IX Tactical Air Command

IX Tactical Air Command
367th Fighter Group Lockheed P-38G-10-LO Lightning 42-12982
Active	1943-1945
Country	United States
Branch	United States Army Air Forces
Role	Fighter Command and Control

The IX Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Ninth Air Force, based at Camp Shanks, New York. It was inactivated on 25 October 1945.

Formed in England during 1943 as IX Air Support Command (IX ASC). The primary mission of the command was to provide tactical Close Air Support of the United States First Army ground forces to interdict concentration of enemy forces, attack communications and ammunition dumps, and harass the enemy's retreat as well as provide reconnaissance to bombing support.

It was re-designated as IX Tactical Air Command (IX TAC) in April 1944 in England, and its mission initially was attacking enemy forces in Occupied France and the Low Countries in preparation for the Normandy Invasion in June. Targets included bridges, roads, railroads and enemy interceptor aircraft both on the ground as well as in air-to-air combat.

After the D-Day invasion, IX Tactical Thunderbolts attacked enemy targets initially in the Cotentin Peninsula, then supported Operation Cobra, the breakout of Normandy and attacked enemy forces in the Falaise-Argentan Gap. Targets were expanded to include enemy tanks, vehicles of all types, and troop formations. Many times targets of opportunity on the ground were spotted and attacked when seen. Coordinated attacks were made with Allied ground forces and when Allied forces attacked strong enemy defenses, the enemy defenses received machine-gun and attacked by rockets and bombs from the P-47 Thunderbolts. In the air, IX Tactical aggressively sought combat with Luftwaffe aircraft and cleared the skies above the battlefield of enemy aircraft.

Wing headquarters and subordinate units operated primarily from liberated airfields and newly built temporary Advanced Landing Grounds in France, moved into north-central France, its groups attacking enemy targets near Paris then north-west into Belgium and the southern Netherlands. In December 1944/January 1945, engaged enemy targets on the north side of the Battle of the Bulge, then moved eastward into the Northern Rhineland as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany.