Editing Malmstrom Air Force Base (section)

===Air Defense Command===
Great Falls (later Malmstrom AFB) 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-94 Starfire|F-94C Starfire]] and later [[F-101 Voodoo]] interceptors.<ref name="mul2" /><ref name="mul5">USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1)</ref> [[File:McDonnell F-101B 060912-F-1234S-009.jpg|thumb|McDonnell F-101B-110-MC Voodoo AF Serial No. 58-0325. This was the type of aircraft flown by Air Defense Command at Malmstrom AFB. After its active service was over, this aircraft was retired to the [[National Museum of the United States Air Force]] where it is now on static display.|alt=|left]]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 Dakota|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 Air Force Base|Richards Gebaur AFB]], [[Missouri]].<ref>[http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/rso/rso_index.html United States Air Force Historical Research Agency Research Division, Organizational History Branch] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070401033357/http://afhra.maxwell.af.mil/rso/rso_index.html |date=1 April 2007 }}</ref>

By 1954, several aircraft control and warning (radar) squadrons had been formed at the base. The [[903d Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron]] was one of them, and operated an [[AN/TPS-1]]D (termed a "gap-filler"). 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]] (FAA), and joined the [[Semi Automatic Ground Environment]] (SAGE) system on 1&nbsp;March 1961, the squadron being redesignated as the [[801st Radar Squadron]] (SAGE). 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 (which had replaced the AN/FPS-24), 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]] (JSS) Program, then was removed {{circa}} 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]] (JSS).

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]] (WADS) Ground Equipment Facility J-77A.<ref>[http://www.radomes.org/cgi-bin/museum/acwinfo2x.cgi?site=%22Bootlegger+Ridge,+MT%22&key=BootleggerRidgeMT&pic=BootleggerRidgeMT&doc=BootleggerRidgeMT Information for Bootlegger Ridge, MT]</ref><ref>A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946–1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado</ref><ref>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.</ref>

In 1959 a SAGE data center (DC-20) was established at Malmstrom. 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.

[[File:29th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron F-101B 58-0310 1964.jpg|thumb|29th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron McDonnell F-101B-110-MC Voodoo Great Falls AFB, Montana March 1964]]

DC-20 was initially under the [[Great Falls Air Defense Sector]] (GFADS), 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.<ref>[http://www.radomes.org/cgi-bin/museum/acwinfo2x.cgi?site=%22Malmstrom+AFB+SAGE,+MT%22&key=MalmstromAFBSAGEMT&pic=MalmstromAFBSAGEMT&doc=MalmstromAFBSAGEMT Information for Malmstrom AFB SAGE, MT]</ref>

The [[North American Aerospace Defense Command]] (NORAD) was created in 1957. Beginning in 1959, Malmstrom was the headquarters of the Great Falls Air Defense Sector, until inactivated in 1966.<ref name="mul3"/> 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]].<ref name="mul2"/>

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.<ref name="mul5"/>