Continental Air Forces

For the similarly-named U.S. Air Force command (CONAC) activated in 1948, see Continental Air Command.

Continental Air Forces (CAF) was a United States Army Air Forces major command, active 1944–1946. It was tasked with combat training of bomber and fighter personnel, and for Continental United States (CONUS) air defense. This took place after the Aircraft Warning Corps and Ground Observer Corps were placed in standby during 1944. It conducted planning for the postwar United States general surveillance radar stations, and the planning to reorganize to a separate USAF was for CAF to become the USAF Air Defense Command.

On 21 March 1946, CAF headquarters personnel and facilities at Bolling Field, along with one of CAF's four Air Forces (Second Air Force—which had its HQ inactivated on 30 March) became Strategic Air Command. Eighth Air Force and Fifteenth Air Force were transferred later to SAC. Most of the CAF airfields that had not been distributed to other commands when SAC was activated were subsequently transferred to Air Defense Command (to which CAF's First and Fourth Air Forces were assigned on 21 March), Tactical Air Command (Third Air Force), and Air Materiel Command between March 1946 and March 1947.

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