Truax Field Air National Guard Base Truax Field Air National Guard Base ( also known as Truax Field ) , is a United States Air National Guard base , located at Dane County Regional Airport , Wisconsin . It is located northeast of Madison , Wisconsin . Units . Truax Field ANGB is the home of the Wisconsin Air National Guard 115th Fighter Wing ( 115 FW ) , equipped with the F - 16 Fighting Falcon . It is operationally - gained by the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) . In addition , Wisconsin Army National Guard units are stationed at the base . History . Truax Field was named in honor of Wisconsin - native Lieutenant Thomas L . Truax , who was killed in a P - 40 training accident in November 1941 World War II . Originally known as " Madison Army Airfield " , Truax Field was activated as an Army Air Forces airfield in June 1942 during World War II . During the war it was used by the Army Air Force Eastern Technical Training Center , a major school operating at Truax AAF for training radio operators and mechanics , and later expanded to training in radar operations , control tower operations and other communications fields for the Army Airways Communication Service . A special unit established in 1943 trained radio operators and mechanics on B - 29 Superfortress communications equipment . The host unit on the airfield was the 334th ( later 3508th ) Army Air Force Base Unit . On September 17 , 1945 , the airfield ' s mission was changed to that of a separation center , and it was closed as an active AAF airfield on November 30 , 1945 . Air Defense Command . Truax Field was reactivated by the United States Air Force on 1 February 1951 using a right of return due to the Korean War . Federalized Wisconsin Air National Guard units were assigned to the base , placed under the jurisdiction of Air Defense Command ( ADC ) on 15 February 1951 . Fighter defense . Initial USAF units assigned to Truax Field were the 128th Air Base Group , activated on 10 February 1951 to prepare the base for use , then the 128th Fighter - Interceptor Wing on 16 February with its operational 128th Fighter - Interceptor Group on 16 February . The F - 51D Mustang - equipped 176th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron was also activated at Truax that date . A second squadron , the 128th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron came on active duty on 10 April with F - 80A Shooting Star s , being reassigned from General Mitchell Field near Milwaukee . These federalized ANG units were placed under the operational control of the ADC Central Air Defense Force ( CADF ) . During the tenure of the federalized Air National Guard units , Truax Field underwent a major improvement project to upgrade its World War II facilities and airfield to a permanent Air Force installation . A jet runway was constructed , along with permanent concrete block structures to replace the temporary World War II buildings on the station . The ADC ' s 31st Air Division at Snelling AFS , Minnesota took control of Truax Field on 6 February 1952 from the CADF when the 128th FIW was returned to Wisconsin state control . The operational interceptor squadrons were relieved from active duty in November and December 1952 with the ADC 433d Fighter - Interceptor Squadron and 432d Fighter - Interceptor Squadron replacing the guardsmen . In February 1953 , the 520th Air Defense Group was activated at Truax Field to assume control over the interceptor squadrons , relieving the 31st AD . The 433d FIS was transferred to the Alaskan Air Command on 20 July 1954 , being replaced on 8 August by the 456th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron . By this time both the 432d and 456th FIS were flying the F - 86D Sabre fighter - interceptor . On 18 August 1955 , ADC " Project Arrow " re - designated the 520th ADG to become the 327th Fighter Group ( Air Defense ) . This project re - activated notable World War II combat units by re - designating postwar units . Under the 327th FG , the operational squadrons were also re - designated , the 432d FIS becoming the 323d Fighter - Interceptor Squadron ; the 456th FIS becoming the 325th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron . On 8 September 1955 , the 37th Air Division was activated at Truax Field , taking command of the 327th FG . In addition to command of the interceptor units , the 37th AD operated a Manual Direction and Control Center ( MDCC ) for ADC interceptor units within its assigned area of parts of Wisconsin , Illinois , and Indiana . In December 1956 , the 37th AD formed and activated the 639th Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron , a radar squadron which it reassigned to Lowther Air Station , Ontario as part of the Pinetree Line . The Division also began supervision of the construction of a SAGE radar Direction and Combat Center , programmed for activation in 1958 . The 323d FIS was transferred to Ernest Harmon AFB , Newfoundland on 1 October 1957 . It was replaced by the 61st Fighter - Interceptor Squadron . During the fall of 1957 , the F - 86Ds of the 327th Fighter Group were replaced by ADC with the new F - 102A Delta Dagger interceptors . In 1960 , budget reductions forced the inactivation of the 61st FIS , its F - 102s being reassigned to other interceptor squadrons . SAGE Direction and Combat Center . In 1958 a Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) Data Center ( DC - 07 ) and Combat Center ( CC - 02 ) was established at Truax Field , located about south of the ADC interceptor parking ramp . 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 . This automated control system was used by NORAD for tracking and intercepting enemy bomber aircraft . In the later versions the system could automatically direct aircraft to an interception by sending instructions directly to the aircraft ' s autopilot . Command and Control of DC - 07 / CC - 02 was initially under the Chicago Air Defense Sector ( CHADS ) which was activated under the 37d AD on 8 March 1957 . CADS provided for the air defense of Illinois ; Indiana ; most of Iowa and northern Missouri . On 1 April 1959 , the 30th Air Division replaced the 37th AD in an ADC realignment . The SAGE building held had two separate computers , the second serving as a " hot standby " in case the active computer failed . With this backup , availability was an unprecedented 99 . 6 % , when many other computers from that era would fail every few hours . The CHADS was inactivated 1 April 1966 and operation of the SAGE complex was taken over by the 20th Air Division , which was essentially a re designation of CADS . By 1967 the cost of operating the complex was extremely high and technology advances allowed the Air Force to shut down many SAGE Data Centers . DC - 07 / CC - 02 was inactivated on 31 December . Realignment . By the late 1960s , the need for air defense against manned aircraft was diminishing with the perceived less threat of an aircraft attack by the Soviet Union . The 325th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron was inactivated on 25 June 1966 , its F - 102s being sent to Air National Guard units at other bases . The SAGE DC - 07 / CC - 02 blockhouse of the CHADS was inactivated on 31 December 1967 along with the 20th Air Division which was reassigned to Fort Lee AFS , Virginia . Air Defense Command turned jurisdiction of most of Truax Field to the Wisconsin Air National Guard on 1 January 1968 , a small weather detachment from the Air Weather Service ( 4th Weather Wing OL - 4 , Det 8 ) , remained at the field until 31 January 1970 when it also was inactivated . Truax Field has operated as a joint military / civil airport ever since . Modern era . Today , Truax Field ANGB remains the home installation of the 115th Fighter Wing ( 115 FW ) , an Air National Guard unit operationally gained by the Air Combat Command ( ACC ) , flying the F - 16C / D Fighting Falcon multi - role fighter aircraft . The 115 FW has two distinct missions . The Federal mission under Title 10 USC is to staff and train flying and support units to augment Air Combat Command general purpose fighter forces to effectively and rapidly project F - 16 combat power anywhere in the world to perform wartime or peacetime missions as well as operations other than war . The 115 FW maintains mobilization readiness as part of the Air Reserve Component ( ARC ) and conducts training in support of Total Force capabilities as directed by the gaining command ( i . e . , ACC ) . The State mission under Title 32 USC is to provide trained and equipped units to protect life and property and to preserve peace , order , and public safety as directed by the Governor of Wisconsin .