The XII Tactical Air Command was a 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 the

United States Air Forces in Europe United may refer to: Places * United, Pennsylvania, an unincorporated community * United, West Virginia, an unincorporated community Arts and entertainment Films * ''United'' (2003 film), a Norwegian film * ''United'' (2011 film), a BBC Two f ...

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which bec ...

, Germany, where it was inactivated on 10 November 1947.

History

The 12th Ground Air Support Command was activated on 17 September 1942 at

Birmingham Army Air Field Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1. ...

, Alabama, where it drew its initial cadre from the 3d Ground Air Support Command. Within a week, it had moved to

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German (Bölling): from a ...

, District of Columbia, to prepare for the invasion of North Africa and changed its name to XII Air Support Command. The command participated in Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa in November 1942. However, it confined itself to administering air affairs in French Morocco until January 1943. On 6 January 1943, it was attached to the Satin Task Force, primarily composed of elements of the II Corps and after 13 January was fully engaged with support of II Corps in its attack through central Tunisia. This campaign proved to be a test for United States air support doctrine and tactics. No pilots or planes trained for night reconnaissance were available, and photographic reconnaissance with

Douglas A-20 Havoc The Douglas A-20 Havoc (company designation DB-7) is an American medium bomber, attack aircraft, night intruder, night fighter, and reconnaissance aircraft of World War II. Designed to meet an Army Air Corps requirement for a bomber, it was ...

s was only available late in the campaign. Tying the command to a single

corps Corps (; plural ''corps'' ; from French , from the Latin "body") is a term used for several different kinds of organization. A military innovation by Napoleon I, the formation was first named as such in 1805. The size of a corps varies great ...

also kept it from supporting other organizations participating in the campaign, such as the

French XIX Corps The 19th Army Corps ( 19e Corps d'Armée) was a corps of the French army. In December 1870, the Tours delegation created the 19th Army Corps which was formed in Alençon. It was recreated by decree of the JO of August 13, 1874, it brought toget ...

, even when resources were available. The command served in combat in the Mediterranean and European theaters until May 1945. Afterward, remained in Europe as part of the occupation force. Colonel Demas T. Craw was awarded the Medal of Honor for action during the invasion of Algeria-French Morocco: when the Allies landed on 8 November 1942, Col Craw volunteered to negotiate an armistice; while trying to pass through the lines near

Port Lyautey Kenitra ( ar, القُنَيْطَرَة, , , ; ber, ⵇⵏⵉⵟⵔⴰ, Qniṭra; french: Kénitra) is a city in north western Morocco, formerly known as Port Lyautey from 1932 to 1956. It is a port on the Sebou river, has a population in 2 ...

, he was killed by machine-gun fire.

Lineage

* Constituted as the 12th Ground Air Support Command on 10 September 1942 : Activated on 17 September 1942 : Redesignated XII Air Support Command on 24 September 1942 : Redesignated XII Tactical Air Command in April 1944 : Inactivated in Germany on 10 November 1947 : Disbanded on 8 October 1948

Assignments

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 E ...

, 17 September 1942 (attached to

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern; 1 AF-AFNORTH) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission is the air defense of the Cont ...

after 25 September 1942) *

Twelfth Air Force The Twelfth Air Force (12 AF; Air Forces Southern, (AFSOUTH)) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Davis–Monthan Air Force Base, Arizona. The command is the air component to ...

, 9 November 1942Maurer, ''Combat Units'', p. 450 (years only). (attached to Allied Air Support Command after 22 January 1943) *

Northwest African Air Forces Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) was a component of the Allied Mediterranean Air Command (MAC) during February–December 1943. It was responsible primarily for air operations during the Tunisian Campaign and bombing of Italy. Its command ...

, c. 18 February 1943 (attached to Allied Air Support Command (later

Northwest African Tactical Air Force The Northwest African Tactical Air Force (NATAF) was a component of the Northwest African Air Forces which itself reported to the Mediterranean Air Command (MAC). These new Allied air force organizations were created at the Casablanca Conference in ...

c. February 18 – 10 December 1943, further attached to

No. 242 Group RAF No. 242 Group was a group of the British Royal Air Force (RAF) formed on 24 August 1942. Its first commander was Air Commodore George Lawson. History Air Commodore Kenneth Cross took over command on 22 February 1943 when the group was a sub-com ...

March 43) * Twelfth Air Force, c. 10 December 1943 (attached to No. 242 Group RAF, Tactical Air Force, Mediterranean Allied Air Forces January 1944 – April 1944) *

, 15 November 1945 – 10 November 1947

Stations

* Birmingham Army Air Field, Alabama, 17 September 1942 * Bolling Field, District of Columbia, 25 September – 18 October 1942 * French Morocco, 9 November 1942 * Algeria, January 1943 * Tunisia, 13 March 1943 *

Sicily (man) it, Siciliana (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = Ethnicity , demographics1_footnotes = , demographi ...

