The Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) is a

Direct Reporting Unit The structure of the United States Air Force refers to the unit designators and organizational hierarchy of the United States Air Force, which starts at the most senior commands. The senior headquarters of the Department of the Air Force consists ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

. AFDW oversees Air Force operations in the

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

region (also known as the " National Capital Region" or "NCR"). As a

, AFDW is directly subordinate to the Chief of Staff, Headquarters,

, and serves as the Air Force service component to the JFHQ-NCR. AFDW was originally headquartered on

Bolling Air Force Base Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB was a United States Air Force installation located in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its establishment, the base has s ...

, but changed to Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington (JBA-NAFW).

History

AFDW originates back to the post-World War II era when Bolling Field Command was established on 15 December 1946. Bolling Field Command absorbed functions from various support organizations in the Washington, D.C. vicinity. It was redesignated Headquarters Command, USAF, on 17 March 1958. When Headquarters Command, USAF, inactivated on 1 July 1976, many of its functions passed to

Military Airlift Command The Military Airlift Command (MAC) is an inactive United States Air Force major command (MAJCOM) that was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Established on 1 January 1966, MAC was the primary strategic airlift organization of ...

. The Air Force District of Washington was constituted and activated, on 1 October 1985. it was inactivated on 15 Jul 1994, due to declining defense budgets. AFDW was reactivated on 7 July 2005, to realign the Air Force command structure in the NCR with the other military services, improve Air Force support to Joint Force Headquarters – National Capital Region (JFHQ-NCR).

Mission

AFDW oversees two wings and one group on JBA-NAFW: the

11th Wing The 11th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is the host unit at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C., on from June 2020. It previously was stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Mary ...

, the

316th Wing The 316th Wing (316 WG) is an active wing of the United States Air Force. It is the host wing at Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Maryland. As host wing, the 316 WG operates, administers and maintains the base. The 316th Wing was activate ...

and the 844th Communication Group. The 844th Communications Group have a specialized communications mission and serve as the central communications support group for the Air Force in the National Capital Region (NCR). The

fulfills duties as the host base organization of Joint Base Andrews, while also supporting AFDW requirements. AFDW also supports airmen in more than 33,000 Airmen in over 200 locations in 108 countries. AFDW serves as the Air Force service component for coordination purposes to JTF-NCR and the supporting command to

Joint Task Force National Capital Region A joint or articulation (or articular surface) is the connection made between bones, ossicles, or other hard structures in the body which link an animal's skeletal system into a functional whole.Saladin, Ken. Anatomy & Physiology. 7th ed. McGraw- ...

. JTF-NCR has an emergency or major event operation 'mobilization' function as Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. Under the Joint Task Force NCR (JTF-NCR), the

320th Air Expeditionary Wing The 320th Air Expeditionary Wing (320 AEW) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is stationed at Bolling AFB, District of Columbia. The 320 AEW may be activated or inactivated at any ti ...

(320 AEW) activates and becomes the Air Force service component of JTF-NCR. The Commander of AFDW serves as the Commander, 320 AEW. Air Force Mission Directive 13 delineates missions and assigned duties applicable to AFDW in both its worldwide Air Force service role and its JTF-NCR Air Force service component role.

Component units

Air Force District of Washington comprises the following wings and major units.

Headquarters

* Headquarters Air Force District of Washington (

Joint Base Andrews Joint Base Andrews (JBA) is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force (USAF) 316th Wing, Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). The bas ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It borders the states of Virginia to its south, West Virginia to its west, Pennsylvania to its north, and Delaware to its east ...

)

Permanent units

(

Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling (JBAB) is a 905-acre (366 ha) military installation, located in Southwest (Washington, D.C.), Southwest Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementin ...

) **

US Air Force Band The United States Air Force Band is a U.S. military band consisting of 184 active-duty members of the United States Air Force. It is the Air Force's premier musical organization and is based at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling, Washington, D.C. Wi ...

** US Air Force Chaplaincy (

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is the largest cemetery in the United States National Cemetery System, one of two maintained by the United States Army. More than 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington County, Virginia. ...

) ** US Air Force Honor Guard *

(Joint Base Andrews) –

UH-1N Iroquois The Bell UH-1N Twin Huey is a medium military helicopter designed and produced by the American aerospace manufacturer Bell Helicopter. It is a member of the extensive Huey family, the initial version was the CUH-1N Twin Huey (later CH-135 Twi ...

* 844th Communications Group (Joint Base Andrews)

Expeditionary units

(Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling)

List of commanders

References

Attribution: :

External links

Official AFDW website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Force District of Washington Direct reporting units of the United States Air Force Military in Washington, D.C. Military units and formations in Maryland Military units and formations established in 1985 1985 establishments in the United States