31st Air Division

31st Air Division
Emblem of the 31st Air Division
Active	1948–1968
Country	United States
Branch	United States Air Force
Role	Command and Control
Part of	Air Defense Command

31st Air Division ADC AOR 1966-1969

The 31st Air Division (31st AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, assigned to Tenth Air Force, being stationed at Sioux City Municipal Airport, Iowa. It was inactivated on 31 December 1969.

History

Assigned to Air Defense Command (ADC) for most of its existence, the division equipped, administered, trained, and provided combat ready forces within an area covering North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, and other parts of the Midwest. The division participated in numerous live and simulated exercises such as Creek Chief, Pawnee Knife, and Mandan Hunt

Later, beginning in 1966, the 31st assumed responsibility for the former Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector and covered an area including Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Louisiana. Assumed additional designation of 31st NORAD Region after activation of the NORAD Combat Operations Center at Cheyenne Mountain, Colorado and reporting was transferred to NORAD from ADC at Ent AFB in April 1966.

Inactivated in December 1969 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).

Lineage

• Established as 31 Air Division (Defense) on 7 September 1950

Activated on 8 October 1950

Inactivated on 1 February 1952

• Organized on 1 February 1952

Inactivated on 1 January 1960

• Redesignated 31st NORAD Region/Air Division, and activated, on 20 January 1966

Organized on 1 April 1966, replacing Oklahoma City Air Defense Sector

Inactivated on 31 December 1969.

Assignments

• Air Defense Command

Eastern Air Defense Force, 8 October 1950

Attached 30 Air Division [Defense] , 27 November 1950 – 1 February 1951

Central Air Defense Force, 20 May 1951 – 1 January 1960

• Air Defense Command, 20 January 1966

Fourteenth Air Force, 1 April 1966 – 1 July 1968 (ConAC)

Tenth Air Force, 1 July 1968 – 31 December 1969.

Stations

• Selfridge AFB, Michigan, 8 October 1950 – 1 February 1952
• Fort Snelling (later, Snelling AFS), Minnesota, 1 February 1952 – 1 January 1960
• Oklahoma City AFS, Oklahoma, 1 April 1966 – 31 December 1969.

Components

Sectors

• Duluth Air Defense Sector: 20 December 1957 – 1 January 1959

Duluth Airport, Minnesota

• Grand Forks Air Defense Sector: 8 December 1957 – 1 January 1959

Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota

Groups

• 521st Air Defense Group: 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955.

Redesignated: 53d Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 1 March 1956

Sioux City Apt, Iowa

• 515th Air Defense Group: 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955

Redesignated: 343d Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 1 January 1959

Duluth MAP, Minnesota

• 514th Air Defense Group: 16 February 1953 – 18 August 1955

Redesignated: 475th Fighter Group: 18 August 1955 – 2 January 1958

Minneapolis-Saint Paul MAP, Minnesota

• 478th Fighter Group: 8 February 1957 – 1 January 1959

Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota

Squadrons

• 11th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953

Duluth MAP, Minnesota

• 18th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953

Minneapolis-Saint Paul MAP, Minnesota

• 54th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953

Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota

• 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 November 1952 – 16 February 1953

Sioux City Apt, Iowa

• 331st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 April 1966 – 1 March 1967

Webb AFB, Texas

• 432d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 December 1952 – 16 February 1953

Truax Field, Wisconsin

• 433d Fighter-Interceptor Squadron: 1 November 1952 – 16 February 1953

Truax Field, Wisconsin

See also

• List of USAF Aerospace Defense Command General Surveillance Radar Stations
• Aerospace Defense Command Fighter Squadrons
• List of United States Air Force air divisions

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency

• Winkler, David F. (1997), Searching the skies: the legacy of the United States Cold War defense radar program. Prepared for United States Air Force Headquarters Air Combat Command.
• A Handbook of Aerospace Defense Organization 1946 - 1980, by Lloyd H. Cornett and Mildred W. Johnson, Office of History, Aerospace Defense Center, Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado
• Aerospace Defense Command publication, The Interceptor, January 1979 (Volume 21, Number 1)
• Air Force Historical Research Agency:31st Air Division