91st Missile Wing The 91st Missile Wing ( 91 MW ) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Force Global Strike Command Twentieth Air Force . It is stationed at Minot Air Force Base , North Dakota as a tenant unit . The 91 MW is one of the Air Force ' s three intercontinental ballistic missile wings . The missile wing , whose members are known as the Rough Riders , is responsible for defending the United States by maintaining a fleet of 150 Minuteman III missiles and 15 Launch Control Centers located in underground facilities scattered across the northwest part of the state . The wing ' s missile complex stretches over 8 , 500 square miles — approximately the same size as Massachusetts . The wing ' s on - alert missiles are under the operational control of the nation ' s strategic war - fighting command , U . S . Strategic Command , based at Offutt Air Force Base , Nebraska . The wing ' s predecessor , the World War II 91st Bombardment Group ( Heavy ) was a Boeing B - 17 Flying Fortress unit formed at MacDill Field , Florida and subsequently stationed with Eighth Air Force in England . It was one of the first United States Army Air Forces ( AAF ) heavy bombardment groups deployed to Europe in 1942 . The 91st Bomb Group was stationed at RAF Bassingbourn and is most widely known as the unit in which the bomber Memphis Belle flew , and for having suffered the greatest number of losses of any heavy bombardment group in World War II . As part of Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) , the 91st wing was one of SAC ' s longest - lasting and most versatile wings . It was a strategic reconnaissance wing from 1948 to 1957 and a B - 52 bombardment wing from 1963 to 1968 . Its men flew virtually every plane in the SAC inventory . It became a missile wing in June 1968 . On 1 July 2008 it was designated as the 91st Missile Wing . The 91st Missile Wing is commanded by Colonel Robert J . Vercher . Its Command Chief Master Sergeant is Chief Master Sergeant Felecia F . Noil . Units . The wing ' s major organizations include : The wing headquarters includes several special staff functions , such as plans and inspections , financial management , and safety . History . 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing . The 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing was constituted 11 October 1948 and activated 10 November at McGuire Air Force Base , New Jersey as one of the first wing s organized under the United States Air Force wing base reorganization ( Hobson Plan ) . Under this plan , it was assigned the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Group , which had been at McGuire for four months , as its operational element . The wing and group moved to Barksdale Air Force Base , Louisiana in 1949 . RB - 29J bombers were assigned to the wing and its primary mission was global strategic reconnaissance . The group was inactivated in June 1952 when Strategic Air Command converted to the Dual Deputate organization . Under this plan flying squadrons reported to the wing Deputy Commander for Operations and maintenance squadrons reported to the wing Deputy Commander for Maintenance . The squadrons had been attached to the wing and the group reduced to a paper unit in February 1951 . In 1950 the wing began receiving air refueling aircraft , first modified KB - 29 s , then the Boeing KC - 97 Stratotanker . In 1950 , the 91st was redesignated the 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing , Medium . At Barksdale , its wing headquarters was integrated with that of the 301st Bombardment Wing from April 1950 to February 1951 . Although each wing conducted independent tactical operations , both were commanded by the same headquarters . The wing detached components for up to three months , primarily to England , and maintained detachments from other units , to provide ongoing reconnaissance of overseas areas . On 11 September 1951 , the Wing ' moved to Lockbourne Air Force Base , Ohio from Barksdale . The mission of the 91st SRW was to provide aerial reconnaissance and mapping services . It was equipped with aircraft fitted with cameras to perform this mission , including B / RB - 45 and the B / YRB - 47 . When the wing moved to Lockbourne , a detachment of the wing deployed to Yokota AB , Japan , performing combat reconnaissance for Far East Air Forces over the Korean Peninsula flying with RB - 29 Superfortresses . Over North Korea , they were being confronted daily by People ' s Liberation Army Air Force MiG - 15 s and were no longer able to perform reconnaissance , targeting , and bomb - damage assessment photography with impunity . The RB - 45C