R&D, Testing & Evaluation, and Logistics

There are basically two different categories of USAF major commands: Operational (sometimes called “combatant commands”), and Support, which have no assigned combatant personnel. Patches of the operational MAJCOMs are covered in the “Higher Headquarters” section of this gallery; the others are presented here: Air Materiel Command (AMC), Special Weapons Command (split off of AMC and later part of ARDC), Air Research and Development Command (also split off from AMC), Air Force Systems Command (replaced ARDC), Air Force Logistics Command, Air Force Materiel Command (which replaced AFSC and AFLC), Military Airlift Command (which replaced MATS, a DOD unified command), and Air Mobility Command (which replaced MAC). The other support command that once existed was Air Force Communications Command, formerly the Air Force Communications Service, but it was not involved in R&D, T&E, or logistics so its patches are located in the “Official” album of the gallery’s “MISSILE-aneous” section.