Editing Strategic Air Command (section)

== Establishment and transfer to USAF ==
[[File:Boeing B-47B rocket-assisted take off on April 15, 1954 061024-F-1234S-011.jpg|thumb|right|[[Boeing B-47 Stratojet|Boeing B-47B Stratojet]] executing a [[rocket-assisted take off]] (RATO) on 15 April 1954]]

{{For|a list of the 32<!--55 minus the 15 and 8 after 21 March--> "airfields and installations" for which SAC assumed jurisdiction{{r|HS-61}} on 21 March 1946 |List of Strategic Air Command bases{{!}}Strategic Air Command bases}}
'''Strategic Air Command''' was originally established in the [[U.S. Army Air Forces]] on 21 March 1946 upon the redesignation of [[Continental Air Forces]] (CAF), the World War II command tasked with the air defense of the continental United States (CONUS).  At the time, CAF headquarters was located at [[Bolling Field]] (later [[Bolling AFB]]) in the District of Columbia and SAC assumed occupancy of its headquarters facilities until relocating SAC headquarters (HQ SAC) to nearby [[Andrews Field]] (later [[Andrews AFB]]), Maryland as a tenant activity until assuming control of Andrews Field in October 1946.{{r|Boyne}}<!--{{rp |29–30}}-->

SAC initially totaled 37,000 USAAF personnel.<ref>{{cite report |last=Adams |first=Chris |year=2005 |edition= 3rd printing |title= Inside The Cold War; A Cold Warrior's Reflections |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=0WW6e0Xe9w4C&q=strategic+air+command |publisher=Air University Press |access-date= 2013-09-15}}</ref> In addition to Bolling Field and, seven months later, Andrews Field, SAC also assumed responsibility for:
* [[Walker Air Force Base|Roswell AAF]], New Mexico (later renamed Roswell AFB, then [[Walker AFB]]), then home of the USAAF's sole nuclear-capable bomb wing, and
* [[Schilling Air Force Base|Smoky Hill AAF]], Kansas (later renamed Smoky Hill AFB, then [[Schilling AFB]])

SAC also had seven additional CAF bases transferred on 21 March 1946 which remained in SAC through the 1947 establishment of the U.S. Air Force as an independent service.  Those installations included:
* [[Castle Air Force Base|Castle Field]], California (later [[Castle Air Force Base]])
* [[Cannon Air Force Base|Clovis AAF]], New Mexico (later [[Cannon Air Force Base]])<!--to ATC on 1 April 1950-->
* [[Carswell Air Force Base|Fort Worth AAF]], Texas (later [[Carswell Air Force Base]])
* [[Davis-Monthan Air Force Base|Davis-Monthan Field]], Arizona (later [[Davis-Monthan Air Force Base]]) <!--to TAC on 1 Oct 1976-->
* [[Ellsworth Air Force Base|Rapid City AAF]], South Dakota (later [[Ellsworth Air Force Base]])
* [[MacDill Air Force Base|MacDill Field]], Florida (later [[MacDill Air Force Base]])
* [[Mountain Home Air Force Base|Mountain Home AAF]], Idaho (later [[Mountain Home Air Force Base]])

On 31 March 1946, the following additional installation was also assigned to SAC:
* [[Kirtland Air Force Base|Kirtland Field]], New Mexico (later [[Kirtland Air Force Base]])

Under the first SAC [[List of commanders-in-chief of the Strategic Air Command|Commander in Chief]], General [[George C. Kenney]], initial units reporting to the Strategic Air Command headquarters on 21 March 1946 included the [[Second Air Force]], the [[IX Troop Carrier Command]] and the [[73d Air Division]].

[[Fifteenth Air Force]] was assigned to SAC on 31 March (15th AF's [[263rd Army Air Force Base Unit]]—with [[:Category:Strategic Air Command radar stations|SAC's radar detachments]]—transferred the same date directly under HQ SAC {{r|Summary}}), while the IX Troop Carrier Command was inactivated the same date and its assets redistributed within SAC.

