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Seventeenth Air Force
Seventeenth Air Force
	; Seventeenth Air Force emblem
Active	April 17, 1953 – September 30, 1996; Reactivated: October 1, 2008
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Part of	United States Air Forces in Europe
Garrison/HQ	Rabat-Sale, Morocco (1953–1956); Wheelus Air Base Libya (1956–1959); Ramstein Air Base West Germany (1959–1973); Sembach Air Base Germany (1973–1996); Ramstein Air Base Germany (2008–present)

Seventeenth Air Force (17 AF) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force. The command served the United States Air Forces in Europe during its years of active service (1953–1996). As of October 1, 2008, it is the Air Force component of United States Africa Command,^[1] but is to remain under USAFE ordinancy until a future date when the Seventeenth Air Force, known now as the Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA), becomes a component that is autonomous of USAFE and answerable to AFRICOM.

[edit] Operational History

[edit] Under USAFE

The command was established as Seventeenth Air Force on April 17, 1953 and assigned to United States Air Forces in Europe. The organization's mission was a support organization for Air Force activities throughout southern Europe, North Africa and the Middle East.

Seventeenth Air Force was moved to Wheelus Air Base, Libya, on August 1, 1956 then was moved without personnel or equipment to Ramstein Air Base, West Germany, on November 15, 1959 and remanned.

Army General William E. "Kip" Ward (left), U.S. Africa Command commander, and Maj. Gen. Ronald R. Ladnier, commander of 17th Air force, unfurl the 17th Air Force's guidon during an assumption-of-command ceremony at Ramstein Air Base, Germany.

At Ramstein, Seventeenth Air Force exchanged its support mission in the southern region for the defensive and offensive air mission in central Europe. It was moved to Sembach Air Base, West Germany, in October 1972.

In the 1980s, 17th Air Force saw the number of its subordinate units almost double. Its area of responsibility included three of the Ground Launched Cruise Missile sites in Europe. In 1985, for the first time ever, 17th Air Force brought together all European-based electronic warfare aircraft under a single command when it activated the 65th Air Division and the 66th Electronic Wing at Sembach. All of these units were deactivated in the early 1990s.

Seventeenth Air Force was inactivated effective September 30, 1996.

[edit] Under AFRICOM

It was announced on September 12, 2008^[2] that a newly-activated Seventeenth Air Force will be headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, located west of Kaiserslautern in the German federal state of Rheinland-Palatinate as part of the creation of the United States Africa Command. The stand-up ceremony occurred on September 18, 2008, under the command of Major General Ron Ladnier.

It was officially reactivated by the Air Force on October 1, 2008. In this capacity, it is currently subordinate to the United States Air Forces in Europe, and be referred to by its componency name: Air Forces Africa (AFAFRICA).

Its first flying unit was activated on October 6, 2008. The 42d Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, with two C-130s, will serve under the 404th Air Expeditionary Group flying from Ramstein.^[3]