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The United States Fourteenth Air Force, also 14th Air Force (14 AF), is a Numbered Air Force (NAF) of Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It is a functional echelon dedicated to space systems operations, responsibile for missile warning, space surveillance, and range operations for the Department Of Defense , NASA , and commercial space launches. Fourteenth Air Force is headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base . Fourteenth Air Force operated in the China - Burma - India (CBI) Theater during World War II as the Flying Tigers and subsequently served Air Defense Command , Continental Air Command , and the Air Force Reserves (AFRES). In 1993, Fourteenth Air Force was transferred from AFRES to AFSPC. COMPONENT WINGS AND GROUPS
WORLD WAR II The ''Fourteenth Air Force'' was constituted on 5 March 1943 and activated in China on 10 March . It served in combat against the Japanese, operating primarily in China, until the end of the war. It moved to the U.S. over two the months of December 1945 and January 1946. The Fourteenth was inactivated on 6 January 1946. After the Japan and the United States entered World War II the American Volunteer Group (AVG) known as the Flying Tigers were incoporated into the USAAF. Claire Chennault their commander was reinstated into the USAAF as a colonel, promoted to brigadier and later major general as commander of the U.S. Army's Fourteenth Air Force. After July 14 1942, the AVG was replaced by the 23d Fighter Group . Only five pilots accepted commissions in China. However, US pilots and US press went on using the name Flying Tigers after the AVG's dissolution. Especially the 23d Fighter Group was often called by the same nickname — they too were "Flying Tigers". Most AVG pilots became transport pilots in China, went back to America into civilian jobs, or rejoined the military services and fought elsewhere in the war. The Fourteenth Air Force official web site says: :After the China Air Task Force was discontinued, the Fourteenth Air Force (14 AF) was established by the special order of President Roosevelt on 10 March 1943 . Chennault was appointed the commander and promoted to Major General. The "Flying Tigers" of 14 AF (who adopted the "Flying Tigers" designation from the AVG) conducted highly effective fighter and bomber operations along a wide front that stretched from the bend of the Yellow River and Tsinan in the north to Indochina in the south, from Chengtu and the Salween River in the west to the China Sea and the island of Formosa in the east. They were also instrumental in supplying Chinese forces through the airlift of cargo across " The Hump " in the China-Burma-India theater. By the end of World War II, 14 AF had achieved air superiority over the skies of China and established a ratio of 7.7 enemy planes destroyed for every American plane lost in combat. Overall, military officials estimated that over 4,000 Japanese planes were destroyed or damaged in the China-Burma-India theater during World War II. In addition, they estimated that air units in China destroyed 1,100,000 tons of shipping, 1,079 locomotives, 4,836 trucks and 580 bridges. The United States Army Air Corps credits 14 AF with the destruction of 2,315 Japanese aircraft, 356 bridges, 1,225 locomotives and 712 railroad cars. Campaigns Campaings India-Burma; China Defensive; China Offensive. Command Its headquarters while in China were Kunming from 10 March 1943 and Peishiyi , from 7 August to 15 December 1945 . Commanders:
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Intelligence American missionary John Birch was recommended to Chennault for intelligence work by Jimmy Doolittle , whom he had assisted when Doolittle's crew landed in China after the Raid On Tokyo . Inducted into the Fourteenth on its formation, and later seconded to the OSS , he built a formidable network of Chinese informants to provide the Flying Tigers with intelligence on Japanese land and sea military positions and the disposition of shipping and railways. He was shot by Chinese Communists 10 days after the war ended, which led to him being chosen as the namesake of the John Birch Society . SEE ALSO
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