With postwar demobilization still underway, eight of the ten assigned bomb groups were inactivated before the [[Eighth Air Force]] was assigned to SAC on 7 June 1946.<ref>{{cite web |last=Broyhill |first=Marvin T |title=SAC History: This section is still under development |url=http://www.strategic-air-command.com/history/history-00.htm |publisher=Strategic-Air-Command.com |access-date=2013-08-31 |quote=<u>'''Startup'''</u> – 1944 – 1946. SAC is formed. Assigned 15th Air Force. First 10 Bomb Groups. 8 inactivated.<!-- Then assigned 8th Air Force.-->}}</ref>

Despite the pressures of demobilization, SAC continued the training and evaluation of bomber crews and units still on active duty in the postwar Army Air Forces. [[Radar Bomb Scoring]] became the preferred method of evaluating bomber crews, with the last of [[Radar Bomb Scoring|888 simulated bomb runs scored]] against a bombing site near [[San Diego]], California during 1946, subsequently increasing to 2,449 bomb runs by 1947.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Herring |first=G. B. (Jr.) |date=19 May 1966 |title=TBD |url=https://newspaperarchive.com/laurel-leader-call/1966-05-19/page-15 |newspaper=Laurel Leader Call |location=Laurel, Mississippi |access-date=2012-07-11 |quote=Radar bomb scoring began in 1946 with 888 bomb releases for the year against a site in the{{Verify source|date=August 2013}} San Diego}}</ref><ref name=Summary>{{Cite report |last=Horstead |first=Terry L. |date=9 November 1983 |title=Historical Summary: Radar Bomb Scoring, 1945–1983 |url=http://www.mobileradar.org/Documents/hist_sum_rad_bom_scrg.pdf |location=Barksdale AFB, Louisiana |publisher=Office of History, [[1st Combat Evaluation Group]] |access-date=29 March 2022 |quote=With the activation of the 8th Air Force the demand for radar bomb scoring training increased greatly. The 263rd was relieved from assignment to 15th Air Force and assigned directly to Headquarters Strategic Air Command.}}</ref> In the wake of the successful employment of air-dropped nuclear weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki to effectively end World War II, SAC became the focus of the nation's nuclear strike capability, to the extent that [[Joint Chiefs of Staff]] (JCS) Publication 1259/27 on 12 December 1946 identified that, "...the 'air atomic' strategic air force should only come under the orders of the JCS."{{r|Worden}}

In addition to the strategic bombing mission, SAC also devoted significant resources to aerial reconnaissance.  In 1946, SAC's reconnaissance aircraft inventory consisted of F-2 photo variants of the [[C-45 Expeditor]] support aircraft, but by 1947 SAC had acquired an F-9C squadron consisting of twelve photo-reconnaissance variants of the [[B-17G Flying Fortress]].  An [[B-29 Superfortress|F-13]] squadron, the F-13 later re-designated as the [[B-29 Superfortress|RB-29 Superfortress]], was also established. SAC conducted routine aerial reconnaissance missions near the Soviet borders or near the 12-mile international waters limit, although some missions actually penetrated into Soviet airspace.  The flight profiles of these missions—above 30,000 feet and in excess of 300 knots—made interception by Soviet air forces difficult until the Soviet's 1948 introduction of the [[MiG-15]] jet fighter.{{r|Wack}} [[Project Nanook]], the Cold War's first Top Secret reconnaissance effort, used the first RB-29 missions for mapping and visual reconnaissance in the Arctic and along the northern Soviet coast.  Later missions were Project LEOPARD along the [[Chukchi Peninsula]], followed by Projects RICKRACK, STONEWORK, and COVERALLS.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://rb-29.net/HTML/77ColdWarStory/02.04rcnbgn.htm|title=Cold War Story, Chapter 2, The Need to Know-Cold War Aerial Recon Begins, Page 4 of 5 Pages|work=rb-29.net|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref>

In 1946, the US possessed only nine atomic bombs and twenty-seven [[B-29]]s capable at any one time of delivering them.{{r|Rosenberg}} Furthermore, it was later determined that an attack by the [[509th Bomb Wing|509th Composite Bomb Group]] during the 1947 to 1948 time frame would have required at least five to six days just to transfer custody of the bombs from [[United States Atomic Energy Commission]] (AEC) sites to SAC and deploy the aircraft and weapons to forward operating bases before launching nuclear strikes.<ref name="jstor2538995">{{cite journal | doi = 10.2307/2538995 | last1 = Kohn | first1 = R. H. | last2 = Harahan | first2 = J. P. | year = 1988 | title = U.S. Strategic Air Power, 1948–1962: Excerpts from an Interview with Generals Curtis E. LeMay, Leon W. Johnson, David A. Burchinal, and Jack J. Catton | journal = International Security | volume = 12 | issue = 4 | pages = 78–95 | jstor = 2538995 | s2cid = 154782339 }}</ref><ref>Richard Kohn and Joseph Harahan, eds., Strategic Air Warfare: An Interview with Curtis E. LeMay, Leon W. Johnson, David A. Burchinal, and Jack J. Catton (Washington, DC: OAFH, 1988), 93.</ref>

