The 23rd Air Division is an inactive

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

intermediate echelon command and control organization. It was last assigned to

First Air Force The First Air Force (Air Forces Northern & Air Forces Space; 1 AF-AFNORTH & AFSPACE) is a numbered air force of the United States Air Force Air Combat Command (ACC). It is headquartered at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Its primary mission i ...

Tactical Air Command Tactical Air Command (TAC) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. It was a List of Major Commands of the United States Air Force, Major Command of the United States Air Force, established on 21 March 1946 and headquartered at Lang ...

(ADTAC). It was inactivated on 1 July 1987 at

Tyndall Air Force Base Tyndall Air Force Base is a United States Air Force Base located east of Panama City, Florida. The base was named in honor of World War I pilot 1st Lt. Frank Benjamin Tyndall. The base operating unit and host wing is the 325th Fighter Wing (3 ...

, Florida.

History

The Division was activated at

Duluth International Airport : ''For the United States Air Force use of this facility, see Duluth Air National Guard Base.'' Duluth International Airport is a city-owned public-use joint civil-military airport located five nautical miles (9 km) northwest of the centr ...

in November 1969, replacing the

29th Air Division The 29th Air Division (29th AD) is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Air Defense Command, being stationed at Duluth International Airport, Minnesota. It was inactivated on 15 November 1969. History ...

in an

Aerospace Defense Command Aerospace Defense Command was a major command of the United States Air Force, responsible for air defense of the continental United States. It was activated in 1968 and disbanded in 1980. Its predecessor, Air Defense Command, was establishe ...

(ADCOM) realignment and re-organization of assets. Assigned additional designations of 23rd CONAD Region and 23rd NORAD Region upon activation with reporting to the

NORAD North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD ; , CDAAN), known until March 1981 as the North American Air Defense Command, is a combined organization of the United States and Canada that provides aerospace warning, air sovereignty, and pr ...

Combat Operations Center at the

Cheyenne Mountain Complex The Cheyenne Mountain Complex is a United States Space Force installation and defensive bunker located in unincorporated El Paso County, Colorado, next to the city of Colorado Springs, at the Cheyenne Mountain Space Force Station, which host ...

, Colorado. The 23rd AD was responsible for the air defense of a large area of the upper Midwest south of the

97th meridian west The 97th meridian west of Greenwich is a line of longitude that extends from the North Pole across the Arctic Ocean, North America, the Gulf of Mexico, the Pacific Ocean, the Southern Ocean, and Antarctica to the South Pole. The 97th meridian w ...

, bordered by the southern boundary of the

Canada–United States border The international border between Canada and the United States is the longest in the world by total length. The boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Canada' ...

to the Ohio/

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

border; south and west along the western ridge of the

Appalachian Mountains The Appalachian Mountains, often called the Appalachians, are a mountain range in eastern to northeastern North America. The term "Appalachian" refers to several different regions associated with the mountain range, and its surrounding terrain ...

to the

38th parallel north Following are circles of latitude between the 35th parallel north and the 40th parallel north: 36th parallel north The 36th parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 36 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, th ...

. This encompassed most of Minnesota, Iowa, Northern Missouri, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and all of Michigan. It was also the command organization for the

Semi Automatic Ground Environment The Semi-Automatic Ground Environment (SAGE) was a system of mainframe computer, large computers and associated computer network, networking equipment that coordinated data from many radar sites and processed it to produce a single unified image ...

(SAGE) Data Center (DC-10) at Duluth Air Force Station. The division and its subordinate interceptor, missile and radar units participated in numerous exercises such as Amalgam Fairplay, Feathered Indian, and Feathered Brave. In addition, its subordinate units exercised with surface to air missiles. The scope of responsibility for the 23rd AD was expanded in 1973 with further ADCOM unit inactivations and consolidations to include the area south along the 88th meridian west to the

33rd parallel north Following are circles of latitude between the 30th parallel north and the 35th parallel north: 31st parallel north The 31st parallel north is a circle of latitude that is 31 degrees north of the Earth's equatorial plane. It crosses Africa, ...

, west to the

. This added all of Missouri and Arkansas, as well as western Tennessee and northern Mississippi to the Division's Area of Responsibly. It assumed additional designation 23rd ADCOM Region, 8 December 1978 23AD-SEADS-1979-1987

In 1979 it was incorporated into

with the inactivation of ADCOM as a major command. Under Air Defense, Tactical Air Command (ADTAC) it continued its mission until 15 April 1982 when it moved to

, Florida and assumed responsibility for most of the region previously commanded by the inactivated

20th Air Division The 20th Air Division is an inactive United States Air Force organization. Its last assignment was with Tactical Air Command at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida where it was inactivated on 1 March 1983. During most of the division's history it ...

