Army Air Forces Base Units
From AAFwiki
In the spring of 1944, because of manpower shortages overseas, the Army changed the way it manned and organized the support units reporting to it. This reorganization did not affect units in overseas theaters, but did apply to the Army Air Forces and the headquarters that reported to it.
Prior to this reorganization, units were manned according to tables of organization. Although there were some exceptions, this meant (for example) that a Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron at a large base was authorized the same number of personnel, grades, and specialties as a Base Headquarters and Air Base Squadron at a small base. This resulted in wastage at the small base, while the larger one might not have enough people to perform the mission. This was replaced by a system in which Hq, Army Air Forces made bulk allotments of personnel to each of its subordinate commands, who determined in turn how many people and what skills and grades they should have to perform each base's mission. All existing AAF units that were not scheduled to move overseas were disbanded in April and May 1944 and replaced by Army Air Forces Base Units, including the 2d AAF Base Unit, which replaced Hq Sq, Army Air Forces.
This was not a one for one replacement. For example, at a crew training base, one Army Air Force Base Unit might replace a Base Headquarters & Air Base Sq, a Fighter Gp, 3 Fighter Squadrons, a Guard Squadron, and various detachments of other arms and services. Sometimes, lettered Squadrons or Sections were formed as part of the Base Unit. The usual practice was for all units on a base to be combined into one AAF Base Unit, although there were exceptions.
Because the various commands formed their own units, rather than relying on the Adjutant General's office for authority, the Army Air Forces alloted blocks of numbers for each command to use to designate its base units. (This allocation ignored the traditional reservation of the numbers 101-300 to the National Guard). Also, each AAF Base Unit was not only designated (1st AAF Base Unit), it was "described" with a parenthetical. In this example, the 1st AAF Base Unit (Base Headquarters).
Numbers were allocated during the war as follows:
- 0001-0099: Units reporting to Hq,AAF (In the case of Air Weather service and Army Airways Communications Service, this included their subordinate units)
- 0100-0199: First Air Force
- 0200-0299: Second Air Force
- 0300-0399: Third Air Force
- 0400-0499: Fourth Air Force
- 0500-0599: Air Transport Command
- 0600-0699: Proving Ground Command
- 0700-0799: AAF Materiel Command until Aug 1944
- Army Airways Communications Service from July 1945 (including Overseas Units exempt from Theater control)
- 0800-0899: I Troop Carrier Command
- 0900-0999: AAF School
- 1000-1099: AAF Personnel Redistribution Command
- 1100-1599: Air Transport Command (Overseas Units exempt from Theater control)
- 1600-1999: unallocated? (possibly allocated to ATC but unused)
- 2000-3899? AAF Training Command (large blocks of numbers were unused and may not have been allocated)
- 4000-4999? Air Technical Service Command
Air Transport Command, AAF Training Command, and Air Technical service Command made sub allocations of blocks of numbers to their subordinate commands)
