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In 1961 the United States Strike Command (STRICOM) was established at MacDill Air Force Base as a
unified combatant command A unified combatant command (CCMD), also referred to as a combatant command, is a joint military command of the United States Department of Defense that is composed of units from two or more service branches of the United States Armed Forces, a ...
capable of responding to global crises. The name of the command was originally derived from the acronym for Swift Tactical Reaction In Every Known Environment (STRIKE). It integrated the
CONUS ''Conus'' is a genus of predatory sea snails, or cone snails, marine gastropod mollusks in the family Conidae.Bouchet, P.; Gofas, S. (2015). Conus Linnaeus, 1758. In: MolluscaBase (2015). Accessed through: World Register of Marine Species at ...
-based forces of the Army's
Continental Army Command Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' (al ...
(essentially elements from the Army's
Strategic Army Corps The Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) was a command of the United States Army, with a mission of high readiness, active in the 1960s. In 1961 it was merged into the United States Strike Command (STRICOM). The word "STRAC" was also used to describe a ...
(STRAC)) and the Air Force's
Composite Air Strike Force Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia. It was inactivated on 1 Ju ...
(CASF) and Tactical Air Command.


Mission and deployments

In March 1961 Secretary of Defense McNamara ordered the JCS to develop a plan for integrating the
Strategic Army Corps The Strategic Army Corps (STRAC) was a command of the United States Army, with a mission of high readiness, active in the 1960s. In 1961 it was merged into the United States Strike Command (STRICOM). The word "STRAC" was also used to describe a ...
(STRAC) and Tactical Air Command into a unified command. The JCS Chairman, the CSA, and the CSAF endorsed this idea, provided that the new command eventually included Navy and Marine Corps units. But the CNO objected that the inherent flexibility of naval forces would be sacrificed if assigned to a command tailored to STRAC and TAC. He suggested instead that troop carrier and ground-support aircraft be made organic to the Army or that a joint task force be organized that would train air-ground teams for augmentation of existing commands. Similarly, the CMC argued that development of a "doctrine" for joint Army-Air Force operations would suffice. Secretary McNamara ruled in favor of the proposed new command. United States Strike Command (USSTRICOM) was activated on 1 January 1962 under an Army general. USSTRICOM assumed operational control over the combat-ready forces of TAC and CONARC. In 1965 the United States Atlantic Fleet became STRICOM's naval component command. A year later General Theodore J. Conway took command, a position he held until 1969. Initially, STRICOM's assigned missions were to: (a) provide a reserve of general purpose forces for reinforcing the other unified commands, (b) train the general reserve, (c) develop joint doctrine and, (d) plan for and execute contingency operations. Subsequently, STRICOM's missions were expanded to include planning for, and execution of, operations in the Middle East, sub-Sahara Africa, and Southern Asia (MEAFSA). STRICOM took place in the worldwide readiness test (of which Operation Giant Lance formed a part) in 1969, sortieing U. S. Navy
Middle East Force United States Naval Forces Central Command (NAVCENT) is the United States Navy element of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM). Its area of responsibility includes the Red Sea, Gulf of Oman, Persian Gulf, and Arabian Sea. It consists of the ...
ships into the Gulf of Aden. STRICOM was redesignated United States Readiness Command (REDCOM) in 1972. Essentially, the change was nothing more than a redesignation, except that the command was divested of its MEAFSA responsibilities. The redesignated command's missions included integrating, training, and providing CONUS-based general purpose forces, as well as planning and providing joint task force headquarters and forces for operations in areas not assigned to other unified commands.Headquarters, United States Atlantic Command, Implementation Plan for Establishing United States Atlantic Command as the Joint Force Integrator, Norfolk, VA, 1 October 1993, pp. 1–1 through 1–2, via Lovelace and Young In 1979, the national command authorities ordered the CINC of REDCOM (CINCRED) to establish the
Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force The Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF) is an inactive United States Department of Defense Joint Task Force. It was first envisioned as a three- division force in 1979 as the Rapid Deployment Force, or RDF, a highly mobile force that coul ...
(RDJTF) headquarters as a separate subordinate command within REDCOM. That same year, General Volney F. Warner took command of REDCOM, and held command until 1981. The Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force became an independent unified command in 1983 as United States Central Command (USCENTCOM). Readiness Command was replaced by
United States Special Operations Command The United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM or SOCOM) is the unified combatant command charged with overseeing the various special operations component commands of the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force of the United States Ar ...
(USSOCOM) in 1987, with the last CINCRED, General
James J. Lindsay James Joseph Lindsay (born October 10, 1932) is a retired United States Army four-star general, and served as the first commander of the United States Special Operations Command. Military career Lindsay's military career began when he enlisted in ...
, becoming the first CINCSOC. Detachment 1, 1150th USAF Special Activities Squadron, also known as "Communications Support Element" or CSE, was subordinate to USSTRICOM and operated from MacDill AFB. CSE was about a 50–50 mix of Air Force and Army personnel. CSE consisted of two units – Field Unit "A" (FUA) and Field Unit "B" (FUB) – and was mainly a mobile tactical communications outfit.


Commanders-in-Chief


Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Strike Command


Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Readiness Command


References

*Benjamin O. Davis Jr.: American (Smithsonian Institution Press) - has chapter on Strike Command


External links

* * {{Authority control Strike Command Military units and formations established in 1961