Ninth Air Force derived from an element constituted as V Air Support Command on August 21, 1941. It was activated on September 2, 1941, as part of the Air Combat Command, was re designated 9th Air Force on April 9, 1942, and re designated finally as Ninth Air Force on September 18, 1942. The organization moved to Egypt to begin operations on November 12, 1942, participating in the Allied drive across Egypt and Libya , the campaign in Tunisia , and the invasions of Sicily and Italy . Transferring to England on October 16, 1943, it became the tactical air force for the invasion of the Continent. It helped isolate battlefield in preparation for the Allied assault on Normandy , supported operations on the beaches in June 1944, and took part in the drive that carried the Allies across France and culminated in victory over Germany in May 1945.
COMPONENTS: 9th Air Division (formerly IX Bomber Command): 1942 - 1945. IX Air Defense Command: 1944 - 1945. IX Fighter Command:1942 - 1945. IX Tactical Air Command: 1943 - 1945. IX Troop Carrier Command: 1943 - 1944. XIX Tactical Air Command: 1944 - 1945.XXIX Tactical Air Command: 1945.
STATIONS: Bowman Field, Kentucky, September 1, 1941; New Orleans AAB, Louisiana, January 24, 1942; Bolling Field, District of Columbia, July 22 - October 1942; Egypt, November 12, 1942 - October 1943; England, October 16, 1943 - September 1944; France, September 15, 1944; Germany, June 6 - end.
COMMANDERS: Brig. Gen. Junius W. Jones, September 1941; Col.Rosenham Beam, 1942; Lt. Gen. Lewis H. Brereton, November 12, 1942; Lt. Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenburg, August 8, 1944; Maj. Gen. Otto P. Weyland, May 23, 1945; Maj. Gen. William E. Kepner, August 4, 1945 - end.
CAMPAIGNS: Air Combat, EAME Theater; Egypt - Libya; Air Offensive, Europe; Tunisia: Sicily; Naples-Foggia; Normandy; Northern France; Rhineland; Ardennes - Alsace; Central Europe
DECORATIONS: None.
INSIGNE: Shield: Azure, a bezant winged argent charged with the Arabic numeral "9" gules, in honor point a mullet of the second bearing a torteau. (Approved September 16, 1943.)
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