Grand Forks Air Force Base Grand Forks Air Force Base ( AFB ) is a United States Air Force base located north of Emerado , North Dakota and approximately west of Grand Forks , North Dakota . In the 2010 census , the base was counted as a CDP with a total population of 2 , 367 . The host unit at Grand Forks is the 319th Air Base Wing ( 319 ABW ) assigned to the United States Air Force Expeditionary Center of the Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) . Grand Forks AFB was established in 1955 . The 319th Air Base Wing is commanded by Colonel Christopher R . Mann and the wing Command Chief Master Sergeant is CMSgt David E . Carlson . Units . Grand Forks AFB is the home of the Air Mobility Command ' s ( AMC ) 319th Air Base Wing ( 319 ABW ) . The 319 ABW is organized into two distinct groups : Mission Support and Medical . Tenant Units at Grand Forks AFB are : History . Grand Forks Air Force Base was established on 1 December 1955 , with construction beginning in the fall of that year . It was occupied for use on 28 January 1957 . It was named after the neighboring city of Grand Forks , North Dakota . Air Defense Command . Due to the continuance of the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union , Grand Forks AFB was originally built as an Air Defense Command ( ADC ) fighter - interceptor air base . The site for the base was chosen in 1954 and the land was paid for by the citizens of Grand Forks , the site was located west of the city . The beginning of the air base started in 1956 with the construction of a runway . On 18 February 1957 the 478th Fighter Group ( Defense ) was activated at Grand Forks . The 18th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron was moved from Wurtsmith AFB , Michigan on 1 May 1960 , and flew F - 101B Voodoo s until 15 April 1971 when it was inactivated and the Voodoos were retired . It was replaced by the 460th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron which was moved from Kingsley Field , Oregon . The 460th FIS flew F - 106 Delta Dart s until it also was inactivated on 15 July 1974 . In addition to the interceptor squadrons , In 1958 a Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) Data Center ( DC - 11 ) was established at Grand Forks . 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 . DC - 11 was operated by the Grand Forks Air Defense Sector ( GFADS ) , activated on 8 December 1957 under the 31st Air Division at Snelling AFS , Minnesota . On 1 January 1959 , GFADS was transferred to the operational control of the 29th Air Division at Malmstrom AFB , Montana . SAGE operations were extremely expansive and GFADS was inactivated on 1 December 1963 , when it was merged with the Minot Air Defense Sector at Minot AFB . With the inactivation of DC - 11 , Grand Forks AFB was reassigned from the Air Defense mission to Strategic Air Command . In 1971 , the 18th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron was inactivated and the 460th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron replaced the unit . In 1974 , although the 460th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron won first place at the William Tell Air - to - Air Competition at Tyndall AFB , Florida , it was inactivated due to the restructuring of the air defense system , and ended the activities of ADCOM at Grand Forks . The DC - 11 SAGE blockhouse was later the Headquarters of the SAC 321st Strategic Missile Wing . With the end of LGM - 30G Minuteman III operations in 1998 , in June 2003 , the large SAGE blockhouse was torn down . Safeguard Anti - Ballistic Missile . On 3 November 1967 , the Department of Defense revealed that Grand Forks AFB was one of 10 initial locations to host a Sentinel Anti - Ballistic Missile ( ABM ) site . With president Richard Nixon ' s 14 March 1969 , announcement constructing a " Safeguard " installation at Grand Forks became a top priority . However , construction was stalled throughout mid - 1969 , as Congress debated the merits of BMD . Finally , after the Senate defeated amendments to kill Safeguard deployment , the United States Army proceeded under the assumption that appropriations would be forthcoming . Survey teams selected sites in flat wheatlands close to the Canada - Minnesota border , north - northwest of Grand Forks . Twenty - five miles separated the 279 - acre Perimeter Acquisition Radar ( PAR ) and the 433 - acre Missile Site Radar ( MSR ) sites . Four remote launch sites of 36 to 45 acres each were to be situated in a circle with a 20 - mile radius surrounding the MSR . Groundbreaking occurred at the PAR and MSR sites on 6 April 1970 . Excavation proceeded rapidly , and the foundation holes for the PAR and MSR were in place by mid - May . On 26 May 1972 , President Nixon and Soviet general secretary Leonid Brezhnev signed the ABM Treaty , which limited each nation to one site to protect strategic forces and one site to protect the " National Command Authority . " With work about 85 percent complete at Grand Forks , the United States chose to finish construction at the North Dakota site . On 21 August 1972 , the Army Corps of Engineers turned over the PAR to the Safeguard Systems Command ( SAFSCOM ) Site