Postwar budget and personnel cuts had an insidious effect on SAC as its Deputy Commander, Major General Clements McMullen, implemented mandated force reductions.  This continued to wear down SAC as a command and morale plummeted.  As a result, by the end of 1947, only two of SAC's eleven groups were combat ready.<ref name=Worden/> After the 1948 [[Bikini Atoll]] nuclear tests, the "Half Moon" Joint Emergency War Plan developed in May 1948<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/252404/Half-Moon|title=Half Moon|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Britannica|access-date=15 May 2016}}</ref> proposed dropping 50 atomic bombs on twenty Soviet cities,{{r|Rosenberg}}{{rp |68}} with President [[Harry S. Truman]] approving "Half Moon" during the June 1948 [[Berlin Blockade]],{{r|Rosenberg}}{{rp |68–9}} (Truman sent B-29s to Europe in July).{{r|Weitze}} SAC also ordered special ELINT RB-29s to detect improved Soviet [[radar]]s and, in cooperation with the 51st Air Force Base Unit, SAC also monitored radioactive fallout from Soviet atomic testing on [[Novaya Zemlya]].

In terms of overall Air Force basing and infrastructure, SAC continued to acquire an ever-increasing share of USAF infrastructure and the USAF associated budget.  In 1947, before the USAF was established as an independent service, construction commenced on [[Loring AFB|Limestone AAF]], Maine (later renamed [[Loring AFB]]), a new SAC installation specifically designed to accommodate the [[B-36 Peacemaker]]. [[McGuire Air Force Base|Fort Dix AAF]], New Jersey (later [[McGuire AFB]]); [[Fairchild Air Force Base|Spokane AAF]], Washington (later [[Fairchild AFB]]); and [[Wendover Air Force Base|Wendover Field]], Utah (later [[Wendover AFB]]) were also transferred to SAC between 30 April and 1 September 1947. Following the establishment of the USAF as a separate service, [[List of Strategic Air Command bases|SAC bases in the United States]] consisted of:{{r|Mueller}}

{{Div col}}
* [[Castle Air Force Base]], California
* [[Patrick Air Force Base]], Florida<ref>{{cite web|title=Patrick AFB - Cape Canaveral Air Base|url=http://www.strategic-air-command.com/bases/Patrick_AFB.htm|website=strategic-air-command.com|access-date=23 June 2017}}</ref>
* [[Cannon Air Force Base]], New Mexico <!--to ATC on 1 April 1950-->
* [[Carswell Air Force Base]], Texas
* [[Davis-Monthan Air Force Base]], Arizona <!--to TAC on 1 Oct 1976-->
* [[Ellsworth Air Force Base]], South Dakota
* [[MacDill Air Force Base]], Florida
* [[Mountain Home Air Force Base]], Idaho
* [[Kirtland Air Force Base]], New Mexico
* [[Loring Air Force Base]], Maine
* [[McGuire Air Force Base]], New Jersey
* [[Fairchild Air Force Base]], Washington
* [[Wendover Air Force Base]], Utah <!--inactivated/caretaker status 1948, to Air Material Command in 1 July 1950-->
{{Div col end}}

