United States Air Force Warfare Center

United States Air Force Warfare Center
Emblem of the United States Air Force Warfare Center
Active	1966–present
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Warfare Training
Part of	Air Combat Command
Garrison/HQ	Nellis AFB, Nevada
Website	www.nellis.af.mil/Units/USAFWC/
Commanders
Commander	Maj Gen Christopher J. Niemi
Vice Commander	Brig Gen Jesse J. Friedel
Command Chief Master Sergeant	CCMSgt Emilio Hernandez

A flight of Aggressor F-15 Eagles and F-16 Fighting Falcons fly in formation over the Nevada Test and Training Range

The first F-22A assigned to the USAFWC

USAF Thunderbirds, part of the United States Air Force Warfare Center

An HH-60G Pave Hawk retrieves a pararescueman as an A-10 Thunderbolt II provides cover fire during a firepower demonstration on the Nellis bombing range.

The United States Air Force Warfare Center (USAFWC) at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, reports directly to Air Combat Command. The center was founded on September 1, 1966, as the U.S. Air Force Tactical Fighter Weapons Center. It was renamed the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center in 2005. ^[1]

Overview

The USAF Warfare Center manages advanced pilot training and integrates many of the Air Force's test and evaluation requirements. It was established in 1966 as the USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center which concentrated on the development of forces and weapons systems that were specifically geared to tactical air operations in conventional (non-nuclear) war and contingencies. It continued to perform this mission for nearly thirty years, undergoing several name changes in the 1990s. In 1991, the center became the USAF Fighter Weapons Center, and then the USAF Weapons and Tactics Center in 1992. ^[1]

The USAF Warfare Center uses the lands and airspace of the Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR) – which occupies about three million acres (12,000 km²) of land, the largest such range in the United States, and another five-million-acre (20,000 km²) military operating area which is shared with civilian aircraft. The center also uses Eglin AFB, FL, range, which adds even greater depth to the center's capabilities, providing over water and additional electronic expertise to the center. ^[1]

The USAF Warfare Center oversees operations of the 57th Wing, the NTTR, and the 99th Air Base Wings at Nellis AFB, Nevada; the 53d Wing (with Geographically Separated Units at Tyndall AFB, Florida and Holloman AFB, New Mexico) and 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing at Eglin AFB, Florida; and the 505th Command and Control Wing at Hurlburt Field, Florida. ^[1]

Units

• 53d Wing (53 WG)

The 53d Wing serves as the focal point for the combat air forces in electronic combat, armament and avionics, chemical defense, reconnaissance, command and control, and aircrew training devices.

• 57th Wing (57 WG)

The 57th Wing is responsible for a variety of activities, such as Red Flag, which provides realistic training in a combined air, ground and electronic threat environment for U.S. and allied forces. It is also the parent unit for both the USAF Weapons School (USAFWS) and the USAF Air Demonstration Squadron, the latter better known as the United States Air Force Thunderbirds.

• Nevada Test and Training Range (NTTR)

Previously known as the 98th Range Wing (98 RANW), the military organization known as NTTR provides command and control of the actual Nevada Test and Training Range facility located north and northwest of Nellis AFB. The 25th Space Range Squadron (SRS) operates and maintains the Space Test and Training Range and is a subordinate unit the NTTR.

• 99th Air Base Wing (99 ABW)

The 99th Air Base Wing is the host wing at Nellis AFB and manages the day-to-day operations of the base.

• 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing (350 SWW)

• 505th Command and Control Wing (505 CCW)

The 505 CCW is dedicated to improving warfighter readiness through integrated training, tactics, and testing for operational-level command and control of air, space, and cyber power. It hosts the Air Force's only Air Operations Center Formal Training Unit (FTU). ^[1]

History

By the mid-1960s, USAF aircraft and aircrew losses in the Vietnam War had convinced Tactical Air Command (TAC) of the need to improve technical and operational skills for the widening conflict. TAC established the Tactical Fighter Weapons Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada in 1966 for the expressed purpose of improving fighter operations and tactics. Nellis AFB had been referred to as the "Home of the Fighter Pilot" since the Korean War period of the early 1950s, and had a long history of conducting postgraduate fighter training and operational testing and evaluation of fighter weapons systems. Additionally, the Nellis Range, largest in the free world, readily complemented the new center's mission.

Lineage

• Established as the USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center in 1966

Redesignated: USAF Fighter Weapons Center in 1991

Redesignated: USAF Weapons and Tactics Center in 1992

Redesignated: USAF Warfare Center in 2005.

Assignments

• Tactical Air Command, 1966 – 1992
• Air Combat Command, 1992 – present

Units assigned

Operational units assigned to the USAFWC have been: ^[2]

Wing

• 4545th Fighter Warfare Wing, 1966 – 22 August 1969
• 57th Fighter Weapons Wing (later 57th Tactical Training Wing, 57th Fighter Wing, 57th Wing), 22 August 1969 – present
• 350th Spectrum Warfare Wing - ?? - present

Groups

• 57th Fighter, 1 November 1991 – present
• 57th Test, 1 November 1991 – 1 October 1996
• 4440th Tactical Fighter Training (Red Flag)

