Established on 1 November 1943, Fifteenth AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force deployed to the European Theater of World War II, bombing Europe from bases in southern Italy and engaging in air-to-air fighter combat against enemy aircraft.
15 AF was redesignated Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force (15 EMTF) on 1 October 2003. 15 EMTF provided support for strategic airlift for all United States Department of Defense agencies as well as air refueling for the Air Force in both peace and wartime for the Pacific region. 15 EMTF inactivated on 20 March 2012.
US F-16 from the 15th AF exits it's hangar while a Pakistani F-16B from No. 9 Squadron PAF taxis to the runway during Exercise Falcon Talon 2022
On 20 August 2020, 15 AF was reactivated as an Air Combat Command numbered air force, taking over the previous conventional flying forces of both the Ninth and Twelfth Air Forces.
15th AF resulted from a reorganization of American air forces in the Mediterranean in late 1943. Lewis H. Brereton's Ninth Air Force (9th AF) was moved to England, taking over the medium bomber units of Eighth Air Force, while Twelfth Air Force gave its strategic units to 15th AF, becoming the Americans' Mediterranean tactical air force. The new air force was activated with a strength of ninety B-24 Liberators and 210 B-17 Flying Fortresses, inherited from the Twelfth Air Force and Ninth Air Force. In December, new groups, most of which were equipped with B-24s soon started arriving from the United States. 13 new groups were added.
It was hoped that the 15th AF – stationed in the Mediterranean – would be able to operate when the Eighth Air Force (8th AF) in England was socked in by bad English weather. The 9th AF would later move to England to serve as a tactical unit to take part in the invasion of Europe. Once bases around Foggia in Italy became available, the 15th was able to reach targets in southern France, Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and the Balkans, some of which were difficult to reach from England.
859th BS flew Carpetbagger operations out of England until September 1944 before being moved to MTO
885th BS was initially known as 122nd BS assigned to 68th Reconnaissance Group operating B-17s in the MTO. Assigned to the 15th Special Group in January 1945.
Restored P-51D of the 31st Fighter Group, 308th Fighter Squadron, "Flying Dutchman", showing 12 aerial victories.The 15th Air Force began its operations on 1 November 1943, attacking the Rimini Marshalling yard with 28 B-25's assigned to the 321st BG (M). On 1 December 1943, the Headquarters was moved to Bari Airfield, Italy.
The first major operation carried out by Fifteenth Air Force was bombing missions in support of the Anzio Landings in Italy, Operation Shingle beginning on 22 January 1944. Strikes on German and fascist Italian targets were carried out and caused widespread damage to Axis forces.B-24 of the 464h Bomb GroupB-17F of the 97th Bomb Group over the AlpsB-24 of the 451st Bomb Group
"Big Week" was the name of an intense Eighth and Fifteenth Air Forces series of attacks on Germany in a series of co-ordinated raids on the German aircraft industry. The plan, code-named "Operation Argument," was to use both American strategic air forces in Europe, with support by the Royal Air Force with night bombing raids to destroy or seriously cripple the German ability to produce combat aircraft.
The Americans were facing strong Luftwaffe fighter opposition to their daylight bombing raids over Nazi-occupied Europe, and it was planned to initiate Operation Argument at the earliest possible date.
On 22 February 1944, Fifteenth Air Force made its first attack on Germany, with an attack on Regensburg. The Fifteenth dispatched a force of 183 bombers to the Oberstraubing Messerschmidt assembly plant. Some 118 bombed with good results but fourteen were shot down. The next day the 15th sent 102 bombers to the Steyr ball-bearing works in Austria where they destroyed twenty percent of the plant. On 24 February, over 180 Liberators inflicted considerable damage to the Messerschmitt Bf 110 assembly plant at Gotha, losing 28 aircraft in the process. On 25 February 114 B-17s and B-24s were dispatched to Steyr again, but the force became separated and the Liberators bombed the Fiume oil refinery instead. Seventeen bombers were lost.
Despite these losses, it was believed that the USSTAF had dealt the German aircraft industry a severe blow.
In April, General Eisenhower ordered the USSTAF to attack German fuel production centers by striking both the oil refineries and the factories producing synthetic fuels. The 15th started the offensive on 5 April when it dispatched 235 B-17s and B-24s from Italy to transportation targets in the vicinity of the Ploiești oilfields in Romania. The refineries were attacked again on 15 and 24 April, inflicting additional damage.
Attacks on oil targets had assumed top priority by October and vast fleets of heavy bombers, escorted by P-38 Lightning and P-51 Mustang fighters, attacked refineries in Germany, Czechoslovakia and Romania. The P-51 escorts were able to establish an environment of air superiority, enabling the bombers to roam widely across southern and eastern Europe, attacking targets at Brüx in Czechoslovakia, Budapest, Komárom, Győr, and Pétfürdő in Hungary, Belgrade and other cities in Yugoslavia, and Trieste in north-eastern Italy.
