Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 57 he would die in a T-33 fighter jet crash only six months later in August of the same year. In 1955, Great Falls AFB was renamed in his honor. During the mid to late 1950s, with the Korean War con- cluded and the Cold War coming to dominate US foreign policy, the base began shifting priorities to supporting long- range B-36 bombers via refueling and escort missions. Not coincidentally, the first ICBMs arrived in 1962, just months before the Cuban Missile Crisis reinforced their strategic necessity. At the height of the Cold War, Malmstrom was home to bomber wings that delivered nuclear bombs, fighter jets that were able to launch nuclear rockets, and hundreds of Minuteman, Titan, Titan II, and Atlas ICBMs. In short, according to Public Affairs Officer 2d Lt Daniel J Lindstrom and base historian Troy Halsell, Ph.D., who we consulted for this story, "the mission has changed for Malm- strom. It used to be a refueling wing, but since 1996 it only has an ICBM mission. Whereas the Cold War-era perhaps focused more on nuclear proliferation and the imminent threat of nuclear war, the current mission focuses mainly on deterring adversaries from conducting nuclear and non-nu- clear strategic attack against the United States and our allies and partners, and on underwriting American military forces globally." Today Malmstrom AFB employs about 2000 people whose jobs are specifically related to maintaining the ICBMs still on-site. According to Halsell, "that number includes Secu- rity Forces—who ensure the safety of the assets, Maintain- ers—who ensure the ability of the ICBMs to function prop- erly, engineers—who take care of the structures that house and transport ICBMs, and missile combat crews—who are on call 24/7/365, ready to respond at a moment's notice." Today, the LGM-30 Minuteman-III missile, introduced in 1970, is the only land-based ICBM currently still in use by the American Armed Forces. Malmstrom is home to roughly a third of the 400 existing Minuteman III missiles. The aging design is more than fifty years old, prompting some concerns regarding the computer systems and infrastruc- ture surrounding them. But in 2020, aerospace and defense company Northrop Grumman was awarded a $13.3 billion contract to design, build and deliver their successor, the Ground Based Strategic Deterrent, or GBSD. The move is not without controversy, as the cost of replacing the Minute- man III missiles is estimated to be about $1 trillion. Even so, as Lindstrom and Halsell report, GBSD "will make the ground-based leg of the nuclear triad more mod- ular, with open system architecture, and it will be adaptable and more maintenance-friendly. This is especially important given the challenges posed by the pace of technological change and competition from our near-peer adversaries in Russia and China. The refurbishment of our Missile Alert Facilities will take place over the next five years and GBSD construction is currently estimated to begin in 2026." One thing is for sure: the updated weapons system will ensure that Malmstrom AFB will be strategically vital for decades to come—Northrop Grumman intends to produce a weapons system with the "adaptability to affordably address changing technology and emerging threats through 2075." Though the threats have changed over the nearly 80 years of Malmstrom's existence, it has continued to help protect our country and deter our enemies, and it seems the base, and the brave and skilled men and women stationed there, will continue to do so for many years to come. And residents of the city of Great Falls will surely contin- ue to pray that they never look up to see rockets departing the base. Or arriving, for that matter. ONE THING IS FOR SURE: MALMSTROM AFB WILL BE STRATEGICALLY VITAL FOR DECADES TO COME COURTESY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

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