Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics - Overview

Overview

The Army Air Forces School of Applied Tactics was a major command and military training organization of the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. Its function was to train cadres from newly formed units in combat operations under simulated field conditions as the cores around which new combat groups would be formed.

The lack of a true tactical training center and the closure of the Air Corps Tactical School in 1940, coupled with the impracticality of further splitting of existing combat groups into cadre for new groups, made AAFSAT a necessity. The Commandant of AAFSAT was Brigadier General Hume Peabody, formerly assistant commandant of the ACTS.

In addition to its training function, the school also developed as a tactical doctrine development center, assuming the functions formerly assigned the ACTS. In this function it also became known as the Army Air Forces Tactical Center (AAFTAC).