Civil Reserve Air Fleet

The Civil Reserve Air Fleet is part of the United States's mobility resources. Selected aircraft from U.S. airlines, contractually committed to Civil Reserve Air Fleet, support United States Department of Defense airlift requirements in emergencies when the need for airlift exceeds the capability of military aircraft.

During World War II civil air transport was widely used during the first two years of the conflict by mutual agreement between the Air Transport Association and the United States Army Air Forces until the Air Transport Command could acquire sufficient aircraft and train crews to handle the global air transport mission itself. After the war, the lessons learned were either forgotten or ignored when ATC was as severely demobilized as the rest of the U.S. military. In 1952, after aircraft were commandeered for the Berlin Airlift, CRAF was created as a more orderly way of serving emergency military needs.

The Fleet has three main segments: international, national and aeromedical evacuation. The international segment is further divided into the long-range and short-range sections and the national segment into the domestic and Alaskan sections. Assignment of aircraft to a segment depends on the nature of the requirement and the performance characteristics needed.

The long-range international section consists of passenger and cargo aircraft capable of transoceanic operations. The role of these aircraft is to augment the Air Mobility Command's long-range intertheater C-5s and C-17s during periods of increased airlift needs, from minor contingencies up through full national defense emergencies.

Medium-sized passenger and cargo aircraft make up the short-range international section supporting near offshore airlift requirements.

The aircraft in the Alaskan section provide airlift within U.S. Pacific Command's area of responsibility, specific to Alaska needs. The domestic section is designed to satisfy increased DoD airlift requirements in the U.S. during an emergency.

...
Wikipedia