90th Space Wing
Encyclopedia
The 90th Missile Wing is a unit of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Air Force Global Strike Command (AFGSC) Twentieth Air Force
Twentieth Air Force
The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...

. It is stationed at Francis E. Warren Air Force Base
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base
Francis E. Warren Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located approximately west of Cheyenne, Wyoming. It is one of three strategic missile bases in the United States. It is named in honor of Francis E. Warren....

, Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

.

The mission of the "Mighty Ninety" is to defend the United States of America with a combat-ready ICBM force of 150 Minuteman III ICBMs being on full alert 24 hours a day, 365 days a year at 20 missile alert facilities deployed over 12600 square miles (32,633.9 km²).

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
B-24 Liberator
The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was an American heavy bomber, designed by Consolidated Aircraft of San Diego, California. It was known within the company as the Model 32, and a small number of early models were sold under the name LB-30, for Land Bomber...

 heavy bomber unit assigned to Fifth Air Force
Fifth Air Force
The Fifth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Pacific Air Forces . It is headquartered at Yokota Air Base, Japan....

. The 90th Operations Group
90th Operations Group
The 90th Operations Group is the operational component of the United States Air Force 90th Missile Wing. It is stationed at Francis E...

 carries the lineage and history of its highly decorated World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 predecessor unit.

Units

  • The 90th Operations Group
    90th Operations Group
    The 90th Operations Group is the operational component of the United States Air Force 90th Missile Wing. It is stationed at Francis E...

    provides over 1,500 combat-ready personnel on continuous alert to operate, protect, maintain, and support 150 ICBMs and 20 missile alert facilities deployed over 12600 square miles (32,633.9 km²) and provides the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the Air Force Global Strike Command with road mobile, survivable, and endurable command, control, and communications, and base support capability.

  • The 90th Mission Support Group provides mission support to 20th Air Force, 90th MW and all associate organizations. This support includes base engineering, food services, billeting, recreational programs, transportation, contracting support, central base administration and educational and personnel services for more than 4,000 military and civilian employees and their families.

  • The 90th Security Forces Group provides continuous security for the 90th Missile Wing's and United States's most vital assets.

  • The 90th Maintenance Group works 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to ensure the ICBM force remains safe, reliable and effective. They provide training and evaluation for over 650 maintenance personnel, maintaining over 200 specialized maintenance vehicles, and 850 mission specific pieces of equipment.

Strategic Reconnaissance Wing

The 90th Bombardment Wing, Medium was established in late December 1950 as part of the postwar Hobson Organization Plan. The 90th Bombardment Group, reactivated by Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command
The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

 in 1947 was assigned as it's combat group. The new wing was organized at Fairchild AFB, Washington where it received B-29 Superfortress
B-29 Superfortress
The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...

es along with some RB-29s.
The wing was reassigned almost immediately to Forbes AFB, Kansas
Kansas
Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

 in March; its mission was to train B-29 aircrews and mechanics for combat duty with SAC units engaged in Korean War
Korean War
The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

 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
SHORAN
SHORAN is an acronym for SHOrt RAnge Navigation, a type of electronic navigation and bombing system with a precision radar beacon used in the B-26 and B-29 bomber aircraft during the Korean War.-Origin:...

 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
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...

. 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
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, 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
Lockheed U-2
The Lockheed U-2, nicknamed "Dragon Lady", is a single-engine, very high-altitude reconnaissance aircraft operated by the United States Air Force and previously flown by the Central Intelligence Agency . It provides day and night, very high-altitude , all-weather intelligence gathering...

. 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
Schilling Air Force Base
Schilling Air Force Base is a former a United States Air Force Base located three nautical miles southwest of the central business district of Salina, a city in Saline County, Kansas, United States...

 same date.

Strategic Missile Wing

On October 15, 1962, Morrison-Knudsen and Associates won the contract to construct 200 Minuteman silos over an area of 8300 square miles (21,496.9 km²) in Wyoming
Wyoming
Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

, Nebraska
Nebraska
Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....

, and Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, 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
Intercontinental ballistic missile
An intercontinental ballistic missile is a ballistic missile with a long range typically designed for nuclear weapons delivery...

 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 October 2, 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 November 22, 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
LGM-118A Peacekeeper
The LGM-118A Peacekeeper, also known as the MX missile , was a land-based ICBM deployed by the United States starting in 1986. A total of 50 missiles were deployed. They have since been deactivated....

