Malmstrom Air Force Base
Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base in Cascade County, Montana, United States, adjacent to the city of Great Falls. It was named in honor of World War II POW Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. Malmstrom AFB is the largest of three US Air Force Bases that maintain and operate the Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile. It is the home of the 341st Missile Wing of the Air Force Global Strike Command. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined Malmstrom Air Force Base as a census-designated place. It had a population of 3,472 at the 2010 census.
History
World War II
Malmstrom Air Force Base traces its beginnings back to 1939 when World War II broke out in Europe. Concern about the war caused the local Chamber of Commerce to contact two Montana senators, Burton K. Wheeler and James E. Murray and request they consider development of a military installation in Great Falls. In addition, appeals were made to the Secretary of War, Harry H. Woodring. In 1941, the Civil Aeronautics Authority provided the money for the development of the Great Falls Municipal Airport. In May 1942, construction began on an Army Air Corps base six miles east of Great Falls. The base was known as East Base.In November 1942, a survey team evaluated an area near the Green Mill Dance Club and Rainbow Dam Road approximately east of Great Falls. Great Falls, along with ten other northern tier sparsely populated sites, was considered for a heavy bomber training base. Construction began on Great Falls Army Air Base on 8 June 1942. The base was informally known as East Base since the 7th Ferrying Group was stationed at Great Falls Municipal Airport on Gore Hill. Its mission was to establish an air route between Great Falls and Ladd Field, Fairbanks, Alaska, as part of the United States Lend-Lease Program that supplied the Soviet Union with aircraft and supplies needed to fight the German Army.Great Falls AAB was assigned to II Bomber Command, Second Air Force. Its initial base operating unit was the 352d Base HQ and Air Base Squadron. Airfield operations began on 30 November 1942 when the first B-17 Flying Fortress landed at the new base. Four Bombardment Groups, the 2nd, 385th, 390th, and 401st, trained at Great Falls AAB from November 1942 to October 1943 under Army Air Force Training Command. Group Headquarters and one of the Groups' four squadrons were stationed in Great Falls with the other squadrons stationed on sub-bases at Cut Bank, Glasgow, and Lewistown, Montana. Aircraft would take off at a predetermined time, form up in squadron formation over their respective location, and later, over central Montana, join up in group formation. These bombardment groups went on to participate in decisive raids over Germany as part of Eighth Air Force opening the door for Allied daylight precision bombing.
Upon completion of the B-17 training program, in October 1943, Great Falls Army Air Base was transferred to the Air Transport Command and units from Gore Field were transferred to the base. The base was considerably expanded when more buildings were constructed, including a consolidated mess, a post exchange, a theater, and a 400-bed hospital. Air Transport Command also established aerial port facilities for passengers and cargo, as well as a flight service center. The ATC 90th Ferrying Squadron was assigned to the base which performed operations in support of the Lend Lease Program with the Soviet Union.
At Great Falls, Bell P-39 Airacobras, Douglas C-47 Skytrains, North American B-25 Mitchells, and Douglas A-20 Havocs aircraft arrived by rail and were assembled on base, along with others that were flown in by both military and Women Airforce Service Pilots. These aircraft were later flown by U.S. pilots by way of the Northwest Staging Route through Canada, to Fairbanks, Alaska, and transferred to Soviet pilots who in turn flew them into Siberia via the Alaskan-Siberian Route. A total of of cargo containing aircraft parts, tools miscellaneous equipment, explosives and medical supplies were shipped through Great Falls Army Air Base to the Soviet Union.
This included one of the greatest technology transfers in the history of the world. According to Richard Rhodes the plans for the atomic bomb, hundreds of tons of nuclear weapons materials, strategic intelligence reports, and the plans for much of the most advanced aviation, electronic, and heavy industrial technology was transferred through Gore Field and East Base in sealed diplomatic containers. Dozens, if not hundreds, of Soviet agents also entered the U.S. through Great Falls as part of the Soviet Lend-lease delegation and staff.
Aircraft shipments to the Soviet Union stopped in September 1945, when World War II ended, with approximately 8,000 aircraft having been processed in a 21-month period.
Following World War II, Great Falls Army Air Base played an important role in US defense during the Cold War era. The base was assigned or attached to several major commands, and its assigned units performed a wide variety of missions.
Military Air Transport Service
After World War II ended Great Falls AAB assumed a support mission for military personnel assigned to Alaskan military installations. A reserve training unit was established by the Continental Air Forces Fourth Air Force under the 418th Army Air Force Base Unit on 10 October 1946. In September 1947, the United States Air Force became a separate service and the base's name was changed to Great Falls Air Force Base.Tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union increased dramatically when the Soviet Union closed all land travel between the western occupation sectors of Germany and the American, French and British sectors of Berlin. The Western allies decided to try to supply Berlin by air. On 25 June 1948 "Operation Vittles," the strategic airlift of supplies to Berlin's 2,000,000 inhabitants, was initiated, beginning what became known as the Berlin Airlift. Great Falls AFB played a critical role in assuring the success of this vital operation. Officials selected the base as the only replacement aircrew training site for Berlin Airlift-bound C-54 Skymasters, reinforcing the United States Air Forces in Europe. Thus the 517th Air Transport Wing was activated. Using radio beacons, Great Falls AFB was transformed to resemble Tempelhof Airport in Berlin, Germany. Hundreds of pilots and flight engineers, many of whom were recalled to active duty, were qualified on the C-54 aircraft and on flight procedures to and from Berlin by practicing on ground mock-ups and flying simulated airlift missions.
