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PART II: OUR AIR TASK FORCE
The origins of the first Philippine Assault Air Task force go back to
the Buna campaign. Here's how this streamlined organization works
When the first ,\:\1" com h.rt pLIlles-a squ.idr on of P- ::Ss
-arrileel in the Ph ilippiucs thcv found an opcr.rtiona l
and service organization already estahlished. lrom the
moment of LIlldlllg they were able to go mt o operation
agaimt the cncuiv.
An hour after'laneling on A plus 7, the first P-::Ss, refueled
and sen iced, took off on patrol. AIllong then: I\'as
}'Iaj. Richard Bong, \lho got IllS first Jap ()\IT the Phihppine,
with in the hour, got hlo more a fell' elays later, hringillg
lu-, score to 33 enullY planes dc-.t iovcd in aerial combat.
During their first elay the [.ightlllllgs downed si:-.:J;IP planes.
011 the follo\\]ng dav, October 29, this handful of fighters
took over all' cover for the Philippine lsl.md operation, Before
a week II';IS out their score \las an even 'iO,
This lIas possible only because the ::OSth Bomb \\"ing,
~LTlmg as an .ur task force, had laid the ground work, set
"P operations, estthhsheel service and supply facilities, gathered
intelligence, and was operating a com p lctc connuunic.rtions
network. An .iirclrun rc squadron \I'as on the job. An
air force surgical hospital capable of perforIlling nw)or surgen'
was ready, The air liaison part:' with the 30Sth kid been
set with their air-grounel communication since A plus -t, and
contact had been established with five air liaison parties att.ichcd
to various iuf.mtrv and art illcrv units, Intelligence on
(nullY activities .md air strength had been uccumulatcd .
Around this nucleus was heing built the First Philippine
,\ssault Air Task Force.
The first few davs, our fighters were const.mtlv in the air.
Several import.mt rcconuu issaucc missions were f10\\'l1 at the
request of our ground troops, Concentrations of enemy
troops were bombed, and escorts \In'C furnished for small
:'\a\'al craft on coastal operations, Advice from the front line
that a [ap Photo Joe had covered a strategic highlvay was
passed on to the fighters, enabling them to be on the alert
tor a bombing attack, The first Jap bomber force in strength
was turned back bv four P-38s which downed three escorts,
Weather deLl\'C~1 the .u rivul of other air units from the
'ith Air Force, (t wasn't until A plus II that C--t 7 transport
planes came in escorted hv our P- ::8s from the southern
Ph ilippines. Their cargo lIas food for the figh ter units, their
return mission the evacuation of seriously wounded. Later
in the day came the first contingent of 1)-61 night fighters.
Two more strips had been secured. Aviation engineers under
armed eOl1\'oy fought their Il'ay through a sea of mud within
range of [up snipers to reach them. Laudins; strips had to
he filled in. operation control set up, service facilities brought
up, The air tusk force Il'as sh(m'ing its normal growth from
fighters to light bombers and then to medium bomhcrs.
The morning of ;'\'0\',2 an intelligence report carne in that
smile 60 Jap bombers with fighter escort were on their wav.
'\ine P-::Ss scrambled to meet them. 1':I'en'one raised his
eves to the skies, \vaiting for the acr ial devastation th.it
seemed to be incvit.iblc. :\othing happened. Then carne the
heartening message that our few fighters had met a strong
formation of P-38s curoutc to reinforce Lcvtc, The two
joined forces. Three of the Japs were shot do;\'n over Lcvtc
Gulf, the others turned tail.
All this was an air t.i sk force in operation. Air battles
must he based on plodding work on the groun(l. build ing up
the ha ttlc opera t iouul orga n iza tion wi thout II'h ich a nair
DECEMBER,1944
force can neither f1y nor fight. The initial mission of the
3()Sth Os opcrutioual organl/,ation of the Fust .vir Task Force
\\'as set forth by its eOlllluaneling otliccr. Col. ])alid \V.
l l utt-h iusou. in a terse order of the d.iv. lirvt, in coujuuct
ion with carrier b.ixcd pl.mc-; the xI''!' will provide local
cover over 'laclob.m and Dulag area,. Second, furnish airground
coord in.: tion IIi th the Sixth :\n IIv when req ucstcd.
Th irei, conduct nigh t figh tcr pa trol. lourth. fumixh courier
service. Fif th , furnish cover for 1''1' bo.rts.
The air task force origmated with Ccncr.il J(enne:' at the
time of the Bun.i cuupaigu in early I ()-t:;, The original \\'as
called the Buna Air Task Force, ]31' Fcbru.u, I (H-t. three
air task forces IILTe operating, and three hOln'b ,,'mgs-the
::08th, ::()9th, 310th authorized as their operations headquarters
organization.
The need for air task forces came with the rapid advance
of our air forces through 1\ell' Cuinca. In order to correlate
activities of ClIO, the Allied air force, and the
Australian Imperial I'ore;, General Kcnncv found it essential
to maintain a hc.ulqu.ntcrs in Brisbane. As air .ict ivitv
spread from AllStralia into ~ell' Cu inca , the Br ixb.mc headquarters
became too remote for d:fiCIent operational control.
To rcmcdv this an advance echelon of the 'ith Air Force,
"ADVO:\," \\'as established at Port ~Ioresh\'. with Xla].
Gen. Ennis C. \\'hitehead as Kenney's clcputv conun.mdcr.
Our advance gained momentum, and January 19-t:: saw the
f.ill of Buua. A more forward operational base \\'as required
to correlate the activities of the advance air combat units.
,\D\'O:\' ulrcadv found itself too far in the rear. The Buna
Air Task Force \\'as created in ?\ larch 19-t:: operating out of
Dobndur.i. This obviated crossing the Owen St.mlcv range.
which eliminated 7'i miles of treacherous, to\\'Cring mountains
and added conxidcrablv to the operational efficiency of
our combat clements. So successful was this iunov.ition in
the air war that the air task force bcc.unc an integral part
of the Southwest Pacific Air Force.
As conceived hv Ccncral Kenney, an air task force has no
rear echelon. It is purely an operational organi/,ation streamlined
to the utmost. ha\'ing no ndm inistrat ivc functions.
Flexible. not burdened with the routine and details of administration,
its organization can perform an air force mission
more efficiently and with fewer aircraft. uircrcws and ground
crews. Organization is of the cellular unit tvpc. Air echelons
and service units arc added as the practical need arises, far
from the 5th Air Force. These nnits arc attached to the air
task force for a particular operation only. \\'hen an area has
been secured for routine air activitv, the attached air and
ground units return to their parent organi/ation, The air
force takes O\'Cr the operation. The air task forcc retires for
a brief rest to prepare for the next aerial threat.
During its period of activitv the air task force assumes
operational control of all air .ictivitv inherent in an air force.
includ ing a prelude of sa tura tion hom hi ng where necessary,
air patrol, attacks on shipping, rcconn.ussancc. tactical bombing
and strafing, An air task force h.is all the functions of an
air force propcr except those of ndm inist r.rtiou. wh ic]: are
prone to make a headquarters tophc.ivv and opcratiouallv
clumsv. It has the basic headquarters. en~ineering, chemical
warfare, psychological warfare, signal. ordn.mcc, medical and
(Continued 011 pa£;c 4t))
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