Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955, with construction beginning in the fall of that year. It was occupied for use on 28 January 1957, and was named after the neighboring city of Grand Forks.
Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, GFAFB was originally an Air Defense Command (ADC) fighter-interceptor air base. The site was chosen in 1954 and the land was paid for by the citizens of Grand Forks, the site was located 15 miles (24 km) west of the city. The beginning of the 5,400-acre (22 km2) air base started in 1956 with the construction of a 12,300-foot (3,750 m) runway.
In addition to the interceptor squadrons, a Semi Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) Data Center (DC-11) was established at Grand Forks in 1958. The SAGE system was a network linking Air Force (and later FAA) General Surveillance Radar stations into a centralized center for Air Defense, intended to provide early warning and response for a Soviet nuclear attack. DC-11 was operated by the Grand Forks Air Defense Sector (GFADS), activated on 8 December 1957 under the 31st Air DivisionatSnelling AFS, Minnesota. On 1 January 1959, GFADS was transferred to the operational control of the 29th Air DivisionatMalmstrom AFBatGreat Falls, Montana.
SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963, when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense SectoratMinot AFB to the west. With the inactivation of DC-11, Grand Forks AFB was reassigned from the Air Defense mission to Strategic Air Command (SAC).
In 1971, the 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit. Although the 460th FIS won first place at the William Tell air-to-air competitionatTyndall AFB, Florida, it was inactivated in 1974 due to the restructuring of the air defense system, and ended the activities of ADCOM at Grand Forks.
The DC-11 SAGE blockhouse was later the headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing. Following the end of Minuteman III missile operations in 1998, the large SAGE blockhouse was torn down five years later, in June 2003.
On 3 November 1967, the Department of Defense revealed that GFAFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti-Ballistic Missile (ABM) site. With president Richard Nixon's announcement of 14 March 1969, constructing a "Safeguard" installation at Grand Forks became a top priority. Construction was stalled throughout mid-1969, as Congress debated the merits of BMD. After the Senate defeated amendments to kill Safeguard deployment, the U.S. Army proceeded under the assumption that appropriations would be forthcoming.
Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada-Minnesota border, north-northwest of Grand Forks. Twenty-five miles (40 km) separated the 113-hectare (279-acre) Perimeter Acquisition Radar (PAR) and the 175-hectare (433-acre) Missile Site Radar (MSR) sites. Four remote launch sites of 36 to 45 acres (15 to 18 ha) each were to be situated in a circle with a 20-mile (32 km) radius surrounding the MSR. Groundbreaking occurred at the PAR and MSR sites on 6 April 1970. Excavation proceeded rapidly, and the foundation holes for the PAR and MSR were in place by mid-May.
On 26 May 1972, President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty, which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the "National Command Authority." With work about 85% complete at Grand Forks, the US chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site. On 21 August 1972, the Army Corps of Engineers turned over the PAR to the Safeguard Systems Command (SAFSCOM) Site Activation Team. The transfer of the MSR occurred on 3 January 1973. Work on the four remote launch sites fell behind schedule, with the last completed on 5 November 1972. Testing of the PAR commenced during the summer of 1973.
On 1 September 1958, the Strategic Air Command (SAC) established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks as part of its plan to disperse its B-52 heavy bombers over a larger number of bases, thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike. Many of these bases were near the U.S. border with Canada; those close to GFAFB in the north central U.S. were Minot and Glasgow to the west, and three in Michigan to the east (Sawyer, Kinchloe, and Wurtsmith).
The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing (319th BW) on 1 February 1963 in a name-only redesignation and was assigned to SAC's Second Air Force, 810th Strategic Aerospace Division. Upon redesignation, the wing placed aircraft on peacetime quick reaction alert duty, and conducted global bombardment training for Emergency War Order operations and air refueling operations to meet SAC commitments. The aircraft in the 1960s at GFAFB were the latest models: B-52H bombers and KC-135A tankers.[2]
In 1973, the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM-69 Short Range Attack Missile (SRAM), replacing the older AGM-28 Hound Dog air-to-ground missile aboard its B-52H aircraft. As the activities in Southeast Asia decreased, the 319th BW focused its full efforts on training crews to fly strategic strike missions.
On 1 November 1964, 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) wing at GFAFB, the first in SAC.
During 1965, the wing's three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFBinsouthern California. In August 1965, the base received its first Minuteman II missile, shipped by train from Assembly Plant 77 at Hill AFBatOgden, Utah. During the following March, the base received the first Minuteman II to be shipped via aircraft, an Air Force first. The Minuteman III replaced the former in the 1970s.