 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
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...

, 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
90th Operations Group
The 90th Operations Group is the operational component of the United States Air Force 90th Missile Wing. It is stationed at Francis E...

, a re-designation and activation of the former 90th Bombardment Group. Strategic Air Command (SAC) and Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command
Tactical Air Command is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 being headquartered at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia...

 (TAC) were inactivated June 1, 1992, the wing was realigned under the new Air Combat Command
Air Combat Command
Air Combat Command is a major command of the United States Air Force. ACC is one of ten major commands , reporting to Headquarters, United States Air Force ....

 (ACC). On July 1, 1993, the 20th Air Force, headquarters for all U.S. ICBM operations (including the 90th Space Wing), was realigned under Air Force Space Command
Air Force Space Command
Air Force Space Command is a major command of the United States Department of the Air Force, with its headquarters at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado. AFSPC supports U.S. military operations worldwide through the use of many different types of satellite, launch and cyber operations....

 (AFSPC), headquartered at Peterson AFB, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

.

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.

Lineage

  • Established as 90 Bombardment Wing, Medium, on 20 December 1950
Activated on 2 January 1951
Redesignated as 90 Strategic Reconnaissance Wing, Medium, on 16 June 1956
Discontinued on 20 June 1960
  • Redesignated as 90 Strategic Missile Wing (ICBM-Minuteman) on 21 February 1963
Organized on 1 July 1963
Redesignated as 90 Missile Wing on 1 September 1991
Redesignated as 90 Space Wing on 1 October 1992
Redesignated as 90 Missile Wing on 1 July 2008

Assignments

  • Fifteenth Air Force
    Fifteenth Air Force
    The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....

    , 2 January 1951
Attached to 92d Bombardment Wing, Heavy, 2–31 January 1951
  • 21st Air Division, 14 March 1951-20 June 1960
  • Strategic Air Command
    Strategic Air Command
    The Strategic Air Command was both a Major Command of the United States Air Force and a "specified command" of the United States Department of Defense. SAC was the operational establishment in charge of America's land-based strategic bomber aircraft and land-based intercontinental ballistic...

    , 21 February 1963
  • 13th Strategic Missile Division, 1 July 1963
  • 821st Strategic Aerospace Division
    821st Strategic Aerospace Division
    The 821st Strategic Aerospace Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Strategic Air Command, assigned to Fifteenth Air Force, being stationed at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota...

    , 2 July 1966
  • 4th Strategic Missile (later, 4 Air) Division, 30 June 1971
  • Fifteenth Air Force
    Fifteenth Air Force
    The Fifteenth Expeditionary Mobility Task Force is one of two EMTFs assigned to the United States Air Force Air Mobility Command . It is headquartered at Travis Air Force Base, California....

    , 23 August 1988
  • Twentieth Air Force
    Twentieth Air Force
    The Twentieth Air Force is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Global Strike Command . It is headquartered at F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming.20 AF's primary mission is Intercontinental Ballistic Missile operations...

    , 1 September 1991–present

Components

Group
  • 90 Bombardment (later, 90 Operations): 2 January 1951-16 June 1952; 1 September 1991–present


Squadrons
  • 90th Air Refueling Squadron
    90th Air Refueling Squadron
    The 90th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron is a provisional United States Air Force unit. It is assigned to the 385th Air Expeditionary Group and is currently stationed at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey....

    : 5 August 1955-20 June 1960
  • 319th Bombardment (later, 319 Strategic Reconnaissance; 319 Strategic Missile) Squadron
    319th Missile Squadron
    The 319th Missile Squadron is the flagship squadron of the 90th Missile Wing based at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. It operates 50 Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles through five Missile Alert Facilities.-History:...

    : attached 16 February 1951-15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952-20 June 1960; assigned 1 October 1963-1 September 1991
  • 320th Bombardment (later, 320 Strategic Reconnaissance; 320 Strategic Missile) Squadron
    320th Missile Squadron
    The 320th Missile Squadron is part of the 90th Missile Wing based at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. It operates LGM-30G Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles. Currently, the 320 MS is one of nine active United States ICBM squadrons.-History:Activated in spring 1942 as a B-26...

