Malmstrom Air Force Base

Since 1942, Malmstrom Air Force Base has stood on the frontline of America's national defense. Known locally as East Base during World War II, it trained B-17 Flying Fortress pilots and served as a staging area for military planes flown to Russian under the World War II Lend-Lease program. With the beginning of the Cold War, the base's mission changed as tensions heightened between the U.S. and its former ally. In the late 1940s, pilots trained there for the Berlin Airlift, and for the first time it became home to fighter interceptor and air refueling squadrons. In 1955, the base was renamed in honor of Colonel Einar Malmstrom, who died in a tragic aircraft accident west of the airport on Gore Hill. Malmstrom AFB entered the space age in October 1962 when the nation's first Minuteman missiles went on alert in support of the Cuban Missile Crisis. It is currently home to the 341st Space Wing of Air Force Space Command and is responsible for the maintenance, operation, and security of approximately 150 Minuteman III missiles in silos scattered across north-central Montana.

Montana · United States