The VI Bomber Command was a military formation of the

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

. Its last assignment was with

Sixth Air Force Sixth is the ordinal form of the number six. * The Sixth Amendment, to the U.S. Constitution * A keg of beer, equal to 5 U.S. gallons or barrel * The fraction Music * Sixth interval (music)s: ** major sixth, a musical interval ** minor s ...

. It was based throughout its service at

Albrook Field Albrook Air Force Station is a former United States Air Force facility in Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern ...

, in the

Panama Canal Zone The Panama Canal Zone ( es, Zona del Canal de Panamá), also simply known as the Canal Zone, was an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the Isthmus of Panama, that existed from 1903 to 1979. It was located within the ter ...

. It was inactivated on 1 November 1946. It engaged in antisubmarine operations from the Canal Zone. It was credited with two submarines sunk and shared two others.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 6th Bomber Command on 17 October 1941Maurer indicates that the unit was constituted as the "VI" Bomber 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 on 25 October 1941 * Res\designated VI Bomber Command c. 18 September 1942 : Inactivated on 1 November 1946 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948

Assignments

* Caribbean Air Force (later 6th Air Force,

), 25 October 1941 – 1 November 1946

Components

; Groups * 6th Bombardment Group, 25 October 1941 – 1 November 1943 *

9th Bombardment Group 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

, 25 October 1941 – 31 October 1942 (attached to

VI Fighter Command 06 may refer to: * 6 (number) * The month of June, commonly referred to as 06 * The years 1906 and 2006, both commonly referred to as '06 * Lynk & Co 06, a Chinese subcompact SUV * '' Sonic '06'', a 2006 game of the ''Sonic the Hedgehog'' series ...

after 28 January 1942) *

25th Bombardment Group Fifth is the ordinal form of the number five. Fifth or The Fifth may refer to: * Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, as in the expression "pleading the Fifth" * Fifth column, a political term * Fifth disease, a contagious rash tha ...

, 25 October 1941 – 6 April 1944 *

40th Bombardment Group 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest c ...

, 25 October 1941 – 6 April 1942 (attached to

6th Interceptor Command 6 (six) is the natural number following 5 and preceding 7. It is a composite number and the smallest perfect number. In mathematics Six is the smallest positive integer which is neither a square number nor a prime number; it is the second smal ...

after 15 January 1942); 22 June 1942 – 9 July 1943 ; Squadrons *

3d Bombardment Squadron The 3rd Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the 111th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, based at Travis Air Force Base, California. It was inactivated on 1 January 1953. History World Wa ...

, 1 November 1943 – 1 November 1946 * 10th Bombardment Squadron, attached 13 December 1943, assigned 17 December 1943 - c. 9 May 44 * 29th Bombardment Squadron, 1 November 1943 – 1 November 1946 *

59th Bombardment Squadron The 59th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was first activated in Panama in 1941 during the expansion of the United States Army Air Corps before World War II. Following the Attack on Pearl Harbor the squa ...

, 25 October 1941 – 19 March 1943 (attached to

Trinidad Detachment, VI Fighter Command Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmo ...

after 21 July 1942) *

74th Bombardment Squadron The 74th Reconnaissance Squadron is an active United States Air Force unit, part of the 9th Reconnaissance Wing at Beale Air Force Base, California. The squadron was first active during World War II as the 74th Aero Squadron. In 1933 it wa ...

, 1 November 1943 – 1 November 1946 *

397th Bombardment Squadron The 7th Reconnaissance Squadron is a squadron of the United States Air Force. It is assigned to the 69th Reconnaissance Group and is stationed at Naval Air Station Sigonella, Sicily, Italy. The squadron was first established in the Panama Can ...

, 1 November 1943 – 1 November 1946Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', pp. 486-487

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * {{USAAF 6th Air Force World War II 06 Military units and formations disestablished in 1946