The III Fighter Command is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

unit. Its last assignment was at MacDill Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 8 April 1946.

History

Background

GHQ Air Force (GHQ,AF) had been established with two major combat functions, to maintain a striking force against long range targets, and the

air defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based ...

of the United States. In the spring of 1941, the War Department established four strategic defense areas and GHQ, AF reorganized its Southeast Air District as

3rd Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in E ...

with responsibility for air defense planning and organization in the southeastern. 3rd Air Force activated 3rd Interceptor Command at

Drew Field Tampa International Airport is an international airport west of Downtown Tampa, in Hillsborough County, Florida, United States. The airport is publicly owned by Hillsborough County Aviation Authority (HCAA)., effective December 30, 2021. The ...

, Florida in 1941, under the command of Major General Walter H. Frank.Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 440 The command's initial tactical component was the 8th Pursuit Wing.

Air defense

The

attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...

put all units on heightened alert. The command was charged with control of "active agents" for air defense in its area of responsibility, which included

interceptor aircraft An interceptor aircraft, or simply interceptor, is a type of fighter aircraft designed specifically for the defensive interception role against an attacking enemy aircraft, particularly bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. Aircraft that are ...

, antiaircraft artillery and barrage balloons. Civilian organizations provided air raid warnings and enforced blackouts and came under the authority of the Office of Civilian Defense and the command worked "feverishly" to create a ground observer corps as elements of its Aircraft Warning Service. However, it soon became apparent that having two commands responsible for air defense in the

Eastern Theater of Operations The Eastern Defense Command was first established as the Northeast Defense Command on 17 March 1941 as one of four U.S. Army continental defense commands to plan and prepare for and execute defense against enemy attack in the months before Americ ...

was impractical. 1st Interceptor Command was given the mission of defending the East and Gulf coasts, while 3rd concentrated on the training mission starting early in 1942. Although the command retained responsibility for air defense on the Gulf coast west of the

Apalachicola River The Apalachicola River is a river, approximately 160 mi (180 km) long in the state of Florida. The river's large watershed, known as the ACF River Basin, drains an area of approximately into the Gulf of Mexico. The distance to its far ...

, no "vital air defense zone" was established for this area, as it was for the Pacific and East coasts.

Unit and crew training

The command trained fighter organizations and personnel. By the end of 1942, the command's training consisted almost entirely of Replacement Training Units (RTU). The command was inactivated in April 1946. It was transferred in inactive status to the newly-independent

in September 1947, and was disbanded in October 1948.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 3rd Interceptor Command on 26 May 1941Maurer indicates unit was constituted as the "III" Interceptor Command. However, the unit was constituted and activated with an

arabic number Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers such as ...

in its name. The use of

roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, ea ...

s to designate Army Air Forces combat commands did not begin until September 1942. : Activated 17 June 1941Maurer indicates that there is a question whether the command was activated on this date or not until about 14 July. Maurer, p. 440. : Redesignated 3rd Fighter Command on 15 May 1942 : Redesignated III Fighter Command c. 18 September 1942 : Inactivated on 8 April 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948

Assignments

* 3rd Air Force (later

Third Air Force The Third Air Force (Air Forces Europe) (3 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Forces in Europe - Air Forces Africa (USAFE-AFAFRICA). Its headquarters is Ramstein Air Base, Germany. It is responsible for all U.S. air forces in ...

), 17 June 1941 *

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

21 March 1946 – 8 April 1946

Components

Wings * 8th Pursuit Wing (later 8th Fighter Wing), assigned c. 1 July – 1 November 1941; attached 28 July – c. 28 October 1942 *

19th Bombardment Wing The 19th Airlift Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Mobility Command's Eighteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. The wing is also the host unit at Little Rock. The Wing provides the ...

, attached 24 July 1942 – 28 September 1942 * 22d Bombardment Training Wing, 6 August – 15 August 1943 Groups * 2nd Air Commando Group: 22 April – c. 12 November 1944 * 3rd Air Commando Group: 1 May – c. 1 December 1944 *

31st Pursuit Group 31 (thirty-one) is the natural number following 30 and preceding 32. It is a prime number. In mathematics 31 is the 11th prime number. It is a superprime and a self prime (after 3, 5, and 7), as no integer added up to its base 10 digits ...

(later 31st Fighter Group): 18 April – 9 June 1942 * 48th Bombardment Group (later 48th Fighter-Bomber Group): 6 August 1943 – 31 March 1944 (attached to

I Tactical Air Division The I Tactical Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to Second Air Force, based at Biggs Field, Texas. It was inactivated on 22 December 1945. History General Headquarters Air Force (GHQ AF) reorganize ...

10 September 1943 – 14 January 1944)Robertson says attachment was to I Ground Air Support Command, but the command had been redesignated a division by this time. Maurer, ''Combat Units'', pp. 440-441 * 49th Pursuit Group: attached 9 August 1941, assigned 2 October 1941 – February 1942 * 50th Pursuit Group (later 50th Fighter Group): 2 October 1941 – 28 May 1942 * 52nd Fighter Group: 26 November 1942 – 1 May 1944 * 54th Pursuit Group (later 54th Fighter Group), 18 April 1942 – 1 May 1944 * 56th Pursuit Group: attached 17 June 1941, assigned 2 October 1941 – 15 January 1942 * 58th Pursuit Group (later 58th Fighter Group): 2 October 1941 – 17 October 1942 * 59th Fighter Group: by September 1943 – 1 May 1944 * 80th Pursuit Group (later 80th Fighter Group): 9 February – 20 June 1942 * 85th Bombardment Group (later 85th Fighter-Bomber Group), 6 August 1943 – 1 May 1944 * 405th Fighter-Bomber Group, 15 August 1943 – 6 March 1944 * 408th Fighter-Bomber Group, 15 August – 10 November 1943, 12 February – 24 March 1944 Squadrons * 32d Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter): 15 August – 1 September 1943 * 34th Reconnaissance Squadron (Fighter): 15 August – 1 September 1943 *

99th Fighter Squadron The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the ...

: attached 19 August 1942 – 24 April 1943 * 403d Fighter Squadron: 15 March – 7 August 1943 * 439th Fighter Squadron: 22 February 1943 – 1 March 1944 Other * 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion: 4 July – 8 October 1942

Stations

* Drew Field, Florida, 17 June 1941 * MacDill Field, Florida, c. 1 December 1945 – 8 April 1946