By June 1944, the 15th Air Force was bombing railway networks in southeast Europe in support of Soviet military operations in Romania. Throughout the summer of 1944, Austrian aircraft manufacturing centers at Wiener Neustadt were bombed and oil producing centers were attacked. On 2 June, the 15th Air Force flew its first "shuttle" mission when 130 B-17s and P-51 escorts landed in Russian controlled territory after a raid in Hungary. Two more shuttle missions followed.
In August, the 15th began attacking targets in Southern France in preparation for Operation Anvil, the invasion of Southern France. Marseilles, Lyon, Grenoble, and Toulon were all attacked by B-24s and B-17s.
After the Romanian 1944 coup, the 15th Air Force bombed the German-occupied airports of Băneasa and Otopeni. Between 31 August and 3 September 1944, aircraft from the 15th AF carried out Operation Reunion by airlifting the released Allied prisoners from Romania.
The only 15th AF mission to Berlin was on 24 March 1945 when 666 bombers struck the capital, Munich, and other German targets, as well as Czechoslovakia. The Berlin force was attacked by Me 262 jets that inflicted losses (one bombers and five fighters) while the Mustangs claimed eight jets downed - actual Luftwaffe records show only 3 x Me 262's lost in this engagement. The 47th BW and 55th BW fragged Fliegerhorst Neuburg damaging / destroying 54 x Me 262A-1’s from III./KG (J) 54, 304th BW attacked Fliegerhorst Münich-Riem destroying 13 x Me 262's. The NASM's Me 262 shows a claim credit for a B-17 shot down this date.
The last major effort came on 25 April when 467 bombers struck rail targets in Austria, severing communications into Czechoslovakia. The 15th's final bombing mission was flown 1 May when 27 B-17s escorted by 51 P38's of the 14th FG attacked Salzburg rail targets.
With the German surrender in Italy, 15th Air Force aircraft began dropping supplies over Yugoslavia and evacuating Allied prisoners of war performing its last mission on 16 May 1945
A total of around 2,110 bombers were lost on operations by its 15 B-24 and six B-17 bombardment groups, while its seven fighter groups claimed a total of 1,836 enemy aircraft destroyed. The Fifteenth was inactivated in Italy 15 September 1945.
On 31 March 1946, Fifteenth Air Force was reactivated at Colorado Springs AAB, Colorado and assigned to the ten-day-old Strategic Air Command. 15th AF assumed the assets and personnel of the former Continental Air Forces Second Air Force, which was inactivated on 30 March.
The original bomb groups assigned to 15th Air Force were:
Reassigned to MacDill AAF, Florida on 17 April 1946
Transferred to Fifteenth Air Force on 1 May 1946
Redesignated as 311th Air Division (Reconnaissance) on 6 April 1948
.*Group became subordinate element to wing.
However, demobilization was in full swing and few of these groups were fully equipped or manned. All of these groups were equipped with B-29 Superfortresses, most or all of which were aircraft which returned from Twentieth Air Force groups returning from the Pacific War. When SAC was established in 1946, its primary bomber aircraft was the B-29. Although there were many in storage, they were war-weary. The plane was greatly improved and soon new models, designated the B-50 Superfortress, began joining the inventory replacing the older aircraft.
15th Air Force org chart, 1947Boeing B-50D of Fifteenth Air Force displaying while on detachment to England in May 1953
The 15 AF returned to a combat-ready role as a result of the 1948 Berlin Crisis, a squadron from the 301st Bombardment Group was deployed with its B-29s at Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base, Germany. SAC immediately ordered the group's other two squadrons to Goose Bay Air Base, Labrador to prepare for immediate deployment to Germany. The 307th and 28th Bombardment Groups were placed on alert and ordered to be ready to deploy within three and twelve hours respectively. Within a few weeks, the other 301st Bomb Group's squadrons had joined the first. Later on 28 July, Bombardment Group left Rapid City AFB, South Dakota for RAF Scampton, in the United Kingdom. The 307th Bombardment Group left MacDill AFB, Florida for RAF Marham and RAF Waddington in the UK.
On 7 November 1949, Headquarters Fifteenth Air Force was relocated to March AFB, California. As part of this realignment, most SAC bomber forces west of the Mississippi River were reassigned to 15th AF. Those east of the Mississippi were assigned to SAC's other strategic air force, Eighth Air Force, and reassigned to Westover AFB, Massachusetts, where it commanded all SAC bases in the eastern United States.
From 1947 onwards Fifteenth Air Force incorporated a number of fighter escort wings and strategic fighter wings, intended to escort bombers to their targets. Among these units were the 56th Fighter Wing, 71st Strategic Fighter Wing, the 82nd Fighter Wing, and the 407th Strategic Fighter Wing. They were all redesignated and transferred to other USAF components in 1957–58 with the end of the fighter escort concept.
