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The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was both a Major Command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) strategic nuclear arsenal from 1946 to 1992. SAC also controlled the infrastructure necessary to support the strategic bomber and ICBM operations, such as aerial refueling tanker aircraft to refuel the bombers in flight, strategic reconnaissance aircraft, command post aircraft, and, until 1957, fighter escorts.
Following the fall of the Soviet Union, the Air Force instituted a comprehensive reorganization of its major commands. As part of this reorganization, SAC was disestablished on 1 June 1992. As part of the reorganization, SAC's bomber aircraft, ICBMs, strategic reconnaissance aircraft, and command post aircraft were merged with USAF fighter and other tactical aircraft assets and reassigned to the newly-established Air Combat Command (ACC). This included B-52 and B-1 bomber aircraft assigned to the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, respectively.
At the same time, most of SAC's aerial refueling tanker aircraft, including those in the Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard, were reassigned to the new Air Mobility Command (AMC). Tankers based in Europe were reassigned to United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), while regular air force tankers in the Pacific, as well as Alaska Air National Guard tankers, were reassigned to Pacific Air Forces (PACAF).
The ICBM force was later transferred from ACC to the Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) on 1 July 1993. Another change in late 2009 and early 2010 resulted in the transfer of the ICBM force from AFSPC and the B-52 and B-2 strategic bomber force from ACC to the newly-established Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), which is a direct descendant of SAC.[1]
Contents
History
SAC organisation 1947. Source: Ron Mixer, “The Genealogy of the Strategic Air Command”, Battermix.
[edit] Early history 1946–58
During the interwar period between World War I and World War II, a group of U.S. Army Air Corps officers colloquially referred to as the Bomber Mafia, convinced of the potential of strategic bombing, paved the way both for the massive strategic air campaigns in Europe and the Pacific in World War II and the later creation of SAC. SAC's United States Army Air Forces predecessor, the Continental Air Forces, was established on 13 December 1944 and activated on 15 December 1944. CAF controlled the numbered air forces within the United States (1st Air Force, 2nd Air Force, 3rd Air Force and 4th Air Force) and their training mission.
On 21 March 1946, CAF was disestablished as part of a major reorganization of the USAAF. Within the United States, the USAAF was divided into three separate commands: Tactical Air Command (TAC), Air Defense Command (ADC), and Strategic Air Command (SAC). Airfields formerly assigned to CAF were reassigned to one of these three major commands.
SAC's original headquarters was located at Bolling Field in Washington, DC, the headquarters of the disestablished Continental Air Forces, with the headquarters organization of CAF being redesignated as Strategic Air Command. Its first commander was General George C. Kenney.[2]:29–30 Ten days later, Fifteenth Air Force was assigned to the command as its first Numbered Air Force. In June 1946 Eighth Air Force was also assigned. SAC HQ then moved to Andrews AFB, MD on 20 October 1946. The first ten bombardment groups assigned to the command were the 40th, 44th, 93rd, 444th, 448th (became 92nd), 449th, 467th, 485th, 498th, and 509th Bomb Groups. Of these, only the 509th was combat-capable of strategic warfare and delivering nuclear weapons.
Strategic Air Command was created with the stated mission of providing long range bombing capabilities anywhere in the world. But because of multiple factors, including the massive post-World War II demobilization of the U.S. armed forces and Kenney's unhappiness with being assigned to SAC, for the first two years of its existence, SAC existed mainly on paper. During this period, the United States Air Force itself was established as an independent military service on 18 September 1947.
The situation began to change on 19 October 1948, when Lieutenant General Curtis LeMay assumed leadership of the Strategic Air Command, a position he held until June 1957, the longest tenure for any United States armed forces commander since Winfield Scott.[2]:99 Soon after taking command, on 9 November, LeMay relocated SAC to Offutt AFB south of Omaha. It was under the leadership of LeMay that SAC developed the technical capability, strategic planning, and operational readiness to carry out its strategic mission anywhere in the world. Among the technological developments that made this possible were the widescale use of in-flight refueling, jet engines, and intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The development of jet aircraft, specifically the B-47 Stratojet, was a key component in building the Strategic Air Command’s bombing capacity. When LeMay assumed command of SAC, his vision was to create a force of nuclear-armed long-range bombers with the capability to devastate the Soviet Union within a few days of the advent of war.[2]:102 But the reality when LeMay assumed command was that SAC had only sixty nuclear capable aircraft, none of which had the long-range capabilities he desired.[3]
Introduced into active service in 1951, the B-47 was the first jet aircraft employed by SAC. Despite having a limited range, by the end of LeMay’s command in 1957, the B-47 had become the backbone of SAC, comprising over half of its total aircraft and eighty percent of its bomber capacity.[2]:104 A key factor enabling the B-47 to become the mainstay of SAC (and to fulfill LeMay’s desire for a long range bomber) was the development of in-flight refueling. In addition, "Reflex" operations based in forward countries such as Morocco, Spain and Turkey provided infra-structure for temporary duty (TDY) assignment of US-based B-47 bomb wings. Sixteenth Air Force managed SAC operations in Morocco and Spain from 1957 to 1966.
In-flght refueling, long a dream of airmen, became a reality in 1954 with the introduction of the KC-97 Stratotanker into active service. The primary reason it became essential to SAC was the limited range of about 2000 miles of the B-47.[3]:108 In-flight fueling gave the B-47 unlimited range and the ability to fly for extended periods of time. This new ability was openly demonstrated to the USSR with several well publicized non-stop flights around the world. The development meant that SAC was no longer dependent on stationing nuclear capable bombers in foreign countries like Spain and Britain, which proved to be politically sensitive in the late 1940s/early 1950s.[3]:108
Along with in-flight refueling, another important element in the growth of SAC was the development of ballistic missiles. The rapid development of ballistic missiles in the 1950s provided SAC with another means of carrying out its mission of being able to strike anywhere in the world. While the U.S. Air Force had started a missile development program in 1946, it was not seriously pursued until reports surfaced about the progress of Soviet Union rocket technology and the threat it posed to the US.[2]:112–13 The perceived threat motivated the Eisenhower administration to make ballistic missiles a top priority and tasked Air Force Brigadier General Bernard Schriever with leading the development program. By 1958, roughly four years after Schriever had initiated his ballistic missile program, SAC activated the 704th Strategic Missile Wing to operate first the intermediate range Thor missile and then a year later the first true ICBM, the Atlas missile.[2]:117–18 Schriever followed up his quick development of the two missile systems with the development of the Titan II and Minuteman missile systems shortly thereafter.
From 1946/47 to 1957, SAC also incorporated fighter escort wings and later strategic fighter wings. Intended to escort bombers to their targets in a continuation of World War II practice, they were equipped with F-51s and later F-84s. There were a total of ten. Eighth Air Force was assigned the 12th, 27th, and 33rd Wings, and Fifteenth Air Force the 56th, 71st, 82nd, 407th Wings. They were phased out in 1957-58.
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