In 1980, Tactical Air Command units of TAC's Ninth Air Force were allocated to President Jimmy Carter's Rapid Deployment Force, formally known as the Rapid Deployment Joint Task Force (RDJTF). In 1983, the RDJTF became a separate unified command known as the United States Central Command (USCENTCOM), focusing on the Middle East. Ninth Air Force, headquartered at Shaw AFB, South Carolina, provided the aircraft, personnel and materiel to form United States Central Command Air Forces (CENTAF), the USAF component command of USCENTCOM, which was also headquartered at Shaw AFB as a combined organization with 9th Air Force. Starting in 1981, Ninth Air Force aircraft and personnel were deployed to Egypt for Exercise BRIGHT STAR, an evolution that would continue biennially for the rest of the decade.