The Thirteenth Air Force was constituted on December 14, 1942, and activated on New Caledonia on January 13, 1943. It served in the South Pacific and, later, Southwest Pacific, participating in the Allied drive north and west from the Solomons to the Philippines. It remained in the Philippines as part of Far East Air Forces.
COMMANDS: XIII Bomber: 1943 - 1946. XIII Fighter: 1943 - 1946.
STATIONS: New Caledonia, January 13, 1943; Espiritu Santo, January 21, 1943; Guadalcanal, January 13, 1944; Los Negros, June 15, 1944; Hollandia, New Guinea, September 13, 1944; Noemfoor, September 23, 1944; Morotai, October 29, 1944; Leyte, March 1, 1945.
COMMANDERS: Maj. Gen. Nathan F. Twining, January 13, 1943; Brig. Gen. Ray L. Lowens, July 27, 1943; Maj. Gen. Hubert R. Harmon, January 7, 1944; Brig. Gen. George L. Usher, June 6, 1944 (temporary); Maj. Gen. St. Clair Streett, June 15, 1944; Maj. Gen. Paul B. Wurtsmith, February 19, 1945 - end.
CAMPAIGNS: China Defensive; Guadalcanal; New Guinea; Northern Solomons; Eastern Mandates; Bismarck Archipelago; Western Pacific; Leyte; Luzon; Southern Philippines; China Offensive.
DECORATIONS: Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
INSIGNE: On a blue disc, bordered golden orange, a pair of golden orange wings surmounted in base by a white star charged with a red disc; all below the Arabic numeral "13" in white. (Approved January 18, 1944.)
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