Organization of US Air Force
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Administrative organization
The USAF is one of three service departments, and is managed by the civilian Department of the Air Force. Guidance is provided by the Secretary of the Air Force (SECAF) and the Secretary's staff and advisors. The military leadership is the Air Staff, led by the Chief of Staff.
USAF direct subordinate commands and units are the Field Operating Agency (FOA), Direct Reporting Unit (DRU), and the currently unused Separate Operating Agency.
The Major Command (MAJCOM) is the superior hierarchical level of command. Including the Air Force Reserve Command, as of September 30, 2006, USAF has ten major commands. The Numbered Air Force (NAF) is a level of command directly under the MAJCOM, followed by Operational Command (now unused), Air Division (also now unused), Wing, Group, Squadron, and Flight.
Force structure (Major Commands)
Headquarters, United States Air Force, The Pentagon, Arlington County, Virginia
Air Combat Command (ACC), headquartered at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia 
First Air Force, headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Panama City, Florida
Ninth Air Force, headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina
Twelfth Air Force, headquartered at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Tucson, Arizona
United States Air Force Warfare Center, headquartered at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada
Air Education and Training Command (AETC), headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas 
Second Air Force, headquartered at Keesler Air Force Base, Biloxi, Mississippi
Nineteenth Air Force, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
Air Force Recruiting Service, headquartered at Randolph Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
The Air University, headquartered at Maxwell Air Force Base, Montgomery, Alabama
Wilford Hall Medical Center, headquarted at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC), headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana 
Eighth Air Force, headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana
Twentieth Air Force, headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Cheyenne, Wyoming
Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio 
Aeronautical Systems Center, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
Air Force Flight Test Center, headquartered at Edwards Air Force Base, Palmdale, California
Air Force Global Logistics Support Center, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois
Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, headquartered at Kirtland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Air Force Research Laboratory, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
Air Force Security Assistance Center, headquartered at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Dayton, Ohio
Air Armament Center, headquartered at Eglin Air Force Base, Fort Walton Beach, Florida
Arnold Engineering Development Center, located at Arnold Air Force Base, Manchester, Tennessee
Electronic Systems Center, headquartered at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts
Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC), headquartered at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia 
Fourth Air Force, headquartered at March Air Reserve Base, Southern California
Tenth Air Force, headquartered at the Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Fort Worth, Texas
Twenty-Second Air Force, headquartered at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia
Air Reserve Personnel Center, headquartered at Denver, Colorado
Air Force Space Command (AFSPC), headquartered at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Springs, Colorado 
Fourteenth Air Force, headquartered at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Lompoc, California
Twenty-Fourth Air Force, headquarters at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, Texas
Space and Missile Systems Center, headquartered at Los Angeles Air Force Base, El Segundo, California
Space Innovation and Development Center, headquartered at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado- Air Force Network Integration Center, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois
Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC), headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida 
Twenty-Third Air Force, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida
Special Operations Training Center, headquartered at Hurlburt Field, Florida
Air Mobility Command (AMC), headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois 
Eighteenth Air Force, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Belleville, Illinois
United States Air Force Expeditionary Center, headquartered at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey
United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany 
Third Air Force, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany
Seventeenth Air Force, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany
Pacific Air Forces (PACAF), headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii 
Fifth Air Force, headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan
Seventh Air Force, headquartered at Osan Air Base, South Korea
Eleventh Air Force, headquartered at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Anchorage, Alaska
Thirteenth Air Force, headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii
The major components of the U.S. Air Force, as of September 30, 2006, are the following:[40]
- Active duty forces
- 57 flying wings, eight space wings, and 55 non-flying wings
- nine flying groups, eight non-flying groups
- 134 flying squadrons, 43 space squadrons
- Air Force Reserve
- 35 flying wings, one space wing
- four flying groups
- 67 flying squadrons, six space squadrons
- Air National Guard
- 87 flying wings
- 101 flying squadrons, four space squadrons
- 87 flying wings
The USAF, including its Air Force Reserve components, possesses a total of 302 flying squadrons.
Operational organization
The above organizational structure is responsible for the peacetime organization, equipping, and training of aerospace units for operational missions. When required to support operational missions, the National Command Authority directs a Change in Operational Control (CHOP) of these units from their peacetime alignment to a Regional Combatant Commander (CCDR). In the case of AFSPC, AFSOC, PACAF, and USAFE units, forces are normally employed in-place under their existing CCDR. Likewise, AMC forces operating in support roles retain their componency to USTRANSCOM unless chopped to a Regional CCDR.
Aerospace Expeditionary Task Force
"Chopped" units are referred to as forces. The top-level structure of these forces is the Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force (AETF). The AETF is the Air Force presentation of forces to a CCDR for the employment of Air Power. Each CCDR is supported by a standing Component Numbered Air Force (C-NAF) to provide planning and execution of aerospace forces in support of CCDR requirements. Each C-NAF consists of a Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) and AFFOR/A-staff, and an Air Operations Center (AOC). As needed to support multiple Joint Force Commanders (JFC) in the COCOM's Area of Responsibility (AOR), the C-NAF may deploy Air Component Coordinate Elements (ACCE) to liaise with the JFC. If the Air Force possesses the preponderance of air forces in a JFC's area of operations, the COMAFFOR will also serve as the Joint Forces Air Component Commander (JFACC).
Commander, Air Force Forces
The Commander, Air Force Forces (COMAFFOR) is the senior USAF officer responsible for the employment of air power in support of JFC objectives. The COMAFFOR has a special staff and an A-Staff to ensure assigned or attached forces are properly organized, equipped, and trained to support the operational mission.
Air Operations Center
The Air Operations Center (AOC) is the JFACC's Command and Control (C2) center. This center is responsible for planning and executing air power missions in support of JFC objectives.
Air Expeditionary Wings/Groups/Squadrons
The AETF generates air power to support COCOM objectives from Air Expeditionary Wings (AEW) or Air Expeditionary Groups (AEG). These units are responsible for receiving combat forces from Air Force MAJCOMs, preparing these forces for operational missions, launching and recovering these forces, and eventually returning forces to the MAJCOMs. Theater Air Control Systems control employment of forces during these missions.
