5001st Composite Wing The 5001st Composite Wing is an inactive United States Air Force organization . Throughout its existence , it was assigned to the Alaskan Air Command and stationed at Ladd Air Force Base , Alaska . It was established as the Yukon Composite Wing on 15 June 1948 , and then redesignated as the 5001st Composite Wing on 20 September 1948 . It was inactivated on 1 October 1957 when the four digit unit designations on Ladd got changed to 5060th . Operations . Activated at Ladd AFB in 1948 as the host unit for a diverse mission . The wing routinely hosted attached aircraft and personnel from CONUS bases in large - scale winter exercises , while at the same time guarding against the Cold War threat of Soviet aggression . Attached units carried out a wide variety of missions , including The 5001st also hosted Army personnel deployed to the Fairbanks area . The wing was inactivated in 1961 when Ladd AFB turned over to the United States Army . Strategic Aerial Reconnaissance . In the early years of the Cold War , some of the most important strategic reconnaissance was carried out by Strategic Air Command units deployed to Ladd AFB . One of the SAC ' s initial missions was to plan strategic aerial reconnaissance on a global scale . The first efforts were in photo reconnaissance and mapping . Along with the photo - recon mission , a small electronic intelligence , or ELINT , cadre was operating . Weather reconnaissance was part of the effort , as was Long Range Detection , the search for Soviet atomic explosions . In the late 1940s , strategic intelligence on Soviet capabilities and intentions was scarce . Before the development of the U - 2 high - altitude spy plane and reconnaissance satellites , technology and politics limited American reconnaissance efforts to the borders , and not the heartland , of the Soviet Union . Ladd AFB was one of the important staging areas for gathering what strategic intelligence could be obtained along Soviet borders . However the early reconnaissance crews did more than gather intelligence about Soviet coastal operations . With the advent of the polar concept , military planners realized that they had very little operational knowledge of the Arctic region north of Alaska . Alaskan recon crews had a variety of missions that helped lay the groundwork for polar navigation , flying and maintaining aircraft under Arctic conditions , and understanding weather systems . Their missions contributed to military and civilian knowledge in topography , Arctic search and rescue , and other areas . Ladd was the base for one of the first strategic reconnaissance squadrons of the Cold War was the 46th Reconnaissance Squadron ( later redesignated the 72d Reconnaissance Squadron ( also known as the 46th / 72d ) . The squadron ' s mission was to develop accurate polar navigation , survey and map the Arctic , perform comprehensive weather studies , test its men and equipment in Arctic conditions , and later train other units , particularly SAC bombers , in polar navigation and operations and fly long range photographic intelligence flights with RB - 29 Superfortresses . During the squadron ' s tenure at Ladd its men accomplished some of the most challenging tasks of Arctic flying and laid the groundwork for other units which carried on its mission through the 1950s . The 46th / 72d was a tenant unit , reporting directly to SAC headquarters . SAC selected Ladd as the home for this unit because of Ladd ' s northern location . In 1946 , prior to the formation of the Yukon Composite Wing , the base was in caretaker status . Demobilization was still the order of the day throughout the services . Ongoing cold weather testing was Ladd ' s main operation , together with oversight of the scattered outposts of the Yukon Sector . The 46th / 72d ' s reconnaissance missions were intertwined with basic operational concerns , particularly since this was the first such unit to undertake long - range , long - term duties in the western Arctic . In order to perform reconnaissance , for example , the crews had to perfect the grid navigation system for polar flying , a complex method which until that time had not been systematically tested . As a photo reconnaissance unit , the 46th / 72d collected intelligence until 1949 , when other units took over the work . Its missions included searching for unclaimed Arctic land masses , evaluating the Soviet presence in the Arctic , and photomapping Alaska , the Canadian archipelago , Greenland , and portions of Soviet territory . Using specially modified RB - 29s , crews flew long - range missions of 12 to 30 hours ' duration , virtually all of it under strict radio silence . The ten - man crews included a captain and a combination of relief pilots , navigators , radar