United States Atlantic Command (acronym from 1947-1993 USLANTCOM, after 1993 USACOM) was 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, an ...

of the

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD or DOD) is an executive branch department of the federal government charged with coordinating and supervising all agencies and functions of the government directly related to national sec ...

. In 1999, U.S. Atlantic Command was renamed and given a new mission as

United States Joint Forces Command United States Joint Forces Command (USJFCOM) was a Unified Combatant Command of the United States Department of Defense. USJFCOM was a functional command that provided specific services to the military. The last commander was Army Gen. Ray O ...

. USLANTCOM was active from the 1947 to 1993 as a primarily U.S. Navy command, focused upon the wartime defense of the Atlantic sea lanes against Soviet attack, with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet and other subunified commands such as the

Iceland Defense Force The Iceland Defense Force ( is, Varnarlið Íslands; IDF) was a military command of the United States Armed Forces from 1951 to 2006. The IDF, created at the request of NATO, came into existence when the United States signed an agreement to p ...

under its authority. The Navy's leading place within the command had been marked by having Commander-in-Chief U.S. Atlantic Fleet, CINCLANTFLT acting also as the Commander-in-Chief United States Atlantic Command between 1947 and 1985. CINCLANTFLT, in addition to the LANTCOM post, also held the position of

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

's Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic (SACLANT). There were also Army and Air Force components, CINCARLANT and CINCAFLANT; these posts were allocated to Commanding General,

CONARC United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) is the largest United States Army command. It provides expeditionary, regionally engaged, campaign-capable land forces to combatant commanders. Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, FORSCOM con ...

, and Commander, Tactical Air Command, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. The beginning of the

Congo Crisis The Congo Crisis (french: Crise congolaise, link=no) was a period of political upheaval and conflict between 1960 and 1965 in the Republic of the Congo (today the Democratic Republic of the Congo). The crisis began almost immediately after ...

in mid 1960 shift planners' attention to potential tasks in Central Africa. In November 1960, the Secretary of Defense gave CINCLANT the responsibility for sub-Saharan Africa plans and operations, and instructed CINCLANT to establish a small headquarters, Joint Task Force 4, under an Army lieutenant general. Lieutenant General Louis W. Truman served as Commander JTF-4. Several months later, in response to a JCS request, Secretary

Robert S. McNamara Robert Strange McNamara (; June 9, 1916 – July 6, 2009) was an American business executive and the eighth United States Secretary of Defense, serving from 1961 to 1968 under Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson. He remains the ...

changed the

Unified Command Plan 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, ...

's wording so that CINCLANT no longer bore responsibility for "routine" matters in sub-Saharan Africa but was, instead, responsible for contingency planning and for commanding any JCS-directed operations. In July 1961 Secretary McNamara apportioned sub-Saharan responsibilities as follows: Military Assistance Program (MAP) to USCINCEUR and the Secretary of the Army, Congo air evacuation to USCINCEUR, and the Congo sea evacuation to CINCLANT. After the end of the Cold War, a 1993 reorganization gave the Command a new acronym, USACOM, and brought

United States Army Forces Command United States Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) is the largest United States Army command. It provides expeditionary, regionally engaged, campaign-capable land forces to combatant commanders. Headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, FORSCOM con ...

and Air Combat Command under its authority.Findarticles.com
''U.S. Atlantic Command, Now USACOM, Assumes New Role''
U.S. Navy Press Releases In 1999, USACOM was renamed and given a new mission as

(USJFCOM). USJFCOM was closed in 2011.

List of Combatant Commanders

References

{{Authority control Atlantic Command Military units and formations in Virginia Military units and formations established in 1947 Military units and formations disestablished in 1999