20th Air Division The 20th Air Division ( 20th AD ) is an inactive United States Air Force organization . Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command at Tyndall Air Force Base , Florida where it was inactivated on 1 March 1983 . During most of the division ' s history it served with Air Defense Command as a regional command and control headquarters . Between 1955 and 1967 the division controlled air defense units in the central United States . It controlled a slightly different areas of the midwestern US from 1955 to 1960 and from 1966 to 1967 . Its area of responsibility shifted to the east coast if the United States from 1969 to 1983 . It was shifted to its final station on paper in 1983 and was immediately inactivated . History . The 20th AD was assigned to Air Defense Command ( ADC ) for most of its existence . It served as a regional command and control headquarters , controlling fighter interceptor and radar units over several areas of responsibility during the Cold War . For three years it also commanded a surface - to - air missile squadron . The division was initially activated as an intermediate command organization of Central Air Defense Force at Grandview ( later , Richards - Gebaur ) AFB in June 1955 . The 20th AD was responsible for the interceptor and radar units within an area that covered parts of Nebraska , Oklahoma , Arkansas , Illinois , Iowa , and virtually all of Kansas and Missouri . On 1 October 1959 ADC activated the Sioux City Air Defense Sector and its Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) DC - 22 Direction Center and assigned it to the division . The 20th also operated a Manual Control Center ( MCC - 2 ) at Richards - Gebaur . The division was inactivated in 1960 when ADC reorganized , and the 33d Air Division assumed command of most of its former units . The division was reactivated in 1966 under Tenth Air Force as a SAGE organization , replacing the Chicago Air Defense Sector when ADC discontinued its air defense sectors and replaced them with air divisions . The 20th provided air defense from the Truax Field , Wisconsin DC - 7 / CC - 2 SAGE blockhouse for parts of Wisconsin , Minnesota , Iowa , Missouri , Arkansas , Tennessee , Kentucky , Indiana , and all of Illinois . The division also acted as the 20th NORAD Region after activation of the North American Air Defense Command ( NORAD ) Combat Operations Center at Cheyenne Mountain , Colorado . Operational control of the division was transferred to NORAD from ADC . In addition to the active duty interceptor and radar units , the 20th AD supervised Air National Guard units that flew interception sorties using ( among other aircraft ) McDonnell F - 101 Voodoo s and Convair F - 106 Delta Dart s . At the same time the division controlled numerous radar squadrons . It was inactivated in 1967 as part of an ADC consolidation of intermediate level command and control organizations , driven by budget reductions required to fund USAF operations in Southeast Asia . The 20th AD was activated for a third time in November 1969 under Aerospace Defense Command ( ADCOM ) . The division provided air defense for virtually all of the southeastern United States , except for most of Louisiana from the SAGE DC - 4 blockhouse at Fort Lee AFS , Virginia . The division also controlled a CIM - 10 Bomarc surface - to - air anti - aircraft missile squadron near Langley AFB until the squadron ' s inactivation in October 1972 . ADCOM was inactivated on 1 October 1979 . The atmospheric defense resources ( interceptors and warning radars ) of ADCOM were reassigned to Tactical Air Command , which formed Air Defense , Tactical Air Command ( ADTAC ) as the headquarters to control them . After 1981 , the division controlled units equipped with McDonnell Douglas F - 15 Eagle aircraft . Its subordinate units continued to participate in intensive academic training , numerous multi - region simulated ( non - flying ) exercises , and flying exercises . The 20th AD moved to Tyndall AFB , Florida in March 1983 where its mission , personnel and equipment was transferred to the Southeast Air Defense Sector . References . Bibliography . Further Reading