Sioux City Air National Guard Base is an

Iowa Air National Guard The Iowa Air National Guard (IA ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Iowa, United States of America. It is, along with the Iowa Army National Guard, an element of the Iowa National Guard. As state militia units, the units in the Iowa Air ...

base, located at

Sioux Gateway Airport Sioux Gateway Airport , also known as Colonel Bud Day Field, is a public and military use airport in Woodbury County, Iowa, United States. It is located six nautical miles (7 mi, 11 km) south of the central business district of Sioux ...

It is located south-southeast of

Sioux City, Iowa Sioux City () is a city in Woodbury and Plymouth counties in the northwestern part of the U.S. state of Iowa. The population was 85,797 in the 2020 census, making it the fourth-largest city in Iowa. The bulk of the city is in Woodbury County, ...

. On , the airport was named "Colonel Bud Day Field" in honor of United States Air Force Colonel George Everette "Bud" Day, a Sioux City, Iowa native and is the only person ever awarded both the

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valor. ...

and the Air Force Cross.

Overview

Sioux Gateway Regional Airport is home for the Iowa Air National Guard's 185th Air Refueling Wing. The wings main mission is to provide mid-air refueling and mobility sustainment in direct support of the global mission of the Air Force. As a community-based organization the wing and its subordinate units are also tasked to support the state of Iowa in the event of a state emergency.

History

The station was established in March 1942 as Sioux City Army Air Base (AAB) and was a major training center during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

under

II Bomber Command The II Bomber Command is a disbanded United States Air Force unit. It was established in September 1941, shortly before the attack on Pearl Harbor to command heavy bomber units assigned to Second Air Force. Following the entry of the United St ...

for crew members of B-24 Liberators and

B-17 Flying Fortresses The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

. During the 1950s, the airfield was an

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 ...

fighter-interceptor base. Beginning in 1956, the ADC flying activity was reduced and Sioux City became an ADC command and control station for Ground Control Intercept (GCI) Radar Stations in the Midwest, later becoming a Direction Center (DC-22) for the ADC

Sioux City Air Defense Sector The Sioux City Air Defense Sector (SCADS) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with the Air Defense Command 29th Air Division, being stationed at Sioux City Air Force Station, Iowa. History SCADS was es ...

and later the

30th Air Division The 30th Air Division (30th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to Tenth Air Force, being stationed at Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa. It was inactivated on ...

. In 1968, ADC closed its facilities with the

becoming the host unit at the base.

World War II

The construction of Sioux City AAB began in March 1942, about three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Opened on , it became a major training center during

, initially for

B-17 Flying Fortress The Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress is a four-engined heavy bomber developed in the 1930s for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC). Relatively fast and high-flying for a bomber of its era, the B-17 was used primarily in the European Theater ...

, and later

B-24 Liberator The Consolidated B-24 Liberator is an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and some initial production aircraft were laid down as export models des ...

groups. The base performed primarily Phase III advanced group training, and once completed, the groups were deployed overseas to either the

Eighth Air Force The Eighth Air Force (Air Forces Strategic) is a numbered air force (NAF) of the United States Air Force's Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC). It is headquartered at Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana. The command serves as Air Force ...

(ETO), or

Fifteenth Air Force The Fifteenth Air Force (15 AF) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force's Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Shaw Air Force Base. It was reactivated on 20 August 2020, merging the previous units of the Ninth Air Force ...

