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20th Air Force

The 20th AF comprised very heavy bombardment units and operated from India, Marianas and Guam. The 20th AF dropped the two atomic bombs on Japan.

Visit our 20th Air Force Honor Project with rosters of servicemen who served in the groups of the 20th.

Constituted as Twentieth AF on 4 Apr 1944 and activated the same day. Some combat elements moved in the summer of 1944 from the US to India where they carried out very heavy bombardment operations against targets in Japan, Formosa, Thailand, and Burma. Other combat elements began moving late in 1944 from the US to the Marianas, being joined there early in 1945 by the elements that had been in India. Headquarters, which had remained in the US, was transferred to Guam in Jul 1945. From the Marianas the Twentieth conducted a strategic air offensive that was climaxed by the dropping of two atomic bombs on Japan. After the war the Twentieth remained in the theater and eventually became part of Far East Air Forces. Served in combat for a short time at the beginning of the Korean War but later was concerned primarily with logistic support for the operations of other organizations and with air defense for the Ryukyus. Inactivated on Okinawa on 1 Mar 1955.

Commands. VII Fighter: 1945. XX Bomber: 1944-1945. XXI Bomber: 1944-1945.

Stations. Washington, DC, 4 Apr 1944; Harmon Field, Guam, 16 Jul 1945; Kadena, Okinawa, 16 May 1949-1 Mar 1955.

Commanders. General of the Army Henry H Arnold, 6 Apr 1944; Maj Gen Curtis E LeMay, 16 Jul 1945; Lt Gen Nathan F Twining, 2 Aug 1945; Maj Gen James E Parker, 15 Oct 1945; Brig Gen Frederick M Hopkins Jr, 19 Mar 1946; Maj Gen Francis H Griswold, 10 Sep 1946; Maj Gen Alvan C Kincaid, 8 Sep 1948; Maj Gen Ralph F Stearley, 31 Ju 1950; Maj Gen Fay R Upthegrove, 8 Feb 1953-1 Mar 1955.

Campaigns. World War II: American Theater; India-Burma; Air Offensive, Japan; China Defensive; Eastern Mandates; Western Pacific; Central Burma. Korean War: UN Defensive.

Decorations. None.

Insigne. A disc of ultramarine blue marked with white parallels of latitude and meridians of longitude surmounted in base by a white star charged at center with a red disc and circumscribed by an annulet golden orange lined blue, tips enclosing the Arabic numeral "20". (Approved 26 May 1944.)

Data from Air Force Combat Units of World War II By Maurer, Maurer, Published 1986

Historical Perspective

a. Status, readiness, and supply of US armed forces

Twentieth Air Force's unusual command arrangement, reporting directly to General Arnold in Washington rather than to a theater commander, reflects the extraordinary strategic priority and enormous resource investment the B-29 Superfortress program represented; the aircraft's development, production, and deployment consumed resources on a scale comparable to the Manhattan Project itself, and Arnold's direct personal oversight ensured this investment translated into coordinated strategic effect rather than being subordinated to any single theater's competing priorities. The command's dual basing arrangement, operating simultaneously from India-China (XX Bomber Command) and the Marianas (XXI Bomber Command) before consolidating in the Pacific, reflects the genuinely global logistics challenge of supporting a brand-new, highly complex aircraft type across two entirely separate operational theaters simultaneously.

b. Development of fighting men and command structures

The B-29's technical sophistication demanded an entirely new tier of aircrew training and maintenance expertise, and Twentieth Air Force's command structure, evolving from dual bomber commands into a unified Marianas-based strategic force, reflects continuous organizational learning as the program matured from its difficult, resource-constrained China-basing period into the more logistically sustainable Marianas operations that ultimately enabled sustained, high-tempo strategic bombing against the Japanese home islands.

c. Prominent personnel and their role with the organization

General Henry H. Arnold's personal command of Twentieth Air Force, a genuinely unique arrangement among Army Air Forces numbered commands, reflects the singular strategic importance he placed on the B-29 program throughout its development and deployment. Major General Curtis E. LeMay's assumption of command in July 1945, following his earlier leadership of both XX and XXI Bomber Commands, brought his low-altitude incendiary bombing doctrine, first developed and refined against Japanese cities, to the entire Twentieth Air Force organization at the precise moment the command executed its most consequential and historically significant missions, the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki that helped bring the war to its conclusion.

FAQ

Q1: When was Twentieth Air Force established?
A1: Twentieth Air Force was constituted and activated April 4, 1944, created specifically to direct the new B-29 Superfortress campaign against Japan under General Arnold's personal command.

Q2: Why did Twentieth Air Force report directly to General Arnold?
A2: Unlike other numbered air forces assigned to theater commanders, Twentieth Air Force reported directly to General Hap Arnold in Washington, reflecting the strategic priority placed on the B-29 campaign against Japan.

Q3: What theaters did Twentieth Air Force operate from?
A3: Twentieth Air Force operated B-29s from bases in India and China through XX Bomber Command, then from the Mariana Islands through XXI Bomber Command beginning late 1944.

Q4: What was Twentieth Air Force's role in ending the war?
A4: Twentieth Air Force's B-29s conducted the sustained strategic bombing campaign against Japan that culminated in the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945.

Q5: Who commanded Twentieth Air Force during WWII?
A5: General of the Army Henry H. Arnold personally commanded Twentieth Air Force from its creation, followed by Major General Curtis E. LeMay beginning July 1945.

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