United States Army Air Forces in the South Pacific Area

During World War II, the United States Army Air Forces engaged in combat against the Empire of Japan in the South Pacific Area. As defined by the War Department, this consisted of the Pacific Ocean areas which lay south of the Equator between longitude 159° East and 110° West. It included New Zealand, New Caledonia, New Hebrides, Fiji, and most of the Solomon Islands.

The major USAAF combat organizations in the region was Thirteenth Air Force, which was formed in November 1942 as a command and control organization to organize many widely separated Seventh Air Force and independent units scattered in the South Pacific Area during the Solomon Islands campaign. As the war progressed, Thirteenth Air Force units moved into the South West Pacific theatre and coordinated their activities with Fifth and Seventh Air Force units in New Guinea, the Netherlands East Indies and Philippines during 1944 and 1945.