(MTO) for combat operations. The host unit at the base was the 354th Army Air Force Base Unit, and the major training organization was the 393d Combat Training School (later redesignated 224th Combat Crew Training School in 1944). At its peak, (October 1943) there were 940 officers and 5,183 enlisted men either assigned or attached to the base. The major training activities at Sioux City included aerial gunnery, bombardment, navigation, formation flying, and other related courses. Initially training at the field was intended to prepare an entire bomb group for overseas combat (OTU – Operational Training). After July 1943, sufficient Bomb Groups had been formed and trained, and the base switched to training individual crews as replacements or additions to various bomb groups (RTU – Replacement Training). Hollywood actor, pilot and Army Air Force Captain (later Brigadier General)

James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality h ...

was posted to Sioux City with his squadron in 1943, where he and his crew completed their initial

qualification prior to deployment overseas. The training of B-17 crews continued until May 1945. Around that time, the field received a new mission which required the conversion of the facilities for

B-29 Superfortress The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is an American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the B-17 Fl ...

training. The base was transferred to the

17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing 17 (seventeen) is the natural number following 16 and preceding 18. It is a prime number. Seventeen is the sum of the first four prime numbers. In mathematics 17 is the seventh prime number, which makes seventeen the fourth super-prime, as s ...

and began the transition to start B-29 training. By early June, there were ten B-29's on the field. The new training program was short lived, however because in August 1945 it was canceled. With the end of World War II, the former training base switched to becoming a processing center to discharge personnel out of the service and back into civilian life. With its mission completed, Sioux City Army Air Base closed in December 1945.

Fighter-Interceptor base

However, the facility would not remain closed for long, as in September 1946 the airfield was opened by the

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a MAJCOM, major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of ...

. Sioux City Air Base was one of the first Air Force Reserve bases established after the war, and in December 1946 the 185th Iowa Air National Guard unit was established at Sioux City. Assigned to the new

(ADC) upon reactivation, the 140th Army Air Force base unit was activated as its host unit. The mission of the 140th AFBU was to offer flight and ground training to all commissioned and enlisted members of the Air Force Reserve residing in Iowa,

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 ...

Nebraska Nebraska () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by South Dakota to the north; Iowa to the east and Missouri to the southeast, both across the Missouri River; Kansas to the south; Colorado to the southwe ...

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

and

Wyoming Wyoming () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is bordered by Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho to the west, Utah to the south ...

. During the 1950s, ADC based the 521st Air Defense Group at Sioux City beginning on 15 February 1953 as part of the

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 ...

. The 521st had the 14th, 87th and 519th Fighter-Interceptor Squadrons, equipped with

F-86 Sabre The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing So ...

F-84 Thunderstreak The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design. The RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version. ...

s, and F-102 Delta Daggers. In 1955, the 521st was reassigned and replaced by the 13th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which flew with the 14th FIS from the base until 1960.

ADCOM Radar Control Center

Beginning in 1959, the ADC flying activity was reduced and Sioux City became an ADC command and control base. The

(SCADS) was established on assuming control of former ADC

units in western

Iowa Iowa () is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States, bordered by the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west. It is bordered by six states: Wisconsin to the northeast, Illinois to the ...

, most of

along with southern

. In 1959, a

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) Data Center (DC-22) was established at Sioux City AFS. 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. The operation of DC-22 with its

AN/FSQ-7 The AN/FSQ-7 Combat Direction Central, referred to as the Q7 for short, was a computerized command and control system for Cold War ground-controlled interception used in the USAF Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) air defense network. The ...

computer was the primary mission of SCADS, as well as providing

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, ...

over parts of

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

and

The Sector was disestablished on as part of an ADC consolidation and reorganization; its units were reassigned to the newly established

which took over operation of the SAGE DC-22. The 30th AD administered and trained subordinate units, and participated in numerous air defense training exercises. In addition, it supervised training of

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia of each U.S. state, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and the ter ...

units with a pertinent mobilization assignment. DC-22 was inactivated in September 1968 as ADC phased down its interceptor mission as the chances of a Soviet bomber attack on the United States seemed remote, its mission being consolidated into

North American Aerospace Defense Command North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and protection ...

(NORAD). With the inactivation of the 30th AD, the Air Force closed Sioux City Air Force Station as an active-duty facility. Its facilities were turned over to Sioux Gateway Airport, along with the

and

for limited military use. Today, the Sioux City SAGE building is reportedly now a turkey processing plant.

