Sioux City Air National Guard Base Sioux City Air National Guard Base is a United States Air Force base , located at Sioux Gateway Airport It is located south - southeast of Sioux City , Iowa . On 25 May 2002 , the airport was named " Colonel Bud Day Field " in honor of United States Air Force Colonel George Everette " Bud " Day , a Sioux City , Iowa native and is the only person ever awarded both the Medal of Honor and the Air Force Cross . Overview . Sioux Gateway Regional Airport is home for the Iowa Air National Guard ' s 185th Air Refueling Wing . The wings main mission is to provide mid - air refueling and mobility sustainment in direct support of the global mission of the Air Force . As a community based organization the wing and its subordinate units are also tasked to support the state of Iowa in the event of a state emergency . History . The station was established in March 1942 as Sioux City Army Air Base ( AAB ) and was a major training center during World War II under II Bomber Command for crew members of B - 24 Liberators and B - 17 Flying Fortresses . During the 1950s , the airfield was an Air Defense Command fighter - interceptor base . Beginning in 1956 , the ADC flying activity was reduced and Sioux City became an ADC command and control station for Ground Control Intercept ( GCI ) Radar Stations in the Midwest , later becoming a Direction Center ( DC - 22 ) for the ADC Sioux City Air Defense Sector and later the 30th Air Division . In 1968 ADC closed its facilities , with the Iowa Air National Guard becoming the host unit at the base . World War II . The construction of Sioux City AAB began in March 1942 , about three months after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor . Opened on 5 July 1942 , it became a major training center during World War II , initially for B - 17 Flying Fortress , and later B - 24 Liberator groups . The base performed primarily Phase III advanced group training , and once completed , the groups were deployed overseas to either the Eighth Air Force ( ETO ) , or Fifteenth Air Force ( MTO ) for combat operations . The host unit at the base was the 354th Army Air Force Base Unit , and the major training organization was the 393d Combat Training School ( later redesignated 224th Combat Crew Training School in 1944 ) . At its peak , ( October 1943 ) there were 940 officers and 5 , 183 enlisted men either assigned or attached to the base . The major training activities at Sioux City included aerial gunnery , bombardment , navigation , formation flying , and other related courses . Initially training at the field was intended to prepare an entire bomb group for overseas combat ( OTU – Operational Training ) . After July 1943 , sufficient Bomb Groups had been formed and trained , and the base switched to training individual crews as replacements or additions to various bomb groups ( RTU – Replacement Training ) . Hollywood actor , pilot and Army Air Force Captain ( later Brigadier General ) James Stewart was posted to Sioux City with his squadron in 1943 , where he and his crew completed their initial B - 24 Liberator qualification prior to deployment overseas . The training of B - 17 crews continued until May 1945 . Around that time , the field received a new mission which required the conversion of the facilities for B - 29 Superfortress training . The base was transferred to the 17th Bombardment Operational Training Wing and began the transition to start B - 29 training . By early June , there were ten B - 29 ' s on the field . The new training program was short lived , however because in August 1945 it was canceled . With the end of World War II , the former training base switched to becoming a processing center to discharge personnel out of the service and back into civilian life . With its mission completed , Sioux City Army Air Base closed in December 1945 . Fighter - Interceptor base . However , the facility would not remain closed for long , as in September 1946 the airfield was opened by the Air Force Reserve . Sioux City Air Base was one of the first Air Force Reserve bases established after the war , and in December 1946 the 185th Iowa Air National Guard unit was established at Sioux City . Assigned to the new Air Defense Command ( ADC ) upon reactivation , the 140th Army Air Force base unit was activated as its host unit . The mission of the 140th AFBU was to offer flight and ground training to all commissioned and enlisted members of the Air Force Reserve residing in Iowa , Minnesota , Nebraska , South Dakota and Wyoming . During the 1950s , ADC based the 521st Air Defense Group at Sioux City beginning on 15 February 1953 as part of the Central Air Defense Force . The 521st had the 14th , 87th and 519th Fighter - Interceptor Squadrons , equipped with F - 86 Sabre s , F - 84 Thunderstreak s , and F - 102 Delta Dagger s . In 1955 , the 521st was reassigned and replaced by the 13th Fighter - Interceptor Squadron , which flew with the 14th FIS from the base until 1960 . ADCOM Radar Control Center . Beginning in 1959 , the ADC flying activity was reduced and Sioux City became an ADC command and control base . The Sioux City Air Defense Sector ( SCADS ) was established on 1 October 1959 assuming control of former ADC Central Air Defense Force units in western Iowa , most of Nebraska along with southern South Dakota . In 1959 a Semi Automatic Ground Environment ( SAGE ) Data Center ( DC - 22 ) was established at Sioux City AFS . 