Malmstrom Air Force Base

Malmstrom Air Force Base is located east of Great Falls, Montana. The base was activated as an operational Second Air Force training installation in 1942, when the first B-17 landed on Great Falls Army Air Force Base. B-17 combat crew training ended in October 1943, and Lend-Lease operations were begun to provide support to Russia during World War II. The base also served as the primary C-54 training site for Berlin Airlift aircrews. In 1954, the base was named after the 407th vice wing commander, Col. Einar Axel Malmstrom, who died in a T-33 crash. From 1954 to 1991, Strategic Air Command tankers were on the base, and in 1961, the 341st Missile Wing was activated and became the nation's first Minuteman ICBM wing, which continues today with the Minuteman III, one-third of the nation's land-based missile deterrent. Today, Malmstrom Air Force base is preparing to field the new Northrop Grumman Ground Based Strategic Deterrent intercontinental ballistic missile weapon system, program to replace the decades-old Minuteman III.

Lt. Col. George A. Larson, USAF (Ret.), served 22.5 years as an Air Force intelligence officer. He is a military and aviation historian who has written numerous books and magazine articles.