Iowa Air National Guard

174th Tactical Fighter Squadron A-7D Corsair IIs in flight

The 185th Air Refueling Wing was established in December 1946. The Army Air Force's 386th Fighter Squadron, flying

P-47 Thunderbolt The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

s, was activated in 1943 and then inactivated in 1945 at the end of World War II. The unit was subsequently re-designated the

174th Fighter Squadron The 174th Air Refueling Squadron (174th ARS) is a unit of the Iowa Air National Guard 185th Air Refueling Wing. It is assigned to Sioux City Air National Guard Base, Iowa and is equipped with the KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft. History World War ...

and allocated to the Iowa National Guard on 24 May 1946. On , the 174th was extended Federal recognition and equipped with

P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

s. Today, the 174th is still the flying squadron at the 185th Air Refueling Wing, formerly the 185th Fighter Wing. For three years, the 174th flew the P-51 Mustang, later redesignated the F-51 "Mustang after the U.S. Air Force became an independent service in 1947 and all Army Air Forces National Guard units became

units. In 194950, the unit received its first jet, the F-84B "Thunderjet." The squadron was called to active duty on for service during the Korean War and moved to

Dow AFB Bangor Air National Guard Base is a United States Air National Guard base. Created in 1927 as the commercial Godfrey Field, the airfield was taken over by the U.S. Army just before World War II and renamed Godfrey Army Airfield and later Dow Arm ...

in Bangor, Maine. Most jet pilots transferred to USAF units in Europe and the Far East. During its Korean service, the squadron was re-equipped with the F-51D . The unit finished their tour and was transferred back to state control on 31 December 1952. In July 1953, the unit converted from F-51Ds to the F-80C Shooting Star. In 1955, the 174th FS was re-designated the 174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and was transitioned to the F-84E Thunderstreak as a component of the 132nd Fighter Interceptor Wing. In 1961, the unit was re-designated the 174th Tactical Fighter Squadron and converted to flying

F-100C Super Sabre The North American F-100 Super Sabre is an American supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the United States Air Force (USAF) from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. The first of the Century Series of ...

. On , the unit reached group status and was reorganized and re-designated as the 185th Tactical Fighter Group. On , the 185th was recalled to active Federal service as a result of the "

Pueblo Crisis USS ''Pueblo'' (AGER-2) is a , attached to Navy intelligence as a spy ship, which was attacked and captured by North Korean forces on 23 January 1968, in what was later known as the "''Pueblo'' incident" or alternatively, as the "''Pueblo'' cris ...

". The 174th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 185th augmented by many of the other personnel from the Group, deployed with their F-100s to

Phu Cat Air Base Phu or ''variation'', may refer to: Places * Phủ, prefecture in 15th–19th century Vietnam People Given name *Phu Dorjee (died 1987), first Indian to climb Mount Everest without oxygen * Phu Dorjee Sherpa (died 1969), first Nepali to climb Mou ...

, South Vietnam on 11 May 1968. During the course of the next 90 days, the balance of the 185th was deployed to six military bases in Korea and several others within the continental United States. As for the 174th, on , the personnel and aircraft were recalled with the 185th and returned to Sioux City and released from active duty. In 1977, the 185th converted to the

A-7D The LTV A-7 Corsair II is an American carrier-capable subsonic light attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Ling-Temco-Vought (LTV). The A-7 was developed during the early 1960s as replacement for the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk. Its design was ...

Corsair II. On , the 185th converted aircraft again, receiving

F-16 The General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon is a single-engine Multirole combat aircraft, multirole fighter aircraft originally developed by General Dynamics for the United States Air Force (USAF). Designed as an air superiority day fighter, it ...

Fighting Falcons. On 16 March 1992, the 185th Tactical Fighter Group was re-designated the 185th Fighter Group. As the Air Force and Air Guard standardized unit structures, the 185th was designated the 185th Fighter Wing. The F-16 "Fighting Falcon" would be the last jet that the unit would fly before conversion to the

KC-135 Stratotanker The Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker is an American military aerial refueling aircraft that was developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, alongside the Boeing 707 airliner. It is the predominant variant of the C-135 Stratolifter family of transpo ...

aerial refueling aircraft in 2003 and being re-designated the 185th Air Refueling Wing. In 2007, the 185th began transitioning from the KC-135E to KC-135R and KC-135T models with larger engines, capable of more missions.