On 8 July, a special FEAF Bomber Command was set up under the command of Major General Emmett O'Donnell. Although President Truman wasn't willing to risk extensive use of the U.S. bomber force in the United States, which was being used as a deterrent for possible Soviet aggression in Europe, a few groups of B-29 bombers – that were not part of the nuclear strike force – were released. On 13 July, the FEAF Bomber Command took over command of the Twentieth Air Force 19th Bombardment Group and of the Fifteenth Air Force's 22nd and 92nd Bombardment Groups which had been transferred from SAC bases in the United States. Later in July, the Fifteenth Air Force 98th and 307th Bombardment Groups were sent to Japan to join the FEAF. The 92nd and 98th BGs and the 31st SRG operated from bases in Japan, whereas the 19th, 22nd, and 307th BGs were based in Okinawa.
When the Korean War ended on 27 July 1953, the B-29s had flown over 21,000 sorties, nearly 167,000 tons of bombs had been dropped, and 34 B-29s had been lost in combat (16 to fighters, four to flak, and fourteen to other causes). B-29 gunners had accounted for 34 Communist fighters (16 of these being MiG-15s) probably destroyed another 17 (all MiG-15s) and damaged 11 (all MiG-15s). Losses were less than one per 1000 sorties.
B-52D Dropping bombs over Southeast AsiaKC-135 refueling F-15s and F-16s
With the end of fighting in Korea, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who had taken office in January 1953, called for a "new look" at national defense. The result: a greater reliance on nuclear weapons and air power to deter war. His administration chose to invest in the Air Force, especially Strategic Air Command. The nuclear arms race shifted into high gear. The Air Force retired nearly all of its propeller-driven B-29/B-50s and they were replaced by new Boeing B-47 Stratojet aircraft. By 1955 the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress would be entering the inventory in substantial numbers, as prop B-36s were phased out of heavy bombardment units rapidly.
Also after the deployment of forces to Far East Air Force in order to engage in combat over Korea, the history of Fifteenth Air Force becomes indistinguishable from that of Strategic Air Command. During the Cold War, Fifteenth Air Force aircraft stood nuclear alert, providing a deterrence against an attack on the United States by the Soviet Union. During the Vietnam War, squadrons of 15th Air Force B-52 Stratofortesses (B-52Ds mostly, some B-52Gs) were deployed to bases on Guam, Okinawa and Thailand conducting Arc Light strikes on communist forces.
Between the Vietnam War and 1991, 15 AF units and assets consisted of reconnaissance aircraft (SR-71 until 1989, U-2), bombers (B-52D until 1984, B-52G, B-52H and B-1B), aerial refueling (KC-135, KC-10), and intercontinental ballistic missiles (Titan II until 1984, Minuteman II/III, Peacekeeper).
Fifteenth Air Force became exclusively an aerial tanker formation with KC-135 and KC-10 aircraft on 1 September 1991. When Strategic Air Command was inactivated on 1 June 1992 and its assets divided between the newly created Air Mobility Command and Air Combat Command, Fifteenth Air Force became part of Air Mobility Command.
Fifteenth Air Force was one of the two numbered air forces assigned to the Air Mobility Command. Its main area of operations was the region stretching west of the Mississippi River to the east coast of Africa, pole to pole, but was often tasked to support Air Mobility Command's global reach mission. Its primary mission was to provide strategic and theater airlift for all Department of Defense agencies as well as air refueling for the Air Force in both peace and wartime. This included the aeromedical evacuation of sick and injured.
With the assigned military work force of 28,912 personnel and an assigned civilian work force of 5,288 people, Fifteenth Air Force managed almost 300 aircraft and many support facilities in the United States and in the Pacific and Indian Oceans – all the way to Diego Garcia.
The 15 AF commander was also the Commander, Task Force 294 (TF 294), which provided aerial refueling to aircraft that supported the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) in time of war. TF 294 included 26 units from the AMC, the Air National Guard, and the Air Force Reserve Command. The 15 AF staff assured the operational readiness of its units by conducting readiness assessment visits and staff assistance visits. It acted as an advocate for its subordinate units and enforces higher headquarters policies and directives.
As a result of an Air Mobility Command restructuring, Fifteenth Air Force was redesignated the Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force, focused on air mobility support in peacetime and wartime. 15 AF operational flying organizations were transferred to Eighteenth Air Force. 15 EMTF retained AMC's Pacific region airlift and air refueling enroute support organization as well as AMC's contingency response units. The 15 EMTF provided rapid and flexible transportation support from six major Air Force bases in the United States and 47 locations throughout the Pacific.
15 AF is responsible for operational readiness for thirteen active duty operational groups and wings, one air base wing, and three combat engineer squadrons.
The Fifteenth Air Force is also responsible for overseeing the operational readiness of designated units of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve.
I could see omens of the war’s end almost every day in the blue southern sky when, flying provocatively low, the bombers of the American Fifteenth Air Force crossed the Alps from their Italian bases to attack German Industrial targets.
— Albert Speer, Hitler's Minister for Armaments, Inside the Third Reich, Memoirs of Albert Speer
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