Tactical Air Command
The Tactical Air Command ( TAC ; German Tactical Air Command ) was one of the commands of the United States Air Force . His job was the planning and implementation of battlefield warfare, i.e. tactical bombing, close air support , reconnaissance and similar tasks. In addition, the tactical ballistic missiles were subordinate to the TAC .
history
The Tactical Air Command was founded on March 21, 1946 together with the Strategic Air Command . The headquarters was MacDill Air Force Base , but a short time later this was moved to Langley Air Force Base . Shortly after it was founded, on December 1, 1948, the TAC was downgraded from command to one of the headquarters of the Continental Air Command , but this was reversed in 1950.
In the 1950s, the TAC developed a concept called the Composite Air Strike Force . It should be possible to deploy emergency services to all parts of the world as quickly as possible. In addition to fighters, such a unit also included fighter-bombers for conventional and nuclear use, tanker planes, transporters and reconnaissance planes. The first use of such a group took place in July 1958, when a coup threatened Lebanon . In the same year, a CASF was relocated to Asia as part of the escalation of the Taiwan conflict .
In the following years the TAC became active in the Vietnam War , among other things .
After the Second Gulf War , the blurring of responsibilities between the TAC and the Strategic Air Command had become evident, so that the TAC and SAC were dissolved in 1992 and merged into the Air Combat Command .
literature
- Craig C. Hannah: Striving for Air Superiority. The Tactical Air Command in Vietnam (= Texas A&M University Military History Series. Vol. 76). Texas A&M University Press, College Station TX 2002, ISBN 1-58544-146-5 .
- Michael D. Hill, John Campbell: Tactical Air Command. An illustrated History, 1946-1992, Schiffer Publishing, Atglen PA 2001, ISBN 0-7643-1288-X .
