Editing Tactical Air Command (section)

=== Inactivation of Tactical Air Command and establishment of Air Combat Command ===
[[Operation Desert Storm]] was also the [[swan song]] for Tactical Air Command. The planning and execution of the mission was the result of 45 years of TAC being honed into one of the most effective military organizations in history. Following the [[Gulf War|1991 Gulf War]] and the end of the [[Cold War]], U.S. military planners perceived a serious blurring between the responsibilities of TAC and SAC. The collapse of the former Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War led senior defense planners to conclude that the structure of the military establishment which had evolved during the Cold War years was not suited to the new world situation. As shown by Desert Shield / Desert Storm, U.S. military forces would increasingly be called upon to participate in smaller-scale regional contingencies and humanitarian operations.

In a post-Cold War / post-Desert Storm environment, General [[Merrill A. McPeak]], the then- Chief of Staff of the Air Force, envisioned a streamlined Air Force, eliminating superfluous organizational layers. General [[John M. Loh]], who served as Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force before becoming the commander of [[USAF Tactical Air Command|TAC]] on 26 March 1991, was heavily involved in the restructuring decisions. As a result, in the spring of 1992 the decision was made to merge most [[Strategic Air Command|SAC]] resources with all of TAC's resources, while simultaneously reorganizing the [[Military Airlift Command]] ([[Military Airlift Command|MAC]]). On 1 June 1992, Tactical Air Command ([[USAF Tactical Air Command|TAC]]), [[Strategic Air Command]] ([[Strategic Air Command|SAC]]), and [[Military Airlift Command]] ([[Military Airlift Command|MAC]]) were inactivated, being replaced by two new major commands, [[Air Combat Command]] (ACC) and [[Air Mobility Command]] (AMC). A brief ceremony at [[Langley AFB]], Virginia marked the inactivation of TAC and the activation of ACC. General Loh, who had commanded TAC until its inactivation, became the first commander of ACC.<ref name="multi4"/>