The 319th transitioned from B-52H to B-52G aircraft in 1983 adding the AGM-86 Air Launched Cruise Missile (ALCM) in 1984.[2][3] In December 1986, the last B-52G permanently departed GFAFB, replaced by the B-1B Lancer in 1987. The tanker aircraft were also changed, from KC-135A to KC-135R. A change in the host unit occurred again in 1988, when the 42d Air Division was assigned for base support in place of the 321st SMW.[2]
On 2 November 1967, a Grand Forks B-52H (61-0030)[4] crashed near Griffiss AFB in central New York, killing six of the eight aboard.[5] It had engine difficulties and was attempting an emergency landing.[6]
On 15 September 1980, a B-52H on alert status experienced a wing fire that burned for three hours, fanned by evening winds of 26 mph (42 km/h). The wind direction was parallel to the fuselage, which likely had SRAMs in the main bay. Eight years later, a weapons expert testified to a closed U.S. Senate hearing that a change of wind direction could have led to a conventional explosion and a widespread scattering of radioactive plutonium.[7]
Mid-morning on 27 January 1983, a B-52G (57-6507)[8] exploded on the maintenance ramp, killing five maintenance personnel and injuring eight.[9][10][11] A faulty fuel pump in a wing tank was being attended to prior to the accident.[12]
With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of SAC in 1992, the wing transferred to Air Combat Command (ACC), then came under Air Force Space Command (AFSPC) in 1993.
On 1 February 1993, ACC dropped the 319th Bomb Wing's primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B-1B conventional bombardment operations. The 319th BW began planning and training to support such a mission to counter worldwide regional threats.
Following the departure of the last B-1B aircraft in 1994, the base transferred to the new Air Mobility Command (AMC) and the 319th Bomb Wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Refueling Wing (319 ARW). The KC-135R aircraft assets were transferred to AMC, and the strategic ICBM assets went to Air Force Space Command (AFSPC).
In March 1995, the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission (BRAC) selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation; it was first downgraded to group status, then inactivated on 30 September 1998. GFAFB's Minuteman ICBM silos were imploded in accordance with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START II), commencing in 1999 and completed in 2001.[13] The Minuteman III missiles were transferred to Malmstrom AFB in at Great Falls, Montana, to replace retired Minuteman II models. Minuteman III ICBMs remain at three USAF bases: Malmstrom, Minot, and F.E. WarrenatCheyenne, Wyoming.
In May 2005, DoD's 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that Grand Forks be realigned. The base's KC-135 tanker mission was lost, with a significant reduction of personnel, but it was not closed.
The unmannedRQ-4 Global Hawk was assigned to Grand Forks, and on 1 March 2011, the wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Base Wing (319 ABW). The first RQ-4 arrived in May 2011 and were assigned to the 69th Reconnaissance Group, Air Combat Command. Starting in 2012, the base received several new Block 40 Global Hawks.[14] On 13 June 2017, the 319 ABW transferred from the Air Mobility Command to the Air Combat Command.[15]
On 11 May 2019 Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson announced that the 319th Air Base Wing would be re-designated the 319th Reconnaissance Wing in a ceremony on 28 June 2019.[16]
On 28 June 2019 the 319th Air Base Wing was re-designated the 319th Reconnaissance Wing and the 69th Reconnaissance Group inactivated transferring the RQ-4 mission.
1 February 1963 Strategic Air Command organized the 319th Bombardment Wing (Heavy) at Grand Forks AFB. The 319 BMW became the host wing as the 4133d Strategic Wing inactivated and command of the base transferred from the ADC to SAC.
19 August 1964 Strategic Air Command activated the 804th Combat Support Group (CSG) as the host unit at Grand Forks AFB.
1 September 1964 Strategic Air Command stationed the 4th Air Division, later named 4th Strategic Aerospace Division, at Grand Fork AFB.
1 June 1992 The Air Force inactivated the Strategic Air Command and reassigned Grand Forks AFB to the Air Combat Command. The 319th Wing was redesignated as the 319th Bomb Wing. The 905 ARS was reassigned to the Grissom AFB, Indiana, although it continued to operate from Grand Forks AFB.
1 October 1993 The Air Force redesignated the 319th Bomb Wing as the 319th Air Refueling Wing, reassigned it to Air Mobility Command, and reassigned the 905th Air Refueling Squadron to the wing.
1 October 1995 The Clinton Administration approved the Base Realignment and Closure IV committee's recommendation to remove 150 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles from the Grand Forks Air Force Base missile complex and inactivate the 321st Missile Group.
April 1997 After a long, harsh winter, the Grand Forks area suffered a devastating flood due to snowmelt and spring rain. Members of the Grand Forks Air Force Base were called into action, first to help protect the town from the rising waters and later to house the victims of the disaster.
2 July 1998 The 321st Missile Group inactivated after 34 years of service at Grand Forks AFB.
4 December 2010 The last KC-135 tail number 00319 piloted by Lt Gen Vern "Rusty" Findley, the AMC Vice Commander and former 319 ARW commander, departed Grand Forks AFB for its new home at McConnell AFB Kansas, marking the end of the 50-year-long refueling mission at Grand Forks.
26 May 2011 The wing received its first RQ-4 Global Hawk.[24]
^Mueller, Robert (1989). Volume 1: Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982. USAF Reference Series, Office of Air Force History, United States Air Force, Washington, D.C. ISBN0-912799-53-6, ISBN0-16-002261-4
Mueller, Robert, Air Force Bases Volume I, Active Air Force Bases Within the United States of America on 17 September 1982, Office of Air Force History, 1989
Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency
