The VIII Air Force Composite Command was a subordinate command of

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Forces ...

. It was originally responsible for combat training of aircrews arriving from the United States, a mission it continued until near the end of the war, when the air divisions began the training. Starting in late winter of 1944, the command took over special operations missions, including night leaflet dropping, infiltration of agents behind enemy lines and supplying resistance forces in occupied countries. As

Allied An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are called a ...

forces advanced across Europe, most of its personnel were used to form provisional disarmament units. The command was disbanded in October 1948, when the United States Air Force decided it would have no future need for a level of command between major commands and air divisions.

History

Lineage

* Established as 8th Air Force Composite CommandThe unit was constituted and activated with an

arabic number Arabic numerals are the ten numerical digits: , , , , , , , , and . They are the most commonly used symbols to write decimal numbers. They are also used for writing numbers in other systems such as octal, and for writing identifiers such as c ...

in its name. The use of

roman numeral Roman numerals are a numeral system that originated in ancient Rome and remained the usual way of writing numbers throughout Europe well into the Late Middle Ages. Numbers are written with combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet, eac ...

s to designate Army Air Forces combat commands did not begin until September 1942. : Activated c. 4 July 1942 : Redesignated VIII Air Force Composite Command on 18 September 1942 : Inactivated c. 31 May 1945 : Disbanded 8 October 1948

Assignments

, c. 4 July 1942In February 1944, the original Eighth Air Force was redesignated United States Strategic Air Forces. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 463-464. *

, 22 February 1944In February 1944, VIII Bomber Command was redesignated Eighth Air Force. Maurer, Combat Units, pp. 471-472. *

Ninth Air Force The Ninth Air Force (Air Forces Central) is a Numbered Air Force of the United States Air Force headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. It is the Air Force Service Component of United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), a joint De ...

, February 1945 – c. 31 May 1945

Components

; Groups * 1st Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Bombardment, Heavy, Special), 12 November 1943 – c. 31 May 1945 * 2d Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Bombardment, Heavy, Special), 12 November 1943 – c. 31 May 1945 * 3d Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Bombardment or Fighter, Special), 21 November 1943 – c. 23 September 1944, 10 October 1944 – 1 February 1945 (attached to Air Disarmament Command rovisional * 4th Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Bombardment or Fighter, Special), 21 November 1943 – c. 31 May 1945 * 5th Combat Crew Replacement Center Group, 3 November 1943 – c. 31 May 1945 * 328th Service Group, 26 February 1944–c. August 1944 *

482d Bombardment Group 48 may refer to: * 48 (number) * one of the years 48 BC, AD 48, 1948, 2048 * ''48'' (novel) * 48'' (magazine) * "48", a song by Tyler, the Creator from the album ''Wolf'' * 48, a phone network brand of Three Ireland Three Ireland, officia ...

, 14 February – 1 October 1944 *

492d Bombardment Group 49 may refer to: * 49 (number) * "Forty Nine", a song by Karma to Burn from the album '' V'', 2011 * one of the years 49 BC, AD 49, 1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pak ...

, c. 10 August – 1 October 1944 *

495th Fighter Training Group The 495th Fighter Group is an active duty fighter group in the United States Air Force. It is assigned to Fifteenth Air Force of Air Combat Command and stationed at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, with additional units at multiple active ...

, 26 October – December 1943, February 1944–September 1944 * 496th Fighter Training Group, 11 December – December 1943; February – September 1944 *

801st Bombardment Group (Provisional) Operation Carpetbagger was a World War II operation to provide aerial supply of weapons and other ''matériel'' to resistance fighters in France, Italy and the Low Countries by the U.S. Army Air Forces that began on 4 January 1944. History In l ...

28 March – 4 August 1944 * 2900th Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Provisional), 16 August – 14 November 1943 * 2901st Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Provisional), 20 August – 12 November 1943 * 2902d Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Provisional), 23 August – 21 November 1943 * 2915th Combat Crew Replacement Center Group (Provisional), 16 August – 12 November 1943 ; Squadrons * 36th Bombardment Squadron, 26 February – 1 October 1944 (attached to 328th Service Group, 27 February 1944; 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional), 28 March 1944–4 August 1944)Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 171 *

406th Bombardment Squadron 4 (four) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 3 and preceding 5. It is the smallest semiprime and composite number, and is considered unlucky in many East Asian cultures. In mathematics Four is the smallest co ...

, 26 February – 1 October 1944 (attached to 328th Service Group, 27 February 1944; 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional), 28 March 1944–4 August 1944) *

788th Bombardment Squadron The 788th Tactical Fighter Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. During World War II, as the 788th Bombardment Squadron, it was assigned to the 467th Bombardment Group as a Consolidated B-24 Liberator squadron in 1943. After tr ...

, 11 May – 10 August 1944 (attached to 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional))Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 756 *

850th Bombardment Squadron 85 may refer to: * 85 (number) * one of the years 85 BC, AD 85, 1885, 1985, 2085 See also * * M85 (disambiguation), including "Model 85" * 1985 (disambiguation) * List of highways numbered A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or li ...

, 11 May – 10 August 1944 (attached to 801st Bombardment Group (Provisional))Maurer, ''Combat Squadrons'', p. 780 * 858th Bombardment Squadron, 19 June – 5 August 1944

Stations

Bolling Field The origins of the surname Bolling: English: from a nickname for someone with close-cropped hair or a large head, Middle English bolling "pollard", or for a heavy drinker, from Middle English bolling "excessive drinking". German (Bölling): from a ...

, District of Columbia, c. 4 July 1942 *

RAF Long Kesh Royal Air Force Long Kesh or more simply RAF Long Kesh is a former Royal Air Force station at Maze, Lisburn, Northern Ireland. Various aircraft operated from the airfield during the Second World War, including the Supermarine Seafire and Spitf ...

(Station 232),Station number in Anderson, p. 23. Northern Ireland, 12 September 1942 – 5 February 1944 * Kirkassock House (Station 231), Northern Ireland, November 1942Although assigned a separate station number, this building was at Long Kesh. *

RAF Cheddington Royal Air Force Cheddington or more simply RAF Cheddington (also known as RAF Marsworth) is a former Royal Air Force station located south-west of Cheddington, Buckinghamshire, England. The airfield was closed in 1952. Origins Cheddington w ...

(Station 113), England, 22 February 1944 * RAF Watford (Station 341), England, c. 1 October 1944 *

Creil Airfield Creil is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. The Creil station is an important railway junction. History Archaeological remains in the area include a Neolithic site as well as a late Iron Age necropolis, perhaps belongin ...

(see :fr:Base aérienne 110 Creil, A-81),Station number in Johnson, p.50. France, February 1945 *

Luxemburg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small land ...

Luxemburg, c. 30 April 1945–c. 31 May 1945

References

Notes

; Explanatory notes ; Citations

Bibliography

* * * * {{cite book, editor=Maurer, Maurer, title=Combat Squadrons of the Air Force, World War II, orig-year=1969, url= http://media.defense.gov/2010/Dec/02/2001329899/-1/-1/0/AFD-101202-002.pdf , edition= reprint, access-date= December 17, 2016, year=1982, publisher=Office of Air Force History, location=Washington, DC, isbn=0-405-12194-6, oclc=72556, lccn=70605402 08 Military units and formations disestablished in 1948