UA Flight 232 crash

On , Sioux City IAP / Sioux City ANG was the emergency landing site for

United Airlines Flight 232 United Airlines Flight 232 was a regularly scheduled United Airlines flight from Stapleton International Airport in Denver to O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, continuing to Philadelphia International Airport. On July 19, 1989, the DC ...

after a catastrophic failure of the plane's hydraulic system. The emergency landing happened to coincide with an activation of the base's Air National Guard force, which provided the maximum manpower on the airport including the firefighting forces of the local Air National Guard unit. The ANG firefighter's were only equipped to handle small commuter and Air Force A-7 aircraft, rather than a widebody jet such as the DC-10. It is widely recognized that the efforts of the Air Guardsmen at the Sioux City Airport contributed to many lives being saved after the crash of UA 232.

Major units assigned

World War II

* 15th Bombardment Training Wing, November 1942July 1943 * 393d Bombardment Group, JuneAugust 1943 (OTU); November 1943April 1944 (RTU) * 17th Bombardment Wing, FebruaryDecember 1945 * 47th Bombardment Wing, JulyOctober 1945 *

99th Bombardment Group The 99th Infantry Division was formed in 1942 and deployed overseas in 1944. The "Checkerboard" or "Battle Babies" division landed at the French port of Le Havre and proceeded northeast to Belgium. During the heavy fighting in the Battle of the ...

, November 1942January 1943 (B-17) *

100th Bombardment Group 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

, December 1942January 1943 (B-17) * 379th Bombardment Group, FebruaryApril 1943 (B-17) *

384th Bombardment Group 384th may refer to: *384th Air Expeditionary Group, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command *384th Air Expeditionary Wing, inactive unit of the United States Air Force * 384th Air Refueling Squadron (384 ARS) is ...

, AprilMay 1943 (B-17) * 388th Bombardment Group, AprilJune 1943 (B-17) * 445th Bombardment Group, JulyOctober 1943 (B-24) * 448th Bombardment Group, SeptemberNovember 1943 (B-24) *

485th Bombardment Group 485th may refer to: * 485th Aero Construction Squadron, part of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, New Mexico * 485th Air Expeditionary Wing, provisional United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command * 485t ...

, JulySeptember 1945 (B-24)

Air Defense Command

, : Re-designated:

, * 521st Air Defense Group, : Re-designated: 53d Fighter Group (Air Defense), *

328th Fighter Wing 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...

(Air Defense), * 163d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, (Federalized

Indiana Air National Guard The Indiana Air National Guard (IN ANG) is the aerial militia of the State of Indiana, United States of America. It is, along with the Indiana Army National Guard, an element of the Indiana National Guard. As state militia units, the units in ...

) (F-51D) * 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, (F-51D) * 519th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, : Re-designated:

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 ...

, (F-86D) * 14th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, (F-86D)

Iowa Air National Guard

* 174th Fighter Squadron established : Extended federal recognition : Re-designated 174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 1955 : Re-designated 185th Tactical Fighter Group, : Re-designated 185th Fighter Group, : Re-designated 185th Fighter Wing, 1992 : Re-designated 185th Air Refueling Wing, 2003

References

* * *
185th Air Refueling Wing website
{{Authority control 1942 establishments in Iowa Aerospace Defense Command military installations Installations of the United States Air National Guard Military installations established in 1942 Military installations in Iowa Radar stations of the United States Air Force

Overview

History

World War II

Fighter-Interceptor base

ADCOM Radar Control Center

Iowa Air National Guard

UA Flight 232 crash

Major units assigned

World War II

Air Defense Command

Iowa Air National Guard

See also

References