Ninth Air Force

Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central)
Shield of the Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central)
Active	20 August 2020 – present (as Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central)) 5 August 2009 – 20 August 2020 (as United States Air Forces Central Command) 1 March 2008 – 5 August 2009 (Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central)) 26 June 1951 – 1 March 2008 (as Ninth Air Force) 1 August 1950 – 26 June 1951 (as Ninth Air Force (Tactical)) 28 March 1946 - 1 August 1950 18 September 1942 - 2 December 1945 as Ninth Air Force) 8 April 1942 – 18 September 1942 (as 9 Air Force) 21 August 1941 – 8 April 1942 (as 5 Air Support Command) (82 years, 9 months)[1]
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force (26 September 1947 – present) United States Army ( Army Air Forces; 8 April 1942 – 26 September 1947)[1]
Type	Named Air Force
Role	Provides combat-ready air forces and serves as the air component to U.S. Central Command[2]
Part of	Air Combat Command United States Central Command
Headquarters	Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, U.S.
Engagements	See list World War II - American Theater World War II - European-African-Middle Eastern Theater Egypt-Libya Tunisia Sicily Normandy Northern France Rhineland Ardennes-Alsace Central Europe Southwest Asia Defense of Saudi Arabia Liberation and Defense of Kuwait Southwest Asia Ceasefire [1]
Decorations	Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Air Force Organizational Excellence Award
Website	www.afcent.af.mil
Commanders
Commander	Lt Gen Derek France
Deputy Commander	Maj Gen David A. Mineau
Command Chief Master Sergeant	CMSgt Katherine A. Grabham
Notable commanders	Lewis H. Brereton Hoyt Vandenberg Gary L. North David L. Goldfein Donavon F. Smith
Insignia
United States Air Forces Central Command emblem

The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central)^[3] is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint Department of Defense combatant command responsible for U.S. security interests in 27 nations that stretch from the Horn of Africa through the Persian Gulf region, into Central Asia.^[4]

Activated as 9th Air Force on 8 April 1942, the command fought in World War II both in the Western Desert Campaign in Egypt and Libya and as the tactical fighter component of the United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe, engaging enemy forces in France, the Low Countries and in Nazi Germany. During the Cold War, it was one of two Numbered Air Forces of Tactical Air Command.

Co-designated as United States Central Command Air Forces (CENTAF) on 1 January 1983, on 2009 as part of a complicated transfer of lineage, the lineage and history of the Ninth Air Force was bestowed on USAFCENT, and a new Ninth Air Force, which technically had no previous history, was activated. On 20 August 2020, the 9 AF designation was returned to USAFCENT with the deactivation of the 2009 established 9 AF.^[5] It has fought in the 1991 Gulf War, War in Afghanistan (OEF-A, 2001–present), the Iraq War (OIF, 2003–2010), as well as various engagements within USCENTCOM.