Fifteenth Air Force activated Aug. 20, integrating wings and direct reporting units from Twelfth Air Force and Ninth Air Force to form a new Numbered Air Force responsible for generating and presenting Air Combat Command's conventional forces.
ACC's conventional capabilities include fighter, remotely piloted aircraft, command and control, and rescue flying units plus Air-Ground Operations Airmen who integrate Air Force capabilities in combined arms operations, the Air Force's dedicated base defense group, Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operations Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE), and the agile combat support units that open and operate our bases. In addition to organizing, training, and equipping ACC's conventional forces, this new NAF will also present a deployable joint task force-capable headquarters that can provide command and control of integrated ACC forces.
"Consolidating these forces into the Fifteenth Air Force is another step toward implementing the Air Force's new force generation construct and will enable the delivery of dynamic and agile combat airpower as directed by the National Defense Strategy," said Gen. Mike Holmes, commander or ACC. "This reorganization will streamline and improve the way we present our conventional forces as part of the new USAF construct, while honoring our history and the dedication of our Airmen."
Following this transition, Twelfth Air Force will focus on its component role for U.S. Southern Command as 12 AF/AFSOUTH. Meanwhile, the existing Ninth Air Force will be inactivated and U.S. Air Forces Central Command will be re-designated as 9 AF/AFCENT.
The creation of the new NAF is part of a larger force optimization effort within ACC, which began with the stand-up of Sixteenth Air Force, a dedicated information warfare NAF, last fall.
Maj. Gen. Chad Franks received the guidon from Holmes, assuming responsibility for leading the more than 45,000 Airmen assigned to the new NAF.
"When I took command of the Ninth Air Force in June 2019, I stated we would focus on getting even better, so we could continue to deliver unmatched lethal fires for our joint and coalition partners wherever it is required," Franks said. "Through our joint task force-capable mission and the advocacy for our units, we have done that. As the Fifteenth Air Force, we will continue to progress further toward that vision and provide a lean and agile mission command and control of forces to enable us to protect, deter, and deploy against emerging threats. Thank you for allowing me the great honor to be the commander of the Fifteenth Air Force and I look forward to visiting all of the units in the near future."
The Fifteenth Air Force was first established in 1943 as the Mediterranean theater's air force. After World War II, it served as one of the primary NAFs in Strategic Air Command deterring Cold War Soviet aggression before transferring to Air Mobility Command in 1992 as an expeditionary task force.
No units will be physically moving and the majority of affected Airmen will not experience changes in their day-to-day operations.
Maj. Gen. Chad P. Franks, Fifteenth Air Force commander, assumes command of Fifteenth Air Force, after Chief Master Sgt. Benjamin W. Hedden, Fifteenth Air Force command chief, unfurls the newest Numbered Air Force's flag at Shaw Air Force Base, S.C., Aug. 17, 2020. Ninth Air Force was inactivated and Fifteenth Air Force was reactivated during a virtual ceremony at Shaw AFB, Aug. 20, 2020. Fifteenth Air Force was established in the Mediterranean Theater in 1943 as a strategic Air Force during World War II, transferred to Air Mobility Command in 1992 and was previously inactivated in 2012. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Amanda Dick)