, Italy, c. 12 July 1943 * Italy, c. 9 September 1943 * Corsica, France, 18 August 1944 * Germany, 27 March 1945 *

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inhabi ...

(R-96),Station number in Johnson, p. 42 Germany, July 1945 *

(R-98), Germany, 1 November 1945 – 10 November 1947

Components

; Wings *

3rd Air Defense Wing Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', or 1⁄3600 of a ''minute'' Places * 3rd Street (disambiguation) * Third Avenue (disambiguation) * Hi ...

(later 64th Fighter Wing): 9 March 1943 – 5 June 1947 (attached to

First Tactical Air Force (Provisional) The Desert Air Force (DAF), also known chronologically as Air Headquarters Western Desert, Air Headquarters Libya, the Western Desert Air Force, and the First Tactical Air Force (1TAF), was an Allied tactical air force created from No. 204 G ...

27 November 1944 – May 1945) * 5th Bombardment Wing: c. 13 October 1942 – 1 November 1943 * 7th Fighter Wing, 27 September 1942 – 7 January 1943 (attached to

to c. 17 October 1942; Task Force A to 8 November 1942; Moroccan Composite Wing (Provisional) to 6 January 1943) *

42d Bombardment Wing 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 smalles ...

: 27 November 1944 – 6 January 1945, 21 May – 26 July 1945 * 57th Bombardment Wing: 31 August 1943 – 1 January 1944 *

63d Fighter Wing The 63d Fighter Wing (63 FW) is a disbanded unit of the United States Air Force, last stationed at Ellington Field, Houston, Texas. It was withdrawn from the Texas Air National Guard (TX ANG) and inactivated on 11 October 1950. This wing is not ...

: 14 June – December 1945 *

70th Fighter Wing The 70th Fighter Wing (70th FW) is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the United States Air Forces in Europe, based at Neubiberg Air Base, Germany. It was inactivated on 25 September 1947. History Established ...

: 2 December 1945 – 25 September 1947 * 71st Fighter Wing: 25 September–November 1945 *

87th Fighter Wing The 87th Fighter Wing is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the XXII Tactical Air Command, based at Florence, Italy. It was inactivated on 11 October 1950. History Lineage * Constituted as 87th Fighter Wing ...

: 11 January-22 September 1944 ; Groups *

12th Bombardment Group 012 may refer to: * Tyrrell 012, a Formula One racing car * The dialing code for Pretoria, South Africa See also * 12 (disambiguation) Twelve or 12 may refer to: * 12 (number) * December, the twelfth and final month of the year Years * 12 BC * ...

: 1 September 1943 – 2 January 1944 *

31st Fighter 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 ...

: November 1942 – 24 July 1943 *

33d Fighter Group ''033'' or ''Zero Three Three'' is a 2010 Bengali film directed by Birsa Dasgupta in a directorial debut and produced by Moxie Entertainments. It stars Rudranil Ghosh and Parambrato Chattopadhyay. 033 is the STD code for Kolkata city, and t ...

: 13 January – 18 February 1943; 14 March 1943 – 24 July 1943; 21 December 1943 – c. 20 February 1944 (under operational control of 64th Fighter Wing) * 36th Fighter Group: 15 November 1945 – 15 February 1946 *

47th Bombardment Group 47th may refer to: Chicago Transit Authority stations * 47th station (CTA Green Line), on the Green Line * 47th station (CTA Red Line) 47th is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, serving the Red Line. The station is loca ...

, assigned 27 September – 31 December 1942; 22 January – 18 February 1943; attached 1 September 1943 – 6 October 1943; 10 December 1943 – 20 July 1944; 7–15 September 1944 * 50th Fighter Group, 29 September 1944 – 4 August 1945 (under operational control of 64th Fighter Wing until June 1945) * 52nd Fighter Group: 18 February – 23 May 1943; 15 May – 25 June 1947 * 57th Fighter Group: attached 22 August 1943; assigned 1 September – 1 November 1943; 2 January – 23 April 1944 (attached to 64th Fighter Wing 2–28 March 1944) *

68th Observation Group The 53rd Electronic Warfare Group was a component of the 53rd Wing of the Air Force Warfare Center, Air Combat Command, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The group was responsible for providing operational, technical and mainten ...

