90th Missile Wing The 90th Missile Wing ( 90 MW ) is a unit of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command ( AFGSC ) Twentieth Air Force . It is stationed at Francis E . Warren Air Force Base , Wyoming . The mission of the " Mighty Ninety " is to defend the United States of America with a combat - ready ICBM force of 150 Minuteman III ICBM s being on full alert 24 hours a day , 365 days a year at 20 missile alert facilities deployed over . The Wing ' s origins date to 1942 when the 90th Bombardment Group was established . It operated primarily in the Southwest Pacific Theater as an B - 24 Liberator heavy bomber unit assigned to Fifth Air Force . The 90th Operations Group carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II predecessor unit . History . Strategic Reconnaissance Wing . The 90th Bombardment Wing , Medium was established in late December 1950 as part of the postwar Hobson Plan . The 90th Bombardment Group , reactivated by Strategic Air Command in 1947 was assigned as its combat group . The new wing was organized at Fairchild AFB , Washington where it received B - 29 Superfortress es along with some RB - 29s . The wing was reassigned almost immediately to Forbes AFB , Kansas in March ; its mission was to train B - 29 aircrews and mechanics for combat duty with SAC units engaged in Korean War combat duty with Far East Air Forces . In June 1992 its combat group was inactivated upon conversion to the tri - deputate organization plan , and beginning in November 1952 , training included SHORAN electronic navigation and bombing . In June 1954 the first Boeing RB - 47E Stratojet arrived , the wing being redesignated 90th Strategic Reconnaissance Wing , Medium , taking over the mission of the 55th SRW which had moved to Ramey AFB , Puerto Rico . Until 1958 the wing engaged in very long range strategic reconnaissance missions , September 1953 - May 1958 , and air refueling missions , February 1956 - June 1960 . Many of these missions took place along or over communist controlled territory , with 90th SRW aircraft first flying to Thule AB , Greenland then probing deep into the heart of the Soviet Union , taking a photographic and radar recording of the route attacking SAC bombers would follow to reach their targets . The risks involved in mounting these dangerous sorties over some of the most inhospitable terrain on earth speaks volumes for the courage and skill of the crews involved . By 1958 the RB - 47 had become vulnerable to Soviet Air defenses and also was being replaced in intelligence gathering operations by the Lockheed U - 2 . The 90th SRW changed to becoming an RB - 47 combat crew training wing , May 1958 - June 1960 . Inactivated in 1960 as part of phaseout of RB - 47 . Many personnel absorbed by activation of 40th Bombardment Wing at Forbes same date ; being moved from Schilling Air Force Base same date . Strategic Missile Wing . On 15 October 1962 , Morrison - Knudsen and Associates won the contract to construct 200 Minuteman silos over an area of in Wyoming , Nebraska , and Colorado , located north and east of FE Warren AFB . Due to an innovative drilling technique and milder than normal weather conditions , which allowed for accelerated progress during the winter months , work on the silos proceeded at a rapid rate . The 90th Strategic Missile Wing was reactivated on 1 July 1963 , when Strategic Air Command organized the first wing dedicated solely to intercontinental ballistic missile operations . Over the next year , the 319th , 320th and 321st squadrons associated with the unit since its World War II B - 24 era were reactivated as Strategic Missile Squadrons ( SMS ) , being assigned to LGM - 30B Minuteman I ICBM operations . The first Minuteman I site , A - 6 , reached completion on 2 October 1963 . The 400th SMS was the last squadron to stand up on 1 July 1964 . With four operational squadrons , the 90th SMW controlled 200 ICBMs . Unlike previous weapon systems , the Minuteman ICBM had the capability of being fired from hardened and widely - dispersed underground silo launchers . The first Minuteman missiles deployed at F . E . Warren AFB were the " B " models , which contained one warhead . In November 1972 , SAC initiated the Minuteman Integrated Improvement Program . The program entailed silo hardening and upgrading command data buffers , which allowed for quicker missile retargeting . In addition to receiving upgraded silos and launcher control facilities , Warren also received new missiles . With conversion to the LGM - 30G Minuteman III model , Warren ' s last Minuteman I model went off alert status in September 1974 . On 22 November 1982 , in a decision statement for Congress , President Ronald Reagan stated his plan to deploy the MX missile dubbed " Peacekeeper " to superhardened silos controlled by the 90th SMW at F . E . Warren . The Vice Commander - in - Chief of SAC , Lieutenant General George Miller , explained that location , geography , and geology were key factors for selecting the base . In 1988 , 50 LGM - 118A Peacekeeper missiles were brought on alert in modified Minuteman III missile silos , under the control of the 400th Strategic Missile Squadron . The Peacekeeper , at the time the best ICBM in the world , was capable of delivering 10 independently - targeted warheads with greater accuracy than any other ballistic missile . Its deployment fulfilled a key goal of the strategic modernization program and added strength and credibility to the ground - based leg of the strategic triad of the United States . Following the Cold War , the Air Force began restructuring and downsizing . On 29 August 1991 the wing converted to the Objective Organization plan , which realigned the operational missile squadrons to the new 90th Operations Group , a re - designation and activation of the former 90th Bombardment Group . Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) and Tactical Air Command ( TAC ) were inactivated 1 June 1992 , the wing was realigned under the new Air Combat Command ( ACC ) . On 1 July 1993 , the 20th Air Force , headquarters for all U . S . ICBM operations ( including the 90th Space Wing ) , was realigned under Air Force Space Command ( AFSPC ) , headquartered at Peterson AFB , Colorado . The 90th was selected as the first missile base to upgrade Minuteman III Launch Control Centers ( LCC ’ s ) with the Rapid Execution and Combat Targeting ( REACT ) modification . Existing LCC ’ s had not been upgraded significantly since being brought on line in the early 1960s . REACT replaced the outdated command and control consoles with a single , integrated state of the art , computer processing console . Major improvements in automation allow combat crews to more rapidly process message traffic and carry out execution orders if needed . The REACT and other planned modernization programs will ensure that the Minuteman III system will be a formidable weapons system well into the 21st Century . Budgetary constraints and the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the inactivation of the 50 Peacekeeper ICBMs beginning in 2001 . In 2005 the last Peacekeeper was taken out of its silo and the 400th Missile Squadron was inactivated . The three Minuteman III squadrons , however were retained . Redesignated as 90th Missile Wing in 2008 and in 2009 was assigned to the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . Components . Group Squadrons