Wikipedia

United States Air Force Warfare Center

(Redirected from Tactical Air Warfare Center)

The United States Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, reports directly to Air Combat Command. The center was founded on 1 September 1966, as the U.S. Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center. It was renamed the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center in 2005.[1]

United States Air Force Warfare Center
Emblem of the United States Air Force Warfare Center
Active1966–present
CountryUnited States
BranchUnited States Air Force
RoleWarfare Training
Part ofAir Combat Command
Garrison/HQNellis AFB, Nevada
Websitewww.nellis.af.mil/Units/USAFWC/
Commanders
CommanderMaj Gen Christopher J. Niemi
Vice CommanderBrig Gen Jesse J. Friedel
Command Chief Master SergeantCCMSgt Emilio Hernandez
A flight of Aggressor F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons fly in formation over the Nevada Test and Training Range
The first F-22A assigned to the USAFWC
USAF Thunderbirds, part of the United States Air Force Warfare Center
An HH-60G Pave Hawk retrieves a pararescueman as an A-10 Thunderbolt II provides cover fire during a firepower demonstration on the Nellis bombing range.

Overview

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The USAF Warfare Center manages advanced pilot training and integrates many of the Air Force's test and evaluation requirements. It was established in 1966 as the USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center which concentrated on the development of forces and weapons systems that were specifically geared to tactical air operations in conventional (non-nuclear) war and contingencies. It continued to perform this mission for nearly thirty years, undergoing several name changes in the 1990s. In 1991, the center became the USAF Fighter Weapons Center, and then the USAF Weapons and Tactics Center in 1992.[1]

The USAF Warfare Center uses the lands and airspace of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) – which occupies about three million acres (12,000 km2) of land, the largest such range in the United States, and another five-million-acre (20,000 km2) military operating area which is shared with civilian aircraft. The center also uses Eglin AFB, FL, range, which adds even greater depth to the center's capabilities, providing over water and additional electronic expertise to the center.[1]

The USAF Warfare Center oversees operations of the 57th Wing, the NTTR, and the 99th Air Base Wings at Nellis AFB, Nevada; the 53d Wing (with Geographically Separated Units at Tyndall AFB, Florida and Holloman AFB, New Mexico) and 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida; and the 505th Command and Control Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida.[1]

Units

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The 53d Wing serves as the focal point for the combat air forces in electronic combat, armament and avionics, chemical defense, reconnaissance, command and control, and aircrew training devices.
The 57th Wing is responsible for a variety of activities, such as Red Flag, which provides realistic training in a combined air, ground and electronic threat environment for U.S. and allied forces. It is also the parent unit for both the USAF Weapons School (USAFWS) and the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the latter better known as the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.
Previously known as the 98th Range Wing (98 RANW), the military organization known as NTTR provides command and control of the actual Nevada Test and Training Range facility located north and northwest of Nellis AFB. The 25th Space Range Squadron (SRS) operates and maintains the Space Test and Training Range and is a subordinate unit the NTTR.
The 99th Air Base Wing is the host wing at Nellis AFB and manages the day-to-day operations of the base.
The 505 CCW is dedicated to improving warfighter readiness through integrated training, tactics, and testing for operational-level command and control of air, space, and cyber power. It hosts the Air Force's only Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit (FTU).[1]

History

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By the mid-1960s, USAF aircraft and aircrew losses in the Vietnam War had convinced Tactical Air Command (TAC) of the need to improve technical and operational skills for the widening conflict. TAC established the Tactical Fighter Weapons Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in 1966 for the expressed purpose of improving fighter operations and tactics. Nellis AFB had been referred to as the "Home of the Fighter Pilot" since the Korean War period of the early 1950s, and had a long history of conducting postgraduate fighter training and operational testing and evaluation of fighter weapons systems. Additionally, the Nellis Range, largest in the free world, readily complemented the new center's mission.

Lineage

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  • Established as the USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center in 1966
Redesignated: USAF Fighter Weapons Center in 1991
Redesignated: USAF Weapons and Tactics Center in 1992
Redesignated: USAF Warfare Center in 2005.

