21st Air Division

Initially established in 1942 as the 21st Bombardment Wing, the organization functioned as a staging wing for Second Air Force, and later as a command, processing heavy bombardment crews and aircraft for overseas movement, and then processing men returning from overseas, from 1942–1946.[2]

From December 1946, it performed routine training duties in the Air Force Reserve through 27 June 1949 when it was inactivated due to budget reductions.[2]

Reactivated as an intermediate command echelon of Strategic Air Command in February 1951 at Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas. The 21st Air Division controlled B-47 Stratojet medium bombardment wings at Forbes and Lake Charles Air Force Base, Louisiana. It was responsible for aircrew training, bomber replacement crews, and replacements for strategic reconnaissance slots until September 1964 when the B-47 was phased out of the inventory.[2]

21st Air Division ADC/TAC/NORAD Region AOR 1966–1983

The command was reactivated by Air Defense Command (ADC) in January 1966 at McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey as one of ten new Air Divisions organized by the command to replace inactivating Air Defense Sectors in an organizational realignment.[2] Assumed additional designation of 21st NORAD Region after activation of the NORAD Combat Operations Center at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex, Colorado and reporting was transferred to NORAD from ADC at Ent Air Force Base in April 1966.

Under ADC the 21st AD was placed under First Air Force and assumed the jurisdiction of the former New York Air Defense Sector, controlling interceptor and radar units over eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the New York City/Long Island area and the coast of Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts, including Cape Cod. This included operations of the Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) blockhouse DC-01. For operational control the division was also the 21st NORAD/CONRAD Region.

During this time, it participated in air defense training exercises, accomplished live and simulated intercepts, and directed numerous flying sorties until inactivation in December 1967[2] as part of an ADC consolidation of intermediate level command and control organizations, driven by budget reductions required to fund USAF operations in Southeast Asia.

The 21st AD was reactivated in November 1969 under Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) at Hancock Field, New York. The command provided air defense over most of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York and the New England area,[2] commanding interceptor and radar stations. Also included were ADCOM radar stations located in Newfoundland, Canada. In addition command of the SAGE DC-03/CC-01 blockhouse was assumed by the 21st AD, as well as CIM-10 Bomarc surface-to-air anti-aircraft missile squadrons near Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, Niagara Falls Air Force Missile Site, New York and McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey.

In 1975, a new JCS Unified Command Plan designated Air Defense Command as a specified command and changed its name to the Aerospace Defense Command (ADCOM) on 1 July 1975. The division assumed additional designation 21st ADCOM Region for operational control on 8 December 1978. Air Defense ADCOM was reorganized on 1 October 1979. The atmospheric defense resources (interceptors and warning radars) of ADCOM. including the 21st AD were reassigned to Tactical Air Command (ADTAC). It moved to Griffiss Air Force Base, New York in 1983[2] when Hancock Field was closed.

In 1983, when the air defense mission of CONUS was reassigned to the Air National Guard, the 21st Air Division (ADTAC) was inactivated and its assets transferred to Northeast Air Defense Sector.[2]

• Smoky Hill Army Air Field, Kansas, 22 December 1942
• Topeka Army Air Field, Kansas, 31 May 1943
• Merced Army Air Field (later Castle Field), California, 7 October 1945 – 3 April 1946
• Memphis Municipal Airport, Tennessee, 20 December 1946 – 27 June 1949
• Forbes Air Force Base, Kansas, 16 February 1951 – 1 September 1964
• McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1967
• Hancock Field, New York 19 November 1969
• Griffiss Air Force Base, New York, 31 August – 23 September 1983[2]

• 48th Staging Wing: 18 July 1945 – c. 21 March 1946
• 95th Bombardment Group: 29 May 1947 – 27 June 1949
• 333d Bombardment Group: attached 15 July 1942 – 21 February 1943
• 346th Bombardment Group: attached 7 September 1942 – 25 February 1943
• 384th Bombardment Group: 16 July 1947 – 27 June 1949[2]

• 373d Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 October 1951 – 8 April 1952; 8 – 17 April 1952
• 374th Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 October 1951 – 8 April 1952; 8 – 17 April 1952
• 375th Bombardment Squadron: attached 10 October 1951 – 8 April 1952; 8 – 17 April 1952[2]

• Air Forces Iceland: 31 December 1969 – 1 October 1975[2]

• 52d Fighter Wing

Suffolk County Air Force Base, New York, 1 April 1966 – 1 December 1967

• 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing

Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 4 – 31 December 1969[2]

• 26th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC)

Otis Air Force Base, Massachusetts, 19 November 1969 – 30 April 1972

• 35th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC)

Niagara Falls Air Force Missile Site, New York, 19 November – 31 December 1969

• 46th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC)

McGuire Air Force Base, New Jersey, 1 April 1966 – 1 December 1967; 19 November 1969 – 31 October 1972[2]

• 12th Missile Warning Group

Thule Air Base, Greenland, 1 October 1976 – 1 October 1979

• 762d Air Defense Group

North Truro Air Force Station, Massachusetts, 1 March 1970 – 1 January 1974

• 765th Air Defense Group

Charleston Air Force Station, Maine, 1 March 19790 – 1 January 1974

• 4683d Air Base Group

Thule Air Base, Greenland, 31 December 1969 – 31 March 1977

• 4684th Air Base Group

Sondrestrom Air Base, Greenland, 31 December 1969 – 1 December 1979

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

• Cornett, Lloyd H; Johnson, Mildred W (1980). A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization, 1946–1980 (PDF). Peterson AFB, CO: Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 February 2016. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1983) [1961]. Air Force Combat Units of World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-02-1. LCCN 61060979.
• Maurer, Maurer, ed. (1982) [1969]. Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II (PDF) (reprint ed.). Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-405-12194-6. LCCN 70605402. OCLC 72556.
• Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings, Lineage & Honors Histories 1947–1977. Washington, DC: Office of Air Force History. ISBN 0-912799-12-9.
• "ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". The Interceptor (January 1979) Aerospace Defense Command, (Volume 21, Number 1)