Those [[List of Strategic Air Command bases|bases subsequently added to SAC in the United States]] included:{{r|Mueller}}
{{Div col|colwidth=40em}}
* 1 July 1948: [[Topeka Regional Airport|Topeka Air Force Base]], Kansas (later [[Topeka Regional Airport|Forbes Air Force Base]])
* 1 October 1948: [[Offutt Air Force Base]], Nebraska
* 1 October 1948: [[Biggs Army Airfield|Biggs Air Force Base]], Texas
* 1 July 1947: [[Castle Air Force Base]], California
* 21 March 1949: [[Bergstrom Air Force Base]], Texas
* 1 May 1949: [[March Air Force Base]], California
* 1 May 1949: [[Travis Air Force Base|Fairfield-Suisun AFB]], California (later [[Travis Air Force Base]])
* 1 November 1949: [[Barksdale Air Force Base]], Louisiana<ref name=AETChistory>{{cite report |title=A Brief History of Keesler AFB and the 81st Training Wing |url=http://www.keesler.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090203-089.pdf |volume=A-090203-089 |access-date=2013-07-08 |quote=Flight Engineer Training [was a] [[Mather Air Force Base|Mather]]-based program transferred to Strategic Air Command in early 1947 ... [a] flight engineer rating [required] successfully complet[ing] flying training in SAC [after] February 1947, and within several months ATC transferred the B-29s to SAC. ... [[Geiger Field]] transferred to Strategic Air Command as of 15 September. [ATC also] transferred a Geiger subpost, [[Fort George Wright|Fort George E. Wright]], to Strategic Air Command on 16 July. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120904055045/http://www.keesler.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-090203-089.pdf |archive-date=4 September 2012 }} (the fort had [http://www.koreanwar.org/html/units/usaf/3903rbs.htm SAC's RBS Detachment D] by 1950.)</ref>{{rp|59}}
* 29 September 1950: [[Hunter Army Airfield|Hunter Air Force Base]], Georgia
* 1 November 1950: [[Ramey Air Force Base]], Puerto Rico
* 1 February 1951: [[Chennault Air Force Base|Lake Charles Air Force Base]], Louisiana <br />(later [[Chennault Air Force Base]])
* 1 March 1951: [[Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base|Lockbourne Air Force Base]], Ohio (later [[Rickenbacker Air Force Base]])
* 23 July 1951: [[George Air Force Base]], California
* 1 August 1951: [[Whiteman Air Force Base|Sedalia Air Force Base]], Missouri (later [[Whiteman Air Force Base]])
* 1 September 1951: [[Pinecastle Air Force Base]], Florida (later [[McCoy Air Force Base]])
* 20 May 1952: [[Bangor Air National Guard Base|Dow Air Force Base]], Maine
* 5 January 1953: [[Homestead Air Force Base]], Florida
* 15 February 1953: [[Loring Air Force Base]], Maine
* 18 December 1953: [[Malmstrom Air Force Base]], Montana
* 1 February 1954: [[Lincoln Air National Guard Base|Lincoln Air Force Base]], Nebraska
* 21 June 1954: [[Altus Air Force Base]], Oklahoma
* 1 February 1955: [[Little Rock Air Force Base]], Arkansas
* 1 February 1955: [[Plattsburgh Air Force Base]], New York
* 1 February 1955: [[Pease Air Force Base|Portsmouth Air Force Base]], New Hampshire <br />(later [[Pease Air Force Base]])
* 15 March 1955: [[Clinton-Sherman Air Force Base]], Oklahoma
* 1 April 1955: [[Westover Air Force Base]], Massachusetts
* 1 April 1955: [[Columbus Air Force Base]], Mississippi
* 15 April 1956: [[Dyess Air Force Base|Abilene Air Force Base]], Texas (later [[Dyess Air Force Base]])
* 1 May 1956: [[Naval Air Station Albany|Turner Air Force Base]], Georgia
* 1 July 1956: [[Beale Air Force Base]], California
* 1 April 1957: [[Laughlin Air Force Base]], Texas
* 5 June 1957: [[R.I. Bong Air Force Base|Richard I. Bong Air Force Base]], Wisconsin <br />(base never completed; declared excess 23 August 1960)
* 1 September 1957: [[Bunker Hill Air Force Base]], Indiana (later [[Grissom Air Force Base]])
* 1 January 1958: [[Vandenberg Air Force Base]], California
* 1 February 1958: [[Francis E. Warren Air Force Base]], Wyoming
* 1 April 1958: [[Blytheville Air Force Base]], Arkansas (later [[Eaker Air Force Base]])
* 1 August 1958: [[Wurtsmith Air Force Base]], Michigan
* 1 January 1960: [[Larson Air Force Base]], Washington
* 1 April 1960: [[Glasgow Air Force Base]], Montana
* 1 July 1962: [[Minot Air Force Base]], North Dakota
* 1 July 1963: [[Grand Forks Air Force Base]], North Dakota
* 1 January 1964: [[K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base]], Michigan
* 1 October 1968: [[Kincheloe Air Force Base]], Michigan
* 1 July 1970: [[Griffiss Air Force Base]], New York
* 1 July 1972: [[McConnell Air Force Base]], Kansas
* 1 October 1979: [[Peterson AFB]], Colorado and various [[BMEWS]] and [[Space Surveillance Network|SSN]] radar stations
{{Div col end}}

In addition to bases under its operational control, SAC also maintained tenant wings at several bases under the control of other USAF MAJCOMs.  These non-SAC bases with SAC tenants included:

* [[Rick Husband Amarillo International Airport#Amarillo Air Force Base (1951–1968)|Amarillo AFB]], Texas
* [[Eglin AFB]], Florida
* [[Lowry AFB]], Colorado
* [[Mather AFB]], California
* [[Robins AFB]], Georgia
* [[Seymour Johnson AFB]], North Carolina
* [[Sheppard AFB]], Texas
* [[Wright-Patterson AFB]], Ohio

SAC also often maintained a tenant presence at former SAC bases that the command subsequently transferred and relinquished to other MAJCOMs, to include but not limited to:

* [[Altus AFB]], Oklahoma
* [[Laughlin AFB]], Texas
* [[MacDill AFB]], Florida
* [[Homestead AFB]], Florida
* [[Travis AFB]], California