Login
Login

IX Air Defense Command

{{use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}

{{use American English|date=December 2021}}

{{Infobox military unit

|unit_name=IX Air Defense Command

|image= 425th Night Fighter Squadron P-61 Black Widow 42-5569 with D-Day invasion stripes.jpg

|image_size= 300px

|caption=P-61 Black Widow of the 425th Night Fighter SquadronAircraft is Northrop P-61A-10-NO, serial 42-5569 "Tabitha."

|dates=1944–1946

|country={{USA}}

|branch={{air force|USA}}

|type=

|role=Air defense

|size=

|command_structure=

|current_commander=

|garrison=

|march=

|mascot=

|battles=European Theater of OperationsMaurer, Combat Units, p. 447

|notable_commanders=

|anniversaries=

}}

The IX Air Defense Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. It was assigned throughout its time in combat to Ninth Air Force. Its final station was at Bad Neustadt an der Saale, Germany, where it was inactivated on 25 June 1946.

History

It was established in England on 19 July 1944, and activated on 1 July 1944. Mission was to provide air defense for liberated areas of Western Europe consisting of France and later, the Low Countries. Subordinate wing headquarters and subordinate units operated primarily from liberated airfields and newly built temporary Advanced Landing Grounds in continental Europe. Along with air defense, subordinate units engaged in combat in support of ground forces during the breakthrough at St. Lo in July 1944. Attacked tanks, trucks, and troop concentrations as enemy retreated; provided armed reconnaissance for advancing Allied armored columns. During September 1944, attacked flak positions near Eindhoven during Operation Market-Garden, the airborne landing in the Netherlands; bombed enemy communications and transportation lines in western Germany. Flew armed reconnaissance missions over Battle of the Bulge during December 1944 – January 1944. Flew missions against enemy transportation systems including motor vehicles, bridges, trains, railway bridges, and marshalling yards during February and March 1945. Moved to Germany in April 1945, flying last combat missions on 3 May 1945.

However, inactivation only occurred on 25 June 1946, and the unit was disbanded on 8 October 1948.

Lineage

  • Constituted as the IX Air Defense Command on 19 June 1944

: Activated on 1 July 1944

: Inactivated on 25 July 1946

: Disbanded on 8 October 1948

=Assignments=

  • Ninth Air Force, 1 July 1944{{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/2372098/ninth-air-force-air-forces-central-acc/ |last1=Ream|first1=Margaret|title=Factsheet Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) (ACC)|date=October 5, 2020|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=December 18, 2021}}
  • Unknown, 28 November 1945
  • United States Air Forces in Europe, 2 December 1945{{cite web |url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/432815/united-states-air-forces-in-europe-usaf/ |last1=Rumley|first1=Christopher M.|title=Factsheet United States Air Forces in Europe (USAF)|date=January 25, 2021|publisher=Air Force Historical Research Agency|access-date=December 18, 2021}}
  • Unknown, 1 February 1946 – 25 June 1946

=Stations=

{{Col-begin}}

{{Col-break|width=50%}}

{{Col-break|width=50%}}

{{col-end}}

=Components=

; Wing

; Squadrons and companies

  • 422d Night Fighter Squadron, 6 August – 7 October 1944Maurer, Combat Squadrons, pp. 518-519
  • 425th Night Fighter Squadron, 10–20 June 1944; 6 August – 7 October 1944Maurer, Combat Squadrons, p. 522
  • 368th Ordnance Maintenance (AA) Company, 1945{{cite web|url=https://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/000/021/626.xml|title=Document Detail for IRISNUM= 00021626|website=airforcehistoryindex.org|access-date=26 November 2023}}

References

=Notes=

; Explanatory notes

{{reflist|group=note}}

; Citations

{{reflist|40em}}

=Bibliography=

{{Air Force Historical Research Agency}}

  • {{cite book|last=Anderson|first=Capt. Barry|title= Army Air Forces Stations: A Guide to the Stations Where U.S. Army Air Forces Personnel Served in the United Kingdom During World War II|url= https://www.dafhistory.af.mil/Portals/16/documents/Timelines/World%20War%20II/usaaf_bases_in_united_kingdom.pdf?ver=2016-08-30-150752-303 |year=1985|publisher=Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center|location=Maxwell AFB, AL|access-date=March 1, 2021}}
  • {{cite book|last=Johnson|first=1st Lt. David C.|title=U.S. Army Air Forces Continental Airfields (ETO) D-Day to V-E Day|url= http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-081010-026.pdf |year=1988| publisher=Research Division, USAF Historical Research Center| location=Maxwell AFB, AL|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150929064443/http://www.afhra.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-081010-026.pdf |archive-date=September 29, 2015|access-date=June 26, 2017}}
  • {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Air Force Combat Units of World War II|orig-year= 1961|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180735/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Sep/21/2001330256/-1/-1/0/AFD-100921-044.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 20 December 2016|access-date= December 17, 2016|edition=reprint|year=1983|publisher= Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-912799-02-1|lccn=61060979}}
  • {{cite book|editor=Maurer, Maurer|title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II|orig-year=1969|url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20161220180455/http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf |url-status= dead |archive-date= 20 December 2016 |edition= reprint|access-date= December 17, 2016|year=1982|publisher=Office of Air Force History|location=Washington, DC|isbn=0-405-12194-6|oclc=72556|lccn=70605402}}

; Further reading

  • {{cite book|last=Rust|first=Kenn C.|title=The 9th Air Force in World War II|year=1967|publisher=Aero Publishers, Inc.|location=Fallbrook, CA|isbn=|lccn= 67-16454}}

{{USAAF 9th Air Force UK}}

Category:Military units and formations established in 1944

09

Category:Air defence commands of the United States Army

Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1946