First Air Force The First Air Force ( Air Forces Northern ) ( 1 AF - AFNORTH ) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command ( ACC ) . It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base , Florida . Its primary mission is the air defense of the Contiguous United States ( CONUS ) , United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico . Its mission lineage can be traced to the Air Defense Command , one of the original USAAF major commands formed in 1946 . One of the four original pre - World War II numbered air forces during the existence of the United States Army Air Corps , 1 AF was activated on 18 December 1940 , at Mitchel Field , Long Island , New York with a mission of air defense of the Northeastern United States and Great Lakes regions . During the war , its primary mission became the organization and training of combat units prior to their deployment to the overseas combat air forces . 1 AF is commanded by Lieutenant General William H . Etter . Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sgt . Ronald C . Anderson Jr . . Overview . The command has sole responsibility for ensuring the air sovereignty and air defense of the Contiguous United States ( CONUS ) , United States Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico . As the CONUS Region ( CONR ) for NORAD , the bi - national North American Aerospace Defense Command , CONR provides air defense in the form of airspace surveillance and airspace control . 1AF ( AFNORTH ) is also the designated air component for the United States Northern Command ( USNORTHCOM ) . USNORTHCOM ' s area of responsibility includes the continental United States , Alaska , Canada and Mexico , and its air , land and maritime approaches . The command is unique in both its mission and composition . With the transfer of responsibility for continental air defense from the active duty component of the Air Force to the Air National Guard , 1 AF became the first numbered air force to be made up primarily of citizen airmen . Units . First Air Force has been an Air Combat Command organization since 1 June 1992 . Its subordinate units are located throughout the continental United States . Units aligned under First Air Force / AFNORTH include : Additionally , First Air Force provides operational control of alert Air National Guard air defense fighter units : Non - flying units History . One of the four original numbered air forces , First Air Force was activated as the Northeast Air District of the GHQ Air Force on 18 December 1940 , at Mitchel Field , Long Island , New York . It was redesignated First Air Force on 9 April 1941 with a mission for the defense of the Northeast and Great Lakes regions of the United States . World War II . During the initial months after the Pearl Harbor Attack , First Air Force organized what would eventually become the Army Air Forces Antisubmarine Command ( AAFSC ) , obtaining most of its forces from I Bomber Command to combat the German U - Boat threat along the Atlantic Coast . AAFSC would eventually expand that mission to the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean until the Antisubmarine mission was taken over by the Navy in mid - 1943 . Beginning in 1942 , the mission of First Air Force became supporting the Army Air Forces Training Command ' s mission of training of units , crews , and individuals for bombardment , fighter , and reconnaissance operations . After personnel graduated from AAFTC flight schools ; navigator training ; flexible gunnery schools and various technical schools , First Air Force organized the personnel , aircraft and equipment into combat groups and squadrons . The newly formed units received secondary training prior to their assignment to the deployed combat air forces in the various overseas theaters . Most P - 47 Thunderbolt fighter groups were trained by I Fighter Command , along with P - 39 / P - 63 Airacobra groups ; C - 47 Skytrain and later C - 46 Commando groups by I Troop Carrier Command . In addition , the command performed training through Army Air Forces Training Command of units , crews , and individuals for specialized bombardment , and reconnaissance operations . By 1944 , most of the Operational Training of groups ended , with the command concentrating on the training of replacement personnel , using Army Air Force Base Units ( AAFBU ) as training organizations at the airfields controlled by First Air Force . Air Defense Wings were also organized for the major metropolitan areas along the northeast coast , using training units attached to the Wings . By 1944 the likelihood of an air attack along the eastern seaboard was remote , and these air defense wings were reduced to paper units . By 1944 , the vast majority of the USAAF was engaged in combat operations in various parts of the world , such as the Eighth Air Force in Europe and the Twentieth Air Force in the Pacific . The training units located within the United States ( known as the Zone of the Interior , or " ZI " . ) under First , Second , Third and Fourth Air Force were all were placed under the unified command of the Continental Air Forces ( CAF ) on 13 December 1944 , with the Numbered Air Forces becoming subordinate commands of CAF . Air Defense Command . In March 1946 , USAAF Chief General Carl Spaatz had undertaken a major re - organization of the postwar USAAF that had included the establishment of Major Commands ( MAJCOM ) , who would report directly to HQ United States Army Air Forces . Continental Air Forces was inactivated , and First Air Force was assigned to the postwar Air Defense Command in March 1946 and subsequently to Continental Air Command ( ConAC ) in December 1948 being primarily concerned with air defense . The command was originally assigned the region of the New England states , along with New York and New Jersey . With the inactivation of the ADC Eleventh Air Force on 1 July 1948 due to budget restrictions , command ' s region of responsibility was increased to include the upper Midwest states of Michigan and Ohio , along with the Mid - Atlantic region south to the North Carolina / Virginia Border . In 1949 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve units were placed under First Air Force command , with its active - duty units being reassigned to Eastern Air Defense Force ( EADF ) or to the 30th , 32d or 26th Air Divisions . The command was inactivated on 23 June 1958 for budgetary reasons , its assigned units being reorganized under ConAC . First Air Force was reactivated at Stewart Air Force Base , Newburgh , N . Y . , on 20 January 1966 due to the inactivation of the ADC Air Defense Sectors . First Air Force assumed responsibility for the ADC 21st , 33d , 34th , 35th , and 36th Air Divisions , primarily located in the northeast and upper Midwest regions of the United States . It also was responsible for the air defense of Greenland , Iceland and parts of Canada . By July 1968 , First Air Force had again assumed total responsibility for the air defense of the eastern seaboard , just as it had during World War II . On 16 January 1968 Air Defense Command was re - designated Aerospace Defense Command ( ADCOM ) as part of a restructuring of USAF air defense forces . First Air Force ' s second period of service was short lived , however , and the command was again inactivated as the result of a major ADCOM reorganization on 31 December 1969 of the First , Fourth , Tenth Air Forces and several Air Divisions . This reorganization was the result of the need to eliminate intermediate levels of command in ADCOM driven by budget reductions and a perceived lessening of the need for continental air defense against attacking Soviet aircraft . ADCOM reassigned the units under the inactivated First Air Force were reassigned primarily to the 20th , 21st or 23d Air Divisions . Tactical Air Command . As part of realignment of military assets . ADCOM was reorganized on 1 October 1979 . The atmospheric defense resources ( interceptors and warning radars ) of ADCOM were reassigned 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 ) , at the level of an Air Division . On 6 December 1985 HQ USAF reactivated First Air Force at Langley Air Force Base , Virginia , and assigned it to Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) . First Air Force was given the mission to provide , train and equip ADTAC combat ready forces for the air defense of the North American continent . Upon its reactivation , First Air Force was composed of units of the active Air Force and the Air National Guard . Because of its unique mission and its binational responsibilities , First Air Force works closely with the Canadian Forces . Canadian personnel are stationed at First Air Force Headquarters at Tyndall Air Force Base Florida , and at the various regional air defense sectors located throughout the United States . Activation of the Continental United States North American Aerospace Defense Regions on 1 October 1986 , resulted in a new structure for the 30 - year - old , binational North American Aerospace Defense Command ( NORAD ) . Although the U . S . Air Force had already inactivated Aerospace Defense Command , the continental U . S . region , along with Alaskan and Canadian regions provided an improved command and operational system for North American air defense . Air National Guard . In the years since its third activation , more of the responsibility for the defense of American air sovereignty has shifted to the Air National Guard . Also , reorganization of the command structure of the U . S . Air Force saw the assignment of air defense to Tactical Air Command and later , its successor , Air Combat Command . In the 1970s and 1980s , the role of the Air National Guard in the defense of North America increased . As this role changed , discussions between the active Air Force and the Air National Guard commenced concerning roles and responsibilities . As the Cold War began to wind down and budgetary constraints became realities , more and more of the missions previously carried out by active duty forces began to be transferred into the reserve components . By the 1990s , 90 percent of the air defense mission was being handled by the Air National Guard . In October 1997 , First Air Force became a primarily Air National Guard numbered air force charged with the air defense of the North American continent . Today , First Air Force consists primarily of members of the Air National Guard . Its headquarters is located at Tyndall Air Force Base , Florida . It comprises 10 Air National Guard fighter wings and two air defense sectors for the East and Western regions of the country .