While it could fight, if necessary, the principal function of the CASF was to deter Communist aggression in such areas as the Middle East or Latin America, beyond the reach of American forces already stationed overseas.

Each of its elements would prepare and store flyaway kits of spare parts and supplies, and each of its members would have specific deployment tasks assigned.

Upon arrival in-theater, the unit would be able to sustain operations for 30 days on minimum logistics support, with the addition of required food, fuel, and munitions.

Air-to-air refueling not only made rapid response possible, it enabled the various elements of the CASF to maintain themselves economically on their home bases until the need to deploy arose.

[5] The mission of Nineteenth Air Force was to prepare contingency plans for and to command short-notice deployments of the CASF anywhere in the world.

It required each individual member to be ready for instant departure from the United States, and its staff sections maintained 30-day flyaway kits prepared for shipment.

This unique arrangement allowed for continuity of planning and expertise and helped overcome some of the disadvantages inherent in the U.S. armed forces policy of churning personnel through different assignments every three or so years.

On 15 July 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower, acting at the request of the Lebanese government, ordered the U.S. Marine Corps (USMC) into Beirut, Lebanon to help preserve that small country from a wave of popular discontent that was sweeping the Middle East, toppling monarchies in Syria and Iraq and replacing them with military regimes hostile to United States interests.

Under the command of Maj. Gen. Henry Viccellio, within three hours, B-57 Canberra tactical bombers of the 345th Bombardment Wing, Langley AFB, left for the only friendly major operating airfield in the region, Adana Air Base, Turkey, fifteen minutes' flight time from Beirut.

In another three hours, TAC KB–50J Superfortress tankers from the 427th Air Refueling Squadron left Langley AFB to refuel F-100 Super Sabre fighters from the 354th Tactical Fighter Wing departing Myrtle Beach Air Force Base, South Carolina, while RF-101 Voodoos and RB-66 Destroyers from the 363d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing left Shaw AFB, South Carolina.

F–100s from the 31st Tactical Fighter Wing, George Air Force Base carrying AIM-9 Sidewinder air-to-air missiles took off on 30 August and spent that night at Hickam AFB, Hawaii.

RF–101s from the 432d Tactical Reconnaissance Wing Shaw AFB arrived soon after, and C–130s formed an airlift bridge carrying support personnel, equipment, tools, and workstands to Clark.

[5] In September 1962, when racial tension over the integration of the state university in Oxford, Mississippi, caused the federal government to send in troops, personnel of the Nineteenth coordinated airlift activities.

[5] For practical purposes, the Vietnam War ended the work of the Nineteenth Air Force, as that conflict absorbed a large proportion of the USAF’s assets not directly dedicated to the nuclear deterrent and consequently lessened the nation’s ability to intervene in other crisis areas.

They proposed to divide the USAF’s combat strength and the elements directly supporting it into ten Air Expeditionary Forces (AEFs).

[6] Altus AFB, Oklahoma hosts training for pilots and enlisted aircrew assigned to KC-135 Stratotanker, C-17 Globemaster III, and KC-46 Pegasus aircraft.

JSUNT is conducted at Randolph AFB and NAS Pensacola, Florida, and provides training for Air Force, Navy and Marine student navigators.

Students in the strike/fighter track will receive follow-on assignments in the F-15E Strike Eagle as weapon systems officers and attend special training in the IFF course.

On 1 July 1957 it moved to the direct control of TAC headquarters but it maintained its working relationship with the Ninth Air Force, whose support enabled the Nineteenth to retain its small footprint