Assignments

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Units assigned

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Operational units assigned to the USAFWC have been:[2]

Wing

  • 4545th Fighter Warfare Wing, 1966 – 22 August 1969
  • 57th Fighter Weapons Wing (later 57th Tactical Training Wing, 57th Fighter Wing, 57th Wing), 22 August 1969 – present
  • 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing - ?? - present

Groups

  • 57th Fighter, 1 November 1991 – present
  • 57th Test, 1 November 1991 – 1 October 1996
  • 4440th Tactical Fighter Training (Red Flag)
Attached 1 October 1979 – 28 February 1980
Assigned 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991
  • 4443d Tactical Training: 26 January 1990 – 1 November 1991

Squadrons

  • 64th Fighter Weapons (later, 64th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 64th Aggressor): 15 October 1972 – 5 October 1990.
  • 65th Fighter Weapons (later, 65th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 65th Aggressor): 15 October 1969 – 7 April 1989.
  • 66th Fighter Weapons: 15 October 1969 – 30 December 1981
  • 414th Fighter Weapons: 15 October 1969 – 30 December 1981
  • 422d Fighter Weapons (later, 422d Test and Evaluation): 15 October 1969 – 1 November 1991
  • 431st Fighter Weapons (later, 431st Test and Evaluation): 1 October 1980 – 1 November 1991
  • 433d Fighter Weapons: 1 October 1976 – 30 December 1981
  • 4460th Helicopter: 1 November 1983 – 1 June 1985
  • 4477th Test and Evaluation Flight (later, 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron): 1 April 1977 – 15 July 1990
  • USAF Air Demonstration Squadron: 15 February 1974 – present

Aircraft flown

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source[2]

List of commanders

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No. Commander[3] Term
Portrait Name Took office Left office Duration
1Major General
Ralph G. Taylor Jr.		1 September 196615 December 19693 years, 82 days
2Brigadier General
Homer K. Hansen		22 November 196923 July 19711 year, 243 days
3Major General
William S. Chairsell		23 July 197129 June 19731 year, 341 days
4Major General
Gordon F. Blood		29 June 197310 February 19751 year, 226 days
5Major General
James A. Knight Jr.		10 February 197512 June 19772 years, 122 days
6Major General
James R. Hildreth		12 June 197730 March 19791 year, 291 days
7Major General
Robert E. Kelley		30 March 19793 June 19812 years, 65 days
8Major General
Jack I. Gregory		3 June 198111 May 19831 year, 342 days
9Major General
Eugene H. Fischer		11 May 198313 July 19852 years, 63 days
10Major General
Peter T. Kempf		13 July 198521 June 19882 years, 344 days
11Major General
Joseph W. Ashy		21 June 198819 July 19891 year, 28 days
12Major General
Billy G. McCoy		19 July 19895 June 19922 years, 322 days
13Major General
Thomas R. Griffith		5 June 199221 July 19942 years, 46 days
14Major General
Richard C. Bethurem		21 July 19944 April 19961 year, 258 days
15Major General
Marvin R. Esmond		4 April 19967 July 19982 years, 94 days
16Major General
Glen W. Moorhead III		7 July 199831 January 20001 year, 208 days
17Major General
Lawrence D. Johnston		31 January 200025 June 20022 years, 145 days
18Major General
Stephen G. Wood		25 June 20024 October 20042 years, 101 days
19Major General
Stephen M. Goldfein		4 October 20046 October 20062 years, 2 days
20Major General
R. Michael Worden		6 October 20068 February 20081 year, 125 days
21Major General
Stephen L. Hoog		8 February 200818 May 20091 year, 99 days
22Major General
Stanley T. Kresge[4]		18 May 2009November 20101 year, 167 days
22Major General
James W. Hyatt[5]		November 201020 July 20121 year, 262 days
23Major General
Jeffrey G. Lofgren[6]		20 July 2012January 20141 year, 165 days
24Major General
Jay B. Silveria		21 February 2014March 20162 years, 9 days
25Major General
Glen D. VanHerck		March 201613 July 20171 year, 134 days
26Major General
Peter E. Gersten[7]		13 July 20172 June 20191 year, 324 days
-Brigadier General
David W. Snoddy
Acting		2 June 201912 July 201940 days
27Major General
Charles Corcoran[8]		12 July 201918 June 20211 year, 341 days
28Major General
Case Cunningham[9]		18 June 20216 August 20243 years, 49 days
29Major General
Christopher J. Niemi		6 August 2024Incumbent107 days

References

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  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

  1. ^ a b c d e "U.S. Air Force Warfare Center Fact Sheet". Archived from the original on 5 September 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2014.
  2. ^ a b "U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, 57th Wing". Archived from the original on 7 May 2011. Retrieved 2 October 2008.
  3. ^ "USAF Warfare Center (ACC)".
  4. ^ "Lieutenant General Stanley T. Kresge".
  5. ^ "Major General James W. Hyatt".
  6. ^ "Lieutenant General Jeffrey G. Lofgren".
  7. ^ "MAJOR GENERAL PETER e. GERSTEN > U.S. Air Force > Biography Display". Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
  8. ^ "Charles S. Corcoran".
  9. ^ "MAJOR GENERAL CASE A. CUNNINGHAM". Retrieved 20 June 2021.


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