Aerospace Defense Command

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Aerospace Defense Command and Air Defense Command History
The War Department established an Air Defense Command on February 26, 1940.  This command, operating under the control of the First Army Commander from March 2, 1940, to September 9, 1941, engaged in planning for air defense.  Before the United States entered World War II, air defense was divided among the four air districts later, First, Second, Third, and Fourth Air Forces based in the United States.  In mid-1944, when the threat of air attack seemed negligible, this air defense organization was disbanded. Subsequently, no real air defense organization existed until the second Air (later Aerospace) Defense Command was established in 1946 as a major command of the Army Air Forces (AAF).  The Aerospace Defense Command declined after the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve gradually assumed more and more of the air defense mission.  In 1980 Air Defense Command resources were divided between Tactical Air Command and Strategic Air Command.  Some functions of the command passed to the Aerospace Defense Center, a direct reporting unit that inactivated on October 1, 1986.

Air Defense Tactical Air Command (ADTAC)
In 1979, as part of a post-Vietnam realignment of military assets, the air assets of ADC were assigned to Tactical Air Command (TAC). With this move many Air National Guard units that had an air defense mission also came under the control of TAC, which established a component called Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC).  ADTAC was headquartered at North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD).

Lineage

• 12 March 1946: Established as Air Defense Command
   

• 27 March 1946: Activated as a major command by the United States Army Air Force at Mitchel Field (later, Mitchel Air Force Base), New York
   

• 1 December 1948: The USAF establishes the Continental Air Command under both the Air Defense Command and Tactical Air Command
   

• 1 July 1950: Deactivated as a major command, Continental Air Command assumed full charge of United States air defense
   

• 1 January 1951: Reestablished as a major command
   

• 8 January 1951: Air Defense Command headquarters moves from Mitchel Field to Ent Air Force Base, Colorado
   

• 14 July 1952: Air Defense Command begins 24-hour Ground Observer Corps operations
   

• 1 September 1954: The Continental Air Defense Command is established at Ent Air Force Base as a joint-service force, taking control of Air Force Air Defense Command forces, Army Anti-Aircraft Command forces, and Naval air defense forces
   

• 12 September 1957: The North American Air Defense Command (NORAD) is established at Ent Air Force Base as an international organization, taking operational control of Canadian Air Defense Command air defense units and United States Continental Air Defense Command air defense units
   

• 31 July 1959: The Ground Observer Corps, active since July 1952, is abolished because of improvements in radar technology
   

• 15 January 1968: Re-designated as Aerospace Defense Command
   

• 1 July 1973: Continental Air Defense Command and Aerospace Defense Command headquarters begins consolidation and streamlining
   

• 4 February 1974: The Department of Defense announces plans for cutbacks in air defense forces showing increasing emphasis on ballistic missile attack warning and decreasing emphasis on bomber defense
   

• 30 June 1974: Continental Air Defense Command de-established
   

• 1 July 1975: Aerospace Defense Command designated a "Specified Command" taking over Continental Air Defense Command roles and responsibilities
   

• 1 October 1979: Aerospace Defense Command inactivated as a Major Command; Air Defense, Tactical Air Command established as a Numbered Air Force equivalent under Tactical Air Command
   

• 31 March 1980: ADC Inactivated

Links
ADC Factsheet pg1
ADC Factsheet pg2 ADCOMS FIS's