unit was attached to the 91st Squadron and began flying reconnaissance missions over northwestern Korea . The RB - 45Cs were able to evade the MiGs for several months , but on 9 April 1951 one of the RB - 45Cs had a close call and was barely able to escape a numerically superior enemy . At that time , it was decided that RB - 45s could no longer go into northwestern Korea without fighter escort . Another close call on 9 November 1951 caused the RB - 45s to be restricted from entering northwestern Korean airspace in daylight even when fighter escort was available . In January 1952 , the 91st Squadron was ordered to convert to night operations . Some RB - 45Cs were painted all black so that they would not show up on enemy searchlights . However , the RB - 45s were not well suited for night photography because the aircraft buffeted too badly when the forward bomb bay doors were opened to drop flash bombs . The RB - 45s were withdrawn from the Korean theatre shortly thereafter , bringing the Korean experience with the RB - 45 to an end . On 29 July 1952 , A 91st Strategic Reconnaissance Wing RB - 45C ( AF Serial No . 48 - 0042 ) commanded by Major Louis H . Carrington made the first nonstop trans - Pacific flight by a multi - engine jet aircraft from Elmendorf AFB , Alaska to Yokota AB in Japan . There were two inflight refuelings by KB - 29s along the way . This feat earned the crew the 1952 Mackay Trophy for the most meritorious USAF flight of the year . The 91st SRW won the SAC reconnaissance , photographic , and navigation competition and the P . T . Cullen Award in 1955 and 1956 . From Aug to November 1956 most of the wing deployed overseas in detachments to North Africa , Newfoundland and Greenland . These detachments were not under the operational control of the small establishment remaining at Lockbourne . The wing was inactivated in November 1957 . 91st Bombardment Wing . The origins of the wing as a bomber organization began on 1 September 1958 when Strategic Air Command ( SAC ) established the 4141st Strategic Wing ( SW ) at Glasgow AFB , Montana . Glasgow was a World War II training airfield which had been reopened the previous year as an Air Defense Command base for interceptor aircraft of the 476th Fighter Group , which was the host unit at Glasgow . SAC assigned the wing to Fifteenth Air Force , and it was transferred to the 821st Air Division in July 1959 , but remained a headquarters only until April 1960 when the increasing role of SAC at Glasgow in connection with SAC ' s plan to disperse its Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress heavy bombers over a larger number of bases ( making it more difficult for the Soviet Union to knock out the entire fleet with a surprise first strike ) led to the transfer of the base to SAC . The 4141st became the host at Glasgow and was assigned the 4141st Combat Support Group and the 861st Medical Group to fulfil this mission . The wing did not become an operational unit until 1961 . In January the 68th Munitions Maintenance Squadron was activated to oversee the wing ' s special weapons . In April three maintenance squadrons were activated and the 326th Bombardment Squadron ( BS ) , consisting of 15 Boeing B - 52 Stratofortress es moved to Glasgow from Fairchild AFB , Washington where it had been one of the three squadrons of the 92d Bombardment Wing . Half of the wing ' s aircraft were maintained on fifteen - minute alert , fully fueled , armed , and ready for combat . The 4141st ( and later the 91st ) continued to maintain an alert commitment until inactivation except for periods when the wing deployed to support Operation Arc Light missions . However , SAC Strategic Wings could not carry a permanent history or lineage and SAC looked for a way to make its Strategic Wings permanent . In 1962 , in order to perpetuate the lineage of many currently inactive bombardment units with illustrious World War II records , Headquarters SAC received authority from Headquarters USAF to discontinue its Major Command controlled ( MAJCON ) strategic wings that were equipped with combat aircraft and to activate Air Force controlled ( AFCON ) units , most of which were inactive at the time which could carry a lineage and history . As a result the 4141st SW was replaced by the 91st Bombardment Wing , Heavy ( 91st BW ) , which assumed its mission , personnel , and equipment on 1 February 1963 . In the same way the 322d Bombardment Squadron , one of the unit ' s World War II historical bomb squadrons , replaced the 326th BS . The 861st Medical Group and the 68th Munitions Maintenance Squadron were reassigned to the 91st . Component support units