Editing Strategic Air Command (section)

== Background ==
[[File:Sac194-patch.png|thumb|175px|right|The 1946–1951 SAC patch (above) was replaced by [[:File:SAC Shield.svg|the patch with insignia that won a SAC contest]].]]
The Strategic Air Forces of the United States during [[World War II]] included [[General]] [[Carl Spaatz]]'s European command, [[United States Strategic Air Forces in Europe]] (USSTAF), consisting of the 8AF and 15AF, and the [[United States Strategic Air Forces in the Pacific]] (USASTAF) and its [[Twentieth Air Force]] (20AF).{{r|Worden}}

The [[U.S. Army Air Forces]]' first mission in the [[Combined Bomber Offensive|Strategic Bombing Campaign]] in the [[European Theater]] during World War II included the [[VIII Bomber Command]], [[List of air operations during the Battle of Europe|which conducted the first European "heavy bomber" attack by the USAAF on 17 August 1942]]; the [[Ninth Air Force]], which conducted the first [[Operation Crossbow]] "No-Ball" missions on 5 December 1943;<ref name=Zaloga>{{cite book |last=Zaloga |first=Steven J. |orig-year=2007 |year=2008 |others= Johnson, Hugh & Taylor, Chris (Illustrations) |title=German V-Weapon Sites 1943–45 <!--|location=New York -->|publisher=Osprey Publishing Ltd |series=[[Fortress Study Group]] (72) |isbn=978-184603-247-9 |page=29}}</ref> the [[Twelfth Air Force]]; and the [[Fifteenth Air Force]], [[Bombing of Wiener Neustadt in World War II|which executed bombing operations on 2 November 1943]] during [[Operation Pointblank]].

The [[Combined Bomber Offensive#Overlord air plan|Operation Overlord air plan]] for the strategic bombing of both Germany and German military forces in continental Europe prior to the [[Operation Overlord|1944 invasion of France]] used several Air Forces, primarily those of the [[USAAF]] and those of the [[Royal Air Force]] ([[RAF]]), with the command of air operations transferring to the [[Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force]] on 14 April 1944.

Planning to reorganize for a separate and independent postwar U.S. Air Force had begun by the fall of 1945, with the [[William Hood Simpson|Simpson Board]] tasked to plan, "...the reorganization of the Army and the Air Force...".{{r|Leonard}} In January 1946, Generals [[Dwight D. Eisenhower|Eisenhower]] and [[Carl Andrew Spaatz|Spaatz]] agreed on an Air Force organization composed of the Strategic Air Command, the [[Air Defense Command]], the [[Tactical Air Command]], the [[Air Transport Command (United States Air Force)|Air Transport Command]] and the supporting [[Air Technical Service Command]], [[Air Education and Training Command|Air Training Command]], the [[Air University (United States Air Force)|Air University]], and the [[Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics#Lineage|Air Force Center]].<ref name=Leonard>{{cite book |last=Leonard |first=Barry |title=History of Strategic Air and Ballistic Missile Defense |url=http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/bmd/BMDV2.pdf |volume=I, 1944–1955 |year=2009 |publisher=Center for Military History |location=Fort McNair |isbn=978-1-4379-2131-1 |page=47 |quote=In November 1945, General Dwight D. Eisenhower became Army Chief of Staff<!--, while General Carl Spaatz began to assume the duties of Commanding General, Army Air Forces, in anticipation of General Arnold’s announced retirement-->. One of General Eisenhower's first actions was to appoint a board of officers, headed by Lieutenant General [[William Hood Simpson|W. H. Simpson]], to prepare a definitive plan for the reorganization of the Army and the Air Force that could be effected without enabling legislation and would provide for the separation of the Air Force from the Army. |access-date=15 August 2013 |archive-date=16 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191216135402/https://history.army.mil/html/books/bmd/BMDV2.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>