The Duluth Air Defense Sector (DUADS) is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

organization. Its last assignment was with the

Air Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command (military formation), command of the United States Air Force, responsible for continental air defense. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was est ...

29th Air Division, being stationed at Duluth Airport,

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

. It was inactivated on 1 April 1969.

History

Established in October 1957 assuming control of former ADC

Central Air Defense Force The Central Air Defense Force (CADF) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command being stationed at Richards-Gebaur Air Force Base, Missouri. It was inactivated on July 1, 1960. History ...

units with a mission to provide air defense of most of

and western

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. The organization provided command and control over several aircraft and

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

squadrons. In November 1959, the new

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of large computers and associated networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image of the airspace over a wide area. S ...

(SAGE) Direction Center (DC-10) became operational. DC-10 was equipped with dual AN/FSQ-7 Computers. The day-to-day operations of the command was to train and maintain tactical flying units flying jet interceptor aircraft (

F-94 Starfire The Lockheed F-94 Starfire was a first-generation jet powered all-weather, day/night interceptor of the United States Air Force. A twin-seat craft, it was developed from the Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star trainer in the late 1940s. It reached ope ...

; F-102 Delta Dagger;

F-106 Delta Dart The Convair F-106 Delta Dart was the primary all-weather interceptor aircraft of the United States Air Force from the 1960s through to the 1980s. Designed as the so-called "Ultimate Interceptor", it proved to be the last specialist interceptor i ...

) in a state of readiness with training missions and series of exercises with SAC and other units simulating interceptions of incoming enemy aircraft. In October 1962, during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis (of 1962) ( es, Crisis de Octubre) in Cuba, the Caribbean Crisis () in Russia, or the Missile Scare, was a 35-day (16 October – 20 November 1962) confrontation between the United S ...

, a guard at the Direction Center mistakenly identified a bear trying to climb the security fence as a

saboteur Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identiti ...

and rang the alarm, which automatically triggered similar alarms at other bases in the region. A faulty alarm system at

Volk Field Volk Field Air National Guard Base is a military airport located near the village of Camp Douglas, in Juneau County, Wisconsin, United States., effective 2007-07-05 It is also known as the Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center (CRTC). T ...

in Wisconsin led to nuclear-armed interceptor aircraft nearly being launched. Inactivated April 1966 as part of ADC reorganization and consolidation, the command being redesignated as the 29th Air Division. The SAGE building was remodeled and, in 1985, given to the University of Minnesota Duluth to house the

Natural Resources Research Institute The Natural Resources Research Institute (NRRI) is a United States (U.S.) based research institute founded by the Minnesota state legislature within the University of Minnesota Duluth. NRRI is a non-profit, applied research organization, establi ...

signed into legislation to address the struggling economy during the

early 1980s recession The early 1980s recession was a severe economic recession that affected much of the world between approximately the start of 1980 and 1983. It is widely considered to have been the most severe recession since World War II. A key event leading to ...

Lineage

* Established as Duluth Air Defense Sector on 1 October 1957, Inactivated on 1 April 1966

Assignments

* 37th Air Division, 1 October 1957 * 31st Air Division, 20 December 1957 * 37th Air Division, 1 January 1959 * 30th Air Division, 1 April 1959 – 1 April 1966

Stations

* Duluth Airport,

, 1 October 1957 – 1 April 1966

Components

Wings

* 56th Fighter Wing (Air Defense):

K. I. Sawyer AFB K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force (USAF) installation in Marquette County, Michigan, south of the city of Marquette. Near the center of Michigan's Upper Peninsula, the base operated for nearly forty years ...

, Michigan, 1 October 1963-1 January 1964 *

507th Fighter Wing 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on eac ...

(Air Defense):

Kincheloe AFB Kincheloe Air Force Base was a United States Air Force (USAF) base during the Cold War. Built in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in 1943 during World War II, the base was in service The base was known by various names, including Kinross Muni ...

, Michigan, 1 October 1963-1 April 1966

Group

* 343d Fighter Group (Air Defense): Duluth Airport, Minnesota, 15 November 1959-1 April 1966

Interceptor squadrons

* 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron:

Grand Forks AFB Grand Forks Air Force Base (AFB) is a United States Air Force installation in northeastern North Dakota, located north of Emerado and west of Grand Forks. The host unit is the 319th Reconnaissance Wing (319 RW) assigned to the Air Combat C ...

, North Dakota, 4 September 1963-1 April 1966 * 62d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron:

, Michigan, 16 December 1963-1 April 1966

Missile squadrons

* 37th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC):

, Michigan, 1 October 1963-1 April 1966 * 74th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC): Duluth AF Missile Site, Minnesota, 1 April 1960-1 April 1966

Radar squadrons

* 665th Radar Squadron:

Calumet AFS Calumet Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east-northeast of Phoenix, Michigan. It was closed in 1988 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administratio ...

, Michigan, 1 October 1963-1 April 1966 * 674th Radar Squadron: Osceola AFS, Wisconsin, 1 July 1959-1 April 1966 * 676th Radar Squadron: Antigo AFS, Wisconsin, 1 October 1963-1 June 1964 *

692d Radar Squadron 69 may refer to: * 69 (number) * A year, primarily 69 BC, AD 69, 1969, or 2069 *69 (sex position) Arts and media Music * ''69'', a 1988 album by A.R. Kane * "'69", a song by Deep Purple from ''Abandon'' * Major 6 add 9, a jazz chord * "Summer ...

: Baudette AFS, Minnesota, 1 July 1959-1 April 1966 * 707th Radar Squadron: Grand Rapids AFS, Minnesota, 1 July 1959-1 August 1963 * 739th Radar Squadron:

Wadena AFS Wadena Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-17, NORAD ID: Z-17) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north-northeast of Wadena, Minnesota. It was closed in 1970. History In late 1951 Air Defense Com ...

, Minnesota, 4 September 1963-1 April 1966 * 753d Radar Squadron: Sault Sainte Marie AFS, Michigan, 1 October 1963-1 April 1966 * 756th Radar Squadron:

Finland AFS Finland Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located north of Finland, Minnesota. It was closed in 1980. In 1950 Air Defense Command selected Finland, Minnesota site as one of twent ...

, Minnesota, 1 July 1959-1 April 1966 * 785th Radar Squadron:

Finley AFS Finley Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west-northwest of Finley, North Dakota. It was closed in 1979 by the Air Force, and turned over to the Federal Aviation Administ ...

, North Dakota, 4 September 1963-1 April 1966 * 914th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron: Armstrong AS, Ontario, 15 November 1959-1 November 1962 *

915th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron The 915th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the Duluth Air Defense Sector, Air Defense Command, stationed at Sioux Lookout Air Station, Ontario, Canada. It was inactivated on ...

: Sioux Lookout AS, Ontario, 15 November 1959-1 October 1962

References

* 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 * 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. * Maurer, Maurer (1983). Air Force Combat Units Of World War II. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. . * Ravenstein, Charles A. (1984). Air Force Combat Wings Lineage and Honors Histories 1947–1977. Maxwell AFB, Alabama: Office of Air Force History. .
Radomes.org Duluth Air Defense Sector
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed 1959 establishments in Minnesota 1966 disestablishments in Minnesota

Air Defense Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

Military units and formations in Minnesota