In addition, 17 AF housed the "tailored" 617th Air and Space Operations Center (AOC) which provided command and control capabilities for the planning and execution of aerial missions on the African continent.

The 316th Air Division was part of the 17th AF and headquartered at Site 11 outside Sale across from the French Airbase in the Cork forest.

Seventeenth Air Force operated throughout North Africa, Portugal, Austria, the Middle East, Pakistan, India, Ceylon and the Mediterranean islands.

The command's inventory included more than 500 tactical and 150 support aircraft operating from bases in West Germany, France, the Netherlands and Italy.

After the 1961 Berlin Crisis and a USAFE headquarters reorganization, 17 AF assumed responsibility for five bases in Great Britain from Third Air Force.

To accommodate USAFE HQ, 17 AF relocated to Sembach Air Base, West Germany, in October 1972.

The 409th Air Expeditionary Group supervised drone reconnaissance and possibly strike operations, including from Arba Minch in Ethiopia.

The 449th Air Expeditionary Group, Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti provides combat search and rescue for the Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa.

The 404 AEG deployed to Rwanda in January 2009 to provide airlift for peacekeeping equipment in support of the United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur.

In July 2009, the 404 AEG deployed to Ghana to provide aerial port and aircraft maintenance teams, along with forward communications, early warning and air domain safety and security elements for U.S. President Barack Obama's visit.

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