Its last assignment was with Third Air Force stationed at Barksdale Field, Louisiana.

[1] In the summer of 1941 GHQ AF decided to establish commands to direct its air support mission in each numbered air force, plus one additional command reporting directly to GHQ AF.

[6] At various times, the III Tactical Air Command trained dive bombardment, light bombardment, and reconnaissance organizations and personnel; also gave air support to ground units in training and participated in air-ground maneuvers and demonstrations.

In October of 1942, AAF directed that half of the observation groups assigned to the command were to be reduced to 50% strength or less with their personnel used to form new tow target squadrons, or transferred to heavy bomber Operational Training Unit (OTU)s or Replacement Training Unit (RTU)s.[7] In the summer of 1943, the Army Air Forces had begun to act to combine tactical and photographic reconnaissance functions, and in July, directed Third Air Force to establish a reconnaissance command that would train all tactical and photographic units and operate replacement training units for the personnel of those units.

[citation needed] This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency