2d Air Division

2d Air Division
2d Air Division emblem
Active	30 August 1943 – 7 May 1951 20 April 1953 – 1 April 1962 10 September 1962 – 1 April 1966 1 March 1983 – 1 February 1987
Country	United States of America
Branch	United States Air Force
Garrison/HQ	see "Stations" section below
Equipment	see "Aircraft / Missiles / Space Vehicles" section below
Decorations	see "Lineage and Honors" section below

The 2d Air Division (2d AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Military Airlift Command, assigned to Twenty-Third Air Force, being stationed at Hurlburt Field, Florida. It was inactivated on 1 February 1987.

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Conducted strategic bombardment of Axis targets in Europe, but between 29 August 1944 and 2 October 1944 division aircraft dropped food to the French population in liberated areas. It also airdropped food, equipment, and supplies to Allied forces engaged in the airborne attack on the Netherlands (September 1944), as well as troops engaged in the assault across the Rhine River (March 1945). From January 1949 to May 1951, in West Germany it participated in numerous training exercises. Activated in April 1953, it remained unmanned and existed in name until moving in March 1954 to Dhahran Airfield, Saudi Arabia where it remained until the Saudi government terminated US rights to the field in 1962. Organized at Tan Son Nhut Air Base, South Vietnam in October 1962 to control USAF operations there. From December 1962, it controlled all activities and units in Southeast Asia, initially, USAF tactical forces FARM GATE C/H- 47, B/RB-26, T-28, and U-10 counterinsurgency forces, and MULE TRAIN C-123 assault airlift forces. Forces assigned and attached to the 2d Air Division trained Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) and Royal Thai Air Force personnel, flew reconnaissance, airlift, and defoliation missions, and operated a tactical control system. Escalation of fighting in South Vietnam in early 1965 brought new offensive assignments. On 8 February 1965 USAF and VNAF aircraft assaulted targets north of the demilitarized zone in the first of a series of continuing strikes. On 19 February 1965, USAF F-100 Super Sabres and B-57 Canberras attacked the Viet Cong inside South Vietnam the first use of jets for such offensive actions. In July 1965, a major reorganization of the division saw tactical fighter wings established at Bien Hoa Air Base and Danang Air Base, and five separate combat support groups at other South Vietnamese bases. The rapid expansion of the division's personnel and facilities continued well into 1966, with a matching expansion in both the volume and variety of air operations. On 1 April 1966, the division's resources were absorbed by the newly activated Seventh Air Force. From March 1983 – February 1987, 2d Air Division forces, with worldwide responsibilities and assignments, engaged in deployment, exercise and training programs. Subordinate units flew drug interdiction missions under Operation BAT.