operators , radio operators , and photographers . One aircraft , # 871 , had a high - tech oblique camera with 100 inch focal length which could photograph installations up to 100 miles away . Some of the most important missions involved reconnaissance of the Soviets ' Chukotski Peninsula in 1948 and 1949 , which allayed fears of Soviet buildup in that region directed against the United States . The 46th / 72d also photographed the Kamchatka Peninsula , Anadyr , Diomede , Wrangel Island , northern Siberia , and Novaya Zemlya , the Soviet Union ' s nuclear testing area . Aerial reconnaissance also contributed to mapping projects in Alaska and the Arctic carried out by a number of agencies including the Army Corps of Engineers , the Bureau of Land Management , the U . S . Geological Survey , and the Coast & Geodetic Survey . In 1946 – 48 , the 46th / 72d recon squadron , with the assistance of Canadian crews , completed the " Polaris " project which systematically photomapped the Canadian archipelago . Later , builders of the DEW Line referred back to this information during site selection . ' In October 1949 , the National Geographic Society released its new map of the Arctic , crediting the aerial photography teams of the U . S . Air Force , and the Ladd squadron in particular , with providing the updated information . In addition to the aerial reconnaissance , Electronic Reconnaissance ( ELINT ) missions were flown from Eielson , during the summer of 1947 . By 1949 , the missions had discovered and assessed eleven Soviet radar sites , and had revealed where significant gaps in Soviet Arctic defenses lay . This gave planners the information they needed to develop routes for strategic bombers , and laid the groundwork for the initial war plans covering the Soviet Far East . Electronic reconnaissance continued through the 1950s although little information is available . At neighboring Eielson AFB , ELINT missions took place throughout the 1950s and continued to the 1980s Weather reconnaissance took place throughout Ladd ' s Cold War years , from the first arrival of the 59th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in 1946 through the flights of the 55th Weather Reconnaissance Squadron in 1960 . Gathering weather information for combat readiness was an integrated part of strategic aerial reconnaissance . Weather recon , though , was a particularly loose term . There was a constant need for weather information , but weather flights were also a convenient cover for the more covert missions . As neighboring Eielson AFB developed into a SAC base , much of the reconnaissance mission shifted to its facilities . Eielson became the primary site for strategic reconnaissance around 1949 , when the 375th Reconnaissance Squadron was transferred from Ladd . Air Defense . The wing ' s central mission was air defense . Ladd AFB was the northern hub for Alaskan air defense operations and logistics . It was the sector command headquarters for air defense engagement , coordinating ground control and intercept functions and supporting the outlying northern elements of the air defense system . Initially , Ladd ' s role was to emphasize defense against manned aircraft attack . However after 1957 , ballistic missiles changed the direction of air defense , and Ladd ' s role would change accordingly . The regional air defense mission involved locating , identifying , and destroying hostile manned aircraft . It consisted of several coordinated functions . Radar sites swept the skies for indications of air intrusions ; communications links provided information to the ground controllers and intercept pilots ; fighter - intercept aircraft were kept on alert for dispatch to identify and intercept intruders . Ground controllers prepared to track and direct potential air battles , while ground - based artillery units stood by to attack any enemy aircraft that passed through the intercept net and approached the air base itself . AC & W squadrons from Ladd manned the new outlying radar sites as they came on line in the early 1950s . They were supported by fighter intercept squadrons based at Ladd . In 1951 , three AC & W squadrons were active ; by the late 1950s , there were as many as ten AC & W squadrons assisted by three squadrons of fighter - interceptors at Ladd and Galena , the major forward base Fighter - intercept pilots and ground crews served on alert duty , ready to scramble their aircraft to intercept any unknown airplanes entering Alaskan airspace in the northern zone . An Air Defense Control Center ( ADCC ) coordinated air defense operations and training exercises for the AC & W , Fighter - Interceptor , and AAA units . After 1958 , the entire air defense operation ran out of the Alaskan NORAD Region Command and Control Center