Hobson Plan
1948 US Air Force organizational system
The Hobson Plan was an organizational structure established by the United States Air Force (USAF) in 1948, following experimental organization in 1947. Known as the "Wing-Base Organization," it replaced the organization used by the United States Army Air Forces (AAF), the predecessor organization of the USAF, which used separate chains of command for combat and support units. The plan made the wing the basic combat unit of the AAF, rather than the group and placed all support elements on a base under the command of the wing commander in addition to combat elements.
Background
United States Army Air Forces
As part of the United States Army, the operational units of the United States Army Air Forces (AAF) operated from facilities known as army air fields. They consisted of a ground station, which consisted of streets, buildings, barracks and the support facilities and organizations. The airfield consisted of the runways, taxiways, hangars, and other facilities used to support flight operations at the airfield. The station commander commanded the station organizations and was responsible for the facilities. From 1940 to 1942, this responsibility fell to the commander of an "Air Base Group", consisting of an air base squadron and one or two materiel squadrons. There were also attached quartermaster and ordnance units, as well as other "Arms and Services with the Army Air Forces" detachments. Although these units supported one or two combat groups, they reported to different headquarters.
“Hobson Plan” enters the record as 1948 US Air Force organizational system. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Hobson, Plan and Force can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Hobson Plan” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Hobson, Plan and Force provides the most credible route into that argument.
The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Feb 25, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q5875248. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1948, 1947, 1940 and 1942.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
- Search vocabulary
- Locating named sources
The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Hobson Plan”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Hobson Plan primary sources, Hobson Plan archive and Hobson research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Hobson Plan”?
- What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
- Which institution is responsible for the underlying evidence?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Hobson Plan” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.