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| United States Air Force
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| Air Force Space Command
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| F.E. Warren Air Force Base
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|}Twentieth Air Force is a Numbered Air Force in Air Force Space Command (AFSPC). It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base Wyoming. It is an intermediate echelon responsible primarily for Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) operations.
The Twentieth Air Force commander is also the Commander, Task Force 214 (TF 214), which provides alert ICBMs to the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
Initially under the command of Hap Arnold, and later Curtis LeMay and Nathan Twining, in August 1945 the Twentieth Air Force was placed under the U.S. Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific which was commanded by General Carl Spaatz.
Initially the attack was made via China as that was the only Allied held territory in within the flying range of Japan. The arrangements made with the Chinese national forces under the command of Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek was to construct four staging bases in western China near Chengtu and supply them with by air-lift codenamed Operation Matterhorn. It was organized by XX Bomber Command operating out of India. All supplies for the operation had to be flown over the Hump from India into China as sections of the Burma Road were under Japanese control. This was never a satisfactory arrangement because not only were the Chinese Airbases difficult to supply, B29s operating from them could only reach Japan if they substituted some of the bomb load for extra fuel tanks in the bomb-bays.
When Admiral Chester Nimitz's island-hopping campaign towards Japan, captured islands close enough to Japan to be within the range of B29s, XXI Bomber Command organized a much more effective bombing campaign of the Japanese home islands. Based in the Marianas (Guam and Tinian in particular) during World War II. They were assigned the responsibility of destroying Japan's industry. Because of the long ranges involved, the Twentieth air force was equipped with B-29's, the longest range bomber in the world at the time.
The damage done by the Twentieth Air Force was devastating to Japan's industry, and severely crippled its ability to fight. It was they who firebombed Tokyo on the night of March 9 - March 10, 1945, as well as dropped the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The flight route from Marianas to Japan took bombers within radar and fighter range of Iwo Jima. The loss of Iwo Jima deprived the Japanese of an important strategic point for their defense against the Twentieth Air Force.
Following the war, Twentieth Air Force remained in the Pacific and served in combat for a short time during the Korean war. Later it was involved primarily in air defense of the Ryukyu Islands until in
activation in March 1955. Since 1991, the Twentieth Air Force has controlled the inter-continental ballistic missile force. 500 Minuteman III missiles remain on alert today. The current commander is Brigadier General Thomas F. Deppe.
Organization
Constituent units of the Twentieth Air Force are as follows:
