Editing Offutt Air Force Base (section)

===Strategic Air Command===
[[File:SAC Shield.svg|thumb|125px|Strategic Air Command insignia]]
On 9 November 1948, Offutt became the host base for Headquarters [[Strategic Air Command]], which was moved from [[Andrews AFB]], Maryland. [[United States Secretary of the Air Force|Secretary of the Air Force]] [[Stuart Symington]] chose to locate the Air Force's long-range atomic strike force at Offutt primarily because the base was centrally located on the North American continent, placing it well beyond the existing range of long-range, nuclear-armed bombers to (then) stay safely out of range of hostile missiles or bomber aircraft.

Offutt's population and facilities grew dramatically to keep pace with the increased operational demands during the [[Cold War]]. Several new dormitories and more than 2,000 family housing units – built in the late 1950s and 1960s under incremental Wherry and Capehart projects – quickly replaced the old quarters of Fort Crook. Headquarters SAC moved from the Martin-Nebraska complex to Building 500 in 1957, and new base facilities in the 1960s and 1970s included a hospital, main exchange, commissary, and library.

During the late 1950s, Offutt housed a [[Royal Air Force]] facility for servicing [[Avro Vulcan]]s, which visited the air base frequently while on exercise with SAC.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.airvectors.net/avvulcan_1.html |title=[1.0&#93; Vulcan Development |publisher=AirVectors |access-date=17 March 2010}}</ref>

Operational use of Offutt Air Force Base included the basing of alert tankers in the late 1950s and 1960s, support for intercontinental ballistic missile sites in Nebraska and Iowa in the 1960s, and worldwide reconnaissance from the mid-1960s to the present.

To provide air defense of the base, the United States Army established the [[Offutt AFB Defense Area]], and [[Nike Hercules|Nike-Hercules]] surface-to-air missile sites were constructed during 1959. Sites were located near Cedar Creek, Nebraska (OF-60) {{Coord|40|59|00|N|096|05|28|W}}, and Council Bluffs, Iowa (OF-10) {{Coord|41|13|47|N|095|41|58|W}}. They were operational between November 1960 and March 1966. The missiles were operated by the 6th Battalion, [[43rd Air Defense Artillery Regiment|43rd Artillery]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.lincolnafb.org/army.php|title=Lincoln Air Force Base Online Museum|website=www.lincolnafb.org}}</ref>

During the Cold War, a [[general officer|general]] and various support personnel from the base were airborne 24 hours a day on an [[Boeing EC-135|EC-135]] from 3 February 1961 to 24 July 1990 in [[Looking Glass (airplane)|Operation Looking Glass]], creating an airborne command post in case of war.

The 3902d Air Base Wing was inactivated on 1 March 1986, and the [[55th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing]] assumed host-unit responsibilities for Offutt. Increased defense spending during the 1980s brought additional operational improvements to Offutt, including the [[Bennie L. Davis|Bennie Davis]] Aircraft Maintenance Hangar, and a new command center for Headquarters SAC.