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 . The operation of DC - 22 with its AN / FSQ - 7 computer was the primary mission of SCADS , as well as providing air defense over parts of Minnesota , Colorado and Wyoming The Sector was disestablished on 1 April 1966 as part of an ADC consolidation and reorganization ; its units were reassigned to the newly established 30th Air Division which took over operation of the SAGE DC - 22 . The 30th AD administered and trained subordinate units , and participated in numerous air defense training exercises . In addition , it supervised training of Air National Guard units with a pertinent mobilization assignment . DC - 22 was inactivated in September 1968 as ADC phased down its interceptor mission as the chances of a Soviet bomber attack on the United States seemed remote , its mission being consolidated into North American Aerospace Defense Command ( NORAD ) . With the inactivation of the 30th AD , the Air Force closed Sioux City Air Force Station as an active - duty facility . Its facilities were turned over to Sioux Gateway Airport , along with the Air Force Reserve and Iowa Air National Guard for limited military use . Today , the Sioux City SAGE building is reportedly now a turkey processing plant . Iowa Air National Guard . The 185th Air Refueling Wing was established in December 1946 . The Army Air Force ' s 386th Fighter Squadron , flying P - 47 Thunderbolts was activated in 1943 and then inactivated in 1945 at the end of World War II . The unit was subsequently re - designated the 174th Fighter Squadron and allocated to the Iowa National Guard on 24 May 1946 . On 2 December 1946 , the 174th was extended Federal recognition and equipped with P - 51 Mustangs . Today , the 174th is still the flying squadron at the 185th Air Refueling Wing , formerly the 185th Fighter Wing . For three years , the 174th flew the P - 51 " Mustang . " In 1949 – 50 , the unit received its first jet , the F - 84B " Thunderjet . " The squadron was called to active duty on 1 April 1951 for service during the Korean War and moved to Dow AFB in Bangor , Maine . Most jet pilots transferred to USAF units in Europe and the Far East . The squadron was re - equipped with the F - 51D . The unit finished their tour and was transferred back to state control on 31 December 1952 . In July 1953 , the unit converted from F - 51Ds to Lockheed F - 80C " Shooting Star . N 1955 , the 174th FSB was re - designated the 174th Fighter Interceptor Squadron and was transitioned to the F - 84E " Thunderstreak . " As a component of the 132nd Fighter Interceptor Wing . In 1961 , the unit was re - designated the 174th Tactical Fighter Squadron and converted to flying F - 100C " Super Sabre . " On 1 October 1962 , the unit reached group status . It was reorganized and re - designated as the 185th Tactical Fighter Group . On 26 January 1968 , the 185th was recalled to active Federal service as a result of the " Pueblo Crisis " . The 174th Tactical Fighter Squadron of the 185th augmented by many of the other personnel from the Group , deployed with their F - 2nd century to Phu Cat , Vietnam on 11 May 1968 . During the course of the next 90 days , the balance of the 185th was deployed to six military bases in Korea and several others within the continental United States . As for the 174th , on 28 May 1969 , the personnel and aircraft were recalled with the 185th and returned to Sioux City and released from active duty . In 1977 , the 185th converted to the A - 7D " Corsair . " On 19 December 1991 , they received F - 16 Falcons . On 16 March 1992 , the 185th Tactical Fighter Group was re - designated the 185th Fighter Group . As the Air Force and Air Guard standardized unit structures , the 185th was designated the 185th Fighter Wing . The F - 16 " Fighting Falcon " would be the last jet that the unit would fly before conversion to KC - 135 tankers in 2003 and being re - designated the 185th Air Refueling Wing . In 2007 , the 185th began transitioning from KC - 135E to KC - 135R models , newer planes , with larger engines , capable of more missions . UA Flight 232 crash . Sioux City IAP / Sioux City ANG was the emergency landing site for after a catastrophic failure of the plane ' s hydraulic system . The emergency landing happened to coincide with an activation of the base ' s Air National Guard force , which provided the maximum manpower on the airport including the firefighting forces of the local Air National Guard unit . The ANG firefighter ' s were only equipped to handle small commuter and Air Force A - 7 aircraft , not a jumbo jet , such as a DC - 10 . It is widely recognized that the efforts of the Air Guardsmen at the Sioux City Airport contributed to many lives being saved after the crash of UA 232 .