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The Strategic Air Command (SAC) was established on 21 March 1946, as one of the three combat commands of the U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF).
General Carl "Tooey" Spaatz, the Commanding General of USAAF gave SAC a permanent mission 10 October 1946: Strategic Air Command was to attain an immediate state of combat readiness and to stand by for immediate operations, either alone or jointly with other forces, against enemies of the United States. Additionally, SAC was required to develop, test, and improve strategic bombardment tactics.
General George Kenney was appointed the first commander of SAC on 21 March 1946. The new command inherited the headquarters of the former Continental Air Forces at Bolling Field, Washington, D.C. along with most of its personnel and assets. On 21 October 1946 SAC HQ moved to Andrews Field, Maryland.
After nearly two years of post war downsizing, the establishment of the independent United States Air Force, and the failure of the Air Force to allow Gen. Kenney to place his full attention to fufilling SAC's mission, command of SAC was given to the man who would build it into the most powerful military force on earth....on 19 October 1948, Lt. General Curtis E. LeMay succeeded Gen. Kenney as SAC commander.
Lt. Gen. LeMay oversaw the move of SAC HQ to Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, and literally built both the headquarters base, and the command from scratch. Methodically and relentlessly, one group at a time, LeMay built SAC into a combat ready command. He also gave SAC the mindset that helped to keep war at bay...."We are at war NOW." He established the "real world" training regimand that got personnel to the point they could be nearly unconscious and their reflexes would still get them through.
By the mid 1950s, SAC was operating its first all-jet bomber, the B-47. On 1 June 1953, LeMay was given his fourth star. By 1955, SAC received the B-52, and later the B-58 and the KC-135 jet tanker. SAC demonstrated its global capability in 1957 when three B-52s made a non-stop round-the-world flight. On 31 October 1959, SAC's 576th Strategic Missile Squadron, Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, put a nuclear armed Atlas-D Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) on strategic alert....ready to launch in 15 minutes.
By 1960 a third of SAC's bombers and tankers were on 15-minute combat ready ground alert. By July 1961, 50% of SACs bombers and tankers were on ground alert and a classified number of nuclear-armed bombers were constantly airborne. On 3 February 1961, SAC launched its first Airborne Command Post "Looking Glass" mission. The "Looking Glass" was an EC-135 with the capabilities of mirroring the command and control functions of the headquarters, hence its name. From that day until June 1991, there was always a "Looking Glass" aircraft in the sky. The key component of the Post Attack Command and Control System (PACCS), "Looking Glass" could launch all bombers and missiles under SAC's control. This capability meant that any attack by the Soviet Union on SAC Headquarters at Offutt was futile as the full retaliatory might of the United States could still be brought to bear.
By 1964, the numbers of missiles on alert would equal the number of bombers. Eventually SAC would replaced its' Atlas ICBMs with Titan ICBMs and eventually Minuteman ICBMs which formed a deadly arsenal of nuclear firepower, providing America with a nuclear deterrence shield against any foe.
From 1964 to 1973, SAC provided B-52s, KC-135s and various reconnaissance aircraft which flew thousands of bombing, aerial refueling, and recon missions in Southeast Asia. SAC forces helped to lift the siege of Khe Sanh and blunt the 1972 North Vietnamese spring offensive at Quang Tri, An Loc, and Kontum. The Linebacker II campaign in December 1972 helped force the North Vietnamese back to the peace table.
The end of the Cold War and the disintegration of the Soviet Union meant the threat from Soviet aggression was gone. By June of 1991 the "Looking Glass" flew its last mission. Following the Persian Gulf War, where SAC B-52s again provided awesome firepower against Iraqi ground troops, a major restructuring of the United States Air Force saw the stand down of Strategic Air Command. On 1 June 1992, Strategic Air Command passed into the history books, winners of the Cold War, and completely fulfilling it's motto of peace.
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