Far East Army Philippines Patch

Shoulder insignia, of WWII origin, The "Far East Air Force" was the organization of the American Air Force in the Philippines.

The Far East Air Force (FEAF) was the military aviation organization of the United States Army in the Philippines just before and at the outbreak of World War II. Formed on November 16, 1941, the FEAF was the predecessor of the Fifth Air Force of the United States Army Air Forces and United States Air Force.

Initially, the Far East Air Force also included aircraft and personnel from the Philippine Army Air Corps. The FEAF was largely destroyed during the Philippine Campaign of 1941–42. When 14 surviving Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses and 143 members of the heavy bomber force were withdrawn from Mindanao to Darwin, Australia, during the third week of December 1941, FEAF headquarters followed within days. B-17s were the only FEAF combat aircraft to escape capture or destruction during the Allied retreat.

The FEAF, with only 16 Curtiss P-40s and 4 Seversky P-35 fighters remaining from its original fighting force, was divided into an air organization and moved by units to Bataan from 24 to 25 December4. 49 of the 165 pilots of the FEAF's 24th Pursuit Group were also evacuated during the campaign, but non-flying personnel, only one of 27 officers and 16 enlisted men wounded escaped from the Philippines. Almost all ground and flying personnel were employed as infantry at some point during their stay on Bataan, where most surrendered on April 9, 1942.

Surviving personnel and a small number of aircraft received from the United States were reorganized in Australia in January 1942, and on 5 February 1942 redesignated the Fifth Air Force. With most of its aircraft based in Java, the FEAF was nearly destroyed a second time trying to stem the tide of Japanese advances southward.