The Air Force has 10 majorcommands and two Air Reserve Components. (Air Force Reserve Command is both a majcom and an ARC.) As major subdivisions of the Air Force, majcoms conduct a major part of the service's mission and are directly subordinate to Hq. USAF. Major commands are organized on a functional basis in the US and on a geographic basis overseas. In addition to accomplishing designated portions of USAF's worldwide activities, they organize, administer, equip, and train their subordinate elements. Major commands, in general, include the following organizational levels: numbered air force (NAF), wing, group, squadron, and flight. The majcom sits at the top of a skip-echelon staffing structure, which means every other organizational level (i.e., majcom, wing, and squadron) will have a full range of staff functions. The other organizations (NAF, group, and flight) are tactical echelons with minimal or no support staff. These tactical echelons are designed to increase operational effectiveness rather than to review and transmit paperwork.
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