Activation Team . The transfer of the MSR occurred on 3 January 1973 . Work on the four remote launch sites fell behind schedule , with the last being completed on 5 November 1972 . Testing of the PAR commenced during the summer of 1973 . On 3 September 1974 , the SAFSCOM Site Activation Team was relieved by the U . S . Army Safeguard Command . Named the " Stanley R . Mickelsen Safeguard Complex " ( northwest of Grand Forks AFB ) , the North Dakota ABM site received its complement of nuclear - tipped LIM - 49 Spartan and Sprint Missile s during the following spring . The site was declared operational on 1 April 1975 . Due to Congressional action , the Army operated the site for less than a year . With the exception of the PAR , the complex was abandoned in February 1976 . In October 1977 , the PAR came under operational control of the Air Force , which operated it thereafter as part of its early warning system . It was designated as Cavalier AFS ( north - northwest of Grand Forks AFB ) , and remains active . It is operated by the Air Force Space Command 10th Space Warning Squadron ( 10th SWS ) . Strategic Air Command . On 1 September 1958 , Strategic Air Command established the 4133d Strategic Wing at Grand Forks AFB , North Dakota as part of SAC ' s plan to disperse its B - 52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases , thus making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike . The 4133d SW was redesignated as the 319th Bombardment Wing ( 319th BW ) on 1 February 1963 in a name - only redesigation and was assigned to SAC ' s Second Air Force , 810th Strategic Aerospace Division . Upon redesignation , the wing placed aircraft on peacetime quick reaction alert duty , and conducted global bombardment training for Emergency War Order operations and air refueling operations to meet SAC commitments . In 1973 , the 319th Bomb Wing acquired the AGM - 69 Short Range Attack Missile ( SRAM ) , replacing the older AGM - 28 Hound Dog air - to - ground missile aboard its B - 52Hs . As the activities in Southeast Asia decreased , the 319th Bomb Wing focused its full efforts on training crews to fly strategic strike missions . On 1 November 1964 , 321st Strategic Missile Wing was organized as the first Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) LGM - 30 Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile wing , at Grand Forks AFB , North Dakota . During 1965 , the wing ’ s three missile squadrons were activated and crew training and certification began at Vandenberg AFB , California . In August 1965 , the base received its first Minuteman II missile , shipped by train from Assembly Plant 77 at Hill AFB , Utah . During the following March , the base received the first Minuteman II to be shipped via aircraft , an Air Force first . In December 1986 , the last B - 52Gs permanently departed GFAFB , replaced by the B - 1B Lancer in 1987 . A change in the host unit occurred again , when in 1988 , the 42d Air Division was assigned for base support in place of the 321st SMW . Modern era . With the restructuring of the Air Force and the disestablishment of Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) in the early 1990s the wing first came under Air Combat Command ( ACC ) in 1992 and then under Air Force Space Command ( AFSPC ) in 1993 . On 1 February 1993 the Air Combat Command dropped the 319th Bomb Wing ' s primary nuclear mission and gave the wing the primary mission of B - 1B conventional bombardment operations . The 319th Bombardment Wing began planning and training to support such a mission to counter worldwide regional threats . The base was later transferred to the new Air Mobility Command ( AMC ) in 1994 following the departure of the last B - 1B aircraft , redesignation of the 319 BW as the 319th Air Refueling Wing ( 319 ARW ) and associated transfer of KC - 135 aircraft assets to AMC , and transfer of strategic ICBM assets to Air Force Space Command ( AFSPC ) . In March 1995 , the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission selected the 321st Strategic Missile Wing for inactivation . The wing was first downgraded to group status , and the 321st Missile Group inactivated on 30 September 1998 . GFAFB ' s first ICBM silo was imploded in accordance with the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty ( START II ) in 1999 and the last silo imploded in 2001 . On 1 March 2011 , the wing was redesignated as the 319th Air Base Wing ( 319 ABW ) . Starting in May 2011 , Grand Forks has a detachment of RQ - 4 Global Hawks , operated by the 69th Reconnaissance Group Air Combat Command . The base received several new Block 40 Global Hawks , beginning in 2012 . Base realignment , 2005 . In May 2005 , DoD ' s 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission recommended that GFAFB should be realigned . This would prevent the base from being closed , but would result in a significant loss in personnel levels as well as a loss of the tanker mission . To make up for these losses , the Air Force has decided to assign RQ - 4 Global Hawk s to Grand Forks , the first of which arrived in May 2011 . Demographics . Grand Forks is also a United States Census Bureau designated place .