runway at Ladd would be compensated by the 14,000 foot runway at Eielson built by SAC. It was also planned that the Army, which maintained units at both Ladd and Eielson, would consolidate its forces, and its northern headquarters, Yukon Command, at Ladd. Discussions and political disagreement ensued throughout 1960, however the Army's decision to station a new battle group at Ladd and increase the number of personnel assigned there settled the matter. On 1 January 1961 jurisdiction of Ladd Air Force Base was transferred from the Department of the Air Force to the Department of the Army. The army renamed the facility Fort Wainwright, in honor of Lieutenant General Jonathan Mayhew Wainwright IV. The airfield, was re-designated as "Ladd Field", in honor of its long Air Force service. With the closure of Ladd, the 449th FIS was inactivated on 25 August 1960, its F-89Js being reassigned to Air Defense Command.
Along with the closure of Ladd AFB, AAC inactivated the 10th and 11th Air Divisions in August 1960. They were replaced by the provisional 5070th Air Defense Wing, based at Elmendorf. The 5070th, was quickly inactivated in October 1961, its assets being assigned directly to AAC.
Interceptors
AAC interceptor squadrons were initially equipped with the very long-range P-51H Mustang, that was designed for B-29 escort duties for missions over Japan. The F-51 (post 1948 designation) was a fast, efficient fighter that could perform close air support missions, but was not an effective air defense interceptor because it lacked radar and did not have the speed and altitude capabilities needed to intercept high-altitude bombers.
Replaced by the P-61 Black Widow (1947), and later by the F-82 Twin Mustang (1948) (449th FIS), these World War II-designed aircraft were equally unsuited for modern air defense operations. Although the Black Widow and Twin Mustang were radar-equipped, they did not perform well in adverse weather and suffered from the speed and altitude deficiencies as the F-51H.