at Elmendorf . As part of the national - level division of roles and missions , Army units were responsible for certain ground - based air defenses . At Ladd , Army AAA units cooperated with the ADCC to provide antiaircraft defense with Skysweeper artillery . After 1959 , five outlying Nike sites protected the Ladd / Eielson complex . The Nike Hercules weapons were computer - guided surface - to - air missiles designed to explode amid enemy bomber formations . Search and Rescue . During World War II , Alaska ' s military search and rescue teams had developed equipment , operating systems and knowledge to serve the men in action . At the end of the war , the resources all but disappeared . By April 1946 , the Alaskan Air Command realized that it would need to re - establish this capability , and it consolidated its efforts into one reorganized unit , the 10th Air Rescue Squadron . With headquarters and a coordination center located at Elmendorf AFB , this unit took responsibility for search , aid and rescue . The 10th maintained the 74th detachment at Ladd , which was upgraded to a squadron in 1952 . By the time USAF inactivated the 10th Rescue in 1958 , it had saved military and civilian lives throughout the Territory and had become well known as the glamour unit of the 1950s Air Force in Alaska . Arctic Research . Cold weather testing was Ladd Field ' s original mission . The first Cold Weather Detachment arrived in September 1940 and set to work testing aircraft , clothing and equipment . By the end of the war , they had evaluated nearly every type of aircraft in the frigid conditions of interior Alaska . Initially , Ladd Field had been the only U . S . facility which could perform these tests under continuous conditions of extreme cold . By 1950 , Ladd ' s Cold Weather Test Group had been assigned to the new Air Force Research and Development Command . The 5001st Research and Development Group at Ladd came into existence a year later " to monitor all arctic tests of equipment and material . . . which are conducted in Alaska . . . , [ and ] to furnish test facilities and administrative services . . . " 9 ~ Under this umbrella , the 5064th Cold Weather Materiel Testing Squadron continued the cold weather testing mission together with the Arctic Aeromedical Lab In 1951 the 5064th performed tests on engines , arctic flying clothing , and armament as well as on aircraft maintenance procedures . The 5064th operated aircraft maintenance and shop facilities . From 1946 to 1961 , USAF engaged in observations of polar ice pack phenomena which resulted in the support of three major manned ice stations . The Russians had begun drift station research a decade earlier . In 1937 , they undertook scientific experiments from a drifting ice station near the North Pole , and they had followed that up after the war with an accelerated program of ice pack investigations . USAF began its inquiries in 1946 with the reconnaissance sorties of Project Nanook , as the 460th photo recon unit from Ladd searched the Arctic for undiscovered lands During the 1950s , AAC and Ladd AFB were involved in supporting a series of ice stations . The first , T - 3 , was located on a drifting ice island and hosted scientific parties during several lengthy occupations . Joint military - civilian teams first occupied T - 3 from 1952 – 1954 during Project Icicle . Under Project Ice Skate , the station was used again during the International Geophysical Year ( IGY ) of 1957 – 58 and beyond . Over the years , T - 3 drifted across the Arctic basin , leaving the zone of AAC support periodically . During the IGY , when T - 3 had drifted to Greenland , two other stations were established in the western Arctic as pack ice stations . Ice Station Alpha was occupied from 1957 – late 1958 . When it began to break up , crews established a new station the following spring . Known as Ice Station Charlie , it lasted ten months before meeting the same fate . In 1961 , USAF ended its sponsor¬ship of ice station research , turning its remaining facilities on T - 3 over to the Navy . In an approach typical of the Cold War , ice station research included both basic and applied science in a framework of partnership between military and contracted researchers . By sponsoring and supporting the stations , USAF contributed to basic geophysical research as it tested military applications for its own purposes . Contributions to basic geophysics included studies in oceanography , arctic meteorology and the upper atmosphere , ice movement , solar radiation , gravity and magnetism , and ice island features and origins . The Air Force also gained experience in developing the islands as forward military stations with weather stations , emergency landing facilities and listening posts .