Tactical Air Command, based in the United States itself, held the majority of the USAF’s tactical air power. The wartime role for most TAC units was to deploy their assets to regional USAF commands, primarily to the main Cold War ‘front’ Commands, USAFE and PACAF, as well as to Latin America and the Caribbean with the Southern Air Division, and to the Middle East with the Rapid Deployment Force (later Central Command). Therefore, overseas deployments were routine for many TAC units.

However, not all TAC units had to deploy for their war mission. In 1979 TAC absorbed the remnants of what remained of Aerospace Defense Command, giving TAC the air defence mission. TAC also oversaw the USAF Tactical Fighter Weapons Center, which provided US and Allied aircrews with the world’s most realistic training, over the expansive Nevada ranges.

Take a step inside the day-to-day operations of TAC in the 1980s.