Later, the 517th Air Transport Wing was redesignated the 1701st Air Transport Wing on 1 June 1948 when Air Transport Command was redesignated the Military Air Transport Service. Great Falls was assigned to the MATS Pacific Division. Transport units assigned to Great Falls were the 5th, 6th and 7th Air Transport Squadrons which flew C-54 Skymasters.
MATS reopened the C-54 Flight Training School as the 1272 Medium Transition Training Unit in May 1950, one month before the Korean War began. The unit's primary mission was the routing and scheduling of flights throughout the Pacific Ocean region and in support of Allied forces in the conflict. The 1701st ATW was later replaced by the 1300th Air Base Wing.
Great Falls became the temporary home of the 582nd Air Resupply and Communications Wing on 1 May 1953 which was transferred from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. The 582d was a special operations unit which focused on PSYWAR missions. It deployed from Great Falls to RAF Molesworth, United Kingdom, and set up operations as part of USAFE's Third Air Force in February 1954.
Malmstrom
Originally named Great Falls Army Air Base, later Great Falls Air Force Base, the facility was renamed Malmstrom Air Force Base on 1 October 1955 in honor of Colonel Einar Axel Malmstrom. Shot down on his 58th combat fighter mission in World War II, Malmstrom became the US commander of Luftwaffe Stalag Luft I South Compound, a prisoner-of-war camp at Barth, Germany. After his release and return to active Air Force service, he died in the crash of a T-33 Shooting Star trainer on 21 August 1954 near Great Falls Air Force Base. In the short period of his tenure as vice wing commander, Colonel Malmstrom endeared himself to the local community. Saddened by the loss, the people of Great Falls began a drive to rename the base after him.Air Defense Command
Great Falls played a major aerial defense role in North American air defense mission. Although the base was not assigned to Air Defense Command, the attached 29th Air Division was activated at Great Falls AFB in early 1950, bringing with them command and control authority of fighter interceptor squadrons, an aircraft control and warning squadron, and ground observer detachments in Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, and parts of Nevada, Utah, and Colorado as part of the Air Defense Command Western Air Defense Force. The 29th Fighter Interceptor Squadron was activated in 1953 and remained at Malmstrom until 1968, initially flying F-94C Starfire and later F-101 Voodoo interceptors. Great Falls was reassigned to the Central Air Defense Force at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base in 1953. The 29th Air Division's area of responsibility changed to include Montana, North and South Dakota and Nebraska. The 29th supervised the training of its units, and participated in numerous training exercises. On 1 July 1961, the 29th AD was relocated to Richards Gebaur AFB, Missouri.By 1954, several aircraft control and warning squadrons had been formed at the base. The 903d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron was one of them, and operated an AN/TPS-1D. This radar was used probably for training purposes. The 903rd AC&W Squadron subsequently relocated to Gettysburg AFS, South Dakota.
In 1957, under the control of the 801st Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron, the Malmstrom AFB radar station became operational with AN/FPS-20 search and AN/FPS-6 height-finder radars. A second AN/FPS-6 series height-finder radar was added in 1960, and subsequently was upgraded to an AN/FPS-90 set. In 1959 Malmstrom was performing air-traffic-control duties for the Federal Aviation Administration, and joined the Semi Automatic Ground Environment system on 1 March 1961, the squadron being redesignated as the 801st Radar Squadron. In 1964 Malmstrom received an AN/FPS-24 search radar, replacing the AN/FPS-20.
The 801st Radar Squadron was inactivated on 31 December 1969 due to budget reductions. However, the radar site itself rejoined the SAGE network on 30 June 1971. The FAA operated an AN/FPS-65 search radar, and the Air Force added an AN/FPS-90 height-finder radar. This height-finder radar later became an AN/FPS-116 for the Joint Surveillance System Program, then was removed 1988. The Malmstrom AFB radar site was closed altogether in 1996, and after the air force shut down the ADCOM Z-147 site, the FAA took over operation as part of the Joint Surveillance System.
Z-147 was completely replaced by a new ARSR-4 JSS site on Bootlegger Ridge, about 14 miles northeast of Great Falls AFB. Designated by NORAD as Western Air Defense Sector Ground Equipment Facility J-77A.
In 1959 a SAGE data center was established at Malmstrom. The SAGE system was a network linking Air Force general surveillance radar stations into a centralized center for air defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack.
DC-20 was initially under the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, established on 1 March 1959. GFADS was inactivated on 1 April 1966, and re designated as the 28th Air Division. DC-20 with its AN/FSQ-7 computer remained under the 28th AD until it was inactivated on 19 November 1969 and being taken over by the 24th Air Division. DC-20 remained on duty until March 1983 when technology advances allowed the air force to shut down many SAGE data centers.
The North American Aerospace Defense Command was created in 1957. Beginning in 1959, Malmstrom was the headquarters of the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, until inactivated in 1966. In 1978, Malmstrom AFB became responsible for the 24th NORAD region, which covered the western half of the North America. This comprised four fighter/interceptor squadrons and radar sites stretching from the Rocky Mountains, halfway across North Dakota and north to the north border of Canada. The 24th also served as the NORAD alternate command post, which remained active until 1983, when it was inactivated and replaced by the Northwest Air Defense Sector.
On 1 July 1968, the F-101B equipped 29th FIS was inactivated and replaced by the F-106 Delta Dart equipped 71st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was reassigned from Richards Gebaur AFB when its ADC mission was eliminated. Three years later, the 71st was redesignated as the 319th FIS, which remained on alert until 30 June 1972 when the active-duty air defense interceptor mission at Malmstrom was inactivated.