Glasgow Air Force Base Glasgow Air Force Base ( GAFB ) ( 1957 – 1968 , 1972 – 1976 ) is a former United States Air Force base located approximately north of the city of Glasgow , Valley County , Montana , not far from the Canadian border . Prior to DoD ownership , of this land were used as a municipal airport and the rest for agricultural purposes . Today the facility is all but unused , being known as Glasgow Industrial Airport which had 30 aircraft landings / takeoffs in 1991 . In recent years , the former Air Force Base has seen intermittent use as a testing site for Boeing aircraft designs . The former base housing area is now the residential community of St . Marie , Montana , though most of the buildings remain vacant . History . Construction of the base began in 1955 , and GAFB was activated in 1957 as part of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) . It was activated in 1957 as a base for Air Defense Command interceptors , which initially operated from a single 8 , 900 ' runway . Glasgow was the home of the ADC 476th Fighter Group from 1957 to 1960 , and the 13th Fighter Interceptor Squadron from 1959 to 68 , which were equipped with the McDonnel F - 101B Voodoo . The base was transferred to the Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) in 1960 . With the transfer , the runway was significantly expanded to 13 , 500 ' in length , to support the coming operation of Boeing B - 52 bombers and Boeing KC - 135 tankers . In February 1961 , the 326th Bombardment Squadron , equipped with B - 52 C aircraft , was reassigned to the base from Fairchild AFB , Washington , as the nucleus for the organization of the 4141st Strategic Wing . In its first year , this became the top wing in Fifteenth Air Force . The 4141st Strategic Wing inactivated at Glasgow AFB on February 1 , 1963 and its B - 52C aircraft were transferred to the to 322nd Bombardment Squadron , 91st Bombardment Wing , which has stood up at Glasgow AFB to train for global bombardment and aerial refueling . The wing also received and converted to B - 52 D aircraft and its 907th Air Refueling Squadron received KC - 135 A aircraft . Except for a small rear echelon , the 91st Wing headquarters staff , tactical aircraft and 322d Bomb Squadron crews , and most support personnel integrated in the Strategic Air Command B - 52D Arc Light force for combat in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War . With the pending closure of Glasgow , the 91st was taken off alert status and declared not tactically operational May – June 1968 . The wing was subsequently inactivated on June 25 , 1968 and became the 91st Strategic Missile Wing , operating Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missiles at Minot AFB , North Dakota . 1968 closure . When the base closed in 1968 , 16 , 000 people left the Glasgow area , a trend that continued among the civilian population . In 1970 , Glasgow had an emigration rate of 33 percent ; in 1980 the population fell to 4 , 500 , and it was expected to fall below 4 , 000 in 1990 . 1970s USAF use . Glasgow AFB was briefly reactivated as a SAC dispersal base from 1971 to 1976 , and was also used as an Army Safeguard ABM depot supporting construction of a second ABM complex northwest of Malmstrom AFB , Montana which was not completed . When Glasgow AFB ceased all USAF activities in 1976 , it was so isolated and without business advantages that it sat idle for years until the Boeing Company began testing aircraft there . Post military use . In February 1997 , then - Senator Conrad Burns ( R - MT ) announced that he had helped set up negotiations between the Saint Marie Condominium Association ( SMCA ) and Boeing regarding the possible lease of the officers club on the old Glasgow Air Force Base . With the exception of the Glasgow Industrial Airport located in Glasgow , Montana , which is company - owned , runways and taxiways used by Boeing are located on airport properties owned by others and are used by the company jointly with others . The Boeing Company continues to own most of the former Glasgow AFB and it is now known as the Boeing Glasgow Flight Test Facility . The facility supports Boeing Technology Services ( BTS ) customers and is maintained and operated by Montana Aviation Research Company ( MARCO ) , a subsidiary of The Boeing Company .