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Duluth Air National Guard Base

United States Air National Guard base

Summary

United States Air National Guard base

Field	Value
name	Duluth Air National Guard Base
partof
nearest_town	Duluth, Minnesota
country	the United States of America
image	File:F-16C 50s from 52nd FW at Duluth MN 2010.JPG
alt	Three F-16CJ Block 50 Fighting Falcons from Spangdahlem Air Base after arriving to join the 148th Fighter Wing at Duluth ANGB during 2010. In front is an F-16C Block 25C from the 148th FW that was replaced.
caption	Three F-16CJ Block 50 Fighting Falcons from Spangdahlem Air Base after arriving to join the 148th Fighter Wing at Duluth ANGB during 2010. In front is an F-16C Block 25C from the 148th FW that was replaced.
image2	[[File:US-AirNationalGuard-2007Emblem.svg	100px]]
type	Air National Guard Base
coordinates
pushpin_map	USA
pushpin_map_caption	Location in the United States
pushpin_label	Duluth
pushpin_label_position	left
ownership	Department of Defense
operator	US Air Force (USAF)
controlledby	Minnesota Air National Guard
open_to_public
site_other_label
site_other
site_area
code
built
used	1948 – present
height
length
fate
condition	Operational
current_commander	Colonel Chris Blomquist
past_commanders
garrison	148th Fighter Wing
occupants
website	www.148fw.ang.af.mil/
IATA	DLH
ICAO	KDLH
FAA	DLH
WMO	727450
elevation	435.2 m
r1-number	9/27
r1-length	3228.1 m
r1-surface	Concrete
r2-number	3/21
r2-length	1743.1 m
r2-surface	Asphalt
h1-length
airfield_other_label
airfield_other
footnotes	Airfield shared with Duluth International Airport
Source: Federal Aviation Administration

History

The City of Duluth purchased the original property for the airport in 1929 from St. Louis County. The airport was constructed on 640 acre of land with two 2650 ft sod runways. Subsequently, in 1930, the airfield was dedicated as a public airport. The airport was called the Williamson-Johnson Municipal Airport until 1963 at which time it was renamed Duluth International Airport.

Air Defense Command

11th FIS F-102 Delta Dagger 56-1485 in arctic colors about 1959

After World War II, the U.S. Air Force constructed permanent and semi-permanent facilities on land leased from the City of Duluth for use by the active Air Force and the Air National Guard. Beginning in 1948, the Minnesota Air National Guard built permanent facilities on the east end of the field. Air Defense Command (ADC) activated the 11th Fighter Interceptor Squadron on 1 December 1952 and the 515th Air Defense Squadron on 16 February 1953 under the Central Air Defense Force 31st Air Division. The 11th flew from Duluth until 1968, flying F-51H Mustangs, F-86D Sabrejets, F-89H/J Scorpions, F-102A Delta Daggers, and lastly F-106A Delta Dart interceptors. In 1968, the squadron was redesignated the 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron and continued to operate F-106s until 1979.

left]]In 1966, the [[Air Defense Command]] [[29th Air Division]], operated a [[Semi Automatic Ground Environment]] (SAGE) radar command and control center from the airport.<ref>[http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/011/501.xml USAFHRA Document 00464260]. Air Force History Index. </ref> SAGE was an automated control system for tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft used by [[NORAD]]. In later versions, the system could automatically direct aircraft to an interception by sending commands directly to the aircraft's autopilot. In 1969, the SAGE facility closed and the [[23d Air Division]] replaced it. The 23d AD which was responsible for the air defense of the upper midwest.<ref>[http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/011/501.xml USAFHRA Document 01011501]. Air Force History Index. </ref>

Minnesota Air National Guard

The USAF phased out its Air Defense facilities in 1982, but the Minnesota ANG continues its operations.

Along with its commercial airport usage, the Minnesota Air National Guard's 148th Fighter Wing (148 FW), an Air Combat Command (ACC)-gained unit, is located at the airport. The air national guard base occupies 153.3 acre on the northeast corner of the airport.Duluth Air National Guard Base The munitions storage area, which is physically separated from the main base, occupies 16.71 acre north of Runway 09/27. The base has a total of 37 buildings; 18 industrial and 19 administrative. Normal ANG population is 320 personnel but surges to 1100 at least once each month during unit training assembly (UTA) drill sessions for the entire wing. The 148th previously flew the F-16A ADF and currently flies the F-16C Fighting Falcon.

Known ADCOM units assigned

23d ADCOM Region, 8 December 1978 : Transferred to ADTAC as 23d NORAD Region, 1 October 1979-31 December 1983
Duluth Air Defense Sector, 8 October 1957 : Re-designated: 29th Air Division, 1 April 1966 : Re-designated: 23d Air Division, 19 November 1969-15 April 1982
514th Air Defense Group, 16 February 1953 : Re-designated: 343d Fighter Group, 18 August 1955-1 January 1959 :: 11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (FIS), 1 December 1952-30 June 1968
4787th Air Base Squadron, 1 December 1952 : Re-designated: 4787th Air Base Group, 28 August 1970-31 December 1983
4645th Air Defense Squadron (SAGE), 1 July 1972 : Re-designated: 23d Air Defense Squadron (ADS)/(SAGE), 1 January 1975-31 December 1983
179th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron (Federalized Minnesota Air National Guard) (ANG), 2 March 1951 – 1 December 1952 (F-51D)
74th Air Defense Missile Squadron (BOMARC), 1 April 1960 – 30 April 1972

Based units

Flying and notable non-flying units based at Duluth Air National Guard Base.

United States Air Force

Air National Guard

Minnesota Air National Guard
- 148th Fighter Wing
  - Headquarters 148th Fighter Wing
  - 148th Operations Group
    - 179th Fighter Squadron – F-16C Fighting Falcon
    - 148th Operations Support Flight
  - 148th Maintenance Group
    - 148th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
    - 148th Maintenance Operations Flight
    - 148th Maintenance Squadron
  - 148th Medical Group
  - 148th Mission Support Group
    - 148th Civil Engineering Squadron
    - 148th Communications Squadron
    - 148th Logistics Readiness Squadron
    - 148th Security Forces Squadron

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.
Information for Duluth AFS, MN
information for Duluth (BOMARC), MN

References

(27 February 2020). "Airport Diagram – Duluth Intl (DLH)".
USAF Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1).
[http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/011/501.xml USAFHRA Document 00464260]. Air Force History Index.
[http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/011/501.xml USAFHRA Document 01011501]. Air Force History Index.
[http://airforcehistoryindex.org/data/001/061/883.xml USAFHRA Document 01061883]
(October 2018). "The Wing". US Air Force.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

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