    : attached 16 February 1951-15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952-20 June 1960; assigned 8 January 1964-1 September 1991
  • 321st Bombardment (later, 321 Strategic Reconnaissance; 321 Strategic Missile) Squadron
    321st Missile Squadron
    The 321st Missile Squadron is part of the 90th Missile Wing based at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming. It operates Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missiles.-History:...

    : attached 16 February 1951-15 June 1952, assigned 16 June 1952-20 June 1960; assigned 9 April 1964-1 September 1991
  • 400 Bombardment (later, 400 Strategic Missile)
    400th Missile Squadron
    The 400th Missile Squadron is an inactive United States Air Force unit. It was last assigned to the 90th Space Wing, based at F. E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, and inactivated on 19 September 2005.-History:...

    : 1 July 1964-1 September 1991

Stations

  • Fairchild AFB, Washington, 2 January 1951
  • Forbes AFB, Kansas
    Kansas
    Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...

    , 14 March 1951-20 June 1960
  • Francis E. Warren AFB, Wyoming
    Wyoming
    Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...

    , 1 July 1963–present

Aircraft and missiles

  • B-29 Superfortress
    B-29 Superfortress
    The B-29 Superfortress is a four-engine propeller-driven heavy bomber designed by Boeing that was flown primarily by the United States Air Forces in late-World War II and through the Korean War. The B-29 was one of the largest aircraft to see service during World War II...

    , 1951–1954
Also: RB-29, 1951, 1952–1954; TB-29, 1951–1952; KB-29, 1953–1954
  • RB-47 Stratojet, 1954–1960
  • KC-97 Stratotanker
    KC-97 Stratotanker
    The Boeing KC-97 Stratotanker was a United States strategic tanker aircraft based on the Boeing C-97 Stratofreighter. It was succeeded by the Boeing KC-135 Stratotanker.-Design and development:...

    , 1955–1960
  • LGM-30B Minuteman I, 1964–1974
  • LGM-30G Minuteman III, 1973–present

Missile Alert Facilities (MAF) (each controlling 10 missiles) are located as follows:
319th Missile Squadron
A-01 10.7 mi SW of Albin WY, 41°19′44"N 104°15′56"W
B-01 12.2 mi SE of LaGrange WY, 41°30′41"N 103°59′41"W
C-01 3.7 mi ExNE of Harrisburg NE, 41°34′50"N 103°40′25"W
D-01 10.3 mi NxNE of Bushnell NE, 41°21′41"N 103°47′39"W
E-01 7.1 mi SE of Pine Bluffs WY, 41°06′09"N 103°59′00"W
320th Missile Squadron
F-01 8.9 mi N of Dix NE, 41°21′49"N 103°29′20"W
G-01 7.7 mi NW of Sidney NE, 41°12′31"N 103°05′48"W
H-01 7.3 mi E of Gurley NE, 41°19′30"N 102°49′46"W
I-01 9.3 mi SW of Sunol NE, 41°02′44"N 102°51′57"W
J-01 4.6 mi W of Peetz CO, 40°57′38"N 103°11′56"W
321st Missile Squadron
K-01 10.6 mi WxSW of Potter NE, 41°08′13"N 103°29′18"W
L-01 21.9 mi N of Stoneham CO, 40°55′17"N 103°41′30"W
M-01 15.1 mi WxNW of Sterling CO, 40°42′15"N 103°28′35"W
N-01 1.7 mi N of Raymer CO, 40°37′54"N 103°50′11"W
O-01 11.8 mi E of Grover CO, 40°53′05"N 104°00′01"W
  • LGM-118A Peacekeeper
    LGM-118A Peacekeeper
    The LGM-118A Peacekeeper, also known as the MX missile , was a land-based ICBM deployed by the United States starting in 1986. A total of 50 missiles were deployed. They have since been deactivated....

    , 1987-2005.
With the deployment of the LGM-118A, 50 former Minuteman III silos were converted. 400th SMS Flights P through T were reassigned to to the Peacekeeper for operational duty.
P-01, 18.0 mi N of Hillsdale WY, 41°28′20"N 104°28′04"W
Q-01, 15.4 mi SxSW of Chugwater WY 41°32′35"N 104°54′10"W
R-01, 16.4 mi NW of Meriden WY, 41°44′17"N 104°30′00"W
S-01, 4.8 mi SE of Yoder WY, 41°52′23"N 104°13′20"W
T-01, 9.1 mi ExSE of Wheatland WY, 41°59′51"N 104°47′30"W

See also


External links

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