Aerospace Defense Command

ADCOM 

15 January 1968: Re-designated as Aerospace Defense Command

1 July 1973: Continental Air Defense Command and Aerospace Defense Command headquarters begins consolidation and streamlining

4 February 1974: The Department of Defense announces plans for cutbacks in air defense forces showing increasing emphasis on ballistic missile attack warning and decreasing emphasis on bomber defense

30 June 1974: Continental Air Defense Command de-established

1 July 1975: Aerospace Defense Command designated a "Specified Command" taking over Continental Air Defense Command roles and responsibilities

1 October 1979: Aerospace Defense Command inactivated as a Major Command; Air Defense, Tactical Air Command established as a Numbered Air Force equivalent under Tactical Air Command

31 March 1980: ADC Inactivated

Ref: Aerospace Defense Command The Interceptor publication, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).

Air Defense of the Continental United States had its beginning when Major General Hap Arnold recommended an Air Defense Command Unit composed of Air Corps, Coast Guard Artillery, and Signal Corps be formed. On 26 February 1950 the unit was officially activated at Mitchell Field under the command of Brig Gen. James E. Chaney, an Air Corps officer. Although the command was deactivated fourteen months later, it provided the ground work for the future Air Defense Command.

On March 1946, Air Defense Command was organized as a major command, and on 1 December 1946 was placed under Continental Air Command. On I July 1950 ADC was discontinued; however, it was reactivated as a major command again on 1 January 1951. Air Defense Command was re-designated Aerospace Defense Command on 15 January 1968, and on 31 July 1975 it became a specified command under NORAD and JCS control.

During the 30-plus years of its existence the command has undergone many changes. One thing has not changed though; the men and women of the Command have provided the country with a continual shield against air attack. Starting with detection and warning and ending with the interceptors and aircrews standing alert to launch at a moment's notice.

In this issue of the magazine we have included an historic, and possibly nostalgic, sketch of the command by including brief histories of all (93 to be exact) the fighter interceptor squadrons assigned to the command as its alert force. These are just the active Air Force Squadrons that have been in the command. Time and space did not allow us to include the 76 Air National Guard Squadrons, several Naval Squadrons, radar squadrons, training squadrons and numerous support units that have played important roles in our nation's defense.

For brevity we have omitted some actions that affected all the squadrons in the command at that time. They are: 11 June 1948 when the P designation of all fighter aircraft was changed to F; 20 January 1948 when Fighter Squadrons became Fighter Interceptor Squadrons; and 18 August 1955 when a number of changes in unit designations took place under "Project Arrow." This restored many squadrons to the wings and groups to which they had belonged during World War II.

The ADC Mission

The Air Defense Command (ADC) is organized primarily to discharge Air Force responsibilities for the air defense of the United States. ADC supplies and maintains the major portion of Air Force weapons and real estate for this purpose. It has the responsibility to organize, administer, equip, train, and prepare combat units and combat crews assigned to ADC, and to place under the operational control of the Commander- in-Chief of the Continental and North American Air Defense Commands such elements when they are ready for combat. ADC recommends training needs for the Air National Guard (ANG), assists in its premobilization training, and assumes command over ANG air defense units upon mobilization. In addition, ADC controls the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, and the Texas Towers - radar stations in the Atlantic Ocean. ADC units fly the Lockheed RC-121 Warning Stars which form the aerial seaward extensions of ground radar lines off both ocean coasts of the United States. Basic air defense functions of ADC are: aircraft detection, identification, interception and destruction. ADC is the major component force of both the Continental Air Defense Command (CONAD) and the North American Air Defense Command (NORAD). ADC History

The War Department established an Air Defense Command on February 26, 1940. This command, operating under the control of the First Army Commander from March 2, 1940, to September 9, 1941, engaged in planning for air defense. Before the United States entered World War II, air defense was divided among the four air districts (later, numbered air forces) based in the United States: First, Second, Third, and Fourth Air Forces. In mid-1944, when the threat of air attack seemed negligible, this air defense organization was disbanded. Subsequently, no real air defense organization existed until the second Air (later Aerospace) Defense Command was established in 1946 as a major command of the Army Air Forces (AAF).

The Air Defense Command was organized on 21 Mar 1946, at Mitchel Field, NY. In December 1948, it was placed under the Continental Air Command and delegated supervision of the build-up of the air defense system. On 1 Jan 1951, it was established as a major air command at Ent AFB, Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The growth and development of the ADC air defense system has been steady. From four day-type fighter squadrons in 1946, the interceptor force grew to sixty all-weather squadrons in 1959. By 1953, a modern radar system had been completed and additional radar units were programmed to blanket the country with medium and high-altitude radar cover. At the same time, the decision was made to extend radar coverage as far from the American borders as possible. An agreement with Canada for mutual defense resulted in the extension of radar coverage into southern Canada in 1952 (the Pinetree Line), and permission was granted by the USAF to erect the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, which became operational under ADC control in 1958; the DEW Line consists of radars and continuous-wave stations along the Arctic Circle from Alaska to Greenland.

Work was begun in 1953 to erect a number of off-shore radars platforms known as Texas Towers. To provide even more distant off-shore coverage, the Airborne Early Warning program was begun, consisting of two wings of Lockheed RC-121 Warning Stars.

In 1953, development of the Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) system began. It was destined to become the nerve center of air defense. The first of the SAGE sectors was put into operation in July 1958, and was rapidly joined by others in the eastern and northern United States during 1959 and 1960. This electronic network is based on the provision of digital computers and ancillary data-transmitting equipment at strategic locations throughout the country. A major purpose of this system is to provide instantaneous information to interceptor aircraft in flight as well as trigger other defensive measures. On 1 Sep 1959, the first BOMARC IM-99A surface-to-air missile squadron became operational, harbinger of a program to replace a part of the manned interceptor force with unmanned interceptor missiles.

To provide far distant early warning of missile attacks, the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System (BMEWS) was begun in 1958, with huge radar stations destined for Alaska, Greenland and England; these radars are capable of detecting missiles in flight, deep in the Soviet Union or in other similarly distant territory.

The Aerospace Defense Command declined after the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve gradually assumed more and more of the air defense mission. In 1980 Air Defense Command resources were divided between Tactical Air Command and Strategic Air Command. Some functions of the command passed to the Aerospace Defense Center, a direct reporting unit which inactivated on October 1, 1986.

Established as Air Defense Command on March 21, 1946. Activated as a major command on March 27, 1946. Became an operational command of Continental Air Command on December 1, 1948. Discontinued on July 1, 1950. Reestablished as a major command, and organized, on January 1, 1951. Re-designated Aerospace Defense Command on January 15, 1968. Inactivated on March 31, 1980.