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12th Air Force (ACC)

Headquarters Twelfth Air Force is responsible for the combat readiness of 10 active-duty wings and three direct reporting units in the western United States. The fighter and bomber wings possess 430 aircraft and more than 33,000 active-duty military and civilian personnel. The 3rd Combat Communications Squadron, 820th Redhorse Squadron and the 1st Air Support Operations Group direct reporting units comprise more than 1,200 people as well as expertise in expeditionary communication, engineering and air liaison. They also ensure the operational readiness of 12th Air Force also ensures the operational readiness of four Air Force Reserve wings and 13 Air National Guard wings, featuring an additional 18,800 people and more than 260 aircraft. 

Twelfth Air Force also serves as the air component to U.S. Southern Command, the Unified Command responsible for Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. In this role, Twelfth Air Force is referred to as U.S. Southern Command Air Forces, or SOUTHAF. Here, its mission is to plan for the employment of and to conduct, control and coordinate the operation of all air forces provided to USSOUTHCOM. This responsibility includes significant involvement in battling illegal narcotics trafficking from several forward operating locations. It also exercises staff oversight, co-ordination, and supervision of all U.S. Air Force assets engaged in counter-narcotics missions in the USSOUTHCOM area of responsibility and participates in numerous training deployments in that AOR.

Another responsibility of 12th Air Force is to maintain a worldwide deployable Air Operations Center, or AOC, which provides a conflict's Joint Forces Air Component commander the ability to design and execute an air campaign. Members of the AOC (500-1,500 people, depending on the size of the conflict) build and execute daily Air Tasking Orders and Airspace Control Orders, coordinate all logistics and service support to deployed air forces, establish and maintain essential communications links with air forces, and provide continuous intelligence and threat assessment to commanders.