This tripartite command structure was regarded as successful; it was therefore retained when NAAF was superseded in December 1943, by the Mediterranean Allied Air Forces (MAAF).

[4][5] From February 18, 1943, the Northwest African Air Forces (NAAF) under Lieutenant General Carl Spaatz became the largest and primary sub-command of MAC.

The Casablanca planners modeled NAAF after the successful coordination of strategic, coastal, and tactical units of the Middle East Command under Tedder during the campaigns in Egypt and Libya in 1942.

The importance of flexible coordination between air, naval, and ground forces took much time to realize let alone implement during the Desert war.

Soon after being named Air Officer Commanding of RAF Middle East in June 1941, Tedder said: "In my opinion, sea, land and air operations in the Middle East Theater are now so closely inter-related that effective coordination will only be possible if the campaign is considered and controlled as a combined operation in the full sense of that term.

In mid-January 1944, Lieutenant General Ira Eaker took over MAAF when Eisenhower chose Tedder to oversee air operations and planning for the Normandy Landings.

The new MAAF organization contained separate strategic, coastal, and tactical air forces under a single unified structure: