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AIR FORCE Magazine / May 2008 2008 USAF Almanac How the Air Force Is Organized There is considerable variation in how the major commands and subordinate units of the Air Force are organized. This overview describes both the typical organization chain and USAF’s Air and Space Expeditionary Force. The Department of Defense (DOD) is a Cabinet agency headed by the Secretary of Defense. It was created in 1947 to consolidate pre-existing military agencies—the War Department and the Navy Department. Subordinate to DOD are the three military departments (Army, Navy, and Air Force), each headed by a civilian secretary. The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) constitute the corporate military leader-ship of DOD. The Chairman and vice chairman of the JCS serve full-time in their positions. The service chiefs are the military heads of their respective services, although JCS responsibilities take precedence. The Department of the Air Force is headed by the Secretary of the Air Force, who is supported by a staff called the Secretariat. The Chief of Staff, USAF, heads the Air Staff, and the military heads of the major commands report to the Chief of Staff. Most units of the Air Force are as- signed to one of the major commands. Major commands are headed by gen-eral officers and have broad functional responsibilities. Commands may be divided into numbered air forces. The fundamental unit of the working Air Force is the wing. The typical Air Force base is built around a wing. Some wings are commanded by a general officer, while others are headed by a colonel. An objective wing contains an operations group, which includes aircrews, intelligence units, and oth- ers; a maintenance group, which includes maintenance squadrons; a support group, which includes such functions as civil engineers, logistics readiness, and security forces; and a medical group. Most individual officers and airmen are assigned to a squadron, which may be composed of several flights. In addition to these units, there are numerous others, including centers, field operating agencies, and direct reporting units. Air and Space Expeditionary Force To relieve chronic optempo problems stemming from back-to-back deploy-ments and operations, the Air Force developed an expeditionary concept initially called the Expeditionary Aero-space Force. The term EAF has since been supplanted by the term Air and Space Expeditionary Force (AEF). The term AEF also refers to a basic organizational unit. USAF groups its power projection and support forces into 10 AEF “buckets of capability.” The 10 AEFs are grouped into five pairs. Initially, these five pairs of AEFs rotated through a 15-month cycle, with each pair assigned to one of five 90-day periods. In fall 2004, USAF revised its AEF arrangement, extending the cycles to 20 months, divided into five 120-day periods. The Air Force also incorporated its on-call forces into the standard AEF rotation. During each 120-day period, a des- ignated pair of AEFs is vulnerable to deployment. Each AEF comprises com- bat air forces (CAF), mobility air forces (MAF), and limited supply, high demand (LS/HD) forces consisting of various active duty, ANG, and AFRC units. USAF’s LS/HD forces include bat- tle management, combat search and rescue, command and control, and reconnaissance assets. They are in near constant use and, consequently, rotate more frequently than most CAF and MAF elements. The new expeditionary system began with Cycle 1 in October 1999. Cycle 4, which began June 1, 2003, included two temporary stopgap AEFs, designated AEF Blue (June 1-Oct. 31, 2003) and AEF Silver (Nov. 1, 2003-Feb. 29, 2004), formed in the wake of Operation Iraqi Freedom. They mostly comprised forces not used in the war. During the Blue and Silver deployments, USAF was able to reconstitute its wartime forces for return to the standard rota- tion cycle. ■ The Air Force in Figures Facts and Structure of the Force
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Stucture of the Force