The Great Falls Air Defense Sector (GFADS) 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 The 29th Air Division (29th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, being stationed at Duluth International Airport, Minnesota. It was inactivated on 15 November 1969. History ...

, being stationed at

Malmstrom Air Force Base Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place (CDP) 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. ...

Montana Montana () is a state in the Mountain West division of the Western United States. It is bordered by Idaho to the west, North Dakota and South Dakota to the east, Wyoming to the south, and the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbi ...

. It was inactivated on 1 April 1966.

History

GFADS was established in March 1959 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 C ...

units with a mission to provide

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, ...

of central

. 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. On 15 February 1960 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-20) became operational. DC-20 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. The Sector was inactivated on 1 April 1966 as part of ADC reorganization and consolidation, the command being redesignated as the

28th Air Division The 28th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Tactical Air Command at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma. It was inactivated on 29 May 1992. History Established in December 1 ...

Lineage

* Established as Great Falls Air Defense Sector on 1 March 1959 : Inactivated on 1 April 1966; redesignated as

Assignments

, 21 January 1960 – 1 April 1966

Stations

Malmstrom AFB Malmstrom Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base and census-designated place (CDP) 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. ...

, 1 January 1960 – 1 April 1966

Components

Interceptor squadrons

* 5th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron :

Minot AFB Minot Air Force Base is a U.S. Air Force installation in Ward County, North Dakota, north of the city of Minot via U.S. Route 83. In the 2020 census, the base was counted as a CDP with a total population of 5,017, down from 5,521 in ...

, North Dakota, 25 June 1963-1 April 1966 *

13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. Its last assignment was with the Minot Air Defense Sector, stationed at Glasgow Air Force Base, Montana where it was inactivated on 30 June 1968. The squadron ...

, North Dakota, 25 June 1963-1 April 1966 *

29th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron 029 may refer to: * Keypunch#IBM 029 Card Punch, IBM 029, a keypunch machine * 029, the telephone area code of Xi'an and Xianyang * Cardiff#Telecommunications, Cardiff, the Cardiff area code {{DEFAULTSORT:29 ...

: Malmstron AFB, Montana, 1953-1968

Radar squadrons

* 681st Radar Squadron :

Cut Bank AFS Cut Bank Air Force Station (Perm ID: P-24, SAGE ID: Z-24) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located northwest of Cut Bank, Montana. It was closed in 1965. History The facility was hosted by the 6 ...

, Montana, 1 July 1960-25 June 1965 * 694th Radar Squadron :

Lewistown AFS Lewistown Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-178 NORAD ID: Z-178) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located east-southeast of Hilger, Montana. It was closed in 1971. History Lewistown Air Force Statio ...

, Montana, 1 July 1960-1 April 1966 * 706th Radar Squadron :

Dickinson AFS Dickinson Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located northeast of Dickinson, North Dakota. It was closed in 1965. History Dickinson Air Force Station came into existence as part ...

, North Dakota, 25 June 1963-25 June 1965 * 716th Radar Squadron :

Kalispell AFS Kalispell Air Force Station (ADC ID: TM-179, NORAD ID: Z-179) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located south of Kalispell, Montana near the community of Lakeside. It was closed in 1978 by the Air ...

, Montana, 1 July 1960-1 April 1966 * 778th Radar Squadron : Harve AFS, Montana, 1 July 1960-1 April 1966 * 779th Radar Squadron :

Opheim AFS Opheim Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-26, NORAD ID: Z-26) is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west of Opheim, Montana. It was closed in 1979. History In late 1951 Air Defense Command selecte ...

, Montana, 25 June 1963-1 April 1966 *

780th Radar Squadron 78 may refer to: * 78 (number) * one of the years 78 BC, AD 78, 1978, 2078 * 78 RPM phonograph (gramophone) record * The 78, a proposed urban development in Chicago, Illinois, US See also * * List of highways numbered 78 The following highwa ...

Fortuna AFS Fortuna Air Force Station is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located west of Fortuna, North Dakota. It was closed in 1979 as a radar station, remaining as a Long-Range Radar (LRR) facility until 1984 ...

, North Dakota, 25 June 1963-1 April 1966 * 786th Radar Squadron :

Minot AFS Minot Air Force Station (ADC ID: P-28 NORAD ID: Z-28) ermanent Installation Number (PIN): 1445; Installation Location Code (ILC): QJVM is a closed United States Air Force General Surveillance Radar station. It is located south of Minot, Nor ...

, North Dakota, 25 June 1963-1 April 1966 *

801st Radar Squadron The 801st Radar Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 28th Air Division, Aerospace Defense Command, stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana. It was inactivated on 1 July 1974. The unit was a Gene ...

, Montana, 1 July 1960-1 April 1966 *

902d Radar Squadron 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

Miles City AFS The mile, sometimes the international mile or statute mile to distinguish it from other miles, is a British imperial unit and United States customary unit of distance; both are based on the older English unit of length equal to 5,280 English ...

, Montana, 25 June 1963-1 April 1966

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 Great Falls Air Defense Sector
{{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed

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, ...

1959 establishments in Montana 1966 disestablishments in Montana