United States Air Forces Southern Command

United States Air Forces Southern Command
USAF Southern Command emblem
Active	1940–1976
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Air Force
Type	Major Command
Engagements	World War II American Campaign (1941–1945)

Sixth Air Force Emblem

Carri bean Air Command Emblem

United States Air Forces Southern Command (1963–1976) was a Major Command of the United States Air Force (USAF) responsible primarily for USAF activities in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.

It was headquartered at Albrook Air Force Base, Canal Zone.

History

Lineage

Established as Panama Canal Air Force October 19, 1940

Activated as a major command on November 20, 1940

Redesignated: Caribbean Air Force. August 5, 1941

Redesignated: 6th Air Force, September 18, 1942

Redesignated: Caribbean Air Command, July 31, 1946

Redesignated: United States Air Forces Southern Command July 8, 1963

Inactivated January 1, 1976

Note: Command was part of the Caribbean Defense Command, (10 Feb 1941-1 Nov 1947), was the senior Army headquarters in the Canal Zone. The Caribbean Interceptor Command, was the Air Force component (10 Feb 1941-17 Oct 1941) of the CIC until being inactivated and replaced by VI Interceptor Command.

Units Assigned

• Commands

VI Bomber Command, 25 Oct 1941-1 Nov 1946

VI Interceptor Command, 17 Oct 1941

Redesignated as: VI Fighter Command, May 1942-Oct 1943

XXVI Fighter Command, 6 Mar 1942-25 Aug 1946

XXXVI Fighter Command, 21 Aug 1942-30 Apr 1943

VI Air Force Service Command, Undetermined

Antilles Air Command, 11 Jul 1941-22 Jan 1949

• Wings

6 Fighter Wing, 25 Aug 1946-28 Jul 1948

13 Composite Wing, 1 Nov 1940-25 Oct 1941

19th Composite, 25 Jan 1933-26 Oct 1941

23d Fighter, 1949

24th Composite, 1967-1976

5700 Composite, 1948-1949; Air Base, 24 Oct 1954-8 Nov 1967

• Squadrons

4th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, 25 Aug 1946-1 Feb 1948

Assigned Stations

• Permanent

Albrook Air Force Station, Canal Zone, 1932-1976

France Air Force Base, Canal Zone, 1917-1949

Howard Air Force Base, Canal Zone, 1939-1976

Rio Hato Army Air Base, Panama, 1931-1948

Borinquen (later Ramey) Air Force Base, Puerto Rico, 1936-1971

(Assigned to Strategic Air Command, 26 May 1949)

• Wartime/Lend-Lease

Coolidge Air Force Base, Antigua, 1941-1949

Dakota Army Airfield, Aruba, 1942-1944

Batista Army Airfield, Cuba, 1942-1946

Camaguey Air Base, Cuba, 1942-1944

Vernam Air Force Base, Jamaica, 1941-1949

Arecibo Field, Puerto Rico, 1941-1943

Losey Army Airfield, Puerto Rico, 1941-1944

Benedict Army Airfield, Saint Croix, 1941-1942

Beane Air Force Base, Saint Lucia, 1941-1949

Saint Thomas Airport, Saint Thomas, 1942-1943

Carlsen Air Force Base, Trinidad, 1941-1949

Piarco Airport, Trinidad, 1941-1943

Waller Air Force Base, Trinidad, 1941-1949

Aguadulce Army Airfield, Panama, 1941-1945

Anton Army Airfield, Panama, 1943

Calzada Larga Army Airfield, Panama, 1942-1944

Chame Army Airfield, Panama, 1942-1945

David Army Airfield, Panama, 1941-1945

La Chorrera Army Airfield, Panama, 1941-1944

Madden Army Airfield, Panama, 1944

Patilla Point Army Airfield, Panama, 1944

Pocri Army Airfield, Panama, 1944

Belem Army Airfield, Brazil, 1941-1945

Atkinson Air Force Base, British Guiana, 1941-1948

Zandery Army Airfield, Dutch Guiana, 1941-1946

Salinas Army Airfield, Ecuador, 1942-1943

Seymour Island Airfield, Galápagos Islands, 1942-1948

Guatemala City Air Base, Guatemala, 1941-1949

Talara Army Airfield, Peru, 1942-1947

Operational History

The first United States air units arrived in the Canal Zone in February 1917. By 1940, a rapid increase in the number of units warranted a new organization, and the Panama Canal Air Force was created as a major command.

In early 1942 the German Navy began anti-shipping operations using submarine in the Caribbean. The subs sank several tankers in the harbor at San Nicholas, Aruba and even shelled an oil refinery on the island. It's important to note that the refineries at the island of Aruba and Curacao possessed oil from wells in Venezuela and counted for one-third of the Allies supply of gasoline.

The first wartime mission of the newly created Sixth Air Force was to perform antisubmarine operations in the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico areas and to cover Allied shipping convoys. Shortly after afterwards the 32nd got the assignment of fighting German submarines.

Sixth Air Force units had the responsibility for tracking down "Wolfpacks". The so-called "Wolfpacks", three of more subs together in a mission know as search and destroy. In the fall of 1942 the Germans reduced their submarine activity in the Caribbean region to concentrate its activity on the North Atlantic convoy route and the approaches to northwest Africa. With the withdrawal of submarines from the Caribbean region the Sixth Air Force concentrated its efforts as a striking force on its primary function of guarding against possible attacks on the Panama Canal. All of the wartime lend-lease bases were returned to civil authorities by 1950.

With the end of the war, the mission of Sixth Air Force and its successor units was changed to supporting friendly Central and South American air forces, and providing support to nations engaged in anti-communist activities during the Cold War.

When the command inactivated in 1976, most of its functions and resources passed to the Tactical Air Command, which established the USAF Southern Air Division (later 830th Air Division; Air Forces Panama) as the major organization in the area.

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0892010924.
• [1] ArmyAirforces.Com
• [2] United States Air Forces Southern Command at US Air Force Historical Research Agency