The Air Force District of Washington (AFDW) is a

Direct Reporting Unit The structure of the United States Air Force refers to the unit designators and organizational hierarchy of the United States Air Force, which starts at the most senior commands. The senior headquarters of the Department of the Air Force, Headqu ...

of the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Si ...

. AFDW oversees Air Force operations in the Washington, D.C. region (also known as the "

National Capital Region A capital region, also called a capital district or capital territory, is a region or district surrounding a capital city. It is not always the official term for the region, but may sometimes be used as an informal synonym. Capital regions can exis ...

" or "NCR"). As a

, AFDW is directly subordinate to the Chief of Staff, Headquarters,

, and serves as the Air Force service component to the JFHQ-NCR. AFDW was originally headquartered on

Bolling Air Force Base Bolling Air Force Base or Bolling AFB was a United States Air Force base in Washington, D.C. In 2010, it was merged with Naval Support Facility Anacostia to form Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling. From its beginning, the installation has hosted el ...

, but changed to Joint Base Andrews-Naval Air Facility Washington (JBA-NAFW).

History

AFDW originates back to the post-World War II era when Bolling Field Command was established on 15 December 1946. Bolling Field Command absorbed functions from various support organizations in the Washington, D.C. vicinity. It was redesignated Headquarters Command, USAF, on 17 March 1958. When Headquarters Command, USAF, inactivated on 1 July 1976, many of its functions passed to

Military Airlift Command The Military Airlift Command (MAC) is an inactive United States Air Force major command (MAJCOM) that was headquartered at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois. Established on 1 January 1966, MAC was the primary strategic airlift organization of th ...

. The Air Force District of Washington was constituted and activated, on 1 October 1985. it was inactivated on 15 Jul 1994, due to declining defense budgets. AFDW was reactivated on 7 July 2005, to realign the Air Force command structure in the NCR with the other military services, improve Air Force support to Joint Force Headquarters – National Capital Region (JFHQ-NCR).

Mission

AFDW oversees two wings and one group on JBA-NAFW: the

11th Wing The 11th Wing is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is the host unit at Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling in Washington, D.C. on from June 2020. It previously was stationed at Joint Base Andrews, Maryl ...

, the

79th Medical Wing The 79th Medical Wing was the United States Air Force's agent for Air Force and joint medicine within the National Capital Region. Activated on 10 May 2006, it was the largest wing within the Air Force District of Washington, and one of two medi ...

and the 844th Communication Group. The 79th Medical Wing and 844th Communications Group both have specialized missions and serve as a single Air Force voice in the National Capital Region (NCR) for their respective fields of expertise. The

fulfills duties as the host base organization of JBA-NAFW, while also supporting AFDW requirements. AFDW also supports airmen in more than 2,000 Air Force Elements in more than 500 locations in 108 countries. AFDW serves as the Air Force service component for coordination purposes to JFHQ-NCR and the supporting command to Joint Task Force-National Capital Region/Medical (JTF-CapMed). JFHQ-NCR has an emergency or major event operation 'mobilization' function as Joint Task Force-National Capital Region. When the JFHQ-NCR transitions to the Joint Task Force NCR (JTF-NCR), the

320th Air Expeditionary Wing The 320th Air Expeditionary Wing (320 AEW) is a provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force District of Washington. It is stationed at Bolling AFB, District of Columbia. The 320 AEW may be activated or inactivated at any t ...

(320 AEW) activates and becomes the Air Force service component of JTF-NCR. Normally, the Commander of AFDW serves as the Commander, 320 AEW. Air Force Mission Directive 13 delineates missions and assigned duties applicable to AFDW in both its worldwide Air Force service role and its JTF-NCR Air Force service component role.

Component units

Air Force District of Washington comprises the following wings and major units.

Headquarters

* Headquarters Air Force District of Washington (

Joint Base Andrews Joint Base Andrews (JBA) is a United States military facility located in Prince George's County, Maryland. The facility is under the jurisdiction of the United States Air Force 316th Wing, Air Force District of Washington (AFDW). The base was ...

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean t ...

)

Permanent units

(

Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling (JBAB) is a 905-acre (366 ha) military installation, located in Southeast, Washington, D.C., established on 1 October 2010 in accordance with congressional legislation implementing the recommendations of the ...

, Washington, D.C.) **

US Air Force Band The United States Air Force Band is a U.S. military band consisting of 184 active-duty members of the United States Air Force. It is the Air Force's premier musical organization and is based at Bolling Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.. Within t ...

** US Air Force Chaplaincy (

Arlington National Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery is one of two national cemeteries run by the United States Army. Nearly 400,000 people are buried in its 639 acres (259 ha) in Arlington, Virginia. There are about 30 funerals conducted on weekdays and 7 held on Sa ...

) ** US Air Force Honor Guard *

316th Wing The 316th Wing (316 WG) is an active wing of the United States Air Force. It is the host wing at Joint Base Andrews Naval Air Facility, Maryland. As host wing, the 316 WG operates, administers and maintains the base. The 316th Wing was activate ...

(Joint Base Andrews) – UH-1N Iroquois * 844th Communications Group (Joint Base Andrews)

Expeditionary units

(Joint Base Anacostia–Bolling)

List of commanders

References

Attribution: :

External links

Official AFDW website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Air Force District of Washington Direct reporting units of the United States Air Force Military in Washington, D.C. Military units and formations in Maryland Military units and formations established in 1985 1985 establishments in the United States