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326:, a unit commander of one air force would be assigned a deputy commander from the other air force. A major exception to this convention existed in the MAC headquarters itself, where Tedder's Deputy Commander-in-Chief was Air Vice Marshal H. E. P. Wigglesworth. However, the MAC chief of staff was American Brigadier General Howard A. Craig, who had been schooled in desert warfare army-air operations by both Tedder and
456:, which had been the largest air force ever assembled following its inception several months earlier, ceased to exist in the new MAC organization. The 12th simply disappeared as its groups were distributed among the various NAAF commands. The sole remaining reference to the 12th Air Force among the higher commands was
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The
Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) was the principal sub-command of MAC, and its structure was based on the successful air interdiction model of the RAF. In keeping with the RAF model, planners at the Casablanca Conference vested NAAF with three major combat commands:
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C.J.C. Molony, F.C. Flynn, H.L. Davies, and T.P. Gleave, The
Mediterranean and the Middle East, Vol. V, The Campaign in Sicily 1943 and the Campaign in Italy, 3 September 1943 to 31 March 1944, London: HMSO,
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Army Air Forces
Historical Office Headquarters, Participation of the Ninth & Twelfth Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign, Army Air Forces Historical Study No. 37, Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, 1945.
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tactic involved the highly mobile leap-frogging of interspersed landing fields to facilitate the performance of 1) attack; 2) top cover; and 3) reserve (refueling) fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons.
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Air interdiction, using strategic, coastal, and tactical air forces, was further implemented, practiced, and developed by the NAAF throughout the
Tunisian, Sicilian, and Italian campaigns.
296:, consisted of successive squadrons of bombers dropping a rolling barrage of bombs, ahead of their advancing forces. This motivated the nickname of the 12th Bombardment Group as
257:) for two years. Coordination and cooperation between the USAAF, the RAF, and Allied naval and ground forces were a major concern to British and American leaders at the
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Craven, Wesley F., and James L. Cate. The Army Air Forces in World War II, Volume 2, Chicago, Illinois: Chicago
University Press, 1949 (Reprinted 1983,
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The primary forces used for cooperative strategic, naval, and close air support of ground forces by Tedder and
Coningham in
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Howe, George F., Northwest Africa: Seizing the
Initiative in the West, Center of Military History, Washington, DC., 1991.
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The successful air interdiction model of the RAF was developed by Tedder as
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during this period has been contrasted with the more rigid relationship between the
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as Air
Officer Commanding Air H.Q., The Western Desert, in 1942.
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air force command that was active in the North African and
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in the Northwest African Tactical Air Force's western
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February 18 – December 10, 1943
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618:US Department of State – Office Of The Historian
261:. The flexible coordination of the RAF with the
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542:"Milestones; The Casablanca Conference"
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376:Northwest African Strategic Air Force
395:Northwest African Tactical Air Force
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643:Allied air commands of World War II
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318:To promote cooperation between the
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283:Middle East Command
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476:Disbandment
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251:Axis forces
219:Pantelleria
163:Engagements
637:Categories
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552:28 January
389:Hugh Lloyd
336:James Robb
314:Commanders
300:. Another
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