. In 1985 most active-duty units were inactivated or reassigned to other missions, and the air defense mission came under

Air Force Reserve The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...

and

Air National Guard The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...

units under

. The Division stood down on 1 July 1987, its command, mission, components, and assets were transferred to the ADTAC

Southeast Air Defense Sector The Southeast Air Defense Sector (SEADS), was a unit of the US Air Force located at Tyndall Air Force Base near Panama City, Florida. It provided air defense and surveillance of the southeastern region of the US. SEADS closed in winter 2005 ...

Lineage

* Established as the 23rd Air Division on 18 November 1969 : Activated on 19 November 1969 : Inactivated on 1 July 1987

Assignments

, 19 November 1969 *

, 1 October 1979 *

, 6 December 1985 – 1 July 1987

Components

Interceptor units

1st Fighter Wing The 1st Fighter Wing (1 FW) is a United States Air Force unit assigned to the Air Combat Command Fifteenth Air Force. It is stationed at Langley Air Force Base, VA. where it is a tenant unit, being supported by the 633d Air Base Wing. Its ...

(Air Defense), 1 – 31 December 1969 :

Selfridge Air Force Base Selfridge Air National Guard Base or Selfridge ANGB is an Air National Guard installation located in Harrison Township, Michigan, near Mount Clemens. Selfridge Field was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the Un ...

, Michigan * 343rd Fighter Group (Air Defense), 19 November 1969 - 28 August 1970 : Duluth Airport, Minnesota *

2nd Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 2nd Fighter Training Squadron, sometimes written as 2d Fighter Training Squadron, is an active United States Air Force unit, assigned to the 325th Operations Group at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida. Originally constituted in 1940 as the '' ...

, 1 July 1971 - 31 March 1973 :

Wurtsmith Air Force Base Wurtsmith Air Force Base is a decommissioned United States Air Force base in Iosco County, Michigan. Near Lake Huron, it operated for seventy years, from 1923 until decommissioned in 1993. On January 18, 1994, Wurtsmith was listed as a Superfun ...

, Michigan * 94th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 1 December 1969 - 1 July 1971 : Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan *

48th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron The 48th Flying Training Squadron is part of the 14th Flying Training Wing based at Columbus Air Force Base, Mississippi. It operates T-1 Jayhawk aircraft conducting flight training. The squadron is one of the oldest in the Air Force, being for ...

, 1 March 1983 - 1 July 1987 :

Langley Air Force Base Langley Air Force Base is a United States Air Force base located in Hampton, Virginia, adjacent to Newport News. It was one of thirty-two Air Service training camps established after the entry of the United States into World War I in April 1 ...

, Virginia * 62nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron, 19 November 1969 - 30 April 1971 : K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan * 87th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, 28 August 1970 - 1 August 1981 : K. I. Sawyer Air Force Base, Michigan

Missile units

* 37th Air Defense Missile Squadron, 19 November 1969 - 31 July 1972 : Kincheloe Air Force Base, Michigan * 74th Air Defense Missile Squadron, 19 November 1969 - 30 April 1972 : Duluth Air Force Station, Minnesota

Radar units

* 665th Air Defense Group, 1 March 1970 – 1 January 1974 : Calumet Air Force Station, Michigan * 692d Air Defense Group, 1 March 1970 – 1 January 1974 : Baudette Air Force Station, Minnesota * 661st Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 1 July 1974 : Selfridge Air Force Base, Michigan * 665th Radar Squadron, 19 May 1969 – 1 March 1970 : Calumet Air Force Station, Michigan * 674th Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 31 March 1975 : Osceola Air Force Station, Wisconsin * 676th Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 30 June 1977 : Antigo Air Force Station, Wisconsin * 692nd Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 1 March 1970 : Baudette Air Force Station, Minnesota * 739th Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 30 September 1970 : Wadena Air Force Station, Minnesota * 752nd Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 1 April 1978 : Empire Air Force Station, Michigan * 753rd Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 30 October 1979 : Sault Sainte Marie Air Force Station, Michigan * 754th Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 30 September 1988 : Port Austin Air Force Station, Michigan * 756th Radar Squadron, 19 November 1969 – 5 August 1980 : Finland Air Force Station, Minnesota * 701st Radar Squadron, 15 April 1982 – 30 June 1988 : Fort Fisher Air Force Station North Carolina

Stations

* Duluth International Airport, Minnesota, 19 November 1969 * Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, 15 April 1982 – 1 July 1987

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * "ADCOM's Fighter Interceptor Squadrons". ''The Interceptor'' (January 1979) Aerospace Defense Command, (Volume 21, Number 1) {{Aerospace Defense Command, state=collapsed 023 Military units and formations established in 1969 Military units and formations disestablished in 1987