The IX Tactical Air Command was a formation of the United States Army Air Forces. It fought in the European theater of World War II. Its last assignment was at Camp Shanks, New York, where it was inactivated on 25 October 1945.

History

Formed in the United Kingdom during 1943 as the IX Air Support Command, its primary role was to provide close air support for the U.S. First Army. Re-designated as the IX Tactical Air Command in April 1944, its initial missions included interdicting transportation, disrupting communications and destroying warehouses and supply dumps in occupied France and the Low Countries in preparation for the Normandy Invasion in June. Targets included bridges, road junctions, railroads, airfields, radio towers and telephone exchanges. Engaging enemy aircraft in the air and establishing air superiority was another priority. After the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, IX Tactical Air Command Republic P-47 Thunderbolts concentrated on enemy targets in the Cotentin Peninsula area and afterward supported Operation Cobra, the breakout of Normandy. Paying particular attention to German forces in the Falaise-Argentan Gap, targets were expanded to include tanks, vehicles of all types and troop formations. Many times targets of opportunity on the ground were spontaneously attacked when spotted. Coordinated attacks were made with Allied ground forces, especially when they were being held up by strong defenses. Thunderbolts dropped bombs at low level, made rocket attacks and strafed enemy positions with demoralizing effect. Wing headquarters and subordinate units operated primarily from liberated airfields and temporary Advanced Landing Grounds. Moving into north-central France, its groups attacked enemy targets near Paris and then concentrated its activity north-west across Belgium and into the southern Netherlands. In December 1944 and January 1945 it engaged targets on the north flank of the Battle of the Bulge, then concentrated eastward into the Northern Rhineland as part of the Western Allied invasion of Germany. The First Army was closely supported as it crossed the Rhine River at Remagen after which attacks were made on ground targets in the Ruhr district where air support was given to Allied forces that had encircled a large concentration of German troops in the Ruhr Pocket. That operation essentially ended organized enemy resistance in western Germany. The First Army halted its advance at the Elbe River in late April 1945 after which the wing engaged targets of opportunity in enemy-controlled areas until the fighting ended on 5 May 1945. The IX Tactical Air Command remained in Europe after the war as part of United States Air Forces in Europe (USAFE), performing occupation duty and the destruction or shipment to the United States of captured enemy combat equipment. Assigned units also performed air defense duty over the American Zone of Occupation. It returned to the United States and was inactivated during October 1945.

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