Attached 1 October 1979 – 28 February 1980

Assigned 1 March 1980 – 1 November 1991

• 4443d Tactical Training: 26 January 1990 – 1 November 1991

Squadrons

• 64th Fighter Weapons (later, 64th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 64th Aggressor): 15 October 1972 – 5 October 1990.
• 65th Fighter Weapons (later, 65th Tactical Fighter Training Aggressor; 65th Aggressor): 15 October 1969 – 7 April 1989.
• 66th Fighter Weapons: 15 October 1969 – 30 December 1981
• 414th Fighter Weapons: 15 October 1969 – 30 December 1981
• 422d Fighter Weapons (later, 422d Test and Evaluation): 15 October 1969 – 1 November 1991
• 431st Fighter Weapons (later, 431st Test and Evaluation): 1 October 1980 – 1 November 1991
• 433d Fighter Weapons: 1 October 1976 – 30 December 1981
• 4460th Helicopter: 1 November 1983 – 1 June 1985
• 4477th Test and Evaluation Flight (later, 4477th Test and Evaluation Squadron): 1 April 1977 – 15 July 1990
• USAF Air Demonstration Squadron: 15 February 1974 – present

Aircraft flown

A-7 Corsair II, 1969 – 1975 F-4 Phantom II, 1969 – 1985, 1992 – 2016 F-4G Wild Weasel, 1992 – 1995 QF-4 and QRF-4 Phantom II (Drone), 1993 – 2016 F-100 Super Sabre, 1969 – 1972 QF-100 Super Sabre (Drone), 1983 – 1993 F-105 Thunderchief, 1969 – 1975 QF-106 Delta Dart (Drone), 1991–1996 General Dynamics F-111, 1969 – 1995 T-38 Talon, 1972 – 1990 Northrop F-5, 1975 – 1989 UH-1 Iroquois, 1981 – 1985 B-1 Lancer, 1993 – 1999 B-52 Stratofortress, 1993 – 1999 MQ-1 Predator, 1995 – 2018

F-22 Raptor, 2004 – present F-35 Lightning II, 2014 – present F-15 Eagle, 1976 – present F-15E Strike Eagle, 1992 – present F-15EX Eagle II, 2021 – present A-10 Thunderbolt II, 1977 – present F-16 Fighting Falcon, 1980 – present MQ-9 Reaper, 2007 – present

source ^[2]

List of commanders

No.	Commander [3]		Term
	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Duration
1		Major General Ralph G. Taylor Jr.	September 1, 1966	December 15, 1969	3 years, 82 days
2		Brigadier General Homer K. Hansen	November 22, 1969	July 23, 1971	1 year, 243 days
3		Major General William S. Chairsell	July 23, 1971	June 29, 1973	1 year, 341 days
4		Major General Gordon F. Blood	June 29, 1973	February 10, 1975	1 year, 226 days
5		Major General James A. Knight Jr.	February 10, 1975	June 12, 1977	2 years, 122 days
6		Major General James R. Hildreth	June 12, 1977	March 30, 1979	1 year, 291 days
7		Major General Robert E. Kelley	March 30, 1979	June 3, 1981	2 years, 65 days
8		Major General Jack I. Gregory	June 3, 1981	May 11, 1983	1 year, 342 days
9		Major General Eugene H. Fischer	May 11, 1983	July 13, 1985	2 years, 63 days
10		Major General Peter T. Kempf	July 13, 1985	June 21, 1988	2 years, 344 days
11		Major General Joseph W. Ashy	June 21, 1988	July 19, 1989	1 year, 28 days
12		Major General Billy G. McCoy	July 19, 1989	June 5, 1992	2 years, 322 days
13		Major General Thomas R. Griffith	June 5, 1992	July 21, 1994	2 years, 46 days
14		Major General Richard C. Bethurem	July 21, 1994	April 4, 1996	1 year, 258 days
15		Major General Marvin R. Esmond	April 4, 1996	July 7, 1998	2 years, 94 days
16		Major General Glen W. Moorhead III	July 7, 1998	January 31, 2000	1 year, 208 days
17		Major General Lawrence D. Johnston	January 31, 2000	June 25, 2002	2 years, 145 days
18		Major General Stephen G. Wood	June 25, 2002	October 4, 2004	2 years, 101 days
19		Major General Stephen M. Goldfein	October 4, 2004	October 6, 2006	2 years, 2 days
20		Major General R. Michael Worden	October 6, 2006	February 8, 2008	1 year, 125 days
21		Major General Stephen L. Hoog	February 8, 2008	May 18, 2009	1 year, 99 days
22		Major General Stanley T. Kresge [5]	May 18, 2009	November 2010	1 year, 167 days
22		Major General James W. Hyatt [7]	November 2010	July 20, 2012	1 year, 262 days
23		Major General Jeffrey G. Lofgren [9]	July 20, 2012	January 2014	1 year, 165 days
24		Major General Jay B. Silveria	February 21, 2014	March 2016	2 years, 9 days
25		Major General Glen D. VanHerck	March 2016	July 13, 2017	1 year, 134 days
26		Major General Peter E. Gersten [11]	July 13, 2017	June 2, 2019	1 year, 324 days
-		Brigadier General David W. Snoddy Acting	June 2, 2019	July 12, 2019	40 days
27		Major General Charles Corcoran [13]	July 12, 2019	June 18, 2021	1 year, 341 days
28		Major General Case Cunningham [15]	June 18, 2021	August 6, 2024	3 years, 49 days
29		Major General Christopher J. Niemi	August 6, 2024	Incumbent	58 days

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

1. "U.S. Air Force Warfare Center Fact Sheet". Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved March 24, 2014.
2. "U.S. Air Force Historical Research Agency, 57th Wing". Archived from the original on May 7, 2011. Retrieved October 2, 2008.
3. "USAF Warfare Center (ACC)".
5. "Lieutenant General Stanley T. Kresge".
7. "Major General James W. Hyatt".
9. "Lieutenant General Jeffrey G. Lofgren".
11. "MAJOR GENERAL PETER e. GERSTEN > U.S. Air Force > Biography Display". Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 25 September 2020.
13. "Charles S. Corcoran".
15. "MAJOR GENERAL CASE A. CUNNINGHAM" . Retrieved 20 June 2021.