IX Fighter Command

IX Fighter Command
World War II Emblem of Ninth Air Force
Active	1942–1945
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Role	Fighter Command and Control

The IX Fighter Command was a United States Army Air Forces formation. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Erlangen, Germany. It was inactivated on 16 November 1945.

IX Fighter Command was the primary tactical fighter air arm of Ninth Air Force in the Western Desert Campaign in North Africa during 1942-1943. Reassigned to England, it became the dominant tactical air force over the skies of Western Europe during the 1944 Battle of Normandy and the Western Allied invasion of Germany in 1945.

After its inactivation, the majority of its (along with Twelfth Air Force) units were incorporated into the postwar United States Air Force Tactical Air Command.

In Egypt during January 1943, IX Fighter Command became the control organization for Ninth Air Force fighter units assigned to the Western Desert Campaign (Libya and Tunisia).

Although wings were officially subordinate to the command, combat groups were attached to the Desert Air Force, which included squadrons of the Royal Air Force, Royal Australian Air Force and South African Air Force.

IX Fighter Command was reassigned to England in November 1943 as part of Normandy invasion planning. Its subordinate units were reassigned to the Twelfth Air Force.