Unified combatant command in the context of "U.S. Air Force"

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⭐ Core Definition: Unified combatant command

As of 2025, the United States Department of Defense operated 11 unified combatant command, also referred to as a combatant command (CCMD). These are joint military commands composed of units from two or more service branches, and conduct continuing missions. Each CCMD is the highest echelon of military commands, in order to optimize command and control of all forces, regardless of branch of service, during peace or war. CCMDs are organized either on a geographical basis (known as an "area of responsibility", AOR) or on a functional basis, e.g., special operations, force projection, transport, and cybersecurity. Currently, seven CCMDs are geographical, and four are functional. CCMDs have specific badges denoting their affiliation.

The Unified Command Plan (UCP) establishes the missions, command responsibilities, and geographic areas of responsibility of the CCMDs. Each time the UCP is updated, the organizations are reviewed for efficiency, efficacy, and alignment with national policy.

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Unified combatant command in the context of United States Air Force

The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is a part of the United States Department of Defense and is one of the six armed forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its origins to 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal Corps, the USAF was established by transfer of personnel from the Army Air Forces with the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947. It is the second youngest branch of the United States Armed Forces and the fourth in order of precedence. The United States Air Force articulates its core missions as air supremacy, global integrated intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, rapid global mobility, global strike, and command and control.

The Department of the Air Force, which serves as the USAF's headquarters and executive department, is one of the three military departments of the Department of Defense. The Department of the Air Force is headed by the civilian secretary of the Air Force, who reports to the secretary of defense and is appointed by the president with Senate confirmation. The highest-ranking military officer in the Air Force is the chief of staff of the Air Force, who exercises supervision over Air Force units and serves as one of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. As directed by the secretary of defense and secretary of the Air Force, certain Air Force components are assigned to unified combatant commands. Combatant commanders are delegated operational authority of the forces assigned to them, while the secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the Air Force retain administrative authority over their members.

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Unified combatant command in the context of United States Forces Japan

The United States Forces Japan (USFJ) (Japanese: 在日米軍, Hepburn: Zainichi Beigun) is a subordinate unified command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. It was activated at Fuchū Air Station in Tokyo, Japan, on 1 July 1957 to replace the Far East Command. USFJ is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo and is commanded by the Commander, U.S. Forces Japan who is also commander of the Fifth Air Force. Since then, it is the first and only sustained presence of a foreign military on Japanese soil in its history.

USFJ oversees U.S. military personnel, assets, and installations in Japan, including approximately 55,000 active-duty servicemembers and 15 major bases. USFJ supports U.S. responsibilities under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, and its activities are governed by the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and Japan. The command plays a major role in security-related coordination and dialogue with the Government of Japan and the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

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Unified combatant command in the context of United States Cyber Command

United States Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). It unifies the direction of cyberspace operations, strengthens DoD cyberspace capabilities, and integrates and bolsters DoD's cyber expertise which focus on securing cyberspace.

USCYBERCOM was established as a sub-unified command under United States Strategic Command (USSTRATCOM) at the direction of Secretary of Defense (SECDEF) Robert Gates on 23 June 2009 at the National Security Agency (NSA) headquarters in Fort George G. Meade, Maryland. It cooperates with NSA networks and has been concurrently headed by the Director of the NSA (DIRNSA) since its inception. While originally created with a defensive mission in mind, it has increasingly been viewed as an offensive force. On 18 August 2017, it was announced that USCYBERCOM would be elevated to the status of a full and independent unified combatant command.

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Unified combatant command in the context of United States Indo-Pacific Command

The United States Indo-Pacific Command (USINDOPACOM) is the unified combatant command of the United States Armed Forces responsible for the Indo-Pacific region.

It is the oldest and largest of the unified combatant commands. Its commander, the senior U.S. military officer in the Pacific, is responsible for more than 375,000 service members as well as an area that encompasses more than 100 million square miles (260,000,000 km), or roughly 52 percent of the Earth's surface, stretching from the waters of the West Coast of the United States to the east coast maritime borderline waters of India at the meridian 66° longitude east of Greenwich and from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Formerly known as United States Pacific Command (USPACOM), in 2018 the command was renamed to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in recognition of the increasing connectivity between the Indian and Pacific oceans.

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Unified combatant command in the context of Far East Command (United States)

Far East Command (FECOM) was a unified combatant command of the United States Department of Defense, active from 1947 until 1957, functionally organised to undertake the occupation of Japan and Korea. The 1st and 6th Marine Divisions (China Marines), who from 1945 to 1948 assisted the Chinese government in occupying northern China, disarming the Japanese, and helping the Kuomintang Chinese without fully getting involved in the Chinese Civil War, were not part of Far East Command and reported to Pacific Command and the U.S. Navy.

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Unified combatant command in the context of U.S. Central Command

The United States Central Command (USCENTCOM or CENTCOM) is one of the eleven unified combatant commands of the U.S. Department of Defense. It was established in 1983, taking over the previous responsibilities of the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF).

Its area of responsibility (AOR) includes the Middle East (including Egypt in Africa), Central Asia and parts of South Asia. The command has been the main American presence in many military operations, including the Persian Gulf War's Operation Desert Storm in 1991, the war in Afghanistan, as well as the Iraq War from 2003 to 2011. As of 2015, CENTCOM forces were deployed primarily in Afghanistan under the auspices of Operation Freedom's Sentinel, which was itself part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission (from 2015 to 2021), and in Iraq and Syria as part of Operation Inherent Resolve since 2014 in supporting and advise-and-assist roles.

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