Activation
Three stages of incremental activation allow for tailoring an airlift force suitable for the contingency at hand. Stage I is for minor regional crises, Stage II would be used for major theater war and Stage III for periods of national mobilization.
The commander, U.S. Transportation Command, with approval of the secretary of defense, is the activation authority for all three stages of Civil Reserve Air Fleet. During a crisis, if AMC has a need for additional aircraft, it would request the commander of USTRANSCOM to take steps to activate the appropriate Civil Reserve Air Fleet stage.
Each stage of the Civil Reserve Air Fleet activation is only used to the extent necessary to provide the amount of civil augmentation airlift needed by Department of Defense. When notified of call-up, the carrier response time to have its aircraft ready for a Civil Reserve Air Fleet mission is 24 to 48 hours after the mission is assigned by AMC. The air carriers continue to operate and maintain the aircraft with their resources; however, AMC controls the aircraft missions.
CRAF has been activated once as part of Operation Desert Shield and once as part of Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Read more about this topic: Civil Reserve Air Fleet