Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) (20th AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.
| Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) | |
|---|---|
 Shield of the Twentieth Air Force | |
| Active | 1 December 2009 – present (as Twentieth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic)) 1 September 1991 – 1 December 2009 4 April 1944 – 1 March 1955 (as Twentieth Air Force) (78 years, 11 months)[1] |
| Country |  United States of America |
| Branch |  United States Air Force (18 September 1947 – present) United States Army ( Army Air Forces, 4 April 1944 – 18 September 1947) |
| Type | Numbered Air Force |
| Role | Provide combat-ready nuclear ICBM forces for U.S. Strategic Command[2] |
| Part of |  Air Force Global Strike Command U.S. Strategic Command |
| Headquarters | Francis E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, U.S. |
| Engagements | .png){kind=small} World War II – American Theater  World War II – Asiatic-Pacific Theater  Korean War[1] |
| Decorations |  Air Force Outstanding Unit Award |
| Commanders | |
| Current commander | Maj Gen Michael Lutton |
| Notable commanders | Curtis LeMay |
20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) operations. The Twentieth Air Force commander is also the Commander, Task Force 214 (TF 214), which provides alert ICBMs to the United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM).
Established on 4 April 1944 at Washington D.C, 20 AF was a United States Army Air Forces combat air force deployed to the Pacific Theater of World War II. Operating initially from bases in India and staging through bases in China, 20 AF conducted strategic bombardment of the Japanese Home Islands. It relocated to the Mariana Islands in late 1944, and continued the strategic bombardment campaign against Japan until the Japanese capitulation in August 1945. The 20 AF 509th Composite Group conducted the atomic attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945, and remains as the only air force organization to have used a nuclear weapon in combat.
Inactivated on 1 March 1955, the command was reactivated 1 September 1991, as a component of the Strategic Air Command (SAC) and became operationally responsible for all land-based Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles.