Responsible for oversight of Air Force operations in
the National Capital Region, the Air Force District of Washington is a Direct Reporting Unit under the command of Headquarters of the United States Air Force Chief of Staff; it is also the Air Force service component of the Joint Force Headquarters National Capital Region.
The Air Force District of Washington DRU, or simply AFDW, was constituted on 1 October 1985, but budgetary constraints led to its inactivation on 15 July 1994. Over a decade later, the Air Force activated it 7 July 2005, primarily to ensure that the Air Force command system for the National Capital Region was aligned and compatible with those of other military branches.
Headquartered at Joint Base Andrews, AFDW commands the 11th Air Force Wing. Between 2006 and 2017, it also commanded the 79th Medical Wing, but that wing was inactivated on 16 June 2017 and its personnel and equipment transferred to the 11th Wing and redesignated the 11th Medical Group.