(later 68th Reconnaissance Group): c. 18 October 1942 – c. 18 June 1943 (attached to 5th Bombardment Wing after 31 October 1942) *

69th Tactical Reconnaissance Group The 69th Reconnaissance Group is an inactive United States Air Force that was part of Air Combat Command, the group was stationed at Grand Forks Air Force Base, North Dakota where it was a tenant of the 319th Air Base Wing. The group served ...

: 27 March – 20 May 1945 * 79th Fighter Group: attached c. 2–c. 14 June 1943; assigned 1 September – 1 November 1943 (attached to

) * 86th Fighter-Bomber Group (later 86th Fighter Group): assigned c. November 1943 – 9 September 1944; 20 February 1945 – c. 30 April 1945 (attached to 64th Fighter Wing after 21 February 1945; attached 30 April 1945); assigned 20 June – August 1945; 1 March – 6 October 1947 *

340th Bombardment Group 34 may refer to: * 34 (number), the natural number following 33 and preceding 35 * one of the years 34 BC, AD 34, 1934, 2034 * ''34'' (album), a 2015 album by Dre Murray * "#34" (song), a 1994 song by Dave Matthews Band * "34", a 2006 song by S ...

: 1 September – 1 November 1943; 2 January – 1 March 1944 *

354th Fighter Group The 354th Fighter Group was an element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force during World War II. The unit was known as the Pioneer Mustang Group and was the first to fly the P-51B Mustang in combat. The group served as bombe ...

, 4 July 1945 – 15 February 1946 *

363d Reconnaissance Group 363rd or 363d may refer to: * 363d Expeditionary Operations Group, inactive United States Air Force unit * 363d Bombardment Squadron or 19th Antisubmarine Squadron, inactive United States Air Force unit * 363d Fighter Squadron or 164th Airlift Squa ...

, 15–20 November 1945 * 366th Fighter Group: 4 July 1945 – 20 August 1946 * 501st Tactical Control Group (see 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion) ; Squadrons * 2d Air Support Communications Squadron (later 2d Tactical Air Communications Squadron): 2 February 1943 – 6 July 1943 * 4th Tactical Air Communications Squadron: 4 July 1945 – 5 June 1947 * 11th Tactical Air Communications Squadron: 4 July – c. 12 October 1945 * 14th Liaison Squadron: 4 July – 5 October 1945 (attached to Third United States Army}Third Army after 26 June 1945) *

18th Air Support Communications Squadron 18 (eighteen) is the natural number following 17 and preceding 19. In mathematics * Eighteen is a composite number, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 6 and 9. Three of these divisors (3, 6 and 9) add up to 18, hence 18 is a semiperfect numb ...

(later 18th Tactical Air Communications Squadron): c. 12 February – 10 June 1944 * 34th Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron: 3 October 1944 – 20 April 1945 (attached to Provisional Reconnaissance Group after 16 October 1944) * 47th Liaison Squadron: 23 November 1945 – 1 February 1946 *

72d Liaison Squadron The 72nd Helicopter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last active as a flight, then as a squadron from 1991 to 1995 at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, where it provided light transport and assisted with search and ...

: 20 May – 3 July 1945 *

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 ...

: 28 May 1943 – 1 May 1944 (attached to 33d Fighter Group, 29 May 1943;

324th Fighter Group 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

, c. 19 June 1943; 33d Fighter Group 19 July 1943; 79th Fighter Group, 16 October 1943; 324th Fighter Group after 1 April 1944) * 111th Observation Squadron (later 111th Reconnaissance Squadron, 111th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron): attached 12–31 March 1943, 20 June 1943, assigned 26 May 1944 – 20 April 1945 (attached to Provisional Reconnaissance Group after 16 October 1944) * 125th Liaison Squadron: 20 June – 15 December 1945 * 153d Liaison Squadron: attached 25 April 1944, assigned 15 July 1945 – 15 December 1945 (attached to Twelfth Army Group 15 November 1944, Seventh Army after 26 July 1945) *

162d Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron Sixteen or 16 may refer to: * 16 (number), the natural number following 15 and preceding 17 *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film ...

: attached 16 October 1944 – 21 April 1945 * 167th Liaison Squadron: 20 May – 15 July 1945 *

365th Bombardment Squadron The 365th Bombardment Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was first activated in March 1942. After training with Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers in the United States, the squadron deployed to the European Theater of O ...

: 1 November – 25 December 1946 * 415th Night Fighter Squadron: 12 October – 5 December 1943 * 417th Night Fighter Squadron: 17 May – 26 June 1945 ; Other * 555th Signal Aircraft Warning Battalion (later 501st Tactical Control Group), 15 November 1945 – 25 July 1947

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{USAAF 12th Air Force World War II Tac12 Military units and formations disestablished in 1948