First the 8th, then the 3rd, Now the 0th

Nov. 3, 2005

Not the first and won’t be the last describes the inactivation of 3rd Air Force at RAF Mildenhall, Britain. Numbered Air Forces around the Air Force have been making way for the new Warfighting Headquarters organizational element. (Read our article here.) US Air Forces in Europe has established its WFHQ at Ramstein AB, Germany, however, USAFE plans to keep a general officer—in this case, Maj. Gen. Paul Fletcher—in Britain as a senior US representative to Her Majesty’s government. Third Air Force’s presence in the United Kingdom dates to 1951, when USAF activated the command to fill the void left after Eight Air Force returned home after World War II.

Related Content

30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 27

Jan. 26, 2021
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

Space Planning Teams Grow Across Defense Department

Jan. 26, 2021
U.S. Space Command now has a planning team embedded in “about seven” other combatant commands, spurring broader use of space assets in everyday operations, Gen. James H. Dickinson said Jan. 26. That leaves only a few combatant commands without an integrated planning element for space, though the SPACECOM boss did…

F-35s, F-16s to Operate from Austere Airfield on Guam During Cope North

Jan. 26, 2021
Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, will soon prove the ability of small groups of Airmen to turn fourth- and fifth-generation aircraft on a flight line the base's commander called a “no-kidding remote environment.” The exercise, part of this year's iteration of Cope North, is one of many that fall under…

Article 32 Hearing for Former AFRL Boss Delayed

Jan. 26, 2021
The Air Force has pushed back the Article 32 preliminary hearing until Feb. 8 for Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley, the former head of the Air Force Research Laboratory who faces a sexual assault charge. The Department announced in November that an investigation found evidence of “misconduct” by Cooley, with…

Lawmakers Urge Biden to Rethink USSPACECOM’s Move to Alabama

Jan. 26, 2021
Colorado’s congressional delegation is pushing President Joe Biden to review the Trump administration’s recent decision to move U.S. Space Command headquarters to Huntsville, Ala., in a Jan. 26 letter signed by all nine senators and representatives. “Our national security should be the most important consideration for this critical basing decision,”…

2 Russian Tu-142s Enter Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone

Jan. 26, 2021
North American Aerospace Defense Command on Jan. 25 tracked two Russian maritime patrol aircraft entering the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone. NORAD tracked the two Tu-142s in international airspace, and they didn’t enter the sovereign airspace of either the United States or Canada. No U.S. or Canadian aircraft scrambled to…

VIDEO: 4 Principles of Agile JADC2 Development

Jan. 25, 2021
Innovation has always been a hallmark of the U.S. Air Force. But with the accelerating pace of technology development, the service needs a new approach to modern design to make the latest technologies profoundly more accessible.

30 Years After Desert Storm: Jan. 26

Jan. 25, 2021
In commemoration of the 30th Anniversary of Operation Desert Storm, Air Force Magazine is posting daily recollections from the six-week war, which expelled Iraq from occupied Kuwait.

All Three USAF Bomber Types to Fly Over Super Bowl

Jan. 25, 2021
The Air Force will fly all three of its bomber types—a B-1B, B-2A, and B-52H—over Super Bowl LV in Tampa, Fla., on Feb. 7, the service announced. The mission marks the first time the three bomber types have flown formation over such an event, and is meant to showcase the…