Constituted as Philippine Department AF on 16 Aug 1941.
Activated in the Philippines on 20 Sep 1941. Redesignated Far East AF in Oct
1941, and Fifth AF in Feb 1942. This air force lost most of its men and
equipment in the defense of the Philippines after 7 Dec 1941. Later in Dec 1941
headquarters and some crews and planes moved to Australia, and in Jan 1942 they
were sent to Java to help delay Japanese advances in the Netherlands Indies. The
Fifth did not function as an air force for some time after Feb 1942 (the AAF
organizations in the Southwest Pacific being under the control of
American-British-Dutch-Australian Command and later Allied Air Forces).
Headquarters was remanned in Sep 1942 and assumed control of AAF organizations
in Australia and New Guinea. The Fifth participated in operations that stopped
the Japanese drive in Papua, recovered New Guinea, neutralized islands in the
Bismarck Archipelago and the Netherlands East Indies, and liberated the
Philippines. When the war ended in Aug 1945 elements of the Fifth were moving to
the Ryukyus for the invasion of Japan. After the war the Fifth, a component of
Far East Air Forces, remained in the theater, and from Jun 1950 to Jul 1953 it
was engaged in the Korean War.
Commands. V Bomber: 1941-1946. V Fighter: 1942-1946.
Stations. Nichols Field, Luzon, 20 Sep 1941; Darwin, Australia, Dec 1941; Java,
Jan-Feb 1942; Brisbane, Australia, 3 Sep 1942; Nadzab, New Guinea, 15 Jun 1944;
Owl, Schouten Islands, 10 Aug 1944; Leyte, c. 20 Nov 1944; Mindoro, Jan 1945;
Clark Field, Luzon, Apr 1945; Okinawa, Jul 1945; Irumagawa, Japan, c. 25 Sep
1945; Tokyo, Japan, 13 Jan 1946; Nagoya, Japan, 20 May 1946; Seoul, Korea, 1 Dec
1950; Taegu, Korea, 22 Dec 1950; Seoul, Korea, 15 Jun 1951; Osan-Ni, Korea, 25
Jan 1954; Nagoya, Japan, 1 Sep 1954-.
Commanders. Brig Gen Henry B Clagett, 20 Sep 1941; Maj Gen Lewis H Brereton, Oct
1941-Feb 1942; Lt Gen George C Kenney, 3 Sep 1942; Lt Gen Ennis C Whitehead, 15
Jun 1944; Maj Gen Kenneth B Wolfe, 4 Oct 1945; Maj Gen Thomas D White, 16 Jan
1948; Lt Gen Earle E Partridge, 6 Oct 1948; Maj Gen Edward J Timberlake, 21 May
1951; Maj Gen Frank F Everest, 1 Jun 1951; Lt Gen Glenn O Barcus, 30 May 1952;
Lt Gen Samuel E Anderson, 31 May 1953; Lt Gen Roger M Ramey, 1 Jun 1954-.
Campaigns. World War II: Philippine Islands; East Indies; Air Offensive, Japan;
China Defensive; Papua; New Guinea; Northern Solomons; Bismarck Archipelago;
Western Pacific; Leyte; Luzon; Southern Philippines; China Offensive. Korean
War: UN Defensive; UN Offensive; CCF Intervention; 1st UN Counteroffensive; CCF
Spring Offensive; UN Summer-Fall Offensive; Second Korean Winter; Korea
Summer-Fall, 1952; Third Korean Winter; Korea Summer-Fall, 1953-
Decorations. Distinguished Unit Citations: Philippine Islands, 8-22 Dec 1941;
Philippine Islands, 7 Dec 1941-10 May 1942; Papua, [Sep] 1942-23 Jan 1943.
Philippine Presidential Unit Citation.
Insigne. On an ultramarine blue disc, the Southern Cross consisting of five
stars in white between a flaming comet, the head consisting of a white five
pointed star, charged with a red roundel, within a blue disc outlined in white,
its tall consisting of three white streamers; all surmounted by an Arabic
numeral "5," golden orange. (Approved 25 Mar 1943.)