were replaced by units with 91st numerical designation of the newly established wing . Each of the new units assumed the personnel , equipment , and mission of their predecessors . Four months later , the wing added an air refueling mission when the 907th Air Refueling Squadron , equipped with Boeing KC - 135 Stratotanker s was activated at Glasgow . The 91st Bombardment Wing continued to conduct strategic bombardment training and air refueling operations to meet operational commitments of Strategic Air Command . From 11 September 1966 to 31 March 1967 the entire wing , except for a small rear echelon , was integrated into the Operation Arc Light force at Andersen Air Force Base , Guam for combat in Southeast Asia . From 5 February to 15 April 1968 , the wing deployed to Kadena Air Base , Okinawa in response to the Pueblo Incident . By 1968 , Intercontinental ballistic missile s ( ICBM ) had been deployed and become operational as part of the United States ' strategic triad , and the need for B - 52s had been reduced . In addition , funds were also needed to cover the costs of combat operations in Indochina . The 91st Bombardment Wing became nonoperational in May 1968 and Glasgow AFB was temporarily closed and the wing ' s component units were inactivated in July . 91st Missile Wing . On 25 June 1968 , the wing moved to Minot Air Force Base , North Dakota . There it was redesignated the 91st Strategic Missile Wing and absorbed the mission , personnel , and LGM - 30A Minuteman I missiles of the inactivating 455th Strategic Missile Wing . There it maintained its strategic missiles in a state of operational readiness , The first LGM - 30G Minuteman III missile to arrive in the field was accepted by the 91st Strategic Missile Wing on 14 April 1970 . The following August , the first Minutemen IIIs were placed on alert status . By December 1971 , the switchover to the new missile was completed . With the inactivation of SAC in 1992 , the wing became part of Air Combat Command . The wing was a five - time winner of the Blanchard Trophy awarded by SAC and later Air Force Space Command for the winner of the combat missile competition . It also won the Lee R . Williams Memorial Missile Trophy five times as the command ' s best missile wing and the Thomas S . Moorman Trophy as Space Command ' s outstanding wing in 1996 . On 1 July 1994 , along with other missile units , the wing was transferred to AF Space Command . On 1 October 1997 , it was redesignated as the 91st Space Wing . On 1 July 2008 , it was once again designated the 91st Missile Wing . Along with Twentieth Air Force , the wing transferred from Air Force Space Command to Air Force Global Strike Command in December 2009 . In 2009 two missile officers , were charged with stealing classified missile launch technology . The classified material - a device used to detect equipment tampering in the launch facility , was taken in July 2005 . The theft came to light in May 2008 . The officers were allowed to resign from the Air Force in lieu of facing courts martial . On 14 October 2009 the wing commander , as well as the 91st Maintenance Group commander , and 91st Missile Maintenance Squadron commander , were relieved of command by the commander of Twentieth Air Force for loss of confidence in their ability to command . The reliefs followed incidents including the crash of a truck carrying missile components on 31 August 2009 , a similar truck crash in July 2008 , and a failed wing nuclear surety inspection . Colonel Ferdinand Stoss was named the new wing commander ; he had previously been serving as vice commander of the 90th Missile Wing at F . E . Warren Air Force Base in Wyoming . In May 2013 , press reports indicated that the wing had been rated " marginal " when tested on Minuteman III launch operations . A USAF spokesperson characterized this as the equivalent of a " D " grade in school . Lt . Col . Jay Folds , deputy commander of the 91st Operations Group described the unit as " in a crisis . " Seventeen missile launch officers were removed from duty as a result of their performance in this evaluation . In addition , another officer faced potential disciplinary action for intentionally violating nuclear safety rules that had the potential to compromise launch codes for the wing ' s missiles . Lineage . Components . Groups Assigned Operational Squadrons Attached Operational Squadrons Maintenance Squadrons Other Missile Alert Sites . LGM - 30G Minuteman III Missile Alert Facilities ( MAF ) ( each controlling 10 missiles ) are located as follows : External links . Official Minot Air Force Base Website http : / / www . minot . af . mil /