Allied Air Forces Central Europe

Allied Air Forces Central Europe
Coat of arms
Active	1951-1993
Allegiance	North Atlantic Treaty Organization
Part of	Allied Command Operations, Casteau, Belgium
Location	Ramstein, Germany

Allied Air Forces Central Europe (AAFCE) was the NATO command tasked with air and air defense operations in NATOs Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) area of command.

Allied Air Forces Central Europe was activated on 2 April 1951 at Fontainebleau in France through General Dwight D. Eisenhower's General Order No. 1. The first commanding officer of AAFCE was U.S. Air Force general Lauris Norstad, commanding general of US Air Forces in Europe, Wiesbaden. AAFCE reported to Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) at Fontainebleau, which in turn reported to Allied Command Europe, headquartered at Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE) in Rocquencourt. The task of AAFCE was to control and command allied air assets in the NATO Central Region [of Europe] in wartime.

Flight magazine, in the first of a three-part feature on 26 June 1953, described AAFCE as already comprising two allied tactical air forces, Second Allied Tactical Air Force, under RAF Air Marshal Sir Robert Foster, comprising British-Dutch No. 2 Group RAF, Belgian-Dutch 69 Group (which later issues described as being responsible for 'Low Countries Air Defence' and being alternately under Dutch and Belgian officers), and British-Belgian No. 83 Group RAF. Fourth Allied Tactical Air Force, under General Dean C. Strother (USAF), comprised the Twelfth Air Force, French 1er Air Division, and the Canadian No. 1 Air Division RCAF.

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